No Cops!

Chapter 27

She didn't know where Jake was taking her, so Suzy dressed in jeans and a nice top. They took the subway and then the bus, to an obscure corner of Brooklyn which Suzy had never seen.

They walked a couple of blocks to a greenish brown building.

Jake led her on via the rickety elevator to level three.

The door opened to a woman sitting at the reception who smiled brightly at Jake and lumbered her big frame over to give him a hug.

"Oh, so nice to see you, Sergeant! The kids will be delighted to have you."

"I would be delighted as well, Sandra. This is my friend, Suzy." He gestured to her and the grey-haired motherly Sandra shook her hand.

"Lovely to meet you, I'll sign you in."

After the signing formalities, they stepped inside the glass topped door. The place was old but it was immaculately cleaned. It looked like a nursery of some sort, with rooms housing babies and toddlers and then raucous preschoolers romping about.

She guessed this to be an orphanage, but Jake said, "All these children live here, Suze. Even when their parents are alive."

A few kids rushed to hug Jake. He brought out a bag of candies from his pocket and the kids went wild, running away with the bag.

"Why do they live here then?" she asked, genuinely confused. All the kids seemed to be in good health.

"Their parents are incarcerated. A few are in drug rehabilitation. This facility houses these kids before releasing them to foster care."

"Oh." A profound sadness washed over her. "That's terrible."

Even in the darkest periods of her life, she always had a home.

"I'm glad the Government is taking such good care of them." She said to Jake.

One of the rooms was a reading room and this is where they found themselves.

Jake was soon surrounded by kids demanding a read and he picked a Dr. Seuss' book, reading slowly and with dramatic effect. The kids squealed with joy and Suzy's heart clenched, she was hopelessly smitten, even more than she thought possible.

A few adult sized plastic chairs were strewn about, and she seated herself, gazing at Jake. He was in his element, laughing and joking with the kids. His eyes kept straying to hers and she found herself blushing, for no apparent reason. That she was crazy about him would be as plain as day.

A young girl of about three tapped on her knee. She handed her a small, bedraggled doll.

"Suzy-Anne needs to sleep, can you rest her on her lap while I go to work?" She asked. Grinning ear to ear, Suzy obliged.

The little girl got in an imaginary car, drove around, and pretended to read something. Suzy observed her antics with a barely suppressed smile. Soon, she "drove" back home and asked for her doll back.

Suzy handed the doll like a baby, and said, "You know, I'm Suzy too. What's your name?"

"Darla," she started sucking her thumb. "I'm also waiting for my mom, once she comes home from work, we will go home."

Her matter-of-fact tone made Suzy's throat clench.

When Jake came to collect her, she was solemn.

"There's a reason we visited here today, isn't there?" she asked.

He took a seat next to her on a plastic chair. "What did you think of little Darla?" he asked, changing the subject.

Oh, he was cruel!