Chapter 6 Part 1 - Revised

Chapter 5 Part 3 - Revised

    Skye had been signing the release papers as Barrett said his parting words. Anger began again to build up inside of her. Her eyes trying to see through the door he had just exited. She had to leave now before she did something she would regret and end up in a cell herself. Cyrus only looked at her and said nothing, he knew show she felt and shared that same feeling. Their common bond in anger and frustration soften Skye to the point where she let out long tired sigh, the action letting Cy know it wasn’t as bad as he thought. Slowly he took her by the elbow and led her away from the counter and towards the door.

   The moist, damp air outside the police station seemed to snap Skye out of her daze and she refocused herself on her son whom she just retrieved. Cyrus felt his mother’s eyes on him, lowered his head and picked up his pace jogging down the stairs to get to the car. She walked behind him at a normal pace despite wanting to get in the car and spinning the tires out of there. She kept her pace and said nothing until she was in the car and locked the doors.

Unfortunately the storm hadn’t calmed down as much as they both hoped it did.

  “What the hell is the matter with you?” She screamed at him. “Why in God’s name would you sneak out…” she paused “OK the sneaking out part makes sense and even the girls make sense but…” She could barely say the next part. “Why were there drugs?” Cyrus tensed but said nothing twisting his hands together while hiding his face behind the long hair that framed his young face.

   “Cyrus…” her voice held a firm warning. Cyrus leaned his head back on the headrest and let out a long sigh as his shoulders slumped. “I didn’t do any drugs mom, I promise.” He paused and took a deep breath to continue. “He said I was just there to keep the other girl company. That’s all. I had no idea there were drugs on him until we got pulled over.” Skye put her hands on the steering wheel and flexed her fingers. Flex, release, flex, release her mind was assessing his words and deciding if she should believe him. He had never lied to her about anything serious so her heart spoke up and gave him the benefit of the doubt.

   Cyrus whose eyes closed, opened them and looked at his mother sitting ramrod straight, her gaze straight ahead. He wanted to ask her if she was going to start the car and take him home. He was so tired and knew that this conversation was not over. Unsure of what to say all he managed was “Um…Mom?” Her head tilted slightly and she let out a soft sigh.  Finally Skye put the key in the ignition without turning the car on and turned to Cyrus instead. “Look…” she said, “I am not pleased about this and we are definitely not done here. I want to know who you were with and why there were drugs in the car, I know that you know more than you’re saying.” She paused and sighed again. “I want you to tell me everything that happened up until you got stopped by the cops and taken in, but not now.”

   She looked at him now and saw the sweet boy that she loved and he nodded in agreement. “I will tell you everything mom, I just want to go home.” He replied. Satisfied with the response, Skye started the car and backed out of the stall she had parked in. As she pulled up to the edge of the road to turn right towards home she turned on her blinker and lazily scanned the street. A dark coloured car parked across the street that looked like the driver was reclined and sleeping behind the wheel.

   Somewhere in Skye’s mind it struck her as odd for someone to be taking a nap outside the station but what did she know. It was more likely that it didn’t register after everything that had happened so far this early morning because it was unimportant. 

Chapter 5 Part 2 - Revised

    Skye shook awake as the image of Cyrus had already begun to fade. She was out of breath, sweating and all of her limbs hurt. The clock on the wall was glowing, showing 3:16am as the current time and she was slightly disoriented about where she was, lost between reality and the dream.  When she looked on the nightstand her cell phone had a flashing green light blinking relentlessly and she picked it up. The dream had already gone grey on the edges of her mind but she retained a dreadful feeling. She pushed the button to make her phone shine brightly with life and saw that she had missed calls. “3 Missed calls?” she mumbled but she didn’t recognize the number staring back at her. Without hesitation she hit re-dial and listened to the call connect and ring.

   After the 3^rd ring Skye was about to hang up the phone when someone picked up. “Eagle Falls Police Department. Is this an Emergency?” Without a word she ended the call and sat up. The first thought that pooped into her mind was that it might be a break in the case but if it was…why would they be calling her at 3 in the morning? Her head slowly rolled towards the door, as she swung her feet out of bed she eyed up Kona who had snuck onto the bed at some point and shooed him off before she set herself off towards Cyrus’ room knowing that she wasn’t going to find him there, but hoping that she did. Kona scooted off the bed and stood at attention as soon as Skye approached her bedroom door. After a moment of hesitation and the intake of a deep breath, she turned the knob.

    Quietly she walked down the hallway to his room. Facing the closed door in front of her it became a deity she was praying to. “Please be in bed.” She chanted softly. She wished with all her heart that when she opened the door he would be there but when she entered the room she was at an empty bed.

“Shit…” was all she could say.

   The drive to the Police Station was an angry one. Foot to the floor she drove like a bat out of hell to the city. “He better be ok, so I can fucking kill him!” Skye was yelling to herself, deep down it was more like yelling at herself.  “He’ll be grounded until he graduates from College!” She reached over and hit the button on the console that controlled the window and the night air came rushing in blowing her hair all over like it was angry too. She tried to talk herself down telling herself thing like ‘he’s a 15 yr old boy, they do this.’ Skye knew though that Cyrus didn’t just sneak out alone, he had an accomplice or as far as she was concerned and instigator.

