Spider Webs - 2. Chapter 2: Dangling By A Thread

Spider Webs
Chapter 2: Dangling by a thread
By Linxe Termoil

*        *        *        *        *        *        *

What a mouthful, Kitsap County Juvenile Detention Facility. You try saying that crap. I guess most people called it juvie. Deputy Hayes had given me over to one of the staff members. I found myself looking back at the door that I had just come through. I guess it was because I wanted to be on the other side of that door.

The man I had been turned over to pulled on my arm and led me down a hall, slowly, because I was limping again. The paperwork he had been given was held possessively under his arm. He hadn't put me in handcuffs either. Deputy Hayes had told him I was cooperating and that handcuffs weren't necessary.

I still didn't like being held on to though, and I yanked my arm out of his grasp. When he whirled around I continued in the direction he'd been taking me and then came to a stop a few feet later, turning around to look at the man.

He didn't look very happy with me but I guess he realized I wasn't trying to fight him because he just started walking. I limped along next to him. He started talking about the facilities, but I wasn't really paying attention to him. I was too busy thinking about Joel.

We finally arrived at our destination, which was an office that consisted of a plain wooden table and a Plexiglas window that a couple of people were sitting behind, observing everything. A hole in the wall was big enough to allow objects through to the other side, and there were two doors that led deeper into the building, I guess. One was marked male, the other was female. I watched as he went to the window and said something to the people on the other side; sliding over the paperwork he had been given.

Five minutes later he was leading me through the door marked male and I found myself in what I would, under normal circumstances, think to be a high-school locker room, from the benches to the lockers. As he led me farther into the room I saw another cage which had a couple more attendants sitting behind it, looking bored as they flipped through magazines.

He motioned for me to sit on one of the benches and I did, watching as he went and said something to one of those guys. Five seconds later he was back with a bin in one hand. In his other hand he had a clear bottle full of a thick, soapy looking substance.

"All right, you need to strip and take a shower before I take you to your cell for the night," he said.

I nodded my head. The idea of a shower sounded really good to me right now, though bed sounded like a better idea, but whatever. I was still looking at the bottle in his hand though; I guess he took it as curiosity on my part, because what he said next took me by surprise.

"This shampoo will kill lice and anything else you might have," he informed me.

That pissed me off. I mean, really pissed me off. Kills lice and anything else I might have? Who the hell was this asshole and where did he get off insinuating that I didn't know how to bathe. Any thoughts of cooperating with the man flew out of my head then and I just started shaking my head at the man. There was no way in hell I was going to take that shower now. He could kiss my ass.

I guess he figured that one out too. "Look kid, it's late. Let's just get this done so you can get some sleep, all right?"

I was still shaking my head at him. I guess he wasn't in the mood for games though, because he set the bottle down on the bench and tried to grab me. I scooted forward and once I was on the floor I wrapped my arms around the pole that connected the bench seat to the floor. Nope, it wasn't going to happen.

He grabbed my Micah maker's and squeezed. I squawked in pain and let go of the pole, instinctively curling up in a ball to protect my balls from this man's vicious assault.

I guess he had gotten the results he was looking for. He let go of my nuts and grabbed me about the waist, hauling me into the air like I was a sack of sugar. I hated that. My dad did that; I panicked, thinking the man was about to slam me into the ground. I twisted around in his grasp and straightened my legs out. I felt him stumble a little and my feet connected with the ground. I let fly with a fist. My other hand grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward me. I felt my fist connect as his body recoiled in surprise. I wasn't even aware of doing it, but I guess I pulled him forward again and right into my elbow.

Then I let go and hop-skipped for it, in any direction but the right one. I ended up in an open area with a bunch of shower heads. Great, I'm right where the guy wanted me to be in the first place, I thought. I turned around to head in the other direction but the man was right behind me. He looked pissed. He was also bleeding from his nose and lip. He took a step toward me.

"Hey Ronald, what's going on in there? You need help?" a voice asked. A second later Deputy Hayes popped around the corner; took one look at this guy's face, and then he was looking at me. He didn't look very happy either.

"Nah man, we're cool. I'm just gonna kick this kid's scrawny ass, and then the fool boy's going to take a shower and go to bed," Ronald replied. Ronald was looking at me, anger all over his twisted face.

I did my best to calm down and smirked at him. Shifting my feet I motioned for him to bring it. I guess he liked that invitation because he took another step forward. Deputy Hayes reached out and put a hand on Ronald's shoulder. Ronald stopped and turned toward Deputy Hayes.

"Look man..."

That's when I realized that somewhere in the scuffle my shirt had gotten torn. God damn it. I scowled at the cause of my torn shirt and pulled it over my head, wadded it up into a ball and threw it in the corner. Not just because I was angry at the fact that it had been torn, but because it could be used against me in a fight if someone grabbed hold and decided to choke me with it.

The motion had both men turning. I saw Ronald turn pale and even Deputy Hayes flinched a little bit. I frowned at them, uncomfortably aware of the fact that they weren't just looking at me anymore; they were staring and I had no idea why. I straightened up and started looking at my body.

My body still looked the same to me. Two arms, two legs, hairless torso and pale skin, a small trail of hair led from my outtie belly button and into my shorts. I had two nipples, not three. I frowned. Then I hopped around a bit, wondering if there was something else. This had my back aimed at them.

"Ah hell no, man! You didn't tell me the kid was a victim of abuse, damn it!" Ronald exclaimed.

I froze and then turned back to face them.

Huh, I thought a moment. Then I was looking at my body all over again, trying to figure out what it was they were seeing that I wasn't. Something clicked in my brain then, and I realized that their eyes were playing connect the dots on my body, tracing one bruise to another. I felt self-conscious all of a sudden and hunched up a little. Then I decided I really didn't care and they could make whatever they wanted of me.

