Read The Way Things Are for Free Online

Jay over from a holding cell.
    The guard shrugged. “Juvenile Probation Counselor. Since our focus is more on intervention options than just compliance with sentencing, they don’t call them probation officers. There might already be a child welfare caseworker over there too.”
    “The hearing is at noon? Why would a caseworker be over there?”
    “Well, sir, most folks don’t leave their kids sitting here for nearly fifteen hours.”
    “Fifteen hours?” Patrick cocked an eyebrow at the guard. That meant that Jay had been arrested just after Patrick had left for work, after he’d left Jay at the kitchen table finishing dinner, with instructions to wash the dishes, directions to his new school, and lunch money for the following day. Patrick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose to try to keep from cursing out loud.
    “Yes, sir. He was brought in around seven thirty last night.”
    “Seven thirty? Did he have to be booked in before he was allowed to call me?”
    “He had to be persuaded to call you.” The guard set his hands on his hips and grinned. “He’s more afraid of you than he is of any of us. Personally, I take that as a good sign. Sign here for his property too.” The officer set a gray plastic bin on the table. It held Jay’s sneakers, socks, jacket, and the lunch money. If he’d been arrested at dinnertime, he probably hadn’t slept. And thanks to his own stupid urge to be a hero, it was almost lunchtime and they had to go to a hearing instead of getting food.
    Patrick signed where he was told. Jay, keeping his head down, padded barefoot around the table. He didn’t look up when Patrick tossed his socks and shoes to the ground by his feet. Aside from being too damn skinny, the kid looked like a miniature version of Patrick. Red Scottish hair, green-and-gold hazel eyes, and a pale complexion dotted with freckles. He’d been an adorable child, but now he was stuck in that awkward teenage phase where he was growing taller but not yet filling out through the shoulders. The kid’s brain still hadn’t figured out what to do with the longer limbs it suddenly had to control. Patrick knew he’d grow out of it, all Connelly men did, but in the meantime, Jay was doomed to be a lanky, clumsy teen.
    “When was the last time you ate?” Patrick asked.
    “They brought me eggs,” Jay said, hopping on one foot, trying not to fall down as he pulled his shoes on. Patrick grabbed Jay by the shoulder and held him steady. The boy’s entire body slumped, nearly going limp in Patrick’s hand. Jay wasn’t just hungry and ashamed, Patrick realized, he was exhausted.
    “Look at me right now, boy.”
    Jay reluctantly lifted his gaze and stared up at Patrick for a moment. The skin around his eyes was sunken and dark, and his eyes themselves were blood shot. Jay hadn’t sneaked out to start painting more graffiti. If Patrick had to guess, based on the way Jay kept swaying and the circles under his eyes, he’d gone at least two nights without sleep. “You being up and dressed at six o’clock two mornings ago was too good to be true, wasn’t it?”
    Jay lowered his head again.
    “Do I want to know how many nights you’ve snuck out? How long it’s been since you slept?”
    Jay shook his head.
    “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Come on. We’ve got to get to your hearing, then we’re going to go home and talk about this.”
    Jay groaned and dropped his chin all the way to his chest. “I’m sorry.”
    “Put your jacket on,” Patrick growled.
    Patrick half dragged Jay around the building, following the detention officer’s directions to the youth court and juvenile probation office. Most of the first floor was filled with small courtrooms. The hallways were lined with old wooden benches, and every one of them was packed. Three hours and one “no contest” plea later, they had a court order for six weeks of supervised probation, restitution, and ten hours of community service, preferably to be spent