“I’ll be there as soon as possible.” I hung up the phone and practically sagged with relief. I didn’t love that he’d been picked up by the cops, but it was better than a lot of the alternatives.
I went for my bike, stopping only long enough to tell Hawk where Ryan was, then I climbed on and was headed for the middle of downtown Holbeck, where the two-story police station was located.
Amy followed along closely behind me, and when we arrived, the two of us hurried up the concrete steps, entering the station side-by-side.
It would be the first time we’d done anything together since our divorce.
The man sitting behind a high desk in a police officer’s uniform looked downright bored as he watched us walk inside.
“We’re here to pick up our son,” I said. I was once again struck by how weird it was to be a team once again, even if it was just until we had Ryan back.
“Name?”
“Ryan Stone.”
We were given release forms to sign and asked to hand over our identification. It seemed to take forever for the man to process our request, and Amy and I stood rigid at the desk together, both of us eager to lay eyes on him to know he was okay. The last couple of hours had been hell, and I was sure that I’d be angry with him later for taking off on me like that, but for now, I just didn’t care.
Finally, a different officer brought Ryan out to us.
He looked pale and frightened – whether he was scared of our reaction or the idea of going to jail, I didn’t know – but otherwise perfectly fine.
Amy and I rushed forward, hugging him together, and he let out a weary sigh, sagging against us as he squeezed us tight.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I suggested.
Ryan let out a weak laugh.
It was quickly decided we’d all go to my place to talk it out and Ryan got into the car.
Amy followed me home and things felt awkward once we’d arrived. Amy had never been to this house before and I’d never imagined she would be here at all.
We all sat at the rarely used dining room table.
I sat at the head of the table with Ryan to my left and Amy to my right.
Holden sat on her other side.
They were seated across from Ryan and the set up reminded me for a moment of the divorce. We’d sat across from each other at a long table like this with a mediator going over everything line-by-line. The setup tonight was so similar, but I sat in the mediator’s position this time. As such, I decided I should start talking, “Why did you leave the house?” I asked.
Ryan kept his gaze trained on the surface of the table as he replied, “I heard you fighting on the phone with mom, and I just…I’m so tired of hearing that. I didn’t want to be here for it.”
I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. “You can’t leave like that. You scared the hell out of me. Anything could have happened to you.”
“Speaking of, how did you end up getting picked up by the police?” Amy asked.
“I ran into some guys at the gas station. They seemed cool, so I ended up back at one of their houses to hang out for a while. They said we should tag the overpass. I just went along with it.”
“You can’t ‘go along with it’ when you know what you’re doing is wrong,” Amy stated.
“Now, I think I understand a little better,” I interrupted. “After all, I got into some trouble when I was about your age and a lot of it was peer pressure. I fell in with a bad crowd and I wanted them to think I was cool. So I drank and smoked. I got involved in petty theft. I even made a little money selling stuff I stole at a pawn shop. I thought I was in with the cool kids. Then, I got popped and sent to juvie. Those cool kids weren’t there. It was just me, all alone in a place that I didn’t want to be. I was a skinny kid too, not able to stand up for myself the way I am now, and I had to take a couple of beatings in juvie. I wasn’t able to finish high school with my classmates. I embarrassed my family. It wasn’t worth it.”
“It was just some spray paint, dad.”
“That’s how it starts out. But this shit escalates.”
“Of course, this never would have happened if you’d stayed at the house,” Amy added, frowning. She turned to me, “You shouldn’t have let him hear our fight.”
I glared at her. “You shouldn’t have moved your boy toy into the house without telling me.”