"…Jesus Christ." Kathy swore in complete astonishment as soon as her friend had finished updating her on the unthinkable turn of events of the day before. For a couple seconds, she just stared blankly into empty space, with her jaw dangling limply in total incredulity while Frankie fidgeted with her cup.
"That's…that's about everything, I think." The redhead murmured as the two sat at a small table tucked away in the corner of the tiny coffee joint. Besides them, the meeting place they had agreed on the night before was nearly empty save a sole waitress sweeping up. After each one quietly took a quick sip of their respective drinks, Kathy gazed at her reflection in her espresso before asking,
"And…this seriously all happened only yesterday? Jeez!" she yelped in alarm as a particularly horrifying thought crossed her mind. "Oh God, they didn't call the police or-"
"No, no, only social services…but since Monday afternoon, I've officially been under investigation." Frankie answered morosely, and her friend shook her head as she desperately struggled to absorb the horrific news.
"I…I just don't believe it….you of all people, I never would've thought someone would actually think to report you for…" she babbled, still reeling from shock as she shock her head. "I mean, this is so…wrong. You don't abuse Mac… for Pete's sake, you were still freaking out about that door accident when I called you Sunday, and…oh my God, I don't believe it, this is just so…"
Unsure of what else to say, she trailed off and stared blankly at the table before inquiring softly, "So… wait, did you get the name of who stopped by Foster's yesterday?"
"Lady by the last name of Corningston…" Frankie answered with a grimace, before adding anxiously, "Do…do you know her at all?"
"Know her?" Kathy coughed, with eyes bugging as the answer stunned her in mid-sip. "Frankie, that's…that's my boss you're talking about!"
"…Your… what?" Frankie repeated in a horrified whisper. Kathy hastily wiped her mouth on a napkin and nodded furiously.
"Yes! Well, one of the superiors at the office… and ever since I started working at the office downtown, I've been reporting specifically to her for…"
She trailed off, took a deep breath, and after this pause to get her thoughts in order, she stared Frankie right in the eyes and demanded, "Cripes, are you absolutely positive it was-"
"I'm sure." The redhead answered, to which Kathy only started to shake her head again in absolute disbelief, putting her friend at immense unease.
"…What? What's wrong?" the atrociously unsettled caretaker whimpered.
"What's wrong? The lady you're talking about sounds like some psycho who has a personal grudge against you, that's what I'm having trouble with." Kathy explained. "I mean, I'm not going to lie here, she's definitely a bit more…well, passionate about the job than a lot of us, and…see, she's not exactly too big of a fan of … I guess 'non-traditional' families would be the best way to put it-"
"Oh my God…" Frankie moaned in horror as her jade eyes immediately widened a little. "You can't be serious-"
"No, wait, wait, hear me out! It's okay, just hear me out!" Kathy sputtered as she signaled for Frankie to settle down. "She does have a bit of a bias, that I won't deny. But from what I've seen, in every case she handles, the one thing she always has in mind is what's best for the kid. See, that's why I'm having a little with what you're telling me, because…I'm sorry, but…"
The young woman paused, not sure how best to put it. "You're…see, you've been talking about this like she's only bent on separating you and Mac, and-"
"That's because that's exactly what she's trying to do." Frankie shot back defensively. "I know she is-"
"No, no, I don't believe it." Kathy flatly objected, though immediately she broke out grimacing apologetically. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Its just… like I said, all she wants in every case she takes care of is what's best for the child, and…I mean, how anyone can think you're not taking good care of the little guy…to be fair, I know she gets a little zealous about her work, but I don't think I've ever seen her make such a call like this before-"
"Well there's a first time for everything!" Frankie snapped involuntarily, surprising her friend with the ferocity of her reply.
"Frankie-"
"Kath, you have to believe me." The redhead begged shamelessly. "She's already convinced I'm just an unstable monster, and it's only a matter of time before I-"
"Okay, okay, look, I know you're freaking out about this, all right? None of us saw this coming, and I know things don't look good at all right now, but what you really need to do is calm down, and listen to me, okay?" Kathy pleaded.
"Okay…" Frankie murmured softly as the other woman continued on.
