The first week of school flew by, and before the boys knew it the weekend was upon them. Jeff agreed to let Gordon train 5 afternoons a week, with Scott and Grandma drawing up a rota for pickup. Alan finds school is not as scary as he first thought, he has even made a friend. Okay so his friend is his teacher, but it counts! He finds the other children uncivilised and unruly and he resents being taught his basic letters and numbers, growing up with John he already knows his alphabet! A week with children his own age has taught him one thing, and that is he hates children!
Jeff is off to the Island in the morning, now that the boys are back at school their arrangement is back in place. One week with the boys and one week on the Island. Every other Saturday Jeff leaves the boys, and every other Saturday that day does not get any easier. Even now all 5 boys insist on getting up early and go with him, even though they usually spend most of the ride to the airport arguing!
This Saturday is no exception, as Jeff serves up pancakes for breakfast.
"Remember to drop Gordon off at detention on the way home" Jeff reminds Grandma, laughing at the filthy look on Gordons face. "No arguments Squid, you earned this one!"
"Ugh" Is all Gordon replies as he shoves an entire pancake in his mouth in one go.
"Daddy? Why don't you just build an airport in the back yard, near the pool?" Alan asks. "That way you won't have to drive so far every time"
"That's really not a bad idea Dad" Scott tells him. "Then we wouldn't need to get up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning"
"I will think about it, I promise" Jeff tells them. it is a good idea, he won't deny that! "Come on then boys, time to get rid of your old man!"
"You aren't that old daddy" Alan tells him.
"Yeah you don't look a day over 75" Gordon adds grinning evilly.
"Keep talking Squid and you will never know what 75 feels like!" Jeff replies. "Enjoy detention!"
*TB*
Mr Morgan is already waiting in the office when he arrives, climbing out the back seat of Grandmas car and calling a hurried goodbye.
"You're late Gordon" is Mr Morgan's way of greeting him.
"I got stuck in traffic" Gordon replies, not bothering with an apology, after all it wasn't his fault.
"Come in and let's get this over with. You can start with the holiday diary you didn't bother to complete, and once finished you will sit there quietly and copy from the dictionary" Mr Morgan tells him pointing to a desk and chair. There is a blank notebook on the table waiting for him.
Sitting down Gordon opens the notebook and starts to write. Deciding to start with the most important part, meeting Toes and nearly dying in the storm. Exaggerating each scenario so that by the time it is finished Mr Morgan will feel sorry for him and let him go early instead of making him copy from a dictionary. He also remembers to add his trip to the hospital and 3 days on a drip, for sympathy!
"Is all of this true Gordon?" Mr Morgan asks, 3 hours later when he has finished.
"Yeah all of it" Gordon confirms.
"You rescued an injured snake?"
Gordon nods. "Yep, and we took him to a sanctuary in Australia. Dad said I can go back to visit next summer"
"Okay, here is your dictionary, start with the letter "A" and work your way through, and you have 3 and a half hours of detention to go. Sit there quietly and get on with it, I am going to get a coffee from the staff room, would you like some water?"
"Can I not just read the dictionary instead?" Gordon asks, with a large groan as he looks at the thick heavy book.
Mr Morgan grins at him "Nope".
Three and a half hours and Gordon can feel his wrist getting cramp, the muscles all the way up his arm ache with fatigue and he hopes someone has remembered to come and get him, as he just wants to go home and dive into the pool. He has long given up copying the words, and is instead staring aimlessly out the window, smiling as the familiar blue of Scott's car pulls up into the car park.
"Can I go home now? Scott is here to get me" Gordon asks.
"Sure, leave the notebook and dictionary and I will see you on Monday morning." Mr Morgan replies.
"Thanks sir, bye!" Gordon replies, as Mr Morgan laughs at the blur fleeing his office as quickly as he can and throws himself into the front seat of the waiting car.
*TB*
"I am dropping you off at home and going into town to see a movie with some friends" Scott tells him.
"I don't care, just get me out of here!" Gordon replies not giving the school a second glance as he implores Scott to get him away.
"How was detention Squid?" Scott asks as he pulls out onto the main road.
Gordon grunts in disgust, wiping his face with the sleeve of the bright orange shirt his dad got him from Hawaii before replying "Boooooorrrrrrrring!"
Scott laughs, "Just think if you were better behaved you wouldn't end up in detention"
Gordon has heard this theory before, but he still doesn't buy it, and besides his way of life is a lot more fun, so he changes the subject. "I am diving straight into the pool when we get home Scott, this has been the most boring day ever"
"And whose fault is that?" Scott asks.
"Mr Stewarts for having no sense of humour" Gordon tells him.
"Have you ever thought that you get into trouble a lot because your teachers have no sense of humour?" Scott asks, genuinely curious now as he has heard this excuse from Gordon far too many times.
"No, they just need to get used to me" Gordon insists.
"I have lived with you for 8 and a half years and I am still not used to you!" Scott replies grinning.
"Hey!" Gordon replies indignantly.
"Now get out my car and go for that swim, and I will see you tomorrow morning as I am not planning on being back until late and you'll be in bed" Scott tells him.
"Okay, have fun Scotty" Gordon tells him getting out the car and slamming the door closed.
Scott makes sure he is in the house safely before he drives off.
Gordon runs through the house to the back staircase to get his swimming kit from under his bed where he stashes it when it's not being used and throws his jeans and shirt on the floor, pulls on the swimming shorts, grabs a clean towel and runs back down the stairs.
"Gordon? Is that you dear?" A voice calls from the longue.
"Yeah Grandma, I'm going for a swim before dinner" He calls back.
"Okay but be careful" She tells him.
"Always" Gordon tells her, he is serious about swimming, he knows if he is caught messing about, he loses his pool privileges. he maybe the family joker, but he is not stupid!
