In A Daze, With Far Away Eyes, chapter 7
"The search for little Jakob Armstrong is still on. Oakland police say the suspected kidnapper is a 35 year old male named Daniel Roland. He was arrested for the attempted murder of Green Day frontman Bi-"
I flicked the tv off, almost getting physically sick hearing that bastard's name. It had been 3 weeks since Jakob had gone missing and everyday seemed like a dream. I sat on the couch all day, waiting for a phone call that never came. Adie never said much, neither did Joey, which was strange for him. It was only a matter of time, I thought to myself.
The phone rang and I just stared at it. I knew it wasn't important. I heard my voice on the answering machine message and a beep.
"Mr. Armstrong, this is Sherrif McCartney with the Oakland Po-"
"Hello?"
"Mr. Armstrong?"
"Yes, sir."
"You can rest easier now, sir, we've found your boy."
I felt hot tears pour from my eyes. "Is he ok?"
"He's terribly dehydrated. I know he hasn't had food or water since he's been gone. He's in the hospital right now. I'm sure it's ok for you to visit him now."
I couldn't speak. The lump in my throat was blocking my words.
"Are you ok, sir?" he asked after a moment of silence.
"Yeah. Thank you so much," I choked out.
"You're welcome, Mr. Armstrong."
He hung up. I lay back on the couch and bawled my eyes out with relief. I heard the keys clinking in the door and saw Adrienne with a sack full of groceries. I stood up and ran into the kitchen and embraced her.
"Billie, what-"
"They found him, Adie, he's ok!" I sobbed into her shoulder.
"My baby's ok?" she said through a flood of tears. I nodded and held her for a few minutes. We pulled ourselves together and Adie went to get Joey from school. She told me to go to the hospital and she would meet me there. I left the house and pulled out my phone. I called Mike and Tre and they said they would be there. I reached the hospital and asked for his room. A police officer was standing outside the door, talking to one of the nurses. He saw me and shook my hand.
"He's still asleep. Looks like he hasn't slept in days, poor kid."
"I'm almost afraid to go in there."
"You were the first one he wanted to see."
I nodded and he opened the door for me. The room was dark except for the lights on his monitor. I could see his outline. He looked so much smaller and frailer than any child I had ever seen before. I braced myself against the wall and rubbed my forehead.
"Dad?" he asked weakly.
"I'm here, kid," I said, trying not to sound too scared.
"It was Dan, dad."
"I know, son. They're gonna find him. He took off before the cops got there."
"He went to Berkley," he coughed.
I sat next to him. "Did you tell the cops that?"
"I just woke up. I haven't talked to them."
"Son, they need to know, ok? Is it ok if I bring one of them in here?"
He nodded and I went right outside the door and told the cop that was standing out there when I came up said that Jakob knew where Dan was. He got out a pencil and a pad and went in there and asked him some questions.
"Did you ever see the car he was driving?" he asked him.
"It was green. I think it was a truck."
"Was it a pick up?"
"Yeah."
"The same one he was driving when we arrested him two months ago. He's the worst criminal I have ever seen. So you said he was going to Berkley?"
"Yes, sir. His mom lives there. Then he said something about Rodeo."
"Ok, so we have two possible locations. Kid, you don't know how much help this is," the cop said, smiling at Jakob. "Now you just rest up. Your family doesn't need anymore scares."
He nodded and the officer left, dialing a number on his cell phone.
"Dad, where's mom?"
"She's gone to get Joey. They'll be here soon."
"He said he was gonna kill her if I told on him, but I couldn't let him get away." A tear rolled down his small bony cheek.
I swiped it away with my thumb. "It's ok, Jake, nothing's gonna happen to mom. Their gonna catch Dan and this will all be over." I smiled and for the first time since he woke up, he smiled back.
Adrienne and Joey came into the room and Adrienne threw herself on him. Joey came and sat next to me and I draped an arm around his shoulder.
"I thought he was dead," he said to me, almost in a whisper.
"We all did. But he's gonna be alright."
"You know, he's a pain most of the time, but I wouldn't make it without him."
"Neither could I. I couldn't make it without any of you," I said, hugging him. We sat there for several hours, being a family again.
Jakob was in the hospital for 2 more weeks. He slowly got back to normal and began eating normally, if not more than normal. I woke on the morning Jakob was to come home to the sound of Adie clamoring around in the bathroom.
