****TRIGGER WARNING: CHILD ABUSE, PHYSICAL ABUSE, AND SUICIDE IDEATION/ATTEMPT*****
"I'll talk to him." Cory promised without realizing. He could feel Amira's eyes widening in surprise over the call. "You want to that involved?"
"Farkle has been in my life as since Riley's been six years old and I've known his father since middle school, trust me, I'm involved." Cory explained.
"I wouldn't recommend it, but if you are inclined to talk to Mr. Minkus then you could come by the office tomorrow. Noon- the Minkus are planning to have a televised plea to help in the search of Farkle." Amira explained, Cory could hear her tone turn aggravated at the idea of televised plea.
"Noon tomorrow, I'll be there." Cory promised. "Keep me posted?"
"Always." Amira replied before hanging up the phone.
That had occurred a little over 24hours ago. As of now he had his daughter and her friend, his student, in tow, as they ran to Amira's office.
Cory could see his daughter and Zay's face: distraught and fear clearly written across both their features as they waited for the elevator to reached their floor.
Cory, of course, had knots forming in his stomach as well. But all that changed, once he and the kids stepped off the elevator. The mood in the waiting room was palpable, with Torri and a few other workers standing around Torri's desk- they were huddled together- mute and still as they faced the door at the end of the office- Amira's office.
"Is everything alright?" Cory asked cautiously as he approached the group.
A woman with long dark braids turned to him, her face scrunched in confusion and frustration. "Don't know. They've been in there for a while now." She explained.
Torri nodded and pointed towards Amira's door. "She's expecting you." Torri glanced at Riley and Zay. "Are you two going in with him?"
"Yes." Riley and Zay answered in unison.
Cory huffed out a half laugh before tapping his fingers nervously against the desk. "How's the mama bear?"
Torri sucked in her cheeks for a moment before giving him a cheeky look, "Which one?" she asked sarcastically, earning a small laugh from the group.
"Fair, who's actually winning then?" Cory asked, clarifying his question. He could already hear a few different voices talking.
"Definitely Amira." Said another therapist, "She's out for blood. Luckily, ACS sent their lawyer to help us out."
Torri blew a raspberry at the woman's direction, "You honestly think ACS sent a lawyer to protect us? Ha! Please, they sent someone to cover their own ass, we're contracted; they don't have anything to gain or lose by this."
"Is there something to actually lose?" Riley asked attentively, "Are they going to shut down the clinic?"
"No." Torri answered definitively, "They can try, but they are not."
Cory, Riley, and Zay looked at awe at the group, who then suddenly seemed to straighten up and showed that they were willing to commit to the fight. It was the encouragement they needed to go in finally where they found Amira standing face to face with Farkle's mother-Jennifer, another woman with black pin straight hair and a gray suit standing behind them while two men, both wearing power suits standing on the side. Cory recognized Anuj standing behind Amira, his hand around her shoulder as a show of comfort and support. Another person, a much shorter woman wearing a black hijab stood behind Amira as well. Her eyes set unequivocally on a shaking Stuart Minkus.
"Hi." Riley spoke up first, shaking the room of adults out of their argument. Without realizing it, Riley ran straight to Amira and hugged her, barely hearing Amira ask Cory why he would Riley and another minor into the meeting.
"We begged him. We had to come. Farkle is our friend, we're not going to stand around and do nothing." Zay explained, looking clearly nervous but assured of himself and Riley. He stepped up to Amira with his hand out to shake her hand, "Isaiah Babineaux, but everyone calls me Zay."
Amira's eyes grew large, recognizing that name immediately, "You're Zay. Farkle spoke highly of you. I'm glad he had a friend taking care of him."
Something looking similar to shame and sadness settled over Zay, but before he could respond Fark's mother scoffed and snapped at Amira, "You see, how unethical she is! She basically just linked Isaiah to our son without a thought." She pointed a finely manicured figure at Amira's direction, "Do you honestly believe she's a competent therapist?"
Amira's brown eyes turned near black as she took a step towards Jennifer, only to accidentally pull Anuj as well. The woman with straight black hair held her hand in front of Amira as well, but couldn't stop Amira from nearly snapping back.
"Again, Mrs. Minkus, Farkle is over 13 years old, he legally does not need your consent to see a therapist. And again, might I repeat, for your stuck-up lawyer over there." She emphasized the insult by pointing at said lawyer.
