-1Chapter Twelve:
"I'm sorry, Miss. Fenmore. That information is strictly confidential." The woman behind the desk informed her apologetically. After checking into her hotel room late last night, Lauren had dragged herself out of bed at the crack of dawn and made her way downtown to the local Children's Aid department. She was hoping to find out if the investigation into the Fishers had turned up anything significant enough that would warrant having Kevin removed from the home immediately. So far it was turning out to be a dead end.
"Please," Lauren pleaded with the investigator. "All I want to know is whether or not you found out anything that will help?"
"I understand that you're concerned about the child's welfare, but I'm really not at liberty to say." The woman said dismissively, shifting some papers around on her cluttered desk. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to get back to work."
Frustrated, Lauren stood up and slammed her hands down on the desk. The woman looked up at her, startled by the sudden outburst.
"Maybe you don't understand the seriousness of this situation," Lauren sneered. Angry tears started to blur her vision and she blinked them away. "This little boy is being beatenHis father locks him in a closet and beats him.Why are you not doing anything to stop this?!"
"Miss, please. You need to calm down." The woman instructed her cautiously. Lauren took a deep breath and sat back down, looking up at the woman expectantly. She sighed in frustration. "Look, all I can tell you is that the case is still undergoing investigation."
"What is there to investigate? I just told you what's going on over there!" Lauren said impatiently.
"We can't remove a child from his home based solely on third party accusations, it would never hold up in court." She explained. "And did you ever actually see Mr. Fisher strike the child?"
She was so tempted to lie, to look this woman straight in the eye and describe to her all of the torment and abuse she knew was going on in that home. But she didn't want to do or say anything that would call the case into question later on. She would never be able to forgive herself if Kevin lost his chance at freedom because of her lies. So reluctantly, she decided to tell the truth.
"No. No, I did not." Lauren admitted.
"Well, then. I really am sorry, but I don't see how you can be of any help to our investigation."
"But I was there," Lauren said pleadingly, refusing to give up just yet. "I may not have seen that bastard hit Kevin with my own two eyes, but I know he did. The sounds I heard coming from the other room, the vicious things that he said…"
"I'm sorry, miss. But that's just not good enough." The investigator informed her regretfully.
"Michael!" Lauren said abruptly, remembering the bruises and scars that had covered her ex-lover's body courtesy of his stepfather. "Kevin's older brother, Michael Baldwin. I saw Tom Fisher push him around, and he had bruises and cigarette burns on his body from previous run ins with his stepfather."
"When did this occur?" The woman asked hopefully.
"A few weeks ago," Lauren replied. "I'm sure some of the scars are still visible if you want to go see for yourself."
"Unfortunately, since he was over the age of eighteen at the time this alleged attack occurred, it's not a matter for Children's Services." She explained disappointedly. "As an adult, he would need to file assault charges against Mr. Fisher himself."
"So you can beat your children, just as long as they're over eighteen when you do it?" Lauren said in disgust, frustrated by how flawed the system was. "Well, I may not have witnessed Tom Fisher hit Kevin, but Michael sure as hell did. Have you interviewed him yet? I'm sure he can tell you all about the kind of physical and emotional abuse that poor little boy has had to suffer through."
"Mr. Baldwin is in jail facing kidnapping charges, not to mention his previous run ins with the law." The woman declared rather arrogantly. She was quickly growing impatient with the conversation "He's hardly what I would call a credible witness."
"You don't give a damn about Kevin, do you?" Lauren said accusingly. "He's just another file for you to sort." She stood up abruptly and swept all of the papers off the woman's desk in anger. "If you're not going to do anything to help him, then I guess it's up to me." Lauren said determinedly. And with that, she swung her purse over her shoulder and marched out of the building.
It was time to take matters into her own hands.
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Lauren was seated in a booth at the familiar restaurant, keeping close surveillance on the apartment building across the street. She glanced down at her watch for the umpteenth time, checking to make sure she wasn't too early. It was almost three o'clock, the same time that Gloria had gotten home from work last time Lauren had been at the apartment. She remembered how anxious she and Michael had been to get to New Orleans that day, how excited and hopeful they'd been to start searching for his father. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Peering through the dingy window, Lauren caught a glimpse of Gloria walking down the street towards the apartment building. She was wearing a cheap looking business suit that was at least two sizes too big. The briefcase she was carrying appeared tattered and worn, and the dark sunglasses she wore practically concealed her entire face. Lauren wouldn't have known it was her if it weren't for the unmistakable bleach blonde hair. Watching as she entered the apartment building, Lauren motioned to the waitress for her check. It was time to pay Mrs. Fisher a little visit.
