Parents

Dresscoded

Lucy entered the locker room to be greeted by Angela and Nyla, both looking happy to see Lucy. However they could notice Lucy wasn't her usual bubbly self.

"Morning Luce u alright?" Angela asked.

"Yeah, well no but I won't bore u with it,"

"No Lucy we are here for u," Nyla replied putting an arm around Lucy.

"I upset Tam this morning," Lucy said explaining the whole story.

Nyla and Angela knew how difficult Tamara was and how much Lucy struggled with her, caused Lucy to feel like a failure. They gave Lucy a reassuring hug before they all headed into role call.

Lucy had been partnered up with Nyla due to Angela working a separate case, whilst on patrol Lucy thought this would be a good time to ask Nyla some parenting related questions.

"How do u cope with a teenager, u never seem stressed u seriously need to give me some tips,"

"Honestly Luce, Lila is an angel, she's never in trouble , she always helps around the house I don't have anything bad to say about her,"

"Lucky for some," Lucy laughed.

"Lucy is Tamara really that bad?"

"I know she's my daughter and I shouldn't say anything bad about her but if I'm being truthful, yes, she sits in her room all day, at her old school she would talk back to teachers , skip class, anything u could think of, she's done it."

"Lucy I'm sorry that sounds really hard to deal with,"

"Yeah and Tim, he doesn't want to be seen as the bad guy so he doesn't really do discipline,"

"Tim Bradford not doing discipline," Nyla laughed at the thought of this,

"Don't get me wrong Tam can be rlly sweet, she would never bully anyone she's just a bit wild and unpredictable, I just feel so much younger than all the other moms, so unprepared"

The shift carried on as per usual, Nyla gave Lucy some parenting advice and lunch quickly rolled around.

Lucy grabbed a veggie burger with fries and joined Angela , Nyla ,Nolan and Celina at a table, as she began to eat she received a call.

"Sorry guys mind if I grabbed this,"

The group nod,

On the phone:
"Hello Lucy Chen speaking,"
"Hello this is the school calling regarding ur daughter Tamara Bradford,"
"Oh yes?" Lucy's heart was in her throat, what has tam done now.
"Tamara was asked to change due to her clothing breaking multiple dress code rules however she refused so is currently sat in my office,"
"I did suggest she changed this morning but she just walked out the door,"
"Would u be able to bring her a change of clothes please?"
"Erm well I've got 20 minutes left of my break so I'll see what I can do,"
The call ends.

"What was that all about?" Nolan asks,

"Tamara has decided to refuse to get changed when asked to due to her outfit being in violation of the dress code," Lucy replied tears in her eyes,

"Luce it's alright, we can pop to her school now quick and u can drop some clothes, it's no issue at all I've finished my case," Angela said.

"Thank u Ange, I've got a hoodie and joggers in my car back at the station,"

Angela drives Lucy back to the station and she grabs her spare clothes and they head to the school.

"Doubt she will put these on," Lucy stated still quite upset about this situation.

"Then I'll speak to her Luce, she's scared of me." Angela laughed.

"That's very true, u can be quite scary."

They arrive at the school, Angela accompanied Lucy into the office where Tamara is sat, arms folded glaring at Angela.

"Why are u here?" Tamara asked rudely.

"No Tamara why are u here and not in class, I'll tell u why, because u think it's all just a game, do u realise ur mom has had to sacrifice her only break during the day to bring u clothes because ur just being a brat about it." Angela was fuming.

"Tamara this isn't good, it's ur first day and ur already in trouble, I can't be doing this with u," Lucy looked at her disappointed.

Lucy took out the spare clothes from the bag and handed them to Tamara, She looked at the, disgusted.

"Mom what is this?"

"My spare clothes, which u will be putting on."

"Like hell,"

"Why are u like this ? Me and ur dad do everything to make u happy but u have to just cause issues."

"I'm not wearing ur bloody ugly clothes!"

"Right that's it, get ur bag, ur coming with me,"

Lucy was red with rage, why was her own daughter talking to her like a piece of dirt. She glanced at Angela who also looked extremely angry about the way Lucy was just spoken to.

They all get back in the car in silence , Tamara slumping into the back seat.

They get back to the station, still in silence.