Hey Punk, Keep This a Secret

Chapter Nine: Danny Stewart

 When I finally arrived, I texted Chance right away. "Meet me outside the police station," I told him. "My investigator is here. She'll help us."

Mrs. Cartor tapped her fingers on the car door as she looked through where the window would be if we didn't put it down to talk to her. "So, you ran away with your brother? That's where you've been?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "I'm sorry."

"No no, that was pretty smart. If I was in a situation like what I heard yours was, I'd do that too," she said. I was surprised at how understanding she was, despite having already been told she would be.

"Will I have to go back?" The words were sticky, and I could barely force them out. I almost wished to never know the answer, because the chances of it being what I wanted were slim to none. At least they would have been, if Mrs. Cartor was like other investigators.

"Normally, there would need to be a trial of some sort, and you'd have to present a decent amount of evidence for them to even consider pulling you out. Luckily for you, I already found more than enough to revoke their custody of you faster than you can say, well, illegal drugs," Mrs. Cartor explained to us.

"I knew those sons of bitches were on something," Stefan said. "No sober parent could spin up lies like our parents could. It was like they really believed those things! Well, I guess they must have."

"Jesus Christ," I said. I thought they were just drinking too much alcohol, so I was more surprised than Stefan was.

"Just in case, is there anything else that I can note about them? I'm not sure how long it'll be before I start getting asked about whether it'd be safe to let them have you again once they're out of rehab," Mrs. Cartor said.

"Of course," Stefan sighed, familiar with the ridiculousness of the idea.

"I have this," I said as I pulled up my sleeve and showed her the bruise on my arm. "It was from the night before I ran away. My mom dug her nails into my arm and dragged me to the table because 'I was walking slowly, to be disrespectful.' Not sure what she meant by that," I explained.

"That's horrible, I'm so sorry," Mrs. Cartor said with as much empathy as she had left. "Here, I'll take a picture of that and show them." She pulled out her work phone. "Smile- actually don't do that, that looks weird. Sorry, I just wanted to keep the tone positive."

"It's fine, I get it," I said. "It's part of your job. Probably gotta do it to stay sane, considering all the wack-jobs you have to deal with."

"Yeah, I kind of do," she sighed. We all got a laugh out of that.

When Chance and CJ finally came, they were with two other people: Damien Milan's little brother Devin, and the musician Deer Soul- Mrs. Cartor's husband. In Chance's hands were a bundle of filthy clothes that I assumed were from the night that Hart raped him.

Chance and CJ saw me and lit up.

"Danny! Oh my god, you're alive," Chance called to me. He shoved the bundle of clothes into Devin's arms (to which Devin looked genuinely disgusted) and attacked me with a hug. "Oh my god, oh my god. I can't believe it," he shouted with excitement. "You're really okay!"

"Chance, are you okay?" I asked him right away.

With those words, I felt the light in his eyes fade away into the dense air. I could tell he didn't want to think about it anymore. He just wanted this to be the happy end. But it wasn't the end just yet, and we both knew that.

I didn't want him to be so dull. "We're going to get that man in big trouble for what he did to you. I swear on it," I assured him.

"I don't want him to be in trouble," he said. "I just want to forget and move on. Is that too much to ask? Why do I have to do all of this?"