Steve's wife slept for 8 hours. About halfway through her sleep, a few hours after he had surrendered the kid, she got up to use the bathroom. On her way back to bed, she gave a quick smile and wave in his direction as he sat in the living room watching the news. Unable to see around the corner to the table where the kid had been, she gave another wave, no doubt thinking the kid was sleeping peacefully and that her happy little family awaited her once she felt like getting up. Her waving at absolutely nothing would be rather comical if it weren't for the circumstances.
It was late afternoon when she finally got up. She stumbled into the bathroom and then entered the living room a few minutes later, rubbing her eyes. He was still sitting in his chair.
"I think I finally have enough energy now to..." Her words were cut off when she finally realized the table was empty. Then she glanced back at her husband in confusion and said, "What's going on? Where is he?"
Speaking in as believable a tone as he possibly could, he said, "He's been taken."
"Taken?" Janelle asked, trying to blink the remaining sleep from her eyes and wrap her head around the situation. "What the fuck do you mean he's been taken? Taken where and by who?"
"The state took him into custody."
He could see his wife's mind whirling a mile a minute, still trying to grasp what was going on. It was like her brain was slipping down a slippery slope, and she just couldn't get a grip along the way down.
"What?! Why the hell would they take him? He hasn't even been home for a day. And how could I have slept through this? Why didn't you wake me up? What the fuck is going on, Steven?!"
"They said they would call you in two weeks."
Janelle blinked and shook her head. "Me? What? This still isn't making any sense. What the hell did they say they were taking him for?"
"They wouldn't say. You know, they never state their reasons or divulge their sources."
"Why didn't you come and get me?"
"What could you do?"
Janelle shook her head with disgust. "Well, certainly they gave you a card with some names and numbers, didn't they?"
Steven shook his head. "They didn't give me anything. They just said they would be in touch."
"Didn't give you anything? That makes no sense. Did you see the car they came in?"
"Yes, it had the state emblem on it."
"They couldn't have been real state workers. There's absolutely no reason whatsoever for them to take him, which means either someone working at the hospital made up some bullshit abuse story, or it's connected to those fucking freeloaders who obviously still can't seem to accept that attacking someone when you're pregnant isn't the smartest thing to do." Janelle was sure to add a sprinkle of racial slurs regarding the pregnant woman she had intentionally kicked in the stomach.
"All I know is that they said they would call you in a couple of weeks."
"They said 'you' as in just me?"
"Whatever."
"No, it's not 'whatever.' It’s that our kid was likely abducted by people posing as social workers. You need to remember and tell me every detail you can."
"It was a couple of people. I can't remember every single word they said. It's not like we had a conversation."
"So they just came in and said they had a report of abuse, took him, and said they'd call your wife in two weeks?"
"Basically, that's it," Steven said, with a nod.
"Don't they usually give you some kind of paperwork or tell you to go to court at a certain time?"
"They just said they'd call."
"What color were they?"
"I don't know; they were just people."
"Don't give me that shit just because you’re so pro-non-white. Be more specific. His life may very well depend on it!"
"They were just an average-looking guy and woman."
"What fucking race were they?!"
"I guess white," Steven finally relented, not wanting to make his wife suspicious. "Like I said, I was only paying attention to what was going on."
"The fact that they addressed me only and didn't give us any paperwork doesn't raise your suspicions?"
Steven gave his usual shrug. "They addressed you because I'm not the biological father."
"But we're married!" Janelle shrieked. "I tell you, this isn't right. How would they know you weren't the biological father?"
"Because of the birth certificate. Remember in the hospital how we talked about not putting my name on the birth certificate and there were people around? The hospital staff was involved in what was going on as well. They have to sign things, you know."
Janelle finally left the spot in the living room by the table where she had been standing and proceeded to walk across the room to where the phone sat on a small table by the couch. "I can't just sit back for two weeks and hope they weren't kidnappers. I'm calling the cops. I'm calling the cops and for once they're gonna work for me and protect and serve like they're supposed to."
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