Dear readers, please excuse the foul language that has been used in this chapter, but it was imperative for me to use it so as to explain Maddox's reaction to his interlocutor's words.
***********
"You son of a bitch!" were the man's first words, "where is she?" he stumbled but held onto the bench on which Maddox was sitting so as not to fall down.

"Mind your language, Sir. Who are you talking about?" Maddox asked in genuine ignorance and trying his best to keep his calm despite the hatred and anger growing inside him.

"Hey! Don't fool around with me! Stop pretending you don't know!" the man shouted, pointing an accusing finger towards Maddox.

"I honestly don't know what you are talking about!" Maddox said as his voice grew louder.

"Don't you dare lie to me you dirty brat!" the drunk man yelled as his cruel eyes pierced through Maddox's innocent ones.

"I am not a liar, Sir. And on top of that, I am not drunk. You are! So, please stop arguing! I don't even know what or who you are speaking about!" Maddox shouted back. "You can't just mess around with people like that!"

The drunk man grabbed Maddox's shirt pulling him up as he kept yelping, "Hey you son of a bitch! Don't you know how to speak to your elders? Has your mother not taught you any manners?"

At those words, Maddox's clenched fist kissed the man's nose so hard that blood gushed out right after a low cracking sound was heard.

"Ouch, oh no!" the wounded man whined in pain, his hands wrapped around his nose as blood tainted his fingers.

"Dad!"

Maddox heard a familiar voice from behind. Upon turning around, his face went pale as he saw Angelica and Deborah rushing in his direction. Deborah stopped beside Maddox while Angelica passed by him and went right towards the wounded man.

"Daddy, oh my God! You are bleeding!"

Maddox was dumbstruck. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he realised that he has just hit a man and that man happened to be his friend's father.

"Deborah, this man... He, he is Angel's dad?" he managed to ask in spite of his dry throat which could choke him at any moment. From what he saw, it was apparent that he was indeed Angelica's father but Maddox only hoped that someone would say the contrary.

"Yes, he is," Deborah answered as she shifted her glance away from Angelica and her father towards Maddox. "Maddox, I know he was putting on a fight but, but why did you punch him?"

"He was using rude words. He was insulting my mum!" the young boy replied as he remembered the man's impudent words.

"But still! You shouldn't have hit him like this! Now what if your mum comes to know? Will she not be angry and hurt?" Deborah asked.

"No, she will not."

"What? She will not be angry and hurt?"

"I mean, she will not come to know."

Before Deborah could ask any more questions, the park's security guard appeared. He spoke to Angelica's father who furiously accused the young boy, threatening to take him to the police.

"Dad, please, let it be. Let's go home or to the hospital," Angelica pleaded as she threw a sad look towards Maddox.

"No! I'll not end this matter here! I'll take him to the police! If you will not report this matter, I'll report it myself!" he shouted at the security guard and placed his hands back on his blood-stained nose.

The security guard finally drove Maddox along with the wounded man to the nearby police station. The man filed a complaint against Maddox for assault.

"So, you beat up your elders? He is even bleeding! Do you know the consequences of your action?" a stern-looking police officer asked.

"Sir, this man insulted my mother," Maddox answered fearlessly.

"You have no valid reason to take the law in your hands!" the officer retorted. "You'll be placed in this cell until your parents come!"

As Maddox was a minor, his parents had to be called to the police station. The police officer threatened to put Maddox in the police cell to scare him. Youngsters of his age were getting more violent day by day and were messing around with people and the officer mistook Maddox to be one of them.

The police officer's threats did not scare the teenager the least.
"Sir, if this is the punishment I have to go through for punching someone who insulted my mother, I'll go through it over and over again."

The police officer took Mr Howard's phone number from Maddox. As he called Mr Howard, Maddox could hear the conversation from his cell. He stood there, holding the bars separating him from his freedom, and listened to what the officer was saying. He could not hear his father's words but he could understand that Mr Howard refused to come over to the police station, claiming that he is busy and that he cannot lose his time over an undisciplined son.

Maddox's chest tightened in grief and disappointment but he knew that he could not expect anything else from his inconsiderate father.

Hours went by and the young boy was mentally preparing himself to spend the night in that dark and creepy police cell when he saw a shadow at the police station's front door. He then saw someone standing at the entrance. Someone he least expected to see in this distressful moment of his.

Was it a ray of hope to enlighten his troubles?