Next week I have two options, both chapters based on requests. Would you like Jay having been shot with Emma in the picture? Or Six-year-old Liam spending the week at home with Jay when his school is closed due to a water main break?
Whichever gets more votes or a vote as the case may be will be the winner.
Thin Ice
Jay
After a pleasant January where we took skiing lessons in Vermont and snow-shoed in Maine, February took a dark turn. I had been swamped at work, forcing later hours with the grind spilling into the weekend. I have no idea if this was what pushed Liam into his delinquent behavior or if it was just a coincidence.
On Friday morning I had gotten a text that Liam hadn't report for his first two classes and had I forgotten to call him in with an excused absence? I was standing in a field in Quebec staring at two frozen bodies. Maybe drug mules or possibly just people wanting to illegally cross the border. We wouldn't know until the coroner could take a thorough look. But it wasn't doing my PTSD any good staring down at this tragedy and I really didn't need Liam AWOL.
I called the school and tell them that as far as I knew Liam was there. They marked him down as an unexcused absence and said they would call me if he showed up. So now on top of this I have to deal with my school-skipping son. However, little did I know that this was just the first of two difficult days.
I got home late that night and was up and out early the next morning, leaving Max, my trusty college student sitter with Liam. I didn't need him too often, but Liam loved him. He played hockey at the local college and was teaching Liam all of his moves. He had a game that Friday night and Liam got to hang out in the locker room before and after the game. Which, he shouldn't have because he skipped school, but I hadn't had a chance to let Max know the situation or get home in time to take over Liam's care.
I had planned to talk to him first thing Saturday morning, but got an early call to head back to Quebec as the bodies had held a stomach full of balloons containing fentanyl. One balloon had burst, which caused a quick death for the one, the other apparently refused to leave their friend behind. A rare loyalty. But often in these cases, the mules are close friends or relatives trying to get enough money to purchase a large item or perhaps it was payment to get across the border. I was going to be up here for much of the day so I texted Liam that he needed to stay home and that we were going to have a talk when I returned. So I was quite surprised to get a call as I was driving back home that evening from a coworker that he had Liam in custody, telling me that he had number one, been caught skating at night on the pond (a big no-no after dark). Number two it was on ice that had been black-flagged (meaning it wasn't thick enough in places to skate on). And three that he had been drinking (he's twelve). Apparently there had been a small group of them, some his age, some older. Max had a road game and I thought that Liam could handle himself, but clearly not. I gripped the wheel so tightly I thought it might snap in my hands.
Officer Segal had asked me if he should take Liam to our house or back to the station. A couple of other kids were being driven home while most had been picked up while still at the pond. I told him to let Liam sit at the station and wait for me. It's not like everybody wasn't going to know this happened, so let him sit, bored and outside the comfort of his home.
When I got there a half hour later he was sitting at my desk with his head down cradled on his arms. I had my own office, nothing fancy or exciting, but my own space and he was either trying to act contrite or simply passed out. Graham Segal nodded my way and filled me in.
"Hey Detective Halstead. We found eight individuals out on the ice, we had gotten a call from someone driving by that they had heard some shouting out on the pond and called it in. Five of them were high school age and the other three were junior high. There was a set of siblings, so perhaps that is where the younger set came in. Um, does Liam know an Alec Lange? Alec and his older brother Aaron were out there. The other middle-schooler was Travis Craig."
"He knows Travis, not sure if I've heard of this Alec."
"Travis and Alec have been friends for years. I imagine the older set allowed the younger ones to tag along or, according to my notes," he said flipping through his notebook, "Alec found out about their plans and told his friends who showed up. Or maybe it was all just a coincidence. I couldn't get a straight story out of any of them. The ice isn't in bad shape, but after last week's above freezing temps during the day, there are areas that could be considered unsafe. All the kids were fine and accounted for."
"The liquor?"
"Beer, some harder stuff. Naturally, everyone denies that it is theirs. It was sitting on the shoreline, much of it gone. Liam had clearly been drinking, but wasn't falling down drunkâyet. He was quiet when I spoke to him, finally told me who he was, his connection to you. Since he's been here he's been pretty much as you see him now," he said as he jutted his chin towards my office.
