Rescue Me

Chapter Twenty-One

"Aw…shit…"

"Nice to see you too, Mr Whitlock."

Jasper glared at the cop who was leaning oh so casually against his police car which was parked directly in front of their house and was attracting way too much attention from their nosey neighbours. Wonderful.

"You walk every day?" Chief Swan asked, frowning slightly at the thought.

"No, only when my girlfriend can't give me a lift. She had to stay on late today to work on her art project," Jasper explained, his voice a little tense as he folded his arms across his chest. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to speak to you about your father."

"I have nothing to say to you about my father," Jasper spat angrily, turning away from the police officer and heading up the steps to the his front door.

"He's under arrest."

"What?" Jasper gasped, spinning round to stare down at the policeman. Only now did he notice the vivid black eye the Chief of Police was sporting. "What for?"

"Drunk and disorderly," Chief Swan answered simply, causing Jasper to sigh. Of course it was. But as he went speak the policeman continued, "Three counts of aggravated assault resulting in grievous bodily harm. Not to mention resisting arrest." Jasper felt his jaw drop in shock. His dad had…had…"Oh…and one count of assaulting a police officer. Me."

"Shit!"

"Yes….shit," Chief Swan repeated softly, looking slightly uncomfortable as he used the swear word. Jasper would have found this funny had the situation not been so completely serious.

"How much trouble is he in?" Jasper asked whilst at the same time worrying about where on Earth he was going to get bail money from.

"Why don't we go inside and talk this over in private?" Chief Swan suggested, nodding towards the run down house. Jasper nodded softly, using his key in the door, silently praying that his dad hadn't trashed the place on his way out to get arrested…

He had.

"Um…it's not normally like this," Jasper muttered, flushing red with embarrassment as he dropped his book bag onto the stairs and set about picking up the empty liquor bottles that were everywhere. He noticed the frown on Chief Swan face as he looked around the living room; he was probably comparing it to his own home. Jasper felt even more ashamed. "So…what now?"

"You'll need to come down the station with me to post your dad's bail," Chief Swan explained calmly. Jasper froze, his hand outstretched to pick up another bottle. Bail. "Will that be a problem?"

"H-How much will the bail be?" Jasper asked softly. A dawning realisation filled Chief Swan's eyes as he looked about the place once more, saw the threadbare furniture and all the other humiliating signs of their lack of money.

"Oh, I see…" Chief Swan nodded sadly. "Well…if there are…insufficient funds to pay for your fathers bail then he will have to remain in police custody until the date of the trial. And if that's the case then I'm afraid that we will be obligated to hand you over to child services…"

"What?" Jasper gasped, "But…I'll be fine on my own."

"That might be the case but you're under-age, we are legally obligated to involve child services…although I think they should have been involved a long time ago, shouldn't they?" Chief Swan asked softly, his kind eyes searching for Jaspers, staring deep into his very soul.

So this was it, the time had come to confess all…

"Yes…" he admitted sadly, his voice little more than a whisper.

"Jasper, we've already got your father under arrest. If you tell me the truth now we can…we can add the proper charges to the already existing ones," Chief Swan said, his voice shaking with emotion. "He can't hurt you any more…"

"I…I don't know what to say," Jasper mumbled, tears filling his eyes, "I've never…ever told anyone and I don't know how…I…I don't…"

"You don't need to tell me everything right now. Ideally we should have that conversation down the station with a child advocate present," Chief Swan said kindly, "But right now I just need to know one thing, then I can start the ball rolling…does your father abuse you?"

"Yes…"

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A/N This was ridiculously tough to write which is why it's so short. Hope it did the tough job ok. R & R with comments and suggestions.