"Adie? You ok?" I called sleepily.
She threw the door open with a smile on her face. She came over and sat on the bed with me.
"Billie, I'm pregnant!"
My eyes grew big. "What?"
"Pregnant! I took two tests this morning and they both came back positive! We're gonna have a baby!"
I was so thrown off. Was it mine?
"Is it mine?"
"Well, who else's would it be? I haven't had sex with anyone but you in months!" she said excitedly. The excitement caught up with me.
"We're gonna have a baby!" I cried jumping up and kissing her deeply. She lay me down and laid on top of me, still kissing me.
"I love you so much, Billie," she got out between kisses.
"I love you too, Adie." I replied. We lay there for about 20 minutes before Joey came running in.
"We gotta bring Jakob home today! Get out of bed!"
"Son, it's 7:30. We can't even go to the hospital until 10," I laughed.
"Oh. Why are you two all lovey dovey?" he asked, scrunching his nose a little. He looked just like me when he did that.
"Sweetie, come here," Adie said, beckoning him over with one hand. He came over and sat on the bed.
"There's gonna be a new addition to the family," she smiled, stroking his hair.
He sat there, in thought for a moment. "You're gonna adopt?"
"No, retard," I laughed. We always called each other names. Retard was my favorite. "We're gonna have a baby."
His face lit up. "Really!?" he asked excitedly. We nodded.
"I didn't know old people could have kids!"
"Old! We're old!?" I started tickling and wrestling with him. Adrienne hopped up.
"I'll let the battle continue while I get ready," she giggled. I hopped off of the bed and went over and hugged her. "I'm so happy, baby," I whispered in her ear.
"Mmm me too." We kissed.
"Yuck," Joey grimaced.
"Go get dressed," I smiled.
"I'm afraid to leave you two alone," he smiled back and walked out of the room.
"Gutterbrain," I called to him. Adie giggled and I cupped her face in my hands and brought her up for a kiss. Things were so much better than they were two weeks before it was overwhelming. The phone rang and we reluctantly pulled away so I could get the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Mr. Armstrong, it's Sherrif McCartney again. We've caught Daniel Roland. We've got him in the interrogation room right now."
The warm sensation in my heart formed into a raging fire. I wanted to cry I was so happy.
"We've set the court date for July 15."
"We'll be there. With a lawyer," I said, smiling.
"Also, we would like Jakob to come for questioning. I know he's getting out today and I was hoping he could come by sometime this afternoon."
"That would be fine."
"Thank you for your cooperation, sir. And my thoughts are with you're family."
"Thank you."
He hung up.
"They've got Dan," I smiled at Adrienne. A smile spread across her face again.
"They want Jakob for questioning this afternoon. Is that a problem?"
"Whatever gets that piece of shit behind bars faster is fine with me," she said, hugging me. We got ready in triumph and headed toward the hospital around 10. Jakob was more than ready to be out of that small room. He said goodbye to his nurses and the doctor after his final check up and walked out to the car with us.
"Now, son, we have to stop by the police department for a while. They wanna ask you some questions about what happened."
"Did they find him?"
"Yeah, they called us this morning."
"And there's something else," Adie smiled.
"What?" he asked.
"You're gonna be a big brother."
He, just like Joey, sat and thought for a minute. "You're gonna adopt?"
"No, retard! Mom's having a baby!" Joey said, back to his normal big brother duties of making his brother sound stupid. Jakob hugged Adie's neck.
"So I finally get to pick on someone else like Joey does to me?"
"Sure why not?" I said. Adie slapped me on the shoulder and laughed.
We talked about it all the way to the police department.
"Dad, how do you get babies?"
"'Cause moms and dads do it then a few months later the baby comes out her-" I threw my hand over Joey's mouth.
"No more talking! Conversation, over!" I joked. Joey licked my hand and I pulled my hand away and wiped it on his shirt. "Gross," he said under his breath.
"You can't be talking!" I whispered to him.
"Children!" Adrienne laughed. We reached the sherrif's office and walked in the door.
"Hello. Jakob, how are you doing?"
"Fine," Jakob smiled.
"Good. Detective Moran wants to ask you a few questions. Just follow me." He led Jakob out of the office. I gave him a reassuring smile, seeing the rising nervousness in his expression.
