Hiding Within The Betrayal

Chapter Three: Satisfied with a TV dinner

"Anything you say or do may be used in court, do you understand?"

The officers had divided themselves into two teams. Matteo's grandmother who was sobbing like tomorrow would never come, was being escorted into the backseat of a police car. Being read her rights to which she wouldn't remember as her cries pretty much drowned it out.

I was stood at the front door with Matteo watching as the last officer leave the house. He was too frightened to pay any attention to his grandmother.

The police car hadn't even pulled away when his little hands rested against my thigh. I turned to see his tender eyes, "Stay with me until mummy and daddy arrive please," I smiled down to him. I placed my hand against his head and ran my fingertips along his soft hair in a comforting manner, "of course I will." I reassured him.

His parents were both called minutes after he came out from under the staircase. Though they were not together both were set on coming to collect him. Either way, whoever came first mother or father, I had to wait for next of kin to collect him. There was the option of taking him back to the station but as with all of my cases I tried to avoid that when possible.

From what I was told by the officers before they left, they rang the father first but the mother was the one who answered. So off they went with the guilty grandmother who was crying her sincerest apologies which were being ignored by her grandson.

That left four of us and the child.

Big buff bellend, the two officers and myself. The officers had to remain on scene until the child was collected so to fill the time productively, were sat quietly filling out paperwork. Some kind of legal documentation, this was common procedure: same can't be said for Mr Know It All. Truthfully and without any biased judgement whatsoever, I had no idea why he was still lurking around. To be honest, I don't quite understand why his presence was needed in the first place let alone now that Matteo had been safety found.

It couldn't have been much more than fifteen minutes until a car pulled up. It belonged to either his mum or dad, I couldn't say for certain whose it was as there was only one car registered to their shared address before they separated. Looking up from their paperwork, the officers heard it pull in also. They were about to jump out when someone beat them to it. The brute of a man didn't even have the audacity to let the driver park before marching forward to inspect.

Matteo undoubtedly recognized the car.

Until it came round the corner, he hadn't any interest in a conversation. Coming out from the house and being stuck to my side. His little arms cuddled around my thigh. As the car pulled in he cheered, "Mummy!"

I watched as the frightened little boy sprung to life. Completing animated as he began to skip across the front garden as if nothing bad had ever occurred. The wannabe security guard unaware that Matteo was doing this as he blocked out the world, storming off in his irritating manner. It didn't matter what he did, Matteo was finally showing a smile on his face, he was going to see his mother regardless. Keeping my distance, I looked up towards the door, it's side door swung open and out came his father. Matteo's expression couldn't have gotten more exuberant, "Daddy!"

The guy who tried to tell me how to do my job was asking quite rudely for Matteo's father to step away and the same when the mother came lunging from her side. No one was paying him any attention. The parents complete attention on their child and his on them in return. Not that he was comfortable with it, he was raising his voice and making low blows but they weren't going to listen. In the hope of getting someone to side with him, he got the attention of the two officers but to no surprise on my behalf, they also didn't agree with him. I