PILE OF RUMOURS
Flint found his way back to the office the following Monday. He was still coming to terms with his daughter moving out. He and Shonda had woken up to the sight of her in the living room surrounded by her bags.
Try as they did, her mind was already made up. They couldn't sway her.
"I can't just stay here mom…everything reminds me of him…plus I have to get back to classes.
"but what if that person is still out there honey…it could be very dangerous…what if he comes back for you" Shonda asked worriedly.
"no mom..he won't be coming back. I have a pretty good idea they've gptten all they wanted. Fayth replied, eyeing her father.
Flint didn't say a word but he could see the judgment in her eyes. She knew something. He wasn't sure how much she knew, but he knew she was going to ask him nothing about it. His daughter was like that. He decided he wasn't going to talk to her about it either. In the end, he and Shonda watched as their daughter walked out of their home. This time, they knew she wouldn't be returning in a long time and they could do nothing about it.
A knock on his desk brought him back to the present. It was his ex partner. "I did warn you"
"Not now Doyle" Flint replied dispiritedly, in no mood for making talk. By now, everything transpiring with his family would have been public news in the office. Rumors after all had a good way of piling up one way or another with salt and pepper added to it. He wondered how many versions of the same shit had been recycled and retold. He just wanted to pack up and get the hell out of this damn building. At this point, he just wanted to pick up what was left of his remaining fucking life. Amid stares, he picked up what was left of his existence in the San Jose police department. Within thirty minutes, he was at home sorting through his own belongings. It was time to take Shonda on that Vacation. Perhaps permanently away from San Jose.
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"I'm Eden" Jon said to the faces staring at him in the room.
"I'm Heather… room captain" a buy with ginger colored pupils replied. Jon just nodded and went back to his bed.
Bertha was taken to a room much different from that of her siblings. There were children the same age as her, but they all had their hairs shaved down their scalp. The room was more like a nursery, the only difference was the white walls and the fluorescent bulbs that were the source of light. The beds were more like pods.
"hello friend..my name is Aileen. Uncle Lorenzo says I'm in charge" a girl with a bright smile and hazel eyes greeted her. Bertha barely had time to reply when a man in a white apron walked in with two women dressed similarly walked into the room. The man carried a towel and a clipper. One of the women reached for Bertha. She was returned few hours later with all her hair gone and a tiny metallic device installed in her neck.