Chapter 3 - The Black Truck
Jake missed the bus to the halfway house because he stood on the curb reading Ben’s note again and again.
By the time he arrived, his new case manager, Ms. Patel, was waiting with crossed arms.
“You are thirty-seven minutes late.”
“My son was outside the prison.”
“That does not change your check-in time.”
“My wife died.”
The firmness in her face softened.
“You didn’t know?”
Jake shook his head.
Ms. Patel pulled out a chair. “Sit.”
For the next hour, Jake signed rules that felt like another set of bars. Curfew at seven. Mandatory job search. Weekly counseling. No overnight visits. No leaving the county without written permission.
Then she reached the line that mattered most.
“You cannot remove a minor from a legal guardian.”
“I’m his father.”
“You may still be his legal parent, but if someone else has a guardianship order, you follow it until a court changes it.”
Jake thought of Ben flinching when Todd touched him.
“What if the guardian is hurting him?”
“Then we call child protective services. We document. We do not improvise.”
Jake hated the word we.
For four years, every important thing in his life had been decided by people with keys.
That afternoon, he used the halfway house phone to call Ben’s school.
“Maple Ridge Elementary,” a woman answered.
“My name is Jake Carter. I’m Ben Carter’s father.”
Silence.
Then, “One moment.”
A teacher came on the line.
“Mr. Carter? This is Elena Alvarez. Ben is in my class.”
Jake gripped the receiver.
“Is he okay?”
Another pause.
“He is a very bright child.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Ms. Alvarez lowered her voice.
“He has been tired. He saves food from lunch. Sometimes he says he already ate when I know he didn’t.”
Jake shut his eyes.
“Has anyone reported that?”
“Yes.”
“To who?”
“I can’t discuss a student’s private record over the phone without verification.”
“I understand. I just... I need to know if he’s safe.”
“I think you should come to the school office tomorrow with identification.”
Jake looked at the clock. Curfew was less than two hours away.
“I’ll be there.”
Before he hung up, Ms. Alvarez said, “Mr. Carter?”
“Yes?”
“Ben talks about you every Friday.”
Jake’s throat tightened.
“Why Friday?”
“That’s sandwich day.”
Jake almost smiled.
Then she added, “And there’s something else. Yesterday, Ben asked me a strange question.”
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“What question?”
“He asked what happens to a child if his guardian sells the house he lives in and leaves town.”
