Mr. Ken and Charles returned only to find the garage door for his vehicle opened and the boys nowhere to be seen. It surprised the man that Robert would leave the door opened much less not be out there. The owner of The Cove pulled his BMW into the vacant space, closed the garage door and he and his 'son' proceeded into the house.
They had to go through the Kitchen Nook where Momma Maria would be, so they stopped there to see if she knew where the boys were. She told her boss she saw them out on the rafts the last time she looked outside. Mr. Ken, followed by Charles, made his way outside to talk to his 'son'.
When Robert saw his 'dad' headed down towards the beach, Robert decided to head in to talk to the man. His Best Friend Eric accompanied him. It took the two teens a minute, or so, to swim in to the beach and by the time they arrived Mr. Ken and Charles were waiting.
Then, even before Robert could say 'Hi' to his 'dad', Mr. Ken abruptly asked, "Why did you leave the garage door open and come out here and swim?"
Robert immediately knew from the tone of his voice that Mr. Ken was upset and close to being mad. He knew it took a lot to make the man that pissed-off and the fact that the garage door was still open would do it. Even though the estate was guarded there was no reason to offer a person the opportunity to steal from The Cove.
Robert walked out of the water and out onto the beach and replied, "'Dad', I'm sorry. I wanted to get away as fast as I could and I forgot and let the garage door open. I'm sorry."
"Robert … what do you mean you were in a hurry? I can't believe you'd walk off and leave open a large door that could give access to some to thousands and thousands of dollars' worth of equipment, not to mention open access to the inside of the house. Now … explain yourself and it better be good!" finished up Mr. Ken's interrogation, of his number two foster son.
Robert looked at Eric who could only look back and shrug his shoulders. Out on the rafts, the rest of the boys were standing still and were looking back at the four people standing on the beach. They wished they could be there to hear what was being said but they knew that was not the place for them right now.
Robert knew he needed to answer his 'dad's' questions, but he didn't know how he wanted to. He figured the best way was to start at the beginning. He told Mr. Ken how he and the guys took tapes and measured the ramps in relation to the garage doors and that he opened the garage door as an easy means of exit. He explained how the seventeen boys decided to suggest they remove the grind box but didn't get any further before Mr. Ken spoke and held up his hand to stop.
"So, you could have an easy exit you opened the garage door and then failed to close it when you went outside? I can't believe you'd do that, Robert. What would it take to turn around and hit the button to close it? You really disappointed me," spoke up Mr. Ken.
"But, 'dad', I had intended to … I was only … I didn't mean to leave it open," Robert burst out crying.
"Mr. Ken, there is more to the story if you'd only let him finish," Eric said, in defense of his Best Friend.
"Oh, and what could make him leave and allow my garage door to remain open for who knows how long?" barked out Ken Thomas.
Eric's only response was, "Mr. Chris!"
Mr. Ken and Charles stood stunned upon hearing Mr. Chris's name.
"Tell me how my Estate Manager could have caused Robert to leave that garage door opened?" demanded the owner of Three Finger Cove.
Eric began to give him the answer, when Robert touched the lad's shoulder. "I'll tell him, Eric," spoke the teen.
"'Dad' … Mr. Chris … he yelled … no, he screamed at us about making so much noise out on the ramps. He was real mad, too. He'd sort of yelled at us before … but we, well we talked about that last night. Today … I could tell he was different. His face looked all red like he was boiling mad about the noise. He told us he didn't want to hear another boom, crackle, pop, or anything else from the skateboard ramps for the rest of the day. He told us to stop and he told us he meant it to be right then and there.
"I didn't want to say something that might set him off even more than he was, so I suggested to the guys that we go swimming. 'Dad' … he was standing right there in front of the garage door and I just led the guys around the front of the house to the patio pool door. It didn't dawn on me that I had left the door open," explained Robert.
"Eric … were you there? Did it happen like Robert said it had?" asked Mr. Ken.
"Yes, sir, it did," was all Eric replied.
