It was a Friday morning when Mrs. Devers walked into the office of Clarissa's, with a folder in hand, and looked at her sternly.
"That Kevin McCallister kid, who did he go with?" Mrs. Devers asked. "Who was his foster parent again?"
Clarissa looked up from her computer that she was busy doing work on and sighed.
"Um, Harry Lime," Clarissa replied. "He put in an application and—"
Mrs. Devers frowned and nodded.
"Well, no I'm going over there with an associate of mine, he is NOT to be a foster parent to that child."
Clarissa frowned with an eyebrow raised.
"What why not?" Clarissa asked.
Mrs. Devers scoffed and frowned.
"Harry Lime, I checked out his background from the social security number he provided." Mrs. Devers said, "he has a criminal record—a lengthy criminal record. He was convicted of a felony for breaking and entering and armed robbery years ago and then when he and his friend Marv Merchants escaped from prison after only doing six months in prison, he was arrested again for kidnapping and for the attempted murder of Kevin McCallister—four years ago and you LET this—this convicted thug take this child out of the orphanage!"
Clarissa sighed and briefly closed her eyes and slightly frowned.
"Mrs. Devers," Clarissa began, "he also served five years in prison for what he did, in which time he managed to not only become rehabilitated, but he also managed to get his bachelors in Architecture. He's a changed man and when he would come and visit Kevin, Kevin seemed to really take to him."
Mrs. Devers shook her head and frowned more.
"No, that doesn't matter." Mrs. Devers replied sternly. "This man is a CONVICTED FELON. I am going to his home address right now and removing that child from that home NOW. We must make sure that the children of this orphanage goes with SAFE men and women."
Mrs. Devers walked away quickly and sternly and Clarissa looked away with sadness. She thought Kevin was a good fit for Harry and she had an inkling that from the way Harry was with her, during the short times that she saw him, that he wouldn't take the news or Mrs. Devers arrival lightly.
Theme Song: "Gimme Shelter" ~ Rolling Stones
Harry and Kevin were in the living room, at the table and Harry and Kevin were playing monopoly. Kevin laughed heartily when Harry moved his piece on the board and landed in jail.
"Ha! That's twice for you Harry, once in real life and now in the game." Kevin said between laughter.
Harry looked at Kevin with a raised eyebrow and a upset look.
"Hahaha." Harry said sarcastically before he laughed briefly.
"Ya want a game I can win at, then we should play Poker, kid." Harry said with a smile. "You don't stand a chance with me playing poker."
Kevin raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Oh yeah? How do YOU know how to play poker?" Kevin asked with his continued smile.
Harry scoffed and shook his head and smiled.
"I learned years ago from the mo—I mean um, from this guy I used to know, named Sam." Harry said with a shrug. "He used to own this casino out in Vegas, him and his then wife Ginger and I—well it's a long story and you're too young to hear about it."
Kevin raised an eyebrow and looked as if he were thinking for a moment.
"Hmm, sounds similar to the story from the movie we saw Monday." Kevin said.
Harry scoffed and shook his head. He knew why it sounded similar but decided to keep his secrets to himself, they were secrets that even Marv didn't even know about.
"Uh—yeah, yeah—anyway, changing the subject here, tomorrow, Marv and I are going to a basketball game, I got you and I tickets in the front row."
Kevin gasped and smiled.
"Oh great!" Kevin said with a surprised smile.
Harry laughed.
"Good, I'm glad you're excited about it."
At that moment, a knock came at Harry's door and Harry sighed and frowned slightly. He figured either Marv forgot his key—again, or it was Mrs. Devers coming to inspect the apartment. Harry hoped for the latter. He got up and walked to the door and opened it, as soon as he did, Mrs. Devers walked in, with a male associate with her. The male associate looked to be about in his thirties, and looked like a younger version of Matt Damon.
"My name is Mrs. Devers, Mr. Lime and I'm here to take Kevin McCallister back to the orphanage." Mrs. Devers said coldly.
Mrs. Devers walked over to Kevin and grabbed his arm and pulled him to her. Kevin frowned at her.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Kevin asked.
"I'm taking you back to the orphanage, Kevin." Mrs. Devers said sternly.
Harry looked at Mrs. Devers with a frown.
"Whoa, what? You're doing WHAT?" Harry said.
Mrs. Devers looked at him coldly.
"I'm taking him BACK to the orphanage, Mr. Lime." Mrs. Devers said coldly. "I checked your background—your criminal background and we do NOT allow children to go with convicted felons. I'm sorry, goodbye."
Mrs. Devers walked to the apartment door while holding Kevin's arm tightly. Kevin looked back at Harry with a sad look. Harry grabbed Mrs. Devers arm and spun her around and stared at her with anger.
"What? No wait, you're not taking him anywhere!" Harry said angrily, his Italian accent becoming more recognizable when he spoke angrily. "What the hell does my criminal background have to do with anything! I served my time!"
"Yeah he served his time, so let me go damn it!" Kevin said angrily.
Mrs. Devers looked at Kevin with shock and then looked up at Harry with disgust.
"Did YOU teach him that, Mr. Lime?" Mrs. Devers said coldly. "Your criminal record has EVERYTHING to do with it. We do not put children into the hands of criminals!"
Mrs. Devers stormed out the apartment with Kevin in hand and Kevin looked back at Harry with sadness.
"Harry, don't let them take me!" Kevin shouted. "I don't want to go back there!"
"I won't Kevin, I promise, I'm driving up there right now to sort this out, alright?" Harry said as he walked out after Mrs. Devers and the associate as they were walking out of the building and getting into Mrs. Devers car.
Harry watched Mrs. Devers drive away and looked pissed.
As he stormed back into the building and into his apartment, he looked around angrily.