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"You've got some nerve showing up here." Gloria said incredulously when she opened her front door and found Lauren standing in the hallway.
"Hello to you too, Gloria." Lauren greeted her sarcastically. "May I come in?"
"No, you may not." She responded dismissively, moving to shut the door in her face.
"Wait!" Lauren slammed her hand up against the door to prevent it from closing. "I just want to talk."
"What could you and I possibly have to talk about?" Gloria questioned impatiently.
"Kevin." Lauren declared. The older woman looked at her questioningly. "He called me yesterday." She explained. "He sounded upset."
"Well, I'll be sure and monitor his calls more closely from now on." Gloria said defensively. It was then that Lauren noticed she was still wearing her sunglasses. Abruptly, she reached out and snatched them off her face. Gloria tried to stop her, but she wasn't quick enough. Lauren gasped when her suspicions were confirmed.
"My God, Gloria." She exclaimed as she took in the sight of the older woman's face, the black eye she was sporting in stark contrast with her pale skin. "Tom did that to you, didn't he?"
"That's none of your business." Gloria hissed, grabbing her sunglasses out of Lauren's hand and slipping them back on.
"How much longer are you gonna let this go on for, huh?" Lauren asked, shaking her head disapprovingly. "Kevin deserves better, Gloria. And so do you." She added, trying to sound compassionate. The older woman sighed in resignation, glancing down the hall to see that one of her neighbors was headed in their direction.
"You'd better come in." She declared reluctantly, holding the door open and stepping aside. Lauren entered the apartment, taking in the familiar surroundings. Everything looked the same, right down to the outdated fashion magazines on the coffee table.
"Where's Kevin?" Lauren asked curiously. Gloria locked the front door before turning around to face her.
"He's still at school." She replied casually, moving away from the door to join Lauren in the cramped living room. She took off her sunglasses and tossed them onto the table. "Looks like I'm not the only one with a few battle scars." Gloria pointed out, gesturing to Lauren's neck.
"It's nothing." She said dismissively, reaching up to cover her throat, still bruised from yesterday's attack.
"You sound like me," Gloria said empathetically. "What happened?"
"Let's just say, I had my own 'Tom' to deal with." Lauren replied vaguely. She'd come here to talk about Kevin, not her own problems.
"I find that hard to believe," Gloria said, taking a seat on the worn couch. "A girl of your wealth and stature having to deal with men like Tom Fisher." She let out a bitter laugh. "I thought this kinda thing only happened to women like me."
"Gloria," Lauren sighed, sitting down beside her on the couch. "This isn't your fault, ya know. We all have to deal with the occasional creep every now and then, it's inevitable." Lauren teased, trying to cheer her up. "But once you realize what a huge jerk the guy is, that's when you need to kick him to the curb. Just like I did with my ex-boyfriend." She explained. "And just like you need to do with Tom."
"If only it were that easy…" Gloria said wistfully.
"There's no reason why it can't be." Lauren reasoned.
"You don't understand," Gloria said in frustration. "You're just a girl, you have your whole life in front of you. You don't have a job to keep, rent to pay, children to take care of…"
"You call letting your children be beaten taking care of them?" Lauren said incredulously. Gloria glared at her in anger.
"Don't you think I would stop him if I could?!" Gloria exclaimed. "He just gets so angry…"
"That's why you need to leave him, Gloria." Lauren stressed. "Men like Tom Fisher, they don't change. Is this how you want to live the rest of your life?"
"I need him," Gloria explained and Lauren could see she was close to tears. "You don't know what it was like for me trying to take care of Michael on my own after his father left. I can't go through that again."
"This isn't just about you, Gloria." Lauren declared in frustration. "If you won't do it for yourself, then do it for Kevin."
"Everything I do is for my boys." She argued vehemently.
"Then why is your son Michael sitting in a jail sell right now?" Lauren accused.
"I can't do anything about that." She explained dismissively.
"And poor Kevin.," Lauren continued. "He was in tears when he called me yesterday, terrified that Tom was going to come home and beat him again."
"Stop it." Gloria pleaded, covering her ears. "I don't have to listen to this."
"No, you don't." Lauren agreed. "You also don't have to sit back and watch while Tom ruins your child's life."
"I already told you, I can't leave him." Gloria said in frustration.
"And you don't have to." Lauren explained anxiously. Gloria looked at her, confused.
"What do you mean?" She asked wearily.
"Let Kevin come and live with me." Lauren offered.
"No." Gloria said dismissively, shaking her head in disapproval.
"Come on, it makes perfect sense." Lauren explained. "I have a huge house, Kevin would be able to have his own room and we could get him into a good school." She reasoned. "And best of all, he would be far away from Tom."