Mr. Ken went to Robert and pulled the wet boy to him and apologized for the way he had acted. The hug went on for a long time. The other lads had seen what appeared to have been an argument out on the beach, so they all slowly came in to the area where Mr. Ken and their three friends were. They arrived just as Robert explained Mr. Chris's actions that afternoon. As Mr. Ken released Robert from his hug he looked over to the boys and asked them if what Robert had just told him was true. They all nodded their heads indicating that it was.
As soon as Mr. Chris had seen his boss had arrived back at the Cove, the man immediately went to his car and got in and drove away. For the length of time the boys had gone out to the rafts he was able to calm himself down and realize the kind of mistake he had just made. He didn't know how he was going to explain it to Mr. Ken, but he knew right then and there that this was not going to be the right time nor the place. That was why he 'escaped' when he did.
The afternoon had sped along so fast that it was already past 5 o'clock in the afternoon when Mr. Ken and the lads headed back up towards the house. When the boys found out what time it was they decided that they would call their parents and ask them to come and get them. Mr. Ken said he would get out the burgers and dogs if they wanted to eat. But, Logan, speaking for all of the lads, said they all agreed that what happened between Mr. Chris and Robert needed to be discussed with him and his 'son' without all of them hanging around.
All the boys went into the dressing rooms to get changed back into their street clothes. When they came outside they all took out their cell phones and called home and asked to be picked up and told their parents they would explain later. In the meantime, Robert went up to his bedroom to change into some clean clothes knowing he would retrieve the ones in the dressing room later.
Eric had followed along with Robert and they lightly talked as a two headed up to the bedrooms. Eric asked Robert if he wanted to take a shower first, but Robert was still unsettled about everything that just happened with Mr. Chris and now with his 'dad'. Eric then asked if his Best Friend wanted him to stick around for moral support. Robert knew inside of him that he wanted Eric to stay, but he told His Best Friend that it was probably best that just him and his dad talked about what happened between them all by themselves.
Charles was beside himself from what he heard and saw what happened between his 'dad' and his 'brother'. When all their friends had changed and called their parents, they went up to the Main Gate to await their retrieval. Charles went up there with them to talk to them about what had all happened that afternoon while he was at his doctor's appointment. Virtually everyone told him the same story. He even heard how Wyatt had defended him in wanting Charles to have a vote in which ramp they would offer up to remove.
Charles was surprised to hear how loud and how angry Mr. Chris had sounded when he came out to the parking corral. He knew Mr. Chris had come out on a few occasions and was upset about all of the noise they were making at the ramps. What he didn't tell his friends was that just the previous evening Robert and he had mentioned those occurrences to their dad while they were out to dinner.
Charles liked Mr. Chris. He didn't know why, but there was something about the man that he liked, but of course now that the man had caused his 'brother' to be in trouble with his 'dad' he wasn't sure how much he liked the man just then. He knew everyone needed a second chance and so he would wait to see what would happen between his 'dad' and Mr. Chris, when they had the opportunity to discuss what occurred there that afternoon.
When all of his friends had been picked up by their parents, Charles went back down to the to the estate home and went to his dad's study. He heard Robert and Eric coming down the steps and then headed in his direction. Mr. Ken wasn't in his study, at the time, and the three lads walked into the room and talked amongst themselves about the incident out in the parking corral.
Just as Mr. Ken came back into his study, Eric's cell phone rang. The teenager learned that his mom was up at the Main Gate waiting to take him home. Eric said his goodbyes to Robert and then to Charles and then to Mr. Ken and then left the study and subsequently walked up to his waiting mom.
"Robert I want to again apologize to you for the way I acted outside this afternoon towards you. It wasn't fair for me to not allow you to give me your full explanation of what happened. I was angry and upset at the garage door being left open, and I allowed it to cloud my judgment towards you, Eric, and the rest of the lads. I'm sorry I did that, Robert, to you, and I can give you a lot of excuses as to why I was that way, but in looking back none of them are reason enough for me treating you the way I did.
"I hope you will forgive me for my error in judgment and I hope that we can move on past this. I've told you many times before that as you are growing up, you are allowed to make mistakes so you will learn from those mistakes, and that when you are older you will hopefully not make those same mistakes. Unfortunately, it appears that I have not learned that lesson from my youth.
