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And tonight, it’s TJ who is in need. I understood that.
“The cops came for him, what happened?” I ask, not wanting to wait any longer.
Tucker’s gaze suddenly focuses on my face and doesn’t let go. I don’t flinch, raising my eyebrows in his direction.
“On Sunday night, TJ’s father, Mark, punched his wife in the face. He had no idea TJ saw him do it, but he did.”
I close my eyes for a second. No way. Now I understand why TJ seemed so committed to the cause of battered women…
“It wasn’t the first time?” I ask him.
I have the impression that Sanchez and I are the only ones who didn’t know about it. It’s logical, considering that we are the two newcomers.
In any case, even if I joined this group against my will at the beginning, I want to help TJ as much as any of them.
“No,” Yeleen answers me with a mean look, but I understand that anger isn’t meant for me.
“TJ intervened and beat his father up pretty bad,” Tucker continues. “He then left his house. The reason the cops came for him on Monday was because that son of a bitch Mark made a complaint against him.”
I sit on the edge of the couch, resting my elbows on my knees.
This sucks. “We need his mother to testify against Mark, to argue that her son helped her!” I exclaim.
Sarah lets out a mirthless laugh. “No kidding, Miss Know-it-all, do you think we hadn’t already thought of that?” she retorts sarcastically.
“Being a bitch won’t make you any prettier or smarter, Sarah,” I say with a small smile. “In fact, it makes you uglier.”
Sanchez laughs softly next to me before clearing his throat.
“We had already thought of that,” Tucker continues, ignoring our verbal joust. “His mother, however, is afraid. She told the cops she fell and hit the corner of a piece of furniture. She’s afraid of her husband, so she decided to give her son up.”
So, if she said that she was injured by accident, nothing accuses her husband. Then TJ would have hit him for no reason, and he would look like the attacker. However, I can’t totally blame his mother. Battered women are often under the control of their husbands, and the road out of an abusive relationship is usually long and perilous…
“Where is TJ right now? He can’t still be in detention,” I continue concern.
“He was released Wednesday night,” Yeleen sighs, “but his father is still pursuing his complaint. It’s going to ruin his future.”
“The guy’s an asshole, but what can we do?” mumbles Sanchez as he straightens up.
Tucker and Dan exchange a look. A look that brothers share. They understand each other in a second, as if they were thinking the same thing.
“We’re going to go pay his dad a little visit,” Dan announces with a mischievous grin.
Oh, oh. Big danger. I know in my heart that Dan remains the most elusive and unstable of them all. It’s as if he’s dead inside and no longer thinks about his actions.
“What do you mean, visit?” I ask, unsure.
“Every Friday night,” Tucker explains, “Mark meets his secretary at a motel north of town. It’s been years now. That’s where we’re going.”
Dan taps his fists together, Sam next to him. Sarah and Yeleen exchange a knowing look. Only Sanchez and I seem lost.
“I’m in,” announces Sanchez, rising from the couch.
Oh no, apparently, I’m the only one who’s lost… “Go there and do what?” I ask. “Are you crazy or what?”
Dan and Sam are not listening to me anymore. They walk out of the chapel, Sanchez on their heels, excited to follow the Pack. Sarah and Yeleen are the next to leave. Only Tucker and I are left in the room.
“What are we going to do?” I gasp weakly. “I don’t do all…that stuff.”
