Chapter 4

Kyle was enjoying the kid's room that he'd been in for the last couple of weeks while recuperating at the hospital. He knew that he should have been released a few days ago, but the doc, his bestest friend, had been running more tests on him that required him to stay another day.

Luckily, she told him they'd not found anything but that he needed more protein. He found out that he simply loved boiled eggs with a bit of salt on them. But, she'd told him yesterday, she was running out of reasons to have him stay hidden in the hospital.

"Your father is out of jail now and making trouble again. He and your mother are out scouting around to find you." He asked her if they were going to go to jail again. "I don't know that. I've been looking into things, and I believe that the rest of the family is as well. So we'll see."

He looked at her when she said his name. "I guess I'm going to be coming back to the emergency department to see you again. If he doesn't kill me first." Doc Layla said that she wasn't going to give up that easily. "He's fit to be tied, you know. I didn't want to tell you, but he was here last night complaining about how he and Mom have been having to do all my chores. Mostly, I do all the cooking and cleaning, but it'll be ten times harder when I get back because I don't think they've done a single thing that they tell you they have."

"A friend of mine was there just yesterday, and I think whatever you think it's going to look like is about twenty times worse." He grinned at her, thanking her for the heads up. "You're so very welcome. But we do have that court hearing in the morning and I told you that all of the Walsh family is going to be there for you. And we've been collecting evidence about how they treated you, too. Did you know that he's not even your biological father and that he's never married your mother? Not that it matters all that much, but she's living in subsidized housing and claiming that she lives there with you and a sister. Did you have a sister at any time? Wayne has lived there since she moved in."

"I knew that he wasn't my real dad. He told me that every day when I didn't do something that he told me to. But no, no sister that I'm aware of. Not that they'd tell me anything. Some days, it was when he had me in the backyard picking up leaves as they fell out of the tree one at a time." Doc Layla pulled him into her lap and held him there. "I don't know that anyone has ever hugged me. Not in all my life."

"I'm so sorry, Kyle. So very sorry indeed." Kyle let her hold him. It was kind of nice to be held and not held down, and he told her that. "I would like to say that after tomorrow, you'll be able to get all the hugs you want, but I have no idea what the judge is going to say. Madison and Edgar are going to be working to get you out of the house, but they neither one knows this judge and what his take on child abuse is like."

"He'll probably put me back there after telling Wayne and Mary not to hurt me anymore. Like that will be something that they do. I think I've been beaten up since I was a little tiny baby." She held him tighter, and when Madison showed up, she let him go. "Whatcha got there, Mr. Madison? Is it more food? I don't think that I could take another meal like the one you brought to us earlier. I'm so full I'm about to bust."

Kyle was also hurting, not from anything that had been done to him in there but just his heart. He had it in his head that his parents, whatever they were to him, were going to kill him so he'd be no more trouble to them. And he'd been a lot of trouble, he'd heard from his mom when she got to call him yesterday. They were having to move out of their nice house because he told the people that he was being mistreated.

"Kyle?" He looked at Mr. Madison after whipping away the tears. "Ah, son, don't do that. Don't be looking for trouble when you don't know what's going to be happening to you. You never know what tomorrow will bring."

"No sir, I don't. But I can guess pretty good." He told him what his mom had told him yesterday when she spoke to him. That she had a week to move out of the house that she was in. "She also isn't allowed to get the food card anymore either. That was a lot of money she told me that she's now going to have to steal. I don't think she meant that, did she? That she was going to steal from the stores that she can't shop at anymore."

"I'd not put a thing past her." He noticed that the doc was gone and he asked him about it. "She had some things that needed her attention in the emergency department. I didn't know she was on call today. Did you?" Kyle pulled out the cell phone that he was given.

"Doc Layla gave me this phone so that I could call her when I get to feeling sorry for myself. She said when I call her not to expect her to be all friendly like she is during the day. Anyway, it has her schedule on it so that I can have her paged here at work if I need her. She's a really good doc, did you know that?" Kyle laughed. "If you ask her, she'll tell you that. I really like her, Mr. Madison, but I don't think she's all that friendly to many people. But like I said, I really like her."

"I do, too." He could see that. Kyle might only be a kid but he could see that Mr. Madison was all mushy around her. It was kind of fun and sort of gross at the same time. When Mr. Madison tickled him, he laughed with the man. He was storing up all his memories of the two of them so that when he was put in a cage again, he'd have them to keep him warm at night. "When are you going to marry her? She seems like a good person to me. And I can tell that you really like her. Maybe that's love, I don't know. I don't know anything about love."

"I am married to her." That surprised him, and he asked him when they'd done that. "The day that I met her. I needed to be there for her…no, that's not the truth. I was mad at her for inconveniencing me, and I had the papers filed that said that we were married so that I'd be able to collect some money for her. Forty million dollars."