"Charles … I'm sorry you had to see what occurred down at the beach today, but maybe you both will understand that being the adult and being the parent can be difficult at times and that we don't always have all the answers. This was a learning lesson for me in parenting and being fair and I failed miserably. I hope you both can forgive me for what happened," Mr. Ken solemnly told his two 'sons'.
The three Covers talked about what happened with Mr. Chris and what happened between 'dad' Ken and his 'son' Robert. The conversation lasted for about an hour after which Momma Maria came to the Study and told the Covers that dinner was being served. Charles was still on his soft foods diet, but Momma Maria had already checked what was good for the lad so she served chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans with butter and rolls. Mr. Ken drank coffee while the boys had very cold milk. For desert, Momma served a butter pound cake with sliced strawberries and whipped cream topping. None of the Covers went hungry that night.
Later that evening, as Robert told his 'dad' about the ramps and the vote, Mr. Ken decided to turn on the TV to see if they were running Rene Vaughn's interview with Logan. It was at the top of the 7 o'clock hour and that was their lead-in story.
"Tonight, we have a Rene Vaughn's second exclusive interview with the second of two of the heroes from last night's sailboat accident. Stay tuned for that interview right after these messages," the announcer said, before the ads began to appear.
Robert and Charles asked their dad about why they were calling Todd and Logan heroes and not him. All Mr. Ken could do was tell his boys that he didn't need the accolade as he already had enough back when Collin lived with him. The boys then knew their 'dad' was referring to his saving their older 'brother' twice. Once from the cold waters and the second time when he was shot taking a bullet meant for the teen they now called their 'brother'.
The news cast returned with the news anchor introducing Rene Vaughn who then introduced her piece with the other hero from last night, Logan Anderson. The video then began.
"Logan, tell us a little about yourself. What is your full name, how old you are and what is your association with Mr. Ken that you were on his yacht last night," was the reporter's first question.
"Ms. Rene, my name is Logan Anderson and I live with my mom and two sisters. I am thirteen and I was a guest on Mr. Ken's boat last night."
"Can you tell us why you were one of the lucky lads to be on his yacht last night?" asked Rene.
"He foster's a boy who is my friend and that was why I was there," replied Logan.
"Can you tell us his name?" asked Rene trying to trip Logan up.
Logan had heard what Mr. Ken said last night about not revealing Robert's and Charles's names because he needed permission for the judge or CPS, so he replied, "Ms. Vaughn, I can't tell you the name without Mr. Ken or the Director of CPS telling me I could."
"Was his name Robert?" Rene persisted.
"Ms. Vaughn I just told you I can't tell you the name." Logan said, while holding his guns.
"Moving on … Logan … we've all seen the video of your dive into the lake holding a life ring and vest. What possessed you to do something like that?"
"I saw Mr. Ken was having trouble with the boy who we now all know is Walter Tancards. The boy's body wasn't very buoyant and Mr. Ken couldn't give him any breaths with it that way. I knew he needed something to put under the teenager so he could work on him. I saw the life ring and the life preserver lying there, so I took off my shirt and shoes and grabbed them and dove in," said Logan, as he described his actions from last night.
"Logan, why do you think it was that Mr. Ken and Todd Foster called on you for your help and none of the other boys on the boat? I understand there were upwards of fifteen lads that could have helped," Rene posed to the young teen.
"You'll have to ask them. All I know was that someone called my name to do something and I just did it," was how Logan responded to the question.
"Logan, weren't you a bit scared when you dove into the lake waters while it was getting dark?" was a surprise question Logan wasn't ready for.
"Ms. Vaughn, all I can say to that is I saw what was needed and I reacted. The Boy Scouts taught me a lot of things and one of them was to be prepared. To be honest, though, I wasn't initially prepared for what we encountered last night, but after it sank in and I saw what Mr. Ken was attempting to do with Walt, I knew he needed help. That was why I dove in. I wasn't scared, because I didn't have time to think about being scared. The only thing that went through my head was that a teen was in trouble and I could help. So I did!" replied the teenager.
