Interview

I woke with a start and launched myself off of the bed to grab the phone.

Hello?

Hi. This is ----- from the police. Am I speaking with ---- ?

Oh, hi. Yes, that's me.

I'm just outside. Would you mind if we came in to ask you a few questions?

Sure.

Of course he would show up on the day Waffle and I decided to snuggle up in her bed to have an afternoon nap. Of course I would be interviewed 5 minutes after coming out of a deep sleep. Typical.

I let the two men in. The house was a disaster. The kitchen table was caked with 2 days of toddler leftovers. There were toys and dishes everywhere. I hadn't gotten around to cleaning anything that day. I was tired. I apologized for the mess. I offered them coffee, juice, water. They declined. I hate when people come over and won't let me make them something.

Blue's investigator was nice. Really nice. I could tell right away that he liked Blue. He ran through a bunch of questions, questions I'd been expecting.

Has Blue done drugs? If so, when?

Does Blue drink? If so, how much? What's he like when he drinks?

What do you guys do as a family?

What are his strengths? Weaknesses?

How is Blue when he works with women?

Who are Blue's friends? What do they do?

Do you guys fight?

Have you ever gone to counselling?

What is his relationship like with his parents?

I was so nervous I had a hard time getting my words out. I didn't want to hinder, I wanted to help.

It was over soon enough and the men got up to leave. The interviewer told me that we had kids the same age, same genders. We talked about how hard it was to see our little boys go to school for the first time. What the 'letting go' was like. He asked about our house and if Blue had done all of the work himself. I said yes, but that there's lots more to do.

He asked me if I liked cops. I smiled and said I couldn't understand why other people don't.

As he left he looked at me and gave me one piece of advice. He told me that if Blue gets in, I should stop reading the newspaper.