Chapter 44

Thanks once again for all the wonderful notes of encouragement and praise. It's much appreciated. I still don't own any part of STFBE, just doing this for fun. Please let me know what you think.

Sue called Anita, but got her voice mail. She tried email, but didn't get an answer. She called the laundry she worked at, but no one was there either. She needed to find a way to help, a way to get her out of the situation she was in. Finally after an hour had passed, she received a message from Anita saying she was fine, she'd taken care of things. When Sue asked what happened, she said that Jacob had fallen during soccer and sprained his wrist. The hospital was giving her a hard time about an adult picking him up and signing him out. Sue texted her back and asked if she was still at the hospital, she said yes.

"I'll be right there." Sue texted.

Sue ran to the hospital as quickly as she could. Once there, she found the wounded part of the young family, gathered around while Jacob was sitting on a stretcher, with his hand wrapped and arm in a sling. Sue hugged Jacob and was surprised when Anita also greeted her with a hug.

"Who are you?" A nurse asked.

Anita tapped her on the shoulder. "Nurse." She said.

"Hi. I'm Sue Thomas." Sue said extending her hand. The nurse didn't take it. Sue seemed a bit put off, but didn't give much thought to it.

"Like I said, who are you?" The nurse snapped.

"As I said, Sue Thomas. Sue pulled out her FBI credentials once again. She hadn't had to show her creds as much on the job as she had with this family over the past month. "How's Jacob?"

The nurse raised an eyebrow in Anita's direction. "Hmm…" She said, picking up the rest of the room. "Who are you to the kids?" She asked.

"Friend of the family." Sue answered.

"Where's the mother?" She asked. "I didn't get the best answer when I asked earlier."

"What did they tell you?" Sue asked.

"You answer my question first." The nurse said.

"She's with the kids' grandmother for a little bit. I don't know the details just that she's helping the grandmother for a few days." Sue answered. She was trying to be sure she didn't lie.

"Can you guarantee their safety tonight at least? We can't release him unless there's an adult at the home in case he needs medication." The nurse explained.

"They'll be safe tonight." Sue assured.

"OK then. Take these papers to the front desk, they'll get your pharmacy information. Here are 2 pain pills for tonight. Fill the other prescription in the morning. Rest the hand, keep it wrapped while you're awake and in the sling for the next two weeks, at least. Ice it twenty minutes on twenty off. Make an appointment in the morning with your doctor." She said handing Sue a handful of paperwork.

"Thank you." Sue said. "Come on guys." She said as they followed her to checkout. Sue put them in her car and drove them home. "How did you get here?"

"One of the other moms. She stayed for a little while, but once I got there, she had to get going with her own family. I assured her we'd be fine. I had no idea they wouldn't release him to me." She said.

"That would be a downfall of being under eighteen." Sue said with a grimace. They drove in relative silence the rest of the way to the children's home. Anita tried to reassure Sue they'd be fine, she could just drop them off, but Sue wouldn't hear of it.

An hour later, Sue sat at the table with Anita, neither really saying anything. Jacob had finally fallen asleep. His hand propped up on a couch pillow with an ice bag sitting on the top. Anita had convinced him to take one of the pain pills and he was able to finally drift off to dream land.

"The nurse showed me how to wrap it for tomorrow. I hope it doesn't hurt too much though. I really don't want him having to take too many pills… you know with our family history, can't be too careful." Anita said sadly.

"You be the responsible one. You control his medicine. You can lock it up if you think there will be a problem." Sue paused. "Have any of the kids shown any of the tendencies one might see with an abuser?"

"I don't know, to be honest. Other than someone being strung out, or passed out, I don't know what the signs would be." She shrugged. "I should research it though… never know when I'll have to deal with it." She paused to let out a long heavy breath. "Do you think that's something we'll have to worry about?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Have you talked to anyone about this? Have you ever been to an addiction meeting? I've heard they can be of help. You and the children would probably benefit from some support meetings." Sue suggested.

"I don't want anyone knowing what we went through." She all but whispered.

"It's totally anonymous, no one talks to anyone outside the room about what's going on now or in the past. You're not alone in what you're dealing with, you know that right?" Sue asked.

"Sure feels like it most days." Anita admitted.

"I'm sure it does, but you're not the only one to ever be in this situation, to deal with a parent who is an addict." Sue said reassuringly.

