Is Everything Perfect/ Volume 1: Set free by handcuffs

CHAPTER 2: SET FREE BY HANDCUFFS

CALEB THOMSON—————————————————

I was at gunpoint, and I put my hands up. 'Do you have any drugs or weapons on you?' One of the officers yelled from behind his gun.
'No,' I grumbled.
Frankie and Keira were standing behind me, on the other side of the road. 'Check them,' The officer put his gun down, to point at me with his hand.
I plopped my arms down and one of the officers started walking towards me 'Drop the bag,' he demanded.
I released the strap of my backpack off on my shoulders, and it plopped to the ground. This wasn't my first police search, and I impatiently waited as the officer patted down my body. I flinched as the officer reached my arm, he lifted up my sleeve, ' What did you do to your arm?' He asked.
I kept a straight face, and said blankly ' Scraped it.'
'How?' He asked sternly.
' It's none of your business.'
He sloughed his shoulders and sighed.
'She's clear,' he grumbled, Ashe bent down to check my bag.
'She?' I shot back, as I watched the police officer search through my bag.
The officer looked up at me confused, ' You're a guy?'
' Yes?'
He shook his head, and continued to search my bag. I sighed once the officer said, 'Clear' and stood up from the ground, leaving my bag ripped apart on the pavement.
The officer walked back to the car, while I put my backpack back together,
The other officer walked up to me, with both of his hands attached to his belt. ' We got a call about possession of illegal substances, and it tracked back to this address. Do you know anything about that?' He asked.
The wind blew hair into my face, it took a moment for a response to come up in my head. ' Umm... my parents... if you're lucky they might be inside.' I mumbled so quiet, I could barely hear myself. The officers locked eyes for a moment before nodding, and walking towards the front door. They kicked the door open yelling ' TPD.'
I sloughed my shoulders to the side and sighed, hoping this was the last time I have to go through this.
I heard slow footsteps coming up from behind me, Frankie eventually stood right next to me, staring at my front door. The winds blowing his hair in his face, making his eyes disappear. ' Parents.. huh?'
    ' Ding... ding... ding,' I said, slowly the pain in my voice making the sound crack up.
Keira followed up and gave me a small hug on the other side of me, and I rested my arm on hers.
      One of the officers barged out of my house, holding both of my parents in handcuffs. They were fighting him so hard they looked like rabid animals. ' Are these your parents?'  He stopped, and my parents tugged and pulled, trying to get out of the officer's hands.They were both wearing their usual raggy clothing and they had bloodshot eyes, and dark purple eyebags. I don't know what they were on this time, and it scared me to think about it. I looked over at my mom and she was staring at me, shaking her head back and forth. She was hoping I would say no. I looked back at the officer who was waiting for a response, and I nodded at them. The officer didn't have an expression on his face. He has probably put my parents in handcuffs a million times, and he has never been a slight bit surprised. He emotionlessly walked my parents to the car.
      The other officer walked out from my house, talking on the phone with someone. He looked over at all three of us, and his eyes widened. Then, he started talking on the phone again. I had this shock flowing through my veins, I knew who he was talking to on the phone, and my fingertips started to tingle. He stood at my front patio for a moment before hanging up the phone, and shoving his phone in his back pocket. He looked over at us once again, and headed towards us. The tingling slowly quivered up my arms. A pulse started thumping once it reached my arm. The officer put his hand on his belt and sighed, ' I just got off the phone with Child services, and they will be here in a few minutes. And I'm expecting you' He pointed at me, his finger was so close he was nearly touching my chest. ' To stay put, until they arrive.'
None of us said a word, as the officer started to head to the driver's seat of the police car. He turned around and looked straight at me, ' I know who you are... Caleb Thomson.'
He got into the car and drove off.
I threw my shoulders to the side, as I watched the police car drive my parents down the hill. The tingling creeped up my shoulder, to my ears. My hearing was blocked out into silence, the world started spinning around me, and everything went black once the tingling reached my head.
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    .Tingling and a pulsing beat thumped at my head. It felt like my whole world was made of static figures. I see nothing but the cloudy sky in my view, it feels like I'm drowning, and the waves are pulling me under water out to sea. My hearing is foggy, but I hear a subtle, ' He's up.'