"Is that legal? I mean, sheesh, you didn't even get down on one knee and ask her? You just did it?" He said that he did. "She doesn't even wear a ring from you either. That's not right, Mr. Madison. I'd think that a man like you could afford a pretty ring for her, too."

"I never thought of that until right now. Thanks, Kyle. I'm going to call my mom so that I can have her bring me in one of the ones that I have—"

"No. It needs to be one that you picked out because it reminds you of her, like a pretty stone that has her eye color. I read that in a book once. I don't think I should have read it, but I did. And now I can help you out. I hope. You are helpable, aren't you, Mr. Madison?" He told him that his mom probably didn't think so. "Well, I'll help you. You've been really nice to me so I'll help you be nice to her. Also, you need to take her out to dinner. Not to talk about stuff that is going on. Just about her. Girls like that stuff, I guess."

When Mr. Madison hugged him, it took him a few seconds to remember that he'd not hurt him. Usually, Wayne had him in a hug like this while he was trying to cut his air off. But this hug was different. It was like he was telling him something. Like he liked him or something. When he pulled away, he asked him if he had some paper that he could make a list on.

The two of them were having so much fun writing down things that Mr. Madison could do for Doc Layla. It was silly things, too. Like he should rub her feet for her using peanut butter and jelly. Fill a bathtub with roses and leave the thorns on them. He was nearly sick with laughing so hard that when he laid down on the floor, he still couldn't breathe all that well. It was even funnier when the doc came back and asked them what was going on.

"Kyle here was telling me about some of the smut he's been reading in his spare time." They both laughed and that was when he noticed that Doc Layla wasn't. She did put a shopping bag on the floor that he noticed. Not asking her about it as he might usually have done to tease her, he didn't get a chance to ask her about what was bothering her because Mr. Madison did it first. Good for him.

"I lost a patient." He knew better than to joke around about that. If she lost a patient, then it was because they had died. Not that she'd physically lost them. "He was just a young man and had such a bright future for himself had he only stopped taking drugs. There is only so much a doctor can do if the patient doesn't want to be helped."

He knew about that, too. His buddy down the street had been taking drugs since he was his age, he told him once. Benny was a good friend anyway and would slip him food and water if he found out that he was out in the yard alone again after dark. Most of the time, he'd be chained to the tree or something, but he'd help him out. Not only that, but he would also bring him a blanket if it was too cold, even for a dead man to be out. He used to tell him that all the time. Right up until he died robbing the house down the street from the two of them and was killed with a shotgun that the owner had. It hurt his heart when he thought about that sometimes.

"How about you and I take the little man here and have some dinner. I know this really good doctor that can have him signed out for a few hours." She said that she thought that he could be released tonight. "Even better. We'll go get some pizza. I love a good hot pizza when it's chilly out. Then after that, we'll head to my new house and find us a comfy room that we can sleep in. The mattresses were delivered today so that'll be one less thing we'll have to worry about. Then we'll have the best night's sleep we've ever had."

He wondered if he'd heard anything that he'd said to him about taking the doc out to dinner. But when he winked at him, telling the two of them that he also wanted to let Kyle sleep in a real bed for a change, they both agreed.

"I've never been to a restaurant before." He had whispered that to Mr. Madison, not wanting to embarrass him if he did something wrong. "I don't have any clothes either. The ones that I was brought in here with were dirty then. I'm betting that not even the best kind of wash-up stuff would get them prettier looking." Layla had to return to his room for a second, and they waited for her to return, still talking about going out to eat.

"I have you something to wear, Kyle. I knew you were coming home tomorrow or the next day, so I got you something other than a gown to wear for it." He went into the bathroom to change into a nice pair of blue jeans that actually fit him, as well as a shirt like the one that he'd seen on other boys in school. There was even a nice-looking man riding a horse on it, too. They'd gotten him some underwear that wasn't his father's to wear when he was first brought here and he loved them. But pulling out the boots, made of real leather, he couldn't have been happier than he was at that moment.

"Look at you, all duded up. She did all right, getting you things that you can wear." He had to turn around so that Mr. Madison could see the whole thing and was feeling really good. Until the elevator opened and there stood his parents. "Don't say a word. Not even look at them. All right."

Nodding, he could feel his hands were all sweaty when he reached for their hands. Keeping his head down, his eyes on his new boots, he was to the elevator before anything was said to them. Then his father asked if they'd seen a kid around here.

"I don't know his name right at the moment. But he's a scrawny thing. Orange hair, I think, and—

"He's a blond. I think." That set his father off when his mother interrupted him. "Don't you yell at me. I know what he looks like. I did pop him out, didn't I? Christ, you're just too stupid to know when—"

Dad slapped Mother, and they were wrestling around in the hallway just as the elevator door opened. Stepping inside, he did look up and saw that they were beating the snot out of each other and not paying a nickel's worth of notice to the three of them. Kyle let out a long breath before he almost passed out.