    By the time she got to the Station she figured that she had calmed down enough so that they would release him to her without worrying about his safety once he left their safe confines of the interrogation room, or cell wherever they had him sitting and breathing and hopefully terrified of her soon to be appearance. She parked in the front of the station and took a minute to control her emotions. She looked in the rear view mirror at her flushed cheeks and shiny eyes. Taking three quick breaths she opened the door. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and she scanned the parking lot. Not seeing anything she shook off the vibe and started walking to the steps that led to the door of the cop shop.

    When she got to the top she thought of Stallone in Rocky, her breathing was laboured and her legs felt like jelly so she leaned against the wall. A large man dressed in a police uniform looked at her and smiled as he held the door open for her. First thought ‘How can he be so big?’ second thought ‘why do I care?’ She smiled anyway just to be polite but she did appreciate the gesture. As she was just about past him, a look of recognition passed behind his eyes and his smile faltered…just for a second before he regained his composure. He knew who she was and after she was in the building he lowered his gaze, the smile faded away.

   “Ya,” she mumbled pushing a hand through her hair. “I remember you guys too…” Her memories resurfaced of all those times in the first few months that she came in here demanding answers into who killed Deacon. She didn’t want to be here anymore than she was sure any of them would want to see her face again. Running out of steam all she was wanted to get her son and leave, crawl back under the covers of her lonely bed and forget everything her mind had dredged up. 

    Skye approached the counter and her eyes travelled up the peeling grey paint on the walls, followed the sheet of bullet proof glass across the waiting area and finally resting on the round metal speaker box in front of her that separated her from the tall elegant looking woman in uniform behind the counter. She seemed much too regal to be a cop.

    With no cadence in her voice she said simply, “I’m here for Cyrus Dune…at least, I… think I am.”  The elegant woman whose name was Kathy something according to her name tag flipped through the papers on her clipboard and then picked up a cordless phone off of the desk. Before she dialled her eyes flicked up at Skye whose back was to her now and she punched in the digits. “Hey Adam,” she said “Cyrus’ mother is here to get him.” She paused, “Yes I’ll get that together for you.” Kathy returned the phone to its cradle and spoke into the speaker box.

    “Um…Mrs. Dune?” Kathy said shyly, “Detective Barrett will be right out with Cyrus.” Slightly preoccupied “Sure…thanks…” Skye mumbled. She was looking at the wall of missing people that you can find in any police station and thought about how that could have easily been Cyrus.  Sneaking out and maybe never returning like Deacon except that his father was murdered and they knew that he was in the ground.

    Most of the photos were of girls with big smiles and clips in their hair who seemed so very young and innocent like they would never do anything wrong. The truth of it being that most of them were probably troubled already or doing drugs and hanging out with the wrong people, maybe…even standing on that corner across from the bank waiting for the next car to pull up and drive off  with them to some seedy motel or… they might not even get out of the car.

    This thought stayed in her head circulating inside until she heard the lock from the door behind her disengage and swing open. She didn’t turn around right away, worried about what he looked like, beaten up? Drunk? She took a deep breath, composed herself and turned around. “And there he is.” She said relieved he looked ok yet at the same time she was so mad she could spit nails.

    “Mom, I can explain…” Cyrus said quickly. Skye put her hand up to stop him, “No, you can explain later.” She turned to Detective Barrett, “Is there anything you need from me?” She didn’t want to be in the station and her anxiety started to build, not caring why he was there just wanting to leave. Barrett paused and took a quick look at Cyrus. He must not have been on duty because he was dressed in casual clothes, just dark jeans and a t-shirt. The worn brown leather jacket he was wearing was damp from the slight misty rain outside. Skye thought that his shoulders looked wider than she remembered when he came to her door the night Deacon died looking much more polished. She wondered for a moment why she thought of that at all and dismissed it as just a curious observation.

    “Mrs. Dune,” he started slowly, “we found Cyrus and Justin speeding on a main road with 2 young girls and drugs in the car” He looked at Cyrus now and the boy dropped his head thinking his shoes looked pretty good right now. He continued, “I’m pretty sure Cyrus wasn’t using and that’s why I’m releasing him to you now.” Cyrus glared at Barrett from behind his shaggy dark hair.

Detective Adam Barrett was the one that told them their world had changed, he still had no information, nothing new to solve the crime and Cyrus hated him for it.

    “Mom…can we go?” Cyrus asked “I just want to get out of here.” His voice was flat as hers was and he turned to walk away. Skye’s arm shot out in front of him before he passed by her. “What…” she nearly growled, “you aren’t worried about your partner in crime?” She wasn’t looking at Cyrus but she felt him stiffen. Her eyes were clearly boring a hole into the Detectives solemn face as he cleared his throat. Kathy flagged Skye over so that she could sign the release.

   “Justin will have to stay here at least until his parents get here,” he paused and spoke to Cyrus now. “He could do time in juvie for this…that will depend on how his parents want to deal with the situation.” Cyrus straightened and said clearly as he turned his head in the direction of the detective, “Well I guess he’s not my partner now, is he.”

    The statement alone made the officer take a step back. Between Skye and Cyrus their hostility was thick and only barely controlled. Mentally Barrett gave up but he tried not to show it on the outside, “OK Cyrus, go home.” And as he turned to the big steel door, Kathy pushed the button to unlock it. He hesitated only slightly with his hand on the door handle and without turning he said… “I’m sorry Mrs. Dune…” Skye stayed silent. “I’m sorry we haven’t closed your husbands’ case but, these things take time and it’s not forgotten.”