"Thanks Graham," I tell him as I gaze through the window to my office. Like Voight's office back in Chicago, it had windows with blinds that could be closed. I generally opted for full transparency and left the blinds up.
I wondered what shape Liam was in, if he had passed out or merely tired from the combination of booze and skating in the fresh air. I went inside and closed the door behind me. I debated about what do with the blinds, but left them open as I didn't plan to stay long and Liam generally wasn't one for theatrics. But I also wasn't sure what state of mind he was in at the moment, so a show might be forthcoming.
Just as I was about to shake him awake his head rose. He looked at me and said, "shit." "Yeah, you're in big trouble pal." I concurred.
"I figured," he replied stifling a yawn. I was happy to hear that he wasn't slurring his words at least.
"Let's go, you don't really want to play this out in front of the staff."
"Are you their boss? I didn't know you had your own office. How come you never brought me here to show me around?"
"Let's go," I responded, my voice tight. I took him by the elbow and steered him towards the door as I looked around for his coat.
"I got his coat, hat and gloves," Officer Moon told me as she picked up what looked like a pile of dirty laundry. "Here's his skates," she said pointing to where they lay on a nearby chair. "He looks like you Detective."
"Thanks," I murmured, as I helped Liam into his coat, unsure it that was a compliment or just a random statement. But I didn't know how else to reply.
He was able to walk a straight line to the car and climbed in and immediately rested his head against the window. "Buckle up," I commanded.
"Too tired," he mumbled.
I didn't give him a second chance as I leaned over and yanked the belt around him and clicked it into place. I knew that most kids tried drinking before graduating high school. I did. Will did. But I thought that at least Liam would make it to high school first. I was angry, but even more so I was disappointed with his behavior. Skipping school, drinking, skating when and where he wasn't supposed to. We had planned a weekend in Concord New Hampshire later in the month, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen now. He definitely does not deserve a weekend away.
He was asleep before we left the parking lot and I allowed him to doze all the way home, which was less than ten minutes. The beauty of small towns. Once I pulled into the driveway, I could see Win peeking through window waiting for us. She did this circle thing when both came home at the same time. She would whirl around in a clockwise circle then go counterclockwise and plop down in front of one of us. It was hilarious. But tonight, her efforts would be lost on us both.
I had to call out to Liam and practically haul him out of the car before he woke up and made his way to the door. Once inside, he pulled his coat off, dropped it on the floor, and headed towards the stairs. I wasn't sure what was the best option, keep him with me and let him have it or just let him go sleep it off and deal with him when he was coherent. In the end I figured anything I said tonight would be long forgotten so I just let him go and found him a few minutes later draped across his bed, still fully clothed.
I sat down next to him, he didn't move an inch. I managed to get his pants off and his sweatshirt and spun him around to lie the correct way, and grabbed an extra blanket to drape over him. We were going to have such a long talk tomorrow that it was going to make both our heads hurt.
While he slept like the dead, I tossed and turned trying to recall what my dad did when I got drunk. I know both Will and I got busted and he was in more trouble because he was the older one. I think he wasn't allowed to go on a class trip to Six Flags. I know I got the belt and grounded for a month, plus extra chores, but I'm not absolutely sure. I seem to recall cleaning out the basement around that time. Years of dusty items that nobody wanted, but for some reason couldn't part with. However I don't use corporal punishment with Liam, not like that and not at his age. But the rest seems doable.
As I sat downstairs the next morning with my coffee and thoughts, I heard him moving around upstairs. I figured I would let him sleep until ten at the latest but I heard the water in the shower come on at 9:30. Twenty minutes later, he gingerly made his way down the steps and quickly bowed his head once he saw me waiting for him.
"Anything to say for yourself?" I ask as I set my coffee down.
"Is that coffee?" He asks. "Can I have some?"
"Absolutely not. You are probably dehydrated. Get some water and have a seat."
