Nothing Special 03 - Here Comes Trouble (20 page)

Shelia Carpenter, one of the DHS department supervisors, sat in their office with a shitload of paperwork for Green to fill out to take temporary custody of Curtis. She was a friend of Day’s. He’d helped her sort out some drug charges against a couple kids housed at the foster center a few years back. She promised to help them as much as she legally could, but Green would still need to be cleared criminally – which of course wouldn’t be a problem – and also meet all of their guidelines. That was the part that had him terrified.

Shelia would be able to move for emergency placement on the grounds that it would cause Curtis severe emotional distress to be removed from his normal environment and only source of moral support in his time of bereavement. The Guardian Ad Litem that’d been appointed by her to protect Curtis’ best interests was backing up that statement. Most of the department seemed satisfied that everything would work out in their favor. Everything else had taken a backseat while they focused on getting their Curtis back. While no one was saying it, they all knew what a boys’ group home could be like. It wasn’t a place Curtis could handle. He was small, sweet, and despite the hardships he’d faced, he generally believed there was good in everything, good in people. So innocent and naïve to the harsh cruelties of the world.

Green couldn’t help but notice Day’s frustration as he waited to hear back from one of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judges. They would need the order signed as soon as it was drafted. Unfortunately getting in front of a judge at J&DR was like trying to cut in line at the DMV. It was damn near impossible. Ruxs sat beside him, making suggestions and answering questions Green didn’t know the answer to. Especially when it came to Curtis’ schooling and what Green envisioned for Curtis’ future. As soon as Green finished a section, Shelia would take it and immediately enter it into their system, speeding things along exponentially.

His leg bounced nervously under his desk. It was after eight o’clock. He’d promised Curtis he’d be back in the morning to check on him. He felt Ruxs’ hand on his knee holding it still.

“Babe, relax. Come on concentrate. We still got a bit more to go,” Ruxs said flipping over to the next sheet.
Fuck
. They wanted to know everything from his goddamn blood type, to his favorite food, to his fucking childhood pet.

Green ran his hand through his hair for the hundredth time. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “What if they don’t give him to me? What if they say my job is too dangerous? Or I don’t have a wife. Shit! What if they say I can’t have him because I don’t have any parenting skills?”

Ruxs dropped his pen and cupped Green’s jaw.  Heads were turning, watching them and so were Shelia and the appointed Guardian Ad Litem. Green needed to get a grip. He couldn’t let them see him freaking out. How could he handle a teenage, almost grown young man, if he couldn’t handle filling out some forms. Green stared into Ruxs’ beautiful eyes, trying to focus on what he was saying.

“Babe. Calm down. You’ll get him. It’s practically a done deal. We got two children’s services specialists ready to stand up for you in court and say that you are the best thing for Curtis right now. No judge will argue against it. You’re not some Joe Shmoe walkin’ in off the street requesting a kid. You’ve practically been Curtis’ caregiver and guardian for three years. This is just making it official. All you have to do is finish the papers, okay. This is all just a formality. Curtis is coming home soon,” Ruxs said softly, picking up the pen and putting it back in his hand. “As soon as you clam down and finish this.”

Ruxs leaned in and kissed his temple when he got back to writing. They didn’t worry about anyone seeing their affection. Green had been honest about his sexual orientation, refusing to get caught in any deceit. But thankfully, Shelia informed them that factor was not going to be a hindrance in any way.

When they’d finished all the forms, the stack looked like the damn yellow pages. Everything was entered and being processed. “Now, I’m going to check on the status of your home visit. Something should be scheduled by now. If they couldn’t get someone that fast then I’ll do it myself.”

God nodded his approval and sat back in his chair watching Shelia work. Day was still on the phone with the courts. Green gnawed his fingernails down to the nubs as he paced back and forth in their large office. He glanced up at the clock again. It was a quarter past ten.
Shit. I need to go see him now! He’s probably watching out the window for me.
Green’s heart raced, worrying that he was letting Curtis down.

He texted his mom to see where she was on getting his house situated. She and his stepdad were setting up Curtis a room fit for a teenager. Equipped with a new bed, not a futon. New dressers already filled with his clothes and personal items that Ro, Furi and several other members of their team had helped to get over there from his house. A brand new television and Bose stereo system. There were pictures and posters pinned up on the walls of things Curtis loved. Ruxs said he was going overboard but he ignored him… as usual when it came to Curtis. Everyone on their team had also chipped in financially.

