Matthew couldn't wait to get to school that day. He had the invitation his 'dad gave him to hand-deliver to Max for him and his mom. When the Cover saw his new friend he ran over to him.
"Max, I have something for you," breathlessly announced Matthew. The Cover then gave to Max the envelope holding the Holiday Party invitation in it.
"What's this, Matthew?" asked Max, as he took the envelope.
"Open it and see," answered the Cover.
Max opened it and read what it said. Surprised the boy asked, "Is this what I think it is? We, my mom and I, we get to go to Mr. Ken's Holiday Party."
"Yes, you do. And I hope you will come," answered Matthew. "The party is Friday night and it begins at six and ends at ten. At about eight, Santa will be there. Also, you'll get to vote which Toy Soldier you think is the best. My 'dad' is having a contest between the local high schools to see which one can build the better one."
By that time, Matthew's other friends came over and heard what Matthew told Max. That's when Brant spoke up and told Max what he'd experienced at the previous Holiday Parties. He told the one-time bully that when Santa arrives how he pulls present after present out of a bag that isn't all that big.
Ryan added that he was looking forward to going, as well. He told Max he'd heard about the Party and was looking forward to seeing the house all decorated, the train running under the tree and all the outside lights all lit up.
Max was surprised by what he'd heard. He had heard many of the kids talk about the Holiday Parties at Three Finger Cove and always wished he could go. Now, he had an invitation to go. All he had to do now was convince his mom to take him.
The boys talked some more and eventually, the first bell rang. As they walked into the school, Matthew called over to Max and told him to meet him at lunch.
Mr. Gene was still substituting at the school, but he had no actual classroom to monitor. His job was to roam the halls and watch for the things that did not belong. He was in constant contact with his brother, George, and after the altercation the previous day, the security twins were even more attuned to anything out of the ordinary happening.
At The Cove, Mr. Ken and Mr. Chris met Sandra and helped her bring in the huge load of presents she had bought for Mr. Ken's 'boys'. After she had a cup of coffee to warm her up, she and Momma Maria started right in wrapping the presents. Mr. Ken stayed around for a few minutes looking through all the bags of gifts, but Momma told him to, "Goeses tos works!" He did.
As Mr. Ken and Mr. Chris talked, the Estate Manager's employer told him that Mr. Wayne, after the confrontation at Doug Jennings's office building the previous day, had decided to get his concealed carry permit. Mr. Ken also told Chris that Dan Fischer was going to recommend to Wayne where to get his training in the law and how to shoot. Mr. Chris didn't have any response to that.
While the two did talk, Mr. Ken told Mr. Chris to get at least two more tickets for Six Flags. He reminded the man about Max and that he was going to ask his mom if he could go and he was going to ask her to be a chaperone. Mr. Ken told Mr. Chris if they had a few extras they'd just give them away as they did at SeaWorld.
Mr. Chris laughed at what Mr. Ken said about giving away the extra tickets. He reminded his boss that he gained three more boys with that gesture. The two men had a good laugh over that.
Mr. Ken asked Mr. Chris if he had the voting chips available. The owner of The Cove wanted to know where they were, so he didn't have to go searching for them come Friday night. Mr. Chris told him where they were, but he also reminded his employer that he and his family would be there Friday night, so he would have gotten them out.
Mr. Ken asked Chris to have them up at the Main Gate when he left. He wanted them ready for the Police Explorer's to hand out. The owner of The Cove knew that since the Holiday Party began at six, people would begin arriving at 5:30 to get one of the very limited parking spaces. Mr. Chris said he understood and would place them up there as he left that day to pick up his family.
Mr. Ken felt like time was moving along way too fast for him. It was already the middle of the week and before he knew it the Holidays would be there and he'd have to be ready. He also told himself he needed to go over to the boy's school and add money to their lunch cards. He also wanted to talk to Principal Chadwick about the continued attitude of the lunch lady towards her students.
Mr. Wayne arrived just before lunch. He knew he would be taking Kevin to his doctor's appointment that day and he was a bit apprehensive because of yesterday's conflict with a man associated with Grace Turnsten. He hoped he didn't have a run-in with another of the three men who may have designs on Matthew.
At lunch, the four adults ate together and they marveled over all the wrapped Christmas presents sitting on the other chairs and floor. When they all finished eating, the men got the wheeled carts out of the garage and began loading up the wrapped gifts onto them. Once full, the men began wheeling the carts to the elevator and then put the wrapped presents in one of the guest bedroom suites.
"I can't believe all those presents," offered a floored Mr. Ken. "I didn't realize I had all that much stuff on my Christmas list. And looking at all she has done I wonder how many more gifts Sandra has yet to wrap. I sure hope she and Momma can be done by Friday. I don't want the boys to be around while they are wrapping their gifts."
At school, Matthew and his friends met at the lunch line. Matthew and Max walked together picking which food item they wanted. At the end of the line, the lunch lady saw who it was and she just took Max's money and then added the balance to Matthews.
The seven boys found an empty table and they all sat down together to eat. They talked about the Holiday Party that only a few of them had actually attended.
"I thought you all saw the decorations when you were at The Cove over the weekends?" asked Max.
"Well, we saw them, but we never saw them all lit up," replied Ryan. "Plus, there are about eight moving figure decorations out on the back lawn."
"You have moving decorations?" asked an astonished Max.
"Yep, and we got to see them all lit up the other night. Boy are they ever big, too. Just wait until you get to see them. I sure hope it doesn't rain Friday night. It will make the party feel crowded if everyone has to stay inside," lamented Matthew.
Over at a nondescript motel, Carter Dunlapman, Lonny Charles Acheterts and Benjamin Bateterson, the men Grace Turnsten knows, were meeting to talk about what happened the previous afternoon at the medical office building.
"Lonny you really messed up by attacking that man, Wayne," said an exasperated Carter Dunlapman.
"I didn't attack him. Even the deputy figured it as much. He called it a tussle as nothing really happened. All I did was push the man out of my way because he deliberately blocked my exit," countered Lonny Acheterts.
"You brought unneeded attention to yourself. Now, they have a name, you idiot. And what did you get for all that trouble?" demanded Carter.
"What I got from that kid, Kyle, was that Matthew hasn't talked to any police, since he was in the hospital. I couldn't believe that, so I grabbed the boy to make sure he was telling me the truth. Luckily for me I'd let him go just before that man came in looking for him.
"But the kid said there wasn't anything else for him to tell the police after he started living at that big estate. The kid said he would know since he and Matthew were really good friends. He also told me they watched Lincoln and Grace get arrested from Matthew's hospital room.
"I sort of believe the boy. He wasn't stuttering or stammering and although he was scared he had this honesty about him. But when the man came in it startled both us. Kyle was relieved, though, when he saw the man he called Mr. Wayne enter looking for him," explained Lonny.
"But what happened that there was someone outside the restroom waiting for you? How did the man know you were in there? When I followed them to the doctor's office building I only ever saw the man and a boy," asked Benjamin Bateterson.
"I don't know where he came from. Maybe he works in the office and when the kid didn't come back right away he and that man Wayne came looking. He scared the living shit out of me when he grabbed me and held onto me until the Sheriff's Deputy showed up. That is another question about all of that. How did the Deputy know to get there so fast?" finished Lonny.
"OK, let's talk about our next caper," said Carter.
"I wish Lincoln was going to be with us," spoke up Ben.
"I need a ton of cash to post his bond, which I have, but he shouldn't have been beating that kid. It serves him right that I left him in jail," chuckled Carter. "If we really want him I could go and bail him out, but that causes a problem.
"He'll still have a court date and if he doesn't show up they'll go looking for him and they might look for me since I bailed him out. Then, there's Grace. She really screwed herself by getting rearrested. I told her not to go trying to talk to her son.