"You can come if you want," he told us. We followed him into the room behind the two way glass. He sat Jakob down at a table and Detective Moran came into the room. We couldn't hear what they were saying until Sherrif McCartney came in and turned on the speaker.
"So tell me what happened the day you were kidnapped."
"I was outside at school playing soccer with my friend T. J. And the bell rang. I started walking toward the building and I saw something behind one of the walls. I walked over and looked to see what it was and he grabbed me."
"Did he hurt you?"
"He put something over my mouth. It tasted nasty. The next thing I remember I was lying on the floor in his basement."
"What did he do to you while you were with him?"
"He hit me a lot. Even when I didn't do anything. And he always talked about my mom. He said stuff about when he had sex with her."
I looked over at Adrienne, who had thrown her hand over her mouth.
"He told me everything he did to her and how he liked it when she would start crying and begging him to stop."
Adie buried her head in her hands. I pulled her close to my chest. Joey looked up at me.
"So he raped your mother?"
"That's what he said."
"Did he ever touch you, you know, inappropriately?"
He started to seem a little uncomfortable.
"It's ok, son, it happens all the time. If he did, you can tell me."
"Well, he did...a couple of times."
I closed my eyes and tried not to get sick. Filthy bastard.
"He never...had sex with you, did he?"
"No."
My stomach unclenched a little but I still made an effort not to lose my breakfast.
"Tell me what happened the day before you were found."
"I don't really remember. I was really hungry, and that's about all I remember. He did say something about killing my mom if I told on him. He knew he was about to get caught. He was packing his bags and talking about going to Berkley."
"That's where we found him. You were unconscious in his trunk when we found you."
Jakob looked down at his feet.
"Are you ready to go home, now, son?" he asked.
Jakob nodded.
"You're free to go. And don't worry, this guy isn't gonna see the light of day for a long time, ok?"
Jakob nodded again.
"You may be one of the luckiest kids in any of these kinds of cases. 95% of the kids kidnapped don't come home alive.
I saw Jakob rub his eyes.
"You can go." Jakob got up and walked out of the room into the small room we were all in. The four of us hugged for a few minutes and left the police department. Jakob didn't say anything the whole way home and went straight to his room when we got there.
"Maybe he should go to a therapist, Billie. He's been through life-altering things these past few weeks."
I nodded. "We'll talk to him about it." I kissed her forehead.
I flicked the tv off, almost getting physically sick hearing that bastard's name. It had been 3 weeks since Jakob had gone missing and everyday seemed like a dream. I sat on the couch all day, waiting for a phone call that never came. Adie never said much, neither did Joey, which was strange for him. It was only a matter of time, I thought to myself.
The phone rang and I just stared at it. I knew it wasn't important. I heard my voice on the answering machine message and a beep.
"Mr. Armstrong, this is Sherrif McCartney with the Oakland Po-"
"Hello?"
"Mr. Armstrong?"
"Yes, sir."
"You can rest easier now, sir, we've found your boy."
I felt hot tears pour from my eyes. "Is he ok?"
"He's terribly dehydrated. I know he hasn't had food or water since he's been gone. He's in the hospital right now. I'm sure it's ok for you to visit him now."
I couldn't speak. The lump in my throat was blocking my words.
"Are you ok, sir?" he asked after a moment of silence.
"Yeah. Thank you so much," I choked out.
"You're welcome, Mr. Armstrong."
He hung up. I lay back on the couch and bawled my eyes out with relief. I heard the keys clinking in the door and saw Adrienne with a sack full of groceries. I stood up and ran into the kitchen and embraced her.
"Billie, what-"
"They found him, Adie, he's ok!" I sobbed into her shoulder.
"My baby's ok?" she said through a flood of tears. I nodded and held her for a few minutes. We pulled ourselves together and Adie went to get Joey from school. She told me to go to the hospital and she would meet me there. I left the house and pulled out my phone. I called Mike and Tre and they said they would be there. I reached the hospital and asked for his room. A police officer was standing outside the door, talking to one of the nurses. He saw me and shook my hand.
"He's still asleep. Looks like he hasn't slept in days, poor kid."
"I'm almost afraid to go in there."
"You were the first one he wanted to see."
I nodded and he opened the door for me. The room was dark except for the lights on his monitor. I could see his outline. He looked so much smaller and frailer than any child I had ever seen before. I braced myself against the wall and rubbed my forehead.