"The morning newspapers and radio stations have called you a hero. Do you have anything to say about that title they bestowed on you?" asked Ms. Vaughn.
"I have no idea where that came from. I surely didn't ask them to call me that and they didn't ask me if they could. I guess you need to ask them why they said what they did," answered Logan.
That was the end of the interview. Mr. Ken thought Logan had done a great job and Robert and Charles did so, too. They turned off the TV and went back to discussing the ramps. The questions Robert posed to his 'dad' were why did he use the last garage and keep the first one empty, and would he consider moving that vehicle to the first bay. Then the teen asked Mr. Ken if he would he consider moving the ramps some to allow more of his friends to skate at one time.
Mr. Ken was interested as to why the boys voted to remove the grind box and after he heard their reasons, he had to agree. He then told Robert he would have to go outside and look at the ramp setup and decide after they removed the grind box what space would be freed up. The man agreed he would go out to the parking corral with him first thing tomorrow after his morning coffee and he got to read the newspaper. Robert looked at Charles for what he thought. The 'brother' just shrugged his shoulders and pointed to how dark it was getting and Robert knew that tomorrow morning would have to work.
The boys told their 'dad' that they were going to go upstairs and that they might not be back down. Chief followed them. Mr. Ken told his 'son's' good night and then reminded them they had an appointment with Doctor Doug the next day so for them not to make any plans. That news didn't go over all that well with the boys, but they knew they needed to talk to the man so they didn't argue.
The lads went to their bedrooms, but along the way Robert asked the obvious question about his incision. Charles told his 'brother' to come over to his room and he'd tell him about it. A half hour later, Robert was dumbfounded about Charles' mini flashback to what happened to him, when he was with Smokey and his biker friends.
After Robert went back to his bedroom, Charles got ready for bed. That consisted of taking everything off except his boxer briefs. He turned down his bed and then remembered he needed to take his medications so he headed back down to his 'dad's' Study. When he walked into the Study wearing only his boxer briefs his 'dad' had to take a second look.
"Now, what's this? You boys are going to walk around the house in only your briefs from now on?" teased 'dad' Ken.
"No, 'dad', I forgot to take my medicine, and I knew it was only us three in the house tonight. What's the big deal, anyways? You sleep in your boxers, I am told," replied Charles.
"Come over here 'son'. So, you like sleeping in your briefs?" smiled Mr. Ken.
"Yeah, what's wrong with that? It feels good and when I wore pajamas I always got too hot. Why do you like sleeping in your boxers, 'dad'?" Charles turned the question around to Mr. Ken.
"Okay, I agree it does feel better to sleep that way," replied 'dad' Ken. "So, you need your meds? Okay … let me get them out and we'll go to the Kitchen Nook for a glass of water."
Upstairs, Robert had called Eric and they talked more about what happened with Mr. Chris that day and how mad Mr. Ken was. Robert told his Best Fried how his 'dad' had apologized to him for not giving him the chance to fully explain and to Charles for not acting as a good parent. The teens also talked about how Todd and Logan were being heralded as heroes by the news media. They weren't jealous their friends were being called that, they just figured Mr. Ken should also be recognized, too, even though Mr. Ken had told Robert he was okay not being identified as one.
Charles came up to his bedroom, after taking his medications, and really wasn't sleepy yet. He read some, watched the TV for a bit but was still bored. Then he saw his cell phone laying on the desk it was then a light lit up in his brain and he picked it up and pressed a speed dial number.
"Hello, Collin?" asked Charles, when the phone was answered.
"Charles, is that you my little 'brother'?" replied Collin.
"Yeah, it's me. I wonder if you have time to talk to me?" asked the preteen.
"Sure, anything for you, Charles. What do you need to talk to me about?" inquired Colin.
"I saw Doctor Rick today. He looked at my incisions and stitches," revealed Charles.
"So, you're telling me he spread your cheeks and gave you the finger wave," teased the much older teen.
"Yeah, he did that. … … " started Charles, but then stopped.
The phone became very quiet except Collin could hear Charles breathing.
