Page 39 of Smitty

It made sense in theory, but in reality, I couldn't stop wondering what happened after I left. The questions haunted me. Were they safe? Had they eaten dinner? Were they sleeping? Had someone hurt them? Were they hurting them now?

They came whether I invited them or not.

Gloria smiled. “Besides, you made real progress with Dylan this week.”

“I hope so.”

“You did.” She pointed her racket at me. “Figuring out that there was something going on with that Jimmy kid was huge. And then there was the mention of the basement…”

“Yeah, I know.”

A few days after our last home visit, I'd gotten a call from Dylan's middle school. He'd gotten into a fight with another student, and the principal wanted me there because he'd mentioned that something had gone on at home. She couldn’t get him to tell her what had happened, so she called me in.

By the time I arrived, he'd shut down again.

It had taken nearly an hour before I could get him talking again, and even then, it was like pulling teeth to get him to answer me. He finally admitted that Jimmy had been giving him a hard time, manipulating him to come over and hang out.

Jimmy had tempted him with snacks and video games, but it was clear Dylan didn’t want to go. But he wouldn’t tell me why. And any time I pushed, his eyes would drop to the floor. Eventually, he got to the point where he wouldn’t even speak, and I knew it was time to call it a day.

I ended the session and immediately called his mother to let her know what had taken place. She promised to pass the information along to his counselor. He’d earned Dylan’s trust much faster than I had, and I was hopeful that, with a little patience, Dylan would eventually divulge whatever secret he was trying so hard to keep.

“I just…” I sighed, “I just want to see him smile again, if that’s even possible.”

“It’s possible.” Gloria gave me a reassuring smile. “And that’s because he’s got you.”

“Until I get burned out and end up living under a bridge somewhere.”

“No, ma’am!” She laughed. “We can’t be having that.”

“I know. I’m trying.” She started walking toward the benches, and I fell in beside her. “Just gotta take it one day at a time.”

“Now, we’re talking.” She started putting her things in her bag. “What about your other cases? Anybody giving you a break?”

“Not exactly.”

“Uh-oh.”

“I got two more yesterday.”

“And?”

“And from what I’ve seen so far… that bridge is looking like prime real estate.”

“None of that, now. Whatever’s waiting on your desk can wait until Monday.”

“If only it worked that way.”

By the time we made it to the parking lot, I was ready to head home, but Gloria talked me into going across the street to grab a smoothie. I almost declined, but thankfully, I didn’t. Because if I had, I would’ve missed out on hearing about her disastrous attempt at online dating.

We made plans to play again in a couple of weeks, and instead of dreading it, I was actually looking forward to it. And for a little while, I almost forgot.

Almost.

We said our goodbyes, and I climbed into my SUV and started home. The roads were quiet, which gave me way too much time to think. I rolled the windows down and let in the warm breeze, hoping it would clear the fog in my head. And then, I started thinking about all the things I needed to do over the weekend, hoping it would take my mind off things.

It didn’t.

One minute, I was thinking about the mountain of laundry I had to tackle, and I needed to meal prep for the week.