The crowd hissed and chastised me for not intervening in their domestic problem. They called the police to help mediate and resolve their issue. Still, when they did not get what they ordered, the family threw a temper tantrum towards me. As a family man and fellow human being, I understand why they were upset. Here is this loving family trying to get their loving daughter, sister, cousin, niece, and friend into rehab, and since she won't go with them willingly, they want the police to seize her. But without a court order she has free will to go about her business. I reiterated that to the group's spokesperson, who demanded I take her "immediately."
"She does not want to go with you," I begrudgingly said. "I can't snatch her up. And if you grab her against her will, then it is battery and kidnapping. There is nothing more that I can do."
The family member lasered into me with his eyes. It gave me chills. A reminder of the feeling I would get when my father would get mad at me and only spoke to me with his eyes. The family member didn't understand my predicament or the laws of the State, or he simply did not care; the man wanted me to take action and take his cousin into custody. It is funny how he understood when I told him that he couldn't touch her because he would go to jail. So he wasn't ignorant of the law or had deaf ears to my explanation. Yet, he wanted me to do it under the color of law, which I refused because she still had rights.
"Well, Baker Act her!" (an involuntary act of committing someone to a mental hospital)
"She does not meet the State requirement of a Baker Act," I said. "Have you gone to the courts and requested a judge sign Ex Parte Petition for Involuntary Assessment and Stabilization?"
"No, we did not. We just want an intervention. We want you to intervene,"
This is frustrating. I want to help this family out, but I can do nothing. No laws are being broken. She has free will! Besides, no human can find salvation in this open parking lot, a backdrop of a Subway sandwich restaurant and a discount shoe store. This is a free society where she can move about and do what she wants in privacy. This group of people stopped listening to anything. Their shouts of anger and disdain were hurled at me like knives due to my inaction. Their pleas were not falling on deaf ears, I hear them, but the girl has rights too.
"Okay, I'll talk to her again," I told them while I turned and walked towards her.
She was a tiny thing. Five foot nothing, one – hundred pounds, if not less. She was wearing a college football hat, the brim of the hat shading her pretty face and light eyes from the sun bearing down on her weary soul. She was cute, to say the least. Her blue jeans were tight-fitting. Her top was tucked in nicely, and she had a belt to match her shoes. But don't let that deceive you. She was tough, arms crossed, and was standing her ground in this Sunday afternoon parking lot of blacktop asphalt and freshly painted lines that marked parking spots. There was no activity in the plaza, but even if it was a busy day, I believe she wouldn't move for anyone, not even a car.
"Well, here we are again."
"Yup," she said with a smile.
"You know, the support behind me in favor of your wellness is overwhelming. I see how you might not want to go with them. How about I ask them to leave, and I can ask the one person you trust to stay behind, and you can leave with them."
I triggered a thought process. She relaxed her guard a little. I was happy that she saw that I was also looking to help her. Not lecture her.
"That sounds good, but I'm not ready to get out," she said.
"That FSU logo on your hat. Is that just for looks, or did you go there?"
"I graduated from there."
"So you're an educated person who understands what you want and doesn't want," I said.
"I can tell you that I am not going with them. I just want to do my thing."
"I'm told you're running with the gangs down south. That they are using you for sex?"
"Who is using who? I am getting free drugs. So, I think of it the other way around."
"Well, that makes a little sense. But you do not feel used?"
"I'm a grown woman capable of making my own decisions. I fully understand who I am and what I want. That's not being used. I can stop when I want."
"That is what all addicts say. But you know, I have only been in your life for 20 minutes. I can offer you anything you need. I can understand why you probably won't go with me in the short time you have known me. The people who have known you the longest and know you the best are standing behind me. They can offer you love, support, rehab, anything. And you turn this down, why?"
"You don't judge me. You go about your day. If I turn down your help, you move on to the next call. They are always there. They do not understand that I am not ready. When I am ready, I will get out. But right now, I am in. They can't understand that, won't understand it, and refuse to understand it."
"Their support may not last, though. Then you will truly be on your own."
"When I am in a strange bed with a dude from the gang who just f#$ked me, and I get my fix, you don't think I am truly alone? Knowing that at any moment, I could be killed by a rival gang or overdose with no help. Believe me, no one understands what's at stake more than me. It's my life. That is reality. You, being a police officer and dealing with this daily, should relate."
"I can relate to understanding and wanting freedom to do what you want. I can't relate to shunning family. I can't understand your demons and willingness to be used as an object and not a human being. But I do not live your life or share your experiences. That said, you seem set in your way, and I can relate to that. I will let them know."
"So I can go now?"
"Hang out for one second before you go, please."
I turned from her. Deep down, I wanted her to go, but she wasn't. I did not want to face this family of about 20 and tell them that I failed to mediate the situation.
"She's not going with you, me, or anyone."
The group began yelling at me, sneering, calling out names, and wailing.
"I will just snatch her," the cousin said."
"Then you will go to jail. As I warned you before," I replied.
"Can I go now," I heard her ask out loud.
I turned back and shouted, "See ya!"
"Drugs! She has drugs in her purse! Search her purse!" someone in the crowd yelled out in a last-ditch effort.
"She won't allow me to search her purse, but I will ask.
Can I search your purse?" I shouted.
"Nope," she said and walked away.
I often think of her and wonder if she ever got out. I hope she did, but in police work, the only time you get closure from a situation like that is on an overdose call and you find them dead or near death.
That was over ten years ago. To this day, I am still determining if she ever decided to get out. There is no closure for me or the family.
