Reality Lies by D.F. Downey (books recommended by bts txt) 📖

you knew or at least thought you knew.” he said consolingly.

“Still, a month in jail, a month without her child that’s a lot to forgive.” Jackie empathized.

“You took care of her son didn’t you?” He felt the need to explain. “I found that out after you left.”

“Yes, I did. That makes it easier to face her.” she paused then added. ”Do you know how she’s getting home?”

“I’m pretty sure a squad car will take her. It’s customary, unless a friend offers.”

“Maybe I could meet her with Jay?” Jackie mused.

“That would be nice.”

“How does custody work? Do I just hand him over to her?”

“No, I think you have to wait for Child Welfare’s approval. They’d want to assure she’s in a fit state, the home is ready. Probably takes a couple of days.”

“A couple of days? I don’t think either of them would like that.”

“That’s the way it works, nothing to be done about it.” Detective Plant was sure of this.

“No, that won’t do. I know, I’ll have her stay here while they clean things up.”

“That’s a bit much, you don’t owe her that much. I mean she might be a bit off after being locked up. Do you really want to take that risk? With your son? With yourself?”

“My business, but thanks for your concern.”

“At least your husband will be home.” he said to imply he could see some reasonableness to her intention.

“Actually no, he’s out of town.” ‘Jackie stop it.’ she thought.

“Oh.” He didn’t quite understand how he felt at this revelation.

“So, who should I see?”

“See? Right. If you follow me down to the station, I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, that’ll make it much easier.”

They both stood, awkwardly silent. Finally, Jackie spoke.

“Okay then. I’ll bundle up the boys and meet you outside.”

“Right.”

He walked distractedly to the dark blue sedan. ‘What the hell are you doing Plant? She’s married. Ah what’s the harm in a little innocent flirting, nothing will come of it. A little food for the imagination that’s all.’ He couldn’t wait to see her reappear.

Meanwhile, inside, Jackie was dealing with more mundane matters. Unpacking and repacking a couple of five year olds often proved challenging. She had developed a ritual. She went through their backpacks looking for the odd teacher note or loose end picked up from the other children. She never knew what she’d find. They were in the same class but only rarely did they bring home the same day’s story. Then there were the coolers. She sent them in with snacks which they invariably bought home half eaten or untouched. When she forgot to check she was left with some mess. Still, if she even suggested they didn’t need anything, they would become very upset.

She processed the bags and got the boys out of their school clothes. It was early in the school year. It was still a novelty for them to dress up but she didn’t want to risk it on their free time.

She paused to look at herself. ‘Too much, I have to dress down. Don’t want to give the inmates or their warders too much to think about.’

She looked at herself switched back to her more traditional sweatpants and T-shirt. “Better, well not better but. . . more appropriate.”

“Okay kids, ready to go?”

“Yeah!” Robbie answered. “Where are we going, McDonald’s?”

“No, maybe later. Right now we’re going to get Jay’s mother.”

“We are?!” Jay squealed.

“Yes we are. You’ll be happy to see your mom again won’t you?”

“Yes, I miss her.” He looked away then back. “I can go home to my own room and my own toys?”

“Soon, but not right away, you and your mother will stay with us until we get everything ready.”

“Okay.” he answered happily.

“Get in the car boys.” She locked the front door and quickly headed towards the car. She turned her face towards Detective Plant. “I guess I’ll follow you.”

“Okay, see you there.”

She got caught at a light so Plant went on ahead. He was waiting for her in the parking lot, slumped against his car. She wordlessly acknowledged him then walked by his side.

“Wait here.” He went to a back room. It was several minutes before he returned. “They just have to finish processing. Then she’ll be out.”

“Detective, could you come here?” he followed the voice then returned. “She needs to see you.” he informed Jackie.

“What about?”

Plant shrugged his shoulders to indicate the extent of his knowledge. “I’ll stay with the kids.”

She followed the matron to the back. There was Johanna. She was smiling but otherwise she was a mess. She’d lost weight, her face was drawn and she had broken out in some sort of a rash. Her hair was a mess as well. She was small, unkempt and tired but she was happy to see her.

“Did you bring Jay with you?” Johanna asked brightly.

“Of course, he’s right outside.”

“I can’t wait! Mildred can I go?” she said to the matron.

“Just a little longer, we have to give you your property and have you sign for it.”

“You can keep it. I just want to go home.”

“I’d love to accommodate you but we have to get our jumpsuit back and if you try to walk out of here naked, we’d just have to arrest you again.”