"Son of a bitch! Damn it! Mother fucker!" Harry yelled angrily as he threw his keys down to the
floor.
He sat down on the sofa and sighed with anger and sadness. He couldn't lose Kevin, not now, just when he started getting used to having him around, being around him, taking care of him. No, Harry wasn't going to take this lying down. He jumped up and got his keys and quickly walked out of his apartment, on his way to the orphanage.
Theme Song: "Gimme Shelter" ~ Rolling Stones
As Harry walked into the orphanage, he walked up to the front desk and saw Clarissa there, when Clarissa saw him, she stood up quickly and looked at him with sympathetic eyes.
"Where's Mrs. Devers?" Harry said, with his voice slightly filled with building upset. "She came and took Kevin this morning."
Clarissa sighed and frowned.
"She's upstairs on the third floor, come on I'll take you to her." Clarissa said as she walked from out of the office and from behind the desk.
Harry followed her as she walked down the hall to the elevators, as they were waiting for the elevator, Harry looked at her with an angry frown.
"Did you know about this shit?" Harry said angrily.
Clarissa looked down with an expression of guilt and nodded. Harry looked away and shook his head, frowned and scoffed.
"But I'm so sorry, Harry." Clarissa said as she got on the elevator with him. "I tried to persuade her other wise, I really did."
Harry frowned more with anger.
"That's NOT fair." Harry said angrily. "Kevin doesn't have anyone else, why—what the HELL does my criminal record have to do with anything!"
Clarissa looked at him with a bit of fear and worry as they walked to Mrs. Devers office.
"It'll be ok Harry, it will." Clarissa said in a low voice.
Harry sighed as they walked in the office.
As Harry sat across from Clarissa, in Mrs. Dever's office, while Mrs. Devers looked through Harry's file folder she had made on him, she finally looked up at him with cold eyes.
"I'm sorry, after looking over your records for a second time, I see no clear reason why we should let you be a foster parent to Kevin." Mrs. Devers said. "You're just too—too—edgy—too violent as a foster parent for him."
Harry raised an eyebrow of shock and anger at Mrs. Devers.
"Edgy? Violent?" Harry asked with anger in his tone, "Violent how?"
Mrs. Devers looked down with a frown and scoffed.
"Well, I—"
"Violent like what—some serial killer or somethin'?" Harry interrupted angrily through his Italian accent. "What, am I John Gotti coming with the mob or somethin' to you? Do I scare you or something? Huh? Is that it?"
Mrs. Devers sighed and frowned more.
"NO," Mrs. Devers began, "but I just—"
"You just WHAT!" Harry yelled angrily through his Italian accent that was becoming more and more recognizable. "You said I had an edge, that I'm violent! VIOLENT HOW you son of a—"
Harry stopped and sighed with his eyes briefly closed. He knew he had to control himself or he'd have reached over that desk in front of him and grabbed Mrs. Devers and snapped her neck, that's how angry he was at that moment.
Mrs. Devers looked at him with a shocked expression.
"WELL, THAT is why Kevin McCallister is not fit to go with you, Mr. Lime." Mrs. Devers said. "Your attitude is just not appropriate for children."
Harry looked down at the floor and frowned deeply.
"Ya know, I get what's going on here." Harry said in an almost low voice. "You just want that kid here so you can treat him as horrible as you treated me when I was here. I know ya remember me. You were here when I was here."
Mrs. Devers looked at him as if she suddenly recognized him.
"Yeah, you remember me." Harry said, staring into her eyes. "Harry Lime, the kid who's mother was murdered and that kid—me, had to come here cause no one else would take him in. I'M that kid."
Mrs. Devers looked down and blinked repeatedly and looked back up at Harry and shrugged.
"So you are." Mrs. Devers said flatly. "The ruling STILL stands, you can NOT foster Kevin with your—criminal background. Sorry."
Theme Song: "Broken" ~ Seether & Amy Lee
Harry looked down and a look of hurt flashed on his face, he didn't even realize it but his eyes were filling with light tears.
"Look, look um—please don't do this." Harry said in a low voice, with his head down, staring at the floor.
Mrs. Devers frowned as she stared at him.
"What?" Mrs. Devers asked with her frown.
Harry looked up at her with his eyes filled with tears.
"Please don't do this to—to him or me." Harry said in a low voice. "I—I never thought I'd say this but I spent the best week of my life with that kid and—and I—really wanna be his—I—mean I—"
Harry stopped and sighed loudly as tears streamed down from his eyes, he quickly wiped them away and Clarissa looked at him with sympathy as he frowned with sadness.
"I—I know its kinda early to say this, but I—I've become attached to Kevin. I—I love that kid as if—as if he were my own son." Harry said with a tearful voice. "I—I know I have a bad criminal past but I promise—I PROMISE to give him the best life I can as his parent, just—just—please."
Mrs. Devers stared at him, still with her cold, complacent look as he wiped more streaming tears away.
"I'll spend the next thirty to sixty days thinking on it, until then, he will remain in the custody of this orphanage." Mrs. Devers said sternly. "That is ALL, Mr. Lime, thank you, good day."
Harry looked up at her and frowned with disappointment and was about to say a response, but he scoffed and waved his hand away at her angrily, as he stood up and walked out of the office quickly. As he walked down the hall, he could feel sadness building within him, a sadness he never knew he could feel for a kid named Kevin McCallister. Within minutes, he felt himself about to break into light tears, he walked out to his car and got inside and within minutes, he broke into tears. He was heartbroken, shattered. Just a couple of days before, a week earlier, his life finally seemed to hold purpose, because of him having Kevin as his kid, things seemed to just flow right with Harry a week ago, but now things were wrong—it just felt wrong—all wrong and Harry had no idea what he could do to make things right again…
TO BE CONTINUED…..