Cops' Kids

C11

"Dad...." Benjamin, the spokesperson of the boys now that courageous Tyson hasn't been heard of in a night and two days, trails off when Elmer shoots him a look to shut his mouth. Serena glances at her oldest son. A slight tilt of her head has him speaking up. It's a plan they'd rehearsed when Elmer was passed out when she'd decided the boys were old enough they could lie to Elmer and sneak out. All the evidence was already made and the lie practiced. This is the first time they were using the plan.

"The school yearbook club needs me to go in tonight," Warren speaks up. Elmer had insisted all of his boys join some form of school activity. For loner and resident bad boy, Warren Lawrence, it had been the yearbook club because he could control the pictures taken of his brothers. He'd made sure in his four years of high school that they'd taken his brothers pictures on a day where they weren't bruised or emotionally tired and traumatized. Even if their life has been a hard one, he didn't want that reflected in their yearbook pictures. So he took pictures of them on the good days. The days when Elmer was in a good mood or where he was out of town and the whole house was peaceful.

"It's not the end of the year," Elmer narrows his eyes at his oldest stepson. He wants to make sure Warren wasn't making an excuse to run away, find his brother or get help. Elmer knows the yearbook meets up more regularly at the end of the year to finish the project. Benjamin ignores his fathers glare. Ross studiously eats and Colin sits meticulously, waiting for some kind of rebuke. Isaiah and Jeremiah pretend to be oblivious to the tension at the table but their forks scrape against the plates less and they chew with their mouths closed.

"Some kids were messing around with the cameras." Warren fishes out the excuse, the lie heavy on his tongue. He fears Elmer will see right through it. "With the school rally tomorrow, we need all the equipment working."

"What rally?" Elmer demands to know although a clue dangles in his mind. He applied for email updates from the school to keep better tabs on his sons and remembers reading about a rally, just not what type of rally.

"The annual ping pong tournament," Warren replies. His voice is steady even though his hands shake. Elmer isn't worried about Tyson but none of them have gone missing this long before, or ever. Elmer nods, ending the conversation. He'd remembered thinking the rally was for something silly and ping pong fit the bill. Serena and Warren sigh in relief. Even getting beat Tyson would still manage to find a way to piss off Elmer.

"I'll drop you off on my way to get your brother," Elmer states. He takes a bite of his food, sighing in pleasure. The one good thing his third wife can do is cook and clean. The other two were more worthless than Serena.

"You know where he is?" Serena deadpans, panic in her voice. Then she gasps because she did the one thing that pisses Elmer off the most. She questioned him. Silence surrounds the table as she peeks up from her eyelashes. Her face flushes and sweat appears on her forehead when her husband stares at her, intense eyes unrelenting. The two little boys sink in their seats. Jeremiah's bottom lip wobbles.

"We'll discuss that later," Elmer states pointedly. He means when they are in their bedroom and the boys are asleep. Colin looks sick to his stomach but a sharp look from Elmer has him chowing down his supper. Warren sits stiffly in his chair. Now that Tyson isn't here, he realizes what a help he is. Tyson would instigate Elmer to a tremendous anger - but only after his mom or his brothers had accidentally set him off. Thinking that way about his headstrong younger brother, Warren wonders just how many beatings each of them were saved from because of how mouthy and rebellious Tyson acted. That's all it was, Warren realizes, an act. That was Tyson's little way of saving them from their fathers fists. It makes Warren sick to his stomach. How many times did he complain about Tyson to Benjamin? How many times has he yelled at Tyson to get his shit together? He hadn't seen Tyson's plan and Tyson was humble enough not to mention it.

"I can drive myself," Warren says quietly. His voice just about fails him as he looks across the table to the master of the house. Elmer sneers and shakes his head. Warren won't push his independence farther, afraid Elmer will see through the excuse. It's flimsy enough as it is.

The front door opens and they all turn to it, waiting expectantly. Tyson walks in, black eyes and a broken nose, torn and blood stained clothing and a limp in his step. Gone is his arrogance, the defiance he held close to his heart. His left foot drags as he walks to the table. Serena's heart goes out to him as his brothers stare in disbelief. Elmer and their uncles went all out. Tyson stands behind his chair and waits for Elmer to look at him. "May I sit down, sir?" Tyson asks, his eyes fleeting nervously around the dining room. Benjamin coughs in shock. Warren stares at his brother, concern making his body ache. Elmer smirks in self pride at the control he thinks he has over his stubborn stepson.

"How'd you get back?" Elmer asks, sliding Tyson's cellphone on the table from his pocket. Tyson gulps, bracing himself on the back of the chair as he answers.

"Uncle Erik." Silence reigns in the dining room at his response. Warren and Colin glance at each other, eyes wide as saucers. They remember the name from the doctors business card.

"You don't have an uncle Erik," Elmer grinds out, his fist slamming on the table. Ross catches his cup before it tips over. The mess would only irk his father more.

"My, um, my biological fathers childhood friend." Tyson answers, steel behind the waver. Warren barely lets his shock and disappointment show. No matter how hard Elmer beat them before, Tyson refused to call Caleb anything but daddy. It was a snub Elmer couldn't quite get over. Elmer doesn't believe Tyson, doesn't trust the meekness his rebellious stepson now shows. That is, until he questions his wife.

"CJ have a friend named Erik?" That's another thing Tyson despised. How Elmer shortened their dads name to CJ as if he was his friend, as if his name wasn't Caleb Junior, as if everyone in his family didn't just call him Caleb Junior or Little Caleb or Young Caleb. Warren can't stand the lack of anger Tyson shows. It's like Tyson is done fighting, as if he gave up. But Warren knows deep down that Tyson would be the last to give up. Or so he thought.

"Yes," Serena answers in her timid voice. She's barely protected her sons so she'll do her best to back Tyson up now. She'd also been the one to wash Tyson's clothes. She'd taken the business card out of his pants and called the number.

"I don't recall you telling me," Elmer drags his fork across his plate. Isaiah covers his ears.

"He wasn't really around. Barely in town. I didn't think the boys would remember him." Serena thinks she is talking too much so she closes her lips. Her fingers are white where she clenches her utensils in her hand.

"Last name?" Elmer asks. He'll do a background check tomorrow. Warren and Tyson send each other worried looks. Colin makes a quick sign of the cross.

"Fanucci," Serena replies. Tyson reaches down to pat his pocket as Warren exhales in relief.