(He did look sort of stuck up if Riley had to be honest with his sleeked backed hair and over sized gold watch)
"Farkle was never a client, meaning he never had client privilege with me. Our conversations were at max 15 minutes. So legally, LEGALLY, I couldn't even submit that as a billable and legal timed session, not even as a freaking case worker!"
The woman trying to hold back Amira glanced at Jennifer and Stuart, "And again, might I add Trevor," A man with dark gray hair and small glasses nodded in acknowledgement, "Ms. Habib did call ACS to report the suspected abuse. As for you, Mr. Calder," The man with the sleeked back hair nodded while rolling his eyes, "Ms. Habib, nor did this agency and ACS play a role in your clients' son running away. In case you weren't listening to your client during the interview with NYPD, she hadn't even notice Farkle missing for over a day." The woman stepped closer to Calder. "So before you throw any type of frivolous lawsuit against the state of New York and this agency, think how much of an actual lawsuit will be pending against your clients for abuse and neglect."
Cory froze, he pulled back Riley and Zay. "You guys need to go outside, now."
"No!" Zay nearly shouted.
"Dad, we're not leaving! Farkle is missing, we can help." Riley pleaded as Cory pushed them towards the door.
"I know you can help, but listening to this won't help either of you." Before he could get them actually out of the room, a familiar voice made him stop.
"It would help me." Stuart stated, finally getting up. He was shaky on his feet, Cory could feel the wariness coming off his old school peer. Minkus looked wrecked, his skin rough, the skin under his eyes puffy and billowy.
Minkus stopped in front of Riley and Zay, he kept rubbing his hands together of out nervousness. "You two have been a constant in his life for a while now." He stated, earning a nod from both kids.
"I know that I haven't been an active father lately." Minkus sniffed, a slight laugh comoing out of what Cory could sworn was actually a sob. "And I can't blame anyone else for that except for myself." He breathed out shakily, "He was spending his nights with you, right?" he asked Zay, who only nodded back. "Did he talk to you?" Minkus asked Riley, she shook her head 'no' feeling the tears burn her eyes as her hand reached out for Zay. She nearly broke when she realized that Zay's hand was out for her to hold already.
"He's been talking to me." Zay confirmed, "Or at least, trying to talk to me. He's can't really…y'know?" Zay mumbled unsure of how to state the obvious in front of the all the adults in the room.
Minkus nodded tearfully, agreeing with the unspoken words. His hands settled on Zay's shoulders, "Zay, did Farkle ever tell you that his mom was abusing him?"
"Minkus." Cory's voice was soft but carried a weight of a strong warning.
"Are you seriously going to take the word of a child over your own wife?!" Jennifer asked incredulously, her voice nearing high pitch.
Minkus ignored her as well as the order from his lawyer to not let Zay answer the questions with lawyers and witnesses present. But Minkus ignored them all, his eyes focused just on Zay's. "Zay, did Farkle tell you what happened to him? Did anything happen to him?"
Zay took a deep breath, his lips pressed together as he squeezed Riley's hand in support. "He didn't say anything directly, but he would have nightmares of his mom beating him. He had these." Zay let go of Riley's hand to pull out his phone, showing pictures of bruises, cuts, and even burns on Farkles's back. The pictures were candid, Farkle was either facing away from the phone or didn't realize that the pictures were being taken.
"I'm sorry." Said Zay as Minkus gently took away the phone.
The laugh coming out of MInkus sounded horrible to everyone's ears. It was high and loud, nearly making everyone jump.
"You did this." Minkus huffed, not even daring to ask his wife.
Calder gently stepped between the two, "Those photos could have easily been doctored by his so called peers." Calder reminded Minkus.
Minkus guffawed at that, he pressed the phone against the lawyer's face. "DOES THAT LOOK DOCTORED TO YOU?" MInkus yelled, "You're MY lawyer, not hers'!" Minkus remined Calder, the older man had the decency to look flustered
"How long did you think you could continue to do this to him? Jennifer, he's OUR son!" he shifted his attention back on his wife. "Our SON! You abused him to within an inch to his life for how long?!" Minkus yelled.
"What would you have me do?" Jennifer snapped, "Do you know what its like to raise a child?" she nodded as that question put Minkus in his place. "Of course you don't, but you get to enjoy having a child. I have to raise him, Stuart. I had to train him to be a man, a successful one at that. Do you realize how many distractions children have now? How easy it is for them to fall and break apart now? One minute he's my child, earning the best grades, wearing only what I said a successful gentlemen wear, and knowing when to study. And then he's this little rebellion without a clue about what's really out there and with a girlfriend, no less. And not even a pretty one at that!"