"Dad?" he asked weakly.
"I'm here, kid," I said, trying not to sound too scared.
"It was Dan, dad."
"I know, son. They're gonna find him. He took off before the cops got there."
"He went to Berkley," he coughed.
I sat next to him. "Did you tell the cops that?"
"I just woke up. I haven't talked to them."
"Son, they need to know, ok? Is it ok if I bring one of them in here?"
He nodded and I went right outside the door and told the cop that was standing out there when I came up said that Jakob knew where Dan was. He got out a pencil and a pad and went in there and asked him some questions.
"Did you ever see the car he was driving?" he asked him.
"It was green. I think it was a truck."
"Was it a pick up?"
"Yeah."
"The same one he was driving when we arrested him two months ago. He's the worst criminal I have ever seen. So you said he was going to Berkley?"
"Yes, sir. His mom lives there. Then he said something about Rodeo."
"Ok, so we have two possible locations. Kid, you don't know how much help this is," the cop said, smiling at Jakob. "Now you just rest up. Your family doesn't need anymore scares."
He nodded and the officer left, dialing a number on his cell phone.
"Dad, where's mom?"
"She's gone to get Joey. They'll be here soon."
"He said he was gonna kill her if I told on him, but I couldn't let him get away." A tear rolled down his small bony cheek.
I swiped it away with my thumb. "It's ok, Jake, nothing's gonna happen to mom. Their gonna catch Dan and this will all be over." I smiled and for the first time since he woke up, he smiled back.
Adrienne and Joey came into the room and Adrienne threw herself on him. Joey came and sat next to me and I draped an arm around his shoulder.
"I thought he was dead," he said to me, almost in a whisper.
"We all did. But he's gonna be alright."
"You know, he's a pain most of the time, but I wouldn't make it without him."
"Neither could I. I couldn't make it without any of you," I said, hugging him. We sat there for several hours, being a family again.
Jakob was in the hospital for 2 more weeks. He slowly got back to normal and began eating normally, if not more than normal. I woke on the morning Jakob was to come home to the sound of Adie clamoring around in the bathroom.
"Adie? You ok?" I called sleepily.
She threw the door open with a smile on her face. She came over and sat on the bed with me.
"Billie, I'm pregnant!"
My eyes grew big. "What?"
"Pregnant! I took two tests this morning and they both came back positive! We're gonna have a baby!"
I was so thrown off. Was it mine?
"Is it mine?"
"Well, who else's would it be? I haven't had sex with anyone but you in months!" she said excitedly. The excitement caught up with me.
"We're gonna have a baby!" I cried jumping up and kissing her deeply. She lay me down and laid on top of me, still kissing me.
"I love you so much, Billie," she got out between kisses.
"I love you too, Adie." I replied. We lay there for about 20 minutes before Joey came running in.
"We gotta bring Jakob home today! Get out of bed!"
"Son, it's 7:30. We can't even go to the hospital until 10," I laughed.
"Oh. Why are you two all lovey dovey?" he asked, scrunching his nose a little. He looked just like me when he did that.
"Sweetie, come here," Adie said, beckoning him over with one hand. He came over and sat on the bed.
"There's gonna be a new addition to the family," she smiled, stroking his hair.
He sat there, in thought for a moment. "You're gonna adopt?"
"No, retard," I laughed. We always called each other names. Retard was my favorite. "We're gonna have a baby."
His face lit up. "Really!?" he asked excitedly. We nodded.
"I didn't know old people could have kids!"
"Old! We're old!?" I started tickling and wrestling with him. Adrienne hopped up.
"I'll let the battle continue while I get ready," she giggled. I hopped off of the bed and went over and hugged her. "I'm so happy, baby," I whispered in her ear.
"Mmm me too." We kissed.
"Yuck," Joey grimaced.
"Go get dressed," I smiled.
"I'm afraid to leave you two alone," he smiled back and walked out of the room.
"Gutterbrain," I called to him. Adie giggled and I cupped her face in my hands and brought her up for a kiss. Things were so much better than they were two weeks before it was overwhelming. The phone rang and we reluctantly pulled away so I could get the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Mr. Armstrong, it's Sherrif McCartney again. We've caught Daniel Roland. We've got him in the interrogation room right now."
The warm sensation in my heart formed into a raging fire. I wanted to cry I was so happy.
"We've set the court date for July 15."