Hell, not even all the bruises were from my dad. Most of them were though. Some of them had come from those kids I went to school with. Yeah, that's the reason I hate those kids. They wanted to mess with Joel and me, and I wasn't about to let them do it. Sure, some days I got my ass whooped, but most of the time it was those kids that were left on the ground. It happened a couple of times a year, and then the kids left well enough alone, unless some new family moved into town and got goaded into being stupid. But they learned too.

"I didn't know," Deputy Hayes stated. "We don't know much about this kid or his little brother yet, we're working on it though," he added a moment later.

"You mean to tell me there's another one of him! Great, does he resemble a punching bag too?" Ronald asked.

That question made me snort derisively. As if I would ever let anyone or anything get to Joel. I had their attention again. This sucked, because they were making me uncomfortable.

"Don't know," Deputy Hayes mumbled. He was suddenly looking like something troubled him. "His kid brother only seems to be eleven or something, as best we have figured out so far."

I heard Ronald mumble something that sounded like holy shit under his breath. I scowled at him. He wiped the blood from his mouth and nose that had been running down onto his shirt.

"All right, kid. Let's forget about this whole incident," Ronald said. He gestured toward his face.

"Here's the bottle of shampoo." He pulled the bottle I had gotten pissed off about from his back pocket and dropping it to the floor; kicked it over to me. It rolled across the ground and came to a stop against my foot. I ignored it and just stared at Ronald and Deputy Hayes, curious as to why I wasn't about to get my ass kicked.

"You just take your shower when you're ready and we'll get you to bed when you're done, all right?" Ronald offered.

I frowned, undecided and turned my attention to the bottle of shampoo resting against my foot. I stayed like that, ignoring the two men as they continued to stare at my bruises.

"Damn man, what's wrong with this boy, doesn't he speak?" Ronald said suddenly.

I was about to nod my head in confirmation. Deputy Hayes' answer caught me by surprise.

"No. As best we can figure both him and his brother are mute. We're still working out the details. We'll be looking for translators in the meanwhile; otherwise it's pen and paper or Patrick."

"Patrick? What's that boy got to do with this?" Ronald asked. I looked up, interested.

"He knows sign language," was the reply.

The two men walked out of the shower. I guess they were leaving me to do my thing because a few seconds later the bin that Ronald had tried getting me to put my clothes into was set in the doorway to the shower room. Five minutes later I was naked as a jaybird and relaxing under the hot water coming from one of the shower heads, scrubbing down my body with the shampoo I had been given and idly wondering if I had time to tame the dragon before they came back. I briefly dipped my head under the hot water, rinsed the soap out of my eyes, and turned around, only to see Ronald and Deputy Hayes peeking in through the doorway, making notes on a clipboard.

That answered my question. I groaned and dipped my head back under the water, doing my best to ignore them.

*        *        *        *        *        *

I shifted my weight around, trying to make myself more comfortable on the mattress. If you could call it that; it was about three inches thick, the size of a coffin and extremely uncomfortable. The rest of my cell wasn't what I had been expecting either.

There were no bars running from floor to ceiling, just brick walls and a steel door that locked from the outside. A Plexiglas window afforded me a view to the hallway. Another small window, this one with bars, gave me a view to the outside. There was a metal toilet in the corner. A steel sink stood next to it. It was disgusting. Other than that, I really didn't have any complaints about the place; though sleeping pills would have been nice. I hadn't been able to sleep at all, especially when I was informed that I would be seeing a doctor in the morning, which would be soon I guess, since it was morning.

I just didn't know how soon soon would come.

I also hadn't spoken to anyone either. After my shower last night I came up with a plan. Since they didn't think I could talk, I wasn't about to reveal to them that I could. Childish, right? Yeah, it probably was, but I figured the less they knew about me the better. This place has a systematic, anal structure about it, at least from what I had figured out after I actually started paying attention to what Deputy Hayes and Ronald were talking about.

They had counselors, Alateen meetings, and even classes to keep their guests caught up with school. For recreation we apparently got to play basketball, which kind of sucked since I was really bad at basketball.

I was thinking about telling the doctor I was going to get pneumonia if I didn't get another blanket, or I'd starve to death if they didn't feed me more food. That brought me to another complaint about the place. It had gotten cold in here last night, and breakfast had been kind of bland as well, and there hadn't been nearly enough food to fill my belly.

It was those thoughts that got me to thinking about Joel. Had he been fed this morning? Was he warm last night? Were those people treating him well? Did he remember to brush his teeth before he'd gone to bed and after he had gotten up? I wanted to brush my teeth. They didn't allow tooth brushes in here.

I also wanted something to read or my guitar to play. That last thought was kind of surprising to me. I very rarely played my guitar anymore. It had been something my mom and I had done. Hell, she was the one who had taught me, from the time I was three up until she had died. I usually only played when Joel asked me to or when I was stressed out.

Was I stressed out? I didn't feel stressed out. I just felt bored; very bored. My boredom got interrupted. The lock on the door clicked and Ronald’s head popped into the doorway; his fat lip glared at me.

I scowled. I'd have rather been bored.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine" he said. Opening the door farther he came in and tossed an orange shirt at me along with a matching pair of pants.

"C'mon kid, it's time to go see that doctor now."

I got up and turning my back, I dropped my shorts and quickly hopped into the pants he had given me before my nuts could crawl into my stomach. The stylish orange shirt, Kitsap County Juvenile Corrections written on the back, served to mark me as an esteemed guest of the county.

I turned around and started walking toward Ronald, then came to a complete stop when he pulled out a pair of handcuffs. I backpedalled, putting distance between us as my fists came up. There was no way in hell I was going to put those on...

