He just looked over at her with nothing but adoration in his eyes. "Promise, Cess. Next time, I'll make sure to kick their asses."
Chapter Sixty-Six
Darnell was released from the hospital the next afternoon. Cy called to give us an update, asked if we could gather up their things, and then when Cessily stopped to drop him off, the pair could continue to Fort Worth so that Darnell could recover at home. Cy promised that while his list of injuries sounded impressive, Darnell was a tough guy, so he was doing much better than expected.
When they arrived, everyone had to go out to make sure Darnell knew how worried we were about him. Once the pair was gone, Cy made a point of calling Teal to not only thank him for helping, but also let him know that Crimson would be okay. The biggest issue we had was Faith. The girl simply couldn't understand why someone would want to hurt Darnell. Not because of his race, not because of Southwind, and certainly not because of the cabins that had been built to become a good thing.
Luke tried to explain it to her, but he simply couldn't find the words. In the end, it was Zeke who broke it down in a way she could understand. "Some people are bullies. Bullies want to hurt other people. There is no 'why' part to it, Faith," he'd told her.
But with those two gone, the house was shockingly quiet. The sound of Sissy growling as she played with Faith upstairs helped a little. Little Lucy had decided that she was safest in Ash's office. Luke and Cy were outside taking stock of the damage to the cabins, and Ash was on the phone with someone, trying to set up an account for something.
Me? I kept finding myself staring at the wall. I had my laptop open before me, my phone sitting beside me, and a stack of Gran's journals I needed to go through. Instead, my mind kept wandering back to why this was all happening. More importantly, why wasn't it fixed yet?
The vote had passed. Southwind was definitely going to reopen. There was no way to stop us now, and yet someone kept trying. I had been so sure that it was Paul Simmons, but what if I was wrong? If so, who else could it be? The questions kept piling up, and unfortunately, I simply couldn't find an answer.
The sound of my phone ringing snapped me out of the cycle. "Yeah?" I answered, not even bothering to look at the screen.
"Violet, Cobalt," Berto replied.
"I'm alone in my office, so you're good to go," I assured him.
"Well, I just got a phone call from Chartreuse. Darnell got jumped this weekend and nobody fucking called me?"
"They didn't?" I asked, honestly surprised. "Berto, we were still in New York when it happened, so we had to scramble to get back here. I know Teal came up to make sure that Cessily wasn't home alone, but the whole thing was a little insane. I'm so sorry, because I assumed you would've been told."
"Well, I wasn't. Neither was Billy, but I just got off the phone with him, so he knows now too. I also just ripped some poor woman a new one because this is bullshit. The police oversight committee is dragging their fucking heels, and people are getting hurt because of it."
"And you're the one who always reminds me that the government doesn't move quickly," I reminded him.
"Well, I just lit a fire under their ass. The simple fact that you were all scared to call the police because you're convinced that they won't do anything actually makes a very good motivating point. Since fire and emergency medical services are closely tied to police, I may have insinuated that there was a little fear about that as well. At any rate, I was just informed that things are definitely moving, but that the investigation is confidential."
"In other words, they could be blowing smoke up your ass," I told him.
Berto just chuckled. "Not anymore. So I can now tell you that the oversight committee is working with a regional internal review group. The problem is that in this country, people are assumed to be innocent until proven guilty. That means that they get to tell their side of the story. Violet, the cops are being questioned. They won't be told who filed a complaint, but even they aren't that stupid. They know their jobs are on the line, and they are going to blame you. I need you - and everyone up there at Southwind - to be very, very careful for the next couple of weeks."
"Do you expect retaliation?" I asked.
"At this point, I wouldn't put anything past these bastards. I also have at least five different angles of the cop shoving your face into the hood of his car. There's enough video evidence of the fact that you did not resist, did not make an aggressive move, and did not do anything to deserve that to make it clear that this department has a habit of excessive force. Sadly, we can't simply close down an entire police department. There have to be arrangements put in place beforehand. Now, we can bring in police from another city, state police, and other things - but all of this takes time. Always, fucking time!"
I sighed, feeling the exact same frustration he was, but right now it was my turn to be the strong one. "It's okay, Berto. We'll figure it out. The important thing is that Southwind is legally able to operate. All I need now is the state approval and to finalize the hiring of a few teachers."
"Well, I left a couple of files in Cy's office for you. I tried to do some digging on the best-looking candidates who applied. One of them works in an alternative high school - the kind of place where the bad kids get sent - but she's looking for something with a little more pay and a few less students. Right now, she's my pick. I'm sure you're gonna want a few more, but so long as you have one teacher on staff, Southwind is good to go."
"And how long do you think the state approvals are gonna take?" I asked. "In other words, will we be able to get this place open by January to start next semester?"
"I already told you that I have Southwind green-lit on my side. The paperwork has been submitted, we already have half the signatures, and it should be back to me by the end of the week. Just keep operating under the assumption that everything on my side is good. So, for the next couple of weeks, just keep things clean there, and then the student requests should start pouring in."
I leaned forward to rub my brow with my hand, trying to push off the headache that I could feel building. "Which means more waiting, but okay. Just call me if you have anything else, okay?"
"Promise," Berto said. "Take care of those boys for me, Violet. Make sure you tell Zeke that I'm proud of him for jumping in to help Darnell. And let Emily know that the entire rainbow appreciates her help. But don't forget to give that boy a little praise, okay? I have a feeling he's not used to hearing it."
"He's getting there," I assured him. "Sounds like my guys are stepping in to be the father figures he's always needed. No, we are not going to talk about how incredibly adorable that is. Evidently the four of us are the family type."
"Just took finding Luke to make you realize it," Berto teased.
I ended the call with him and didn't even bother to set my phone down. Using Berto to work the legal angle was only one part of our attack plan. So, if the cops were going to be a problem, then it only made sense to go around them. That meant I needed to talk to Billy. First, to apologize to him for not telling him what happened to Darnell. Second, to see if whatever he was working on had any chance of making the cops back the fuck off.
But when he answered the phone, he didn't even bother messing around. "Blaze, and I'm alone. What do you need, Vi?"