I open my eyes once again, to see Frankie staring down at me. I looked around left and right, to realize my head was resting on Frankie's lap. We were still at my house, on the driveway. The hot August sun is beating down on our faces. I lifted my head to look over at Keira, she was just watching me with a concerned look on her face. I looked back over at Frankie lifting my whole body off of him. ' Did I pass out?' I asked, my voice pushed the words so close together they sounded like murmurs.
Frankie nodded, ' Yeah, but you weren't even out for a whole minute.'
I ran on hand through my hair, trying to get my worldview to stop spinning. I stood up, stumbling on my toes for a moment. Frankie stood up quickly to catch me if I fell again. Keira was silent, but she pulled her water bottle out of her bag and gave it to me.
    I looked down at the bottle and up at her, she just had a small warm smile on her face,
' Thanks' I mumbled.
She nodded, swinging the backpack back onto her shoulders. I took a sip of the water, and barely felt a difference. The only thing I felt was more heavy, It felt like I had bricks in my pockets. I gave Keria her water bottle back, and attempted to pick up my backpack from the ground. ' You probably got overheated from wearing that blazer, in late August,' Frankie said, pulling at the hem of my blazer once I stood up.
'It's not the blazer,' I shot back, squatting Frankie's hand away from me. ' I'm just really stressed out right now.'
' Come on, Caleb. It's probably another overnight stay in the station, they are not going to be there long.'
'I don't think it's like that this time, they don't usually call Child services. I couldn't get taken away for god sakes!' I explained.
His eyes widened. ' Isn't that what you want?' Keira asked, from the background, her voice subtle and quiet.
I smeared my hand down my face, and I stared down at the hot cement. ' I don't know,' I mumbled so unaudiable I couldn't hear myself.
    Our conversation was interrupted by a blue Pontiac driving up the hill, and pulling into my driveway. I didn't know if I was going to pass out again, but a shock of panic shot up through my spine. We all stared at the car, as a lady that looked like a principal stepped out of the car. She was wearing a black dress, covered in a Navy Blue blazer that went down to her hips. Her high heels made her sound like a trotting horse as she walked over to us.
' Am I here for all three of you? Officer Harry said that I was only picking up one of you.'
Her nails clacked as she put her clipboard in her other hand. Frankie pushed me forward, and I nervously put my hands up stuttering, ' Uh... it's.. me.'
She looked up and down at me, her eyes shaping into thin slits. ' Okay, well' she clapped her clipboard between her hands, ' I'm Jacky from the Child Protective Services, and I'm supposed to take you down to the station.'
Frankie stepped in front of me, pushing me behind him, 
' Why do you need to take him to the station?' He asked, his voice sounding fierce and serious.
    Jacky paused,' For questioning.'
' Why does he need to be questioned? This whole situation, he wasn't involved, and it was clearly not his fault.'
I know Frankie was trying to stand up for me, but he was just making it much, much worse. And I was hoping for him to just shut up.
Jacky couldn't think of words to say for a moment,
' Uh... well.. This is a very serious case, and we need to know how long this has been happening... and how we going to deal with this'
Frankie shut his mouth, he didn't know what to say or do. So he just stepped back, and led me in front of him. I wrapped my hand around my bandaged wrist, which was hidden under my blazer. Jacky looked at me, and jerked her head over to her car. I looked back at Keria, and she mouthed the word, ' Go.'
I looked over at Frankie, he had an annoyed look on his face. I didn't ask for his approval. Jacky started heading for her car, and I watched her get into the vehicle. I looked back at Frankie and Keira one last time, before slowly heading for her car. Jacky had opened the door to the back seat for me. I got inside the chair and she closed my door. She started to pull out of the driveway.
   On the way to the station, Jacky started playing some crappy boy band, and was horribly singing to it. I covered my ears and laid my head into my knees. I wanted to take my headphones out of my bag and put them on, but I know that the station isn't too far away from my house, so it's no use.
' So, what's your name?' Yelled Jacky, over her loud music.
I lifted my head up from my knees, ' What was that?' I ask.
'What is your name?' She asked again, turning the music down.
