Trust Me

I Know a Prick When I see One

Last week, on Trust Me...

"Mom?" said a voice from the Boys' group.

"Honey, what are you doing here?" the Captain asked as the boy stepped up.

"Mom?!" I said staring at him incredulously.

----

"Yes, mom. Problem?" Jackson said.

"Chill. I just didn't expect that."

"Oh, you're one of Jasmine's friends, Jackson?" the Captain asked. He nodded.

The doctor arrived and said that I was free to go. He handed a few bottles of pills and creams to the Captain for my injuries.

"What happened?" Lucas asked.

"And why's Mom here?" Jackson added.

The Captain started to speak, but I interrupted her.

Eventually, the boys would find out about what my father did to me. The trial was in a few weeks, and I'm sure they'd insist on coming for "moral support". But with everything happening, I needed some sense of normalcy in my life. The Boys would be able to give me a little of that, but only if they weren't looking at me with pity, or being super careful around me, or just mad that I didn't tell them. For right now, it was best for them not to know.

"My dad was arrested, and while I was being taken to the station, I fell."

"You fell. And you had to be taken to the hospital."

I shrugged. "There was a lot of gravel and I have sensitive skin. Wouldn't want to get an infection! Hehe..."

It wasn't a very convincing excuse, and I noticed the suspicion in their eyes, but they let it go.

"What was he accused of?" Josh questioned softly.

"Illegal drug dealing and trafficking."

The boys rushed in to hug me (even Jax).

"I'm so sorry, Flower," Noah whispered.

"It's fine."

"How are you so chill about this?" Jax asked.

"We weren't exactly close."

"Hey, why don't you boys head to the cafeteria?" Captain Aferman suggested. "I just have a few questions to ask Jasmine, but we'll be down in a few."

As soon as the boys left, she turned to me with a questioning look.

"I just don't want them to know yet," I explained.

She sighed.

"Alright. As you wish. By the way, Mrs. Ferdan, Josh's mother, said that you're welcome to stay with her until we can find someone for you to stay with permanently."

I smiled.

But her statement reminded me that I had no one. With no relatives to stay with, I'd be shipped off to an orphanage or a foster home in a new town. Shipped away from my only friends.

"Now, why don't you slip on some clothes and grab a snack in the cafeteria."

----------------Happy Birthday--------------

After I are some granola in the cafeteria, the officers drove me back to the station.

Captain Aferman, who insisted I call her Lydia, and I were seated in her office when another officer dropped some files on her desk and scurried away. She flipped through them. Her facial expression was confusing. She seemed equal parts happy and confused.