"I'll think about it. Right now, I just have to keep the kids safe, get through school, and everything will be good." She said, not convincingly.

"I'll sleep on the couch tonight." Sue said.

"No. Thank you, but we're fine. Jacob will sleep through the night. He has school in the morning. We have school in the morning. We'll be OK. Really." Anita said.

"I hate to leave." Sue said.

"Thanks, but we're alright. I'll lock up right after you leave, and take the ice pack and put it away before I hit the sack myself." Anita said. Sue wasn't comfortable with leaving them alone, but knew they'd be ok.

"Alright. If you need me, call." Sue said demandingly.

"I did before, right?" She said more than asked. Sue nodded.

"I'll call you tomorrow to check on Jacob. Get some rest." Sue said as she headed to the door.

"Ms. Thomas?" Anita called. Levi pawed at his mistress. Sue turned to see Anita walking to her. "Thank you. For everything. I've never had anyone I could count on. I'm glad I had you to turn to." She said as her voice broke and tears spilled onto her cheeks. Sue reached to brush her hair from her face when the young woman launched herself into Sue's arms and sobbed.

Sue just held her, letting her cry on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as she pushed herself off Sue's shoulder. Sue signed no problem.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Sue offered.

"No." Anita said shaking her head, wiping her tear stained face. "Thank you, but I'll be ok."

"Call if you need me. Levi is my all night answering service." Sue said with a chuckle trying to lighten the mood some. Sue walked to the door with her companion close on her heels.

"Goodnight Ms. Thomas." Anita said as Sue walked out the door. She locked the door as she watched Sue get into her car and drive away.

XOXOXOX

Sue sat at her computer researching ways to help the young family. It was clear that it was her duty to report them to children's services. Sue could lose her job if it was found out that she knew the truth of how the kids were living. Sue knew she would have to, at some point, make arrangements for them, or let social services do it. The driving force behind her not calling someone for them was, in all honesty, she didn't think they'd be any better off if their mother was in the picture or if they were sent to live in a group or foster home. Anita had taken good care of her brothers and sisters.

Hours passed, she didn't even realize it was nearly dawn when Lucy noticed her light on. She pushed the door open some, and got her attention, with Levi's help.

"Hey." Lucy said glancing at Sue's pile of notes. "You ok?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Sue asked.

"No. Nature calling. What are you working on? A case?" Lucy asked, staring toward the pile of papers, trying to read Sue's scribble on the notebook.

"No." Sue answered.

"It's not the wedding, so…?" She asked curiously.

"There's a young woman who contacted me. I can't say too much right now, but she's in a bind. I'm trying to find a way to help her without bringing her whole world down." Sue explained.

"Why don't you try to get a couple hours sleep before the sun actually gets above the horizon, get a fresh perspective on the whole thing." Lucy suggested.

"What time is it?" Sue asked looking toward her alarm clock which was covered by a mound of loose papers threatening to fall into a heaping mess at the slightest breeze.

"Almost five." Lucy said with a grimace on her face.

"Yikes! I didn't realize it was that late. Maybe you're right." Sue admitted.

"Night." Lucy said as she walked back to her room.

Sue pushed the pile of papers to the side and laid her head on the pillow. Sleep overtook her quickly. She dreamt about having a large family with lots of kids of all ages. They baked together, worked on homework and scout projects, ran to sporting events, and rallied at a school basketball game. The littlest one, barely able to sit in a walker, she nuzzled against her breast while he fed. Slowly, softly, Sue stroked his small head, inhaling his scent. Her life was complete. She sighed deeply. A smile graced her sleeping face.

XOXOX

Night gave way to day, and dark circles had formed under Sue's eyes. Jack wasn't the only one to notice the evidence of her late night.

"Late date?" Jack asked.

"Hmmm, something like that." Sue smirked.

"Should I be jealous?" Jack flirted.

"Not yet." Sue said winking at him heading for the coffee.

"You OK?" Jack asked as he followed her to the coffee area.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a very late night." Sue answered as D interrupted them.

"Sue? Tara?" He called. Jack tapped her and pointed to their leader.

"What's up?" The ladies said in almost unison.

"I need you two to team up and see if you can't get more dialog from the security feed from the apartment building, grocery store and bank." D said.

"Sure. What are we looking for?" Sue asked.

