No Introduction Needed

Chapter Three

Maddox walked out the office after waiting for a good while for the woman to write up some papers he would need and when she was finished she had him sign a few things after telling him what it was for, she also told him it was best to keep his past to himself because it could bring a lot of trouble on both on his head and that was the last thing he wanted so he agreed.

He quickly counted through the money she had given him, he had worked a little over six hours and she had given him eighty dollars for it, he was thinking maybe he could find somewhere to sleep for the night, maybe rent a cheap room and then see about finding a permanent solution the next day, maybe even get some clothes.

He was pleased at the fact that he was going to be paid every Saturday after his shift so that would help him a lot. He walked to the exit and was stopped by Ted who gave him a small smile "Mary-Ann said you had no where to go, so if you want you can crash on my couch tonight and in the morning you can find an apartment before your shift starts."

Maddox was a bit taken a back by his offer and immediately put his guard up, there had to be a catch because there was no such thing as a free meal, he had learned that the hard way his first week in prison.

Ted let go of the young man's shoulder as he noticed the sudden shift in his body language, he could practically see the wall that dropped down around the kid "hey there's no need to be worried, I don't want anything in return just thought it would be a better option than you staying on the streets tonight, this city isn't really known for it's cheap rooms or anything."

Maddox quickly thought about it but nodded reluctantly causing the older man to smile wider "alright let me get my car and we'll go, oh also you need to come in a little early tomorrow to get fitted for your uniform, it's actually just three t shirts and you'll have to get your own bottoms, okay." Maddox gave the man a nod and he turned on his heals to go get his car.

Maddox was leaning against the wall outside when he heard a car honk and looked up to see a new silver Nissan Versa and Ted was sitting comfortably at the Driver's seat, he walked and went into the passenger seat buckling his belt just as Ted pulled off, it didn't take them long until they were pulling up in front of a two story grey house that could only be called cute.

He waited for the older man to park on the drive way before getting out the car and following him up the path to the front of the house and then inside, the lights were on when they stepped into the doorway that was just off the living room that looked cosy it was probably quarter the size of his family's living room and he cringed at the thought of them.

The man asked him to kick off his shoes at the door and he did before following him into the living room "alright so I know it's not much but the couch is actually more comfortable than my bed, don't ask me why, you can just sit here and I'll go get some stuff for you to take a shower, oh are you hungry I could wip up a quick snack if you want."

Maddox quickly shook his head and watched as the man gave him a nod before puttering out the room, he stood there awkwardly for a few minutes and found himself shifting back as the front door opened, a young girl with short hair that was held back by a bandanna and dark brown eyes was the first to come in before a woman that was slightly taller than her.

The woman looked up when her daughter tapped her and quickly moved in front of her daughter, his whole body froze as she pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, it had been a while since he had one of those pointed in his face and it had him shivering, he could hear footsteps from upstairs and the woman looked up "Ted honey is that you?!"

"Yeah it's me Barb I'll be down in a sec." she continued to point the gun at him until Ted came back into the room and nearly dropped the towel and clothes he had in his hand "what the hell Barb, put that away, you're scaring the kid." the woman nodded towards Maddox and Ted sighed "this is Maddox, he started working at the warehouse today and had nowhere to stay for the night so I told him he could stay here, Maddox this is my wife Barbie she's a cop and that's my Daughter Sara."

Maddox looked over at Barbie who squinted at him before putting her gun away "sorry about that, just don't like coming home to find strangers in my home, and you the next time you want to bring someone home give me a heads up, okay?" Ted quickly nodded at his wife before turning to Maddox who had calmed down a bit but still kept his guard up.

He smiled as he handed him the towel and clothes "sorry about that, my wife can be a bit protective, anyways here's the things just head down the hall the last door on the left is the guest bathroom you can shower there."

Maddox gave a quick nod before leaving the room the room and heading to the bathroom, he got in and closed the door behind him before feeling around on the walls for the light switch, the lights soon came on to reveal a small bathroom, that held a corner shower a sink with a mirror cabinet and a toilet, all in white tile.

He checked to make sure the door was locked before setting the things on the toilet seat, he pulled off his bag and dropped it in the corner before stripping off his clothes, he looked into the mirror at his tattooed covered skin. His finger traced over a small rose tattoo that was on his hip, he gripped onto the sink closing his eyes as he bit back a sob.

He took a deep breath and then moved over to the shower, his body jolting a little when the hot water touched his skin, he stood still so he could get accustomed to it before soaping up his skin and rinsing off, in no time he was out the shower and drying of, he rubbed his head longer to dry his curls as best as he could.

He picked up the blue t shirt off the toilet cover and sighed at the sight of the short sleeves, it would leave his arms exposed and he wasn't too keen on that but what other choice did he have, withe a sigh he slipped it on and then pulled on the grey sweat pants that was just a bit too close fitting for his liking but the man that he got the clothes from was a few inches shorter than him so what could he do.

Maddox put his other clothes in his bag and collected both it and the towel before going back to the living room, he looked around to see it was empty but could here talking coming from what he could assume was the kitchen, he had only been sitting down for a few minutes but just like a light he was out collapsing in the chair, the couch was really more comfortable than the bed he had slept in for the past five years.

Ted sat in the kitchen with his wife and daughter as Barb stood by the counter chopping up some vegetables to throw in a small pot so she could make a quick pot of soup, she tossed it in and set the dial before turning to face her husband who she was currently mad at "okay what's this one story, last time you brought home an ex-alcoholic who I found drinking my bourbon like it was water."

Ted felt a bit nervous, how was he going to tell his wife, the cop, that he brought an ex-con into their home where both they and their little girl slept. He hadn't really thought about it when he had offered Maddox somewhere to stay for the night he just didn't think he could sleep knowing the kid was spending the night in some alleyway.

Ted cleared his throat and then looked at his wife with pleading eyes "he came by today looking for a job and Mary gave him the job after taking my report, you know how she can be but when I found out he needed a place to stay I couldn't help but offer..." he trailed off and his wife stared at him with an arch brow "... he got out the pen today."

"Teddy Micheal Anderson, you brought a felon into our home?!" before he could move his wife had dropped the knife and stomped across the hall probably to tell the pour kid to leave, but when he reached he saw her staring at the young man's unconscious form "let him sleep tonight but I want him gone in the morning." with that she turned and went back into the kitchen as Ted released a breath he didn't even know he was holding.