Page 91 of Shattered Dreams

Richard

The door opened, and an officer walked in. He took a seat and looked at me. “Richard Parks, right?”

“That’s me.”

“I’m Officer Campbell.”

“I’d normally say, pleasure to meet you, but under the circumstances …” I trailed off, gaining a chuckle from him.

“Need to get your statement.”

“Sure thing.”

He placed a small tape recorder on the table. “Ready when you are.”

“I was at my mom’s; we were talking at the kitchen table when we heard a knock. The knocking became insistent and my whole family flocked to the door to see who was pounding.”

“I opened the door and saw Jo’s little boy Tyler standing there. We noticed he was bleeding and brought him into the house, everyone trying to get first aid kits and rags. I put him on the table and as I cleaned his face, he told me his dad was at the house, yelling. Harrison helped him get out to come get me to help and he would stay with the younger kids.”

“I gave him a hug, and as I was about to hand him to my mom, we heard a gunshot. My brother Cooper has PTSD from his time serving Uncle Sam. I told everyone to give him space, told my scared little boy he needed to stay with grandma, meaning my mom. Then I took off through the yards, over the fence and to their back door. My other brother, Jeremy, was behind me. He walked around looking for the open window to get the other four kids and let me know when they were safe.”

Shaking my head, my knee bounced as my anger ramped up. I continued on. “The back door was locked, I ran around to the front door and saw the screen door closed, but the wooden door was open, so I went in. Then John pressed a gun to my back, right up on my spine. I could feel the heat from the muzzle. I pointed out they were divorced. He got mad.”

“In order to avoid being shot, I tried to reason with him. Unfortunately, he was intoxicated and possibly high, and he went on a crazy rant. When I saw an opportunity to take away his weapon, I did so.”

“I popped him in the nose, and he rambled on, so I took another swing. Then he swung back, missing me, so I grabbed him by the throat. About that time there were sirens and then I was cuffed.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Nodding his head, Officer Campbell shut off the recorder, got up, and left. I looked all around the room I’m in. About fifteen minutes later, he came back.

“Follow me.”

I left the room, and we walked down a hall to the front of the station where Henry stood. “Thanks, Tony.”

He gave Henry a nod and disappeared into the back.

“Henry?” I looked at my friend. “Why are you here?”

“Miranda was at work when the ambulance came in.” He frowned. “Jo filled her in when she got there, so I came here to get you.”

“I’m not under arrest?”

“No.” He laughed. “You’re kinda like a hero right now.”

“Pfft.” I laughed with him. “Whatever.”

“C’mon, I’ll take you to the hospital.” My friend gave me a hug and together we went out to his truck.

Jolynn

Driving around the block, I pulled into the driveway and saw Cooper, Jeremy, and Andrew. In the picture window, there were two dog faces and four little kids.

I’m not out of the van before the screen door is flung open and my children came running out to me. Dropping to my knees in the grass, I embraced them all. There’re questions coming from all directions, and I hung on to my children for dear life.

“Hey! You’re up and moving and not vomiting on anything!” Olivia’s voice rang out, making me laugh through the tears that fell.

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