"Charles … what's wrong? What happened? Did Doctor Powers hurt you when he checked you out?" the now very concerned older 'brother' wanted to know.
Collin waited for a response from his little 'brother'. The seconds passed by and the older teen yelled over his phone, "Charles … Charles … what's wrong little 'bro'? Come on … you can tell me," encouraged the high school grad.
A few more seconds passed by and then the teen heard, "Collin …," spoke up Charles, in a very subdued voice.
"Yes, I'm here," replied Collin.
"Collin … today … when Doc Powers checked me out … something happened to me," Charles slowly got out.
"Charles … what happened? You can tell me my little 'brother'. Come on now. You called me to tell me something, so … so what is it … that you need to talk to me about?" Collin continued to calmly persuade Charles to talk to him.
Charles got quiet again. Collin knew the lad was still on the phone because he could still hear the boy's breathing.
Finally, Charles took a big breath and said, "Collin … when the doctor put his finger inside of me … something happened inside of me. My mind … my brain … it somehow flashed me back to when Smokey and his friends … when they … when they used me. My mind … it sort of played back everything they did to me. Collin … I knew … I knew they must have done something to me because I remembered going with Smokey to this party but after that the … the only thing I remembered was my butt … it was awfully sore … and it bled for about three days afterward. … I don't know what it all means, Collin. What do I do about this?" sort of pleaded Charles.
"My little 'brother', when do you see Doctor Doug again?" quickly asked Collin.
"Tomorrow," simply replied Charles.
"Good, Charles, that's very good. There is less of a chance you'll forget it by then. Charles … make sure you tell Doctor Doug everything you remembered, no matter how insignificant you might think it is. I'm sure Doctor Jennings will be able to make sense out of what you told me and Charles … you have to trust him to help you. He helped me get through my parents deaths and all the things those men did to me. I know he can help you, too, you just have to let… you have to let him help you," emphasized Collin.
"Collin … I wish you were here, right now. I wish … I wish you could be there with me tomorrow. What those men did to me was like … I think was like what you told me your men did to you," lightly cried Charles, as he spoke to his big 'brother'.
"Charles … are you in your bedroom?" Collin asked.
"Yes," lightly spoke the pre-teen.
"Good, Charles … Charles I want you to lie down and try to get a good night's sleep. Can you do that for me?" promoted Collin.
"Yes, I can do that for you, Collin. I still wish you could be here for me, Collin. I'm gonna hang up now. Thank you for talking with me. I love having you as my BIG 'brother' Collin. Bye," offered the sleepy sounding twelve year old.
"Bye, Charles. … Sleep well!" replied Collin, and then he heard the phone hang up.
Charles reached out and turned off the lights and then pulled the covers up over his body. He laid his head down on the pillow and cried.
While Charles was trying to go to sleep, Collin immediately called his Big Bro, Mr. Ken.
"Bro," began Collin.
"Well, hello to you, too, young man. How is everything down your way?" a cheerful Ken Thomas replied.
"Bro, its Charles…. I just got off the phone with him and he sounds depressed," yelled Collin, to get his Big Bro's attention.
"You got my attention, Collin, repeat that," responded back the owner of The Cove.
"Mr. Ken, Charles just called me out of the blue. He told me what happened to him while Doctor Rick did the internal exam today. He sounds so down and blue. He told me he wished I was there with him right now and then he said he wished I could go with him tomorrow to see Doctor Doug.
"Charles … he told me what those men did to him was what my men had done to me. Bro, the way he sounds … I don't think he is doing very good right now. I know, Bro, he sounds a lot like I felt many times when I was with you. At least you were there for me, but he doesn't have anyone there for him. Is it okay if I come up? I can be there by midnight, Bro. Please say I can come!" an anxious Collin waited for the answer.
"Collin, THANK you very much for calling me. And, YES, Yes please come. If Charles called you then he must be hurting inside. I'm going to go up to him and check on him and tell Chief to keep an eye on our 'boy'. I'll wait up for you but don't rush. There is no need for you to speed to get here. Hopefully, Charles will be asleep when you get there and you will be there in the morning for breakfast when he comes into the Nook," replied Mr. Ken.