Now his mom was cleaning along with his part-time maid, trying to get his place perfect. As soon as he told his mom what he was doing with Curtis, she immediately flew in to action, coming to his aid as always. His mom adored Curtis. Every time Green took him over to her house for dinner or to help with some project around the house, she’d cooed over his innocent baby blue eyes, his cute boyish charm, his maturity, and most of all: his pretty face, surrounded by soft blonde hair. 

His mom texted him back saying that they were almost done and she was getting ready to go grocery shopping. He let out a small exhale before turning his attention to Vicki. She was at the conference table going through all of Curtis’ records and papers. She’d been in contact with the funeral home, making all the arrangements according to his mom’s specifications. When Curtis came home, he’d be able to grieve for his parent like a child should. He kissed her on her cheek after getting that update and told her he was on his way to see Curtis. She cupped her hand over the phone’s mouth piece and whispered to him. “Okay. Tell him I love him.”

He waved his hand in acknowledgement. He grabbed his keys and sunglasses; getting ready to leave when Day called out to him, stopping him before he could get to the door.

“Okay. Good news is we got a judge. I’d spoke with Judge Klipson’s clerk early this morning, filling her in on the situation. She just called back and said the judge would see them in chambers and sign off on the temporary order if DHS and the Guardian were in agreement on the placement.” Day smiled broadly.

Green really breathed a sigh of relief now. Ruxs grabbed him and hugged him tightly. “I told you he was coming home,” he whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek tenderly.

“Day, man. Thank you so much.” Green went to hug Day. “So what time do we head over to the courthouse, because I wanted to go see Curtis soon.”

“That’s the thing.” Day huffed and Green’s stomach fluttered with nerves. “The judge is out today. Judge Klipson won’t be able to see us until eight tomorrow morning.”

“Fuck!” Green yelled. Startling several people. “I promised him. Come on, Day is there no one that can see us today? No one?”

Ruxs put his hands on Green’s shoulders, rubbing at the tension but he aggressively knocked Ruxs’ hands off him.

Day put his hands up trying to calm him down. “You know I’ve been on that phone for the last four hours, scrounging us up a judge. There is no one that can see us today. The dockets are flooded in J&DR, you know that. Eight a.m. is not bad. I know you promised him, and you are following through on that promise. You told him you’d get him out fast, and you are.”

Green growled, balling his hands into fist like he was ready to punch something. Ruxs turned him around to face him.

“Get your ass together. We need to go see Curtis now and you can’t see him if you’re acting like a fuckin’ lunatic. If you’re panicking, he’ll panic.” Green took a few deep breaths, knowing his partner was right. He wasn’t seeing logic. Day had worked a miracle as always. Getting the paperwork pushed through all the red tape. Getting them in front of a judge within twenty-four hours was spectacular and Green had practically ripped his head off saying it wasn’t good enough.

He dug his hands into his tired eyes. Speaking softly, “I’m sorry lieutenant. Sorry for acting like an ass. I really appreciate all your hard work. You came through like you always do, man. Forgive me. I’m just —”

“Hey. We’re all in this together. We’re all feeling the pain with Curtis not being here. But we also know you’re feeling it the worst.” Day gave him a one-armed hug. “Now go on and see him. Tell him he’ll be home tomorrow. Say it with confidence.”

God stood and came over to him. “Shelia said you have a mandatory home visit scheduled at two today and one scheduled at seven tomorrow.”

“Morning,” Green and Ruxs both said in unison.

God looked towards Shelia and the Guardian Ad Litem as they packed up their things to leave. “No. Um. Tomorrow evening. A social worker will come and sit for a meeting with you and Curtis.”

“Oh fuck,” Green groaned. He poised like he was going to ask Shelia a question but God put up his hand to stop him.

“Don’t. Don’t even think about canceling or trying to reschedule it, it’ll seem like you’re putting your job over Curtis,” God whispered the best he could.

“I can’t miss the fuckin’ bust man. We’ve been working on this case to take Chainz down for years. Besides, the captain’ll have my ass,” Green said, stressing the last part.

