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"Exactly how long have you lived on the streets?" The cold voiced man demanded. She looked up at him, biting her lip anxiously.
"Uhm...on and off since I was twelve." She murmured.
"And how old are you now?"
"Fifteen. I'll be sixteen in December."
"That's quite a long time to be living on the streets, Ms. Wheeler. Any particular reason for it? It seems that you have two perfectly capable parents."
At this, she had to keep herself from laughing in the man's face. She hardly thought that this man, Mr. Niigata, would believe how horrible her parents truly were. No one did. It was always her truth against her parents', and her parents always won, because who would believe a drama-queen teenager who was in a gang, and was sleeping around. She remembered sitting in her mother's living room, listening to her mother and her aunt discussing how much diseases she must have had by then. She didn't feel like chirping in that she was a virgin; somehow it didn't seem like any of their business anymore. "There were some problems at home after my parents divorced." She forced herself to say. Problems didn't even begin to cover the wide rang of abuses she and her siblings had suffered.
"What kind of problems? I hardly see a reason for you to toss yourself onto the cold streets. Especially since you deemed it perfectly acceptable to leave your younger siblings in their care?"
Mr. Niigata obviously never had abusive parents, or siblings to protect. His cold brown eyes bore into her own soft ones, and she could read every thought on his face. He thought the same thing everyone else did; she was a skank, that's why she was on the streets. She wasn't there because her father beat her and her mother was a drunk. She wasn't there because she'd lived with an Uncle who'd sexually abused her. She wasn't there because she had a horrible family life she couldn't escape no matter how far she went back into the extended family; she was there because she wanted to be, and she was having the time of her life, purposely ruining everyone else's.
And now, she was asking to leave the country, without parental consent, to get away from it all. Now, she was begging, on hands and knees, to be able to leave it all behind. And this cold eyed, firm lipped and overweight fifty something year old was going to tell her no. Not for any legitimate reason - he'd say no because she disgusted him. And why wouldn't she? Her track record was terrible. A history of breaking other people's limbs and body parts all throughout her educational career, before she stopped going entirely, the gang life she was trying so hard to escape, all the odds were against her. This man, behind the counter, staring her down with disgust, was against her.
"I had no way of getting them out of there." She mumbled.
"And now you would like to leave the country. Leave them behind?"
She almost growled at him. How could he ask her a question like that? Immediately all of her old fears snapped back into her mind. How could she leave Joey like this? With her father, no one to help him after the beatings, no one to help Serenity from Mom, no one to keep either of them safe - just walk out on them both? How could she? How could she have ever convinced herself of that?
"Mr. Niigata, they need you in the main office." A softer voice interrupted, entering the room that he had been interrogating Rowenna in. "I was told to take over the case review."
Mr. Niigata looked almost disappointed. "All right, well, this one's an..." He coughed. "Interesting one. Do review it carefully, Mr. Hidaka."
Mr. Hidaka smiled at her warmly and reassuringly as he sat down across from her. Mr. Niigata left the room, and once the door was shut behind him Mr. Hidaka opened her case file again. "Ms. Wheeler, would it be all right if I called you Rowenna?"
"Uhm...sure?" She replied, somewhat startled. "That's fine.."
He laughed. "Not used to someone being nice, are you?" Mr. Hidaka asked.
"Well...uhm...not really. They've all been rather..."
"Judgemental? I know. It's a sad thing in this department that happens after many years." He sighed. "I come from an abusive family situation as well. It drove me to do the work I do now. I understand where you're coming from Rowenna. How long has it been since you've lived with a parent?"
"Quite a while, Mr. Hidaka. I left my mother's when I was eleven and lived with my Uncle and Aunt...but when I was twelve I moved out onto the streets."
"And the reasons?"
"I'd rather not discuss them...we'll just say it was a bad place for me to be." She said, shuddering.