He finds himself joined by Alan and Virgil and they end up in a diving contest, splashing water everywhere, even Gordon who has been trained in the best diving techniques, but the canon ball is a lot more fun.
Alan is about to take his turn when Grandma comes rushing out of the house.
"Boys, come in the house now" She calls urgently.
"But Grandma it was my turn!" Alan wails.
"NOW ALAN" Grandma reiterates.
The 3 of them follow her inside, Gordon and Alan having a fight over on of the chairs, causing Grandma to drag them apart and sit them on opposite sides of the sofa either side of John who has already come downstairs.
"What's going on Grandma?" John asks confused.
"I just got a call from a very dear friend of mine from Austin, she has been in an accident, I must go and make sure that she is going to be okay. I am leaving Virgil in charge until Scott gets home, I have already called him, and he is on his way back." Grandma tells them. "I will most likely be gone until Monday, I have also informed your father and he and I have decided to trust you all not to do anything stupid. Gordon, Alan you will obey your brothers you will go to school on Monday and if I hear from Scott about your behaviour before I get back and it will be no pool, no computer games, no dessert, early bedtimes, laundry duty, dish washing, and anything else I feel like adding for a month. Do I make myself clear?"
The 4 boys in front of her nod their understanding.
"Good, now I am going to pack and then drive to the airport"
"Can we go back in the pool?" Alan asks.
"It is up to Virgil; he is in charge" Grandma tells him.
"Sure go on out I will join you in a second" Virgil tells them before turning his attention back to Grandma. "Is your friend going to be okay?"
"I hope so Virg. It sounds like she has broken her leg falling from a horse and she is getting on in years, she was your great grandmas' best friend"
"So she is even older than you?" Alan asks, "Does she keep her teeth in a jar?"
"Go back in the pool!" Grandma banishes him laughing.
"Okay" He replies, skipping from the room.
"Grandma what if I can't do this? What if Scott stays out until 11 like he had planned? Or one of the them get hurt or sick!" Virgil asks nervously.
"You will be fine, you have looked after them all before Virg and Scott gave me his word he was on his way back." Grandma gives him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before getting up and going to pack.
Less than 20 minutes later Virgil is officially in charge, choosing to watch the resumed contest between Gordon and Alan instead of joining in. Even though they have been well behaved, and even listened to Virgil when he told them it was getting cold and to get out of the pool, he can't help feeling relieved when Scott comes home, laden with pizza boxes and bottles of coke.
"FOOD!" Gordon shouts in delight, suddenly realising that he has not eaten since breakfast at half past 4 this morning.
"My name is Scott" Scott replies, putting the boxes on the table and ruffling Gordons hair.
"Very Funny" Gordon replies, rolling his eyes and grabbing a slice from the nearest pizza box.
The 5 of them devour the pizza and coke in record time.
"It is so weird without Grandma here" Alan tells them. he doesn't remember life without her living with them, having only been 10 months old when his mom died, and he doesn't have any memories of her. "What was mom like?"
"Honestly, a lot like Gordon" Scott tells him, unsure if he is pleased with the realisation! "You know from the photos that she looks like John, but she had much better hair. It was so long, and it was always so soft. I remember whenever I was ill or had a bad dream she would always just hold me close and sing me to sleep, even when Virgil was born she always made sure she had time for just me, she would pack Virgil off to the park with dad for a walk and she would play with just me. Of course that was after I tried to get rid of Virgil! But she had Gordons sense of humour, and also his sense of justice, she would have been right up there on the jungle gym with you Squid!"
Gordon laughs at the memory, "I would still be up there now if dad hadn't given into my demands"
"I know you would" Scott tells him grinning.
It has been a long day and not ending in the way they had expected, Scott was supposed to be meeting some friends for a movie right now, instead he is eating pizza and watching a football game on the tv with his brothers. And tomorrow he gets to boss them around all day, and he can't wait! This is his chance to get them to clean his room, clean the barn, drain the pool ready for winter. He also knows that there is no way that is going to happen!
"I don't understand how anyone can watch this garbage; I am going upstairs. Night fellas" John announces, stretching and yawning as he stands up.
"Me too Johnny, take me with you. You are right. This is even more boring than baseball" Alan tells him, the two sports Scott plays!
"You will understand one day Allie" Scott tells him, his eyes focused solely on the game. Virgil too barely looks up, as Gordon squishes himself in between his eldest brothers and watches the game with them, he makes it into the third quarter before he is asleep with his head rested on Scott's shoulder.
"I think I will join him and have an early night too" Virgil tells him once the game is over.
"Early night? Virg its 1 in the morning!" Scott replies, looking in horror at the clock above the fireplace. "We both should have been in bed hours ago"
"Relax it is Saturday night!" Virgil reminds him grinning. "Help me get Squid upstairs to bed and I will check on Alan to make sure he is asleep and not terrorising John"
Scott agrees and they find Alan fast asleep in Johns bed with Allie-Gator and John in Alans bed clearly not having the heart to disturb him and instead just letting him have his room for the night.
*TB*
The weather turns over night, and the boys wake to a dreary grey sky with the threat of rain and a possible storm.
"Sorry guys the pool is off limits while its like this" Scott announces at breakfast, mainly addressing Gordon with this rule.
"Why?" Gordon protests. "The pool is full of water, if it rains, I will already be wet!" He tells him.
"Because it is also 10 degrees colder out there than it was yesterday and I don't want you out there exposed to that" Scott tells him.
"Fine, but when Dad gets back, I am asking him to build me an indoor pool" Gordon insists.
The 2 of them are so busy arguing that they don't notice the sudden look of inspiration on Alans face, his big brother wants an indoor pool, then his big brother is going to get an indoor pool!