Ronald rolled his eyes at me. "Ah hell no kid, not this shit again."

I smirked at him and nodded my head. He surprised me. He backed out of the door and shut it. The next thing I knew he was shouting. "Avery! Your kid is feeling froggy again!"

Someone else shouted out a reply that I couldn't hear; accompanied by the sounds of laughter. I was still pleased with myself; even though I was feeling kind of put out that he didn't want to play. I guess you could say I was hoping he'd knock me out so I could sleep or perhaps I was just too tired to think straight. Guess it really didn't matter though. The door opened again. It was a yawning Deputy Hayes that stepped into my cell this time.

I eyed him a bit. I guess he was probably somewhere in his forties. He was short and stocky, but the gray hair didn't mean he wouldn't be tough. I grimaced. I definitely didn't want to try taking him on, but if he tried putting me in cuffs he was going to get my guns unleashed on his face.

But he didn't seem interested in putting me in handcuffs. As a matter of fact, it looked like I was being ignored. Stepping past me, he sat on the bed. I took a closer look at him. He was still yawning, his eyes were bloodshot; the bags under his eyes that made him look like a raccoon gave me the rest of the information I needed.

Great, not only was he short and stocky, but he was a tired short and stocky, which meant he probably didn't want to play either. His utility belt was empty of his gun, but the handcuffs, pepper spray and taser were still there. I flinched. I had never been tasered before. I wondered if it would hurt much. I guess he saw me eyeing his belt because he started laughing at me.

"Relax kid, and take a seat. I won't taser you," he said. Oh good, I might be able to beat him off after all. "Yet..." he added. Crap.

I frowned at him. He smirked cockily at me and patted the bed next to him. I don't know why I listened, but I found myself taking a seat beside him. He yawned again. I suddenly found myself amused.

"Found out some things about you, Micah," he said after he was done yawning.

Now why did he have to go and say something like that? I thought we were going to have a nice one sided chat where I got lectured on behaving myself and then he'd be on his way, Ronald would come in and put me in handcuffs and then we'd be off to see the doctor. I fidgeted, suddenly not liking where this conversation was going.

"Straight A student, never been in trouble with the law..."

I guess he was going to bore me to death with details about my life that I already knew, instead.

"...the judge might look more favorably on you with those facts. He won't though, if you keep getting yourself in trouble before he sees you..."

Great, now I was going to get the lecture. I shot him a questioning look. He raised his eyebrow at me. I leaned my head back and inhaling, began to snore softly. Opening my eyes I pretended I had a gavel and banged it against a desk formed of air that sat in front of me.

He laughed at me.

"Okay, let's see. Like I said, we've gathered up some information on you and your brother, mostly school records, medical records and the like. We're attempting to get information on your dad. We did a background check on you, and like I said, you have a clean record and you're a straight A student. The judge will look favorably on that, but I gotta be honest here. I can't tell you what the judge may or may not decide, because I don't know. We just need to take you to the doctor and get a report done so that we can give that to the judge too. Then we'll be done and in a couple of days you'll go to court; hopefully things will work out for the best, okay?"

I was still frowning at him, but nodded my head. I guess it was a rhetorical question though.

"In order for the best to happen, you have to stay out of trouble. No fighting, no drugs, no attempted suicide, and no running. That means you cooperate, alright?"

I nodded, even if I didn't like it. I figured if everyone left me alone, then there wouldn't be any problems whatsoever. Now they just needed to figure that one out.

"All right. Now let's get out of here and get you to your appointment."

That said, he stood up and started walking. I got up and followed him out the door. Ronald was still outside on the ledge, leaning against a banister with his handcuffs in hand.

"I got it Ronald. I'll transport him to his appointment and bring him back," Deputy Hayes said.

Ronald looked surprised for a moment, but nodded his consent.

"You just make sure you do bring him back, Avery. Then you get some sleep and stop worrying your fool head off," Ronald stated.

Deputy Avery Hayes snorted. "There's time to sleep when I'm dead," I heard him mumble.

"You keep going the way you are and that'll be sooner than you think," Ronald said. Deputy Hayes just flashed Ronald a look. Ronald just smirked at his... friend. I guess. I was still curious as to what was going on though. The weird conversation happening in front of me was giving me more questions about this Deputy then I cared for. I was starting to like Hayes, and I didn't like that... I didn't like getting too close to anybody, for that matter.

"C'mon kid, let's go."

I nodded and followed Avery Hayes.

*        *        *        *        *        *

The ride to the hospital was boring at first, up until Deputy Hayes turned his lights and siren on. He said he did it because he didn't want us to be late. Personally I think he was just showing off or something. This confused me a little bit. Why would this man in his forties be trying to impress me? I was just a homeless kid who liked to steal cars.

I decided not to try and figure it out and just enjoyed the ride; mostly because I was starting to fall asleep. Then the siren was silenced and we came to a stop. I opened my eyes and found myself looking at a tall white building. I immediately knew where we were. For some reason all hospitals look the same.

I hated it immediately. I did not want to go in there. I hated hospitals. But I did go in, all the way up to the third floor where the pediatrics unit was. Standing in the lobby was a fat guy with a needle that looked to be as big around as my arm, and twice as long.

I shivered. I hated needles.

I followed Deputy Hayes to the reception counter where a tiny woman with a big bosom sat, her curly red hair piled high on her head and her glasses on a string hanging around her neck. She wore a green cardigan over an orange flower-print dress and had too much make-up on.

I shivered again. How hideous.

"Good morning Deputy Hayes. Pleasure seeing you again," she greeted.

"Ma'am," Deputy Hayes replied in turn.

"Who's this handsome young man you have with you?" she asked.