“Let me handle that. You’re home tomorrow. And be ready for that meeting. We’re not about to do anything to jeopardize Curtis coming back home. We’ll make this work. I can get a few extra guys from SWAT. Besides, I don’t think it’s going to get messy. I can do without one of my enforcers for one bust.” God didn’t wait for him to agree or disagree. He turned and left the office. It was settled. He desperately wanted to be there to see Chainz go down, he really did.  But he wanted to see his boy at home way more.
His boy
.

Ruxs sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the visiting room waiting for Curtis to come in. The boys’ home looked just like any other home. It was in a nice enough neighborhood, but the houses were at least sixty or more years old. There was a small park about a block up, with a basketball court and a baseball diamond. If he’d known that was there, he would’ve brought their gloves and a ball.

The house looked big enough to have maybe five or six bedrooms. Really no telling how many boys they packed into each one. They’d walked up onto the rickety wraparound porch and rung the bell. A stocky woman came to the door with a paisley-print apron tied around her waist, eyeing them carefully. They were in their regular clothes but the guns and badges were probably unnerving.

“Can I help you officers?” she said still not opening the screen.

“I’m Chris Green and this is Mark Ruxsberg we should be on the visiting list to see Curtis Jackson,” Green said quickly. He was craning his neck to see past her, trying to see what all the commotion was that could be heard coming from farther inside the house. Ruxs could hear some guys yelling back and forth, and while he couldn’t quite make out the words, it sounded hostile.

“I need to see your IDs,” she said sternly.

They both held out their badges along with their picture identification for her. After her beady eyes focused on them for several seconds, she shut the door without a word, leaving them standing there staring at a wooden door.

“What the fuck?” Green snapped.

“Hold on. I think she’s probably going to check the list or she’s going to call Curtis down to see us.”

“Outside,” Green said incredulously.

“Babe. I don’t know. Just calm down. We don’t want Curtis to see you upset.” Ruxs was still rubbing Green’s shoulders when the woman flung the door back open. She gave them a skeptical, slightly baffled look before unlatching the screen and holding it open for them. The commotion had died down by the time they entered the house.

“You can wait in there. You’re allowed to visit for one hour. Lunch is at noon. If he wants to eat he can’t be late,” she said turning to leave.

“Can we take him out to eat?” Green asked hopefully.

“None of the residents can leave the premises without prior written approval,” she said loudly.

Ruxs saw Green grinding his teeth trying to tamp down his anger. “Yes ma’am,” Ruxs said, wanting her to move along and get Curtis.

“Can we go up and get him?” Green asked stepping towards the door.

The look she gave them had Ruxs standing and moving closer to his partner. “We’ll wait here,” he said before she could answer them with a negative response.

She left, closing the door solidly behind her.

“Bitch,” Green hissed. Ruxs put his arms over Green’s shoulders, pulling him against his body.

“I know this fuckin’ sucks. But it’ll be over soon,” Ruxs whispered against his temple, stroking his large hands up and down Green’s arms. They stood there, still quietly holding and consoling each other when the door opened. The heavyset greeter was standing there, her gaze riveted on something down the hall.

Ruxs’ heart jumped as he waited for his friend to turn the corner and come inside. His face dropped when he heard the voices of several older kids laughing, walking by teasing, “Oh lookie, fag boy’s got company already.”

Green’s body vibrated instantly beneath his touch. His eyes the color of black granite and simmering with his anger. “What the fuck is going —”

Green’s voice dropped as Curtis turned the corner and stepped inside the room searching frantically for them. His usual bright-blue eyes were bloodshot red and wide with either fear or possibly shock. His hair was a disheveled, tangled mess and his skin was so pale he was ashen. It literally looked like the beautiful spirit that was Curtis had been sucked right out of him. The shirt he’d left in very early this morning had a tear in the collar like someone had yanked him by it, which was most likely case since he had an angry bruise on his cheek and a dark mark under his left eye.

“Green!” Curtis almost stepped on the evil house mom as he ran into Green’s arms, wrapping his thin arms around his waist, crying uncontrollably into his chest. “Please take me home.”

Ruxs could see the pain in Green’s eyes, but overshadowing it was his rage. Ruxs walked up to the woman still holding the door, practically standing on top of her. “What the hell happened to him? Who were those kids? Are they responsible for this?”

“Sir, I can’t release the names of the minors,” she said back with confidence.

“Oh yes, you damn well will, or you’re going to be held personally responsible! Someone’s been beating on him! I demand to know who!” Ruxs yelled in her face.

