Tears of a Clown

3

"Olivia-Kai, you know better!" Oliver scolded his daughter. She had obviously inherited her stubbornness from her late mother.

"Daddy," Olivia whispered so that Sherrod couldn't hear her. "He has no one else. I can't just leave him out to dry."

Oliver sighed while tying his tie. He was about to be late for work fooling with his daughter, but Liv insisted that she stopped by to talk with him.

"Olivia, believe me when I tell you, you're causing more harm than good. What are you going to do if he ever takes sick? How will he get treated?" Oliver reasoned.

"Daddy, you're a doctor." she shrugged.

"Liv," Oliver sighed closing his eyes. He didn't have time to go back and forth with her. "That's besides the point. I won't jeopardize my license to practice medicine because you want to keep him like he's some... pet!"

"Wow Daddy, really?"

"Yes, really! You know what's gonna happen? You're gonna keep him and when the law finally catches up to him, he's going to be put in juvenile detention and classified as a runaway. Is that what you want? Cause you can just about guess how things will turn out from there. Now, I'm done with this conversation. You do what you please, but don't say I didn't warn you!" Oliver scolded before kissing Olivia's forehead and leaving the house.

"Fuck," Olivia sighed plopping down at the kitchen table. Sherrod was in the front room watching cartoons, so she knew he didn't hear any of that.

"When did your mouth become so foul?" Christy asked walking up behind Olivia, kissing the top of her head.

"Sorry mommy, I'm just stressed right now." Liv sighed.

"Olivia, you know it's not right for you to keep that baby. All you're doing is giving him a false sense of hope and security. What happens if a missing person's is filed? What about when his mom comes and snatches him back up? You have too much going on in your own life to be playing these games." Christy sighed before turning on a pot of coffee.

"Mommy, I don't want him to feel like I let him down like everyone else in his life. He always hugs me so tight and loves to be up under me, I just..."

"I get it Olivia, trust me. But do things the right way. Go to the police and explain to them what happened. They'll turn him over to the state, and then you can go through the courts to figure out what steps you need to take to help him."

"Ma, I'm a twenty year old college student," Olivia whined. "You know them folks won't even take me serious with that."

"Liv-"

"Can you do it?" Olivia blurted, cutting her mom off. "You're an attorney. I'm sure you know a few people in high places."

"Olivia."

"Please?"

"Liv," Christy stated again through clenched teeth.

"Mommy come on," Olivia pleaded on the verge of tears. "I don't ask for anything. The least you guys can do is this."

Christy sighed heavily rolling her eyes up towards the ceiling. Olivia knew how to get her way.

"Ok. I'll try, but I'm not making any promises. This is a family court issue Liv, I'm a criminal attorney."

Olivia squealed before jumping up and hugging Christy. She needed someone with a little power to advocate for Sherrod.

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I PROMISE I'll take everything you guys said into consideration once I find out the proper steps to take." Olivia squealed.