She batted her eyes at me.

Ewww!

I shot her the evil eye.

Then I took a step back, suddenly afraid that she might try pinching my cheeks or something.

"This is Micah Raines, he has an appointment," Deputy Hayes said.

The woman flipped through her appointment book, mumbling something under her breath the whole time. Finally she nodded her head. "Of course, here he is. Is his little brother here yet?" she asked.

That caught my attention. Joel was coming?

"Not sure, he'll be arriving by separate vehicle," Deputy Hayes replied.

I frowned at the Deputy's back, a little put out that he hadn't informed me my little brother was going to be here.

"Of course, of course. We peeked through their medical records, most of them are up to date," she said. "The doctor is most keen on seeing Micah first, due to your observations of all his bruises. He'll also want to check out Micah's leg to see why he is limping. So we'll do a full physical first, then we'll get Micah's records up to date."

"What's wrong with Micah's records?" Deputy Hayes asked.

"Oh, not much. It just looks like he hasn't seen a doctor in a few years and we'll need to give him a few booster shots," she replied.

I cringed.

Shots? No way. I tentatively backed away, hoping that the Deputy wouldn't turn around to look at me.

"Although, I must say, young Joel's records were remarkably up to date. Even got his dental records, everything is current. Such a shame that one boy looks so well taken care of and the other one so remarkably neglected..." she said.

I rolled my eyes even as I continued to back away from her and the deputy. Of course Joel was taken care of. I made sure he went to all his appointments with the doctor's when he got sick, and saw the dentist every six months. I had been doing that since Mom died.

Now me on the other hand, eh...I hated doctors. They always wanted to poke you with needles, or check you out in the buff. I guess you could say I thought they were sadomasochistic perverts who liked to ogle young men. I could understand the ogling, but sadomasochism? No way no how, especially if I was the victim.

"...We'll be keen on giving young Joel a physical as well though, just to see if he may have been sexually abused. The family you placed him with said he was remarkably stubborn about keeping his clothes on last night," she commented.

I nodded my head in agreement. Joel was remarkably stubborn. I was finally far enough away from the receptionist and Deputy Hayes that I felt comfortable with turning my back on them long enough to get my bearings. I was standing right by the elevators. I hit the Down button and turned around again, waiting impatiently for the elevator to arrive. I wanted to get out of there, away from all things cold, pointy, or sharp.

I turned around again to keep my eye on the receptionist and Deputy Hayes, pleased that the flirting receptionist, old enough to be Deputy Hayes' mother, was keeping him distracted so that I could get away. If I had been thinking though, I'd have realized that there was no way I could get away. I wasn't going to leave without Joel and all of my money was in my wallet at the Juvenile Corrections Center. I could have stolen another vehicle, but how long would I last until I was caught again.

I guess it was for the best, really. Joel would be fine. At least, I hoped he would be fine. As for me, eh; who cares?

The elevator dinged, letting me know that it had finally arrived. Limping, I slowly backed into it. About then I heard Deputy Hayes say, "...must be Joel now."

He stopped when he realized I wasn't standing next to him. He looked around for a moment. I almost felt bad when I saw his eyes widen to the size of saucers. But then he spotted me, and I saw him go pale.

"Micah! Stop!" he shouted.

I just shook my head and kind of waved at him. I mean, I felt bad about this, really, I did. Sure, he'd probably get yelled at or reprimanded or something for losing a fifteen year old kid, but there was just no way in hell I was going to let them poke me with needles or gawk at my body.

By this time he had started running, and I was staring at the elevator doors, willing them to hurry up and close. Please, oh please, oh please. I kept saying that in my head. I watched as the doors finally started inching shut. They were moving too slowly.

Deputy Hayes was getting closer and closer. He was going to make it. No, he wasn't. I felt a grin split my face. The doors got about six inches from each other. I frowned. He was going to make it. I groaned. God must have been on my side. Deputy Hayes suddenly tripped. I couldn't help myself. The look of surprise on his face made me laugh. I mean, sure, it looked like it hurt, a lot.

The doors shut. I let out a breath, relieved. I was home free. Now I just needed to figure out what to do when I got out of the elevator. I'd have to try and make a mad dash through the lobby and out into the open. But that'd be okay; I was feeling up to the task, especially if it meant not spending any time in prison.

I glanced up at the floor numbers on the top of the elevator.

2...

1....

The elevator dinged again. The doors started to open. I smirked, not paying attention to anything going on outside the doors but the doors themselves. I started my mad charge out of the elevator. Deputy Hayes was right in front of me. He had his gun pointed right in my face. I gulped and felt my face go all numb and warm at the same time.

He was going to shoot me. I was going to die. My brains were going to be splattered all over the elevator. I really felt bad then. Mostly for the poor saps that were going to have to clean up the mess. My throat went dry. I croaked out something. I think I was trying to tell him not to shoot me.

That's when I noticed them. That Elizabeth lady, Joel and Patrick were standing behind Deputy Hayes, staring at him and me blankly. Great, I was going to die right in front of my family and there was nothing I could do about it. My eyes flicked back to Deputy Hayes, watching his intently. His eyes squinted. My gaze focused on his hand, watching.

His finger pulled back.

I was dead.

I closed my eyes.

Ding.

The sound of the elevator snapped me out of my nightmare. I opened my eyes. I was still standing next to Deputy Hayes. The receptionist was still talking to him, flirting heavily. I breathed a sigh of relief. Deputy Hayes looked at me, smiling in amusement. I shrank back from him even as a shiver ran through my spine.

He looked at me funny. "Micah, are you okay? You don't look so good," he commented.

