After letting him fester in his own thoughts for a while, the door finally opened and a man he hadn't seen before walked in.
Unlike the others, this man wasn't dressed in a police uniform. Instead, he was wearing a white button down shirt and a pair of blue slacks. He was about middle aged, with graying hair and a full moustache on his upper lip. The man looked exactly like a stereotypical detective you would see in movies or on TV.
The man sat down in the remaining chair, which was across from Kaden. Crossing his legs, he put a file on the table and leaned back in his chair.
"Kaden was it? My name is Joseph and I am a detective here at the precinct, you can just call me Joe," The detective had an easy going attitude.
Kaden nodded and waited for the man to continue, he wasn't going to carry the conversation.
"We've already interviewed your foster siblings, but I'm still going to need to hear the story from you," The detective cleared his throat and leaned in, pulling out a pen to jot some things down on the file, "If you would please just go ahead. Make sure you start from the beginning and don't leave anything out."
Kaden recounted the story to the man, explaining how Bill had gotten aggressive and started hitting him. And how he had tried to defend himself, but hadn't been able to do much until he resorted to the table leg in a panic.
"Your story lines up quite well with what we've heard from the other children, though none of them were there to see how it began. I may as well make it clear now, we aren't going to be pressing charges against you."
Kaden felt so relieved, but also a little confused. Was it really that easy? He hadn't thought it would be.
"You're surprised huh?" The detective's eyes were kind and his lips curled up into a friendly smile, "Listen Kaden, we don't put people away for an act of self defense. Especially not wards of the state, whom have been put in dangerous situations because of our neglect. From what I have heard today, your foster parents should've been locked away a long time ago. Rest assured that we will investigate matters regarding Jill as well."
Kaden nodded, glad to hear it all. It felt like he had been through a roller coaster of emotions today.
"So what happens now?" Kaden asked.
"Well, technically you're free to go. But it's not that simple, because you're a minor we can't just let you leave. Do you have someone you can call?"
"Maybe…" Kaden could only really come up with one, but he wasn't sure if that person would come.
"Good, let me get you out of those cuffs and I'll give you some privacy. I know you have your phone, because that's how we found you," The detective gave him a cheeky smile and chuckled.
Kaden couldn't but laugh a bit too, he was a lot more relaxed now that the situation wasn't so serious. Even if the person he had in mind wouldn't pick him up, he knew he would just have to stay in a group home for the time being. If that ended up happening, he could try to get emancipated when he turned 16.
The detective let him out of his cuffs, and then left the room to give him some privacy for his call.
Kaden looked at his barren contact list that only had a few people on it. He was hesitating a bit now, but there was nothing to do but go through with it. What was the worst that could happen? That he got a no? Not that bad in comparison to him believing he might be going to prison earlier.
His finger tapped the contact he had marked as old man, and the phone began dialing. It only took a few seconds before the call was picked up.
"Hello?" Came the elderly voice from the other end of the line.
Kaden gulped, just how did he explain this?
Just like he had done with the detective, he started from the beginning, explaining everything that had happened and why he had called. The old man was quite shocked to hear it, but when Kaden had finished, he immediately agreed to come and pick him up.
*****
The old man took less than 20 minutes to come and get him, and they soon left the station together.
During the waiting period, Kaden had hoped to speak to Aria, but she was already gone. An officer at the station told him that child protective services had come and taken them all away. Unlike him, she didn't have a phone, so he couldn't even text or call her.
The old man took him to his house, which he found out was only about a kilometer away from the boxing gym.
"This is your room," The old man showed him a tiny room with a bed and a small desk, "I know it's not much—"
"It's perfect!" Kaden cut him off, a big smile on his face. And he really meant it, it was perfect and more than he had expected. He was prepared to sleep on a couch like he did in the boxing gym, as long as he had a place to stay it was all fine.
In his entire life, he had never had a room that he could call his own before. From as far back as he could remember and until now, he had been staying in that lousy room in Bill and Jill's house. They were always at least five children staying there, but it happened often that all eight beds were taken, it made it quite cramped at times.
That was why he was so happy. The size and furniture didn't matter, it was incredibly just to have something for himself.
"I'm glad you think so," A wide smile covered the old man's face, "Most of your things are in the boxing gym, so I suppose you can just go and get them when you feel like it."
"Yeah, I will," Kaden replied, looking around the room that was now his. Only his, he didn't have to share it with anyone.
"Listen I…" The old man hesitated, looking like he was thinking, "I'm not too great at this, but I'm here if you need to talk. Are you feeling okay?" He looked at Kaden in concern.
"I'm fine now," Kaden felt perfectly fine, and it surprised even himself how well he was feeling. It was slightly uncomfortable to think of how quickly he'd gotten accustomed to what happened.
"Are you sure? It's hard to come to terms with… Killing someone. Even though it wasn't your fault, the guilt can eat you up from inside," A sorrowful look graced the old man's face, "I'm speaking from experience here."
Kaden raised an eyebrow, he hadn't known this, "What happened?"
"Boxing… The truth is that it's a dangerous sport. I had a fight with a stubborn guy, a real fighter. No matter how many times I knocked him down, he just kept getting back up on his feet. He didn't want to give up, he wanted to keep fighting. I really admired that about him, but it didn't end well.
"In the end I knocked him down one too many times, and he didn't regain consciousness. He had to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher, later he died of a cerebral hemorrhage while in the hospital. It's the reason I retired.
"Anyway," The old man cleared his throat, wiping something from his eyes, "I'm here if you need someone to talk to."
"Thanks I appreciate that, and really… I'm feeling fine. At first, I just felt so guilty, like it was all my fault. I didn't know what to do, that's why I ran away. But I'm better now. I still see his body lying on the ground when I close my eyes, but, it's not bothering me as much anymore." Kaden said.
"Good," The old man just watched him for a moment, then nodded, "I'll just leave the offer on the table, come to me anytime if you feel the need. Anyway, I'll leave you alone to check out the room and settle in." The old man left and shut the door behind him.
Now all by himself, Kaden laid down on the bed. Immediately he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.
It had been a long and tense few hours. It was only a bit over 11:30, not much time had passed at all. He supposed it wasn't too late to grab a short nap. He felt too exhausted, yeah, for now he needed to rest a bit.
It was almost like he had taken a sleeping pill, he was just that exhausted. He hadn't even taken off his clothes when he went out like a light, deeply asleep on the comfortable bed.