Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

BECCA

I'm picking at my nail polish as I sit in the lobby of Shelby's law office. I've never been more nervous in my life, not when they called to ask if I could take care of Mick, not when they dropped him off on my doorstep and I was left alone with a boy who'd been through hell and back.

My knee bobs up and down as I think about what this might mean. I did a little research last night, and it's a possibility that I could get help. There's a separate possibility that they can decide I'm not what's best for him, and they could put him further into the system.

I'll be adrift if that happens, because I've structured my entire life around Mick at this point. I'm making plans and thinking about the future in a way I never have before.

"Rebecca? C'mon back."

I glance up at Shelby, eyes wide. "Okay." Gathering the paperwork I brought with me, I follow her to her office. My eyes watch as she goes around the back of her desk and takes a seat, looking at me expectantly. She's going to ask questions I don't know the answer to. I just know it. I'm going to feel like I'm even more of a failure than I normally do at the end of this meeting. My conscience teases me.

"Stop." Shelby says, folding her hands in front of her on her desk. "I can hear your head psyching you out from over here. You need to trust me, I'm not going to steer you wrong. I'm damn good at my job, and I'll work as hard for you as I need to."

"I don't know how I'm going to pay you," I blurt out, my nerves getting the best of me.

"We'll worry about that later. Right now, why don't you tell me what's going on with Mick's dad? He's your brother. Do I have that correct?"

She has a yellow legal pad in front of her, pen poised, where she's already making notes.

"That's right. Trey is my brother."

"Older or younger?"

"He's older than me by five years."

She nods. "And his full name is Trey White?"

"Yes."

"How old is he? I need to know so I can pull the correct records when I look at his previous charges."

I cross my legs, gripping my fingers with my other hand, cracking my knuckles. "I'm twenty-three. He's twenty-eight."

"Do you know what he was charged with?"

I know more about this than I care to. "Yes, drug trafficking, or rather I think they called it trafficking in a controlled substance."

She drops her pen and starts typing on her laptop. "Is this him?" She turns it around to face me, and I see my brother.

It's his mugshot, which I haven't seen before. He looks horrible. As if he's been crying, or like he's been on a bender. Skinnier than I remember, his face gaunt and eyes glassy. When we were younger, he was worried about how he looked, and wanted to always be the type of guy that girls thought was cute. He used to stand in front of the mirror and style his hair in different ways, to see which looked better. That seems so long ago. My throat is tight as I answer her. "Yeah, that's him."

Shelby sighs. "He has a lengthy rap sheet. He's done a lot that he has to answer for. It looks like he actually had charges that were pending when he got these. If they decide to run consecutively instead of concurrently, he's going to be in jail for a while, possibly until Mick is of age to decide things for himself as an adult."

This isn't what I wanted to hear, but also what I was afraid of. I knew there was a lot going on behind the scenes, and I knew things had been bad since Katelyn passed away, but I'd had no idea it was like this. "Shit, this is really bad, isn't it?"

She nods. "Can you tell me about Mick's mom? Is there anyone in that family who would want custody of him?"

I wish I knew more about what she's asking. "I know nothing about Katelyn's family. I only met her a couple of times, and she never seemed to take much interest in Mick."

Shelby puts her pen down. "I think I found her record. Holy shit, Becca. Did this kid ever have a chance? Her rap sheet is even longer than Trey's. How did she die? I can see where they dismissed her last charges because she died."

Rolling my neck to loosen the muscles there, I roll my lips together, wondering how to explain this to someone who isn't familiar with the type of lifestyle they lead. "From my understanding, she was on a bender. It was the way she'd do things, she'd go long intervals without doing drugs, but then she would over-indulge."

Shelby makes a noise. "That's the most dangerous thing to do. That's when most of the overdoses happen, because their tolerance has gone down, and they use what they were using before."

I nod, thinking back to the phone call I'd gotten from Trey about Katelyn. "She went and bought a bunch of heroin, because that was her drug of choice."

