Donnie
I was staying the night with Dug. He was very edgy. I didn’t know what to do or say to calm him down. I was sitting on the floor with him and his cars when the doorbell rang. Ness came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on an apron and answered the door. I looked up and it was Detective Hope.
“Hello,” Ness said to him. “I’m Dug’s mother, Ness."
He held out his hand and shook hers. “It’s nice to meet you. I thought I might talk to you and the boys.” He held out a six-pack of coca cola.
Ness opened the door wider. “Of course, come in. I will get us some ice for those cokes and we can talk in the kitchen.”
Detective Hope stooped down and looked at the hot wheels on the floor in front of Dug and I. “These are some awesome hot rods.”
Dug smiled big. “Yes sir. I keep these hot rods nice and tidy. Donnie likes hot rods. His mom told me so. She sure did. She would run by the house and she stopped and talked to me and we became friends. Yes she did. Ev is sure a nice lady. She is my best friend and Donnie is my fake brother.”
The detective smiled. He had a welcoming smile and he didn’t treat Dug like he was stupid. I liked this man and hoped with all my heart, he would listen to us and help my mom. “Well Dug, you seem like a nice guy. I bet Evelyn likes you too. There’s no such thing as a fake brother. Doesn’t matter if you’re related by blood." He looked at me aND then at Dug. "Donnie seems like he might be hard to get along with though.” He winked at me and I smiled.
“Oh no! Oh no! Donnie is good. I get along with him fine. He didn’t get along with his mom so good. No sir, he didn’t.” Dug told the detective. My cheeks flushed red. “Ev thought Donnie hated her.”
“Umm Dug, you don’t have to tell the cop everything,” I said. “Jeez.”
Detective Hope put his arm around my shoulder. “Well, I do need to know things, Donnie.”
“I had a falling out with my mom.” I told him. "We just didn’t get along. I was an asshole."
"Don’t let guilt eat you up, Kid. It won’t help in the end. Just try to make things better when you see your mom again." He looked like he understood. "Besides, your mom loves you no matter what. That’s what good mom’s do. They aren’t perfect. They make mistakes, even when they’re trying to do the very best they can."
We went in the kitchen and sat down at the table. Ness filled cups with ice for the cokes. Dug was trying not to fidget. He was succeeding much better than I was. I was surprised that Detective Hope was here.
"Did you find something?" I finally blurted out, unable to contain myself.
Ness sat down at the table. "Please, tell us what is going on."
The detective took a long drink of coke and let out a sigh. "I haven’t found out anything. I just have this gut feeling. I don’t get those very often. I used to get them more when I was a rookie. I could sometime just look at people and tell they were lying g to me. Basically, I don’t think these boys are lying. My gut tells me they arent."
"My Dug doesn’t lie. He may know things sometimes, things he shouldn’t know but he’s never lied," Ness said adamantly. "He’s not made to lie. I don’t think Donnie is lying in this instance. Of course, I don’t know about other instances but I believe he’s a good kid."
"Ma’am, I don’t think these boys are lying. I am going to question this man and see what I can shake out of him."
I started to say something and Detective Hope raised his hand to stop me from speaking. "No. You can’t go with me. You’ve rattled him if he has your mother. It won’t be good for you to be knocking at his door again. You don’t want him to go off half cock and hurt your mom."
"But," I started to protest.
"No buts about it. You aren’t going, you aren’t going to be sneaky and follow me. You are a taking here. If you don’t I will haul your ass on and make you stay with the pissing and shitting drunks in a small cell with not much ventilation," He said sternly. I knew he was dead serious.
Dug wrinkled his nose. "Eww, that would stink bad!"
"He won’t follow you," Ness told the detective. "I’ll make sure his little ass stays here."
I looked at her with pleading eyes.
"Donnie, if you got hurt, it would devastate your mom," Ness said seriously. "She would never forgive herself if you got injured looking for her."
I was not happy about not going. However, I did decide to give Detective Hope the benefit of thedoubt. He seemed on the up and up and Dug really liked him. Dug was a good judge of character.
I looked at Detective Hope. “I promise I will not go to his house.”
I actually meant it. Surely our luck was about to change for the better.