I didn't know what to do.  He wasn't in school, family court wasn't doing anything for us. The Mental Health wouldn't schedule an appointment for him, every time I called, I was told that they would let me know by mail when he would be seen. I have yet to hear from them.  

He was now spending all day on his own, there was no way I could quit working and stay home with a 14 year old. By this age you shouldn't have to be in view of them every waking moment. But that was the way it was, if you couldn't see him then you could bet money that he was up to something.

It got to where he was bored during the day. And soon he wasn't there when I call and check on him. Who knows what he was up to. We had many battles with him about leaving the house during the day. I tried to explain that the more trouble he got into was only hurting him. He would be the one that would have to suffer from the consequences.

He could have cared less. Nothing serious had happened to him yet. Why should he worry now. Juvenile Detention was easy, Training School was a complete joke. And he knew that there was nothing that I could do to him. He knew if he got a good old fashion butt whipping, that he could call the police and then I would be arrested for child abuse. So he had a habit of reminding us of that. It was wonderful to know that you can't discipline your own kids with out the fear of being jailed.

I would have people at work tell me that they had seen him in different places.  I would ask about it and he would claim that he hadn't gone anywhere. There was no sense in arguing with him. You would just end up in a physical battle.

I soon started calling these battles "episodes". That is what they really were, you could stand there and watch the change come over him. He would tense up his whole body, fists clenched, and he would turn red. Would remind you of a cartoon character, where you could see the red start at the bottom and go up the length of their body. Like the quiet before the storm. Then all hell would break loose. He would come at you like a raging bull. 

We had one advantage. The only thing in our favor. He wouldn't be able to think during these times, it was almost if he would blackout. We soon learned this and used it to our advantage. He wouldn't be able to anticipate what we would do. So something as simple as moving out of the way, would sometimes work. But that would make him that much more angry. And the more angry he got the more violent.