BROKEN HOME :: OT4

tu es mon meilleur ami

Chapter Five; Tu es mon meilleur ami

"Mr Hood." greets Officer Hemmings, taking his usual seat before opening up a folder with all the information he needs about the boy. Calum wants to ask how he got here; why he has a very unfamiliar taste in his mouth; why everything looks blurry and why he has a pounding headache, but he doesn't.

"Last night, we got a call from Michael's lawyer announcing that you have confessed about the murder of Daryl Clifford, is that correct?" asks the man as he corrects the video camera and takes a seat again. Calum shots a glance at the camera before looking back at the blue eyed boy sitting in front of him; he seems awfully young to be an officer, perhaps a year older than Calum himself and he wonders why he bothers to deal with criminals when there are an infinite number of opportunities out there.

"Yes." Calum nods, once again looking at the camera quickly before looking down. After shuffling some papers around and studying the boy's back ground, Officer Hemmings open his mouth to speak once again; "How did you meet Michael?"

"It was the second day of primary school; he sat at the far end of the room with only an apple in hand and I asked him if he was hungry; he said that he was starving but if he ate any more, his father would get angry. I had no friends and he was nice to me, so we became friends."

Calum closes his eyes, remembering the scene perfectly before looking up to see if his answer satisfied his interviewer. The man relaxes in his seat and studies the boy's face before asking another question; "When did you realise the extremity of how badly Michael's father was treating his mother?"

"It wasn't just his mother.", he swallows before starting once again, "Michael used to throw rocks at my window at midnight and stay over my house because they kept on fighting. I told him it would get better soon but I knew it wouldn't. When we turned eleven he started showing me these bruises and I kept telling him he was a canvas that fell in the wrong painter's hand. It was a lie. What his father did, would never be art- no matter what metaphors I attached to it. He was slowly destroying him."

"So you decided to end the man's life." Calum nods. For Officer Hemmings, however, it doesn't sound right when it rolls off his tongue; it feels as if he is missing something, as if this is not the whole story. "But why now? You have barely talked to Michael in the past two years, so why now?"

There is a silent pause before an answer comes, and when it does, it isn't something what the officer or the law students behind the glasses expected; "Mr Clifford used to come over at my house sometimes, and rant to my mother about what Karen has done. Then the same routine would follow; he would ask to be excused so that he goes to the toilet but he never does. His destination was my room and.." his voice breaks as he fidgets with his hands.

Officer Hemmings wants to ask what happens next but a part of him feels like it is better if he doesn't know; he is trying to find justice for an abusive man who perhaps molested his son's only friend. No, he tells himself, you are finding justice for Michael.

"He used to.." Calum doesn't find the need to spell out the events so he keeps quiet. "Calum, this is an evidence for the case. We need every single detail of what happened or else we won't be able to have a case."

"He used to tell me I was being a good boy for helping his son, for not telling my mom about the bruises. Then he would touch me and I didn't understand what it meant back then but.." A small tear rolls down his cheek, followed by another one, and another. Soon enough, he is a crying mess and Hemmings can not look at the boy before joining the pity party.

"Our university gave us an opportunity to either learn how to give a CPR or self defence class. It was supposed to be for fun and to get fit but it started triggering memories, making me angrier than I have ever been."

That is all what the officer needs to free Michael; when the gates open, Michael finds himself confused and happy at the same time. The handcuffs on his hands are opened by an officer and instead of going straight out of hell, he waits for an explanation.

His wait doesn't last long because the boy he grew up with is now handcuffed and replacing his previous place. He doesn't understand, and he jumps between the officers to reach for Calum, wanting to pull him out of this mess- he wants to be the hero for once.

"What are you doing? Hey, Hemmings look at me! What are you doing?" shouts Michael, not bothered by the fact he is facing the officer's chest instead of his face. The man just locks the door behind Calum and leaves, ignoring the pleads from the boy.

"What the fuck are you doing?" questions Michael, his face red and sweat visible on his forehead. Calum grabs his by the hand, his restrains making it hard but he manages it. "I am making up for how I treated you the past years." He wipes off the sweat from his companion and smiles at him, but this time he doesn't get a smile back.

Michael snatches Calum's hands off his body and races towards the exit trying to find the officer. After a minute of search, he finds him in the office with the law students and Michael's lawyer. He doesn't care if he is interrupting something important; after looking through the window, Michael was abrupt when he pushes open the door.

"You know he is lying, he did not kill my father! Whatever he said was a lie; he is doing it to protect me. Oh shit.."  With his hands pulling out his hair, Michael faces the other side and thinks for a second before looking back; he is scaring them all, even Officer Hemmings looks petrified. The boy had grey bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep, his hair needs a hair cut and he smells like porridge because that is all he ever ate in that place.

"I will confess." Michael blurts out, and that is when his lawyer- Tyler- corrects his suit and gets up to calm the boy he is acting like a madman. "I will do anything please; if the jury hears my story, they will sympathise, please don't let him do this to himself. I am begging you."

He is crouched at the corner of the room, tasting his own tears as he rocks back and forth. Tyler is gentle with his movements, taking a seat next to the boy before pulling him for a hug. He knows his suit is going to be ruined; he knows he can't help the boy next to him; he knows there is nothing left to do.

But he hugs him any ways.