The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

It had been a long, cold night. Gabriel had whimpered off and on as the rain pounded the roof of the car. After their breakfast with Diana, Laura had been overwhelmed by her generosity and the fact that she had a full stomach, but that wouldn’t keep Gabriel satisfied for long. As far as food, she didn’t have much left. Gabriel had finished off the last of the bread and crackers. Laura nibbled on a cracker, hoping that would keep the hunger at bay. Finding a bathroom and a tap to get fresh water had been difficult. She had only one water bottle, so she was constantly having to refill it, and in a town as small as North Lakewood, it was difficult finding different public bathrooms. Maybe that was why, the fourth time she went into the older gas station and asked for the restroom key, the middle-aged guy behind the counter asked, “That your car parked around back?” and gestured with his head in a way that let her know he wasn’t going to give her a break.

“Yes, sir.” Her voice had been shaking even though she was so tired that all of her nerve endings were numb.

He jerked his thumb sideways. “Move it. This ain’t a hotel.” He did, though, slide the key across the counter. “This is the last time you use the bathroom, too.” He stared at her with a hardness in his eyes, and she truly understood his meaning.

She swallowed hard. “Thank you” was all she could say as she accepted the key and slunk around the outside of the old concrete building to the locked door of the filthy bathroom. After she was done, she pulled out her wallet, fingering ten dollars and handing it to the attendant.

“I need gas,” she said. He took the money, and she was soaked from the rain by the time she put the gas in her car. She started the car and drove to the large mall outside town, parking at the far edge of the parking lot for the night. By this time, the temperature had dropped, and their clothes were damp, even what was in the trunk. Laura shivered while holding her son, wrapping him in blankets throughout the night.

Now, as daylight crept up, filling the gray skies, the rain had finally turned to a light drizzle. It would be hours before the mall opened, before she could find a bathroom, and, with the food gone, Laura realized she would have to use the last of her money to buy some. The thirteen dollars in her pocket wouldn’t go far, and she worried and wondered, making a list of what food items she could buy that would be the cheapest. Milk was out, and so was cheese, bread only if there was something on sale. Fresh fruit and vegetables, forget it. That had never really been in the budget. Maybe she’d get lucky and find another jar of peanut butter marked down.

There was something about being cold and hungry that was humbling and brought her down to a level she never expected. But poor was poor. She wondered through the long night as she slept in fits, her legs cramping where her son lay across her lap, her neck pinched and stomach growling from hunger, how she’d dig them out of this mess. But there was a light on the horizon, and her name was Diana, and she’d meet her this morning outside the grocery store. So, with that thought to comfort her, she closed her eyes, pushing away the discomfort, and counted. It was only a few more hours. That was all she had to last before the mall opened and Laura would have to move her car.

There was a tapping on the window that brought Laura from a fitful sleep. She blinked and banged her head on the side window. Gabriel was still asleep, and Laura blinked and glanced up at the large figure outside her fogged-up window. She opened her door and lifted Gabriel off her lap, letting him stretch out on the cluttered backseat. A man wearing a black coat and a deputy’s hat rested a large hand on the door and peeked in. Laura stepped out and shut the door.

“You been sleeping in your car, ma’am?” He didn’t appear that old, with his light complexion, and there was a hint of concern in his eyes.

“Yes, sir. We just stopped here tonight.” Laura was trembling inside and wondered if she’d get in trouble for parking where she did. She was unclear on the rules.

“How old’s your boy?” He gestured with a slight tilt of his head.

“Gabriel is four.” Laura gripped her shaking hands, wondering if she’d ever shake the chill that had soaked into her bones.

“Do you have a home? Or are you living in your car?” His tone, although sympathetic, was all cop, and that scared the hell out of her.

Her overtired head was scrambling to come up with something so they could slip away. He must have sensed it, as he unclipped the radio attached to his jacket and said, “Dispatch, I need you to send another car out to the mall and call social services.”

That was all Laura needed to hear for her to frantically yank open the door and bump the deputy’s leg, but he grabbed her around the waist and slammed her face down across the trunk.

“Settle down, or I’m going to slap the cuffs on you!” he yelled at her.

Gabriel started crying inside the car.

“Please, let me up. I need to get my son.”

The deputy gripped her elbow and let her up. “Ma’am, you can open the door, and then you and your son are going to sit in the back of my car.”

Laura felt as if the ground had disappeared beneath her. Her eyes burned, and as she glanced up, the deputy blurred. The back door opened, but Laura operated in a fog, unsure if it was the deputy who opened the door or if she had. His hand remained on her shoulder. Gabriel reached for her and wrapped his tiny arms around her neck, his legs around her waist, and the deputy led them to his car, opening the back door.

