Law & Crime
At first my mother doesn't seem to understand. Why are there cops at our house? Why are they talking about Danny?
"Where is he?" she says. "Is he all right?"
The taller cop looks down at his partner. I have this weird feeling that they tossed a coin before they rang our doorbell—the loser gets to tell the family.
"He said they want to talk to you, David."
"They?" I said. "The cops?"
She nodded.
"What for?" I don't think I ever worked harder at getting just two words out of my mouth. I tried to sound like I had no idea what the cops would want with me.
This is what I was doing when the back door opened and I heard the sound that would change our lives.
It was my brother—after bursting through the kitchen door, he was shouting for Dad, screaming for him in the most horrific voice, tortured and full of terror. Paralyzed by what I heard, I stopped what I was doing and listened. Eric was tromping back and forth in his heavy boots with "Dad" being the only word he seemed able to say...By the time I reached the top of the stairs I could hear my mother trying desperately to calm Eric down—trying to understand what could possibly have upset her son to the point that he could no longer speak.
Ever since I was a kid, being even a little bit hungry has given me bad dreams. The past couple of nights I've dreamed that a police car was taking me away in handcuffs. Both times I've woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. This is so upsetting that I have to calm myself down by closing my eyes and visualizing the inner workings of various locks. This is a talent I learned during my advance training at the Walter Gurski School of Lock Picking. I find it very soothing during times of stress.
If he's guilty, he'll probably go to jail," Mom pointed out. "At the very least, he'll lose his job and maybe even his license to teach."
"That's if he's guilty," Dad said with emphasis.
"What do you mean 'if'?" Cody exploded.
"There's no if about it! Liberty said he tried to rape her. Don't you think she would know?