"Oh, no..."

"Yeah, from what I've heard, all of it is laced with fentanyl now." I rub my palms on my jeans. "Mick was with her, and while she was overdosing, he was there. Trey told me he was stuck in the apartment with her for days. He refused to leave his mom's side, even though she was dead." It still breaks my heart to say those words out loud.

"And they called him to come and get his son?" Shelby seems as if she can't believe how all this played out.

Truth be told, I can't believe it either. They basically sent him from one bad situation to another, and didn't even care. He could've been screaming for help, and no one would've heard. "Yep. I'm surprised after they saw his rap sheet."

"Oh, no." Shelby holds her hand up. "They don't run a rap sheet, not for next of kin. I wish they would, but until there's a reason to call CPS, they won't."

This all feels hopeless, as if there's no one who really wants to help Mick, that there's no one who can tell me how to navigate this situation I've found myself in. "What can I do?"

She's quiet for a few minutes as she makes a few more notes, and then sits her pen down. "So here's what is going to happen. It won't be all in a couple of days, there will be a few things that will need to take place before we get this completely done." She pulls a piece of paper out of her notebook, and jots down a few numbers, as well as a name. "This lady, Melissa Chambers, is the head of the children's advocacy group for Laurel County. She can get you some immediate funds to help with food and housing for yourself and Mick. I've already sent her a message, and she's waiting for your phone call. Explain to me what kind of housing situation you're in."

"It's safe," I'm quick to assure her. "We're living in a three-bedroom apartment with my cousin. It's more than I wanted to spend, but I've been able to make it work, thanks to my cousin sharing the rent with me. If it weren't for her, I don't know where we'd be. Food is more of an issue. He's a growing kid, and he's eating me out of house and home at this point. I'm going to the grocery every couple of days, and my budget is small." I hate admitting all of this to someone who seemingly has it all together. If she was put in this situation, I feel as if she'd be able to figure it out, and not have to worry about money.

"Okay, so contact Melissa. You won't even have to explain to her about what's going on. I'll take care of all of that as your counsel."

"Wait." I put my hand up. "While I appreciate everything you're doing, I can't afford this." I shake my head. "I should've realized this would be long and drawn out." Shame washes over my face, leaving me feeling silly for thinking I could do this.

Shelby reaches across the desk and grabs hold of my hand. "Do you have a dollar?"

"Yeah."

"Give it to me." She holds her other hand out.

I reach into my purse and grab the dollar out, handing it over to her. "Here ya go."

"Now you've retained me. The rest of this is pro-bono, I offer a few a year, and I haven't done any, so far. Not to mention I'm fuckin' pissed at the way Mick has just been handed over to people who haven't had his best interest at heart, except for you. Neither one of you should've been put into that position. Not one person who gave him to you thought about what that was going to do to your life, or his." She closes her eyes and sighs heavily. "Call Melissa. She'll provide you with rent assistance and food assistance, and we'll get the rest worked out."

"Okay." My stomach, which has had a low-level nervousness in it since I got the phone call about Mick, is finally normal. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I haven't done anything but inform you of your rights. There is one thing you need to do. I think it would help you out, as well as Mick. Is there any way you can ask Trey to relinquish parental rights while he's in prison?" She raises her eyebrows as she points to a few sentences on the sheet in front of her. "It would allow you to make medical decisions on his behalf, which is important."

"I'll do that. Thank you again. For all of this."

She gives me a smile as she stands. "We'll meet again in a few weeks, and we'll see where we are with everything. Sound good?"

"Sure does. I appreciate everything you've done for me, Shelby. You didn't have to, and you've gone out of your way."

Coming around the desk, she wraps her arms around me in a hug. "The women of the LSERT stick together, and since you're basically dating Madden, you're one of us."

My cheeks heat. "I wouldn't call it dating."

"Are you, or are you not, meeting him tonight?"

I didn't know he would tell anyone else about that. "I am."

"Then you're dating him. Welcome to the club."