The Witness
Chapter 27
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cole was walking down the corridor of the hospital with Bosco. He'd picked him up early from school on his day off. He had an appointment for a follow-up with Dr. Barton so that he could check his blood levels from the medication he was required to take. It was also a condition of his release that he have regularly-scheduled urine tests to determine that he was not taking any illegal drugs. The date of his trial was coming up and they had to make sure that everything was in order and done before the start of it so they didn't give the prosecution any ammunition.
They still weren't able to find out who had called Cole from the hospital and they'd had no luck with the key card that Bosco had found in the parking lot after his anonymous visit that night at the hospital.
"Do you remember where this lab is?" Bosco asked as they walked down the hallway looking at the room numbers.
"I think it's right around here somewhere," Cole answered.
"Cole?" came a girl's voice from a doorway they had just passed. Bosco and Cole stopped and walked back a few steps until they were at the door that the voice had come from.
"It IS you!" said the girl as she walked over to the doorway in her uniform.
"Chenise?" Cole said, not recognizing her in a uniform.
"Yeah. It's me. I'm in nursing school and I just started my rotation on the floors," she said. "You look great. What've you been up to?"
"Uh, thanks. Not much. Going to school. You know, the usual," he answered, feeling Bosco's stare on him.
Finally, he couldn't ignore it any longer when Bosco cleared his throat and introduced himself.
"Hi. I'm Maurice Boscorelli. A friend of Cole's. And you are?" Bosco asked, holding out his hand to shake hands with the girl who was suddenly very shy and quiet.
"Oh. This is Chenise. She goes to my school," he started to explain.
"But, I thought you said that you were in nursing school," Bosco questioned.
"Oh yeah, she graduated early. She's one of the smart ones - or was. Well, it was good seeing you again, Chenise," Cole said as he nudged Bosco away.
"Yeah, you too, Cole," said the girl, disappearing quickly back into the room she came out of.
Bosco was suspicious, but decided not to push it right now. There was something familiar about the girl, but he decided he'd probably seen her around the emergency room when he and Faith were there with a prisoner.
"Here it is," Cole said, indicating that he'd found the lab they were looking for.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Cole had his blood drawn and his urinalysis done and they were on their way back home in no time.
Bosco noticed how quiet Cole had been since they were at the hospital. "You okay, Cole?" he asked him. "You're pretty quiet," he observed as he checked his mirror to make sure that Cole wasn't pulling out into the middle of traffic. Bosco'd been letting him drive and he was doing a pretty good job of it.
Cole shrugged and said, "Just concentrating."
"So, you seemed to know that girl - what was her name - Chenise pretty well," Bosco mentioned.
Bosco was busy watching a car approaching him pretty quickly to notice the nervous look come across Cole's face. "Watch this jag-off coming up on the right," Bosco warned him.
"I see him," Cole answered, maneuvering the car over a little to give the guy some more room. "I met her on my first day of school. She was pretty nice. We had a couple of classes together before she graduated early," he lied.
"Oh. That's nice," Bosco said as Cole pulled the car up in front of the apartment building.
"So, I haven't seen Katy in awhile," Cole said, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah, her Mom's been sick so she went to Massachusetts to help her. She's supposed to call tonight as a matter of fact," he said, taking the car keys that Cole had handed him. "Good job driving today," he said. "Won't be long until you can try for your license."
"Thanks," Cole said as they got out and went into the building.
As Bosco opened the door, the phone was ringing and Bosco ran over to answer it before the machine picked up.
"Tell Katy I said hi," Cole called to him as he headed for his room. He closed the door behind him and took a deep breath, finally letting the shaking that he'd held inside out. He walked over to the dresser and opened the drawer. He took out the still unopened bottle of vodka that was under the clothes and held it in his hand.
"What're you doing? You okay?" came Bosco's voice from behind him. He noticed Cole drop something quickly into the drawer, but didn't let on.
He dropped the bottle into the dresser and closed it, not sure whether Bosco had seen it or not. He turned around quickly and saw a disappointed look on Bosco's face. "He must have seen it," he thought to himself, shame washing over him.
"That was Tony Jenkins on the phone," Bosco said. "You're only 15?" he asked him.
"What?" Cole said.
"According to the paperwork that Jenkins has, you're only 15 - not 16," Bosco said again. "Care to explain why you let me take you for your Learner's Permit when you weren't old enough?"
Cole couldn't believe it. "I didn't know. I mean, I thought I was only 15, but you had all the paperwork and everything so I thought maybe I had the wrong information all this time," Cole said sincerely. He honestly didn't know that he was doing anything wrong.