(Riley was quick to pull back Zay at that)
"I had to do what I did to make sure he knew where his place was!" Jennifer admitted. "No one can't tell me that my son isn't a smart and successful man."
"But he's not a man, he's a teenager." A woman spoke up, everyone turned to see Jallani (the short woman wearing the black hijab), her chin raised high in defiance and eyes in slits. "You're not raising a child, nor is Farkle Minkus a man. He's a teenager who was showing and reaching natural milestones, he is a teenager who is discovering himself and the world because that's what teenagers have to do, because that is what autonomy is discovered and cemented." Jallani walked up to Jennifer, the top of her head barely reaching her chest. "You're not raising a carbon copy of yourself or what you hoped you could have been, but a different person entirely. Punishing your son for becoming a person not only destroys his ability to express himself but his ability to trust others, you're his first line of trust and now you have destroyed it for yourself and everyone else. Congregations Mrs. Minkus, you have now succeeded in raising a teenager who will no doubt be highly affected by this once he becomes an adult."
The room grew quiet for a moment before Minkus ordered her to leave.
"Stuart." Jennifer looked hurt and confused.
"Leave now. You don't have to be here at all since you clearly don't care for our son's wellbeing." Minkus breathing was becoming erratic. "You need to leave. Now. And I don't want you staying at our house. You need to leave the premises by the time I return."
"You're joking." Jennifer's smile seemed desperate as she tried to reach out for him.
Minkus bit the inside of his cheek as he took a step back away from her. "Not about this, Jennifer. Go."
"Be sure to say hi to the NYPD once you leave." Said Amira as Anuj escorted Jennifer out of the room before closing the door.
He sped walked to Minkus, who looked to be having a difficult time breathing. Cory was by his side as well, the two men led Minkus over to couch. Riley ran to Amira's fridge and pulled out a bottle of water for MInkus.
"Mr. Minkus?" Riley asked, she handed the bottle to the man. Minkus accepted the drink but still appeared to be having issues breathing. His face was red and he was hunched over.
Cory pulled Riley away as Amira moved to be in front of Minku. "Stuart, you need to breath."
"I-am-try-" Minkus gasped, his face becoming red.
"What color is the wall?" Amira asked. Riley recognized the shift in tone of Amira's voice. She smiled, despite herself, it was Amira's calming voice that she would use with her when she was starting to have a panic attack. The color count always gave Riley a chance to become grounded again, especially at school
"Wha-?"
"What color is the wall?" Riley asked, stepping next to Amira.
Minkus looked around, unsure how to describe the color of the walls. Minkus was all about precision and details, even during a panic attack. He looked like he was having difficulty deciding on what kind of color the walls were before settling on just saying "Blue?" after a few moments of silence.
"Good." Riley smiled, "What color is the chair?"
"Black."
"What color is your shirt?"
"Gray."
"What color is my shirt?"
"Orange." Minkus breathing was becoming less erratic, his chest finally calming and the red in his face was beginning to drain.
"What color is Amira's shirt?"
"Red."
"What color is Anuj's shirt?"
"Blue."
"Great, what color is my dad's shirt?"
"Purple." His voice was finally even. Minkus took a deep breath through his nose, "You're good at this." Minkus complimented her as he fell back against the couch. Nearly finishing the bottle of water in two gulps.
"That she is." Jallani smiled knowingly at a bashful looking Amira. "A wonderful job you did there." Her smile wry as she introduced herself to Cory, Riley, and Zay as Dr. Aisha Jallani, the founder and CEO of the agency. She introduced the woman with the straight black hair as Mrs. Alex Lei, the attorney for the agency. Riley smiled shyly as she was introduced properly to Anuj and Mr. Beyet, the ACS attorney.
"While I can't say that I am happy that you two heard everything discussed, I am glad that you at least supported your friend thoroughly and documented his abuse. I know it must have been difficult for you two to have witnessed that."
Riley stepped back and pushed Zay forward, "Actually, it was all Zay. He did great."
"Riley!"
"She's right." Amira confirmed as she stood in front of Zay, "You did a lot for Farkle, Zay. And you're right, it's difficult for him to talk, even more so to watch him realize what's going on with him. He told me how you let him stay at your house, how you would take him to the clinic to get checked out, and even just let him vent. He trusted you more than anyone."
Riley could feel her heart break as she watched Zay put his head down, tears cascading down his face. Before she could reach out for his hand, Amira cupped his face gently so that she could tilt his face to look at her. "You did so much more than anyone else could have done for a friend going through that, you protected him and loved him when he needed it even when he couldn't admit it. I'm so proud of you Zay."
