“One of Dominic’s boys. I don’t know his name.” I’m about to ask Liberty if she knows them, but the paramedics finally pull into the lot.
“I don’t need medical attention. I’m fine.” She tries to stand, but can barely get up on her own.
“Keep still. You need to get checked over, Liberty.” I’m not in the mood to argue with her, but I will if she fights me on this.
“I’m fine.” She labors in her breathing, and if I wasn’t worried about her, and what injuries she may have, I would laugh at her stubborn ass.
“You were passed out when we arrived. You have a nasty grazing under your eye, and you’ve been holding your side since you came to.” She takes a second to take stock of her injuries before releasing a slow and pained huff as two paramedics start making their way over to us.
“Just let them take a look at you, and if they give you the all clear, you can come and give me your statement.” She doesn’t concede right away. It takes a few beats before she nods and lets the paramedic step in and help her over to the ambulance. I keep her in my line of sight, leaving them to do what they need to do, and walk back over to Sterling,
“Okay, Mitch, you’re gonna give it to me straight. I find out you’re not telling me the truth, you and I are gonna have issues. You understand me?” I’m not going to *foot around here. Someone in his brother’s crew put his hands on Liberty, and I want a name.
“Yeah.” He nods, fidgeting his weight from foot to foot.
“You working for your brother?” He falters for a second, his gaze going to the back of the ambulance where Liberty is being checked over.
“Don’t look at her. I want you to look at me. You’ve already dragged her into this mess. Let us help get you both out of it.”
“He wants me to do some things.”
“What sort of things?” I press.
“I don’t know, just some shady things. I told him I’m not interested, but he keeps showing up everywhere I go.”
“You tell your caseworker he’s hassling you? Tell Liberty?”
“Nah, they’re not going to do anything. Besides, he’s my family, you know? Am I supposed to walk away from him?”
“Yeah, kid. You are.” Sterling offers his opinion. “You don’t want to be messed up with this life, do you?”
“No, I don’t. I have a good thing at Boys Haven. I told Dominic that, but then he said it’s not safe for me. Not safe for the people there.” He nods over to Liberty.
“Liberty? He using her over you?”
“He told me if I didn’t come out, it would come back on her. I can’t let that happen. She’s all I have right now.” He kicks at the asphalt, trying to hold back his tears.
Jesus, poor fucking kid.
“Yeah, I get it, kid,” I tell him the only thing I know to say. This Dominic is a piece of work. The last few years he’s risen up in street cred. Working under their leader, Anton Gibson, The Disciples main revenue comes from drugs, women and using kids to hustle for them. They’re yet to be picked up for anything that can stick, which means we need to be very careful. If this crew have Liberty in their sights, who fucking knows what Dominic or Anton could pull.
“Can I see Liberty now?” He manages to control his emotions and puts the tough-kid mask back on.
“Yeah, come on. We’ll get your nose looked at too.” I motion toward the ambulance. Liberty is still being checked over when we walk up to her, but before I come to a stop, she is already arguing with me.
“I’m not going to the hospital, Hetch.” Jesus this woman is stubborn.
“Well, you are.” I'm not sure how we are going to get through this one.
“I need to get Mitch home. He missed curfew, and I haven’t reported it yet.”
“We’re gonna take Mitch back to Boys Haven,” I tell her how it’s going to play out.
“It’s fine. I’m fine. I don’t need to see a doctor, and I don’t need a trip to the hospital.”
“You have a nasty bump on your head. And a blow to your torso. You don’t get a say in this.” I turn to the paramedic. “She’s going in.” He looks at Liberty and me, clearly knowing protocol dictates the outcome. He only has to do what the patient wants and if she doesn’t want to go, he can’t make her.
“Liberty.” I lower my voice, trying to reason with her. “Mitch is pretty shaken up. He’s worried about you and wants reassurance that you’re okay. Let us take him back to Boys Haven. You need to be checked out thoroughly. You may have a concussion, maybe broken or bruised ribs since your hand is still clenching your side.” I eye her hand placement briefly before continuing on, “I promise we’ll take good care of him, but you have to let us do our job.” I can see her starting to slip, see how she looks between Mitch and me.
“Okay,” she finally concedes.
“Good girl, we’ll be up later to take your statement. Okay?” I let her know we’re not done here tonight.
We’re not done outside of tonight either, I think too, but push the thought down and away for later.