Free This Thing of Darkness by Barbara Fradkin

second thoughts. And the son needs to be investigated, whether Rosenthal wanted him disinherited or not.” He studied the resentment and uncertainty on her face and tried to soften his tone. “The way the economy is now, the son may have fallen on hard times and recently incurred huge debts.”
    She flipped her ponytail in exasperation.“With due respect, sir, we don’t know what that ‘no’ means. Maybe the father was angry, then later regretted it. It was all a long time ago.”
    â€œI’ll give you more men, if that’s an issue.”
    â€œIt is not an issue. Priorities are the issue. For sure this son will get my attention, along with all the gang punks in the city.” She caught herself and forced a tight smile. “But thank you for the offer, sir. I will let Staff Sergeant Sullivan know if I need it.”
    Green caught the borderline insubordination in the woman’s retort and was tempted to call her on it, but stopped himself. She was like looking in a mirror, ten years ago, when he thought he knew everything. If she was as good as Sullivan believed, she would learn better soon enough.

    Green forced himself to behave for the rest of the day, and by five o’clock he had a passable action plan drafted for Superintendent Devine to address the spike in domestic assaults. It would never be implemented, of course, but that wasn’t the point. It was ammunition for debates on the police budget at City Council, not to mention feathers for Barbara Devine’s Deputy Chief nest. Of course, the real way to prevent the spike would be to get rid of September, with all the stresses it placed on families after the casual, relaxed days of summer. He and Sharon had only two children, of very disparate ages, and yet they felt the stress of finding new schools, resuming full-time work hours, and juggling after-school activities.
    To Green’s astonishment, Tony was going to kindergarten, and Hannah, true to her word, was trying out full-time Grade Twelve in the regular neighbourhood high school. For the occasion, she was letting her hair grow out, transforming the orange-tipped spikes into softer waves. She’d cut back on the black eye-liner and heroin-addict make-up, allowing her freckles and innocent hazel eyes to shine through. For the first time, Green saw not only his mother but himself in her face.
    Naturally, the transformation required a new wardrobe. Hannah was a social animal astute enough to recognize that black rags and metallic studs would not earn her acceptance with the earnest children of the organic-food, eco-conscious set in their neighbourhood. Tony too needed brand new clothes, since last winter’s wardrobe was now several inches too short. The strain on their family budget and their time was enormous.
    In fact it was Green’s turn to pick up Tony from the sitter and take him to The Bay for a fashion outing that Sharon had dubbed a father-son bonding experience, no doubt with tongue firmly in cheek. Green’s fashion sense did not extend beyond matching his cleanest pants to his favourite T -shirt, and Tony’s two-minute attention span, together with his determination to do as he pleased, made any excursion a test of endurance and willpower.
    Sometimes domestic assault was a simple matter of tipping the balance too far.
    Nonetheless, Green had managed to outline a five-point action plan for Devine that involved changes to police response at several levels, from first responding through laying of charges, and he’d thrown in enough buzz words— community partnerships, alternative dispute resolution, strategic intervention—that Devine would be salivating. He was just locking up his desk when he heard the elevator open and saw Brian Sullivan stride out, the tell-tale hint of high blood pressure on his dusky face. Sullivan spotted him and veered over, his colour deepening further. Green wondered if Levesque had complained again.