"Whatever she did to him they are getting ready to throw the book at her on top of what they had from her not protecting the kid from Lincoln. There is no way they will let her out on bail for this next job. And besides, all she ever did was get things packed up and ready to move. So, she'll have to stay in jail until her trial, or trials, if they decide to try her for each offense.
"So " the first question is " do I bail out Lincoln? It will make the job a bit easier with four rather than three. Then, do we have to refine the plans? We spent so much time trying to retrieve the kid that we haven't spent much time on the details. We have less than eight days to get ready and put our plan into action. So " any questions? Comments?" asked Carter.
They agreed to bail out Lincoln. They also decided that after the job, they would all split up for at least a year, and Lincoln would have to stay close by in order to be available for his trial.
They also agreed that Lincoln needed to have a safe deposit box ready for him to put his money in so, if they come looking to search his place, they won't find anything. Carter said he'd get one for Lincoln seeing he wasn't all that social. All the men laughed.
The three men then decided to get something for lunch. While they ate, they talked about whether or not they should follow that Wayne character to see who he takes to the doctor's office building that day. Lonny said they knew his face, so he was out. Ben decided that he'd go.
Mr. Ken decided to go to the school and add money to the boy's lunch cards. He'd made an appointment with Principal Chadwick, so they could talk about the boys before the owner of The Cove went to see the lunch lady to add money to the lunch cards.
Mr. Ken's appointment was for 2 PM, while Mr. Wayne was supposed to be over at the school for 1:45 to pick up Kevin. They departed The Cove at different times.
Kevin was out in the office being signed out by Mr. Wayne when Mr. Ken arrived for his appointment with Principal Chadwick.
"Hi, 'dad', I didn't know you were coming over to the school, today. You should have come over and had lunch with us," suggested Kevin.
"Welcome, Mr. Thomas," offered Principal Abigail Chadwick.
"Oh, so formal," teased Ken Thomas, as the two shook hands.
The principal and the 'dad' of five of her students talked about the boys and any troubles that they may have gotten themselves into. They reminisced over the problems Robert had last winter when he first started to attend the school. Then, they reviewed what trouble found Charles and his friend Richard at the beginning of that school year. The two adults then went out to visit the lunch lady,
Mr. Ken and Abigail Chadwick went over to the dietitian's office, so Ken Thomas could add money to all five of his boy's lunch cards. When there, Mr. Ken asked her why she gives the students a hard time when they help pay for other classmates' lunches.
The lady tried to apologize, but Mr. Ken stopped her. He reminded her of their conversation earlier in the year when his foster boys were treating students who didn't have any money for lunch and she lambasted them for doing so.
Mr. Ken told her he did not appreciate her trying to be the lunch cop and telling any student what they can and can't do with their lunch card money. He asked her to take notes and call the students' parents, so the parent can deal with the shortage of their child's lunch card.
Mr. Thomas then asked to buy another lunch card with $100.00 on it. The lunch lady balked at that idea. Principal Chadwick told the woman that there were no rules restricting how many lunch cards the parents bought for their child. The lunch lady got snippety and said that Mr. Thomas wasn't a parent.
Mr. Ken had to count to ten before he was going to say something to the woman. When he got to ten he added another ten in order to keep his cool.
When the owner of The Cove got to twenty, he told the lunch lady, "I am the parent of my son and the foster parent for four of the students attending school here. And, you well know that!
"There is NO reason for you " to be such a dictatorial bureaucrat who has no real authority. I know what your job description says; I've read it. And, I know what limited authority you have. I checked it out when you tried to be a general in a private's uniform the last time.
"You get your marching orders from the School Board, so if you want to try me, go ahead. There is a School Board meeting right after the Holidays and if you want to refuse me my buying a lunch card, then you better be prepared to attend that School Board Meeting. Because, I will be there with my guns a blazing and focused directly on you.
"Now " make up your mind! Sell me the extra lunch card " or don't. The decision, of course, is yours," stipulated Mr. Ken Thomas, parent and foster parent.