He fills up a glass with water and sits down at the table. "Start talking."
"Sorry," is all he manages. Then, "I didn't mean to."
"You didn't mean to? You didn't mean to skip school on Friday? You didn't mean to skate in the dark, on an unsafe pond while drinking. Tell me how you didn't mean to do all that?" I demand to know.
"Friday I was helping a friend." He begins as he looks down at his hands and then in my general vicinity. "He doesn't read well, the letters don't make sense to him and he gets picked on. He was running out the door as I was at my locker so I asked if he was okay and he was trying to hide that he was crying. Since I still had my coat on I just went with him. We went to his house and chilled. You can ask him. His name is Charlie."
I look at him, my face doubtful.
"He doesn't text, because, like I said the letters don't make sense, so he sent me this voice recording."
Liam taps his phone and voice echoes out into the room. "Thanks Liam. If you were trying to be a real friend I appreciate it. But I've had other people be nice to me in the past then they are the next ones to use something I told them against me. So, sorry if I can't fully trust you yet. But if you were being a true friend, thank you."
Another tap and Liam's reply. "I was being your friend. You were nice to me when I first got here and I'm sorry that I haven't talked to you much lately. No worries, I won't tell anyone anything. If they ask where I was Friday I'm going to say I couldn't handle school that day and came home or maybe I'll come up with any exciting adventure to tell them."
"Well that sounds good and all, but you also could have set that up."
"But I didn't. It's the truth Dad."
I'm not sure what to believe so I move on for now. "If I had done any of the things you did last night, skating when I wasn't supposed to, where I wasn't supposed to, or drinking, I wouldn't be able to sit for a week."
"I don't want that," he tells me in a raspy whisper as he looks down at his lap.
"Neither did I, which is the whole point isn't it?" But we're both pretty sure I won't go that far. Pretty sure not completely sure. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how this goes. He would have to get awfully belligerent in order for me to resort to physical discipline. I'd prefer to leave my father's blue collar punishments in the blue collar neighborhood where I grew up, where his methods weren't unheard of and were much more common up and down the block than anyone would care to admit to.
"I can tell you one thing though, our trip to Concord is off." I tell him, swinging back into action.
"No," he immediately whines. "Please Dad."
I had booked a nice hotel with a pool and we were going to explore the city and see what type of hiking trails they had nearby for the spring. I was pissed that I was going to have to cancel it. "Yes. Which totally sucks for me, because I didn't do anything wrong," I tell him sharply. "Maybe I'll just leave you here with someone and go by myself. But we both know I won't go alone. And since I'm still married taking anyone of the female persuasion would not be a good a look. In addition, there's nobody here of the male type that I want to spend the weekend with. So I guess I'm stuck here right alongside Liam.
"You don't get to break all the rules and then get to do fun things. You know that. So start explaining to me what happened last night!"
He takes a big breath and tries to keep his face and voice even, but I can tell he doesn't have much of a defense and is trying to weigh how much truth to part with. "I was home, like you told me to be when Travis came by and asked if I wanted to go skating. I told him no, but he really wanted me to go and you're not supposed to skate alone."
"So he follows the rules?"
"He tried."
"What time was this?"
He chews on his lip as he thinks and finally decides it was between 4:00 and 4:30.
"We were just going to skate until dark and then come back here. I didn't know when you would be home, but figured you'd be okay if I had a friend over."
"Then what happened?"
"It was getting dark so we were getting off the ice when Alec and his older brother Aaron showed up. Alec begged us to stay a little bit longer so we did."
"And none of you saw the large black flag that was hanging out there? The one with the large light that shines on it when it gets dark?" He merely shrugs with an unsettled answer. "Continue." I encourage.
"So we went back out onto the ice for a little while and said we were tired and going to go home when another car with more people showed up and they had the drinks. Said we had to have some before we left."
"And?"
"We did. I didn't want to look like a baby in front of everyone. Travis and I didn't want to drink anything but Alec was and the older kids too, so we had to."
"Had to huh?"
