Angels Like You

Accountability

Officer Hilton's office was in a brick building near a shopping plaza. I sat in a cracked leather chair across from his desk while he spoke to my dad in the hall. I was still hungover as fuck, but my dad had forced me out of bed while stating that I needed to deal with the consequences of my decision.

They'd been in the hall together for going on twenty minutes. I knew that I had a thick file, but it would have been nice if someone had clued me in on what was going on. When they came back, they were going to tell me how things were going to go in a way that made it seem like I was involved, but I wasn't actually. Maybe one would be the good cop and the other be the bad cop. Maybe both of them would pretend to care. It would be the routine that happened every time I got in trouble, just with different people.

I leaned forward and plucked my file off Hilton's desk, careful not to drop any of the papers from it. Theft. Larceny. Vandalism. Underage purchase and possession. Underage consumption of alcohol. Assault and battery. Possession of marijuana. Curfew violations. Truancy. Criminal trespass. Possession of drug paraphernalia. Burglary. Possession of stolen property. Resisting an officer. Countless parole violations. Many things that should have landed me in juvie for longer than it did, but I always got out on good behavior or my mom somehow always found a card to play.

Until she'd run out of favors or sob stories and now I was with my dad.

I stared at the different mugshots, starting from when I was thirteen and started to get into serious trouble. Some featured black eyes and bloody faces. Some were of sunken eyes and pale skin. In my last one, I was staring straight at the camera, sober, but ready to fight. I remembered how pissed off I was that night. I'd gotten picked up for holding for an acquaintance who never showed and who owed me money for the last time I scored for them. I wanted to fight that night, but just one person.

My mom had threatened to send me to boarding school when she'd picked me up that night, only to decide that it'd be a waste of money since I'd just be expelled. The court had enrolled me in courses I had to complete to stay out of juvie. I'd done them. As nice as juvie was, by that time I was over it. I was over a lot of things. I'd been cutting my wrists off and on. Had a seventy-two-hour hold in a psych ward. I was out of control. I'd only somewhat pulled myself out of the murk because my mom had broken down and begged me to get my shit together just a little bit.

So I had. I pulled myself together just enough to be functional again. No more. No less.

The door squeaked open and Hilton walked in followed by my dad. I tossed my file back onto the desk as Hilton sat down in his seat across from me.

"Well, Rhys. I'm glad we are officially able to meet," Hilton said as he adjusted the papers that had slid out of my file back into it. "Your father and I have discussed some conditions that we are going to attach to your probation. We feel as though these are going to serve you the best and hopefully, one day, you'll see that they are in your best interest."

He passed me a checklist of what I was supposed to do. I'd gotten several of them in the past. Most of them had ended up in the trash when I'd gotten home.

"A curfew of ten o'clock every night unless you're working. You'll be expected to put forth your best effort at your job. You'll need to faithfully attend your after-school program as well as mental health counseling and drug counseling. They can be the same counselor if you find one qualified," Hilton said. "You and I will have weekly check-ins and I'll be dropping by your school randomly to check on you. You'll need to keep up with your assignments and follow the rules set forth by your father. Understood?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"These aren't being given as a punishment, Rhys," Dad said. The chair groaned as he shifted in it. "We think these are what will truly help you. Especially the different programs. You can't keep going down the path you are. Let's make these changes while you're in a new environment in hopes that they help you."