The conversation Davanee and I had that night just about killed me. It hurt me to see her so upset about not having a mom, and it hurt me even more to know that kids made fun of her because of it. It wasn't her fault. If it was anybody's fault, it was mine. I tried dating after Anya died but it just didn't work. I stopped after awhile. Then there was Sam. We went on that one date a couple of weeks ago, but that was it. Sam was very devoted to her work, just like I was devoted to my kids and work.

"I've got an idea" I said. I was still in Davanee's room talking to her.

"Why don't we go see Uncle Two-Bit and Uncle Johnny?" I suggested. It was still kinda early so I figured it'd be ok.

"Can we?" asked Davanee, a smile crawling across her face.

"Yeah sure" I said. Davanee ran out of the room to go tell Mercy and Scotty. I invited Dillon and Maddie to join us but she said they had to get home.

We ended up walking to the Tastee Freeze that night. I didn't put gas in the car on the way home. When we got there, the place was packed. My memory went back to the first time I took Davanee there. Johnny and I had just come from the park. I remember giving Bob a black eye when he made that little comment about Davanee growing up to be a screw up. Bob and I have had quite a number of incident's over the years. Normally, I didn't mind when it was just between him and I, but when he dragged my kids into it, it was another story.

We found a booth up front.

"Where's Uncle Johnny?" asked Scotty, looking around.

"I don't know. I don't see him" I said.

"He's right there" said Davanee. He was all the way across the room, taking people's orders. Now Johnny hadn't really changed much over the years. Sure, he was more talkative but he still reminded me of a puppy that had been kicked too many times. Johnny has had a couple of girl friends over the past years, but none of them really lasted. But the girl he's currently dating (her name is Katie) has been around for almost a year.

I liked Katie. She was good for Johnny.

Johnny finished taking the order and put it in with the cook. He didn't notice us until a couple of minutes afterwards.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" asked Johnny.

"We thought we'd stop by a visit for a little while" I said.

"Ms. Davanee I thought you had a slumber party to go to" said Johnny.

"I didn't wanna go" said Davanee.

"You, not go to a party? I'm shocked" said Johnny. Davanee giggled.

"Well, I gotta go give these people their drinks. I'll be right back" said Johnny, walking away.

JOHNNY'S POV

It was nice to see Pony and the kids. I didn't really get the chance to see them that often. I was too busy working, and whenever I wasn't working I was with Katie. Katie and I had been dating for almost a year. That was the longest relationship I had ever been in. We didn't argue a lot like some couples do, which is weird because we're the exact opposite of each other. She was loud and outgoing while I was quiet and normally kept to myself.

I gave the people their drinks and went back to visit with Pony. I found it kinda funny that Pony didn't really change as far as character and personality go. Even though he's 22, I can still see that 14 year old kid pushing the baby stroller.

Katie and I had talked about having kids before. She wanted kids, but I wasn't so sure. Sure, I could take care of kids but only for a little while.

"So how are things with you and Katie?" asked Pony, giving the girls a quarter. They wanted to get stuff out of the vending machines.

"Pretty good. I've been so busy with work lately, I don't get to see her a whole lot" I said.

"I know how that feels" said Pony.

"So how are things between you and Sam?"

"Ok, I guess. We only went out on that one date" said Pony.

"So she wouldn't mind you going on a date with another women?" I asked.

"I guess not. Why?" asked Pony.

"Because Katie has this friend and she thinks you two should meet. Her name is Amber" said Johnny.

"I dunno."

"It's just one date. It's not gonna kill ya to try, is it?" I asked.

"I guess not. When do I get to meet her?" asked Pony.

"Well, she's in town Saturday and Sunday so Saturday night I guess" I said.

"And where would we go?" asked Pony.

"I dunno. It's your date. But she'll be here around 4ish on Saturday. You guys can do whatever you want from their" I said. Unfortunately, I had to cut this visit short. I had to get back to work.

PONY'S POV

Johnny went back to work while I sat their and though about what we had talked about. I guess Sam wouldn't mind if I dated someone else. I mean, we never really said we were going out. Besides, how bad could one date be?

The girls came running back to the table. They showed me everything they had gotten out of the machines. Mercy got one of those little bouncy balls. She absolutely loved bouncy balls. We had thousands of them at home.

"What are we doing after this?" asked Mercy.

"I dunno. How would you guys like to go see Uncle Darry and Uncle Soda?" I asked.

"Can we?" asked Scotty, smiling.

"Yeah, if you want to. We'll go as soon as we're done here" I said. Of course, they raced through their dinners. I had to remind them occasionally that they had to slow down or else they would get sick, and if they got sick we'd have to go home. They slowed down once I said that. Once we were done and said goodbye to Johnny, we made our way to the house. It was really dark out and I should've known better not to be walking around the neighborhood at night.

"Hey Scotty watch how high I can bounce this" said Mercy. She threw the ball down as hard as she could. She tried to catch it but it bounced again and went into an alley. I debated whether or not I should go get it. Like I said before, Mercy had a lot of other bouncy balls at home. But on the other hand, she would throw a fit and wouldn't stop crying till I got it. I really didn't want to see her cry.

"I'll get it" I said, "you guys stay right here."

I walked slowly into the alley, turning around a couple of times to make sure the kids were ok. I searched high and low for the ball, but I couldn't find it.

"Looking for this?" came a deep voice. I turned around to see an older Soc holding the ball. It had been years since I was jumped. When I got married, I became less involved with the whole grease, soc thing.

"Who are you?" I asked. I couldn't see the guy's face because it was so dark out. The guy didn't reply.

"Who are you?" I asked again. Still no answer. I was about to walk away when I saw 3 more guys advancing towards me. I couldn't really see them, but from what I could tell they looked big. I tried to get away but they had me down in a second. I tried to fight back, but when the odds are against you it doesn't work. One of the guys kicked me really hard in the back of the head. I tried to stay awake but it was no use. Everything went dark. The last thing I heard was a little girl scream.