Page 6 of Just for Him
“Is he okay?”
“Physically, yes.”
Relief washed over me. I worried about Joel. Going into senior year at a new school, there were bound to be challenges. He was a good kid, but he had a chip on his shoulder that got him in trouble sometimes.
I was about to ask Principal Carter if it could wait until after my shift, but her next words made that unnecessary.
“Joel has been taken into custody.”
That sense of relief vanished instantly, replaced by dread.
“Custody? Where? What happened?”
“He’s at the twenty-third precinct. I’m on my way. I suggest you meet me there.”
Inside, I was panicking, my earlier relief bounding back into the dread zone. Clearly, this was about more than skipping class or pulling some prank. What had Joel gotten himself into now?
“Personal phone calls are prohibited while on the clock, Ms. McAlister.”
Startled, I looked up, right into my boss’s face. His expression was one of mock disappointment, but his eyes belied him. They flashed with barely disguised glee.
“I’m aware of that, Mr. Franklin. This is an emergency. In fact, I’m going to have to leave early.”
“Unacceptable.”
“Maybe you didn’t hear me. It’s a familyemergency,” I said, controlling my temper and trying to stem the panic rising from imagining the kinds of “serious incidents” that would put Joel inpolice custody.
“Perhapsyoudidn’t hearme,” Franklin said, cutting me off. “I thought I made it clear that any more unscheduled time off would not be tolerated.”
“But my brother—”
“I’m running a cafe, Ms. McAlister, not a daycare. Walk out that door, don’t bother coming back.”
Joel might get on my nerves sometimes, but if it came down to a choice between my job and my brother, there was no question which I would choose.
I untied my apron, folded it, and left it on the counter. “The Help Wanted sign is in the bottom left cupboard.”
I held my head high as I walked out, but inside, I was a mess. Direct confrontations did that to me, so I tried to avoid them whenever possible.
Once again, I found myself power walking through town. All kinds of scenarios popped into my mind along the way, ranging from something relatively minor and stupid, like getting caught smoking behind the school, to something awful, like losing his temper and getting into a fight or worse. Since the principal hadn’t given me any kind of hint, I had no idea what I was going to find when I got to the police station.
I made the four-block trip in record time, arriving only slightly out of breath. I had never been in a police station before, but it was nothing like the dark, depressing ones typically shown on television. The twenty-third precinct was bright and well-lit with a clean, professional look and feel.
The officer at the front desk took my information, and I was soon escorted to one of the conference rooms beyond the public lobby. Principal Carter, Joel, and two men I assumed were policemen were already there.
Joel dropped his head the moment I stepped in, which did absolutely nothing to make me feel better about what I was about to hear.
Brief introductions were made, and I was told to take a seat. For the next thirty minutes, I listened to the detectives and the principal speak. Joel said nothing.
“Let me see if I understand this,” I said, trying to compress half an hour’s worth of information into something that made sense to me. “You’re saying Joel’s afence?”
“We found stolen merchandise in his locker and a wad of cash, Ms. McAlister.”
“I told you,” Joel finally piped in, “none of that was mine. Somebody set me up.”
“Who?” asked the older of the two detectives. “And why?”
Joel sat back in his chair, looked at the wall, and shrugged. “Don’t know.” He would have been far more convincing without the arrogance. I had no doubt my brotherdidknow, but whether he was covering his own backside or someone else’s remained to be seen. That was something he and I would be discussing in great detail later.
