Huck’s fingers drummed against the wheel of his brown Lincoln as he drove around town. Though the Lincoln (dubbed “Carlos”, by Victoria) didn’t sport the traditional black and white coloring, the small town knew who he was due to the siren attached to the car’s hood and the “SHERIFF” decal pasted on the side. However, even if those small details were removed from Carlos, many of Blackerd’s citizens recognized Huck due to his constant involvement with the community, as well as his massive stature.
Though he was the sole sheriff of Blackerd, there was nearly no criminal activity around the town. Some would call Blackerd an impossible utopia, but very few knew that the peace of the town was solely due to Huck’s dedicated work. While the town seemed extremely peaceful to any bystander, there were plenty of issues behind the scenes that Huck worked tirelessly to mediate and suppress. Even though he was tasked with multiple responsibilities, the sheriff made sure to do constant patrols to ease the minds of Blackerd’s citizens.
Huck finished circling Blackerd’s Ghetto and now drove around the outskirts of the area as he wrapped up his patrol. Carlos turned around a corner, and a mound of trash caught Huck’s eyes. He sighed and drove over to pick up the litter. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSPRvNsqF8O
However, as Huck drove closer, the mound of trash grew arms and legs. He stepped out of his car and peered at the rubbish, finally concluding that the trash was instead an unconscious teenager.
His brow wrinkled. Was the kid homeless? A flicker addict? No, neither seemed too likely. The kid seemed too “clean” to be homeless, and his arms had no cuts to indicate flicker usage. Huck knelt down next to the adolescent, shaking him. To his surprise, the kid was extremely feverish and hot to the touch. Huck stuck a finger under the juvenile’s nose to feel for breathing, and was relieved to feel a steady flow of air pass. The sheriff then shook the youth’s shoulder one more time.
“Hey, kiddo. You ok?”
The teenager didn’t respond, only murmuring in his sleep as he nestled deeper into the mud. He wasn’t Huck’s responsibility…but he imagined that Lorraine would kill him if he left a child outside in a light drizzle. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvasg4fVjme
So, Huck muttered a curse as he jogged back to Carlos, pulling out a trash bag from the car’s trunk. He placed the muddy child on top of the trash bag, scowling in disgust as a cockroach skittered out from under the boy and into deeper foliage. He then scooped up the stranger with the trash bag working as a makeshift cover, and placed the boy in Carlos’s shotgun. As Huck hopped into the driver’s seat, he grumbled in annoyance.
First things first, the kid needed to be washed.
...
Once he arrived home, Huck worked quickly and efficiently. First, he emptied out the teenager’s pockets, revealing a smartphone and a wallet. The wallet was empty, not even containing a school ID. The smartphone was dead, so he placed both the wallet and phone on the bathroom countertop. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRHdq8v7NO
Huck then soaked him in the bathtub, trying his best to scrub the mud and grass off the kid’s skin and clothes. After doing what he could, Huck then stripped him of his dirty clothes and threw the laundry in a hamper. After thoroughly scrubbing the teenager’s body with soap, rinsing the dirty suds off, then drying him up, Huck threw some of his own pajamas onto the adolescent and then proceeded to carry him to the living room sofa. After ensuring his guest was settled in, the sheriff turned to his laptop to check Blackerd’s database.
Huck spent a considerable amount of time searching for cases regarding a missing teenager. After that search turned unfruitful, he moved on to emailing and calling close contacts for any news, which also turned up negative. He scrunched up his face in confusion. There were no missing person cases submitted to the office, which could be explained if the kid just ran away. If Huck knew the kid’s name, then he could search for the name on Blackerd’s residency list. However, the kid had no form of identification on his person…so he did what he could with the very little information at his disposal.
After about roughly one hour, Huck heard a grunt from behind. He turned around and stared at the now conscious boy, locking eyes. The youth had medium-length black hair, and appeared to be roughly one foot shorter than Huck. Judging from his hunched shoulders and clenched fists, Huck also assumed that the kid wasn’t one for social interaction. The teenager’s eyes were wide in alarm, but seemed to be darting everywhere around Huck’s body. After Huck realized the adolescent was sizing him up, he grimaced and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He wasn’t too sure of what to say or do, so he stayed quiet as he rubbed his neck nervously.
A minute passed. No one said anything. The man and the boy just stared at each other in silence, neither daring to move. The silence was killing him, so Huck coughed. What would Lorraine do in this situation? Well…she would probably introduce herself, no?
The man cleared his throat. “So, uh… you got a name, kiddo?”
The boy flinched at the sudden question, but sat up a bit straighter in response. He opened his mouth…and began coughing violently, his cheeks flushing as he did. After a few seconds, the kid stabilized his coughing, and looked up at the sheriff with mild embarrassment. “Uh, Joel, sir. Who are you? Where am I?”
...
Their conversation was, for the most part, unremarkable. Huck managed to get very little information from Joel. His last name was Lee. He had supposedly “power-walked” from Maplewood. He refused to talk about any relatives or guardians whatsoever. Seeing that their talk wasn’t going anywhere, Huck gave the teen some leftovers from Gustavo’s. He tried to coax him into giving more information after the food, but the outsider kept his mouth shut.