"They didn't notice you because you're all cleaned up and healthy. That's so sad. I think that I'd noticed my own child. Wouldn't you, Madison?" He said that he had hoped he would too. "All right then, they've not seen you, so we'll head out. Gosh, that was a good test on the two of them for not having you."

Kyle wasn't sure what that meant but the doors were opening to the bottom floor. As they made their way out on the street to where a car was parked, he felt like he could just skip along he was so happy. And like the other memories that he'd been saving up, this one would be one of the top favorites. He was going to need a lot of them to sustain him he thought.

~*~

The dinner was wonderful. It was Madison knew, the company more than any of the dinners and special desserts. There was talking, laughter as well as a great deal of good food eaten. Even Layla, who usually didn't eat all that much he knew, ate nearly as much as he did. It was wonderful to see Kyle having a good time, too. The kid was a wonderful balm to their shitty last few days. When Layla got up to use the bathroom, Kyle asked him if he'd thought about what he'd said.

"I have. A great deal. But I have decided on one of the most important things, and that's to let her pick out her own ring. I think that—why are you shaking your head? What do you think I should do?" He told him. "Well, I was actually thinking that I don't know all that much about her, and I'd mess it up."

"You know a lot about her even though you don't seem to get it." The kid actually rolled his eyes at him. "You know a lot about her, and it's the good stuff, too. Did you know that she's very smart? That she has a big house, or she did. I didn't know that you'd bought it, but that's nice, don't you think. I mean, you can discover the house with her as you grow—do I have to do everything for you?"

When she returned, looking fresh as a daisy, he thought, he told her that. That she was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen in all his life. Glancing at Kyle, he laughed when he gave him a thumbs up. Then he left to use the bathroom, too.

"I love you." The words were out before he could think about what he was going to say. And discovered that now that he'd said them, he was truly in love with her. She looked embarrassed and turned away, but not before he could see the tears filling her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm very sorry." She turned to look at him with a watery smile. He reached for her hand and was happy that she took it into his.

"You didn't. Upset me, I mean. No one has ever said that to me before. My parents might have, but it's been so long that I don't remember it." He almost said that he was sorry but didn't at the last minute. "I don't know when I fell in love with you, but I love you as well. However, there are times when I don't like you all that much."

"Understandable. I don't care for myself most of the time, either. You've done that to me, make me want to be a better person. I think about the way that I treated you when I first met you, and I hate myself. And who I was. To not just you but everyone that I encountered. Especially you and my family." She looked around, not making eye contact with him, and again, he understood that. It was difficult enough for him to look at himself in the mirror, much less have someone else look at him when he was baring his soul. "I know that we're married, I'm profoundly sorry about that as well, but will you marry me? I have us a lovely home that you know better than I do. A live-in son, hopefully, someone will be able to tell us what is going to happen with him as well as money out the ass that we can spend stupidly for the rest of our lives."

She laughed. It was a sputter of laughter that he thought was adorable, and he joined her. As soon as Kyle came back, putting his hand atop of theirs, he told them that he loved the two of them much more than he thought possible. It was the best thing to end up the evening, he thought. Now, they only had to get through tomorrow.

After locking up the house, Layla showed him how to do that. The locks were going to be changed in the morning while they were away. Mrs. Tamber was staying on, having lived in the house at the back of the property for years to keep it nice for whoever lived there. She said that she would wait for them in the morning. Going to bed, falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, he didn't think that he'd even moved once while sleeping.

They had a hardy breakfast however, they only picked at it. Layla and Kyle were nervous. He was as well, but tried to get them in a better mood before they arrived. His family was there, all of them dressed up, and he was thrilled that Layla had gotten Kyle a nice suit to wear at the hearing. There was a great deal to go over, and he'd be thrilled when it was over.

Wayne was brought out first. He looked just the same. However, he was dressed in a suit. A very nice suit that fit him well. It was something that he'd not expected from the jail system to supply him with a nice outfit to wear. Then Mary came into the room.

Dirty, and her jumper was stained. Her hair was the most drastic difference. There was none. It looked as if, and a poorly job at that, someone had shaved her head for her and left just enough tuft of it to put a little bow on. Madison at first thought that she'd been forced to wear her hair this way. An inmate had done it for her. But she seemed proud of her new look and asked Wayne if he liked it too. The man just sneered at her before standing up to talk to the judge.

"I don't belong here, your honor." Judge Whishaw asked him why not. "I'm sure that you've been notified that I'm a former decorated police officer. I was undercover for them."

