Chapter 3: Chapter 3
As Shannon explained the process to Charmane, Spinelli scanned the small filthy apartment. Mildew lined the tan colored fabric on the couch where Lesha sat and watched television. Dirty dishes and soda cans covered the end tables, and dirt-smudged toys littered the floor. The bubbling wallpaper reeked of dampness, a piece of plywood covered one of the two windows in the living room, and the entryway closet door hung crooked by only one hinge. The apartment wasn't fit for a litter of feral cats.
Charmane began to sob hysterically and begged Shannon not to take her children. Spinelli shifted his eyes to Lesha and watched her as she continued to stare at the television, not once looking in her hysterical mother's direction. He noted how Darius, on the other hand, clung to his mother's leg and sobbed along with her. He wondered if three-year-old Darius even understood why his mother cried. And if that wasn't enough, the screams of baby Christina began to bellow from down the hall. Charmane shook Darius from her leg and headed down the hall. She returned moments later with Christina in her arms and Darius resumed his leg-clinging position. She continued to beg Shannon not to take the children.
Spinelli watched as Shannon turned her attention from Charmane to Lesha and held her hand out toward her. "Lesha, honey, it's time for us to go."
Lesha simply rose from the couch and took Shannon's hand. Shannon held her other hand out to Darius but he refused to let go of his mother's leg.
"Come on, Sweetie, we need to go now," Shannon said softly. Darius still refused.
This production went on for what seemed like an eternity to Spinelli, and he knew for sure that the noise level produced by Charmane, Darius, and the baby would permanently deafen him if he didn't remedy the situation immediately. He walked over to the woman and simply plucked the screaming baby out of her arms and plunked her into Shannon's free arm, then he reached down and broke Darius' grip on his mother's leg, lifted him and perched him on his hip, and then motioned for Shannon to follow him. Charmane dropped to her knees threw her hands over her face and wept into them.
Spinelli turned on his heel and refused to look back. On his way out of the apartment, he stopped by the hall closet and retrieved three small jackets looking close to the sizes needed and he exited the apartment.
Spinelli followed Shannon out of the building. When they reached the minivan, she loaded the kids in and took her place in the passenger seat. She spoke not a word.
Darius and Christina continued their wailing as Spinelli drove to the address of the foster home. He watched and listened to Shannon as she interacted with the children. He couldn't help but notice how her soft soothing voice and warm eyes calmed them.
Spinelli helped carry the kids into the foster home and then went back to the minivan and waited for Shannon to complete her business. He leaned his head back against the headrest. He found himself daydreaming about his good old life as a homicide detective. Only hours passed since he last worked on a homicide case but at this very moment, it felt like decades to him.
Spinelli snapped out of his daydream when Shannon opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.
"Where to now? What's next on our agenda?" he asked as he signaled and pulled away from the curb.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shannon suck her plump ruby red bottom lip into her mouth and chew on it for a moment. She released her lip and sucked in a deep breath. "Back to the office. Just take me back to the office."
The coolness in her voice sent a shiver throughout Spinelli's body. Half an hour ago, this woman's voice seemed so soft and soothing but now it seemed cold and hard as ice.
Spinelli stopped at a red light and turned his head in her direction. "Well, how does this work? We do this type of thing all day or what?"
Spinelli observed her face. Sometime in the last hour or so, it transitioned from its soft smooth-looking milky white color to the reddest of all reds. The heat escaping her pores warmed the entire vehicle without the help of the van's heater. Spinelli unzipped his jacket. Shannon sat silent, staring forward. "What, what the hell's the matter?" he asked.
She slowly turned in his direction and when her eyes met his he felt as though they grabbed a hold of his and clamped on like a vice grip. He fought to break free from her stare but she wouldn't release him. He admired her strength yet it scared the hell out of him. A car horn sounded behind them and he tore his gaze from her and focused it on the green traffic light. He pressed the accelerator toward the floor.
Spinelli parked the minivan in the parking lot. Shannon sprang out of the van like a jack-in-the-box on speed. In two long quick steps, he caught up to her. He reached forward, wrapped his hand around her wrist, and tugged slightly to slow her down. She stopped and spun on her heel to face him. She looked up at him and just stared for a moment, then shook her wrist loose from his grip, spun around, and headed into the building.
He stayed on her heels as she nearly sprinted up four flights of stairs.
"Ms. O'Hara," Spinelli called, his voice so high-pitched his own ears hardly recognized it.
Shannon stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face him. She pulled her eyebrows together and fixed her green eyes on him. He struggled for a voice. Moments passed before he finally asked, "What's wrong? What did I do to piss you off so much?"
Shannon took a step toward him, raised her hand, and pointed her petite pale finger in his face. She clenched her teeth and then spoke through them. "You, I have never encountered such coldness from another human being in my entire life. Do you have any idea what you put that family through, ripping the children from their mother's arms like that?"
Spinelli watched as her body shuddered. He cocked his head to the side and pulled a frown. "Let me get this right, you're pissed at me because I yanked a couple of screaming kids out the arms of a crack whore. Aren't you the reason we showed up on her doorstep in the first place? Wasn't it your call to remove the kids from the home? The way I see it you should be thanking me for getting your job done for you."
"Thanking you, I should be thanking you? Are you nuts? Those kids were devastated. There is a protocol to handling this type of situation, which you totally shot out the window. I can't believe they sent someone like you to work in our department," Shannon bit back.
His blood boiled. "What do you mean someone like me? You mean someone who'll tell these crack whores and child abusers that we're not going to put up with their crap? It's because of people like you, and your touchy-feely bullshit, that these pieces of shit keep living the way they do and treating their kids the way they do."
Spinelli watched as Shannon closed her eyes and drew in a couple of deep breaths. He reached toward her. She raised her hand and held it inches from his chest. She shook her head. "I can't talk to you right now or I'll just say things, things that aren't nice."
Shannon turned, pushed her way through the stairwell doorway, and walked down the hall toward her office. Spinelli stared after her.
Spinelli took two steps back and leaned against the wall of the stairwell. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at his feet. Sweat began to bead on his brow and his vision blurred as horrible memories of his past surfaced. To make matters worse the harsh words Shannon spoke seconds earlier rotated through his mind over and over with the unpleasant memories. I can't believe they sent someone like you to work in our department. I can't believe they sent someone like you to work in our department. I can't believe they sent someone like you to work in our department. He wondered what exactly she meant. She knew nothing about him or his life. He squeezed his eyes shut hoping to extinguish the awful childhood memories. It didn't work. Cherry Street, of all places why did the Washington home have to be on Cherry Street? The very same street where he grew up.
Spinelli opened his eyes and absently glanced around the stairwell. He wasn't quite sure what to do with himself now. Should he go back downstairs to his precinct or should he go back up to Social Services? He chose to head downstairs to his precinct, to his comfortable life.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone