traded my life [TWD]

『7』

Despite the initial arrest and long night, I was kind of happy to be in the King County station.

I probably looked like one of those hookers that got busted when too drunk. I had cried so much- my eyes were red and puffy. My nose was swollen. I was wearing a jacket twice my size. I still had cuts and bruises from the handcuffs.

Rick arrived not long after we got there. He was dressed and ready for his shift When he walked by, I avoided eye contact by flipping the hood over my head and cowering in my seat.

I knew shit was serious when Rick and Shane went into the back office to talk. They shut the door. I could still kind of see them through the window, but when the station filled p with workers and cases for the day, it was hard to see through the crowd.

I thought about just.. leaving. They might not see me leave. I could make a break for it.

But, when Leon-Bitchass-Bassett walked by, I knew that the other officers were keeping a close eye on me while Rick and Shane came up with a plan.

It was hours. My ass was going numb from the chair. I was starving.

Then, Lori Grimes walks in the station.

Great. Just the Wicked Bitch of the South I wanted to see right now.

"Hyejin," she names, walking over to me.

You've gotta be fucking kidding me. I roll my head back to look up at her.

"Here. Rick sent me to get you some lunch. He said it's been a long night," she says and holds a bag of McDonalds out to me.

I was too hungry to care if she poisoned the food with her White Woman Tears.

"Thanks," I mumble, taking the bag.

She doesn't say anything. Instead, she sits in Rick's office chair and waits with me in silence.

I was halfway through my nuggets and fries when Shane and Rick emerged from the back.

"Thank you," Rick tells Lori, rubbing her shoulder.

"We're gonna need to take some pictures," Shane tells me.

"Of?" I ask.

"You."

I laugh once. "Yeah, no. I'm not in mugshot face right now."

"It's for evidence files."

"Evidence?" I repeat.

Shane slides another folding chair over and sits in it backwards. He looks serious. Suddenly, my appetite was gone. What the hell did he want this time?

"We need physical proof of your aunt's abuse."

I brush my hair back so he could see the skin below my ear. A giant brusie was there from a week ago's beating. 

"That enough for ya?" I ask, then slump in my chair again.

"We're putting your aunt under arrest for abuse, child endangerment, and neglect."

"What about her trying to take my dad's insurance money?"

"That, too."

I shrug. My aunt was a bitch. She only stayed with me because she wanted the money. She was a bitter old hag that couldn't marry because people saw how shitty of a person she was and her hole was too worn out and loose to satisfy someone.

"Then, what? You gonna put me in state custody?"

"No," Shane denies.

"You'll be staying with us," Rick reveals.