I ignored him and turned around, looking in the direction of the elevators. Elizabeth and Patrick stepped out. Joel came out a moment later, trudging along. His head was turned down to the ground. I watched as Patrick tapped him on the shoulder for a few seconds. Joel was ignoring him, but finally looked up.

Patrick said something to Joel and pointed, and then Joel looked at me. I smiled at him. The sullen look that had been on Joel's face a moment ago disappeared and he came rushing forward until he had his arms wrapped around me. Joel held onto me for a good minute or so, squeezing tightly with his skinny arms. Then he stepped back and holding me at arm's length; looked me up and down.

"Are you okay? They feeding you properly?" I asked him. He nodded.

"Are you okay? Those clothes make you look like a short skinny pumpkin," he remarked. I faintly smiled at his comment and nodded in reply.

"Are you sure? You look really pale," Joel said. That reminded me. I gave him a sullen look.

"They want to poke me with needles." I sniffled after I said that.

He smiled at me. "C'mon, I'll hold your hand," he replied. Then he turned words to action and grabbed hold of my hand. I almost laughed, but I was just grateful to have him there with me, even if it was only for a short while.

"Awww, they're so cute together," the receptionist said, catching me by surprise.

I had forgotten other people were here. I looked around and noticed that everyone was watching me and Joel. Patrick and Elizabeth were still standing behind Joel and at some point Deputy Hayes had joined them. I ignored them, but not for long.

"The doctor is ready to see you two now," the receptionist said.

About then a couple of men in lab coats came around the corner, smiling. I shivered. Joel squeezed my hand tighter. I followed the two men to my execution.

*        *        *        *        *        *

The shots sucked, a lot. I was pretty sure one of the orderlies had teeth marks in his arm too, but they would, regrettably, live. At least, I think they would. I'd heard someone say something about a rabies shot, but whatever. I was sitting in one of the exam rooms. My arms were crossed sullenly over my chest.

"Right then, may we please get this over with?" one of the doctors asked from the door; his voice all huffy. I nodded my head at him. He came in, bringing Patrick with him. I guess Patrick was still our translator. Didn't these people have anyone else?

"Alright, clothes off, please," the doctor requested.

I turned my back on him and started to lift my shirt over my head, but stopped when I caught sight of everyone else in the mirror. Elizabeth and Deputy Hayes were standing in the door, watching. I scowled and then turning around, I marched past the doctor and Patrick and slammed the door shut in their faces before I resumed my position and took my shirt off. Joel was looking at me, and even he seemed to wince when my bruises came into sight. I ignored the look on his face.

"Your turn," I told him, "shirt off."

He complied. I dropped my pants and cupped my hands over my genitals, hiding them from view. A chance look in the mirror found Patrick staring at me intently. If it was at all possible, I think he would have bored a hole through my body with his gaze. But the thing that disturbed me the most was the fact that he seemed more focused on my ass than anything else. I shivered, only I don't think it was from the cold room.

For the rest of my appointment I was too focused on watching Patrick in the mirror to pay attention to anything else. At least I was until the doctor asked me to bend over and spread my ass cheeks. That snapped me out of the daze I was in. I looked at the doctor.

"No," I told him. I looked at Patrick, expecting him to translate for me. He wasn't paying attention; at least, not to my hands, anyways. His eyes were definitely focused elsewhere, somewhere much lower than my hands. I followed his gaze and looked downward. I began to blush, which caught me off-guard. Patrick was staring at the boner that had sprung up between my legs.

I mentally began to swear.

My dick had turned traitor, I thought. I felt hot. I snapped my fingers in Patrick's face, dragging his attention away from my penis. He had the decency to blush and shifted uncomfortably. That might have been because I was glaring at him though. I didn't mean to come off like an ass, it just happened, mostly because I was feeling uncomfortable at the moment.

"I know I have a great body and a humongous penis but, if you're done staring, would you tell that jackass that I am not bending over and spreading my cheeks for him?" I told Patrick.

Patrick did so, which prompted the doctor to start an argument with me. That was kind of odd in itself because he was arguing with Patrick in order to argue with me. The doctor didn't seem to be getting through to Patrick though. Patrick was back to staring at my boner, which was starting to hurt. What? I'm a teenage boy and we have needs. At least five times a day. I snapped my fingers at Patrick again.

"Eyes up here!" I told him when he was looking at my face again. "And I'm still a virgin." I don't know why I added that last part. I guess it just needed to be said.

"Yeah, me too," Patrick mumbled, “kind of,” he added. I raised my eyebrow at him after he said that. Now why would he tell me that? And… how could you kind of be a virgin. Either you were or you weren’t. I guess it didn't really matter though, because I found myself distracted. He just looked really hot all of a sudden, not to mention the fact that he's really cute when he's blushing. His hands were fidgeting with something in his pockets, and he looked like he was in pain.

"Me too, kind of… what?" the doctor asked, snapping me back to reality.

"Oh, he said no because he's a virgin," Patrick mumbled.

"I still have to check," the doctor replied. He started looking between me and Patrick, and finally settled on talking to Patrick. I guess he thought Patrick was more reasonable then me. Yeah, I don't know why he would think that either. I rolled my eyes at the doctor's back. There was just no way in hell I was going to do this in front of other people, especially Joel.

I grabbed my orange pants and shirt and slipped them on quickly enough, then grabbed my shoes and started walking toward the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" The doctor and Patrick asked at the same time. The door swung open. Deputy Hayes peeked in.

"Bathroom, I need to take care of something so you'll stop staring!" I told Patrick. Yeah, I pretty much just admitted to another boy that I was going to the restroom to jerk off, but whatever.

"Oh," Patrick turned an even darker red, if possible. "He's going to the restroom."

"You can drool over Joel until I get back," I said to Patrick as an afterthought. Then I was out of the room and on my way to two point five seconds of pure bliss; Deputy Hayes right behind me.