Huck sighed and rubbed his neck. The kid was being difficult, which either meant a serious crime…or he got into a fight with his family. Realistically, it was the latter. If Huck had to babysit the teenager, it would get in the way of his work…and his schedule had very little availability. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsK0st1AfUN
As Huck heard audible breathing, he quickly flinched and looked towards Joel. The boy was zoned out, his breathing growing faster and faster. The kid was slowly having a panic attack. Huck wasn’t sure why…but he could worry about that later. Gustavo would go through similar things during his rare panic episodes, so Huck was mildly prepared. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz9nGMWwupE
He waved a hand and cleared his throat, speaking in a calm voice so as to not alarm him. “Hey, kid. Snap out of it.”
Huck’s voice seemed to not even register with Joel, his breathing growing more ragged. He tried to calmly speak in a firm voice, but the boy showed no response. Calm responses weren’t doing it, he would need to try a more drastic approach.
As a last resort, Huck quietly pulled out a harmonica from his right pocket. Normally, sudden loud sounds were bad in terms of snapping someone out of a panic attack…but the absurdity of the harmonica’s sound seemed to do wonders with Gustavo. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5CpzYpeej
The man hesitated, but then blew a loud “fwee” into the instrument, causing the boy to flinch and look up at him in confusion. Huck sighed a breath of relief, pocketed the instrument, and rubbed his sweaty hands on his pants.
He wasn’t too sure why the kid had begun panicking. Maybe his home situation was horrendous. Perhaps he was on the run from another party. There were numerous reasons as to why the kid would be nervous. If that were the case, it would be inhumane to throw him out to worse conditions.
So, against his better judgment, Huck decided to offer the kid a choice. “Look, kiddo. You have the right to remain silent, that’s completely fair. However, as this town’s sheriff, I’m legally obligated to detain you until there’s more clarity on the issue.”
Joel’s eyes widened as his mouth slowly opened, but Huck shook his head. “I say detained, but really it’s more like me keeping an eye on you. You’ll just be staying with me until I figure out what to do with you. Until then, you’re free to stick around and do…well, not whatever, but you can live here with fairly little restriction.”
The boy blinked, naturally confused at the turn of events. “But…why?”
Huck wasn’t sure why. The sheriff already had a lot on his plate, and the kid wasn’t his responsibility. If he turned away, no one would know…nor would they blame him. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREx7xXZliR
But, Lorraine wouldn’t turn the kid away. She would laugh, ruffle his hair, then help the kid out until his situation improved. Sure, Huck wasn’t Lorraine…but he felt as though he would lose something important if he turned the kid away.
His eyes stared into nothingness. “Honestly? I have no idea. Just going with my gut on what feels ‘correct’, I guess.”
Huck got up, stretched, then nodded to Joel. “Now, I’m gonna go and slowly tie up the trash bin in the kitchen. If someone were to exit through the front door, run down the stairs, and flee while I’m occupied, I wouldn’t be the wiser. Plus, since I haven’t recorded any detainees' names yet and haven't written down any detainee’s names on official documents, it’ll have been as though they were never here in the first place.”
As he slowly walked over to the kitchen, Huck prayed. He didn’t want to have another responsibility. He was already burdened with so much; having the kid around would only complicate things. A meeting with Aaron in the morning. Patrols at noon. The occasional cleanup and disposal. Ensuring Dante stayed in line. A drink and dinner with Victoria at Gustavo’s for dinner. Responses to emails and complaints throughout the entire day. There was virtually no room to babysit Joel, and Huck was already beginning to regret extending a hand out to the kid. Hopefully, the kid would scamper off and-
No. Huck didn’t want that. He wouldn’t want the kid to suffer out of sight. If the kid could fix his own problems without any assistance, he would happily step back and let Joel do his own thing. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0Wc7PkOnO
However…Joel was just a teenager. Huck couldn’t feign ignorance and just pretend that the kid would be alright. No, the boy would undoubtedly stumble without aid…and the man knew it deep down.
So, as the sheriff quietly tied the near-empty trash bag, he began to create a schedule. If Joel enrolled at Blackerd’s school, he would be busy for a good portion of the day and would also be busy doing homework. Huck could bring Joel to Gustavo’s for dinnertime. That schedule alone would ensure he would be supervised and well-fed for the majority of the day. Granted, there were a few hours here and there where Huck wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on the kid… but what could the kid do during such a small time frame? If things got too difficult, he could always ask Victoria to keep an eye on the kid.
As Huck finished quadruple-knotting the trash bag, he grit his teeth and mentally sighed. The front door hadn’t opened. He knew what to expect when he turned around. The weary man turned around, locking eyes with Joel. The look in the kid’s eyes was stronger than before. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HViKvLSIM
Joel nodded to the trash bag and extended his arm.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBitCOZcqnD
"You need me to throw that away?”
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