"Okay. Well, I have to notify the DMV and there's no more driving until you're legal," Bosco said. Cole shook his head and handed Bosco his permit from his wallet. "Sorry," Bosco said, seeing the disappointment on Cole's face. "But, you'll have a leg up when you really are 16." Cole nodded and gave a slight smile.
"So, have you got a lot of homework?" Bosco asked.
"Not too much," he answered.
"Okay, why don't you get started while I start some dinner? How's tacos sound?" he asked turning away and walking down the hallway. "Then, if you get your homework done, we'll watch the game tonight."
"Yeah, sounds great," Cole said, following him out. Turns out they were both Yankee fans and loved watching the games together when Bosco wasn't working. Bosco had even gotten pretty decent tickets to a couple of home games this year.
Cole grabbed his book bag and sat down at the table to start working, trying to shove away the craving for the bottle that was in his dresser. He'd managed to keep the feeling at bay up until now, but today had been too close and the urge was very strong.
*^*^*^*^*^*^^*
Cole had finished his homework and they had the tacos while they watched the game. Bosco noticed that Cole only had one, which was unusual for him. "You're not hungry?" he asked him.
"Actually, my stomach's a little sour tonight. I'm pretty tired too. I think I'm gonna turn in early if that's okay," Cole said.
Bosco looked at his watch and saw that it was only 8:30. "Yeah, sure. No problem. You want an antacid or something?" he asked, reaching over to see if he had a fever.
"No. I think I'm just wiped out. I'll probably be better in the morning," Cole said, standing up. He picked up his book bag and put it by the door so he'd know where it was in the morning. "G'night," he said as he walked past Bosco and headed to his room.
"G'night," Bosco said, watching him.
Cole went into his room and closed the door tightly behind him. He turned his radio on low and walked over to the window and stared out. The feeling was getting stronger and stronger and when he couldn't take it anymore, he walked over to his dresser and took the bottle out. "I'll just take a little sip," he told himself as he broke the seal on the bottle. The next thing he knew, the bottle was empty and he was feeling very unsteady. He put the bottle in his trashcan and made a mental note to empty the trash in the morning before Bosco got up. He laid down on his bed and quickly feel asleep, the alcohol ensuring a sound sleep.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Bosco was on the phone with Katy at about 9:30. He looked in to check on him just before Katy had called and he was sound asleep. He threw a blanket over him and closed the door again.
"So, how's your Mom?" he asked Katy, missing her even more now that he heard her voice.
"She's doing better. My sister Hannah is here now, so I'm gonna head home for the rest of the week. I don't even want to see what my desk looks like at the office," she groaned.
"Yeah, well that's not all that's missed you," he said into the phone.
"Oh yeah? What else?" she teased him.
"Uh, that would be me!" he answered, acting hurt.
"Awww. Poor Maurice. Well, I'll be home tomorrow. Any chance of seeing you for dinner?" she asked hopefully.
"Absolutely! Cole's been asking about you too," he told her.
"How is Cole?" she asked. "Any more word on his trial?"
"Actually, I heard from Tony today. Apparently, Cole is only 15, meaning that he's been driving my mustang illegally for the past three weeks," he told her.
"What? How'd that happen?" she asked.
"Some mix-up with the paperwork. His birthday is actually November 19, 1988, not 1987," he explained.
"Oh, poor kid. How'd he take it?"
"Not bad, actually. But, he did go to bed early tonight complaining of a stomach ache," he told her.
"He'll probably be fine in the morning," she told him. "Well, I'm gonna turn in myself. I want to get an early start in the morning. I'll call you when I get back in town?"
"I'll be waiting. Drive carefully," he said.
"I will. Love you," she said.
"Me too," he said, smiling as he hung up the phone.
He spent the next hour, cleaning up around the apartment and watching the rest of the game before deciding to head off to bed himself. He was just about to get into bed when he remembered that the garbage needed to go down to the curb tonight so the garbage truck could pick it up in the morning. He shoved his sneakers on and grabbed his wastebasket on the way up the hall. He quietly opened Cole's door and took his can also. He dumped his stuff into Cole's basket and grabbed the basket from the bathroom. He added that one to the kitchen trash and carried the two baskets down the stairs. He dropped one at the bottom of the stairs and heard the breaking of glass as it hit the floor.
