She looked up from a file on her desk and smiled softly. “Can I—Dillon? Dillon Murdock, is that you?”
“Yes, ma’am.” She had always been nice to Joey and me, and I respected her efforts, even if our situation turned out shitty. At least she tried to make things better, unlike so many.
“Come on in.” She waved me into her office and towards the chair across from her.
I dropped my bag behind the chair and took a seat.
“Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water? I have Diet Coke as well.”
“A bottle of water would be great.”
I watched as she reached into the mini fridge behind her desk and pulled out a bottle of water. She looked tired and worn down. I remember her smiling more and being bubbly. Now, she seemed hardened, maybe even more reserved. I wonder what happened to her to steal the light from her eyes?
She took the seat across from me again and handed me the bottle of water. “I didn’t know if you would come back to Rising Star after you aged out.”
“I didn’t want to, but this is the last place that I saw Joey. I was actually stopping by to see if you had seen her around town, or if you happened to know where she is?”
“I saw her briefly about three months ago at the grocery store, but I didn’t get a chance to talk with her. I don’t think she’s hanging out with the best crowd. She was with some pretty rough looking bikers.”
“Bikers?”
“Yeah, we have two biker gangs here. One has been here for a while, and they don’t cause too much trouble, but the other… well, let’s just say they aren’t law-abiding citizens.”
“And Joey’s hanging out with the less-than-ideal club?”
“Yeah. At least from what I could tell, she was with one of the members of the Hell’s Artillery.” She fell silent for a minute, gathering her thoughts. “I’m sorry about what happened to you and Joey. The Sinclair’s looked great on paper, but I should have known something was amiss. I should have checked in on you guys more often.”
“It’s not your fault, Ms. Green. You had no way of knowing, and even if you had checked in on us more often, we never would have told you what was going on. We were all each other had back then. We were the only constants in our lives, so we didn’t want to be separated. There’s no way in hell either one of us would have said anything to you. We would have hidden it like we did the few times you did pop in.”
“Even so. I’m truly sorry. Because of what happened to you and Joey, I am always looking in on the kids I advocate for, and I make sure they have a way to contact me at all times.”
“Like I said, it wasn’t your fault. The only people to blame in all this are the Sinclairs.”
It visibly looked like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. There was no doubt in my mind that she had carried that guilt around since the second she found out about what happened to us. But who could blame her? Being a social worker had to be hard work. Kids slipped through the cracks all the time, and Joey and I were just the ones small enough to fit through the dark hole the Sinclair house had created.
“Thank you.” She sat back in her semi-plush chair that looked like it had seen better days. “So, what’s next? I heard you graduated high school. I meant to make it out to your graduation, but unfortunately, I had stuff going on here that I needed to take care of.”
“I didn’t go to my graduation, so you didn’t miss much. The teachers only passed me to get me out of there so I wouldn’t return the next year as a second year senior.”
“Why’s that?” she asked, looking genuinely concerned.
Shrugging my shoulders, I replied, “Too many kids, the teachers didn’t make enough money, and I was too far behind. The only class I did well in was Auto Shop.”
“Well, that’s something. Working on cars is a great skill. You should pursue that.”
“Maybe after I find Joey and make sure she’s okay.”
“Where are you staying tonight?”
I didn’t hesitate lying to her. Lying is one skill I excel at. “With an old friend from school. He said I could crash on his couch when I came home.”
“Great.”
“I better get going. Thanks for your time, and if you see Joey around, tell her I’m looking for her.”
“I will. Thank you for stopping by, Dillon. It was good seeing you.”
“You too, Ms. Green.”
