“Wait… what?”  Patrick asked, rearing his head to look at his best friend.  “I know I’m a bit younger than you, so I should be a little quicker, but you’re going to have to slow this down for me.”  He elaborated, tossing a handball back and forth between his hand as he sat on Jon’s couch.
 
“I don’t know Patrick, I wish you could meet her, then maybe you’d understand.”  Jon sighed.  “I mean, she was stealing food for Christ stake!”  Jon shook his head.  “At her age, my mom was practically feeding me in my sleep and this girl can’t even get food at [i]home[/i]?”
 
“So, how old is she again?  I’d just like to get the full story so when the police come knocking on my door I can give them the correct details.”  Patrick explained, earning him half a smack upside his head.  “Shit.” He frowned, running his hands through his curls softly.  “Be nice.”  He scolded his best friend.  “Seriously though, Jon, what are you trying to do?  Kidnap this girl from her parents or something because they won’t buy her grapes?”  He asked.
 
“I wish I could tell you what I’m thinking, but [i]I[/i] don’t even know what to think.”  Jon said, plopping down into his soft, plush, Lay-Z-Boy recliner that was parked just off-center from this flat screen.  “I mean, fuck, you should hear the way she talks about her parents, she doesn’t even call them Mom and Dad and she talks about them like they beat her or something.”  He spoke softly before he slowly came to a terrifying realization.  “Patrick, what if her parents hit her?”  Jon asked, feeling like his heart was filling with solid lead.
 
“Did you see any bruises?”  Patrick asked, slightly worried himself.
 
“No, but… fuck, I don’t know!”  Jon nearly screamed, wanting to pull at his hair.  “He talks about them like they’re no better than the scum on her shoes.”  He added.  “And their house, you should have seen their house, it looks like something from the aftermath of Katrina.”  He pointed out.  “It looked dilapidated and the yard was covered in toys and the siding was practically peeling off, holes in the roof, the fence looked downright dangerous.  I felt like shit actually leaving there.”  He shook his head as he stole the handball from his best friend, squeezing the small balloon filled with sand.
 
“I don’t know what to tell you man, I mean, what are the chances you’ll actually run into this kid again, huh?” Patrick asked, feeling bad about how torn up his friend was becoming over a stranger.  It really was a true testament to his character and big heart.
 
“I’m going to find her, Patrick.”  Jon said decidedly, eyes focused on his front door as he squeezed the sand in his hand, not noticing the [i]very[/i] uncomfortable expression on Patrick’s face.
 
“Jon, that’s where I gotta say you should draw the line.”  Patrick shook his head.  “I mean, how would this sound to you, huh?  Twenty-three year old man stalks a seriously underage girl.”  Patrick mocked, spreading his hands apart as to mimic the headline of the newspaper.
 
“If you could see this girl, Pat, she looked like she hadn’t showered in a week, she’s so skinny that her clothes hang off of her and her shoes were worn through the bottom.  Those parents are neglecting that kid, with enthusiasm.”  He added.  “And I guess, I guess I just can’t know that’s happening and allow it to continue to happen.”  He shook his head for what felt like the millionth time that night.  “I have to do [i]something[/i].”  He finished.  “It’s what any right-thinking person would do… right?”  He looked to his closest and dearest friend besides maybe his own brother.
 
“I feel like if [i]you[/i] feel like you’re doing the right thing, then you should do it.”  Patrick encouraged.  “But then again, Hitler thought he was doing the right thing, too.”  He added as an afterthought that earned him, this time, a full smack upside his head.
 
It wasn’t long until Jon was sitting at Patrick’s dining room table as his girlfriend of a year and a half bustled about his kitchen, making dinner for the three of them.  Jon could never really understand how Patrick managed to land and keep someone like Sara.  The bubbly blonde was sweet and even though she was a full time college student, she still found time to make dinner for Jon and Pat twice a week.  Also, Jon knew that he could get full support from Sara regarding the Jordyn topic.
 
“You think her parents [i]hit[/i] her?”  She gasped as Jon broke the news while she set a hot lasagna down on the table before entering the kitchen again to grab the bread and salad.  “Jon, you [i]have[/i] to do something if you think she’s being abused, you really do.”  She insisted as she finally shed her apron before taking her seat at the table, serving them up two full plates before making her own.
 
“Yeah, but Sara, babe, he needs to call the cops, social services, [i]someone[/i], I mean is tailing the girl really the best option?”  Patrick sighed before digging into the lasagna that visibly calmed him as he sunk just a little more into his seat.  “I’m just sayin’, something like that could turn ugly, quick.”  He shrugged.
 
“Patty, cut it out.”  Sara frowned, stabbing a crouton onto her fork.  “I think you’re doing the right thing, Jon, any child in that situation would be so lucky to have someone with your mindset.”  She insisted.  Sara was in school to be a social worker herself.  Nothing would make her happier than to work with the disadvantaged children of Illinois.  “I support you one hundred percent, Jonny.”  Sara smiled warmly at him from across the table.
 
“Thanks, Sara.”  He offered her a crooked grin, he had no idea what to do, but he knew something had to be done.  and soon.
 
“Thanks for dinner, babe.”  Patrick said, swatting his girlfriend on her backside with a full grin as she turned around to give him a glare that faltered into a grin.  Jon blushed at the affection and looked away, down at his watch to see that it was ten to eight.
 
“I should get going.”  Jon said, eyes flickering to the front door where his all black and red shoes sat.
 