"A name. We need the name of his supplier, and buyer." D answered.

"Oh, you're not telling me that the evidence got thrown out?" Jack asked miffed.

"Yep." Bobby said defeated.

"How!" Myles gasped slamming his fist on his desk. "We did everything by the book!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. That's what we all thought. Apparently "Joey" doesn't actually live at the apartment and can't legally give his permission for you to search the place, or even allow you into the place." D explained.

"Oh, come on!" Jack said more to himself than anyone else.

"We're on it." Tara said calling Sue to her side.

"I'm going to need stronger coffee…" Sue said while trying to stifle a yawn. The women disappeared. Hours passed. Necks, eyes and backs hurt from watching footage.

"I need a break." Sue mumbled, nearly whining. "I know this is important but if I don't go for a walk, get some air, some food…. I'm going to pass out right here." She grumbled.

"Hangry?" Tara teased.

"Did you say 'hangry'?" Sue asked. Tara nodded and laughed.

"Yes. Haven't you heard of that?" Tara asked. Sue shook her head no.

"It's a smash up of hungry and angry- "hangry"." She explained.

"Yeah, maybe a little. I'm more SLEEPY than anything else. I'm so tired that I'm nauseous." Sue said. Tara froze and turned her head slowly to Sue. "What?" Sue asked.

"Tired, nauseous… and weren't you saying you were jonesing for a chocolate coconut donut?" Tara hinted.

"Yeah…" Sue was confused.

"Are you pregnant?" Tara asked softly, leaning in to Sue.

"NO!" Sue gasped in surprise. She giggled at the thought, and blushed lightly. "It's exhaustion, not a baby."

"Hmm, OK." Tara said with a sly smile. "So why so tired?"

"Research." Sue replied.

"Something I can help with?" Tara offered.

"Yeah, maybe." Sue said softly, but with some relief. "Do you want to go for a quick walk with me and Levi?"

"Sure." Tara answered grabbing her pocketbook and the pair left. After grabbing subs and smoothies at a little shop a block from the office, they walked to a fenced in, grass filled common area for Levi to get some much needed exercise, or as Sue liked to put it, energy burning running time. Poor Levi had been cooped up all day while everyone was working on gathering evidence. The canine wasn't about to complain though. At regular intervals someone was bound to raid the donut box, and 'accidentally' drop a piece down to him.

"What sort of research are you doing that's got you up til all hours?" Tara asked.

"You need to promise to keep this to yourself. The situation is something I should bring others into, but I want to take another approach with it." Tara nodded in agreement. "There's a young girl who contacted me after my first anti-bullying seminar, her name is Anita. She works after school and all weekend to "help" her mom and her brothers and sisters make ends meet." Sue began. They sat under a tree while Levi sniffed a nearby tree on his retractable leash. Sue took a sip of her thick fruit drink.

"So, do you think she's falling behind in school because of her job?" Sue shook her head. "Working too many hours for a high school teenager?" Tara asked again. Still Sue shook her head. "What then?"

"I don't think her mother is actually in the picture." Sue said. Tara's eyes got as big as grapefruits.

"Oh."

"Exactly."

"How sure are you?" Tara asked, but Sue gave her a look that said she wasn't going to answer.

"The thing is, they're doing ok. Better than ok! They eat well. They're all making great grades in school. They're polite and well behaved. The house is immaculate." Sue said, almost making an opening statement in a court of law.

"But?" Tara asked.

"She's 17, and in high school. The youngest is a baby with three in between." Sue answered. I know I need to contact social services, but I honestly don't think that's the answer. I've been trying to figure a better solution." Sue admitted.

"Hmm, quite the conundrum you've got there." Tara said with a grimace on her face. "Can I help?"

"Maybe. I'm trying to see if their father is still nearby and worth contacting. Maybe he has a sibling or parent willing to help." Sue said.

"Probably not though. If he hasn't been in the picture all this time, he's not going to volunteer. I'm sure he owes a lot of back child support payments if that's the case." Tara said.

"They need someone willing to step up for even a little while to help them out. Give them a chance. There's never a good reason a 14 and 17 year old need to be working full time jobs to keep things going. They should be working 15 hours a week packing groceries while trying to fit that into their sports and after school events." Sue said, disgusted with the situation.

