I quickly hide myself behind the wall. I hear the footsteps coming closer, so I slowly creep forward in hope of finding a place to hide without getting caught. I reach my hand forward and grip the door handle. The metal is like ice on the palm of my hand. I turn it slowly and hear the small click. My head flicks to the entrance of the corridor and his shadow creeps into view. I step inside the room and close the door as silently as possible. I hide under a desk in an extremely uncomfortable squatting position. To my left I hear a small cough.
"Crap, Casey please." She gives a slightly irritated look and rolls her eyes, walking to the door.
"Hello sir." She says with a small smile. He nods in return and continues his search. As he approaches the door, my body freezes. I give a silent prayer when his hand reaches the handle. He glances around the room and decides I'm not in here. 'Thank god' I think to myself.
Jesse jumps onto my lap and licks my cheek. "Who's a good boy?" I ask, scratching his soft, curly fur.
"What are you doing here?" My mum says taking a long swig of beer.
"I- I couldn't find a place to stay." I explain.
"Well you're gonna want to, cause Joel's gonna be here in ten minutes, and he doesn't want to see your bratty face." I start to reply but she just walks off, taking another long swig. Her strawberry blonde hair is in a ratty bun and her makeup is smudged so her eyes look dark and smoky. She's wearing a tight black dress and bright red heels.
I clip Jesse to the lead and grab my mums credit card, replacing it with an old one I blew over last year. With the lead wrapped around my hand, and a change of clothes in my bag, I jog to the library. When I get there I tie Jesses lead to a pole and jump onto a computer. I go straight to google and search up: dog friendly motels in Brooklyn. I scroll through until I find a cheap hotel a few blocks away. I untie the rope and follow the directions I printed out in the library until I finally get there. It's called 'East Brooklyn Motel.' Once I've checked in and have the key, I order some pizza. While I'm waiting I get some water for Jesse and have a look around. There is a single bed with a bedcover so ugly, it might just kill someone. The whole room is carpeted except for the bathroom, which has a tiny, tiny sink, a toilet with a metal seat, no cupboards and a mouldy shower. Not even a mirror. The tiles in the bathroom are murky green- like when mould grows on bread. The wall paper everywhere else is red with old fashioned patterns in a darker shade of red. The pizza arrives and I pull out my mums credit card. I close the door and sit it on the bed. Jesse wakes up from his sleep due to the delicious smell. I eat seven pieces and give five to Jesse, who by this time is extremely exited. He scoffs it down.
•••
I open the back gate and let Jesse into the backyard. I fill up his food and water and then sneak into the lounge room passing my drunk, sleeping mother. I slip her credit card back in her purse and head off to school. Casey greets me with an emotionless smile and then walks to the library with her books.
"April Jones." I turn around to see my principal fuming.
"Uh yeah?" I muster. He gives me a gesture to follow him and says something about kids always wasting his time. He looks back at me and tells me I'm not in trouble and I'm immediately relieved. There's no way he could know about that anyway. Could he? As I step into his office he waves to the receptionist and says 'let them in'. Confused, I sit down and play with my untied shoelace.
"I presume you are April Jones?" I look up from my zone to see two police officers. The one that talked gave me a look. "I presume you are April Jones?" He repeats, his voice stern.
"Oh uh yep." I say, still confused on the situation.
"I am Senior Constable Pete and this is Officer Adam.
I focus on their uniform. Navy blue button up polo shirt and ironed suit pants with black shoes, hat and belt. The silent one wears only pepper spray, handcuffs and a taser, whereas the other officer's belt holds all those things plus a gun. Shivers run down my spine. He asks for my mum's phone number and I give it to them. Should I have?
I get home to see a police car out the front of my house. 'Oh no' I jog to the door and barge in. Everyone goes silent. "Oh hi pumpkin." She says with a sweet smile. Something is up. Hold on a second please officer I'm just going to get my sweetheart here a drink. I sit down on the lime green couch and try to figure out the situation. The two officers from school are here plus another, who introduces himself as, Officer Tyler. Something smashes in the kitchen and we all raise our heads in alert. Mum comes running out to the lounge room with a half smashed wine bottle. She runs straight for Senior Constable Pete. Officer Adam jumps on her and she slumps to the ground. He puts her in handcuffs and tells her "You, ma'am are under arrest for mistreating your child and charging at a police officer with some sort of a weapon. Anything you say or do will be used against you in the court of law." His face holds a proud smile. It's obvious that he is on training. My mother's face however, isn't so joyful. It's miserable actually. Suddenly she looks to me with a look of pure hatred. "Your sentence will be given by a professional judge and your future will be dictated by that decision." The officer adds. My gaze switches to the Constable. His face is stern and he looks cross as he watches Adam struggle through a maze to lock the handcuffs on my mother's wrists.
The last officer looks to me and walks over. "I just thought I would let you know, for now we are going to have to put you in a foster home because you aren't legally old enough to live on your own, but you'll only be there a short time, until we find your father or any other relatives you have."
"So a long time." I mutter quietly. I think he picks up on it because he gives me a smile of sympathy.
