The police station smelled like cigarettes and bagels, but Ellis didn't really notice as a kind policewoman led him over to a plastic chair to sit in. A scratchy orange blanket was draped over his hunched shoulders.
Ellis didn't want to be here, stranded alone in the bustle of blue and black uniforms; he wanted Mama or Lann to come barging through the doors to find him.
"Hey, kid." Ellis looked up to see a balding policeman with an eyepatch smiling sadly down at him.
"Hullo." The policeman sat down in the hard plastic chair next to Ellis.
"I'm the Chief of the police station, but you can call me Ingkells." Ellis wrinkled his nose.
"You have a weird name." Ellis stiffened when he realized that he had said something mean, but Ingkells, rather than bursting into anger, had simply chuckled.
"It might be, but it's the name my mama gave me, and I love my mama too much to be embarrassed."
Ellis was silent for a moment, but a tiny smile forced its way onto his face. "I love my mama, too. And my brother."
Ingkells leaned in, looking as if he was interested in whatever Ellis was talking about. "Wow, you have a brother? I only have a bunch of sisters. What's he like?"
"Well, yesterday he took me to the park and we went on the swings and the slides and the…"