"Dammit!" he cursed to himself. He bent over to pick up the can and noticed the broken glass was from Cole's trash can. He started to pick it up and put it back in the can when he noticed the label. He held it up to the light and read it in disbelief.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 27
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cole was walking down the corridor of the hospital with Bosco. He'd picked him up early from school on his day off. He had an appointment for a follow-up with Dr. Barton so that he could check his blood levels from the medication he was required to take. It was also a condition of his release that he have regularly-scheduled urine tests to determine that he was not taking any illegal drugs. The date of his trial was coming up and they had to make sure that everything was in order and done before the start of it so they didn't give the prosecution any ammunition.
They still weren't able to find out who had called Cole from the hospital and they'd had no luck with the key card that Bosco had found in the parking lot after his anonymous visit that night at the hospital.
"Do you remember where this lab is?" Bosco asked as they walked down the hallway looking at the room numbers.
"I think it's right around here somewhere," Cole answered.
"Cole?" came a girl's voice from a doorway they had just passed. Bosco and Cole stopped and walked back a few steps until they were at the door that the voice had come from.
"It IS you!" said the girl as she walked over to the doorway in her uniform.
"Chenise?" Cole said, not recognizing her in a uniform.
"Yeah. It's me. I'm in nursing school and I just started my rotation on the floors," she said. "You look great. What've you been up to?"
"Uh, thanks. Not much. Going to school. You know, the usual," he answered, feeling Bosco's stare on him.
Finally, he couldn't ignore it any longer when Bosco cleared his throat and introduced himself.
"Hi. I'm Maurice Boscorelli. A friend of Cole's. And you are?" Bosco asked, holding out his hand to shake hands with the girl who was suddenly very shy and quiet.
"Oh. This is Chenise. She goes to my school," he started to explain.
"But, I thought you said that you were in nursing school," Bosco questioned.
"Oh yeah, she graduated early. She's one of the smart ones - or was. Well, it was good seeing you again, Chenise," Cole said as he nudged Bosco away.
"Yeah, you too, Cole," said the girl, disappearing quickly back into the room she came out of.
Bosco was suspicious, but decided not to push it right now. There was something familiar about the girl, but he decided he'd probably seen her around the emergency room when he and Faith were there with a prisoner.
"Here it is," Cole said, indicating that he'd found the lab they were looking for.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Cole had his blood drawn and his urinalysis done and they were on their way back home in no time.
Bosco noticed how quiet Cole had been since they were at the hospital. "You okay, Cole?" he asked him. "You're pretty quiet," he observed as he checked his mirror to make sure that Cole wasn't pulling out into the middle of traffic. Bosco'd been letting him drive and he was doing a pretty good job of it.
Cole shrugged and said, "Just concentrating."
"So, you seemed to know that girl - what was her name - Chenise pretty well," Bosco mentioned.
Bosco was busy watching a car approaching him pretty quickly to notice the nervous look come across Cole's face. "Watch this jag-off coming up on the right," Bosco warned him.
"I see him," Cole answered, maneuvering the car over a little to give the guy some more room. "I met her on my first day of school. She was pretty nice. We had a couple of classes together before she graduated early," he lied.
"Oh. That's nice," Bosco said as Cole pulled the car up in front of the apartment building.
"So, I haven't seen Katy in awhile," Cole said, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah, her Mom's been sick so she went to Massachusetts to help her. She's supposed to call tonight as a matter of fact," he said, taking the car keys that Cole had handed him. "Good job driving today," he said. "Won't be long until you can try for your license."
"Thanks," Cole said as they got out and went into the building.
As Bosco opened the door, the phone was ringing and Bosco ran over to answer it before the machine picked up.
"Tell Katy I said hi," Cole called to him as he headed for his room. He closed the door behind him and took a deep breath, finally letting the shaking that he'd held inside out. He walked over to the dresser and opened the drawer. He took out the still unopened bottle of vodka that was under the clothes and held it in his hand.
"What're you doing? You okay?" came Bosco's voice from behind him. He noticed Cole drop something quickly into the drawer, but didn't let on.
He dropped the bottle into the dresser and closed it, not sure whether Bosco had seen it or not. He turned around quickly and saw a disappointed look on Bosco's face. "He must have seen it," he thought to himself, shame washing over him.
"That was Tony Jenkins on the phone," Bosco said. "You're only 15?" he asked him.
"What?" Cole said.
"According to the paperwork that Jenkins has, you're only 15 - not 16," Bosco said again. "Care to explain why you let me take you for your Learner's Permit when you weren't old enough?"
Cole couldn't believe it. "I didn't know. I mean, I thought I was only 15, but you had all the paperwork and everything so I thought maybe I had the wrong information all this time," Cole said sincerely. He honestly didn't know that he was doing anything wrong.