"And me." Gloria said angrily.
"You could come and visit him whenever you want…"
"Forget it!" The older woman yelled, standing up from the couch abruptly. "You are not taking my son away from me!"
"If you would just stop thinking about yourself for five seconds you'd realize that this is the best solution for everyone." Lauren reasoned, looking up at her pleadingly.
"And what's in it for me?" Gloria inquired, folding her arms in front of her chest defensively.
"What do you mean?" Lauren asked, not quite following her.
"Even if I were to let my son go and live with you, these bills aren't going to pay themselves." Gloria explained.
"Oh my God," Lauren gasped when she realized what the older woman was implying. "You want me to pay you for your son!"
"You're a wealthy girl, Lauren." Gloria explained nonchalantly. "I would think you'd be more than willing to shell out a little dough for a good cause."
"You are the most disgusting, pathetic excuse for a mother that I have ever met!" Lauren spat out in contempt as she leapt up from the couch and raised her hand to strike Gloria across the face.
"Stop!" Someone shrieked from the hallway. Startled, Lauren froze in mid-swing. She looked passed Gloria and saw that Kevin was standing on the outskirts of the living room, his eyes wide with terror. "Please don't hit my mom."
"Kevin!" Lauren said in surprise before glancing at Gloria suspiciously. "I thought you said he was at school?"
"I lied." The older woman said casually, still glaring at Lauren in contempt.
"I didn't mean to you scare you, buddy." She apologized, brushing passed Gloria to get to the little boy. "Your mother and I were just having a little chat and…" Lauren gasped when she took in Kevin's appearance for the first time. He was still in his pajamas, a dark yellow stain covered the front of his pants from where he had obviously wet himself earlier. He had a fresh cut on his bottom lip and his right arm was in a cast. Lauren's hand flew up to cover her mouth as she felt a lump form in her throat. "Oh my God…"
"It's okay, Lauren." Kevin explained timidly, seeing how upset she was. "It doesn't hurt that bad, honest."
"Oh, Kevin." Lauren said softly, tears streaming down her face. She walked over to him and crouched down on the floor, carefully gathering him up in her arms. She stroked his back gently, burying her face in his hair as she tried to pull herself together. "Sweetie, how did you break your arm?" Lauren asked the little boy calmly, pulling away slightly so that she could look him in the eye. She already had a pretty good idea how this happened and who was responsible for it, but she wanted to hear the whole story.
"Lauren, I…" He started to explain, his voice quivering as he fought off tears.
"He fell off the jungle gym at school." Gloria interrupted him abruptly. She marched over and grabbed Kevin by his good arm, roughly pulling him away from Lauren.
"Like hell he did," Lauren sneered angrily, standing up and glaring at Gloria in disgust. "How could you let that bastard hurt him like this?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Gloria explained, feigning ignorance. "It was an accident. He broke his arm playing at school. Didn't you, sweetie?" She said, urging Kevin to corroborate her story.
"Yes." The little boy replied timidly, his eyes focused on the floor.
"Kevin, sweetie, come on. You're coming with me." Lauren declared, already reaching for his hand but Gloria pulled him back.
"I don't think so, my son's not going anywhere with you." Gloria sneered defensively.
"Why are you doing this?" Lauren said pleadingly. "He's your baby, Gloria. Your baby. And look what you're letting that son of a b!tch do to him!" She exclaimed, gesturing to the little boy's broken arm and split lip. "If you were any kind of a mother at all, you would let me take him away from all of this."
"Get out." Gloria hissed, glaring at Lauren in anger. "I don't need to stand here and listen to you judge me. My son and I are not come charity case, ya got that?"
"That's funny because I seem to recall you asking for donations a few minutes ago." Lauren spat out in contempt.
"Get out!" Gloria repeated, more forcefully this time. "And if you ever come near my son again, I'll file a restraining order. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal." Lauren replied flippantly. She and Kevin were now about three feet apart but she crouched down anyway, trying to get his attention.
"Hey, buddy." She said softly, and his eyes darted up to meet hers. Her heart broke when she saw the look of pain and sorrow on his face. "I want you to be brave, okay?" She requested, her voice strained with emotion as she tried to hold back her tears. He nodded slightly. "Good boy. I promise you, this will all be over soon." Lauren declared with conviction. She offered him a reassuring smile before standing up and walking out of the apartment.
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She sat waiting in an uncomfortable plastic chair, nervously fidgeting with the 'visitor' ID card that hung around her neck. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice he had entered the room until the guard led him over to her table. She stood up to face him, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach that developed when their eyes met.
"What are you doing here?" Michael asked, obviously surprised to see her.
"We need to talk."