*        *        *        *        *        *

The rest of the hospital visit went without a hitch, unless you ignored the part where it was time to leave. Joel practically threw a hissy fit in the lobby. He wouldn't let me go, going so far as to hold out his hands for Deputy Hayes to put him in handcuffs as well.

Deputy Hayes told him the handcuffs wouldn’t fit his wrists.

But still, I don't think Elizabeth or the deputy liked that one very much. He was frowning and she looked like her heart was breaking in two. I think I even saw her wiping a tear away. Things would have been fine if one of the orderlies hadn't tried to tear Joel away from me. I think it was the same orderly that had to go get a rabies shot earlier.

Well, he got bit again. Twice; once by Joel, and a second time by me, again. Which sucked, because I really wasn't much for biting people; it was just kind of hard swinging my fist around with an eleven year old boy clinging to me like his life depended on it.

After Joel calmed down we got our goodbye's out of the way and I was on my way back to kiddy jail again, where I was promptly placed in my cell. And left there, for what seemed like forever. I guess they didn't really want to let me out to play with the other kids. They brought my food to my cell, took me to talk to people from Child Protection Services, who I didn't talk to, and every now and then took me for a walk around the premises when all the other kids were done playing.

The rest of the time I was bored and alone in my cell. I ended up doing a lot of pushups and sit-ups when I was in there, trying to wear my body down enough so that I could sleep. Because I couldn't sleep. Sure, I'd doze off for a few minutes now and then, but I just couldn't seem to get back to sleeping for 12 hours at a shot.

When I wasn't doing pushups and sit-ups, I'd end up thinking. Then I did even more pushups and sit-ups, just so that I wouldn't think. Because most of the time I would end up thinking about my mom and the last time I had ever seen her before she had gone out and gotten killed. I'd also think about all the things that had led up to her having to go out in the first place.

It had been such a shitty day, when really it was supposed to be a good day. That day was supposed to be my day. But I hated thinking about it, because if I did I would end up breaking down and crying, and I hated crying. Crying sucked, even if no one could see you. Besides, I was running low on toilet paper.

When I wasn't thinking about my mom I'd be thinking about Joel and the last words I had ever heard him say. I never said those words again either; because the answer just wasn't right.

Then I'd doze off. And I was in the process of dozing off again when my cell door opened, heralding the arrival of my umpteenth breakfast in that place: Cold toast, cold scrambled eggs and milk. I wasn't hungry, so I set the tray aside and went back to my cot, where I got back into the process of dozing off again.

I was in that half state between sleep and awake; staring at the wall, which meant I had my back to the cell door, idly counting in my head: five thousand seven hundred and eighteen, when my cell opened again sometime later. I snapped out of my partial dreamscape; wide awake again.

But I ignored the presence of whoever had come into my cell. It was probably just one of the other security guards coming to reclaim my tray so it could be washed by someone else. At least, that's who it was supposed to be.

It wasn't supposed to be an annoyed sounding individual who was just beginning to roughly shake me by the shoulder. I tried ignoring whoever was shaking me, but the soft cussing finally got to me and I rolled over and sat up all in one motion. I must have startled whoever it was because I immediately saw one of the correction officers sitting on the floor. Then I got angry and I really wasn't sure why. I guess it showed on my face too because the guy looked kind of worried.

I guess it was because, somewhere in my anger I had stood up and was looming over the poor guy who was on his ass and not in a particularly defensible position. It was the realization that I was looming over him that made me stop, even though I wanted to laugh. I wanted to laugh because I wasn't particularly tall, and seeing the worried look on his face made me feel bad.

That's why I held out my hand and offered to help him up. Besides, Deputy Hayes had made me promise to behave myself, and I had given him my nod. My gesture of assistance must have surprised the guy because he hesitated a moment and then grabbed a hold of my hand.

When he got back on his feet, I waited, curious as to what this guy wanted. But he never said, though I did hear him mumble something. Then he was bolting out of my cell. How weird, but whatever.

I did notice that he left my cell door slightly open though. That was going to get me in trouble later, I just knew it. That's why I walked to the door. I was getting ready to pull it shut, even had my hand on the handle when the door swung out of my grip. I took a step back, startled; because Deputy Hayes was standing in the door.

"Well, that was odd," he remarked. He was looking in the direction the corrections officer must have gone.

"Why aren't you ready?" Deputy Hayes asked.

Huh? Ready for what? I wasn't expecting to do anything or go anywhere today; at least, no one had told me that I was doing anything. My confusion must have showed.

"Oh well," Deputy Hayes remarked. Then he looked at his watch. "I'm two hours early...c'mon, let's go," he said.

He opened the door wider. Apparently I was to follow him. I went back inside my cell and stepped into my shoes, and then I hurried out the cell door, afraid that I'd be locked back in there with my boredom.

Despite the fact that Deputy Hayes was apparently two hours early for something, he seemed to be in a hurry. He disappeared into my cell for a second after looking me over. That made me curious. I was still in the orange shirt and matching pants that I had been given my first day there.

Deputy Hayes came back out about ten seconds later wearing a confused look, but he didn't say anything. Just kept moving, although he did slow down when he realized I was struggling to keep pace.

"How's your leg?" he asked.

I shrugged at him in response. It hurt, as usual. Turns out I bruised a bone in my right leg. Probably from fighting with those kids back home or when my dad kicked me around a little bit. I wasn't quite sure which incident was the cause, so I didn't really say anything about it after the doctor got me an MRI scan.

