Juvenile Detention

By: Rick Masters
(© 2015-2016 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

masters@tickiestories.us

Chapter 61
The Journey Home

Josh and Sam had begun to move away from the old man's door when Sam stopped and turned back. "Did she leave anything behind?"

"Judging by the swearing and cursing from those workers, I would think she left most of the things behind."

Sam walked quickly back to the flat he used to call home. Walking straight in he asked what had happened to all the stuff his mum had left behind.

"It all got dumped in a skip in the back street. Might still be there, but they are supposed to take it today."

"Uh, thanks." Sam turned to Josh and said, "Let's go look."

The two boys quickly made their way back down the stairs, but instead of turning to leave by the door they had come in by, Sam led Josh the opposite way. They came out into what could only be described as a suspect alleyway. Josh followed Sam out onto a road that ran parallel to the road in front of the flats. Just at the opening to the alleyway was a yellow skip with blinking warning lights on it. Sam climbed into the skip with some agility and began to rummage through the stuff in there. Lifting a small table he snagged a black bin bag tearing it open. The bag produced a pile of crumpled papers and Sam immediately recognised one. It was the first letter he had written home to his mum while Josh was still in the Academy. Josh had helped him to write it. Sam was so proud of being able to write that letter and so now he began to smooth it out. As he did so he noticed there were some other marks on it. Once he got it all smoothed out scrawled across his carefully formed letters in wax crayon was the single word, "TOFF". Sam showed it to Josh with a question in his expression. Josh just shrugged his shoulders, unsure as to why someone would have scribbled that across the letter.

Sam scrabbled through the other papers in the bag and came across the other two letters he had written to his mother. Both of them had that one word scrawled across them. Then he found the photograph of him his mother had kept in the lounge, only now it was out of the frame and had "TOFF" scrawled across it too. The photograph had also been crumpled, cracking the printed picture. Silently Sam handed each one to Josh as he found them, but when he handed the photograph over Josh saw that there were tears in his eyes. Josh pulled a piece of wood out the skip and used it to weight the papers down on the pavement and then jumped up into the skip. "I know it's hard, but let's see if we can find anything that might give us an idea of where your mum has gone." He bent down and started to flatten each piece of paper, scanning it for clues, but after they had gone through all the papers in the bin bag they had learned nothing. Sam found a bag filled with his old clothes, but Josh pointed out they would be too small for him as he had grown so much while in the Academy. Josh was fairly certain this was because he got fed more. After about an hour they admitted defeat and climbed out of the skip. They were now quite grubby and they went back inside and up to the old man, who let them have a quick wash. At least their hands and faces were clean again, but they could do nothing about their clothes.

Thanking the old man, they set off for the police station. Not having a good feeling about police in general, it was with some trepidation they entered the station and approached the desk. There was no one at the desk, just a telephone with a sign saying to lift the receiver and dial zero to talk to the officer on duty. Josh took charge and dialled, holding the receiver to his ear. It rang a few times and then was answered. Josh listened and then said, "I am Joshua Tolmers. I am here with my friend Samuel Caruthers, whose mother has gone missing, and we are not sure what to do." Josh listened again and then said a quick "Thank you" before putting the telephone down again. Turning to Sam he said, "Someone's coming to see us."

They waited a couple of minutes until a rather pretty policewoman arrived behind the desk. She talked to them for a bit and then asked them to go to an interview room with her where she could record all their answers. After about an hour of explaining who they were and how the missing person fitted in with them, the police woman asked them to wait for a bit and left the room with the notes she had made. She was gone for quite some time and then returned with another officer accompanying her. Opening a folder she had in her hand she took out a photograph and showed it to the two boys. "Is this your mother?"

Sam looked at the picture and then nervously nodded and answered that it was her picture.

"Well, at least we know who we are talking about now. Unfortunately we can't give you any recent news of her. This photograph is a few years old, from when she was charged for being in possession of cannabis and soliciting. I guess you are the reason she did not receive a custodial sentence. You are the first to report her missing. We have not been looking for her, but we will now begin our missing person procedure and start trying to find her. With the little information we have, I don't hold out much hope of success."

