Ruxs sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the visiting room waiting for Curtis to come in. The boys’ home looked just like any other home. It was in a nice enough neighborhood, but the houses were at least sixty or more years old. There was a small park about a block up, with a basketball court and a baseball diamond. If he’d known that was there, he would’ve brought their gloves and a ball.

The house looked big enough to have maybe five or six bedrooms. Really no telling how many boys they packed into each one. They’d walked up onto the rickety wraparound porch and rung the bell. A stocky woman came to the door with a paisley-print apron tied around her waist, eyeing them carefully. They were in their regular clothes but the guns and badges were probably unnerving.

“Can I help you officers?” she said still not opening the screen.

“I’m Chris Green and this is Mark Ruxsberg we should be on the visiting list to see Curtis Jackson,” Green said quickly. He was craning his neck to see past her, trying to see what all the commotion was that could be heard coming from farther inside the house. Ruxs could hear some guys yelling back and forth, and while he couldn’t quite make out the words, it sounded hostile.

“I need to see your IDs,” she said sternly.

They both held out their badges along with their picture identification for her. After her beady eyes focused on them for several seconds, she shut the door without a word, leaving them standing there staring at a wooden door.

“What the fuck?” Green snapped.

“Hold on. I think she’s probably going to check the list or she’s going to call Curtis down to see us.”

“Outside,” Green said incredulously.

“Babe. I don’t know. Just calm down. We don’t want Curtis to see you upset.” Ruxs was still rubbing Green’s shoulders when the woman flung the door back open. She gave them a skeptical, slightly baffled look before unlatching the screen and holding it open for them. The commotion had died down by the time they entered the house.

“You can wait in there. You’re allowed to visit for one hour. Lunch is at noon. If he wants to eat he can’t be late,” she said turning to leave.

“Can we take him out to eat?” Green asked hopefully.

“None of the residents can leave the premises without prior written approval,” she said loudly.

Ruxs saw Green grinding his teeth trying to tamp down his anger. “Yes ma’am,” Ruxs said, wanting her to move along and get Curtis.

“Can we go up and get him?” Green asked stepping towards the door.

The look she gave them had Ruxs standing and moving closer to his partner. “We’ll wait here,” he said before she could answer them with a negative response.

She left, closing the door solidly behind her.

“Bitch,” Green hissed. Ruxs put his arms over Green’s shoulders, pulling him against his body.

“I know this fuckin’ sucks. But it’ll be over soon,” Ruxs whispered against his temple, stroking his large hands up and down Green’s arms. They stood there, still quietly holding and consoling each other when the door opened. The heavyset greeter was standing there, her gaze riveted on something down the hall.

Ruxs’ heart jumped as he waited for his friend to turn the corner and come inside. His face dropped when he heard the voices of several older kids laughing, walking by teasing, “Oh lookie, fag boy’s got company already.”

Green’s body vibrated instantly beneath his touch. His eyes the color of black granite and simmering with his anger. “What the fuck is going —”

Green’s voice dropped as Curtis turned the corner and stepped inside the room searching frantically for them. His usual bright-blue eyes were bloodshot red and wide with either fear or possibly shock. His hair was a disheveled, tangled mess and his skin was so pale he was ashen. It literally looked like the beautiful spirit that was Curtis had been sucked right out of him. The shirt he’d left in very early this morning had a tear in the collar like someone had yanked him by it, which was most likely case since he had an angry bruise on his cheek and a dark mark under his left eye.

“Green!” Curtis almost stepped on the evil house mom as he ran into Green’s arms, wrapping his thin arms around his waist, crying uncontrollably into his chest. “Please take me home.”

Ruxs could see the pain in Green’s eyes, but overshadowing it was his rage. Ruxs walked up to the woman still holding the door, practically standing on top of her. “What the hell happened to him? Who were those kids? Are they responsible for this?”

“Sir, I can’t release the names of the minors,” she said back with confidence.

“Oh yes, you damn well will, or you’re going to be held personally responsible! Someone’s been beating on him! I demand to know who!” Ruxs yelled in her face.

“Sir. I will have to ask you to leave if you don’t calm down.” She placed both hands on her ample hips, her face turning a bright shade of angry red.

