“Stop me if I’m close? Detention, suspension..” pausing in between for a brief moment.
“Suspension that might turn into expulsion.”
“Jesus Christ, who and how.”
Layla’s face drops even more. “Marcus and according to the vice principal due to drug possession. He’s suspended until further investigation. But you and I both know that it won’t be a fair fight.”
I am thrown back, Marcus is one of the high school students that has been in our program for a long while. He’s a good kid, and had some trouble with academics, but has since been a good student. His family was against drugs and his mother works hard at the county hospital as a nurse.
“Where is he?” I sneer out.
“That’s the thing,wecan’t find him.” My jaw drops, and worry starts to spread.
“Wait, what do you meanwecan’t find him?” I yell, but the sound I guess traveled because there were more eyes on my office than normal including Keola’s.
I am burning up, between anger and being worrisome. The last incident of drugs had been years ago, after I had started. Our students sometimes had detention, suspension, and the rare occasion of expulsion, but drug possession. Now, he is missing. Something is not adding up. Marcus is a good kid, a bright kid at that.
“Alright, so tell me what has been done and what you need from me?” The way I lead is allowing my advocates to have breathing room, I won’t micromanage but observe and be here as guidance and when I need to step in.
“Right now, we are reaching out to his mom, but no answer, we keep checking in and if need be file a missing persons report. The last time myself or any of his teachers have seen him was last Thursday. I only found out when I reached out to the school counselor for an update this morning. And trust me, I’ve already respectfully handed them their ass for not notifying me nor his mother.”
So theweis not theweI thought, it’s sounding like the school handled it a certain way, and perhaps scaring him off. Then resulting in us, as the foundation, to not know his whereabouts. My hope is that his mother got the authorities involved, but even so, we would have been notified.
I nod in agreement. “Go ahead and contact the local precinct to see if Officer Landings is available to speak with you and let Cedric know, maybe he can speak with him once we get eyes on him or find him.”
“I’m holding on to hope, Lottie, I can’t begin to understand what happened.”
“It’s only Monday. Things could look up and we could get a handle on things.”
“You got it boss.” She does a small salute and leaves my office.
I never thought in my career that I would have to handle this. A missing student when no one has had eyes on him since Thursday and possible drug possession. But between what’s happening with the foundation and the community gone awry, some things are not adding up. I can’t shake my head that this incident with our student may have something to do with the local gang or clubs within the area. My mind traces back to Keola, knowing that he is a part of the group that Teresa brought in.
I’m not blind to the fact that we have more gang violence within our area, but I have done my best to keep this organization as a safe haven. Once we find him, maybe Cedric can reason with him, and we can safely pull him from the association if there is anything. I am not going to assume the worst just because there are certain facts that are surrounding us. I just worry that Marcus stumbled into something that he can’t get himself out of. I worry about a lot of things.
I see Finn, glancing back at me through the open windows of one of the classrooms. His eyes seek some truth or comfort that I’m okay. I blew him a kiss and turned from him, not showing him that I was more than worried, if anything just scared.
Chapter 4
Keola
Icanonlyimaginewhat the department is going through. Unfortunately, this isn’t my first time someone’s child going missing and possibly due to gangs, drugs, or even family situations. The look in Charlotte’s eyes was heartbreaking, the look to make sure her nephew was okay or within sight.
We had a meeting earlier, and I moved towards the bar area of the gathering room. Memphis follows next to me. Jackson relayed the news to the others, giving them a heads up that there was a student missing and that there might be trouble with drugs. Rawlings had given the command with support from Jackson to make sure nothing else happened in that department.
I had come into the club after I left the force and needed a change from what I was doing. Ten years on the force and unfortunately I had my share of people that I lost. I was having a hard time adjusting and then two years ago I met D.R, or Doc as Tessa has graciously nicknamed him and now it has stuck. That woman might have been a pain in my ass but she was good for the club, there was a change that she valued and I could tell that Rawlings and her would go toe to toe, if we learned anything back in the summertime.
But D.R had found me in a low place and pulled me out of it, soon I became a prospect and I didn’t look back. It’s funny to think that I once was a police officer defending and protecting the law and now I handle the backend of our “businesses” and will ask questions later.
In the end, Teresa suggested community service and now the club is required to volunteer also in hopes that nothing gets back to us. I’m not saying that Teresa supports what we do for our business, I mean the illegal business, but she cared for us all.
Then I saw her at the festival, how she stumbled over herself, how she blushed when she spoke with me. But something flipped, the moment I questioned her about her nephew. She went into a protective mode like a mother bear. She appeared as an angel in the beginning but even angels can be vengeful and a bit wild. She was starting to bear her teeth.
And I knew one thing, I wanted to get to know her more. There’s something about her, something alluring. I’ve been warned but that won’t stop me.
“Oh my brother, it seems like someone is a bit smitten.” Memphis laughs and slaps my shoulder. He sits down next to me. I still question how and why this man wanted to be in a club. But he’s the sunshine that makes it bearable against some of these old timers. The ones that have been here since the beginning, all except Johnny, Topaz’s father. He had been a good mentor and a sounding board. He saw both sides and I couldn’t imagine the club without the man. Memphis too.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I say staring into the abyss, sipping my coffee that I had poured moments ago.