"Yes."
"How many drinks did you have?"
"A couple."
"Liam, what do I do for a living?"
He looks at me as if I had suddenly sprung a leak. "You're a detective." He finally offers.
"And what does that mean?"
"That you figure stuff out, solve crimes."
"And talk to lots of people, many of them who lie to me. So don't lie to me," I snap.
He sighs and begins again. "I had a can of beer and I drank it all and then they gave me another one and I was out on the ice and dumped half of it out, because I didn't really like it. But one of Alec's brothers friends saw me and said I needed something stronger so he gave me some stuff that burned my throat." He explained as his gaze returned to his lap.
"And." I encouraged again.
"Then I had another one. Then I had to pee so I told them I had to take my skates off to go into the woods and then I was going to just go home after that but the cops showed up." He finished sounding dejected. "I'm really sorry Dad."
I'm sure a part of him is sorry he did it. Another part is even sorrier that he got caught. And the biggest part of what he is sorry for is that I am now staring at him, with my arms crossed in angry dad mode about to tell him everything he is going to have to do or miss out on to pay for all this lousy judgment.
"No Concord trip. You are grounded for six weeks," he gasps and opens his mouth to say something, but my glare has him back down immediately. "Extra chores and I'll have a huge list for you. No more skating, I will be taking your skates. And I'll probably come up with a few more things as I think about it today."
"Six weeks? That is forever Dad."
"Skating in the dark is one week. Skating on an unsafe pond is two weeks. And drinking is three weeks." I tell him.
"But please can we still go to Concord," he pleads, his voice getting whiny.
"I said no. You blew it." Now he looks he's about to have a toddler tantrum and he begins to grasp the length and severity of his punishment.
"But I really wanted to go. You wanted to go."
"I know you did and I know that I did too, but that opportunity is gone now."
"Then do something else. Do something else to me." He tries and I have no idea what he means.
"You are in trouble and I have told you your punishment. I suggest you get your act together and get through it if you want to have any hope of going on trips this spring."
He puts his head down on his arms and I can tell that he is either crying or trying valiantly not to. I hear him mumble that he hates me.
"Your actions have consequences and the consequences unfortunately affect me as well."
He lifts his head to reveal a tear stained face and though I believe his remorse and emotion are genuine, I fear he is going to attempt to manipulate me.
"Our weekends are so great because we're together. You're not thinking about work and we do everything as a team." And bam, there it was. The old I don't love him if I cancel our weekend of bonding.
"They are great and I love every minute of them, but I'm not changing my mind."
"We won't be here forever and we might not see everything, so we need to go when we can." He tries and I find myself rethinking the corporal punishment idea, and as I do, I realize that this is the something else he might have been referring to. Exchange getting our weekend back for a good old-fashioned whipping. But I had really no intention of doing it before, and now that he is wanting to bargain, I most definitely have no intention of doing it now. I just don't have whatever it takes to employ such measures. I can't wield a belt that will end up crashing into my son.
"What you can do now, is clean up your act and do what you're told. Uncle Will is coming for spring break and I suspect that you won't want to be grounded while he is here."
"I don't," he replies perking up at this new information.
"Then get through the next six weeks, maybe I can even give you time off for good behavior if I feel you deserve it, behave yourself and we'll have a great week when he is here."
"I will," he promises, his tears all but gone. I'm grateful to my brother for calling me yesterday and telling me of his plans. It was the perfect carrot to dangle out in front of Liam.
"Eat something while I work on your chore list." A little wind escapes from his sails, but he moves to the cabinet for cereal. "Do you understand how dangerous and stupid what you did was?" I ask as I pull out a sheet of notebook paper.
He tries to be nonchalant but also tell me the right answer. "Yes sir. Sorry." And he scores by picking the right reply. I know that he is going to push his limits, his boundaries as he matures. And I'm glad that he feels he can argue his point with me and tell me he hates me without fear of additional retribution. Unless of course he gets too far out of line. I know that we will both be in for some trying times ahead, but we get through them, as we have everything else, together.