Hank POV
The judge gave the lad a third and last chance. If he came before him again, the lad would not be given a fourth chance, and Nigel needed to sort himself out. He should use this opportunity I was offering him to get his life back on track. Don't abuse this gift. The judge went on and on, and to be honest, if I had turned him off, the boy would have done long before I did.
The first night was hard because the boy wanted to run and not show up in court. It took a while for me to convince him not to run and to give me a chance to give him a better life. It sounds so wrong, but for that lad, I felt I needed to make it like it was his idea to stay and not a court order and that I was the one that needed him. That was hard to do, but I managed somehow.
He had a chip on his shoulder
