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No. That wasn’t the question. The guy with them headed for the room while Archie and my mom continued to talk to the cop with Joe.
Okay. This officially just got weird.
The door opened, and the man stepped in and left it open. “Mr. Benton, I’m Roger Wittaker. Mr. Standish requested I come down here to represent you, but you are not being charged. If you’d like to grab your things, we’ll get you out of here.”
“I’m not?” Then why the fuck had I been stuck here all day?
“No,” the man said. “Your things?”
“I don’t have them.” I tossed the empty sandwich containers and the dead ice pack into the trash can as I stood. “They kept my backpack and stuff when they put me in here.”
“Then we’ll get those returned to you.” He waited until I closed the distance before he turned to walk over to where Mom, Archie, and Joe were.
“Hey,” Arch said when I got there. “I can give you a ride to your car when we’re done.”
“Thanks.”
Mom twisted and pinned me with a look. “Don’t,” she said when I opened my mouth, so I snapped it closed and nodded. Then she focused on the cop again. “Now, please explain to me if he’s not being charged, why you kept him here all day. I was called this morning, but I couldn’t leave work.”
“Ma’am—”
“Mrs. Benton will do.” Damn, Mom. That frosty tone kept my spine rigid, and Archie straightened next to me. Mom didn’t get mad. She got disappointed. At the moment, that sounded pretty damn mad.
The cop nodded. “Mrs. Benton, after the incident at the school, he was turned over to my officers by the SROs because it was considered an assault. Mr. Rhys—the younger one—declined to press any charges. The coach, who reported the incident, has since recanted his insistence that charges be filed.”
Shock rippled through me, and I cut a look to Joe. The older man gave me a quiet nod.
“In that time, we were waiting to question your son because he wisely invoked his right to counsel and to have you here.” The compliment and tone weren’t doing anything to relax Mom’s stance.
“He’s not under arrest?”
“No ma’—Mrs. Benton. At this point, while he was in our custody for the day, he is not being charged. There won’t be a record. I can’t speak to what the school will do, but he’s free to go.”
“Excellent,” Mr. Wittaker interceded smoothly. “If we could collect Mr. Benton’s things and let him assure us that everything is in order, we’ll go.”
It was an awkward few minutes, but I got my backpack, everything was there—including my phone with messages from everyone and Frankie. I stuffed the phone in my pocket. I needed to answer Frankie as soon as I got out of here.
Fuck, it was six. It was like I’d been trapped in a bubble where time lost meaning. Slinging the strap over my shoulder, I said, “It’s all here.”
“Mr. Benton,” the cop said before I could walk away. Should have known I wouldn’t get off that easily. “You got lucky. You keep this up, that luck is going to run out. I’m glad you’ve got good friends and a support structure. You might consider them the next time something like this happens and refrain from solving issues with your fists.”
Yeah. Great advice. “Yes, sir.” I’d get right on it. Not that the cop wanted to hear all of that. No, just like Dad and every other uniform I’d ever known. They wanted to hear two syllables.
“Let’s go, Jacob.”
Oh. I was dead. Mom never called me Jacob.
We left in a group, Archie falling into step next to me as Joe moved forward to walk with my mom. The attorney waited for all of us, then he followed.
“Is she all right?” I asked quietly.
“She’s worried,” Archie said. “None of us knew about the arrest until she got to Bubba’s.”
“Is she still there?”
“I don’t know. I just know she called me as soon as Bubba told her. I was already at your place waiting for you, then I called Wittaker. Coop went to get your sisters so your Mom could come straight here.”
“Thanks, man,” I bumped his shoulder.