That's what broke Zay enough to hug Amira. "I'm sorry." He mumbled into her shirt, "I should have said something sooner, but he wouldn't let me. He kept saying he was dealing with it."
"I know. You did everything that you could have done and you did enough, okay?" Amira reminded him, rubbing his back to calm the young boy down.
"What now?" Cory asked after a beat.
Calder, surprisingly, was the first one to speak up. "Mr. Minkus still has a televised press meeting addressing his son's disappearance to attend to, we pushed back another hour. Despite what has occurred here, I would still advise we make that meeting. Farkle Minkus has been missing for more than two days now."
"I agree." Lei stated, "We have to get word out there. Quickly." Lei turned to study Minkus for a moment, to see if he actually looked mentally stable enough to do a televised speech. "Mr. Minkus?"
Minkus sighed loudly, "…Yeah…I-I can do it. I have to do it." He flinched before getting up with the help of Cory and Anuj. "Just give me a moment."
"Of course." Lei nodded, giving way for Minkus and Calder to walk towards the door.
"Anything we could do?" Cory asked softly so that only Minkus could hear him.
"You've done more than you should have." Minkus answered, he patted Cory's shoulder, "I'll let you know, okay?"
Cory licked his lips, unsure if he should stick close just in case, but he decided to back off for Minkus' sake. "Yeah, sure. Just…let me know."
Minkus nodded silently before following his lawyer out. He stopped suddenly, along with Calder at the door. "Zay, I'm going to need those pictures."
Zay nodded. "Yeah, sure."
Minkus rubbed his face, the whole meeting had made him more exhausted and emotionally drained. He didn't say goodbye or a wave as he shut the door behind him.
A few seconds passed when Anuj rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "We're gonna need the kids to leave for this part." He stated, looking pointedly at Jallani, who looked exhausted.
"Agreed." Lei crossed her arms in concern.
Amira sniffed, rubbing her arms as she escorted Riley and Zay out the room.
"Why can't we stay? We already know everything!" Riley snapped.
Amira's voice became wary and sore, "Not everything. You two don't need to hear every overwhelming thing." She explained vaguely. "Torri!" she pointed at Riley and Zay, wordlessly giving out her request. Once Torri gave her the okay, Amira quickly went back into the office and locked the door.
Cory looked to be the only one who was not aware about what was going on. "What's happening here?" Cory asked, concern etched in every line in his face.
Amira swallowed her anguish, not really sure how to tell Cory of what they had found out about the Minkus family before the meeting.
"Amira?" Cory looked at her quizzically.
"Before the Minkus family came in today, Beyet and Lei found out that a call to 911 had been made from a neighbor of the Minkus'."
Cory frowned, "Someone heard Jennifer beating Farkle or him crying?"
Amira shook her head, "No, the call came around 2 am. The neighbor reported they heard gun shots, two shots."
Cory could feel his blood rush to his head, he swallowed down the urge to vomit. "What?!" he nearly yelled. "Does-Does that mean Farkle's de-"
"Stop!" Amira gritted her teeth, a warning to him to quiet down. "No, it doesn't mean that Farkle is dead."
"There wasn't any evidence of Farkle being in the home." Beyet explained.
"So who-?" Cory looked around the group for an answer.
"There's a good chance, Mr. Matthews, that Mrs. Minkus might have attempted suicide. When EMT and NYPD showed to the scene she was highly intoxicated and had a letter typed out on her phone stating she was a disappointment." Beyet answered him.
"Jennifer?" Cory looked astounded, "I know she's wound up tight, more so than I thought, but not so screwed up that she would-"
"Mr. Matthews, I cannot tell you how or why we know this to be a fact, but be assured that we can tell you that Mrs. Jennifer Minkus is a high risk to herself and her son." Beyet said, "She's not going to be getting Farkle Minkus back and I doubt she will be facing jail time for being his abuser."
"How is that possible? We have pictures."
Amira shrugged, her face becoming nearly stoic looking, "Ever tried to convict a uber upper-class white woman before? Not really a thing, add to that she's suicidal and basically a single mother, no jury in New York would convict her, much less sentence her to jail time."
"Amira." Jallani warned.
"C'mon, Jallani." Amira whined with her hands up in disgust, "Half our caseloads deal with abusers and traffickers, and THEY don't get convicted unless their victims are dead or come from money. The only one in the end who's gonna get hurt by all of this is Farkle."