Mr. Ken left the dietitian's office with the extra lunch card that he intended to give as a gift Friday night. As he and the principal walked back to the front of the school, Abigail Chadwick asked Mr. Ken where he got the 'general in a private's uniform' idea. Mr. Ken told her it just came to him, and he said it before he knew what he was saying. The two had a good laugh over that.
Mr. Wayne saw the tag along vehicle behind him two blocks after they left the school grounds. He also saw George Warren trailing four car lengths behind it. That put a smile on Mr. Wayne, but he was also a bit concerned that he might have the same exchange he had the previous day. He now wished he had his concealed carry permit and the gun with him right then.
Benjamin Bateterson followed at what he considered a reasonable distance. He never knew he was also being followed, so he just drove along between two and four car lengths behind his target vehicle. When they arrived at the medical office building, Benjamin continued past the parking lot entrance.
This time, Benjamin didn't decide to double back. He knew Matthew wasn't in the car at that time, so he decided to go back to the motel. George decided to follow the man in his car to see if he would double back. But when the man didn't, the security man wanted to see where he was going, so George continued to follow about four car lengths behind him.
After Kevin's appointment was over, and he wanted to go to the restroom, this time Mr. Wayne followed behind him. He even checked inside the facility to make sure there wasn't going to be a surprise waiting inside for the Cover. There wasn't. Kevin was disappointed.
The two Covers arrived back at The Cove well before the other boys came home from school. Kevin knew Momma Maria wouldn't let him have his snack until his 'brothers' arrived, so he went looking for his 'dad'.
"'Dad', when will we get to go out and buy Momma Maria's Christmas presents?" asked Kevin.
"Well, Mr. Chris is going to handle that for us," answered 'dad' Ken.
"How can he do that?" asked Kevin.
"Well, he knows where to get the aprons and have them embroidered. He has The Cove credit card to use to buy Momma her spa treatment. And, as for the Three Finger Cove key ring slash broach, he knows the man who made Robert's key ring for me. He is going to talk to him about making that very special broach for Momma Maria as her very special Christmas present," said a smiling 'dad' Ken.
"So, we don't get to go out Christmas shopping anymore?" moaned Kevin.
"For right now, no. But that doesn't mean we can't, later. But, right now we are getting too close to the weekend and the Holiday Parties and I don't want anything to go wrong. Plus, Kevin, this thing with Matthew " I don't want to expose any of you to any trouble we all don't need.
"Look what happened when Julian tried to take you and your brother. They were prepared to take all eight of you to some place no one would have known. I don't think I could live with myself if someone took any of you boys from me," counseled 'dad' Ken.
Kevin joined his 'brothers' for their after school snack. They then talked to their 'dad' before going up to work on their homework. When it was time for the boys to come down for dinner, they got a big surprise.
"Dad, the Christmas tree " and outdoor animated figures are on. Did " did you do that just for us?" asked Robert.
"No, the decorating company was here this afternoon and they set up the timers on all the decorations. All of the decorations, both inside and out, turn on at approximately 5:45 every night and will turn off at midnight up until New Year's Eve. For that night the company will stop by sometime during the afternoon on New Year's Eve to reset everything so the decorations will turn off at 1 AM," explained 'dad' Ken.
When dinner was over the boys dragged their 'dad' outside to look at the animated figures again. The boys all loved the large animations and the bright colors. The kids walked all around the animations and looked at them from every angle.
When the boys came back inside they all stopped to watch the train go around and around under the Christmas tree. They again told their 'dad' he needed more rolling stock and some buildings and cars and roads and more track with switches, so the train has some 'life' to it.
Mr. Ken heard what the boys were saying. He knew all of that would make the train layout be more realistic, but he knew he didn't have the time needed to design and then install something like that. He told himself that after the Holidays he'd give the boys the challenge and see how they accept it.
The boys went up to their rooms at the usual time. Then 'dad' Ken came up about ten minutes afterwards. Mr. Ken started at his son's bedroom to ask him how his day went. The man's next stop was Charles' bedroom. They talked about the pre-teen's day and how the boy was looking forward to the Six Flags trip.
