Black Ice by Leah Giarratano

slouch down so that she wouldn't tower over this woman so much. She settled for stooping her head somewhat, but she kept her hands in her lap and her eyes intent on Ms Thomasetti to indicate attentiveness.
     
'Firstly,' Ms Thomasetti continued, 'we can send you back to finish your sentence at any time. Your twelve-month probation is a privilege. You effectively remain in our custody and must prove that you are a fit and proper member of the community.'
     
She pushed a sheet of paper across the desk to Seren. 'Can you read?' she asked.
     
'Yes,' Seren told her.
     
'Can you write?'
     
'Yes.'
     
'Humph. Well, you should get to know these four points right here on this paper especially well. They stand between you and the cell you left this morning. Number one.'
     
Ms Thomasetti pointed with a pencil at a numbered line halfway down the page. Seren focused hard to distract herself from the dark moustache above Ms Thomasetti's lip. 'You will provide a supervised urine sample in this office each week. The presence of any non-prescription drug will send you back to prison to serve the remainder of your term. Do you understand?'
     
'Yes.'
     
'You were incarcerated for possession of crystal methamphetamine, Ms Templeton. That is an especially addictive drug. I would recommend that you attend an NA meeting as soon as you leave my office. A list of meeting locations is provided in this folder.
     
'Number two,' she went on. 'You must not consort with known felons. This is a discretionary point, Ms Templeton. We understand that you may have neighbours who have also been in trouble with the law. This cannot be helped. If, however, we feel that you are associating too closely with known felons, and we suspect that you are at risk of engaging in criminal enterprise, you will return to Silverwater to serve the remainder of your term. Do you understand?'
     
'Yes.'
     
'Number three. You are to remain employed at all times. The Department has found a job for you. If you do not maintain this job, which includes having a satisfactory attendance and performance record, you will return to custody to serve the remainder of your term. Do you understand?'
     
'Ah,' Seren began.
     
'"Ah" is not an answer, Ms Templeton. Do you understand point three, or do you not?'
     
'Well, you know that I have a son – Marco.' Seren couldn't help but smile with anticipation. 'I can't wait to see him,' she said.
     
Nothing.
     
'I just want to make sure that I'm around to look after him when he's not at school. I need to know that I'm not doing night work or anything. You see, I don't have any family or friends who can look after him for me.'
     
'You didn't think much about that when you got yourself incarcerated, did you, Ms Templeton?'
     
'Hey, hang on a minute. I love my son.'
     
'And where has your son been for the past twelve months, Ms Templeton?'
     
Seren's eyes burned. Just speaking about Marco left a fist-sized knot of tears in her throat. It had been two weeks since their last visit. He'd had his tenth birthday out here without her. He'd been in two foster homes, sleeping in two different houses with people she'd never met. Over the twelve months she'd been inside, Marco had gone from clinging to her so hard that an officer had to intervene when the visit was up, to leaning away from her when she tried to hug him. This woman's comments were a knitting needle jabbed into her heart.
     
Ms Thomasetti pressed her. 'Where has your son been these past twelve months?'
     
'In foster care.' Seren scraped out the words.
     
'And why is that, Ms Templeton?'
     
A pulse began to beat in Seren's neck. Her nails made bloodred crescents on the palms of her hands.
     
'Can you hear me, Ms Templeton? I think we need to address this issue.'
     
'You know why my son was in foster care,' she said. 'You know why because that's why I'm sitting in here.'
     
'And you, Ms Templeton, need to say it. Why did your ten-year-old son spend the last twelve months of his