Cops' Kids

C28

"Shut up!" Warren hisses. He feels like slapping both his brothers a year younger than him. He is behind them on the stairs as they walk to the dinner table. Benjamin has been instigating Tyson all day and Tyson is livid. Warren wants them to stop before Elmer catches on.

"What's going on?" Elmer asks, narrowing his eyes on the oldest three boys. Colin and Ross share an exasperated look. It's only been one day of Elmer at home but they are all already tired of him. The house isn't clean enough, the boys have too much junk, Jeremiah should be in daycare when he isn't at kindergarten instead of bothering Serena at home. It's always something with Elmer.

"Nothing, sir," Tyson mutters. All three older boys share a look. They don't want Elmer involved in their triangle of problems.

"Don't lie to me, son," Elmer blocks Tyson's path to his designated dining room chair. Benjamin tries to circle around but Elmer stops him, too. Tyson stares at his stepfather defiantly, wanting to deal with Benjamin and on his own time without a circle of witnesses so he says nothing. "I'm waiting."

"You'll be waiting a long damn time with those cops parked out front," Benjamin snickers. Yet he still stands out of Elmer's arms reach.

"Pussy," Tyson scoffs. He takes a ballsy step closer to his stepfather. A cunning glint lights in Elmers eyes. Warren shoots Tyson a look to watch his mouth, which Tyson blatantly ignores. "Your son is a little bitch." Serena gasps in shock and fear. Although Tyson was always volatile, this is pushing Elmer's buttons.

"What are you going to do about that, Benjamin?" Elmer asks. The grin on his face is bloodthirsty. Warren catches on to his stepfathers plan right away: make them hit each other if he can't hit them. Sadly, the other two do not. Benjamin strikes out first, catching Tyson's shoulder. That's all it takes for Tyson to tackle him, they hit the table as they go down, pushing it into Ross, Jeremiah and Isaiah. The two younger boys topple into each other and scramble to their mother, hiding behind her as Tyson and Benjamin roll around. Benjamin isn't as strong as Tyson. The Watson boy kneels on the floor over him, grabs a fist full of his shirt and throws punch after punch. Elmer laughs in glee, especially when Benjamin's nose starts bleeding. Warren reaches over to break up the fight but Elmer holds him back. Colin's fingers are moving around his rosary.

The cops from outside must have heard the commotion because they run inside, weapons drawn. Confusion presents itself on their faces before they put their weapons away and separate the boys. Benjamin, already in pain, doesn't fight back but Tyson's fury overwhelms him he struggles against the officer. Because of his weightlifting and boxing experience the cop has to use his baton to slow Tyson's advance down and get him in a submissive hold. Every whack from the baton makes Serena wince and Elmer's grin widen. He didn't have to lay a hand on the boys and they have bruises, courtesy of each other. That bodes well for his case. The fact that Tyson spazzed out only indicates a violent temper that Elmer would have to defend himself on occasion.

"Tyson!" Elmer's voice is sharp and the warning is clearly pronounced in the one word. Tyson stops struggling in the officers chokehold.

"We'll take Benjamin to the emergency ward," the cop that helped Benjamin up states. He meets Elmer's eyes and nods. It's the cops way of saying they'll take care of his son. The blue brotherhood is a tough one to break, even with the allegations against their chief.

"And this one will be in lockup for the night," the one that handled Tyson says, shaking the boy roughly. He locks a pair of handcuffs around Tyson's wrists. Tyson glares at Benjamin and mutters under his breath. Warren shakes his head. Every time he thinks Tyson makes progress he does something stupid like this!

"You might just be my son after all," Elmer says quietly after he sidles up to Tyson. Pride coats his voice. Only Tyson hears his words and he scoffs.