“We’re just gonna watch a movie if you… want to stick around.”  Patrick lowered his voice while Sara cleaned the dishes in the kitchen.  A clear sign that he in fact did [i]not[/i] want Jon sticking around for their after dinner activities.
 
“Don’t even worry about it, I have to get to bed early tonight, I was up late yesterday.”  Jon said, getting up from the table.  “I’ll see you in the morning.”  He gave his friend a nod.
 
“Bye Jon!”  Sara called from the kitchen, making him smile softly.
 
“Bye!”  He said, stuffing his feet into his sneakers before making his way to the elevator.  Most day’s he’d take the stairs up the four floors to his own apartment, but he had eaten just enough of Sara’s lasagna to make his jeans feel a little [i]too[/i] snug.  As he laid back in bed, arms folded behind his head and his faithful English bulldog, Ernie sleeping at his feet.  He couldn’t relax, not with so much on his mind, but the last image to cross his eyes before he could fall asleep was Jordyn’s hesitation to leave his car the other night.
 
And how he wished he had stopped her.
 
 
[size=200]···[/size]
 
 
“I’m [i]so[/i] fuckin’ hun-[i]gree[/i].”  Adam sang as he walked along Patrick and Jon, their hats pulled down low over their eyes walking through the streets of Chicago, Adam with an extra skip in his step at the nice weather.  He’d be bringing home dinner for his wife and three babies who would be more than happy to see him when he came home.
 
Jon had also been taking advice from the well-seasoned parent on his opinion regarding Jordyn.
 
“I could never understand for the life of me why a parent would ever, [i]ever[/i] hit their own kid, never.”  He shook his head as they were seated to a booth in the back of the diner.  “I mean, if you’re going to treat your kid like shit, don’t fuckin’ have one, you know?  Or shit, people are waiting to adopt and all that, if you’re a bad parent, give your kid to someone else!”  Adam insisted as the waiter who usually served them set their usual drinks down in front of them.  He knew exactly what all three players would be ordering as well as the four lunches Adam would be bringing home for the many ladies in his life.
 
“So you don’t think this is as bad as Patrick?”  Jon asked.  It had only been two days since Jon brought the idea up to his best friend, but he was honestly itching to find Jordyn again.  Every night he flipped on the news fearing the worst, that they had found her body in a creek somewhere covered in bruises.  He couldn’t imagine any child growing up in any less a loving environment than the one he grew up in.
 
“No, fuck no.”  Adam shook his head animatedly.  “I mean it, Jon, police and shit, their process is slow, you need to get that kid out of that house as soon as possible.”  Adam accentuated his point as he jabbed his fingers into the tabletop with each word.  “I mean, if those parents treat their kid as shitty as you think, they’re probably not going to care that she’s gone.  Especially if they’re the kind of parents that don’t mind their kid wandering around downtown at all hours of the night.”  Adam finished.
 
“Do you want to know something weird, she didn’t even ever refer to her parents as Mom and Dad.”  Jon remembered, the more they talked about Jordyn’s parents, more of the smaller details seemed to be recalled from their two run-ins.  “She kept calling them… what was it?”  He sighed, damning his forgetful manner.  “The Fogley’s!  Their last name was Fogley.”  He nodded.  “She never once said Mom and Dad, and I’m pretty sure she even said once that the Fogley’s aren’t even their parents.”  Jon recalled.
 
“That’s weird.”  Patrick frowned, knowing that he was a hardcore Mama’s boy to the bone, wondering if maybe the girl hated her parents to the point that she wouldn’t call them Mom and Dad or maybe if they really [i]weren’t[/i] her parents.
 
“I’ve got to find her.”  Jon shook his head, the conversation dissipated into much more casual topics as they ate their lunch on the warm summer afternoon.  Soon they stood at the register, paying their separate bills as Adam held two plastic bags with to-go bags.
 
“Hey, dinner at my place next week.”  Adam mused out loud to himself.  “Kita has some new recipes to try out, plus Caleb and Harper miss you.”  He added about his two girls that were practically family to the young players.  Jon nodded in confirmation as opposed to Patrick who was currently transfixed by the screen of his iPhone.
 
“I am ready for a nap.”  Patrick declared.  “Then I’m going swimming with my [i]lady[/i].”  He grinned excitedly.  “I love summer.”  He sighed.  Jon sighed tiredly, turning his head to observe the busy sidewalks, ready to pull his hat down over his eyes again to make his way down the street to the only parking lot available to the customers of the diner.  Suddenly, it was like Jon could feel his eyes dilating as he caught sight of the familiar head of dirty-blonde hair as she walked down the sidewalk.
 
“Shit!”  He shouted, slamming a twenty down on the counter for his eight-dollar meal and running from the store.  His friends couldn’t help but do the same and absolutely terrify the poor elderly woman who was working the register as they ran out after their captain who already began weaving his way through the streets.  “Jordyn!”  He called, not able to catch the attention of the girl on the packed sidewalks of the city.  It was a primetime in the middle of the day and people were packed as tight as sardines on the concrete.
 
“Jonathan Toews!  Tazer!  Can I get your autograph?”  A passerby shouted, causing Jon to curse himself when he realized he was still clutching his hat in his hand, curled into a fist as his eyes darted all over, looking for the familiar little girl.  It wasn’t long until the captain was surrounded with eager fans.  And after all, he was captain, and he needed to put on a happy face and oblige his fans.
 
He wouldn’t get her this time, but sure enough, he’d see Jordyn again.

Notes

thanks to those who read and commented the first chapter :)