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The first week back to school was a short one. Despite a bit of leftover restlessness from the summer break, classes had gone well.
I couldn’t wait for Friday to be over. I was looking forward to working over the weekend. Both to spend time with Juliet and to make money.
Apparently work would have to wait. After my last class of the afternoon, I received a note from the office that I needed to go straight home.
A bad feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. This had never happened before.
“I have to go home first. But I’ll see you at work later,” I promised Juliet on the walk to her house.
“Okay.”
I didn’t dare give her more than a peck on the cheek in front of her uncle’s house. Just in case the bastard was lurking nearby.
If I’d known the hell I was about to walk into, I would’ve taken Juliet’s hand and run far, far away instead of going home.
Many cars lined the driveway. Not unusual. We frequently had visitors. Especially when kids were removed or placed here.
Jackass Jason was in the living room with my caseworker and two men I didn’t recognize.
“Roman, come here.”
My stomach bottomed out.
They were here for me.
Memories of all the other times I’d been packed up and shipped off flooded my brain.
I hadn’t even done anything wrong.
“What’s going on?”
Jason stood up, crossing his arms over his chest. I don’t know what I did to piss this guy off, but he seemed to be enjoying himself way too much. “We executed a routine search of your room and found contraband.”
“Routine search? I’ve been here seven months and never been searched before.”
“You were overdue.”
I took a step closer to Jason. “What contraband?”
He pointed to the coffee table and for the first time I noticed the items laid out in neat plastic bags with notes written in black marker on the outside. My brain struggled to catch up and make sense of what I was seeing. An iPad. Two different cell phones. Marijuana, rolling papers, and a pipe.
“None of that’s mine.”
“It was found in your room. Under your bed. So who else would it belong to?”
“Bullshit. I’m being set up.” I turned to Ms. Simpson, seeking her assistance. She had to know this wasn’t true. “Do something. You know I’m not a thief.”
“Roman—”
“Why would I bust my ass working so many hours if I was gonna steal shit?” The injustice of it boiled my blood.
By this point in my life I already knew what was coming. Don’t know why I bothered fighting it.
I was about to lose everything.
The freedom I’d worked so hard to carve out for myself.
Any chance of going to college.
The love I’d found.
Everything familiar was going to be ripped away once again.
“The electronics are bad enough. But you’ve also brought illegal narcotics into the house,” one of the men I didn’t know said.
“No I didn’t.” My hands went to my hair, grabbing a fistful. “Test me. I’ll take any test you want. You won’t find any drugs in my system.” I pointed at the stuff on the table. “Fingerprint that shit. You won’t find my prints on any of it.”
Jason shifted and looked away. Guess none of that occurred to him.
For the first time, I thought maybe I was getting somewhere and this nightmare would go away. The two strangers looked at each other and then Ms. Simpson. She eyed Jason before addressing me.
“The items will be processed. For now, we need to remove you.”
“No!”
Run! Get out!
The two strangers tackled me before I reached the front door, slamming me into the wall. “Relax, son. Relax.”
“You fucking relax. I’m being set up.”
They zip-tied my hands behind my back. I glanced up the staircase and found Pip, Squire, Janet, and the rest of the kids watching the spectacle.
Squire pouted and wiped a fake tear off his cheek. Janet wiggled her fingers at me and mouthed, “bye-bye.”
They did this.
Tears ran down Pip’s cheeks and he shook his head.
Who would protect him from the bigger kids if I wasn’t here?
“Don’t do this.” Realizing Pip would be all alone reduced me to begging. “Ms. Simpson, please. You know I’m innocent.” With my face mashed up against the wall, my words came out muffled.
“We’ll sort it out, Roman,” she said with a little more authority.
But it was too little too late.
They could sort it out later, but the damage would be done. My life would be upended. Even if I was vindicated, the chances of me being returned to Pine Bluff were slim.
The two officers marched me out the front door and into a van. “Where are we going?”
“A more secure facility.”
Kiddie prison.
“I just started the school year.”
“They have a school there.”
Great, I was headed to a facility where I wouldn’t be allowed to leave the grounds. Not even to go to school.
Juliet.
I had no way to contact her. Even if my backpack somehow made it to the place I was going, they’d search it and find my phone. She was going to be so worried.
My job would be gone too. I had no hope anyone involved would have the decency to call and let Ulfric know why I wouldn’t be coming in this weekend.
I yanked at the restraints on my wrists. Tears of rage welled up, burning my eyes, but I gritted my teeth until they dried up.
I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of my tears.
They wouldn’t break me.
Thirty-Seven
Juliet
By Sunday I was out of my mind with worry. Something bad must have happened to Roman.
As soon as I realized Roman wouldn’t be showing up for work Friday night, I told Ulfric about the ominous message Roman had received at school.
He shook his head. “Fucking bastards,” he’d muttered.
I called Uncle Dex to see if he could do anything.
“I’ll see what I can find out, Julez. But I’m not family. I’ll have a hard time getting anyone to talk to me.”
After work Sunday night, I went to see Mrs. Shields. While watering the flowers Roman and I bought her earlier in the summer, I broke down crying.
Behind me the screen door clicked open and thumped shut.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” Mrs. Shields pulled me into the warm circle of her arms and stroked her hand over my hair.
I spilled all my fears and worry to her.
“Oh, Juliet.” She sounded so distressed, I felt bad for telling her. “Poor Roman. What can I do?”
For a moment we were both quiet. What could she do? What could I do? I’d never felt so useless.
“Do you think I could apply to be his foster parent?” she finally asked.
I wiped the tears off my cheek and stared at her. “You’d do that?”
“Of course. He’s a good boy. He deserves some stability.” She hesitated. “I might be too old to be approved as a foster parent, though. I don’t know.”
“I don’t think so.” My heart already felt lighter. They’d be crazy to turn her down. Mrs. Shields had a lovely home and lots of time to give. She’d be a perfect foster parent for Roman. This might actually work. It had to.
“I’ll call my lawyer tomorrow morning and see if he can help me figure out where to start,” she promised.
“Thank you. Thank you so much, Mrs. Shields.”
Monday morning, I waited out front for the Pine Bluff van to arrive. Praying Roman would be on it. Maybe the home found his phone and he was grounded for the weekend, but he’d show up for school. Everything would be okay.
Everything was not okay.
The van pulled up to the curb. I didn’t recognize the driver and I was afraid t
o approach. I doubted he’d answer any of my questions anyway. Instead, I waited for Pip.
He trudged down the van steps last.
“Pip!” I called out.
“Aw, you waiting for your fuck boy?” Sam taunted.
“Sorry, he’s not coming today,” Janet added.
