“Cou-could I-uh, try an omelet?” I heard Calen’s slightly shaky voice come from behind me, so quietly I was sure I was replaying something I’d heard through the wall on a different morning. I looked up at him as his eyes darted from me to the hem of his shirt. I gathered up the basics of eggs and cheese, andwas contemplating making it for him, but thought that teaching him how might give us a chance to get to talking about things a bit easier maybe. He’s fifteen, almost sixteen. He also needed to learn the skill if he wanted to be able to live on his own one day without ordering takeout for every meal.
Okay. Make of the offer, if he turns it down, I’ll make it and just narrate the shit out of it like they do with newborns. The quiet is seriously getting to me with the heaviness.
“Want me to show you how to make it?” I offered, holding my breath as I glanced at him over my shoulder. He nodded his head, barely like he was afraid to make a decision himself, but like he was proud he’d done it at the same time. It was subtle, but I think I saw his lips turn up, barely. Maybe. Maybe I was hallucinating and just hoping it wasn’t something I imagined, and that he was smiling for real.
I had already mixed up the eggs and we had just poured them into the pan, selecting what sounded good in the omelet when the officers finally showed up. Calen picked out what he wanted in the omelet before he went to sit on the couch, ready to answer their questions, to fill them in on everything that had been going on. I plated it for him as he sat on the couch answering the questions. I set a glass of water next to his plate on the coffee table where they were talking, because I didn’t know what he’d want to drink and I didn’t want to interrupt.
But the kid needed a hot meal. He wasn’t missing out on food because these guys wanted to talk.
Walking back to the kitchen, I started thinking over the last few months that I’d been living here, next to Cash and listening in to their conversations. The only thing that I can say, ‘That tracks’ is the fact Calen never wanted to go home, and he would always say that Cash was more like family than hisown mother. I felt so bad for the teenager, that I hadn’t noticed anything different, anything that should have raised a red flag or two. After scolding myself mentally, I realized I was somehow listening to both Cash’s conversation with an officer and Calen’s conversation. There were things they were saying that, as a doctor, I can’t believe it didn’t see. I scrubbed my hand down my face, seeing it all now.
How did I not notice he was getting quieter over at Cash’s apartment? I could hear everything through these paper thin walls. How did I miss that? How did I miss the way he smiled smaller? Or the way he’d stay just out of reach of everyone? How did I not see it? Did I have rose-colored glasses on? My hands were clenched into fists at the kitchen island, staring at the omelet I’d made for myself and I could feel the tears coming.
I turned my back on the guys sitting in the living room with the officers. I moved quietly down the hallway, not needing anyone to see the pity party I was having for myself. This wasn’t about me. This was about making sure Calen was safe. I was woman and doctor enough to admit that I hated all the missed signs. I was too wrapped up in me and my shit to notice.
Damn.
*****
Cash’s POV
I had decided to wait outside of her apartment for the officers to get there. At least, that’s what I told them. I couldn’t stop pacing and I needed to burn off this rage some way. I knew I would most likely need new carpet in the hallway in front of her apartment from the hole I was going to wear in there, but I couldn’t stop. I kept replaying the bruises in my mind. Theway he looked so scared, but resolved when he told Vivienne he wasn’t going back with her.
By the time the officers got there, I had cooled down enough to think clearly. I also wanted to talk with them out of Calen’s earshot about what I said to his mother before she got on the elevator. I didn’t want him to take on any guilt about her actions, nor did I want him to hear me having lost my shit on her more than he already did. I wanted to make sure not to scar him anymore. He did nothing wrong, at all. This was all on Vivienne.
Talking with the officers, I gave them her information, directed them to the program and the director if they needed any more information, because I had a name, a cell phone, and an apartment block. I let them know she’s been harassing me, trying to proposition me for sexual favors for months-almost a year. I told them that things had seemed to escalate when I started dating Devin, and I’d been firm in my denials, but I had no idea she was abusing Calen and couldn’t tell them when it had started. They asked to go inside Devin’s apartment, to talk with Calen, to watch and get a copy of the video, and to talk to Devin about what she thought and had witnessed.