'Dad' Ken's next stop was at the twins' bedroom. Kevin asked again if they could go Christmas shopping. Even Kyle joined in and asked. But when 'dad' Ken asked them what they wanted to buy since they already had all their gifts bought. The twins answered they just wanted to go out and look at all the Christmas decorations and get into the Holiday spirit.
Mr. Ken ruffled both boys' hair and then hugged them. He kissed them on their foreheads, told them to visit the bathroom and then get into bed. Mr. Ken followed the boys out of their room and headed over to Matthew's bedroom
"Matthew, how was your day? Was it as interesting as yesterday's?" teased 'dad' Ken.
"No, there wasn't as much drama, 'dad'" laughed the youngest Cover.
"What did Max say when you gave him the invitation?" asked 'dad' Ken.
"He was totally surprised at the invitation, 'dad'. I don't think he could have smiled any wider than he did. He told me he now had to convince his mom to go. I sure hope they do come. I think Max needs something good to happen in his life. Something like me living here," smiled Matthew.
Mr. Ken hugged his foster son and told him to go relieve the pressure on his bladder. As the two left the young Cover's bedroom, Mr. Ken hugged the boy once more and then patted him on his backside. Mr. Ken then reminded the boy he had a doctor's appointment at five tomorrow.
Everyone at The Cove that night slept very well. Although, Matthew did have one of his unusual dreams that he really hadn't told anyone about. When the young Cover woke up, remembering what Robert told him, he wrote down what he remembered of his dream.
Matthew couldn't understand what pennies, circular targets and ringing bells could mean. He'd been having that dream off and on, but last night's version was a bit clearer to him. There were more of the three key items from the dream, but they still didn't mean anything to him.
Breakfast was lively that morning at The Cove. The boys were getting hyperactive over the fact that their Christmas Holiday was only two days away. They all talked about the many things that were planned for them. Then, 'dad' Ken added one more thing to their list of fun things to do.
"Guys, I know you wanted to have a sleepover during the Holidays, so " well, I was thinking " what say we do that next Wednesday. It should be good timing for one. Nothing is happening during the week is there?
"Your friends can come over at noon, but they will have to leave by 4 p.m.PM on Thursday. That's Christmas Eve, you know, and time for families. I'll even bet that some of their parents will come and get them earlier than that," offered 'dad' Ken.
When the boys heard they could have their sleepover, Charles asked if it was for all of their friends or just part of them. 'Dad' Ken said all of them. The boys went ballistic at hearing that. And they jumped all around yelling and waving their arms.
Mr. Ken told the boys they'd do their normal thing, skate, swim, and do the barbeque, barring any change in the weather. He told them at night they'd do the spaghetti meal with the boys helping as they did the last time.
Momma Maria heard what her boss just told his boys and she blessed herself. She then made a mental note to make sure she buys lots of spaghetti, sauce, bread, garlic spread to make garlic bread and parmesan cheese top it all off. Then, she remembered she'd need a huge load of soft drinks for the boys.
Momma then realized she had to figure out what to have for dessert. The big sheet cakes she did once before came to mind with a Christmas theme on them. She made another mental note to order them before she leaves for the day.
Mr. Ken continued with his good news and told the boys they'd plan a Dive-In Movie and then a midnight snack. The man told his 'boys' they could tell their friends, so they can start bugging their parents so they can plan on attending.
It was getting late, so Mr. Ken told the boys to get a move on and make sure they wear a jacket. After the boys hugged Momma Maria for making them a great breakfast, they washed their face and hands, put their jackets on, and got their books and headed up to the Main Gate and their Bus Stop.
At school, Matthew's friends were waiting on him. Max included. But there was one more friend waiting there for him. Bailey Bracen, Charles' friend and Tyler's sister.
"Bailey," called out Matthew, "what brings you here?" asked the Cover.
"Well, I wanted to hear it directly from you that you are now friends with that " that bully. Max," replied Bailey.
