Chapter Three

 

 

The diner was practically empty, and the two detectives chose a corner booth where they could keep Billy between them and still have plenty of room to eat.  The waitress, eyeing Starsky’s stained clothing with distaste, quickly took their orders and trotted off to the kitchen.  A long silence ensued while Starsky and Hutch stared at Billy with questioning eyes, and Billy stared at the napkin holder sitting on the table in front of him.

 

Heaving a heavy sigh, Starsky finally broke the silence.  “You wanna tell us what’s goin’ on, Billy?”

 

There was no reply from the dark-haired teenager.

 

“Look,” Starsky began again.  “I don’t know what your problem has been up ’til now, but I can give you a good idea of what your problem is gonna be if you don’t talk to us.  So far, as I understand it, you’re supposed to be on your way to Juvie for petty theft.  Right?”

 

Billy didn’t move a muscle and made no attempt to answer him.

 

“Okay.  You don’t wanna talk.”  Starsky nodded agreeably and folded his hands on the table in front of him.  “Then I’ll talk.  My partner and I have gone out of our way to help you.  However, you don’t seem to want our help.  So, as soon as we get done eating, you and me and him are going back to the car and back to Juvie where we can add assaulting two police officers to your list of crimes and guarantee you a few extra months or maybe even years in lock-up.”

 

“You can’t do that!” Billy shouted angrily, trying to free his hands from the cuffs.  “I have to get home.”

 

“Then talk to us, Billy,” Hutch said gently, his tone even and quiet.  “Tell us what’s going on.”

 

Billy fell silent once more, his conflicting emotions evident in the play of the muscles along his jaw line.  The two detectives sat quietly, patiently waiting for Billy to make the next move.  Finally, the teenager began talking once again.

 

“I have to go home,” Billy said, a slight quiver in his voice.  “I got things to take care of.”

 

“What things?” Hutch asked, reaching into his pocket to retrieve his handcuff key.  He reached behind the youth and unlocked the cuffs, gently extricating Billy’s hands from the cold metal.  Billy pulled his newly freed hands in front of him and rubbed his wrists.

 

He studied Hutch’s face a few moments and seemed to relax a little  “Thanks.  That’s a lot better.”

 

“Go on, Billy,” Starsky encouraged.  “Tell us about those things you need to take care of.”

 

Billy looked back and forth between the two detectives one more time, then took a deep breath.  “It’s my sister.  Jenny.  If I’m not there to take care of her, there’s no tellin’ what’ll happen to her.”

 

Starsky made eye contact with Hutch before he spoke again.  “What are you afraid of?”

 

Billy hesitated for only a second longer then, squaring his shoulders determinedly, he began to speak.  “It’s my stepdad, Rodney.  He bothers my sister sometimes...” Billy’s voice trailed off and he lowered his eyes, his resolve already weakening.

 

Starsky and Hutch exchanged glances, each reading the anger in the other’s eyes.  Hutch placed his good arm around Billy’s shoulders.  “Go on, Billy,” he said quietly.  “You can trust us.”

 

Billy’s eyes took on a faraway look as he began to speak, his words tumbling out as if he could no longer contain them.  “It all started three years ago when my real dad died.”  His lower lip trembled briefly, then he continued.  “Me and my mom and my sister didn’t have anything¾there was no money and my mom didn’t have a job, so we got kicked out of our house and had to go live with my grandma.  Mom got a job waiting tables, and that’s when she started to drink.”  Billy took a sip of his Coke, stalling for time while he got his emotions under control.

 

“Grandma told Mom that no one was gonna drink in her house, so we had to leave.  She tried to get Mom to leave us there, but she wouldn’t.  So we packed our stuff again and moved out to this old stinkin’ trailer outside the diner where Mom worked.  It belonged to her boss, Rodney, and eventually he moved in with us.  That’s when it got really bad.  Mom would go to work in the afternoon, then come home and drink until she fell asleep.  Me and Jenny did all the cookin’ and cleanin’ and washed our own clothes and stuff.”

 

Billy hesitated once again, his jaw muscles tensing in anger.  “Sometimes, we didn’t have no food to eat, so I’d go down to the store and...”  He looked uncertainly at the men seated beside him.  Seeing nothing but compassion in their eyes, he continued.  “Well, I’d take whatever we needed.  Then Mom and Rodney got married and I thought things might get better, but they didn’t.  Mom still stayed drunk, only now Rodney started sayin’ we had to call him ‘Dad’ and do as he said, or he’d show us what ‘Dad’ meant.”

 

“Then, last March, Jenny turned fourteen, and that’s when he started...bothering her.  He’d wait until Mom was passed out, then he’d go into her room.”  Billy’s eyes were filled with tears, and his voice was far from steady as he continued.  “I tried to stop him, honest I did!  But he would...hit me with his fists, or his belt, or whatever he could find, and he’d lock me in my room or the closet.  One time, he just hit me until he knocked me out, and when I woke up, I was layin’ in the front yard in a big mud puddle.”

 

Billy looked up at them, his eyes huge in his pale face.  “Do you know what it’s like to hear your sister cryin’ and screaming, and not be able to do anything about it?  I tried to tell my Mom one day, and she just smacked me and called me a liar.  Rodney told me he’d kill me and my sister if I ever told anyone else, then he did this.”  Billy pulled up the back of his shirt to reveal several thin scars that stretched along his lower back.  He turned in his seat so they could both get a good look before lowering his shirt again.

 

Billy was shaking now, his voice trembling with pent-up anger and fear.  “That’s why I gotta go home.  Who’s gonna take care of my sister, huh?  She needs me!”  Billy made a half-hearted attempt to push past Starsky, but Starsky stopped him.

 

There was silence at the table for a few moments as they digested what Billy had just told them.  Having come to a decision, and knowing his partner would agree, Hutch glanced briefly at Starsky before he committed himself.  The violet-blue eyes of his partner communicated all Hutch needed to know.

 

“Look, Billy,” Hutch began in a clear, calm voice that gave no hint as to the anger and revulsion he was feeling.  “Starsky and I are going to take you up to the ranch where you can get the help you need¾”

 

“You can’t do that!” Billy interrupted loudly, banging his fists on the table.  “Didn’t you hear what I just said?  My sister needs me!”

 

“Hold on just a minute there,” Starsky answered, placing a placating hand on Billy’s forearm.  “Let him finish.”  He nodded at Hutch to continue.

 

“After we drop you off, we’ll head back to the city and see if we can take care of Rodney for you.  If you’re willing to testify against him, I think we have a pretty good chance of putting him away for a while and getting your mom and sister some help, too.  But you’ve got to trust us, Billy.  It’s the only way.”

 

Billy looked back and forth between them, the first vestiges of hope piercing through the doubt and hopelessness in his eyes.  “You mean it?”

 

Starsky grinned slightly.  “Yeah, we mean it.  And if I’m not mistaken, that’s our waitress coming with our dinner.  So, while we’re eating, why don’t you tell us where we can find this Rodney character, and we’ll take it from there.”

 

 

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