silence speaks in volumes {karlnap}

chapter 14

TW: arrest, mention of firearms, slight angst

(Karl POV)

Nick drives me back to my foster home. The radio is playing a love song, reminding me of what I wrote on the page. My cheeks heat up just at the thought of it. 

We pull on to my street, a road that's never been properly paved, lined with run down, one-story bungalows. There's always some kind of crime going on here, usually small ones, mostly theft, so it doesn't surprise me when we see police cars. 

But it does surprise me when I see my foster mom being forced out of my house in handcuffs.

Nick and I jump out of the car and rush over. "Excuse me officer, what's going on?" Nick asks the cop dragging away Kendall.

"Karl! Oh, thank God, tell them it wasn't me! It was Jakob! Karl! Tell them!" Kendall shouts as she resits being shoved across the street.

I hear crying and yelling behind me and turn to Brody and Katie screaming my name. They run towards me, hugging my legs. For a couple four year olds, they're pretty strong. 

I sink down to kneel in front of them. They throw their little arms around my neck and cry. Katie falls asleep with tears still rolling down her cheeks. 

Brody clambers off my lap as he notices his sleeping sister. He wipes his eyes and looks up at Nick. "Who's that?" he asks, his voice cracking. Nick squats down.

"Hey there, buddy," he says gently, a big, goofy smile plastered on his face. "My name is Nick. I'm a... very good friend of Karl's." He looks over at me, his smile softening. Blush creeps into my cheeks.

Brody grins at him. "I'm Brody. I'm this many," he says, his voice laced with sadness and worry as he holds up four fingers. Nick must notice his tone.

"Whoa! That's a lot!" he exclaims, feigning shock. "I'm super old. You know how old I am?" Brody shakes his head. "I'm 16. I'm so old. Probably gonna-" He cuts himself off with a very fake and very exaggerated yawn. 

"Gonna sleep soon. So old and boring..." he finishes, slowly lying down. He fake-snores loudly, earning giggles from Brody. I can't help but smile. Nick is pretty good with kids. 

Nick's eye cracks open, the one that's bruised from his earlier fight with Keith. I'm still surprised he wasn't suspended. He shoots me a quick grin before shutting his eye again. The heat already in my cheeks grows. 

"UH! I'm up! I'm up!" he exclaims suddenly. He looks at something over Brody's shoulder and his once soft gaze hardens slightly. I glance up. A cop with a notepad in hand it walking towards us. I stand up, shifting Katie to support her with one arm. Brody grabs my hand as he looks fearfully up at the cop. Nick jumps up too.

"Are you Karl Jacobs? The foster kid?"

The foster kid.

I nod. He nods. 

"I'm Officer Pierce. You're foster mother, Kendall Mitchell, was just placed under arrest for illegal possesion of firearms. Do you have any prior knowledge of this?" he asks. I shake my head. He scribbles something down.

"Has Kendall done anything suspicious or out-of-the-ordinary?" Besides get so drunk she passes out before dinner and I have to get the kids into bed? I shrug.

"Shrugging won't help." Officer Pierce says. 

"He doesn't talk, officer," Nick says calmly. Officer Pierce's gaze locks on him. 

"What is your name, young man?"

"Nick Snap. I'm a friend of Karl's."

"Has Karl spoken to you at all about his home life?"