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“How are the wedding plans coming along? Lisa still trying to get you to Paris for the honeymoon?” I’ll talk about anything at this point. I just want conversation. Charles blows out a breath and scrubs his face.
“Every time I turn around, we are needing more money for something. I wanted to have a small thing, but she wants this huge wedding, and lucky for her, I love her more than life itself. It just sucks handing over my entire paycheck and worrying how the hell the bills will get paid.” I chuckle even though I feel a bit of jealousy that he has this undeniable love with Lisa. I want that. I want to have a love that is worth fighting for, worth laying my life down for. I’m so thankful to be turning into the precinct right now because I feel guilty for my thoughts.
“It will be worth every penny, man, when you see her walking down the aisle to you.” He slaps my shoulder, and I look over at him smiling as I throw the car in park.
“Dude, you have no idea.” We both climb out of the car and go inside to finish up a bit of paperwork from the night. Once we are finally done, we head home, and I eat my burger on the ride.
I go up to my apartment and jump in the shower. I go into my room, throw on a pair of boxers, and fall into bed. It’s after six in the morning, and I’m fucking exhausted. I just close my eyes, and my cell phone rings. I reach over to my nightstand and fumble around to find it. I’m sure it’s my mom just checking in. She does that weekly, and I love hearing her voice. “Hello?”
“Keith?” I bolt up in bed at the tears I hear in Connie’s voice.
“Connie, what’s wrong?” She starts to really cry, and I jump out of bed and start pacing. I don’t like the feeling I have. I hate being this far away; I can’t just run over to them. After she still doesn’t say anything, I try to get her to relax. “Hey. Listen, whatever it is, I’ll fix it, but you need to calm down, and tell me what happened.” She sniffles a few times before she finally starts talking.
“It’s Dad.” I freeze in place. What the fuck did that prick do now?
“What happened, Connie?” She blows out a breath and clears her throat.
“He’s back in jail; this time I think it will be for a long time.” I shake my head thinking of all the things he could have done now.
“Connie, please just tell me. You are fucking killing me here.”
“Sorry. He came home completely drunk and . . .” She starts crying again but tries to talk through it this time. “And he hit Mom. It was bad, Keith, really bad. Karen was here and called me. I got here as fast as I could, but he really hurt her. I called the cops on the way over, so they got here the same time I did. We ran in the house, and he was sitting on her, choking her. Karen was screaming. The cops tackled him, and he still kept fighting. Karen and I ran over to Mom, and she had tears running down her face with a bloody nose and busted lip. They cuffed dad and called an ambulance. Karen and I wanted to go with Mom, but they needed us to stay to get our statement. They told us that he will probably be in jail for a long time.” She is sobbing at this point, and my blood has literally turned to ice. That fucking piece of shit. I need to go take care of this and my family. I will make damn sure that fucking worthless asshole stays in jail this time.
“Connie, try to calm down. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I need to see if I can take some leave and tie up a few things here. I promise I’ll be there as soon as possible. Have you been to see Mom yet?” I’m pacing my room trying to figure out how long I can leave without losing my job. In the past when I went home, I was just missing school, so I stayed as long as I was needed. This time, I know it will take a while, and I fucking hope I can get the time.
“The cops just left. I wanted to call you first. We are going to leave now.” I look out the window, see the sun starting to rise, and think that to someone this is a fresh start of a new day. To me it means the start of weeks of hell.
“Go to Mom. Call me when you know how she is, and you make sure that she presses charges, Connie. I’m not fucking around. I can’t get there fast enough to make sure it’s done. I’m depending on you.” Without that, my dad won’t spend more than a few days in jail. She needs to do it. Connie starts crying again, and I feel like an asshole for being so tough. “Connie, don’t cry. I’m sorry. I’ve just seen this so many times, and once the wife has time to justify things, she doesn’t press charges, and things always get worse. I can’t have that for Mom or you and Karen. Please promise me you’ll make her do it.” She takes a deep breath and blows it out.
“I promise, Keith.” I hear Karen in the background, and I know they will be leaving.
“Alright, you guys go. Please call me, and don’t forget what I said. I love you.”
“I love you too, big brother. I’ll call you soon.” We hang up, and I squeeze my phone in my hand. I can’t believe how bad shit has gotten since I was there last. I need to get there, to take care of my family like I always said I would.
I go out into the kitchen to start the coffee pot because I won’t be getting any sleep now. Once the coffee starts brewing, I lean on the counter with my folded arms and close my eyes tightly. The thought of what my mom just endured, and my sisters having to see it, makes me sick to my stomach. This is why I’m a cop, and I’m not even there to protect them.
“Dick, you alright?” I snap my eyes open when Campbell asks me. He is standing in the kitchen with a look of worry on his face. I might as well tell him since I’ll be leaving soon.
“No, man, I’m not.” I proceed to tell him everything, and he pulls me into a hug.
“Fuck, I had no idea it was so bad at home. When are you leaving?” We break apart and lean against opposite counters.
“I don’t know; as soon as possible. I need to make sure I can get some leave; I don’t want to lose my job. I also need to talk to Becca about some things.” He raises his eyebrows, and I shake my head. “I need to talk to her first.” He nods and grabs two mugs out of the cabinet. After we fix our coffee, we go sit on the couch.
“Well, since it seems you probably won’t be here, I’m going to tell you first.” I cock my head waiting to see what he has to say. He gets a huge grin on his face, and I crack a small smile.
“I’m going to ask Kenz to marry me.” We hug it out for the second time. I couldn’t be happier for him. He and Kenz are perfect for each other;
they belong together. She couldn’t ask for a better husband.
“Campbell, I am so fucking happy for you. I wish you guys all the happiness in the world. Did you get a ring yet?” He shakes his head as he sips his coffee.
“Not yet. I was going to look after work today. I know exactly what I’m looking for, it’s just finding it.” I smile again. These two have been through hell and back, yet they still came out on the other side. That takes a lot of love.
“Listen, I need to go talk to Becca before she leaves for work. I really am fucking happy for you.” He has a huge smile on his face so I know he heard me, but he is lost in thought of Kenz, no less. It makes what I need to do that much more important.
I walk across the hall and knock on the girls’ door. I know it’s early as fuck, but Becca will be up. She is always up early. Just as I figured, she is the one to open the door. “Dick? What’s wrong?” I try to plaster a fake smile on my face, but it is useless.