"If you can get me a name, some place to start, I will see what I can find out." Tara sipped her drink then said "I'm pretty good with a computer, in case you haven't noticed." She laughed.

"Thanks." Sue said. They headed back to the office for hours more of grueling security footage.

XOXOX

Tara and Sue hadn't left the office until nearly two in the morning. Sue's only thought was hot shower and bed, but she was pretty sure the hot shower would have to wait until the morning. As she headed out of the building, a thought occurred to her. Anita might be at the laundry working. Almost instantly, Sue caught what she would have to consider her third wind of the day. She turned her car in the direction of the laundry, hoping to find the young woman there.

Fifteen minutes later, Sue pulled up in front of the small building that housed the Laundromat. She watched from her car for a long moment. Anita turned at the sound of the bells on the door. A smile crept from Anita's lips, although she tried to hide it.

"Ms. Thomas. Good to see you." She said while she mopped the floor. "You FBI types certainly are out late. What brings you by my neck of the woods?" She asked.

"I was on my way home. I thought you might still be here, I wanted to say hello, see how Jacob was." Sue answered. It may not have been the whole truth, but it was semantics Sue thought.

"This time of night? Big date?" Anita asked.

"Not exactly. Work." Sue answered.

"Ahh." Anita answered, but didn't look at her. "Jacob's ok. Thanks for asking."

"How are your other brothers and sisters?" Sue asked.

"Good, thanks."

"How's school going?"

"Same. It's hard, but grades are good."

"Anita… you didn't really answer my question last time." Sue began. Anita didn't say anything, only stopped to listen. "I need you to be honest with me. When was the last time you saw your mom?"

"It's been a while." She shrugged. "But I suspect that's because grandma's sick."

"I'm worried about you kids. I know you're very capable of taking care of things, but you're not legally old enough to take on that responsibility. You shouldn't have to." Sue stressed.

"I want to Ms. Thomas." Anita nearly snapped. She took a deep breath, and began again. "Thanks for your concern, but we're ok."

"I just want to help." Sue almost whined.

"Look, I can take care of us… we're doing just fine." She snapped.

"Maybe I can help." Sue protested.

"Look Ms. Thomas, you mean well, but if you 'help' it will just bring the whole world down on us. We have a good home. It's warm and safe. We have electricity, heat, the house is clean, and the kids are clean. We have food. It's usually pasta, but we're eating. The little ones get a lot of fruit and fresh veggies. I have momma's food stamps card, and the money that Vinny and I make working is enough to pay the rent. I get the money that our father sends deposited into an account for us down the road, or in an emergency. Our mother got assistance with the rent and heat. I got us low cost internet and basic cable for the kids to watch TV." Anita explained.

"Your father pays child support?" Sue asked, surprised.

"Yes. It gets direct deposited." She answered.

"Where is he?" Sue asked.

"Don't know. He just left one day. I don't remember much after that about him. I know mom lost her job right after he left. Things kind of went downhill from there." She sighed. "It wasn't long before she'd given up, started staying out all night. She would come home drunk, smelling funny. When I was in middle school I realized it was pot. I saw her take some pills from a friend's purse one day- she said her friend told her to take them. I woke up on morning for school, she was sleeping on the floor. Passed out. There was throw up on the floor near her, in her hair- it was gross. She had what I thought was flour on her face… it was coke." Anita explained.

"Honey, why didn't you ever ask for help?" Sue asked.

"Who was I supposed to ask? Social services? The cops, a teacher? Yeah, right. I have a big family. If I called someone for help, they would have taken us, separated us, and that would be the end of us. I don't want that." Anita answered. "It was a blessing in disguise when she didn't come home."

"If your mom is gone, you can't stay here and raise these little ones by yourself." Sue pleaded.

"I can. Look, I might not look great, I might sleep through English class most of the time, but I am a straight A student. I have a 4.0 GPA. I'm graduating this June. I turn 18 in January." She said.

"What about college?" Sue asked. "What about what you want to do with your life?"

"This is what I want to do. I want to keep my family together. This is what's important to me right now. I can always go to school later." She paused. "I mean I'm going to take a class over the summer, and a couple in the fall at the community college while I'm working to take care of things." She said with a half-smile. "That money from the child support, that's what that's being used for."

Sue sighed. She knew she shouldn't leave the kids in that situation, but when she thought about it, they were in a great situation.

