Chapter 3: Bad Bus Driver
It took Mary and Ivan half an hour to get to the day care centre.
When they got there they met up with the centre director Jackson Drew, or just Jack for short. Jack was a 32 year old human with short curly ginger hair and sky blue eyes.
He wore white pants and a green jumper.
"Is Leonardo OK? I know he's pregnant but I don't know why his father kept him home today." Jack said in a worried voice. "He's confused and doesn't understand what's happening to him." Mary replied.
"Well he wouldn't be if his father would stop over shadowing him." He sighed in disappointment.
"How does Leo do here?" Ivan asked. "He's one of our smartest clients. And the staff like him as well." Jack said. They walked passed many mental challenged people who were taking different classes.
"So what does Leo do when he's here?" Mary asked.
"3 grade maths work, arts and crafts and life skills." Jack explained. "We also offer to teach independent living, dating and sex education, but Leo's dad won't let him take any of those." The director added.
"Mr Hamato can be a protective parent." Ivan commented.
"No, most of the parents here a protective but Hamato Yoshi is overprotect and he truly thinks that Leonardo can't function in the world without him." The director glared.
"And you disagree?" Ivan asked.
"Of course I do, Leo has amazing potential to lead his own life if his father would just let him out of the cocoon and into the world." Jack sighed. "How closely do you screen your staff?" Mary asked.
"Background checks, references, we've never had a problem."
"Does Leo have any boyfriends or friends here that we can talk to?" The mutant lion asked. "His best friend is Kane Franks. Kane is one of our success stories." Mr Drew smiled.
"Any chance they're more than friends?" Ivan asked.
"We supervise our clients very closely, no one here has ever reported Kane touching Leo inappropriately. And Kane has taken our dating classes and sex education." Jack reassured.
"Can we talk to Kane?" Mary asked.
Jack nodded and went to find Kane...
Jack led Mary and Ivan into a quiet room in the day care centre where they could talk to Kane Franks.
Kane Franks was a 20 year old mutant jackal with sand blond fur and amber eyes. He was mentally retarded. He worked as a cleaner in a hotel and his parents lived in Georgia.
"I like Leo, he my friend." Kane said.
"Did you and Leo ever have sex? Or did you ever talk to Leo about what sex is?" Ivan asked. "No, he have to learn about it in school first is what school said." Kane explained.
"Did Leo ever tell you someone was bothering him?" Mary asked.
Kane tensed slightly. "I promised Leo I won't tell." He muttered. "Kane you know I'm a police officer and I'm here because we think someone is bothering Leo, so if you know who it is you gotta tell me." Ivan reasoned.
Kane looked over to Jack for advice.
"It's OK Kane." He reassured. The mutant jackal turned back to the detectives. "Oliver. The bus driver." He growled. "Your bus driver?" Mary asked, but Kane shook his head.
"I take the real bus Leo take the little bus."
"Oliver is the one who brings Leonardo from home to work, home to here, here to work or takes him back home if his family can't pick him up from here or work." Jack explained.
"What did Oliver do to Leo?" Ivan asked.
"He's mean to him. He took things from him." Kane said as he shook in anger. Ivan nodded. "What else did he do to Leo?" He asked. Kane took deep breaths to calm down.
"He touched him."...
Adam and Tyler were busy talking to Leo's boss at work, Mr Fred Harrison.
Fred Harrison was a short and chubby 48 year old human who owned a large chain of grocery stores all across New York city. He had light brown hair and pale emerald green eyes.
"What does Leo do here?" Adam asked as they walked around the ales.
"He does things like stacking shelves, bags groceries, sweeps the floor and changing tags." Fred Harrison replied. "Did he ever mention anyone bothering him?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah, one day Leo comes in here crying and says his bus driver pushed him, I went out and told the bastard if he did it again I'd kill him." Fred said.
"Then last month I fired the frozen foods manager for calling him a 'retarded freak'." He added. "Anyone else here ever give Hamato Leonardo a hard time lately?" Adam asked.
"Except from the occasional ignorant customer almost never."
"I work closely with the day care centre and I don't tolerate that kind of abuse. The day centre sends me a couple of people every year." Fred added. "Must be cheap labour." Tyler commented.
"The clients at the day centre learn working skills for when they go into the real world as well as make union wages." Fred explained.
"I get employees that almost never leave, don't complain and work harder than people who aren't disabled." The human said. "Besides the bus driver did Leo mention anyone else bothering him?"
