Chapter 41 - It's Not Your Fault; It's Mine – Part 3

A little later, the sun has set and we see Mrs. Simpson still looking at Sammy in the park. She sees a police car slowly approaching the park.

"It's about time," said Mrs. Simpson to herself.

From her window, Mrs. Simpson sees that Sammy saw the police car and quickly goes and hide under the slide.

"Don't run, kid. The police are only here to help," said Mrs. Simpson to herself.

To her surprise, the police car circles around the park once before leaving.

"What? Where are you going? He's right there," said Mrs. Simpson angry at the police.

She dials 911 again.

"911; what's your emergency?" asked the operator.

"Hi, this is Marla Simpson again," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Yes, Mrs. Simpson?" asked the operator.

"The kid is still there in the park," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Ok. Mrs. Simpson, we've already stopped by the park and checked out everything. We didn't see anything suspicious," said the operator.

"I didn't report anything suspicious. I am reporting a lost child at the park," said Mrs. Simpson.

"They didn't see anything," said the operator.

"That's because they didn't even stop and get out of the car. Take your job seriously and get someone else out here," said Mrs. Simpson.

"Ma'am we are doing our job. We have lots of other REAL emergencies. So, I would advise that you stop making false reports. You're not only wasting our time, it's against the law," said the operator.

"This is AN emergency. Don't you care at all?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Simpson. But we did our job already. Goodbye," replied the operator.

"Fine. Goodbye," said Mrs. Simpson who hangs up the phone.

Mrs. Simpson turns and looks at the park again. Mrs. Simpson sees that Sammy has made himself a little cozy area in the park to sleep.

"Oh poor thing," said Mrs. Simpson as she continues to observe Sammy.

"Well if they're not going to do anything about it, I guess I will have to," said Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy had made himself a comfortable spot below the slide. He wrapped his arms around himself to shelter him from the cold but with the wind blowing everywhere, he was freezing. He knew that all he had to do was get through the night. The day would be much better for him.

Sammy started to close his eyes to try to go to sleep but the wind was just too much for him to bear. Not only was it cold but the sound of the wind made it difficult for Sammy to fall asleep. Soon, the wind was no longer the only thing he was hearing.

Sammy began to hear the sound of footsteps slowly walking towards him. He dismissed the sounds at first but starts to get scared. As a dark shadow of someone inches closer towards him, he began to fear for his life. This shadow apparently has a cane and the louder the tapping of the cane gotten, the closer he or she gets to Sammy.

"Young man?" asked the person lurking in the dark.

Sammy doesn't answer.

"Young man...hello?" asked the person continuing to come closer towards Sammy.

Sammy wraps puts his head down covers it with his arms.

"Young man, I know you're there...," said Mrs. Simpson who reveals herself out of the shadow.

"Please go away...please go away," said Sammy quietly to himself.

"Kid, I'm the eyes and ears of this park. And when I see something that's not right, I have to fix it," said Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy slowly sticks his head and his eyes out at Mrs. Simpson.

"What do you want?" asked Sammy.

"I just wanted to make sure you're alright," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"I'm ok. Please go away," said Sammy.

"Are you sure you're ok? Because from where I'm standing, you look cold and hungry," said Mrs. Simpson.

"No, I'm not," said Sammy.

"Oh, I guess you don't want these muffins that I made or the sweater that I brought," said Mrs. Simpson.

"My mommy said I'm not supposed to take things from strangers," said Sammy.

"Well, you're mommy's right. Where is your mommy?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"I don't know. At home?" asked Sammy.

"Why aren't you with her?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy doesn't reply.

"Does she know you're here?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"No, please don't tell her," replied Sammy.

"Why? She must be worried sick about you," said Mrs. Simpson.

"No, she doesn't. She doesn't care about me," said Sammy.

"Well, if she doesn't care about you. Then why won't you eat my muffins?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"I don't know," replied Sammy.

"Is it because you don't like my muffins?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy doesn't reply.

"I should let you know that all my grandchildren loved my muffins. Every time they come visit me, they would ask me where are my muffins? Sometimes, I think that they only like me because of my muffins. So, don't you sit here with your hungry little mouth and tell me that you don't any of my muffins," said Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy continues to look at Mrs. Simpson but doesn't reply.

"Ok, you're a tough little guy. So, I guess what I'm going to do is leave this basket of muffins here in the middle and you can decide if you want to eat it. I'm not even going to walk toward it," said Mrs. Simpson.

Mrs. Simpson walks closer to Sammy. Surprisingly, Sammy doesn't move away. She puts the basket of muffins between them and slowly walks back to her original spot.

"You know, you remind me of one of my grandsons," said Mrs. Simpson.

"He was so shy and it would take me hours sometimes just to get him to talk to me. But when I do, we would talk for hours," added Mrs. Simpson.

"Where is he?" asked Sammy.

Mrs. Simpson is surprised that Sammy actually talked to her, letting Mrs. Simpson know that she is making progress warming up to Sammy.

"They're all back in New York. I barely ever get to see them anymore," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Do you get to visit him?" asked Sammy.

"No, when you get to be my age, it's really hard just to move around. I get tired easily," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Does he visit you?" asked Sammy.

"Not in a long time. I speak them once or twice a year over the phone. But they're all busy with their own lives to think about me," replied Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy slowly gets up and goes and gets a muffin from the basket. He keeps an eye on Mrs. Simpson to make sure she doesn't try anything funny on Sammy. She doesn't. He gets the muffin and moves back to his spot.

"Do you miss them?" asked Sammy who starts to eat the muffin.

"Yes, I do. I'm guessing you don't miss your family since you said your mom doesn't care about you to know that you're lost," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"I ran away," said Sammy.