"Okay. Well, I have to notify the DMV and there's no more driving until you're legal," Bosco said. Cole shook his head and handed Bosco his permit from his wallet. "Sorry," Bosco said, seeing the disappointment on Cole's face. "But, you'll have a leg up when you really are 16." Cole nodded and gave a slight smile.
"So, have you got a lot of homework?" Bosco asked.
"Not too much," he answered.
"Okay, why don't you get started while I start some dinner? How's tacos sound?" he asked turning away and walking down the hallway. "Then, if you get your homework done, we'll watch the game tonight."
"Yeah, sounds great," Cole said, following him out. Turns out they were both Yankee fans and loved watching the games together when Bosco wasn't working. Bosco had even gotten pretty decent tickets to a couple of home games this year.
Cole grabbed his book bag and sat down at the table to start working, trying to shove away the craving for the bottle that was in his dresser. He'd managed to keep the feeling at bay up until now, but today had been too close and the urge was very strong.
*^*^*^*^*^*^^*
Cole had finished his homework and they had the tacos while they watched the game. Bosco noticed that Cole only had one, which was unusual for him. "You're not hungry?" he asked him.
"Actually, my stomach's a little sour tonight. I'm pretty tired too. I think I'm gonna turn in early if that's okay," Cole said.
Bosco looked at his watch and saw that it was only 8:30. "Yeah, sure. No problem. You want an antacid or something?" he asked, reaching over to see if he had a fever.
"No. I think I'm just wiped out. I'll probably be better in the morning," Cole said, standing up. He picked up his book bag and put it by the door so he'd know where it was in the morning. "G'night," he said as he walked past Bosco and headed to his room.
"G'night," Bosco said, watching him.
Cole went into his room and closed the door tightly behind him. He turned his radio on low and walked over to the window and stared out. The feeling was getting stronger and stronger and when he couldn't take it anymore, he walked over to his dresser and took the bottle out. "I'll just take a little sip," he told himself as he broke the seal on the bottle. The next thing he knew, the bottle was empty and he was feeling very unsteady. He put the bottle in his trashcan and made a mental note to empty the trash in the morning before Bosco got up. He laid down on his bed and quickly feel asleep, the alcohol ensuring a sound sleep.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Bosco was on the phone with Katy at about 9:30. He looked in to check on him just before Katy had called and he was sound asleep. He threw a blanket over him and closed the door again.
"So, how's your Mom?" he asked Katy, missing her even more now that he heard her voice.
"She's doing better. My sister Hannah is here now, so I'm gonna head home for the rest of the week. I don't even want to see what my desk looks like at the office," she groaned.
"Yeah, well that's not all that's missed you," he said into the phone.
"Oh yeah? What else?" she teased him.
"Uh, that would be me!" he answered, acting hurt.
"Awww. Poor Maurice. Well, I'll be home tomorrow. Any chance of seeing you for dinner?" she asked hopefully.
"Absolutely! Cole's been asking about you too," he told her.
"How is Cole?" she asked. "Any more word on his trial?"
"Actually, I heard from Tony today. Apparently, Cole is only 15, meaning that he's been driving my mustang illegally for the past three weeks," he told her.
"What? How'd that happen?" she asked.
"Some mix-up with the paperwork. His birthday is actually November 19, 1988, not 1987," he explained.
"Oh, poor kid. How'd he take it?"
"Not bad, actually. But, he did go to bed early tonight complaining of a stomach ache," he told her.
"He'll probably be fine in the morning," she told him. "Well, I'm gonna turn in myself. I want to get an early start in the morning. I'll call you when I get back in town?"
"I'll be waiting. Drive carefully," he said.
"I will. Love you," she said.
"Me too," he said, smiling as he hung up the phone.
He spent the next hour, cleaning up around the apartment and watching the rest of the game before deciding to head off to bed himself. He was just about to get into bed when he remembered that the garbage needed to go down to the curb tonight so the garbage truck could pick it up in the morning. He shoved his sneakers on and grabbed his wastebasket on the way up the hall. He quietly opened Cole's door and took his can also. He dumped his stuff into Cole's basket and grabbed the basket from the bathroom. He added that one to the kitchen trash and carried the two baskets down the stairs. He dropped one at the bottom of the stairs and heard the breaking of glass as it hit the floor.
"Dammit!" he cursed to himself. He bent over to pick up the can and noticed the broken glass was from Cole's trash can. He started to pick it up and put it back in the can when he noticed the label. He held it up to the light and read it in disbelief.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...