We ended up in the locker room after stopping long enough to grab a towel and some soap. The fact that I was finally going to get to take a shower revitalized me somewhat. I'd lost track of the days so I didn't know how long I had been in the juvenile center, but I do know that I hadn't been able to take another shower since my arrival. It was that reminder that made me feel really dirty all of a sudden. Feeling like that sucked, which is why I didn't argue one bit with Deputy Hayes. I did just the opposite. The moment we came to a stop outside the locker that had been assigned to me, I started wriggling out of my clothes. My shoes went first.

I ignored the wrinkled nose, puffed out cheeks, squinty eyed look that Deputy Hayes gave me. My pants dropped to the floor. A moment later, sitting on the bench, I watched as Deputy Hayes ducked from the pair of smelly socks that I threw at him. My shirt was above my head before I could see the warning look he gave me.

That's when it hit me. Just a whiff, but it was enough. I scrambled out of my shirt like I was about to get laid and, tossing it aside, I hopped off the bench and grabbed the towel and soap. On my way past Deputy Hayes, who had stepped back as much as was feasibly possible, I pointed at the soap and held up two fingers, letting him know I wanted another bottle.

"Sure," he said. "I'll get that and please take your time," he added.

I smiled, ready to tell him I would. I didn't though, just nodded in acknowledgement and continued on my way to the shower. He gave me a smile and then he disappeared. He reappeared long enough to give me another bottle of soap, and then he left me alone again.

Once the water was warm enough I hopped in and began to think about things. Like, why was I still not talking to anyone? I didn't really come up with much of an answer, except for one. I didn't want to talk to people because they were nosey and asked questions that they had no right to be asking.

That was my first reason and my main one. But why wasn't I talking to Deputy Avery Hayes? I liked the man; he treated me like a person. But I wasn't talking to him. Was I afraid of him, or afraid he wouldn't like me? Perhaps he would be mad at me for finding out that I had lied to him by not talking to him; perhaps I just didn't want to start talking because he would begin to ask me questions like everyone else did that I had been introduced to. Questions that I didn't want to answer. A bit insecure? Sure, but I wasn't about to worry about it, so I did what I normally did, I just stopped thinking about it and decided I'd keep going with things the way they were.

I finished my shower, especially since Deputy Hayes was hollering at me to hurry up because I'd been in there for forty-five minutes. I agreed with him. Aside from the fact that I had used all the shampoo and looked like a prune, the water was starting to run cold on me.

Wobbling my way back to the locker, I found Deputy Hayes still sitting there. He looked me over and took a tentative sniff at the air. I guess whatever he smelled, or in this case, didn't smell, made him happy, because he broke out in a grin.

"You smell better," he said. I nodded in agreement, even going so far as to smell my own armpits. But then my mood soured. I was going to have to put those dirty clothes back on. I was also pretty sure that my socks were ruined.

Then Deputy Hayes surprised me. He opened my locker up and pulled out a bag that had the curved end of a clothes hanger poking out from the top of it. Without saying anything he unzipped it and pulling the clothes hanger out, he removed the bag and dropped it to the floor.

I stared, stunned and more than a little surprised as a grey suit was revealed, complete with white shirt and tie. A pair of black leather shoes and matching socks came out of the locker a second later. He looked nervously at me for a moment and then handed everything over.

Now would have been the time to say something, anything. Especially a thank you, but I didn't. I just accepted the items and put them on. At least, everything I could. I saved the tie for last, mostly because I had never worn one before except at my mom's funeral, and that one had a clip.

He laughed at me though when he figured out I didn't know how to tie a real one. He took a step behind me and I watched with interest as he quickly tied it and snugged the knot up until it was resting comfortably against my neck.

The jacket went on next and I suddenly had a desire to peek in a mirror. I didn't have one, but I did have the next best thing. I had my own little audience. I turned around and looked at Deputy Hayes, then did a slight twirl with my hands upraised in the air, doing a full turn until I was facing Deputy Hayes again.

He smiled at me. "You look very handsome, Micah," he mumbled.

But the way he said it seemed kind of sad. I cocked my head at him, curious. But he didn't say anything. I also wanted to know why he had gone out and gotten me such nice clothes. I'd ask him later though, I think. Now just wasn't the time.

Someone wolf whistled. I whirled in the direction it came from. Ronald was standing there in the aisle between the lockers, looking at me and Deputy Hayes.

"Looking good, kid. You'll blow those people away," Ronald said. I looked at him, equally curious. I really wanted to know what I looked like.

"C'mon, let's go take a peek in the mirror."

That said, I was all for it, and immediately started limping toward him. He took us into a backroom where there was, indeed, a floor to ceiling mirror. I checked myself out, pleased with what I saw. I definitely looked sleek in this suit. It just seemed to be lacking something.

I frowned for a moment and thought about it until I figured out the one thing I needed. My fedora, I needed my fedora. Turning around I looked at both of them and mimed putting a hat on my head. They nodded in agreement and then we were back at my locker. I immediately grabbed the fedora and planted it on my head.

"Alright, good luck today you two," Ronald said. Then he disappeared.

Good luck with what? Just what the hell was going on today that had me dressed like a really hot pimp? I turned around...

And stared.

Deputy Hayes was taking off his uniform and putting on his own suit, black to my grey. Might I also add that, for an old guy, he was pretty hot too. I wasn't sure I cared for the hairy chest, but whatever. The quick strip show was the closest thing I had had to porn in a while. But we won't talk about that, because it really is kind of gross; at least just a little bit. That's why I turned my back on him, even though he had seen me naked twice now.

A couple of minutes later he was done, I guess, because he walked past me with a mumbled "let's go". I followed him, my curiosity killing me now. Then he led me to a nice looking black ford expedition and we got in and started driving. I kept looking at my driver but he wasn't saying anything. In fact, he looked a little ill.

