“I can’t believe you got in her face like that.” Ruby clicks her glass to mine.
“Yeah, well, I’m tired of dealing with people’s shit, and I’m done keeping my irritations at bay. Besides, she had an exceptional thing with Liam, and she chose to ruin it with brainless decisions. No one but her should have to suffer for her stupidity.”
“He is pretty awesome, isn’t he?” She lifts her brow, and I know exactly where this is going.
“Don’t even start with that, Ruby. I’m not going there.”
“Why not, Whit? I haven’t seen you laugh and joke the way you do with Liam in years. You have this glow about you.”
“Yeah, that’s because he and I are friends and I don’t have to stress out when I’m with him. I’m not wife, mother, teacher, or author. I’m a friend, and friendship doesn’t normally come with stress. I don’t want to ruin that by stepping out of the friend zone.”
“I still think you’re making a big mistake.”
“I know you do and I appreciate it.” My phone dances across the table, so I pick it up seeing that it’s Jenna. “Yeah, babe, what’s up?”
“Mom, the police are here at the condo, and they have Trevor.”
“You need to breathe and not freak out,” Ruby tells me from the driver seat. She wouldn’t let me drive, which was wise of her.
“I’m not freaking out. Freaking out? No, I’m pissed off because I can’t imagine what he did.” Jenna didn’t have much to say. All she knew was that the police showed up and Trevor was in the back of their car.
I’m not sure when this all started, but I have a feeling it might be the same time that Heath and I split. That detail has so much guilt bubbling within my veins. What if he did something to act out? To try to get us to see that he’s struggling? Is he taking this split harder than I thought? When we pull up to the condo, I see a cruiser sitting in front. I can only imagine what the neighbors are thinking. Pushing open the door to Ruby’s car, the cool air hits me.
“I’m Whitney James, Trevor’s mother,” I say as Ruby and I approach the two officers who are standing outside the car that’s holding Trevor. Giving the car a once over, I see that Trevor has a blank stare on his face as he looks forward, ignoring me.
“Mrs. James, I’m Officer Kaplan, and this is my partner, Officer Musk. Trevor was found, alone, defacing the local library.”
“Do you mean like tagging?” I ask as the feel of a hand on my shoulder has me turning around to find Liam at my side. When I turn back towards the officers, they’re each eyeing Liam.
“Commander Prescott,” Liam introduces himself as he reaches his hand out to each officer. “I’m a friend of Whitney’s.”
“Yes, tagging. He stated that he was with a group of kids and was only witnessing the incident, but we weren’t able to find any other accomplices. He wasn’t forthcoming with any names. If he isn’t being truthful, and it was, in fact, him, it seems that your boy has a signature which means that he’s responsible for more than what we caught him doing tonight.”
“I’m sorry, officer, and I’m sure you hear this all the time from parents when they’re defending their children, but I’m certain Trevor didn’t do anything. He might be guilty of hanging out with the wrong crowd and not telling me where he was when he should have, but spray painting a public building? No way. He’s never even been in trouble at school. There’s no way he would deface a building, let alone multiple times.”
“And that’s why we’re bringing him home to you tonight and not taking him down to the station. We ran his name, and he’s clean, no priors. Plus we didn’t see him in the act, only at the location.”
“So this is all a scare tactic then?”
“This is a good thing, Whitney,” Liam tries to explain as he wraps his fingers around my arm, pulling me away from the officers and placing me next to Ruby. She takes my hand in hers and gives me a squeeze.
“Thank you, officers. I think Whitney is in shock, and I know once her head is clear, she’ll agree with the way you’ve handled it.”
They step toward the car, pulling the door open. “Mr. James, you’re free to go,” one of the officers tells Trevor as he eyes each of them.
“I can go home?”
“Yes, but this doesn’t end here. You’re expected to be at the precinct, Saturday Morning, for the next three months in order to do voluntary community service. If you miss one Saturday, we will charge you with destruction of both private and public property.”
“I promise you he’ll be there,” I confirm.
“Get inside, Trevor,” Liam instructs as I stand there fuming.
Liam takes total control of the situation. He talks to the officers, nodding his head in agreement with whatever they’re saying. Each officer gives him their card. They shake hands, slapping each other on the shoulder before he backs up, watching the cruiser as they pull out of our complex.
“It’s all right,” Rudy whispers in my ear knowing that I’m having an internal battle between screaming my head off and crying.
“Hey, sorry. I happened to peek outside when I saw flashing lights and saw you standing outside with the police. I wanted to make sure everything was okay. How are you holding up?” Liam asks as he approaches us.
“I’m pretty confused and upset at the moment.”
“Whitney, it could have been worse. The officers didn’t need to give Trevor the benefit of the doubt. They could have hauled him to the station and let him stew before releasing him or worse, they could have booked him. Them telling him to do community service is a good thing.”
“I need to call Heath.”
“Whitney, wait.” He takes a step forward. “Is it all right if I speak with Trevor while you’re talking to Heath?”
Liam and Trevor have no type of relationship, especially not one where Liam plays friend and tries to reason with him. Whenever Liam comes over, either Trevor stays in his room, or he’s not home. Trevor doesn’t seem to have his defenses up around him, but I still don’t see Trevor seeing Liam in any type of ‘friend’ light.
“Maybe Trevor needs a guy to talk to,” Ruby says.
“He has a guy to talk to. His father.”
“I’m not trying to take Heath’s place. I know he can easily talk with his dad, but I think that maybe Trevor needs someone to talk to that’s not a parent or his father. Let me try. Go call Heath and tell him what happened while I try to talk to Trevor, please.”
“All right.” He squeezes my shoulder before heading into my house. When I turn to Ruby, she’s smiling.
“Don’t even,” I say before turning on my heel, following Liam inside.