“You done?” Swole asked, raising one eyebrow. When I didn’t respond, she just nodded. “Good. Now, try using your fucking head. You said the kid was family, lovely sentiment by the way, but now you have to prove it. Show that you know him. Where would he be?”
I scanned my brain. We weren’t far from Erica’s house right now. Dominic was on foot and hadn’t been here long enough to have a ton of options.
Suddenly, an idea came to me, a memory really. The library was nearby. I could remember running into Erica outside the library. It was the place that I met Dominic for the first time.
“Follow me,” I told Swole. When we were approaching the old brick building, I felt like I could collapse from relief.
There he was, sitting on the very bench that Erica and I had sat on together. The dog was lying at his feet while he kicked his legs back and forth.
I parked on the sidewalk in front of him, and he looked up at me. Swole stayed back in the street, but I could feel her eyes on me.
I was surprised when Dominic didn’t come to me or even look happy to see me. I took a seat on the bench beside him and recognized that guilt in his eyes as it was a reflection of what I felt myself. Mine was because I’d let Erica down by not being there when she needed me most. But why did Dominic feel guilty?
“Hey, buddy,” I said softly.
“Hi, Trainer.” He turned his head to look the other way, hiding his face and the emotions that might be playing across it from me.
“Are you okay?” I asked, trying to scan his body for any injuries, but it was dark outside, and the streetlight didn’t cast enough light for me to be sure.
He shook his head no, then his shoulders started shaking, and the muffled sound of crying reached my ear.
“Dominic,” I placed a hand on his shoulder and carefully turned him so that he was facing me. As expected, there were tears streaming down his cheeks, and he was biting his bottom lip to try and suppress the sounds of his crying. Without another word, I pulled him into my chest, wrapping my arms around his tiny body.
I looked over at Swole, feeling helpless as I tried my damnedest to comfort this child. His weeping was tearing me up.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Your mom’s okay.”
He pulled away, looking at me in the face. “Is she really?”
Using the back of his hand, he wiped away snot from his nose. Dominic was an old soul, so that sometimes I forgot just how young he was. But at this moment, he was just a scared little boy.
“Yes, she’s in the hospital, but she’ll be okay. I promise.”
“I-I’m so s-sorry,” he said miserably.
“Sorry for what?” I asked, my brow furrowed.
“I left her all alone. I ran away.”
Understanding dawned. “You were scared, right?”
He nodded. “And she told me to. I saw that he hurt her, but I didn’t help. She told me to run away, and I did it.”
“And you feel bad about that?” Of course, he did.
“I should’ve helped her,” he sniffled.
“Listen,” I placed my hands on his shoulders and made sure that he was looking into my eyes as I spoke. I wanted him to see the truth in my words. “You did the exact right thing. Your mom needed to know you were safe so that she could take care of herself, and it worked. Sheishurt, but she’s going to be okay. And that’s because of you, bud.”
“Really?” There was precious hope in his eyes.
“Yes. Now, would you like to go see her?”
“Can I? Right now?” he asked, almost smiling.
“As long as you’re okay with riding on the back of the bike.”
Dominic’s eyes actually lit up with excitement, and I breathed a sigh of relief that his tears were gone. I hoped that Erica wouldn’t mind that he was on a motorcycle. We’d never talked about that, but a far as I was concerned, these were special circumstances. At least I had Erica’s helmet in my trunk box.
