The doorbell rang and I walked down the stairs.  As soon as I saw the police car in my driveway, I knew.  The detective introduced himself.  He was very nice.  He asked if I had heard about the incident down the road.  I had.  Everybody had.  It was all over the news - tv, radio, newspapers.  We chatted about my son.  Did I know where he was that night.  I did not.  He showed me a hat - but it wasn't one I recognized.  He stayed on my front porch for 20 minutes easily.  "Give me a call if you can think of anything," he said as he handed me his card.  But at that point, I knew a lot.  That stone that had been sitting in my stomach the past few days jumped into my throat.  I knew what the "stupid" thing was.

18 is a terrible age.  Legally, you become an adult.  But, there's nothing adult about most 18 year olds.  There's too much child left in the adult bodies.  They've not had to be truly "responsible".  They expect the lights to come on when they flip a switch.  They expect snacks in the cabinet.  They don't understand what it takes to make those things happen.  My son turned 18 in October and it was a nightmare just keeping him in school until December.  It was an accomplishment that he received his diploma even if he did refuse to walk through the ceremony - not even for his mama.  After he graduated, he drifted.  He worked some but had trouble keeping a job.  He started technical school but dropped out.  Then he started going missing for days at a time.  December age 18 to December age 19 was a year that seemed to go on for ten years.  How do you "fix" a broken teenager who thinks he knows everything and who believes he is bulletproof?

Then the call came.  I answer my cell at work and my husband says, "It's over.  They got him."  I hate to say there was relief, but there was.  It was the sound of the other shoe dropping.  And now there would be no more disappearing.  We would know his whereabouts and could rest in the knowledge there was a roof over his head and food in his stomach.  There are worse things than jail.

And maybe, maybe this is what was needed to save him before it was too late.

I hope.

To be continued...