"Make no mistake Ms. Habib, we will be taking Mrs. Minkus to court." Beyet paused, a thoughtful look gracing over his aging face. "But you're right in some regards in terms of time being spent in jail. Unless Farkle MInkus to testify against her."
"But we gotta find him first." Cory sighed as he stated the obvious, it was a lot to take in. He was thankful for Riley and Zay being taken out of the room.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
The rest of the day for Riley was blurry at best. She and Zay had gone back to school where they found that word of Farkle being missing had spread much to their chagrin.
Lucas, Maya, and Smackle kept close together and would occasionally glance towards Riley and Zay but never actually confronted them.
While Riley and Zay didn't mind too much, they were annoyed at the amount of rumors swirling around and being created quickly about their friend.
And while Lucas, Maya, and Smackle did their best to deflect the rumors, they quickly noticed that the three only picked up the rumors in passing, they were getting much more sympathy from their peers. Whereas Riley and Zay were getting ridiculed by their peers and hearing the gossip directly from classmates.
They both left school before the bell could officially dismiss them at the end of the day. They watched while holding hands the press conference Minkus was holding in order to give out a plea to the public to find his son.
By the time Riley was ready for bed, she was beyond tired and passed out on her bed still wearing her clothes from school. She would have slept through the whole night but a soft beat woke her up. At first Riley was unsure if she really heard it and believed it was just the rain picking up, she could hear the rain still and then…
The soft tap came from the window.
Riley frowned, she looked at her phone. It was 3:15 am. Her frown deepened when the soft tap continued and formed another beat.
"What the?"
Riley slowly opened her blinds and closed her mouth quickly to muffle her scream.
"Farkle!" Her cry was hushed as she quickly unlocked and opened her bay window. She had seen him come and leave smoothly through her window for years now, but this time Farkle's movement was slowly and cautious. She knew he was injured severely from how he moved, while she couldn't see the injuries his body had suffered. The injuries to his face were clear: he had a huge bruise and a long cut on his right cheek, both eyes were darkened by bruises, his lip was busted right in the middle, and he had bruises in the shape of hands on his neck.
Riley knew she was crying before she could carry Farkle to his bed. "I miss this." Farkle slurred and raw. He closed his eyes and let out a soft whimper when Riley carried his face in her hands gently.
"You're not okay, Farkle." Riley cried as Farkle touched her hands, his eyes closed as he cherished her touches.
"I'm not, Riley." Farkle agreed, his blue eyes waters and making the bruises around his face look more horrible. "But I got to leave. So it's all good now." He looked horrible, his pants were stained with dirt and caked with mud. His shirt was stained and ripped as well, Riley was sure she saw flecks of red that she prayed wasn't blood. What got her the most were the bruises that showed through shirt. While Farkle did have a jacket, the collar did nothing to hide the hand shaped bruises around his neck.
"You know it's not Farkle." Riley said honestly, she rubbed her thumb gently over his lip. "I'm so sorry."
Farkle shook his head, "I never wanted you to know."
"I wish you told me."
"I wish you told me you were hurting yourself."
Riley bit her lip, "Me cutting is nothing compared to what you've going through."
Farkle shook his head again, "You cutting and hurting yourself is everything to me Riley. I never wanted you to hurt yourself."
"I don't you to be hurt either Farkle." Riley countered. "We kept trying to protect each other from hiding what was really going on with us. We shouldn't have done that." Riley realized, "We-we need to be honest about everything. We can't lie to just protect ourselves or each other Farkle."
Farkle nodded, wincing as he shifted closer to Riley. "Then I should really confess another lie that I've been keeping from you for a while now." Farkle mumbled more to himself than to Riley.
"What is it?" Riley asked, studying his face for signs for what his other lie could be
Farkle shifted closer, his weight on one hand as his other hand settled on Riley's cheek to bring her closer slowly to give her time to move back and away from him.
Riley allowed Farkle to pull her closer till their lips met. It wasn't like their first kiss- fast, off, and awkward.
This kiss was slow, soft, measured, and tearful, but sweet.
Riley could feel the butterflies in her stomach flying everywhere as she pulled Farkle closer. His hand in her hair was what made her pull back slowly.
"I love you Riley." Farkle confessed as he rested his forehead against hers'.
They had always told each other that they loved each other.
It was true.
But this one felt different. A different tone and a different promise and a different kind of love that made Riley's skin warm and the butterflies tenfold.
Riley went back for another kiss, this one short and quick. "I love you too."