There followed another fifteen minutes or so of completing forms and getting contact details. Sam suddenly realised he was basically homeless; he had no address or telephone number to use, so Josh asked if he could use his, saying he would make sure he knew where Sam was and how to contact him should any news come up. Josh knew exactly how Sam was now feeling with the realization that his mother had basically deserted him, probably when she was under the influence of some drug or other, and he was now to all intents and purposes penniless and homeless. As they left the police station Josh took out his mobile and dialled Karl's number. He gave Karl a brief of what had happened and then asked if the offer of a place to stay for Sam still stood. He listened and then told Karl that he loved him and he was the best and ended the call. "Right. We are going home, and Karl is going to look into what benefits you are entitled to and how to go about getting them. He will let us know what he has found out when he gets home this evening. Let's get off to the station, and you'll get to meet my new family today."

The whole journey home Josh kept Sam talking about whatever he could come up with, trying to keep Sam's mind off his missing mother. When they were about ten minutes from home Josh's phone rang. He answered and told the caller their expected time of arrival. After finishing the call he told Sam that it had been Esther who had phoned. She was going to meet them at the station to give them a lift home.

Leading Sam out through the ticket barrier on the platform, Josh saw Esther waiting in the car in the pick-up zone. He quickly guided Sam over. Opening the back door, he threw Sam's small bag in and pushed him into the back seat. "Esther, this is Sam. Sam, this is my brother's mother, Esther. Thank you for coming to pick us up."

"Hi, Josh. Hi, Sam. Glad to meet you."

"Hi, err ... uhm ..."

"Call me Esther. I have no problem with that."

"Okay, hi ... ah ... Esther."

Josh climbed into the front passenger seat, and Esther pulled away from the station. "Esther, thank you for saying Sam could come and stay. Not too sure what we could have done otherwise."

"It might make our house feel a bit small, but we are glad to be able to help. I know Karl is doing some research to find out what is available for Sam. Hopefully he will have some news on that tonight."

"Thank you. You are so kind. I thought Josh was exaggerating when he talked about you, but it seems he wasn't."

"Oh, he probably was, but in the kindest way."

"I don't think I could exaggerate how nice you guys are."

"Josh, flattery will get you far, but you know we still have limits."

"I don't seem to have reached them yet though."

"When we get home we will have to get out the air mattress and a sleeping bag for Sam to use until we can sort out something better with the beds in your room."

"Actually there will not be a problem. Sam and I shared a much smaller bunk in the Academy, so my bed will do fine for us."

"Ah, yes. Sorry. I forgot that there was more to your relationship. Okay, we will leave it like that for the time being and see if we need to do something later."

"Actually we have a more pressing need first. Sam grew quite a bit in the Academy and his own clothes do not fit him anymore. I have got some of my work money saved up but I don't think it is going to get him enough."

"Why, aren't there any charity shops in this town? All the clothes I had came from charity shops."

"Well then, maybe it's time you got something that was new; not second-hand. Karl and I have already discussed this. We will get Sam some clothes to tide him over until we sort out what he can get in benefits and see where we go from there. Tomorrow we will take him into town and get him kitted as best we can. Okay, Sam?"

"Shit, I don't know. Oops! Sorry, I didn't mean to use that word. I don't know what to say really. I mean, thank you, I do appreciate it, but I don't understand why you would do that for me."

"You need some help, and we are in a position where we can help. Josh was in a similar position, and I have to admit I had some doubts when my husband, Karl, first talked to me about it, but I trusted his judgment and now we are so glad that we did it. Josh has vouched for you by being your friend. We trust Josh's judgment and are happy to be able to help you. It's as simple as that."

"Sam, don't try to understand it. I don't yet either, but I do know that I love this family and they love me, and that is all that counts. We both got dealt a rum lot with our mothers, and that is why we can't understand it when someone like Esther or Karl comes along. Just accept it; you will see what I mean in time."

"Right. Enough of this. I won't be able to get my halo out of the car if you carry on much more. Now Sam, what kind of food do you like?"

"Uh, I don't know really. Never did get much choice at home. I guess anything but slop."