Fred shook his head.
"No, I figured the only reason he told me was because it had just happened. He was really upset."...
Back at the squad room Mary and Ivan were filling in Gwen Lewis on the case.
Gwen Lewis was SVU's district attorney. She was a 36 year old human with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes, she wore black glasses, a black jacket, white shirt and black skirt.
"So what do we have on this guy?" Gwen asked.
"Oliver Smith. He's got no rap sheet, however the nursing home that he worked at in California fired him last year for allegedly stealing from the residents." Mary explained.
"Why wasn't he arrested?" Paul asked.
"The complainants had dementia and Oliver said the old folks gave him gifts. Cops couldn't prove otherwise." She said. "Well we're not gonna be able to arrest him unless Leonardo can tell us exactly what Oliver did to him." Gwen reminded them.
"Ivan's on the phone with Leo's father right now to see if we can talk to Leo."
After a few minuets Ivan put the phone down. "Okay we're all set for the interview tomorrow." He said. Mary was shocked by this, she honestly thought that Splinter would have gone into protective parent mode and said no.
"What did you have to promise him?" She asked.
"A trip to the zoo."...
The next day the Hamato family went to the zoo to meet the detectives.
Mikey and Donnie had gone to the snack bar and Raph had gone to look at the larger animals. Leo and Splinter were sat on a bench watching the sea lions and laughing at the funny noises they made.
"Hey Leo." Mary smiled as she, Ivan and Gwen approached the father and son.
"Hey Mary. Hi Ivan." Leo smiled. "This is my friend Gwen, the three of us are gonna talk for a while." She explained. "I'll just be sat over by the penguins with Detective Peterson if you need anything." Splinter reassured and walked away.
"Okay." Leo said nervously...
Splinter watched carefully from his and Ivan's spot on the bench next to the penguins.
"This is Leonardo's favourite place in the whole city, he just loves all the animals here." The mutant rat sighed. "So do my twins. I have a little boy and a girl." Ivan smiled.
"When I found out Shen was pregnant I dreamed of graduations, weddings even grandchildren." Splinter smiled.
But it soon dropped. "I'm 50 years old detective, I just can't handle taking care of two completely depended children. And I want my younger sons to live their lives to the fullest without having to take care of Leonardo or his child." He sighed in sorrow.
"Well the director at Leo's day centre says he has a lot of potential." Ivan replied.
"Jackson Drew thinks you can teach anyone anything. I let Leonardo into the world, look what happened."...
"So Leo what do you say when you don't want to do something?" Mary asked.
"Ah thay no." Leo smiled. "And can you say no to your daddy?" She asked calmly. "Ah not allowed." Leo muttered. "What about to your teachers or brothers?" Gwen asked.
Leo shook his head.
"Can you say no to your bus driver Leo?" The human woman asked. "A-Ah dond wan to talk about him." Leo panicked. "Why not." Gwen asked in a very gentle and friendly voice.
"Thomething will happen to Daddy, Waph, Mikey and Donnie." He said.
Mary knelled down so she was level with the turtle. "I promise you nothing bad is going to happen to daddy or your brothers if you tell us what the bus driver did." She said.
Leo stared at her for a moment.
"Ee took my locket." He finally said. "What did it look like?" Gwen asked. "A thilver heart with a picture of Daddy, Waph, Mikey and Donnie inthide it." Leo explained, starting to get upset.
"Did you tell daddy or your brothers."
"Oliver thaid ah lotht it. He thaid he's hurt uth if ah tell." He sniffed. Mary's eyes narrowed slightly. "Leo has Oliver ever hurt you or touched you when you didn't want him to?" She asked firmly.
"He pincheth me." He said as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Where?" Gwen asked. Leo pointed to his shoulder then his chest and his tail. Suddenly he began to sob loudly. "DADDY!" He cried loudly and Splinter quickly ran over to him.
"It's okay Leo, we can stop." Mary soothed.
"What happened?!" Splinter asked frantically. Soon Leo's brothers showed up as well "Ah dond wan to talk any more." Leo sobbed. "Ya promised us ya wouldn't upset him!" Raph growled as he and Splinter attempted to sooth the still sobbing Leo.
"He was very helpful." Gwen informed the family.
"Good. Now we are going home." Splinter said firmly. With that the Hamato family left. "So how'd he do?" Ivan asked. "We didn't get enough to prove the bus driver raped him but we did get enough for a search warrant for Oliver's apartment." Gwen explained...