"Yes, I've been notified about your being a police officer. However, there is nothing in the report to say that you've been working undercover nor were you ever decorated. Unless you count, your being fired from your job and labeled as a dirty cop. It says here that you have been caught numerous times taking money from people for not arresting them and stealing from the lock-up where you took several items that were earmarked for trial. Also, there is a note here that you've been living in subsided housing with Ms. Arts with the knowledge that you weren't supposed to be living there. Ate food that she was able to collect with a food card that she got, as well as harassing your neighbors when they—let me see if I have this right. You harassed them because they wouldn't mow your lawn when they did theirs?"

"Well, they had a mower and were out doing their own. I didn't see where it—that's water under the bridge, your excellency." He told him that he was his honor, not excellency. "I thought that I'd give you a boost to your title. Anyway, I want you to know that with me living there with Mary, I was able to keep her from being a street knocker."

"I'm sorry, what? You kept her from being a "street knocker?" What is that?" He told him how he'd not only kept her off the streets but he'd been able to rent her out at times when they needed some money. "So you prostituted Ms. Arts by keeping her from being a street knocker? You do understand that that's called prostitution, don't you? And that you did it on government property?" Wayne waved him off before speaking again.

"It was all about being undercover. However, like I said to my attorney, it was the difference between me and her having enough to eat. Those cards, they don't go as far as they should. I don't know why you don't just make it so we have an unlimited amount of cash on those suckers so we can eat what we want. There's barely enough money on them for all the steaks we want to eat and not having any leftovers for pop, too. And you can't buy beer on them either. What's up with that?" Edgar, his brother, asked to show the courts something that he'd found.

After sitting down, Edgar turned and winked at them. He was the best at being an attorney. Not that he liked it all that much. He liked being outside for the most part. However, he didn't let anything slide when he had a case to look into. It seemed that he'd done his homework on this case more than he had any of the others that he'd taken on.

"Mr. Anderson, I've just been notified by Mr. Walsh here that you tried to bribe your attorney to bring you in a gun and a cell phone. He was also asked to lend you money so that you can get yourself a hot pie. I'm not even going to ask you what you needed the gun for." Wayne answered him anyway. "I see. You were planning to kidnap me and force me to give you a not-guilty verdict even though all the evidence I have before me says that you should have been in prison from birth. How the hell did you get to become a cop?"

The bailiff cleared his throat, and the judge just glared at him. Telling him that this was the oddest crap he'd had going on in here. While the other man agreed, he said it was still a courtroom. Shaking his head, the judge looked at Wayne.

"What about this child you've had with Ms. Arts? It says here that you've abused him on more than one occasion that sent him to the hospital. Is that true?" Not only did he agree that it was true, but he explained it, at least tried to explain it away, by saying that he was too smart and lorded it over their heads. "I see. So you didn't care for someone to lord things over your head. Didn't you think that he could have been helping you and Ms. Arts all along? With walking the right path?"

"That's boring, your excellency. Just too boring. We had to spice up our life, and he was just an annoying little fu—sucker, so we had to figure out a way to make some fun for our lives. Knocking him around a little? Well, you'd not believe how much fun that was for us."

"I don't understand that, but we're moving on. Christ, I should have retired a year ago like my wife wanted me to. Mr. Walsh? I'm to understand that you've been caring for the young child of Ms. Arts. What can you tell me about his welfare?"

Madison stood up and had Kyle stand as well. That's when Mary stood up and said that they'd switched out her kid. That the kid standing next to him wasn't their child.

"They killed my son." Mary started wailing and crying about how they'd killed off her only child. That was when Edgar asked about the daughter that they were supposed to have had. It was mayhem then.

Wayne slapped Mary, knocking her to the floor and screaming at her about having another kid without telling him. While she was down, he kicked her a few times in the ribs. The police were brought in to tear them apart, but it was obvious to everyone in the courtroom that the judge wanted order. If he banged his gavel anymore, it was going to break down the desk that he was behind.

Mary was cowering behind the chair that she'd been sitting in and screaming at Wayne for him hitting her. As soon as he was pulled off her, Mary leapt, no other word for it, up on the officer's back and began biting him for hurting her man.

Shoving Layla behind him so that she'd not be hurt, he also pulled Kyle into the hiding spot while keeping an eye on his parents and Amy. Christ, it was going to be a long time before order was gotten.

Just as he was thinking of leaving so that he'd not be brought into this thing, whatever it was, there was gunfire. No one moved other than to drop to the floor, covering their head with their arms. He and his brothers stood still, wanting to make sure that everyone in their family hadn't been hurt. It was Fowler, coming here for this trial, who sounded off, asking them one at a time if they'd been hurt. He was happy to see that none of them had been hurt by the gun going off.