They all laughed. “Okay then.” she turned to Jackie. “So how is he? I hope he remembers me. I mean. I know he remembers me but I hope he remembers how we were. He’s probably gotten used to you and Robbie. He might not be . . . the same.”

“He’ll be okay. A day or two and you’ll be right back to normal. Now you know Robbie can’t go home with you yet, right?”

“What!? What do you mean? I’m free, the charges were dropped. We’re going home!”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. Until the Child Welfare people give their permission, he has to stay with me.”

“I can’t accept that. You know that’s just plain wrong. You have to give him to me.”

“I can’t. I’m responsible.” Johanna got a dangerous look in her eyes. Jackie saw this and realized she had to speed this up. “You can stay with me, with Jay until they give me the okay. It’ll only be a couple of days.”

Johanna softened immediately, “Thank you! Thank you! That’s all I want, to be with my boy, nothing else matters.”

“Johanna here’s your stuff. Go through and make sure it matches what we took, then sign this form at the bottom. If anything’s missing there’s a form attached to file for damages. You can change back there.” Mildred pointed to a small room off the hall.

Johanna perfunctorily signed the form, barely checking her possessions. Then she took the basket and its contents and headed down the hall.

“You should put the jumpsuit in the basket.” Mildred called after her.

“Okay.”

“Johanna. I’ll be waiting outside.” Jackie said as she turned towards the door.

“I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

Jackie exited the building. “You’re relieved detective. I’ll take over.” she playfully told Plant then added, “Were they any trouble?”

“No, I was showing them my badge and some other police gadgets. They were totally engrossed. How’s she doing?”

“She’s happy to be getting out, of course, but she doesn’t look like the same woman who went in. If I hadn’t seen her on and off, I wouldn’t recognize her.”

“How long since Jay’s seen her?” Plant asked.

“Over four weeks. There’s been quite a change since then. Oh, here she comes.” She could see her coming down the hall but the boys, seated, could not.

“Thanks for everything Mildred. You’ve been really kind.”

Jay’s ears perked up at the sound of his mother’s voice. He was running to the door before Jackie could do anything.

“Mommy!” he didn’t look up as he buried his head in her leg. Then, they all saw it. As he searched for her face, her appearance changed not from within but from without. She was exactly as she always looked, exactly as Robbie saw her.

Jackie should have expected it. But no one else was prepared. Plant stared. Mildred was stunned silent. But other people, strangers, who happened to see the transformation, were more verbal in their reaction.

“Did you see that!?” exclaimed one woman nearby.

Finally Plant recovered. “You knew this was going to happen didn’t you?” He stared at Jackie looking for a hint of acknowledgment. “She changed.” Looking at Johanna, “You changed!” he blurted out. “This isn’t possible.”

Johanna realized what had happened. She didn’t know what to say and grew very uncomfortable. Jackie stepped up. “You look great. All it took was one look at your son and you were transformed!” She hoped Johanna would follow her lead.

“Yes, he has that effect on me. I’m just one of those people whose appearance is affected by their emotions.”

Ted listened warily. He knew it was more than that and it appeared that Jackie was well aware. But still, what he witnessed was unbelievable even if others had seen it. He knew it was better to let it go. “I’d say. You’re totally transformed from the woman I saw a few moments ago. I’m happy that you’re back with your son. It’s obvious you need each other.”

“Let’s get out of here.” Jackie half whispered as she took her arm. Johanna didn’t require much encouragement. They rushed to the car.

Detective Plant thought better about joining them. “I don’t want to know.” he mumbled.

“That was close.” Jackie said as they employed the privacy of the car. “I should’ve thought about it. I would have prepared Jay for your condition.”

“I did think about it” Johanna replied quietly.

Jackie was flabbergasted, “Then you should have told me.”

“I didn’t want to warn you. One of the few perks of having a gifted child is his ability to see me in an idealized state. I wanted him to dress me up. Now, I just have to work at marrying appearance to reality.”

Jackie was incredulous. “So you risked revealing your secret just so you could look good?” She became intensely aware of this flaw in Johanna’s character. “It was almost like you want people to know.”

“Maybe I do. Maybe I’m sick of it, sick of hiding. A month of jail, of separation opened me to other possibilities. Another person knowing my secret was so liberating.”

“How can you say that? Until a couple of minutes ago you were all worn down. I would hate to see you if you weren’t liberated.”

“I was free of the secret but I was still in jail. I was still separated from my son with the very real possibility that I wouldn’t be there to help him grow up.”

“Still, won’t it be dangerous for Jay if people find out he’s “special”.”

“Maybe, but right now I don’t think I have the energy to keep up the facade of normalcy. I was relieved when you found out. If the detective figures