Cameron had fallen asleep with me in my bed. I had cried on his shoulder and snotted all over myself. God, what a wreck I had been. But I had never felt so vulnerable. I might’ve had some risky near-misses out in the community, but I was merely a social worker trying to get a job done. Not a cop, for Christ’s sake. But I wasn’t exactly trained to protect myself going into people’s homes. There had never been any incidents that I’d heard of involving service professionals, but still, we placed ourselves in jeopardy when dealing with tough family issues. And this family had big ones. I found out that the older brother who had greeted me at the door the other night had been released on bond for a sex crime. The family had been nervous that I would find out the truth and would report him for staying there, which is why they had skirted my visit. But my loyalty remained to my young client who lived in that home.