“Wait inside here.” He shut the door. Even though the car was warm, Laura trembled.

She didn’t wait long, gripping Gabriel so hard he fussed and pushed away. “Sorry, baby.…” He gazed up at her, whining and pulling at her coat. A second cop car pulled up, another brown vehicle behind it. Her door opened, and there stood the sheriff, a blond, solid guy watching her with a mix of concern and resignation.

Laura saw another man dressed in a sloppy, heavy brown jacket and wool hat step out of the sedan. He was a little overweight, and he hadn’t shaved. He had heavy bags under his eyes as he came closer and said, “Has anyone talked to her. What’s the story?”

The first deputy replied, “Found her sleeping with the kid in the car. Thought I’d wait for you.”

The sheriff shrugged. Laura didn’t know where to look or who to look at. The older guy in the jacket leaned down in the open door.

“Are you in trouble, honey?”

Laura tried to speak but couldn’t find her voice past the lump jammed in her throat, so she shook her head.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Laura.” She didn’t recognize her own voice, barely a whisper.

“I’m Hank. I’m a social worker with the county.”

Laura froze. She already suspected that was who he was, but hearing it made it real. She knew what this meant, and she also knew she was boxed in, as if she’d just been dumped down a hole with no way out.

“Look, I’ve done nothing wrong. We shouldn’t have parked here, and if you’ll let us go, we’ll move on. I was tired, so we stopped. I thought it would be okay.” She was so panicked she didn’t know what she was saying.

The men exchanged a look. The social worker spoke up. “How old are you?”

“Twenty.” She couldn’t get her mind to work to say anything else.

“Is this your child, and where are you living?”

“Gabriel is my son.” She didn’t want to tell him she was homeless. She wanted to lie so they could get away and hide, except he must have known, all of them, as the sheriff leaned in next.

“I’ve seen you around town. Did something happen. A boyfriend? A bad relationship?” the sheriff asked.

Laura swallowed. “No. I lost my job and couldn’t pay rent. I just got another one yesterday. I start today. I’ll…” Laura stopped because she was babbling and didn’t know what she was saying. Her head ached and she found it so hard to breathe. At this point, she didn’t know what she was going to do. She wasn’t one of those women who’d ever been able to lie her way out of a situation.

The social worker frowned and shook his head. “We can’t let you stay out here. I’m going to have to take your son and put him in emergency care until you can get a home.”

“No… you’re not taking my son. Please just let me make a call,” she cried. “Please don’t take him. I have a job. I start today. I’m meeting her at the grocery store.… Please just let me call her. I’ll see if she can help me, and I’ll find a place today.” She was begging, and Gabriel was shrieking, clutching her coat, his innocent eyes filled with a pool of tears.

“Sheriff.” The social worker stood up, and the sheriff leaned in. A hand gripped her arm, pulling her up. Another hand grabbed her shoulder while one of them wrenched Gabriel from her arms. She heard Gabriel screaming as he reached frantically for her, but the social worker hurried away with him while the sheriff held on to her, his arm around her waist. She must have kicked him—she flung her arms, and the next she knew, she was face down on the trunk of the car, metal cuffs pinching her wrists. She couldn’t breathe. Her nose was plugged, and her tears fell as she heard the car drive away and her little boy, Gabriel, crying for her.

The deputy was talking, and the sheriff was, too. “Calm down. I’m going to take these off.” One of them unfastened the handcuffs and let her up. She didn’t know who was talking. She couldn’t see. Her vision was blurred, and she felt emotionally zapped, as if her skin had been peeled back, leaving her nerves raw and exposed as her heart snapped in two. “You can get him back. Just get a job. Get a decent roof over your head and enough money so you can feed your kid, and then contact Child Services. You’ll get a hearing, and then you can apply to get him back.”

“Why’d you take him? I’m his mother. Why?” she screamed, over and over.

“We take protection of a minor seriously, ma’am. You need to stop and think about your child. He’s going to get fed; he’ll have a warm bed to sleep in tonight.” Before the sheriff left, he handed her the social worker’s card. “He said to give you this. You can call him, and you need to move your car. Do you have gas in it, does it run?”

She nodded. That was all she could do, she was shaking so hard. She strode to the driver’s door and yanked it open, sagging onto the seat as if she were an old woman. This time, the deputy touched her shoulder as he held the top of her door.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Are you okay to drive?”

Laura was not going to look at him. At this moment, she hated him as she had hated no one before, and she said, in a voice that was so cold she felt chilled just speaking, “I’m fine.” Pulling the door closed, she started her car. It backfired and slowly revved, as if deciding whether it would sputter and die or keep going. She knew they watched and waited until she drove through the parking lot to the north exit, where she paused, not sure which way to go. Then, she flicked on her signal light and turned right.