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sergeant_deskjob“Martin.”
Travis looked up from his report to find Sergeant Caldwell walking in his direction.
“Yes?” he asked cautiously.
“Letter came for you today.” Sergeant Caldwell dropped a plain white envelope in front of Travis.
“Letter?” he asked incredulously. “A letter? People still write letters?” Well, if whatever needed to be said wasn’t important enough to email or phone, then it clearly wasn’t too big of a deal. Travis folded it in half and stuffed it in his pocket before getting back to his report.
It wasn’t until end of shift, when he was changing out of his uniform, that Travis remembered the letter in his pocket. He pulled it out and started to open it, trying to figure out what it was meant to be about.
“What’chya got there?” another constable asked, peering over his shoulder.
Travis refolded the letter to hide it from the constable’s view. “Nothing. Piss off.”
He knew he wasn’t going to get complete privacy in the locker room, but most people at least had enough respect not to read over a person’s shoulder. Once the constable had gone, Travis opened the letter again and read it.
The first time he read it, he felt his stomach drop. It wasn’t until he reached the end that he realised he’d misunderstood the message. The second time he read it, knowing what it was about, he waited for that sick feeling to return, but was instead overwhelmed by confusion. He couldn’t figure out how he was meant to feel.
“What’s going on?” the constable asked him, noticing how he just stood there next to his open locker.
Still in half his uniform, Travis shook his head and closed the locker door. “Nothing,” he said quietly. “I, uh... I have to go.”
On his way out, he happened to spot Nicholas pulling his bicycle off of one of the racks outside the building.
“Nick,” he said quietly, oddly relieved that he hadn’t gone home yet. “Do you mind coming home with me tonight?”
Nicholas stopped and looked up at Travis. “Is everything all right?” he asked, leaving his bicycle on the rack in favour of a quiet conversation.
Travis toyed with the letter for a few moments before answering. “No, actually,” he said. “Just found out that, uhm... well, that my mum died. Over the weekend.”
“What!?” Nicholas shouted, panic-stricken.
Well, it was good to see that Nicholas still knew how to express his emotions, but Travis knew that the man was likely to give himself a heart attack if this kept up much longer.
“No, Nicholas” he insisted. “Not mum. My... mum. My mother. You know, the one I haven’t seen in over twenty years.”
“Oh.” The panic was replaced with a deep confusion. “Uhm...”
Travis sighed. “Just come home with me, would you?” he pleaded. “I really don’t want to be alone tonight.”
“Of course.” Nicholas couldn’t understand why it would bother Travis, especially since it had been decades since Travis had even mentioned his biological mother, but he went to fetch his bicycle anyway. The woman hadn’t put up any fight when the adoption had been made official, and it was over a week before she noticed that he hadn’t been home from school in the first place. But Nicholas knew that it would be safer by far to go home with him, rather than sending him home alone and having him go get blind drunk in a pub somewhere.
After freeing his bicycle from the rack, he sent Janine a quick text to explain the situation as best he knew how. Maybe she’d text back with something helpful for him to say.
Travis looked up from his report to find Sergeant Caldwell walking in his direction.
“Yes?” he asked cautiously.
“Letter came for you today.” Sergeant Caldwell dropped a plain white envelope in front of Travis.
“Letter?” he asked incredulously. “A letter? People still write letters?” Well, if whatever needed to be said wasn’t important enough to email or phone, then it clearly wasn’t too big of a deal. Travis folded it in half and stuffed it in his pocket before getting back to his report.
It wasn’t until end of shift, when he was changing out of his uniform, that Travis remembered the letter in his pocket. He pulled it out and started to open it, trying to figure out what it was meant to be about.
“What’chya got there?” another constable asked, peering over his shoulder.
Travis refolded the letter to hide it from the constable’s view. “Nothing. Piss off.”
He knew he wasn’t going to get complete privacy in the locker room, but most people at least had enough respect not to read over a person’s shoulder. Once the constable had gone, Travis opened the letter again and read it.
The first time he read it, he felt his stomach drop. It wasn’t until he reached the end that he realised he’d misunderstood the message. The second time he read it, knowing what it was about, he waited for that sick feeling to return, but was instead overwhelmed by confusion. He couldn’t figure out how he was meant to feel.
“What’s going on?” the constable asked him, noticing how he just stood there next to his open locker.
Still in half his uniform, Travis shook his head and closed the locker door. “Nothing,” he said quietly. “I, uh... I have to go.”
On his way out, he happened to spot Nicholas pulling his bicycle off of one of the racks outside the building.
“Nick,” he said quietly, oddly relieved that he hadn’t gone home yet. “Do you mind coming home with me tonight?”
Nicholas stopped and looked up at Travis. “Is everything all right?” he asked, leaving his bicycle on the rack in favour of a quiet conversation.
Travis toyed with the letter for a few moments before answering. “No, actually,” he said. “Just found out that, uhm... well, that my mum died. Over the weekend.”
“What!?” Nicholas shouted, panic-stricken.
Well, it was good to see that Nicholas still knew how to express his emotions, but Travis knew that the man was likely to give himself a heart attack if this kept up much longer.
“No, Nicholas” he insisted. “Not mum. My... mum. My mother. You know, the one I haven’t seen in over twenty years.”
“Oh.” The panic was replaced with a deep confusion. “Uhm...”
Travis sighed. “Just come home with me, would you?” he pleaded. “I really don’t want to be alone tonight.”
“Of course.” Nicholas couldn’t understand why it would bother Travis, especially since it had been decades since Travis had even mentioned his biological mother, but he went to fetch his bicycle anyway. The woman hadn’t put up any fight when the adoption had been made official, and it was over a week before she noticed that he hadn’t been home from school in the first place. But Nicholas knew that it would be safer by far to go home with him, rather than sending him home alone and having him go get blind drunk in a pub somewhere.
After freeing his bicycle from the rack, he sent Janine a quick text to explain the situation as best he knew how. Maybe she’d text back with something helpful for him to say.
