Junie - JJ Maybank

6

One week later...

I jump awake when I feel a hand on my arm. I turn over to see John B standing over me with a scared look on his face.

I groan, "what the hell, John B..." I look at my phone to see that it is 8:42, way too early, "why are you waking me up so early?"

"DCFS is here."

I immediately jump up, "what are you talking about?"

He stutters as he tries to answer my question, "I walked out of my room to see Cheryl sitting on the couch..."

"Oh my god," I say as I start pushing my window open.

"No, Emery," John B stops me by grabbing my arm.

I look back at him with a confused face, "we need to get out of here."

John B shakes his head, "she has a cop with her. There's no way out of this."

I take a deep breath and feel a tear run down my cheek, John B holds both of my arms, "I'm gonna find a way out of this, okay?" I nod, "pack a bag of stuff," he tells me and I nod again, unable to say anything.

After I fill a backpack with clothes and some toiletries, me and John B walk out of my room together.

When we get to the living room, I see mine and John B's DCFS agent, Cheryl, sitting on the couch. There is a cop standing at the table who has no neck.

"Hi, Emery," she says to me.

I sigh, "DCFS is going to the next level by breaking and entering," I tell her.

She rolls her eyes as she stands up. The cop starts walking towards us, making me and John B step aside. "Let's go," the cop tells all of us.

We walk out of the chateau and the first thing I see is a sheriff SUV. The cop leads the way to the SUV, he opens the back door and gestures for me and John B to get in.

I feel another tear run down my cheek but I quickly wipe it off as I get into the car.

A little while into the drive, I feel a hand on mine. I look at John B and he gives me a warm smile. I return the smile and squeeze his hand.

John B winks at me as he opens his backpack and pulls out a piece of paper. He shows me it to reveal that it is a picture of us and our dad from years ago. I was probably only five or six in the picture.

Our windows are slightly cracked open, so John B rests his arm on his door and holds the picture up. He acts like he is looking at it and 'accidentally' lets go of it, making it go out the window.

"Woah... stop, stop, stop," he says and the cop slams on the breaks.

"What?" He asks, frustrated.

"My picture! It's the last picture of our dad. Please." He tells him with a panicked voice.

"Not gonna happen, kid." The cop says.

"Please. That's all we've got left." John B says then looks at me.

I sniffle and nod, "it's the only picture we have, sir, please."

John B looks at Cheryl, she sits with her head leaned against the window, "Cheryl."

She sighs, "go get the picture, Tom."

Me and John B both sigh, "thank you." John B tells her.

We both turn around in our seats and look out the back window. We watch as the cop has a hard time trying to find the picture.