“Sir. I will have to ask you to leave if you don’t calm down.” She placed both hands on her ample hips, her face turning a bright shade of angry red.

“I’m not going anywhere without him. Get me your supervisor,” he barked.

“You can call the Department of —”

“That’s exactly what I’ll do.” Ruxs cut her off, dialing Day’s number first. He stared down the lady as he explained Curtis’ condition to Day. After Day confirmed that they were on their way and he’d bring Shelia with him, Ruxs ended the call. He had nothing else to say to this woman. Hopefully she would lose her job over this. She was supposed to be providing a safe place for these kids, not letting them run a fuckin’ fight club up in their rooms.

He walked over to where Green and Curtis were now sitting on the couch, Green carefully examining his face. “Who did this to you?” Green said in a hushed but firm voice.

Curtis closed his eyes as Green gently pressed on his cheek, making sure there was no damage to his jaw. Green looked up at Ruxs, telling him with his eyes that he wasn’t letting Curtis out of his sight again, but little did his partner know, neither was he. He didn’t care if he had to camp out in a tent in the backyard. The only way they were leaving there was with Curtis.

“The guys here don’t seem to like me too much,” Curtis finally spoke. His voice was shaky and scared. “I swear I didn’t do anything to them. I just wanted to go to bed. I couldn’t stop crying. I missed my mom. I missed you guys. They kept yelling at me to shut up. I was scared.” Curtis accepted the comfort when Green put his arm around him and pulled him to his chest. “I tried to stop, but the more they called me names, the more I wished I was home. Then they… they.”

Ruxs went down on one knee so he could look into Curtis’ eyes. “They what? You can tell us, you know that.”

“They yanked me out the bed. One guy slapped me. I couldn’t see him, it was dark. They said I was a little girl and girls weren’t allowed in their rooms. Then they shoved me in the damn closet and wouldn’t let me out.”

Green’s hand shook as he tried to comfort Curtis. He turned and looked at the woman still in the room with them. At least she had the decency to look sorry.

“When did they finally let you out?” Ruxs asked smoothing back Curtis’ sweat-damped hair from the side of his face.

The look Curtis gave him made Ruxs’ stomach turn. Abuse always did something to him. Probably because he knew it so well, knew how deep it ran, how it ate at you from the inside out. And without a strong support system to see you through it, it could ruin you, kill your spirit. He’d be damned if he let that happen to Curtis. “When’d they let you out, Curtis?”

“I just came out when she called me.” Curtis shook with his confession.

Green sprung up off the couch and Curtis grabbed for him. When Green was out of his reach, he clung on to Ruxs. “Just take me home, please.”

“Where the fuck where you when all this was going on? This isn’t exactly the Bruce Wayne mansion. Are you honestly going to tell me that you didn’t hear a young man being tortured and bullied only a few doors down from your room?”

She rung her apron in her hands, shaking her head. “My room is downstairs. I —”

“That’s no excuse!” Green hollered in her face. Oh man. If she was nervous with Ruxs in her face, she looked like she was about to shit in her pants right now.

“I think I’d better call the —”

“They’re already coming. But they’re coming for you lady, not me. I fully intend on pressing charges and filing an official complaint with the Department of Human Services, and that’s all before I contact WSB-TV, Fox 5 and any other news station that might be interested in the woman that was entrusted by the state with the responsibility of a foster home where she allowed abuse and extreme bullying to go on right underneath her nose!” Green seethed. “If I didn’t have to get back to my son, I’d arrest your ass right now and charge you with child endangerment and child neglect.” Green turned and went back to the couch lowering himself next to Curtis, extracting his arms from around Ruxs and putting them back around his own waist, still glaring at the stunned woman.

“It’s alright Curtis. You’re coming home buddy. You’re coming home today.”

Ruxs stared wide-eyed at his partner as he calmly talked Curtis down. Talked until he wasn’t afraid anymore. He’d seen Green upset plenty. Seen him arrest murderers. Seen him restrain even the craziest S.O.B.s. Seen him shoot and kill. But never had he seen him this angry. Green was so fired up, Ruxs doubted his partner even knew what he’d just said.

He’d heard it though, and Curtis did too. The way the young man stiffened then relaxed in Ruxs’ arms proved it.

Green called Curtis his son. And he was ready to go to war for him, like any good father would.