"What's wrong with Max? He's my friend!" replied Matthew.
"He's a big bully and all the kids, including the girls, are talking about you and all your friends behind your backs," spoke out Bailey.
"Bailey, none of them ever tried to get to know Max. Just like everyone refused to give Ryan and his older brother Richard a chance last year, when they arrived in the middle of the spring. Everyone ignored Ryan and Richard and refused to associate with them.
"Max was treated just like they were, but I'll bet for a much longer period of time. And, he was a part of your class from First grade. I can't believe anyone would do that to a fellow student. I'm glad that my 'dad' asked Brant and Ryan over to meet me before I started school. If they hadn't, I bet my fellow classmates would have treated me exactly as they did Ryan, Richard and Max.
"I bet the kids who are talking behind my back are all of those kids who wanted me to invite them over to The Cove, too. None of them, except for my friends, never tried, never really tried to get to know me and be my friend. You are the only exception.
"Let them talk behind my back that I got to know Max. I don't care if they don't like that I now consider him as a friend. No one deserves to be singled out and ignored just because someone has a hair up their ass.
"If anything, all those kids who are talking behind my back never cared to become my friend, so why should I care? Oh, sure, they came over to talk to me, at first, but then left just as quickly. It wasn't until they learned where I lived that many of them wanted to be my friends only so I would invite them over to The Cove.
"Bailey, I won't back down over my talking to Max and getting to know him. I have nothing to lose and neither do my friends. The boys and girls can ignore me all they want. It won't bother me one bit," finished Matthew.
"I think I know what you are saying," said Bailey. "Yes, we should have treated Ryan better than we did, but he stayed away from the boys, so they ignored him," finished the girl, in defense of the boys and how they treated Ryan.
"Do you know why Ryan is so small?" asked Matthew. "I'll bet you and none of the class knows why. And, they don't care as they still mostly ignore him."
"It was his mom " while his dad was away fighting in Afghanistan, she didn't feed him right and it stunted his growth. When my 'dad' heard about him, not eating right, he had Doctor Powers do some tests. Now, he is being watched and they will help him medically if he doesn't begin to grow now that he gets good and regular meals.
Bailey looked very surprised at what Matthew just told her. Then, she replied, "No, I didn't know that about Ryan. Now that he is getting help I sure hope he grows at the normal rate. But still " what are you going to do about the others talking behind your back? Some of these boys come from influential families.
"I'm going to continue to treat all my classmates equally. If they want to talk to me great; if they want to ignore me, there is nothing I can do about that. I wonder how many of them are still going to go the Holiday Party on Friday?" chuckled the Cover
"Well," I sure hope you know what you are doing. School is only halfway through and it is a long time until June. Do " you want me to talk to them?" asked Bailey.
Just then the first bell rang and as they all headed into the school. Matthew told Bailey it wouldn't hurt. The Cover said that when they learn the truth they might come to realize how wrong they were.
Matthew's friends heard the exchange he had with Bailey. That put a smile on their collective faces, but especially Max. That was the first time he could ever remember someone sticking up for him. He just hoped he could convince his mom to take him to the party, so he could finally see what everyone says about Three Finger Cove.
Over at the jail, Carter Dunlapman was in the process of bailing out Lincoln Redwingger. He'd been arrested a little more than four weeks earlier along with Grace Turnsten, Matthews's mom. The two were originally arrested on injury to a child charge and trying to remove Matthew from the hospital without permission of CPS.
Grace had been bailed out by Carter almost right after her arrest. Right away she decided she needed to get in contact with her son. Grace told herself she needed to know what her son, Matthew, knew about her friends and what they did.
Grace tried to go over to The Cove to talk to him, but was rebuffed countless times. She was then told not to return without court-ordered visitation paperwork, or she would be arrested for trespassing.
Even though she made it look like she was going through the motions to get court visitation rights, Grace had her associates follow where Matthew went, so she could figure out a way to talk to him. Well, she did, but that got her arrested once again. Now, she would not be out of jail until she was successful at her trial.
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