"Esther is a good cook. You will like her food."

"If it is anything like Abigail's from last night, I am sure I will. I have never tasted such nice food in all my life."

"What did you and your mum eat then?"

"Come on, Josh. I told you she was always either high or drunk or on her back. We ate what we could find in the fridge or a tin. Why do you think I got caught? I was trying to get some decent food and nicked too much in one go."

"You ain't going to need to nick any food now. You are just going to have to watch that you don't get too fat."

Esther was rather glad when she turned the car into their street. She was finding all the praise Josh was piling on a bit hard to cope with. She was just a mother who cared about those under her wing and did her best for them. But clearly these two boys had not had the pleasure or privilege of that kind of mothering. Pulling into the driveway, Esther suggested, "Josh why don't you show Sam your room and show him around the house. I will get some drinks on the go. You guys want tea, coffee or juice?"

Sam looked at Josh and Josh answered, "Sam hasn't had a decent cup of coffee in six months at least. Let's have coffee this time round."

Josh had shown Sam around the house and they were sitting in the lounge drinking their coffee when they heard the front door open. Josh began to stand up to introduce Sam to Simon when he heard Simon walk directly to the kitchen.

"Hi mum. Is Josh back yet?"

"Yes, in the lounge ..."

"Thanks, mum," Simon cut her off and headed straight for the lounge, not giving his mother the chance to warn him that Sam was also there.

"Hey Josh, how'd it go? Oh ... you must be Sam? Hi, glad to meet you at last."

"Hey, Simon. No need to make introductions then?"

"No. I think we have worked out who is who here. You know, Sam, I kind of hated you at first. I was so jealous. But then Josh helped me and Godfrey get together and I'm still jealous but I can live with it."

"Well, I was jealous of you too, because you were getting to see Josh every day, and I had to put up with letters and just the one visit. I mean, I know there wasn't anything Josh or I could do about that, but I still was jealous of this guy that I had only met in Josh's letters."

"Look guys, there was nothing to be jealous of. Now, can we just be friends and have a normal chat?"

All three teens fell silent and were held in their own thoughts for a while then Sam began to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Josh asked.

"Our normal chat. Nothing at all." And Sam laughed some more.

Josh and Simon saw what Sam was getting at and also started to laugh.

"So Sam, what is like to be out now?"

"Good and shit at the same time."

"Sam's mum has gone missing and he is basically homeless," Josh explained. "Your folks have said he can stay with us for a bit until we can get something sorted."

"Cool! That means I will get to know this guy who stole your heart better. You do know that Josh has no love left for anyone or anything else?"

"That's not true. It is just that my love is different for others."

"Sorry to interrupt. Simon, your father will be home shortly and tea will be ready soon after. How is your homework? Josh, can you set the table please?"

"Sure thing, Esther. It will give me a chance to show Sam where to find some of the things he will need."

"Oxford Bags was sick today, so I got most of my homework done during our maths double. I probably only have about half an hour of English to do."

"Right. With five of us in the house we are going to need to plan our bathing to give the water a chance to heat in between. After tea Josh and Sam will need to chat with Karl. Simon, you have a shower and then get on with the rest of your homework. Josh, you or Sam get in the shower as soon as you have finished talking to Karl and if the other can follow straight after we can then leave the water to heat for half an hour before Karl and I get our showers. How does that sound to you all?"

"It's my turn to do dishes tonight. Can they wait till I finish my homework?"

"Yes, that will be fine."

"I'll help you so I can learn what to do," Sam offered.

"It's okay, you'll learn soon enough," Simon replied.

Josh got up and put his hand out to help Sam up so that they could go and start setting the table. Josh showed him where to find things and how Esther liked the table to be set.

While they were setting the table Karl arrived home. Apart from greetings he didn't have any real conversation with them before Esther announced that the food was ready and they needed to get to the table to have their tea.

As they were finishing their meal Karl said, "Well, Sam, when I was taking you to the Academy I never thought that I would be seeing you again. But here you are and welcome to our home. Let's go to the lounge and I'll fill you in on what I've learnt since Josh phoned me."

To be continued...
 

Posted: 12/16/16