I peeked my head in to see them cooking together. She was standing a little further away from him so he’d be comfortable, not feel too crowded, as she instructed him on how to make his omelet. It was sweet watching them. I saw the way she tried so hard not to burst with joy when she saw the small flicker of pride and excitement in his eyes.
She was just so damn sweet, like a freshly ripened peach. She even offered orange juice, coffee, and an omelet to the officers when we were just about finished with our conversation on the couch. Both declined but gave thanks for the offer before leaving. Devin set my food on the island for me while she cleanedup and loaded the dishwasher. Her eyes looked red, and I knew I’d have to talk to her about that later.
I sat on one of the chairs in the living room, hours after the officers had left. My lawyer and Calen sat with me, talking about what needed to be done next, and where to go from here. I looked up, my eyes searching for Devin. She had her back to us, but I could see the slight tremors of her body. Was she crying? I excused myself and went to comfort her. She promised she was fine, but I knew better. We’d be talking about this after we got the urgent fires of this situation handled.
She was just about done with washing the dishes, about the same time I was done talking to Calen and my lawyer when a knock on the apartment door came. My lawyer stood, shifting slightly so he was in front of Calen as Devin and I answered the door. A woman stood outside and presented her credentials as a CPS caseworker. We moved aside, welcoming her into Devin’s apartment as my girl offered her something to drink, which she declined, as she sat down. Everyone talked about legal options and the process of things, as well as hearing what Calen wanted.
Calen told them both about his mom’s abuse, how it started over the last eleven or so months, and how it was becoming worse, but was always the worst whenever she saw Devin and me together. He said she’d been acting erratically for days, and this time, she woke him up before the sun had risen and dragged him to my apartment under the guise that he needed me for something or I needed to help with practice or homework or something, anything.
“She didn’t care what I told you, Cash. She just said we had to get into your apartment and she would take care of everything. She kept mumbling about how all the others were ‘just there’ and ‘temporary’ but she knew you’d ‘come back toher’.” I saw him shudder at the memory, “I’m not sure why, but I think she was talking about the women you used to see. Because when she saw you with Devin, something changed. And today she seemed off her rocker, mumbling about how she needed to get in the apartment. She was convinced that if you talked to her, something she’d done over the last four years would suddenly make you realize that you were in love with her,” he was sniffling, a few tears coming down his face, having already cried a lot this morning, afternoon by Devin’s coffeemaker.
“I really like that you’re my big brother, and I don’t want that to change, but I get it if I can’t stay your little brother because of my mom. I know there’s something wrong with her. I also get it if I have to move and can’t be part of the program because you gotta take me,” he motioned to the CPS worker and I felt my heart fucking break at that. Devin looked at me with tears in her eyes and I knew we’d be talking about what we could do to help him tonight after everyone left.
“Well, we’re going to have to investigate this,” the CPS worker mirrored what the officers had told him earlier, “We need to get you to the hospital though. There’s an officer coming who will take you to get a physical done by one of the doctors,” he stiffened, noticeably, at that.
“Can Cash and Devin be at the hospital with me? Where am I going to stay after this?” He interrupted, a worried look seeming to etch itself into his young face.
“All things we can answer,afterthe medical exam. And, yes, they can come if you want them to be there.” He nodded and looked at me. I nodded my head. I’d be there for my little brother.
He was family.
“They’re who I feel most comfortable with.” The CPS worker let us know where she’d be taking him downstairs to meet their ride, and we promised to meet him at the hospital as soon as we could after we got dressed and ready. He nodded and left with them. I made sure he had his phone so he could call if he needed us for anything before we rushed to get dressed.
“Lou! I have to contact the Big Brother Big Sister program to let the director know about this. Can you ride to the hospital with us? We have questions.”
I grabbed the paperwork off the island that one of the officers handed me earlier. I grabbed everything I thought I might need, Devin meeting me in the hallway moments later with Lou. Both of them looked like they were in a tense conversation as I approached and we moved to call the elevator.
As the door to the elevator closed after we’d all stepped in, the only thought I had was, ‘What a shit show.’
Chapter Thirty-Six:
