Mr. Ken anxiously looked out the large Great Room windows onto the Patio, to see if his 'son' and his friend were caught outside. The man hoped they hadn't tripped and fallen and were now being pummeled relentlessly by the hailstones. Not seeing the twin or his friend outside anywhere, he began to panic.
"Kevin, quickly, head up to your room to see if your brother went up there," almost screamed a frantic 'dad' Ken.
It was then the storm began to blow the rain from one direction and then another. The boys watched as tree leaves and limbs were thrown through the air and their plates of food and utensils were picked up and thrown to who knows where. The tables and chairs out on the patio were strewn around as if they had no weight at all.
"Boys, get away from the windows. NOW! Go into the restrooms, or Theater in case it's a tornado. Go! No one should be by these huge windows if they break. GO! GO!" now yelled Mr. Ken, who was now afraid for everyone in The Cove. He just hoped the guards were safe.
"Eric, go check on your mom," called out 'dad' Ken. "If she isn't awake, get her up and tell her about the storm. Tell her to get into the en suite if the storm gets worse. Use the elevator in order to stay away from the glass windows." Robert, of course, had to go with his Best Friend.
As the storm picked up in intensity, the missing boys, Kyle and Dominic, came from the Kitchen Nook across the MRS Rom and Foyer and were seen through the glass banister. Mr. Ken saw them and yelled to them, "Get down here!"
The man demanded to know where they went. Kyle told him he and Dominic quickly grabbed the burgers and hot dogs when his 'dad' told them to head inside. The boy added how he and Dominic took them to the freezer, so they wouldn't be ruined.
Mr. Ken pulled both boys to him and told them he was happy they were OK. It was then Kevin joined the trio and admonished his twin by telling him he should have told someone where he was going. Mr. Ken agreed with the older twin and ruffled his hair.
All the older boys, Robert and Billy's age, headed to the Theater, while the younger ones, Charles' age and under, headed into both women's and men's restrooms. They talked about the storm; how fast it arrived and wondered what they would see outside when it passed.
The wind and rain pummeled the area, almost as it did back when that huge storm hit a few years back. The boys began to call home, on their cell phones, to let their parents know they were safe inside The Cove. The parents were happy their child had enough sense to call and let them know. Little did they know, Mr. Ken had given them all a gentle nudge.
It was then The Cove lost power. All the boys in the enclosed Theater and restrooms were thrust immediately into complete darkness. But even though the emergency lights kicked on, Mr. Wayne heard the boys screaming and then some of them came out into the Great Room.
The Estate Master told them to settle down and that the emergency power would turn on shortly. Fifteen seconds after the power loss, the emergency generators kicked in and The Cove was again doused in light.
The heaviest part of the storm slid through the area almost as fast as it arrived, but the main storm had been overhead for a good 40 minutes. The wind finally began to taper off and the rain was more like a shower than the heavy torrent they'd just gone through. Mr. Ken told the boys they could come back out into the Great Room.
All the boys immediately headed for the oversized Great Room windows to see what it looked like outside, on the patio. They were aghast at what they saw. The folding serving tables had been thrown against the concrete wall that supported the garage and were in shambles. The gas grill was overturned and the top was bent and almost ripped off. The Patio itself was a mess from all the limbs, leaves and trash from their food.
Matthew and his friends quickly talked, then quietly headed up to the Cover's bedroom. When they got there, they threw open the drapes, so they could look out at the construction site. What they saw had them devastated.
"'Dad', dad', 'dad' 'dad' continuously called out Matthew, as he ran down the hallway and then the stairs.
"Hold on their sport. Where's the fire?" said 'dad' Ken, trying to slow down the youngster and get some information.
"'Dad' you got a come and see from my bedroom. The construction site. It's ... it's ... you just gotta come and see," begged Matthew, as he ran back up to his bedroom.
'Dad' Ken and Mr. Wayne quickly followed Matthew up to his bedroom, to see what the young Cover was talking about.
Billy's bedroom also faced out the front of the house, so he and his friends ran up to his bedroom to see what Matthew was yelling about. When Billy got there, he couldn't believe what he saw. His friends were equally appalled at the site.
When Mr. Ken and Mr. Wayne looked out the window, they didn't like what they saw. The skate bowls in the construction site were almost full of brown, filthy water. The dirt that was spread and packed, so they could pour the top of the skate park and the driveway, that would run from the main drive near the Guard Shack to the Pavilion, had been heavily washed out by the heavy rains and deposited into the skate bowls
They could see the catch basin was still filling up with water as it also slowly leaked out of the skate bowl's drains. Mr. Ken figured there were large rocks partially blocking the drains at the bottoms of the bowls and the water would eventually leak out, but not before the dirty water stained the clean concrete.
"Wayne, we need to get our swimsuits on and as soon as the storm passes, we need to open those drains and rinse off that dirty water before it dries. Otherwise, we'll have some two-tone concrete skate bowls. In the meantime, I'll get the boys to drag out all of the water hoses we have and connect them together. That way we can drag them up there and start rinsing," reasoned the owner of The Cove.
"Mr. Ken, I don't think we'll have enough hose to reach there. Let me take a few of the boys and we'll go and buy three, four, or five hundred feet of hose, and hopefully, we'll be back in time that we can save the concrete," offered Mr. Wayne.
Mr. Ken thought about that for about five seconds, then he told the Estate Master to go.
Wayne called for Billy, Robert, Eric, and Charles to go with him. The five Covers headed to the garage and they took the King Ranch truck and headed to the nearest garden store.
Minimal lightning and thunder, with their accompanying wind and rains, continued the whole time the Covers were out buying water hoses. Mr. Wayne figured they'd need at least five hundred feet and if they had two hoses that long they could get it done faster and with fifteen hundred even faster, still. He then told himself he needed to think that one through more, though.
When they reached the closest garden store, Mr. Wayne had the boys get two flat carts and head over to the garden hoses, and load up six hundred feet of hose. The man then looked for three good garden hose nozzles they could use to wash the dirt off the concrete. He also found three-way hose splitters he figured they could use to reduce the total feet of hoses they'd need directly from the house.
When Mr. Wayne saw what six hundred feet of hose looked like, he told the boys to go back and get another flat cart and four hundred feet more of garden hose. He explained to the boys that what they don't use they can return the next day or two. The boys hurried to get the hose and get back to the register.
While those five Covers were gone, Mr. Ken, Logan, Brad, Lonnie, Brett, and Jamie changed into their swimsuits, then went up to the skate bowls and began to use their hands to pull out any big stones that were blocking the drains.
At the same time, the other boys were tasked to clean up the Patio, which was going to take quite an amount of time, from the amount of debris that was there. Both undertakings were going to be long and messy, which was why Mr. Ken had the boys change into their swimsuits first.
It took the five Covers about an hour to go, make their purchases and return to The Cove. By the time they returned, the storm had moved on and only a light drizzle remained. As they drove up to the garage, the doors opened and all the boys were in their swimsuits ready to start putting the hoses together to 'save' the Cove Skate Park.
Mr. Ken was happy to see Wayne had thought outside the box and bought all the hose, splitters, and nozzles he had. With a thousand feet of hose, plus what he had already, they began to unravel the hose.
The boys not working on the Patio assignment all eagerly jumped into helping roll out the hoses. Once they were up at the skate park, they split them off. That way there would be at least three hoses blasting away the still-wet dirt off the walls of the skate bowls.
All the boys pitched in wherever they could. Some carried small rocks and stone while others took brooms from the garage, swept the dirt and stones off the level portion of the skate park that had already been poured.
Then, someone asked if that water faucet near the Pavilion worked. Mr. Ken said to try it. When they saw that it worked, the owner of the Cove had the boys set up another hose wash station and with three more hoses they washed off the completed flat portion of the skate park.
While the group worked on the skate park, Mr. Wayne went back to the Patio to see what they had accomplished. He was happy to see the boys had upturned all the ornate tables and chairs and tried to fix the grill.
The boys had collected large amounts of broken folding tables, tree limbs, and other debris, and were stuffing, what they could, into trash bags. The Estate Master couldn't believe all the destruction the heavy wind and rains had caused and all the trash that the wind had brought.
The man had the boys take all the ruined equipment and trash to the dumpsters.
The boys were still working hard when their parents began to arrive. By then, Mr. Ken had his portable light stanchions out and working to light up the skate park cleanup areas. The vast majority of the washing down was almost complete, but they still had an hour, or so, they could use to completely wash the dirt and stones off the completed portion of the skate park deck.
Mr. Ken told the guards to let the parents in to see what their sons were helping with. He did tell them to remind the parents it was muddy and they would get it on their shoes and possibly get their clothes dirty. Some of the men took off their shoes and socks and walked over to see what their boys were doing and what, if any, damage had been done.
Ms. Judy and Momma Maria watched the cleanup from their vantage points in the Butler's Pantry. Momma asked Ms. Judy what she could make for dinner. Judy Turner, the Cove's guest due to her surgery, said they needed to know how many were staying to eat, so they knew how much to fix. Momma thought about it for a few moments, and then said she knew exactly what to make. So, Momma enlisted Ms. Judy to help.
As the parents arrived and saw what Mr. Ken and the boys were doing, and what they had accomplished, the parents were proud that their sons eagerly joined in. All the adults talked about the storm and what destruction they may or may not have had at their own homes. They were all surprised to see and hear about what damage The Cove sustained both out front and out back on the Patio.
Ella Knowlers, Jamie's mom, met Natalie Portlander, Gabriel, 'Gabe's', mom, as most other parents did there at The Cove. They walked up to one another and introduced themselves. Claire Crossheirs saw the two new women talking so she, Celeste Wrangeler, and Anna Stylers walked over to them to introduce themselves. The women then learned all of their sons were freshmen and exchanged phone numbers.
Jamie, Gabe, Lonnie, Brett, Kaden, and Billy saw the women talking, so they knew they had to introduce Billy to the women who didn't know or remember who Billy was. Ella and Natalie were happy to meet the teen who invited their sons to The Cove, so they could talk to him.
Billy knew what would happen when he went over there, but he went anyway. The Cover answered their questions as best he could. He was surprised they all knew he was the teen who fought the principal and they told him, they hoped he would be a good example for the rest of the high school.
Mr. Ken saw Bill was surrounded, not only by his friends, but by their parents, as well, so he thought he'd better go over and try to even the odds. He smiled at himself as he said that in his mind.
"Good evening, ladies," offered Mr. Ken. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to meet you when you first arrived, but ... as you can see The Cove had some problems from the storm. Our biggest concern was the colored water in the brand-new skate bowls. I didn't want it to evaporate over the night and wind up with two-tone concrete, so I enlisted many of the boys to help.
"Oh, by the way, my back Patio saw some debris blown in from the storm. We were eating our burgers and dogs when the storm suddenly arrived and we all ran inside. The rest of the lads helped clean up the storm debris back there.
Other parents came over to the small group to hear what was being talked about. It was then Jamie told his mom that Mr. Ken was having a Memorial Day Picnic, and he was going to invite all of his 'sons'' friends and their families to celebrate the new skate park.
Mrs. Knowles asked Mr. Ken if that was true and the man confirmed it. He told the assembled group of parents he was going to send out e-mail invitations later that week, so for everyone to watch for them. He encouraged them to plan to be there that Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend.
The owner of The Cove added he hoped the Park would be finished by then, because he didn't know how much the storm damage would delay the contractor. He told them to stay tuned to their sons for further information. Everyone laughed.
Gabe's and Jamie's brothers heard the announcement of the Memorial Day Picnic and they were ecstatic. They screamed, hollered, and jumped up and down that they would be invited to Three Finger Cove and then they could see what it was all about.
Jamie heard the commotion the boys were making and went over to them and told all four if they didn't behave, he'd ask Billy not to invite them. They quickly stopped their antics. They still smiled at one another when Jamie went back to the group.
Many of the boys didn't want to leave when their parents told them it was time to go. They argued Mr. Ken still needed their help and they wanted to stay. The dads didn't say anything as they let the moms do the 'heavy lifting' when it came to their boys.
The moms wouldn't hear of it as it was getting late and they all needed to get dinner. They told their sons to get their clothes and get in the car. The boys tried to appeal to their dads, but the men told them to do what their mothers told them to do.
It was close to 7:30 that Saturday evening before the Covers were finished with cleaning the Skate Park as best they could. Mr. Ken thanked all the boys and Mr. Wayne for their hard work. He told everyone to take a shower and then they'd figure out what they would have for dinner. At eight o'clock they found out.
"Momma Maria, thank you for making this wonderful meal for us tonight," spoke up Mr. Ken.
"Wells Iss hads helps. Misses Judys ... shes helps mess veryies muchos. Iss knows boys like noodles and meatsaballs sos thatss whats we mades for youse alls," replied Momma Maria.
Everyone applauded the women for their hard work. Mr. Ken then told Momma to sit and eat with them. Even though they were eating very late, the Covers had a lively conversation about the storm and the eventual cleanup. None of the adults could ever remember such a storm coming up so fast and hard.
Mr. Wayne asked his boss if it was wise to tell everyone so early about the Memorial Day Picnic. Mr. Ken said this way the parents can make plans instead of learning about the Picnic the week before and they had already made plans. The Estate Master asked what he was going to do if the skate park isn't finished by then. Mr. Ken turned to the man and said, with a smile, "Fire the project manager."
It took a while for that reply to sink in. Then, Mr. Wayne got a strange look on his face. Matthew saw it and asked him what was wrong. Mr. Wayne told them all, "Ahh ... I'm ... ahh ... I'm the project manager."
Everyone at the table roared in laughter. Even Momma Maria laughed at what Wayne said.
"Wayne, get with the contractor first thing Monday. Tell him about the storm and what we did. Then, ask him what else needs to be done, if anything, to make sure the concrete isn't stained.
"Then, tell him about the extension of the driveway to include the bike racks and lockers. I'd think since he will have to repair or replace the driveway base that adding the extra base, forms, and concrete for the additions shouldn't be much of a problem.
"Also, we need to get right on ordering those tables and benches and finding a contractor who can install them. But first, we need to know when the contractor will turn that facility over to us, so we can install them, the shelves, freezer, etc.
"Oh, we also need to find good outdoor lockers and get them on order. ... Robert ... did you hear what I just told Mr. Wayne about the lockers?" asked dad Ken.
"Yes, sir," replied Robert.
"Ok, then you are the lead on finding the BEST outdoor lockers for the Pavilion. When you find two or three that would work, talk it over with Mr. Wayne and then he'll have Mr. Chris order what you two figure you'll need for your friends.
"Charles, you do the same with the bike racks. Figure out how many of you and your 'brothers'' friends ride their bikes and then triple it. We all know bike riders use up lots of spaces when they use the racks," directed 'dad' Ken.
All Charles said was, "Yes, sir."
For dessert, Momma Maria served the leftovers from the two cakes she made for Billy. They hadn't been touched much and she wanted them all gone by Sunday night. Everyone had at least one piece of each, along with a scoop of ice cream on top. Even Chief got a scoop of her favorite treat.
When the Covers left the dinner table, they all helped clear it. Some rinsed the dirty dishes while others worked on cleaning the pots and pans. Momma Maria was thrilled how everyone chipped in to get the Kitchen Nook cleaned up, and the dirty dishes into the dishwashers.
Mr. Ken told Momma not to worry about feeding them in the morning. He told her they were going to go over to the Four Corners Diner at 10 a.m. for a late breakfast. The man then turned to his 'boys' and told them to text all their friends and ask them not to arrive before one p.m.
The Covers, and their guest, began to head to the Study, but seeing the lateness of the night, Mr. Ken sent everyone to bed. He told the boys he'd be up in a few minutes to say goodnight, since Mr. Wayne was going to spend the night at his apartment.
When the foster dad visited the boys before they went to bed, he reminded them to be showered, dressed, and downstairs by 10 o'clock. The man said they'd talk about what they'd do the next day while they ate breakfast.
The next morning, Mr. Ken and Ms. Judy were down in the Foyer waiting on the boys to arrive. As it was getting close to the appointed hour, Mr. Ken got antsy.
"Boys, let's MOVE it," 'dad' Ken yelled up the stairs, hoping the boys heard him.
They had, as they were all showered, dressed, and waiting at the top of the stairs, but they stood back in the hallway. They wanted to know how far they could go before their 'dad' got mad and came up after them.
"Boys! What's your problem? Let's GO!" yelled Mr. Ken.
About 30 seconds later, 'dad' Ken yelled out, "Don't make me come UP there!"
It was then the seven boys came down the stairs, together, laughing. 'Dad' Ken was curious as to why they were all coming down the stairs at the same time, and why were they laughing. Ms. Judy knew the 'why', and she had a difficult time holding back a chuckle.
After a few moments of wondering what was going on, the foster dad asked them what was going on. Matthew was nudged to tell him. "'Dad' ... we ... we wanted to see ... we wanted to see how far we could tease you, before you came up after us."
"You scamps," said 'dad' Ken. He then grabbed Matthew and began to tickle him.
"Stop, stop, I have my good clothes on," yelled a squealing Matthew.
"And, let that be a lesson to you," teased 'dad' Ken.
The boys laughed at their 'dad's' antics. Billy didn't know about the 'Let that be a lesson to you' phrase, so he asked. Robert began to explain it to his older 'brother', but Mr. Ken heard the question and as soon as Billy got close enough to him, he grabbed the fifteen-year-old and began to tickle him.
"Wait, wait, what's this for? What, what did I do?" asked the squirming and laughing teen.
"It's to give you a lesson," said a smiling Mr. Ken, who continued to tickle the teenager.
After a few more tickles, Mr. Ken stopped. Then, he said, "And, let that be a lesson to you!"
Billy looked at Robert for an explanation, and all the teen could tell his older 'brother' was his dad did that to be silly, but to also make a point. And, this time, the point was not to 'tease' him. Billy laughed at the silliness and then understood how the silliness brought about what the man was attempting to convey. Billy thanked his lucky stars he was sent to live there.
During breakfast, at the Four Corners Diner, the Covers talked some more about the storm. Mr. Ken explained to everyone why he panicked when he saw the water standing in the skate bowls. He told everyone he didn't want that light brown 'ring around the collar' look in the skate bowls since it was brand new construction.
Mr. Ken also described what he thought they still needed to finish cleaning before the boys outside play could return to normal. The owner of The Cove said the back Patio still had debris around it and that Todd will have his hands full taking care of the shoreline and beach by himself.
Mr. Wayne suggested they get a gas pressure washer to help with cleanup as well as for future use when they need to clean the Pavilion concrete floor, garage, patio, pool deck, and other areas around the outside of the house like the circular drive. Mr. Ken told his Estate Master to go buy one after they ate.
The whole time Ms. Judy was a guest at Three Finger Cove, she never felt like she was in the way, or caused Mr. Ken to act differently in front of her. She watched, as he interacted with all the boys as equally as he could. Although, even during Billy's run-in with the principal, she saw the teen didn't take up any more of the man's time than his 'brothers'.
The Covers took their time, relaxing while eating breakfast as the boys' friends wouldn't be over until one p.m. When they did get back home, the boys knew they had to get into their 'work clothes' as they had to finish cleaning the Patio, and maybe help Todd on the beach and shoreline and anywhere else on the estate property where needed.
The boys' friends did arrive around one o'clock as asked. And, when they appeared, they wore old clothes. Billy asked them why they wore them when he didn't ask them to. Logan spoke up and explained, he was the one who texted his friends. The teen explained that they, in turn, texted other friends and that was why the majority of them had old clothes to work in. The boys also brought their swimsuits and skateboards in case they got the chance to use them.
Billy's friends said they wished they had known they would still be helping clean up The Cove. They added they would have brought old clothes, as well, but would slip into their swimsuits in order to help.
Mr. Ken had most of the boys start on the Patio first. Some of the boys wondered where Robert and Eric were. Charles told them that Mr. Wayne took them with him, to go out and buy a gas pressure washer and they would be back eventually.
Some of the boys continued to work on the skate park clean up. Billy, Lonnie and Gabe, along with a few other boys, volunteered to work there and it included the Pavilion. Mr. Ken told them to just brush or rinse off any debris and throw any stones back into whatever forms hadn't been washed away.
Out back, there were too many boys to work on the Patio, so Charles, Brett, Jamie, Cooper, Brad, and Trevor jumped in and helped Todd. The shoreline was inundated with paper, bottles, and lots of other wreckage that floated in, or was blown there, so the seven boys got to work.
With the addition of Billy, and his five high school friends, there were now 52 boys, including Todd, available to work around The Cove that Sunday afternoon. And, Mr. Ken took advantage of them all. With seven boys working on the shoreline and beach, the man had 45 boys to spread around where needed.
The Patio area was finished in no time, since the majority of the cleanup happened the previous day. The boys picked paper and plastic ware from all over the area including out on the lawns that surrounded the house. Some of the boys who practiced raking the beach last summer, got the rakes out and began cleaning up the sand.
When Mr. Wayne returned with the gas pressure washer, he, Billy, Robert and Charles read the instructions and got the machine set up and going. Mr. Wayne used it first to get an idea of how best to wash off any leftover brown crud from the dirty water of the previous day.
The Estate Master gave Billy the pressure washer next to use. The man presented the teenager with safety goggles and ear protection and had the teen put them on. Then, the man and the other Covers watched as the teenager set the controls, pulled the cord, and saw the brand new pressure washer start-up and high-pressure water come out of the wand.
Each of the boys got the opportunity to do what Billy had done. Mr. Wayne wanted them all to be trained on the pressure washer and how to use it. The man then made sure they all went through the startup procedure three times, so they had the concept down. He also showed them where the instructions would be kept, inside the outside storage shed.
While the cleanup was happening all around the estate, Mr. Ken looked the grill over. The grill he figured wasn't a total loss, even though the hood was bent way too much to be repaired. What the owner of The Cove did do was decide to keep it until the Pavilion was handed over to him.
Mr. Ken figured the boys didn't really need the grill hood, as all it did was keep the weather out. He had an old tarp he knew he could throw over the grill until the boys could start using the 72-inch grill that would be a part of their 'kitchen' in the Pavilion.
Mr. Ken called it quits about a quarter to four. He told the boys to change into their swimsuits, if they hadn't already, rinse off any crud and get into the pool to enjoy it until their parents came to get them in an hour or so.
Those who were already in their swimsuits were the first in the water. Unfortunately, for Gabe and Jamie, they still had to take the 'dreaded' swim test. Billy made sure his new friends did that before they could start enjoying the pool. The other Cover boys were happy their older 'brother' remembered to do that.
Russell and Jordan weren't just sitting around the pool enjoying not having to watch the boys over the last two days. Mr. Ken had them help on the Patio and were essentially the lead supervisors for the cleanup on both days. They earned their pay that weekend for sure.
Gabe and Jamie wanted to experience as much as they could, since that was their first-time swimming in Mr. Ken's indoor pool. So, they asked Russell and Jordan to have them play some of the games they heard they created for the Cover boys.
The hour the boys had to swim, was over before they knew it. Just about all their parents were up at the Main Gate waiting for them. Mr. Ken knew with all the cars they had to be blocking the street, so he called the guards and told them to let them park inside the estate.
Mr. Ken met the parents out on the driveway and explained how hard the boys worked and he was letting them swim. He told the parents that if they wanted, they could walk around the side of the house to the patio and walk into the pool area from there.
Ella and Natalie asked if it was okay if their sons came along. Mr. Ken said if they come to the Memorial Day Picnic they'd see it, so a quick preview now wouldn't hurt. The boys were over the top they would get to see the indoor pool.
The boys were the first ones into the indoor pool area and everyone was surprised when they came in and no one else did.
"Hey, where'd you come from?" yelled Gabe, as he jumped off the rock ledge.
Jamie saw whom Gabe was calling out to, so he swam over to talk to his brothers, Jameson and Jonathan, and Gabe's brothers, Xavier and Damien. When the teens got to their brothers, they grabbed them and got them wet. The Covers who knew the boys came over to talk to them, as well. It was then the moms entered along with Mr. Ken and a few other moms and dads.
The four younger boys, who didn't have their swimsuits, wanted so badly to get into the water. Mr. Ken looked at the time and sincerely told them that it was getting late, all of them had school tomorrow and they all had yet to get dinner. The boys moaned some, at hearing that, but their moms hugged them and told them they'd soon be swimming there.