I understood why when, ten minutes later, we pulled up outside the Kitsap County Courthouse; I was starting to feel ill myself. Apparently, I had court today. I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not that I hadn't been told where we were going. But it was too late for me to do anything about it now, especially since we were already there.

Resigning myself to my fate, I got out of the vehicle and waited until Deputy Hayes came around and led me inside the building. Right up to the juvenile court where we ended up sitting for what seemed like forever.

And then we were called into court. The bailiff, a small round woman with dark brown hair going grey at the edges led us into a small room with a bunch of chairs and three desks at the back of the room. It didn't look like your typical courtroom with wooden benches and a big raised desk that sat on a podium. Just a conference room, kind of, I guess.

The lady sitting at the tallest of the desks in the back of the room had on a black robe and gestured for me to come forward. Avery patted me on the shoulder and took a seat behind me while an older gentleman was seated at the desk on my right.

"Micah Raines?" The lady asked. I nodded my head in confirmation.

"I'm Judge Englewood. We'll be starting in a few minutes. We're just waiting on a translator. Go ahead and take a seat at that desk for now."

I sat down and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

I fell asleep. Weird, right? How is it possible that someone can fall asleep when they're so nervous and, I'll admit it, even a little bit scared about what was going to happen. Yeah, I don't know either, but I did.

It was the sudden commotion in the court room that woke me up. Groggy, I raised my head and looked around in confusion. It took me a moment to realize that I had fallen asleep, but seeing Patrick stepping up to where the judge was sitting and talking to her a moment attracted my attention first. Then I realized that Elizabeth was in the room and she was talking to the prosecuting attorney about something. Mrs. Emerson was also there and she didn't look very happy either. Joel was there too, and when he saw me he just gave me a big, beaming innocent smile. I ignored him, trying to figure out what was going on.

I looked back at Deputy Hayes and found him looking at me. He seemed a bit worried and even slightly angry about something. But he gave me a smile that I think was meant to reassure me when he realized I was looking at him.

I mentally started to cuss in an effort to wake myself up.

"Mr. Edwards, have you figured out what is going on yet?" Judge Englewood asked.

The prosecuting attorney raised his hand at the two women: Elizabeth and Mrs. Emerson, which promptly shut them up before he turned around and faced the Judge.

"Yes your Honor, I think. As best as I can tell Mrs. Windleton and her husband are dropping the charges against Micah," the attorney stated.

I felt relief. Dropped charges meant I could be on my way; no harm no foul, and all that.

The judge raised her eyebrow at the prosecutor.

"Mrs. Windleton would also like continued custody of Joel Raines."

What? No way! Joel was my little brother, not her kid. I was responsible for him, damn it!

"...she would also like custody of Micah Raines as well, until such time as the investigation regarding their father and home life establishes enough evidence to support the continued removal of the two boys, or it's decided that they may return home to their father," the prosecuting attorney finished.

I glared at Elizabeth at the announcement of those words. There was no way in hell that Joel or I would ever return to live with our father. I also didn't need a woman with a savior complex coming in and trying to give us charity. We would be just fine on our own.

"I see," Judge Englewood said, "Mrs. Emerson, any objections to this?" she asked.

Mrs. Emerson looked at the judge and hesitated a moment. "Your Honor, I got all sorts of objections to this, but none that would satisfy the court," Mrs. Emerson replied.

"I see, very well then. Does anyone have any objections to this?" the judge asked next.

I was about to speak up, yup, I was definitely going to speak up.

"I do, your honor," Avery Hayes said, startling me. I turned around in my chair and looked at him. Elizabeth did too, but I think she seemed more surprised than anything else. I know I was surprised.

"But," Avery continued before anyone could say anything, "like Mrs. Emerson, my objections wouldn't make much sense either. I'd just like the court to know that, if things don't work out for Micah, or Joel, or both of them, I'd be more than willing to take one or the other or both of them if necessary."

Huh? That was surprising. I hadn't realized that Avery liked me enough to want me, and I might have been willing to go live with him except for one problem. I didn't want to live with anyone else but Joel! We would be just fine on our own.

"Noted, Deputy Hayes. Thank you," the judge stated.

"Mr. Raines, do you have any objection?" she asked next.

I looked around, expecting to see my father. Honestly I was more than a little surprised that he would be there already, but I didn't see him.

Deputy Hayes noticed me looking around.

"That's you Micah, you're Mr. Raines," he said.

Oh. I blushed, feeling a little stupid for a moment before I turned around.

"Any objections?" she asked again.

I looked at Patrick. "Yeah, I have all sorts of objections. I want to go with Avery Hayes," I told him.

Patrick looked at me.

"What'd he say Patrick?" the judge asked.

Patrick smiled at me a moment. His face became a blank mask. Then he turned around and looked at the judge.

"No objections, your honor."

What the fuck! I was stunned, honestly. Too stunned to do anything, and by the time I realized what he had just done it was too late for me to get up and go kick his skinny blond ass.

"Okay. Let it be noted that Mr. and Mrs. Windleton have custody of Micah and Joel Raines until such a time as a complete investigation can be done. Mrs. Emerson, I expect you to help out with any problems that may arise and keep us apprised of all information gathered. Court dismissed."

She picked up a gavel and banged it on her desk, then stood up and left the room.

The hand tapping me on my shoulder made me turn around. It was Deputy Hayes. "Hey, uh, I meant it, just so you know. I'd be more than happy to take you and your little brother if ever needed. Don't forget to stop by the juvenile facility to pick up the rest of your belongings."

Then he gave me a card and pulled me into a hug. He let go and began to walk out of the court room. I wanted to run after him, say something, but Joel was grabbing my attention next.

"C'mon, let's go," he said.

I really hated being confused.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"Home," he replied.