"We'll be there. With a lawyer," I said, smiling.
"Also, we would like Jakob to come for questioning. I know he's getting out today and I was hoping he could come by sometime this afternoon."
"That would be fine."
"Thank you for your cooperation, sir. And my thoughts are with you're family."
"Thank you."
He hung up.
"They've got Dan," I smiled at Adrienne. A smile spread across her face again.
"They want Jakob for questioning this afternoon. Is that a problem?"
"Whatever gets that piece of shit behind bars faster is fine with me," she said, hugging me. We got ready in triumph and headed toward the hospital around 10. Jakob was more than ready to be out of that small room. He said goodbye to his nurses and the doctor after his final check up and walked out to the car with us.
"Now, son, we have to stop by the police department for a while. They wanna ask you some questions about what happened."
"Did they find him?"
"Yeah, they called us this morning."
"And there's something else," Adie smiled.
"What?" he asked.
"You're gonna be a big brother."
He, just like Joey, sat and thought for a minute. "You're gonna adopt?"
"No, retard! Mom's having a baby!" Joey said, back to his normal big brother duties of making his brother sound stupid. Jakob hugged Adie's neck.
"So I finally get to pick on someone else like Joey does to me?"
"Sure why not?" I said. Adie slapped me on the shoulder and laughed.
We talked about it all the way to the police department.
"Dad, how do you get babies?"
"'Cause moms and dads do it then a few months later the baby comes out her-" I threw my hand over Joey's mouth.
"No more talking! Conversation, over!" I joked. Joey licked my hand and I pulled my hand away and wiped it on his shirt. "Gross," he said under his breath.
"You can't be talking!" I whispered to him.
"Children!" Adrienne laughed. We reached the sherrif's office and walked in the door.
"Hello. Jakob, how are you doing?"
"Fine," Jakob smiled.
"Good. Detective Moran wants to ask you a few questions. Just follow me." He led Jakob out of the office. I gave him a reassuring smile, seeing the rising nervousness in his expression.
"You can come if you want," he told us. We followed him into the room behind the two way glass. He sat Jakob down at a table and Detective Moran came into the room. We couldn't hear what they were saying until Sherrif McCartney came in and turned on the speaker.
"So tell me what happened the day you were kidnapped."
"I was outside at school playing soccer with my friend T. J. And the bell rang. I started walking toward the building and I saw something behind one of the walls. I walked over and looked to see what it was and he grabbed me."
"Did he hurt you?"
"He put something over my mouth. It tasted nasty. The next thing I remember I was lying on the floor in his basement."
"What did he do to you while you were with him?"
"He hit me a lot. Even when I didn't do anything. And he always talked about my mom. He said stuff about when he had sex with her."
I looked over at Adrienne, who had thrown her hand over her mouth.
"He told me everything he did to her and how he liked it when she would start crying and begging him to stop."
Adie buried her head in her hands. I pulled her close to my chest. Joey looked up at me.
"So he raped your mother?"
"That's what he said."
"Did he ever touch you, you know, inappropriately?"
He started to seem a little uncomfortable.
"It's ok, son, it happens all the time. If he did, you can tell me."
"Well, he did...a couple of times."
I closed my eyes and tried not to get sick. Filthy bastard.
"He never...had sex with you, did he?"
"No."
My stomach unclenched a little but I still made an effort not to lose my breakfast.
"Tell me what happened the day before you were found."
"I don't really remember. I was really hungry, and that's about all I remember. He did say something about killing my mom if I told on him. He knew he was about to get caught. He was packing his bags and talking about going to Berkley."
"That's where we found him. You were unconscious in his trunk when we found you."
Jakob looked down at his feet.
"Are you ready to go home, now, son?" he asked.
Jakob nodded.
"You're free to go. And don't worry, this guy isn't gonna see the light of day for a long time, ok?"
Jakob nodded again.
"You may be one of the luckiest kids in any of these kinds of cases. 95% of the kids kidnapped don't come home alive.
I saw Jakob rub his eyes.
"You can go." Jakob got up and walked out of the room into the small room we were all in. The four of us hugged for a few minutes and left the police department. Jakob didn't say anything the whole way home and went straight to his room when we got there.
"Maybe he should go to a therapist, Billie. He's been through life-altering things these past few weeks."
I nodded. "We'll talk to him about it." I kissed her forehead.
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