Quick recap: The first/second time I met SS18, he was around 12, and I told his dad that if he lived long enough, that kid was going to jail. At 15, he got caught dealing drugs at school, and not long after he went to live with his enabler mom, because we dared to actually object to his drug dealing. Since then he's been expelled from mainstream school, expelled from the continuation school, and been continuously in virtually every kind of trouble you can think of. He did manage to finish HS through an online program, thank you COVID.

Since leaving our home, he has only come over once a year for Christmas. Our Christmas celebration with grandma and the other two Skids was yesterday, and BM has them today. Originally, SS18 was going to come yesterday as well, but things got tricky.

A couple weeks ago, the Sheriff's Dept. called our house looking for SS18. That's when we learned he hadn't been at BM's for at least a week. DH tried calling him, but it kept going to voicemail, and the best he could get was a text back. When he finally got ahold of SS18 and asked why the cops were looking for him,  this was SS18's story: "I was walking along by myself, and 4 big guys tried to jump me, so I had to pull a knife on them to get them to leave me alone. And they're minors and I'm not, so it's even worse" DH buys it hook line and sinker, and he's all about "What was SS18 supposed to do? It was 4 on 1 and he's not very big, etc." I said hold on. That's just what he's telling you, there might be more to the story. I asked who they guys were? Did he know them before? Why did they want to jump him? We're they trying to steal from him or was there some other confrontation? Where did this happen? No answers. It didn't make sense. I know if I attacked someone and they defended themselves, I wouldn't then call the Sheriff's Department and report it, like he said they did. And if I were attacked, I wouldn't go into hiding like SS18.

DH is a basket case over this. He also wants to see his son at Christmas. So he gets his son to at least tell him what town he's in (the next county over), and goes to pick him up at some elementary school down there. But I'm worried about having him in my home, envisioning the cops raiding my Christmas dinner, so I call the Sheriff's Department and just ask what's going on? I don't know why his parents hadn't done that before. And guess what...

SS18 is wanted for attempted robbery. He walked up to some high school kids at the county park, pulled a knife on them, demanded their wallets and any drugs they might have on them. They didn't comply, and he just walked away without hurting anyone. But they reported it, and it's supposedly all on camera. No sound, but he clearly walks up to them, pulls a knife, there's a verbal exchange, and he walks away. It's not him being accosted and pulling a knife in self-defense.

My job has a security clearance. I can't have the cops dragging a felon out of my Christmas dinner, especially if it can be proven I knew he was wanted, beforehand. So I called DH and told him the real story. Poor guy was devastated. Sad SS18 lied (though not surprised), scared for him, disappointed he's starting his life out like this. I told DH I had dinner all ready to go, that I would leave so the kids' plans wouldn't be disrupted, but that I couldn't be around SS18. DH said no way. DH took SS18 to BM's house, stood there and made SS18 call the Sheriff's Department and tell them where he was. DH left him there, brought the other Skids home, and we did Christmas without him. 
It took him less than 3 weeks to commit his first violent felony, as an adult.