Ghost of a Smile

Obsession Is Not Love

Lucy entered the police station with her parents right behind her. She took a deep calming breath and approached the officer behind the large desk. "Hello."

"What can I do for you folks?" The nice chubby African American man said looking up from Lucy to her concerned looking parents.

Rita placed a hand on her young daughter's shoulder. "Give it to the nice man, Lucy." She stated.

He looked back down at Lucy with a small smile. "Do you have something for me, young lady?"

Lucy nodded shyly and pulled the small baggie out of her pocket. "My, uh, my ex-boyfriend gave me this." She whispered nervously.

The nice officer took the baggie from her and looked at it. "Is this some type of new drug hittin' the street?" He asked worriedly.

Lucy shook her head. "Cyanide."

His eyes widened. "Cyanide?! And why do you have this little lady?"

She frowned. "He-He wanted me to kill myself with it." She gulped.

"Okay, I think you need to talk to someone a little higher up than me." He looked over to a man in a suit. "Detective Carter!" He called to the man and waved him over.

"Yes? What can I do for you?" The older caucasian man asked.

"This young lady got some, uh, cyanide off her ex for.. suicidal purposes." He explained.

The older man's eyes widened. "Let's talk about this privately."

"Can my parents come?"

Both officers chuckled.

"Of course, sweetie." The nice white man told her. He led them into the interrogation room even though they didn't need to be questioned about anything. It was just a private space so they could talk. "Now, walk me through this."

Lucy nodded. "I snuck out to meet Edgar, just to tell him I wasn't allowed to see him anymore."

"And why is that?" He wrote down everything Lucy said in a tablet.

"We found out he was sixteen and she is only thirteen." Rita Loud answered rubbing her daughter's back so she wouldn't get scared.

"I see. So you left your house and met this young man, where?"

"At the Royal Woods cemetery, our usual meeting spot, and he gave me that." Lucy gestured to the bag sitting on top of the tablet.

"To commit suicide with?" He asked trying to make sure he got all his facts straight. "And were you considering this option?"

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Lynn Loud Sr. yelled.

"Sir, please calm down. I'm just trying to get all the facts so I know how to approach this situation."

Lucy gulped. "Yes." She looked away from her parents. "I had already tried before he gave me that, but my siblings found me and called 9-1-1 so I survived." Lucy sighed without the word. "It really scared me and I realized that I didn't want to die, but Edgar still wants me to kill myself. He wants us to die, but he wants me to go first." Lucy explained slowly.

Detective Carter wrote it all down on his tablet. "So, your boyfriend or ex-boyfriend made a cyanide capsule with intent to harm you, or have you harm yourself?"

Lucy nodded.

He sighed. "Are you afraid of him? That he might try to hurt you?"

Lucy opened her mouth to say No, but a shaky 'Yes' came out instead.

"Okay, my advice to you is to fill out a no-contact restraining order that will make it illegal for him to be within 100 feet of you, your home, your school, or even places you frequently hang out. If he comes near you then you are to immediately call the police and he will be arrested. You understand?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes sir."

"Alright. I'll go get you a form. You sit tight for moment." He said, then he stood to leave the room.

"Honey, why didn't you tell us that you were afraid of him?" Her dad asked in a gentle tone of voice.

Lucy shrugged. "I wasn't, but, sigh, when he asked it just came out. I guess I felt more afraid than I had realized." Lucy stated sadly.

"It's okay, sweetie." Her mother soothed. "We won't let anything happen to you." She promised.

The detective came back into the room. "Okay, just fill this out and then we'll take care of everything from here. You just call us if he gets too close to you." He said placing the paper in front of her.

Lucy nodded and he handed her a pen. She filled out the paper and handed it back to the detective.

"Thank you very much, Detective Carter." Her father said shaking the man's hand before he led his wife and daughter out the door.

"Take care, sugar!" The nice man behind the counter called out to her as she left the station.

Lucy lifted her hand in a slight wave as she walked out. Then she walked over to good old Vanzilla.

"What do you want for dinner, honey?" Lynn Loud Sr. asked his daughter as he tried to start the van. It always took at least three tries before his old tried and true to roar to life like she always did.

"Sigh." Lucy stared out the dirty window as they drove back home.

"Everything okay, Sweetie?" Rita asked her second middle child.

"Yeah." Lucy nodded, her head against the window. "I just- I thought he understood me and loved me. I thought he was like me, but he's- delusional and scary. I guess I really was too young."

"Oh, we all get caught up in what seems like love when we're far too young to truly understand it." Rita explained. "I'm just happy that we didn't lose you, baby." She smiled.

Lucy pulled her head off the window and gave her mother a ghost of a smile. "Me too, mom."

"Me three." Her father grinned happily. "Now, stop worrying about that disturbing boy. You have a nice young man who really seems to care about you and as your father that's all I want for my girls is to be cared for by a nice young man, uh, or lady." He said, quickly covering his slip up so Lucy wouldn't tell Luna that he almost accidentally left her out.

"What about Lincoln?"

"Oh shoot!" Lynn Loud hit the steering wheel. "Uh, well I of course want Lincoln to have someone who cares about him, obviously." He tried again to save himself. "But he is the young man so I also want him to be able to take care of his lady. Although, that Ronnie-Anne of his seems to be very capable of taking care of herself." He babbled. "Well my point is, Rocky is a nice young boy and I actually approve of your relationship with him." He stated.

Lucy chuckled. "Thanks dad, but Rocky will be leaving soon. Sigh."