"All right…I know you're not going to believe me when I say this, and I know this is a pretty bad mess…but I think you're getting a little overworked about this-"
"What?" Frankie immediately yelped, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"No, no, just hold on! It'll all work out, I promise! You'll be fine! Trust me, I know what the drill's going to be, she's probably just going stop by and observe you a few times, see that there's obviously no abuse or anything going on, and then-"
"But it's not just 'passion' she's handling my case with, it's…it's fanaticism!" Frankie objected. "And every time we meet, all she does is rile me up to the point I become the psycho witch she thinks I am! Now she's already made up her mind, she really thinks that Mac's honestly in danger by living with me, I know it! She wants him out of Foster's and away from me as soon as -"
"Every time you guys meet?" Kathy repeated confusedly. "This all happened only yesterday. Look, I know you didn't get off to a good start, but I promise, things will work out just fine. All anyone at the agency wants to know in any case is if the kid's all right with their current family, and in your situation, that won't be hard -"
"But you don't understand!" Frankie confessed. "I…I already have a history with this-"
"I know you have a bad rap with a couple others at the agency, but that wasn't your fault they all kept misreading Mac's file like that every time they came across it." Kathy did her first to assuage her friend's worry as she tried to flash a weak but optimistic smile. "We can get past that, don't worry-"
"No, no, not just that, with her specifically!" Frankie interrupted. "For God's sake, the first time she saw me, I was being restrained by several cops in-"
Startled by this sudden bombshell of a revelation, Kathy nearly showered Frankie with a mouthful of coffee, and just barely managed to swallow it as she choked in astonishment,
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! She saw you do WHAT? Frankie, when the hell did you…wait…wait, you mean…" she stammered as realization struck her with the force of a stampeding herd of mad bulls. "Oh God, when…when Mac's mom died, and…and he got dumped in an orphanage after the car accident, and…and at the police station…you…you mean…she was the one who took him away?"
"W-well…I…I just-" Frankie whimpered as Kathy, wide-eyed in stupefaction, exclaimed loudly,
"You never told me it was her!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I-I never knew! I swear, I honestly had no idea at all!" The flustered caretaker started sputtering apologetically. "I thought she was just an average social worker who'd just dump Mac off in the system, not …"
As Frankie struggled to explain, Kathy elicited a heavy sigh of painfully deep frustration as she buried her face in her hands.
"Oh My God…oh my God, after all I went through for you back then, after everything that…I" she began murmuring exasperatedly to herself as her friend whined,
"Kathy, please-"
"After that mess, I nearly turned the entire office downtown upside down trying to find out where Mac was for you! Do you have any idea how hard that is when you're only two months into the job while already handling twenty cases? Do you?" Kathy demanded before shuddering a little at the memory. "It's hard enough getting things done when you're low man on the totem pole like I am-"
"Kathy, I'm sorry." Frankie just continued repeating miserably. "I'm sorry, if I -"
"All I had to work with from you was that you remembered it was some lady with glasses who took him! Do you have a clue how many people at the office fit that description? I was using every extra second I had to try and search, and it was all nothing but dead end after another dead end with a million leads to nowhere! You mean I just could've just tried to pry it out of my boss instead? She probably took care of everything herself, y'know-"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I had no idea!" Frankie whimpered, cringing a little as she too recalled the terrible experience. "I-I didn't think that…I-I didn't know that she was your-"
"Well, she is!" Kathy snapped as she struggled to absorb this new revelation, and paused a few seconds to try and regain some composure. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just… I could've just gone to her, but no, and before I could get anywhere, you had to almost be almost killed by a…Christ, when I learned that you were in the hospital after you tried to…jeez, I almost had a heart attack that day, you know that? I swear, I almost-"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!" Frankie sputtered. "I don't know how else to put it, I'm sorry! But don't you see what the problem is? For all she knows, I'm just a-"
"Okay, okay, okay! Calm down! I get it! I get it!" Kathy interrupted as she tried to keep a level head in the midst of the rising tensions. "Okay, so the cards don't seem to be stacked in your favor right now, I get it! But I told you, all she or anyone else I work with ever wants is what's best for the child in every case, and-"
"But what happens when I'm seen as the biggest threat to Mac?" Frankie beseeched as she pointed to herself. "That's the problem, she already thinks the best thing to do is revoke custody! She's already convinced I'm unfit, and because of that, all she does is push my buttons every time we meet to the point where I just can't help but-"
"Will you please settle down?" Kathy pleaded. "I know you're freaked out about all of this, and I would be too if I was in your place after what you've been through, okay? Considering what I do, the fact you're still my friend is practically a miracle. But I know how the system works; you'll be all right. Everything's going to be fine, she'll see that she was wrong-"
"All she'll see is me screaming like a maniac because she'll let the accusations fly the second I step within fifty feet of her!" Frankie argued. "I told you, she's being a total fanatic about this, and I just can't handle the-"
"Frankie, she's not-"
"Stop sticking up for her!" Frankie yelled, as her mercilessly dashed hopes forced her temper to flare uncontrollably.