“I’m not going anywhere without him. Get me your supervisor,” he barked.

“You can call the Department of —”

“That’s exactly what I’ll do.” Ruxs cut her off, dialing Day’s number first. He stared down the lady as he explained Curtis’ condition to Day. After Day confirmed that they were on their way and he’d bring Shelia with him, Ruxs ended the call. He had nothing else to say to this woman. Hopefully she would lose her job over this. She was supposed to be providing a safe place for these kids, not letting them run a fuckin’ fight club up in their rooms.

He walked over to where Green and Curtis were now sitting on the couch, Green carefully examining his face. “Who did this to you?” Green said in a hushed but firm voice.

Curtis closed his eyes as Green gently pressed on his cheek, making sure there was no damage to his jaw. Green looked up at Ruxs, telling him with his eyes that he wasn’t letting Curtis out of his sight again, but little did his partner know, neither was he. He didn’t care if he had to camp out in a tent in the backyard. The only way they were leaving there was with Curtis.

“The guys here don’t seem to like me too much,” Curtis finally spoke. His voice was shaky and scared. “I swear I didn’t do anything to them. I just wanted to go to bed. I couldn’t stop crying. I missed my mom. I missed you guys. They kept yelling at me to shut up. I was scared.” Curtis accepted the comfort when Green put his arm around him and pulled him to his chest. “I tried to stop, but the more they called me names, the more I wished I was home. Then they… they.”

Ruxs went down on one knee so he could look into Curtis’ eyes. “They what? You can tell us, you know that.”

“They yanked me out the bed. One guy slapped me. I couldn’t see him, it was dark. They said I was a little girl and girls weren’t allowed in their rooms. Then they shoved me in the damn closet and wouldn’t let me out.”

Green’s hand shook as he tried to comfort Curtis. He turned and looked at the woman still in the room with them. At least she had the decency to look sorry.

“When did they finally let you out?” Ruxs asked smoothing back Curtis’ sweat-damped hair from the side of his face.

The look Curtis gave him made Ruxs’ stomach turn. Abuse always did something to him. Probably because he knew it so well, knew how deep it ran, how it ate at you from the inside out. And without a strong support system to see you through it, it could ruin you, kill your spirit. He’d be damned if he let that happen to Curtis. “When’d they let you out, Curtis?”

“I just came out when she called me.” Curtis shook with his confession.

Green sprung up off the couch and Curtis grabbed for him. When Green was out of his reach, he clung on to Ruxs. “Just take me home, please.”

“Where the fuck where you when all this was going on? This isn’t exactly the Bruce Wayne mansion. Are you honestly going to tell me that you didn’t hear a young man being tortured and bullied only a few doors down from your room?”

She rung her apron in her hands, shaking her head. “My room is downstairs. I —”

“That’s no excuse!” Green hollered in her face. Oh man. If she was nervous with Ruxs in her face, she looked like she was about to shit in her pants right now.

“I think I’d better call the —”

“They’re already coming. But they’re coming for you lady, not me. I fully intend on pressing charges and filing an official complaint with the Department of Human Services, and that’s all before I contact WSB-TV, Fox 5 and any other news station that might be interested in the woman that was entrusted by the state with the responsibility of a foster home where she allowed abuse and extreme bullying to go on right underneath her nose!” Green seethed. “If I didn’t have to get back to my son, I’d arrest your ass right now and charge you with child endangerment and child neglect.” Green turned and went back to the couch lowering himself next to Curtis, extracting his arms from around Ruxs and putting them back around his own waist, still glaring at the stunned woman.

“It’s alright Curtis. You’re coming home buddy. You’re coming home today.”

Ruxs stared wide-eyed at his partner as he calmly talked Curtis down. Talked until he wasn’t afraid anymore. He’d seen Green upset plenty. Seen him arrest murderers. Seen him restrain even the craziest S.O.B.s. Seen him shoot and kill. But never had he seen him this angry. Green was so fired up, Ruxs doubted his partner even knew what he’d just said.

He’d heard it though, and Curtis did too. The way the young man stiffened then relaxed in Ruxs’ arms proved it.

Green called Curtis his son. And he was ready to go to war for him, like any good father would.