"I see." He nodded, leaving it at that, and she wanted to thank him for that, but deemed it irresposible. "And your younger siblings? Is it appropriate for them?"
"No." She snapped. He laughed.
"I meant no attack, Rowenna. I was just asking."
"I'm sorry." She murmured, blushing. "I just can't get them out of there. Somehow I don't think a gangster street rat fifteen year old would be able to win custody of two siblings."
"No, you're right about that." Mr. Hidaka laughed. "And you want to go to England to clean up your act?"
"I was offered a full-expenses paid scholastic program at a music school in London." She replied. "The scout saw me at a talent show, and immediately wanted me to go to the school. He thought my talent was wasting away in the highschool."
"As it appears, you didn't go to school much, did you Rowenna?" Mr. Hidaka asked, looking at the file with his glasses pulled down.
"I worked a lot, so when I slept, it was in short spurts and I frequently woke up late. I didn't have the spare time to stay after school and make up the time I missed, so I stopped going."
"And they let you participate in the talent show anyways?"
"My music teacher wanted me in it so badly she bent a lot of rules for my sake."
"Are you intending on returning to help your siblings once you've got your act together?"
"Yes." She said, quite firmly.
"And you've taken your GED and passed with flying colors, I see."
"Yes."
"In all honesty, besides feeling no pity for you whatsoever, Rowenna, I see no reason why this office can not let you leave the country. I'm going to put through a motion to allow it."
Rowenna, deciding to screw composure, leapt out of her chair and gave the man sitting across from her one of the biggest hugs she'd ever given anyone in her life.
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Sitting in that chair, she realized how much she owed the man that was in the room with her little brother right now. Mr. Hidaka, although she hadn't recognized him the first time they'd come to this office, had given her a chance. He'd given her a chance to start over, from the beginning, and save herself. Along with saving herself came saving her siblings, and he was helping her do that right now.
She'd been sitting in the waiting room, for God knows how long, when the door opened across the hall. Joey looked angry, disgruntled, but somehow, relieved, all at the same time. He looked at her, and motioned for her to join him in the room. She sighed, preparing herself for whatever was about to happen but concealing her shaking hands in the pockets of her jeans, and entering the room behind him.
Mr. Hidaka was sitting across the table with the snappy secretary, who was looking at Rowenna with a softer tone in her eyes. Mr. Hidaka was smiling, and motioned for them both to sit. "Please, have a seat."
"Thank you." Rowenna said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. Joey sat down next to her, reaching under the table, away from the prying eyes of the D.S.S. workers, and grabbed one of her hands from her pockets, squeezing it as if to say 'It'll be okay.'
"Ms. Wheeler, we've reviewed the case thoroughly, and after both interviews with Joseph we've come to a decision." He sighed, taking off his glasses and putting them down on the closed folder in front of him. "I must say, Ms. Wheeler, you've been through this system more ways than anyone I've ever seen. You've been part of it, being passed around yourself, and you've been here to demand custody. You have more nerve than anyone else I've ever met. You must've known coming into this situation how difficult it would be to win."
"Yes, sir." She replied, trying to keep her gaze steady on his own.
"You request custody of your younger brother because you do not deem it acceptable for him to live with either of your parents. Is that correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you can not find any reason to remove your sister from your mother's custody?"
"No, sir. My mother has always loved my sister to the fullest extent. My brother and I are different stories entirely."
"Novels, you might say." Mr. Hidaka replied. He leaned back in his chair, and sighed. The secretary pushed a form across the table at her, and Rowenna looked at Mr. Hidaka, confused. "We'll need you to sign these forms, Ms. Wheeler."
"Forms..?"
"They'll grant you full custody of Joseph without parental consent."
For the second time in her life, Rowenna leapt across the table and hugged Mr. Hidaka with enough force to break his ribcage.
FIN
)(Well, there it is. That's the end of it. Hoo-rah. Review and all that jazz.
YFFSM,
Pengwinn)(