"Thanks, Bro, I'll be there as quick as I can, but I won't overdo it to get there. Bye, Bro," said Collin and then hung up his phone.
Ken Thomas was thankful Collin had called him. He would never have known how Charles was taking what happened to him in the doctor's exam room if Collin hadn't called. With that in mind, Mr. Ken headed up the stairs to his 'son's' bedroom. Along the way he stopped at Robert's bedroom to let him know that his 'brother' had called Collin and that Collin was on his way here. He wanted the teen to be alert if Chief starts barking to get to Charles' room quickly and send Chief down for him. He hoped nothing would happen that would cause all that to occur but he wanted the lad to know in case something did go bump in the night.
Robert was concerned about what his 'dad' told him and wanted to know more but Mr. Ken told him he needed to check on Charles. Mr. Ken did the three knock rule before entering his foster son's' bedroom. When he entered, he saw Charles was thrashing under his bed covers and Chief was standing next to the bed. The man scratched his dog's ears as he continued to observe the pre-teen. By then Robert had stepped into the room.
Mr. Ken wasn't sure if he should wake the boy, but the decision was made for him when Charles, yelled out, "STOP, IT HURTS, IT HURTS!"
Mr. Ken immediately tried to wake up his 'son'. "Charles … you're having a nightmare. Come on 'son' you need to wake up for me. Charles, you need to wake up!"
Robert also got into helping wake Charles up. "Charles, come on now, you need to wake up. 'Dad' needs to talk with you. Come on, Charles, time to get up."
After a few minutes of trying to wake the lad up, Charles slowly came out of his deep troubled sleep. He wiped his eyes, then looked out the window and when he saw his 'dad' there in front of him he jumped into the man's waiting arms and cried hard. The lad cried and cried and all 'dad' Ken could do was try to calm the lad down and get him to talk to him.
Robert just watched as Mr. Ken tried to do his magic on Charles that he was so successful in doing with both Collin and him. Robert and Chief watched as the man not only hugged his 'son' and rubbed the lad's back they heard him whisper something into the boy's ear. Robert never remembered Mr. Ken ever whispering into his ear, but it could be because of what Charles told him about today that 'dad' Ken needed to use it to try to calm his 'brother' down. The man and boy hugged for over five minutes before Charles began to shut down his tears. They stayed together for about another three minutes before they separated.
"Charles … were you dreaming … of what you remember today, 'son'?" asked 'dad' Ken.
All Charles did was nod his head that he was. Upon seeing that, Mr. Ken pulled Charles back to him and the lad just melted in his arms. They stayed that way for a minute or so before Mr. Ken released the lad.
"Charles … were you … did you … 'son', why didn't you tell me that what you remember was bothering you so deeply? You know I would have done everything possible to help you deal with all that. Well … I'm, no we're all here; your 'dad' and 'brother' and Chief are … we are now here to help you get through tonight," calmly offered 'dad' Ken.
"Thanks, 'dad', and thank you, Robert and you too, Chief. I'm sorry for not saying anything but … I don't want to have to tell all those men again what Smokey and his biker buddies did to me. I feel so helpless to be able to get all of this behind me. Then, there is my mom and what she did to me that made all this happen to me," explained Charles, who then burst out crying again.
It took 'dad' Ken until after midnight to get Charles settled down enough to get the lad to go pee and then go back to bed and hopefully a calm sleep. The man asked Robert to sleep in the boy's room that night in case his 'brother' began to have another bad dream. He also asked Chief to help Robert and to come get him if his new master had another bad dream.
As Mr. Ken left, Robert visited the little boy's room to relieve any pressure in his bladder before going back into Charles's room. When Robert returned to Charles' bedroom, Chief padded out and down the hall to do the same thing, but only outside. Robert leaned out the door and whispered to Chief he'd leave the door open and then got into the other bed in the room.
Collin arrived a little after midnight. He let himself into the estate home and was warmly greeted by his Big Bro. The teenager then went directly to one of the guest en suites. Everyone slept well that night.