Chapter 4/4

Jason, Faith, and Mark followed David to the concessions area. They stood in a circle, the three family members eyeballing one another with much emotion.

"Can you hurry it up, buddy? I don't wanna miss the game," Jason complained bitterly, staring his estranged wife down like a vulture over his prey.

"The name's David, buddy," David mocked slightly, "and I'll take as long as I have to." Then he turned to Faith. "What were you thinking?" he asked cryptically, not wanting to reveal the fact that she'd brought a gun to a public place.

Faith simply shook her head. "I just wanted to see my son. You don't know what the damned system's done to me! The judge won't let me see him..." she cried.

"Because you're a god damned drug addict, Faith!" hissed Jason. Mark then started to cry.

"I don't care if she does drugs. She's still my mom and you shouldn't keep me from her! Dad, you lied to me. You told me she was in jail and that's why I couldn't call her!" Crocodile tears were streaming down Mark's face.

"You told him what, Jason?" Faith exclaimed. "Dammit! I was not in jail. I was in a place to detox!" She looked to David. "YOU tell him! You seem to know everything," she pleaded.

"Um... so are you completely clean, then?" David interjected, eyeing Faith strongly, as though demanding her to be truthful.

"Well... I still have my bad days but everybody falls off the wagon. I'm trying. I got a sponser from NA and everything," she declared. Then she looked at her husband. "While we're playing the judgment game here, are YOU still beating up women?" she glowered.

"I never meant to hurt you Faith," Jason replied defensively.

"That's not what I asked! Besides, it doesn't matter what you meant to do; it matters what you did!" she protested.

David looked toward Jason. "She does have a point," he acknowledged.

"Oh great! So both of yous are against me. Who is this clown, Faith, your boyfriend or something?" Jason demanded, elevating his voice.

"I've never seen him before in my life! You think because we're separated I would do something like that?" she balked.

David was then reminded of how he and Audrey had lived together, but separated all that time, how Joseph had managed to remain loyal to both of them. He realized that, despite his tribulations in the past, he'd really had it good compared to this family.

"If you hadn't accused me of cheating in the first place all the time, and beating me up, maybe I wouldn't have needed drugs to forget!" Faith added hostily.

"Oh, so this is all MY fault?" Jason shouted.

"Stop fighting! Stop fighting!" Mark objected. "Can't we all just be a family again? Look. Dad's in a group for his problem..."

"Mark! Hush up about that!" Jason fumed.

"He's in a group and Mom's out of rehab," he continued, ignoring his father's plea. "Maybe it's time to go back to the judge and make him throw out that piece of paper!" he exclaimed tearfully.

"Are you?" Faith questioned, somewhat shocked and hesitant. "Are you in a... therapy group?"

Jason frowned and nodded once, looking away. He was obviously abashed over being in "therapy." Blue collar ego.

"And a child shall lead them," David commented calmly, smiling at the boy. He then looked at Faith and Jason. "Sounds like the two of you might have some things to discuss," he suggested.

"I don't know, man," Jason stated ambivalently.

"We have to figure something out, Jay. At least allow me to have supervised visits with Mark. That's a start," she began.

"You can't be high!" Jason instructed. "You wanna see him, you do it sober."

"I can live with that," Faith concurred. Then the family of three looked to David for further instruction.

"All I can say is... I had a family once. I let things slip by, ignored little problems, until they became too big. We aren't together anymore. Don't let that happen," David said sadly.

"Don't let it happen," he repeated under his breath as he turned to walk away. During his short journey back to his post, he was struck with a vision once again, only this time, it was much more pleasant. It was the three in the court room, and the judge was delegating the new terms... joint custody. David smiled to himself.

He thought it rather funny. He hadn't needed to use brawn, bravado, or force to make a good thing happen and save three lives today. He merely had to be there... to be someone objective who would listen, who actually gave a damn about three complete strangers. Perhaps that, in itself, was the real definition of a hero.