Free Street Justice by Trevor Shand Page A

by.
                  Her office was on the second floor of the Health and Human Resources building in downtown Seattle. It was not a large office but it did have a window, Katie noted with pride. Offices were given based upon seniority and having a window showed she had been working as a probation officer for juveniles for longer than most. The daylight streaming in the windows made the chipped paint on the walls look sea foam green. The desk was a dark wood and had been in the office when Katie moved in years ago. It was beaten and battered, but was sturdy and had many years left in it. Katie appreciated her desk.
                  She grabbed her coffee cup and headed down the hall to the break room. She reached the coffee maker to find whoever had drank the last of the pot had not made more. She dutifully made another pot and waited for it to brew then poured herself a cup, taking it black and without sugar. She carried the mug in both hands, letting the heat warm her hands a bit, on her way back to her office. She sat at her desk, reached to her right and opened the top drawer. Inside was a small construction paper note, in beautiful colors that said, “I love you Mommy.” She kept the note in her drawer so it could not be seen by anyone ells, especially her clients. It was department policy but one with which she agreed. Her cheeks broadened in a smile, she enjoyed the moment briefly, then closed the drawer.
    Leaning left, she pulled open the bottom drawer. The drawer held hanging files. She let her fingers walk across the tops of the files until she found “Tylor, Devon.” She pulled Devon’s file and started glancing through it, though she knew every word. Devon had been in and out of her office so many times she could nearly recite the contents of the file from memory. He was a good kid, Katie thought, but he just travelled with the wrong crowd and put himself in bad situations. For all his troubles, Katie felt she still had a chance to get through to him, to break his habits and set him on a better path.
                  Devon was her first appointment this morning and while most children came in with a parent, Katie knew Devon’s mom would not be bothered and his father wasn’t around, so Devon would come alone. At nine exactly, her phone rang. She answered it, and the receptionist let her know that Devon had arrived. Katie said to send him back down the hall to her office. Katie would go escort any newer cases but Devon knew his way and she trusted him to find it. A few minutes later, Devon knocked on the door to her office and waved through the window with a large smile.
                  Katie smiled back and motioned for him to come in. 
                  Devon opened the door just enough to slip through, then closed it behind him. Devon was dressed in his work uniform. He wore dark blue jeans, that bunched around his lower legs and the waist sat around the middle of his rear end, showing several inches of underwear. He wore a long white tee shirt that was tucked into the front of his jeans. His baseball hat was skewed to the right, brim straight as a board and the sticker declaring it an official Fifty-Nine Fifty cap still in place. His white and blue shoes shone as if they had just come out of the box.
                  “HI Ms. Verd,” Devon said as he sat down. The wooden chair creaked as it took his weight.
                  “Hello, Devon, how are you this morning?”
                  “I’m fine,” Devon replied looking down at his hands rather than at Katie.
                  “Devon, look at me, please,” Katie requested. Devon raised his eyes to meet hers. She continued, “You seem nervous, what’s going on?”
                  Devon mumbled a reply but did not look away.
                  “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Katie prompted.