"Ms. Thomas, please." She pleaded. "Look, no matter what I say, you're going to do what you need to. There's nothing I can do or say to change your mind. I thought you were someone who would understand."

"I understand how you feel. I know what it is to be different. To be the one person no one ever talks to, asks out, or invites to a party. I get that!" Sue yelled. "This isn't about being an outcast. This is about your brothers and sisters." Sue explained.

"You think I don't know that! They're the ones I do this for. They are the ones I work til all hours of the night for. They are the ones I am thinking about when I tuck them in bed before I go to work. They are the ones I am thinking about when I'm so tired but keep studying so I pass that test tomorrow!" She yelled. You think this is easy? Do you think this is how I pictured my life when I was Jacob's age? NO! It wasn't!" She yelled as she burst into tears.

Sue didn't hesitate when she reached forward and pulled Anita into her arms. The young woman melted into a little girl in the comfort of Sue's embrace as she sobbed. Sue just held her until the sobbing subsided. Anita pushed herself from Sue's embrace, her face stained with tears, red with embarrassment. She looked so young- the teenage girl she really was.

"Ms. T-Thomas…" She stuttered and hiccupped with the end of an emotional sob. "Please. Please let me stay with my family. They're all I have, I'm all they have. Can't you see that?" Anita begged.

"I do see that, I do. But, Anita, you have to know, this isn't good for you. You need someone to care for you. You're only kids. You've given so much of your childhood to raising the children. You've taken on so much responsibility to keep your family's head above water, and you've done a wonderful job. It's very commendable everything you've accomplished." Sue said, trying to reassure her.

"But you're going to turn us in, aren't you?" Anita asked, tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks once more.

"No." Sue said. That one syllable word was enough to stop Anita in her tracks, causing her to go ghost white.

"No?" She asked in disbelief.

"I've seen you with them. You're doing an incredible job. You're good with them. You don't raise your voice and they listen. You're teaching them how to be good people." Sue said.

"Thanks. That means a lot." She took a deep breath. "Now what? You said yourself that you can't just leave us this way."

"I think you should let me do some research, see what I can find." She said.

"What sort of research?" Anita asked.

"I want to see about some family." Sue said hesitantly.

"Family? I told you, I don't have any. My grandparents are dead, my father took off years ago. I couldn't tell you about Lanie's and Lizzie's sperm donors." She said with a bit of venom in her voice.

"Wait… wait. You don't all have the same parents?" Sue asked in disbelief.

"No. The two little ones are from two other guys. Lanie's is Jarrod and Lizzie's is some guy named Dusty." Anita said.

"Last names?" Sue asked. Anita shrugged. There might be something in her room, but no one's been in there since she left. Honestly, I'm afraid to go in there." Sue looked curiously at her. "My mother is a junkie. She was always high on something. I don't want to touch any of that. I don't want to see any of it. Least of all, I don't want to take any chance of maybe poking myself with anything… ya know?" She said. "And I sure as hell don't want the little ones to know about any of that."

"Why haven't you ever had someone help you clean it out?" Sue asked.

"Who? How?" Anita asked. "I never wanted anyone in here to find out what she was up to. If I call the police for help, they'll take us away. If I call a company to come clean it out, that costs money."

Sue just nodded, understanding. "Good point."

"Can I take a look around?" Sue asked. "I can stop over tomorrow. I'll poke around a little bit, see if I can see anything dangerous, or if I can find any information on the two little one's biological donors."

"Yeah, sure." Anita whispered. The more Sue got to know this remarkable young woman, the more she admired her.

"What time do you get done here?" Sue asked. Anita looked around, spying all the nooks and cranies of what needed to be done before she could lock up.

"Umm…'bout now I guess." Anita said.

"Come on. I'll drop you." Sue offered.

"Nah, it's OK."

"I didn't ask. Get in." Sue said a bit more forcefully. Anita locked up, shut the lights off, and got into Sue's car, silently grateful for the ride.

Sue pulled up to the house, Anita opened the door.

"See you tomorrow?" She asked looking back at Sue. "Ten?"

"Sure. Ten." Sue answered.

"Thanks for the ride. See ya in the morning then. Night." Anita said turning to the house.

"Night." Sue answered. Sue watched her young friend walk into the house before turning toward home, knowing she had another long day ahead of her.