King & Kaiser

•Forty Four•

The next morning doctors and nurses were in and out checking my vitals and changing my bandages. But around the afternoon a woman dressed in a nice suit followed by a police officer.

"Kaiser Brown?" She questioned sitting in the chair in front of me.

"Who are you?" I frowned sitting up.

"I'm Paula Sanders from Children and Family Services. I'm here with Officer PoLock to talk to you about the shooting that took place four nights ago." She took out a notepad.

"Shouldn't I have a legal guardian here before talking to y'all about something like this?" 

"Well, Kaiser if you'd wish to have your brother present while we talk to you that is something that can be arranged but I must tell you that you aren't in any trouble. We just want the person responsible. Plus we're having a hard time tracking your brother down" She replied.

"I told you guys already all I saw before I passed out was the license plate number which I already gave to an officer." I sighed.

"We know, but we just need to get all the information. And your the only witness we have on record." Officer PoLock jumped in.

"I'm sorry. I told you the license plate number and I told you everything I could. The license plate on the car that was driving during the driveby was L9F-36T. I didn't see a face because I was on the ground by the time everything was even registering." I replied.

"Got you. Thank you for speaking with Officer PoLock. Me and you still need to talk." She walked him to the door and he left.

She came back to sit down and sighed.

"Where is your brother?" She asked.

"He works. So he can't come sit up with me all the time." I replied.

"I understand. But he hasn't come to see you or check on you at all. We've left multiple voice mails and it's getting to a point where we may have to put you into foster care and investigate your brother for child neglect." She revealed.

My jaw nearly dropped to the floor. 

"What do you mean foster care?! My brother takes good care of me!" I yelled.

"Kaiser, I understand your upset but if he doesn't come in by the end of today, we cannot allow him to take you home." She shrugged.

"I'm not fucking going into foster care again! I'm seventeen I can take care of my damn self if anything!" I continued.

"Because you are seventeen you're still considered a minor. We cannot allow you to go off on your own unless you are emancipated from Malcolm." She explained.

"What do I need to be emancipated?!" I mugged her.

"You need to prove a source of income, you must have a stable place to live, and prove to the court you are able to not only take care of yourself but also that you are responsible enough to do so." 

"How long does it take?" 

"You would have to give Malcolm three weeks notice that you are emancipating and then it would take up to two months for the court to process your petition to emancipate." 

"I don't have that type of time! You just said I could go into foster care by tonight!" I shrieked.

"I understand you don't want this, but it's the law. Malcolm either shows up here by five today or else we are going to have to put you in a temporary home until the investigation is over." She stood up.

She went over to the door and left.

"Fuck!" I shouted as I grabbed my phone to call Malcolm.

His phone went straight to voicemail.

I called King and he picked up on the first ring.

"Hey is Malcolm with you?!" I asked urgently.

"Nah, haven't heard from him since last night." 

"Yo tell this nigga he needs to get here by five today or they gonna put me back in foster care!" I was starting to panic.

"Foster care?! What you mean foster care?!" 

"Because I'm seventeen and technically still a minor and Malcolm ass hasn't returned CFS or the hospital calls they saying they gonna investigate him and put me in a temporary home until the investigation over." I felt myself about to cry.

"Alright, Kai just sit tight I'mma call Junior and see if we can track him down. Just try and calm down, alright? I love you." 

"I love you, too. Just please find him cause I don't want to go back to foster care." I shook my head.

"I'm not gon let that happen. I'll call you when we find him." He said before hanging up.

I knew for a fact that these CFS investigations could go on for weeks if not months. But since I'm turning eighteen in less than a month, I won't be in foster care for long. But it's still the fact that I could spend a couple weeks there. The last time I was in foster care was when our parents died. I was in there for two years until Malcolm aged out and was able to legally become my guardian. It was hell. I was in and out of homes. Most of them with more than five kids. It wasn't all bad I just had to toughen up real fast cause some kids were more fucked up than others. I try to forget that ever happened but when shit got real like right now, it always came back.

Malcolm can't be too mad to the point where he'd let this shit happen, right?