The boys' friends saw the boys' moms hug them, and together they all said, "Awwwww!"
It was well after 6 p.m. when the cars began to exit The Cove. When the last vehicle departed the estate and the Main Gate closed, the Covers ran inside to get ready to go out to dinner. Tonight, IHOP won the quarter-toss as to which restaurant they went out to eat.
"Boys ... I'd have to say it ... you did a great job in choosing your friends. When the storm hit they immediately wanted to know what they could do to help. They pitched in before, not too long ago, and even today, Logan started the ball rolling by having the boys wear work clothes, knowing there was still more work to do.
"You all know I could have afforded to have a company come in and do everything we did over the past two days, but ... getting to it as fast as we did ... made sure the skate park concrete wasn't stained a terrible off brown color.
"Mr. Wayne will talk to the contractor tomorrow about adding the extra concrete for the bike racks and lockers. He'll also try to pin down the man on the finish date. And now that we've chosen our tables and chairs, we need to get possession of the Pavilion. That way we can install them before the picnic.
"Boys, we will have the Picnic whether the Cove Skate Park is finished or not. You all saw that the skate bowls are finished and some of the other elements are installed. But there are still a number of small things yet to be done, including the laying of concrete to complete the top of the park and the driveway.
We still have about six weeks to the completion and seven weeks to the end of school. Then, we'll be going on our ten-day amusement park trip the following week," explained 'dad' Ken, to everyone as they ate dinner.
"Dad is Collin ... is our big 'brother' going to come along with us?" asked Robert.
"Robert, boys ... I've talked to Collin about coming along. He really wants to be with us, but ... his managers and employees need to see him as much as we do. So, he's not sure if he can afford to be with us for the full ten days."
"Is he going to get the same reception you and he got when you two visited his manufacturing plants?" teased Robert.
Dad Ken laughed at thinking back to when he and Collin were being shot at when they visited Collin's last manufacturing plant. Robert's question opened up his 'brothers' to asking questions with them wanting to know about that shooting, and did it have anything to do with when he was shot.
Mr. Ken knew he needed to answer their questions, or they would be pestering him forever. The man took a deep breath, then told the boys the Reader's Digest version of the events. He explained that the shooting happened many months after he was shot, the day after Thanksgiving.
The foster dad told them how he and Collin thought something wasn't right, at the manufacturing plant they'd just visited, so they went back. He told them how he fired the manager and he and Collin flew to the previous plant to check on that one because they felt something wasn't right there, either.
'Dad' Ken finished the story by telling how the plant manager and the previous manager had been in cahoots with one another and had been caught selling products and keeping the money for themselves, among other things. Then, Mr. Ken told them how that last manager fired shots at them. The man continued by telling the boys the Sheriff was already there and he and his men took care of the plant manager.
The boys wanted to know more, but Mr. Ken said he and Collin visited seven manufacturing plants during their two-week trip and what happened was at the next to last plant they went back to.
Their 'dad' said the shooting was scary, but the Sheriff had already been called to the plant for another reason and they did their jobs. He finished by saying they'd have to talk to the Sheriff to get any more of their questions answered. They were all disappointed.
Ms. Judy mentioned the time and that the boys had school tomorrow. Mr. Ken agreed and called for the check. Once the boys had used the restroom they filed into the van and headed to their favorite ice cream store.
Mr. Wayne used his 'special' credit card and because he was, he told them they could only get a medium ice cream cone. Then, he ordered a medium cup of vanilla ice cream for Chief. Once everyone had their treat, Mr. Ken drove back to The Cove.
Ms. Judy was asked to do the 'honors' that night, to give Chief her ice cream. Everyone waited and watched to see how it would go. Chief sensed something different with all the men watching her as the woman had her treat. Chief decided to sit down, lick her lips, and wait for the woman to put her concoction on the floor.
Once the cup of ice cream was on the kitchen floor, Chief lapped it up in no time. The resident pet then went to Ms. Judy and gave her some doggie kisses. With that done, foster dad Ken Thomas sent all the boys up to bed.
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