"But Frankie-"
"She doesn't trust me because I can't control my temper around her, but I can't control my temper because she doesn't trust me! This won't work out at all-"
"Whoa, calm down! It will work out on its own, I promise. I know how-"
"No, it won't-"
"But-"
"Will you please knock it off? Dammit, you people are all alike!" Frankie banged her fist upon the table and involuntarily yelled as she finally reached wits end, stunning her friend so effectively at first the young woman was at a total loss for words.
"….What?" Kathy finally answered.
"You heard me!" Frankie growled as she exploded. "You guys never admit that you're wrong about anything! I've got Corningston who's convinced I'm an unfit monster, and all you have to say is that everything's just going to be peachy-keen! Newsflash, I'm not an abusive psycho, and this mess is not just going to work out for the best on its own! But no, you think just because you're supposed to do what's best for the children, everything you do and think is the right thing, even though I'm getting told two different things while I'm getting jerked around -"
"Frankie, it will be just fine-" Kathy tried to interject as her ire started to soar in the face of her friend's unrelenting stubbornness.
"No, it won't! See? See? This is what I'm talking about! All you do is keep on yapping about how 'it's okay, it'll be alright' and…"
"Frankie-"
"…You can't see the problem I have, just like that witch you work for doesn't want to see how -"
"Frankie-"
"…I'm sick of this! I'm sick of being force-fed all this garbage by you people! None of you can just wake-up and-"
"Frankie!" Kathy finally cut her off with a defensive snarl. "Do you have any idea what you're saying? This is my job you're talking about! This is my life you're talking about! Earth to Miss Foster, we're not the Department of Mistakes-and-Dimwits, it's the Department of Social Services!"
"You could've fooled me!" the enraged redhead replied scornfully, driving the other woman further into a boiling fury as they practically went at each other's throats.
"Is that it? Is that what you think we are? Just a bunch of crazy morons on the state payroll?" she hissed, with twin infernos raging in her dark brown eyes as she descended into a deep fury. "I'm not a fanatical moron, and neither is anyone I work with! We do it because we just want to help! You think we're just picking on you? We don't randomly crew with people for the fun of it or because we don't know any better! There's a reason you're in trouble right now, because God forbid we actually do our job and investigate possible abuse! We're not the moronic government-sanctioned baby-snatchers every numbskull says we are, and I know our system's not perfect, but I don't care what the hell you have to say, it still works, but you don't want to think that because you won't get a grip…"
Insulted beyond compare, Kathy raged on, as she defended her occupation passionately, it didn't take Frankie to snap back to her sense long enough realize what a horrifically fatal mistake she had made with her earlier outburst. As she watched her one major hope fade rapidly by the instant, the redhead frantically tried to cool the flames of her own anger and regaining control of herself as she blurted out,
"Wait, Kathy! W-wait!"
"What?"
"I'm s-sorry!" Frankie began babbling as penitently as possible. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was thinking! I-I didn't mean to say that-"
"Excuse me? Oh, so now I should just forget everything you just told me?" her enormously offended friend snapped, unconvinced Frankie's pleas were sincere. "What the hell was that all about just now? Is that what you think? Is that what I really am to you?"
Not yet willing to accept that she had ruined her chances, Frankie could feel the hot tears of despondency well up in her eyes as she begged shamelessly,
"No, no! Kathy, I'm sorry! I'm s-sorry! Please, I-I really need your help! I need you to vouch for me! Tell them that you know me, and-"
"Oh, first I'm like all the other good-for-nothing social workers, but now suddenly my kind is good for something for once?" Kathy snarled lividly. "Make up your goddamn mind!"
"Kathy, please!" Frankie whimpered hoarsely. "Y-you don't understand, I-I really need this! Please, I n-need you to tell them you know me-"
"For the last time, the system's going to work for you without me trying to throw a wrench in the works! You'll be just fine!" Kathy almost howled in frustration.
"No, n-no I won't! Not on my own, I can't handle it! Please, I really need you to tell them that I don't abuse Mac, a-and that I take good care of him, it's just the stress here I can't handle! I-I'm sorry about what I said, b-but you really have t-to believe me, I-"
Her frantic pleas unfortunately were all for naught. Hopelessly swept up in a torrid rage, Kathy tuned out the caretaker completely as she wordlessly dug out a few dollars for her drink, slammed it onto the table, scowled wordlessly at Frankie once more, and then stormed outside without glancing back.
Not realizing yet that the sole waitress was warily observing her, Frankie allowed the tears to stream down her cheeks and buried her face in her arms with a frustrated sob as she was overwhelmed with crushing despair.
"Goddamn social workers…"