"You're outta line, Corcoran!" shouts the Head of Children's Services, jabbing his podgy finger at me. I sit on the other side of the desk, smoking a cigar with roguish ease.
"I get results, Chief, and you know it."
"Bullshit!" yells Chief Collins, "That kid is under our protection. He's a child in care for God's sake! You can't swear at him!"
"That kid..." I retort, getting out of my chair and leaning towards the burly chief, "...threatened to attack me in a public supermarket. I did what I had to do. You've been stuck behind that desk too long, Chief - you don't know what it's like out there, on the street."
"I got social services on me! I got his mother on me! I got CSCI and the Directors breathing down my neck! They want someone's ass, and it's gonna be yours, Corcoran - ya hear me?!"
"Go ahead!" I shout, tossing my badge on the desk, "But know this, Chief: that kid leaves Care in 3 months and he still thinks he can threaten people in public and get away with it. So you're right - I didn't back down, I didn't follow procedure. I squared up to him, and I told him to back the fuck down. That's what happens out there in the real world. If losing my job is the price I pay to teach that kid some real-life consequences, then that's the price I pay. I'd rather act like a human being than some goddam machine!"
I flick my cigar away and storm out of the office. The Chief yells out after me, "You're suspended Corcoran! You go near a care home, I'll bust you! You try to sneak in and care for those kids illegally, I'll bust you! You wipe anyone's ass in my precinct without permission, I'll bust you!"
"You can't stop me caring, Chief!" I yell back, flicking him the finger and then striding to the carpark.
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