' Uh.. Caleb'
She stayed silent for a moment then spoke up with, 'So Caleb, how was your day?' she continued. 'Except your parents getting arrested and blah, blah, blah, blah.' She rambled,
Her voice was getting extremely annoying, and I just ignored her, not saying anything.
We made it to the station and the cops that arrested my parents were standing outside by the door. Jacky got out of the car and opened my door. We headed up to the front door of the station, and a  tiny bell jingled once we walked in. Jacky started talking to the lady at the front desk, and I just stood there behind her. I didn't know what to do and where to go. After a few seconds of pure gossip, Jacky looked back at me. ' Honey, go sit in the waiting room for a little while.'
I held a tight grip on the strap of my backpack, as I turned back to the waiting room. I wasn't unfamiliar with this waiting room, so I sat down on the floor in the corner. Where I always sit.I plopped my bag down on the floor and looked back up at the front desk. Jacky was still talking to the lady at the front desk, they were still gossiping, but they were also talking about something serious too. Me. What they were going to do with me. I hugged my knees tight, taking in a deep inhale of all the possibilities of what is going to happen next. They aren't going to be in there long, my parents always find a way out. But what are they going to do with me for the meantime? Foster care? I pulled my sleeves down to my knuckles, and wrapped my hand around my wrist. Squeezing the bandages with hard pressure, the cuts stinging like boiling water, needles prickling at my skin. I clamped my eyes shut, wincing the pain away. The amount of agony I was in, I stopped. I opened my eyes, my face draining all color.
   Jacking finished talking to the women behind the desk, and was heading over to me. She leaned down to where I was sitting. 'Come on, I need to see you.'
She grabbed my arm to help me stand up. The stinging felt like a splash of acid running against my skin. I winced and pulled away, she didn't even notice, and kept walking back to the desk. I slowly dragged myself to the front desk, my hand brushing against my sleeve. Jacky waited for me impatiently, and once I stood at the desk, she started babbling. ' Okay, this nice lady at the front desk wants to ask you some questions about you and this situation.' She spread her hand around the air, like she was wiping a table.
    I nodded, and she clasped her hands silently. She rubbed my shoulder, as she walked past me, and back behind the desk.
'Okay, let's see here,' The lady at the desk said, tapping on her computer.
'My name is Emily and I'm going to ask you some questions.'
I nodded, 'Name?'
' Caleb,' I fixed my posture, ' Caleb Thomson."
Emily started clacking on her computer, ' Oh! You already have a profile set up.'
I looked down at the ground nervously.
' Miley and Jarret B. Thomson, are you parents?' She asked.
I nodded, fighting the lump in my throat, ' Yes.'
'Okay, let's see here,' She mumbled to herself. 'I'm just going to update this information, Okay?'
' So you're fourteen?'
' Fifthteen,'
She started clicking on her keyboard again. ' You were born on April twenty-seventh two thousand and six, correct?' She said, looking up at me
I nodded at her. 'Do you have a relative or guardian that you can stay with?'
I paused for a second, ' Wait, why do I need someone to stay with?' I asked.
She froze for a moment, ' Well... Your parents will be in custody for awhile, due to too many DUIs and possession of drugs. We are not sure how long they will be in there, but by law I have to find you a place to stay. If we have to put you in foster care, we have to put you in foster care.' She shrugged this off like it was nothing.
Does this happen often on an average Thursday all the time?
I looked down at the ground, and murmured 'Oh' under my breath. She started clicking on her keyboard again. ' What about your mom's sister, Jennifer Kely? She lives in the town over.'
I don't have many memories of my Aunt Jennifer, I remember going to some family gathering with her when I was little, but the rest seems to be a blur. ' Well, I uh... don't really know my Aunt, and I have no way to contact her...' I explained nervously.
' We have her contact information right here sweetie, I'm going to give her a call if she is willing to help out.'
She started tapping the number onto a phone next to her. She looked up at me and tilted her head towards the waiting room. Signaling me to sit back down for a while. I sat back down at my spot on the floor. I fidgeted with my fingers impatiently waiting for the call to be over. I barely know my Aunt Jennifer, there is a very slim chance of staying with her. If I stayed with her I would have to move to Dansberg. I would have to switch schools, I would have to somehow tell Frankie. And I know he won't react politely, he'll react worse than he did when Austin left in Year 9.