"Why?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"So that my dad can come back," replied Sammy.

"Are you in trouble?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"No, but I did a bad thing. My dad left because of me," replied Sammy.

"What did you do?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"I ruined my mom's suprise to him," replied Sammy.

"Well, that's no reason to run away," said Mrs. Simpson.

"Yes it was. My dad is mad at me so he left. That made my mom very sad and angry at me," said Mrs. Simpson.

"Have you tried talking to your mom?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"Yeah but she just ended up yelling at me," replied Sammy.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," said Mrs. Simpson.

"But you're not doing youself or your mom any favors by running away," added Mrs. Simpson.

"No, she's happy that I left," said Sammy.

"Well, how do you know that?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"I just do," replied Sammy.

"What kind of answer is that? I just do," asked Mrs. Simpson mocking Sammy.

Sammy looks down sad.

"So what are you going to do now, kid?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"I dunno," replied Sammy giving Mrs. Simpson a sad face.

"Well, you're not staying with me, that's for sure. I have trouble taking care of myself already," said Mrs. Simpson.

"I'm not asking you to," said Sammy.

"Wow, my muffins are good for you but I'm not?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy stops eating but doesn't reply. Instead he starts to slowly spit out parts of the muffin in his mouth. This angered Mrs. Simpson.

"Kid, what are you doing? You're wasting my food," asked Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy starts to cry.

"What is it now?" asked Mrs. Simpson who looks impatient.

"I dunno what to do," replied Sammy.

"And that's a reason to waste my food?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"I dunno. I'm sorry," replied Sammy who wipes the tears off his eyes.

"Well then, maybe you prefer your mom's food," replied Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy looks up at Mrs. Simpson. He sees that she is slowly walking towards Sammy. He wanted to move back but somehow his instincts tell him to stay. Maybe he was so lonely that any company regardless of how creepy she may look at night would be better than being by himself.

"Kid, its ok to say you miss your mom and you want to go home," said Mrs. Simpson.

"But she doesn't want me there," said Sammy.

"Did she say that?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"She yelled at me," replied Sammy.

"But did she say that?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"No...," replied Sammy.

"Then you don't know whether she misses you or not," said Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy doesn't reply.

"From what I can see, you have two options. You can either stay here and starve to death or you can go back to your mother who misses you," said Mrs. Simpson.

"What about my dad?" asked Sammy.

"I don't know your dad. But I think that if he really loves you, he wouldn't have left. You're a cute kid. I don't know why anyone would wanna leave you," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"So what do you want to do?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy looks around and sees nothing but loneliness.

"When I was a little girl, I tried to run away once. I broke my mother's favorite vase that she got from Belgium. I never forgot the look on her face when she saw the pieces on the floor," said Mrs. Simpson.

"Did she yell at you?" asked Sammy.

"She did a little. I thought she hated me and would never forgive me. So I wanted to run away," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"And then what happened?" asked Sammy.

"I waited till the coast was clear and ran out the front door. I got as far as the sidewalk. I wasn't allowed to cross the street without an adult. I remembered taking the first step onto the road when I didn't notice a car was coming towards me. And that's when my mother saw me. I remembered her calling my name when she saw me. I turned around and looked at her when the car was heading towards me. I will never forget the look on her face when she ran towards me trying to save me from the car. The look on her face was much worse than when I broke the vase," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Why?" asked Sammy.

"Because she loves me more than the vase," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"I wish my mom would feel that way," said Sammy.

"I guess, you won't know that until you go back home," said Mrs. Simpson.

"What if she's still mad at me?" asked Sammy.

"She'll get over it. You both will. You don't want to wake up one day and realized that you missed out on so much just because you didn't go home," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Do I have to go back home?" asked Sammy.

"No, you don't have to. I can't make you. You're a young kid and I'm an old lady. Believe me, I'm not going to chase you around," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Oh," said Sammy silently.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to go," said Mrs. Simpson turning around to leave.

"So soon?" asked Sammy.

"Yes, goodbye kid," replied Mrs. Simpson who starts to walk away.

"My name is Sammy," said Sammy hoping that since he revealed his name that she would stop and come back to her.

"Goodnight Sammy," said Mrs. Simpson.

"Goodnight," said Sammy sadly.

Sammy started to feel lonely again. Even though Mrs. Simpson was a stranger to him, it was still better than being alone. He didn't like being alone. He hated to admit it to Mrs. Simpson but he did miss his family. Through all the good times and bad times, they were always there for him. He was just afraid that this was too big of an issue that can't be fixed. He knew that it was ultimately his decision to go home or not. While, there was a part of him that wanted to be by himself so that he wouldn't have face his family being mad at him, he wanted someone to assure him that it was ok to go back home.

"Mrs. Simpson?" asked Sammy.

"What?" asked Mrs. Simpson still walking away.

"I wanna go home," replied Sammy.

Mrs. Simpson stops, turns around, and looks at Sammy.

"Do you mean that?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"Yes," replied Sammy nodding his head.

"Well then...let's go," said Mrs. Simpson.

She reaches out her hand to Sammy. Sammy smiles and runs up to her and holds Mrs. Simpson's hand. They continue to hold hands as they walk out of the park.

"Mrs. Simpson, how old are you?" asked Sammy.

"How old do I look?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"45," replied Sammy.

"You're a sweet kid," laughed Mrs. Simpson.

At the police station, at a distance, Brandon is looking at Kelly. He wanted Kelly to feel sorry for what she did but didn't expect Sammy to run away. He hated that since he arrived, they barely spoke; as if they've suffered a horrible breakup. In his mind, he still loves her. But he knew that if he holds a grudge for too long, he can lose her and the rest of his family forever.

He slowly works up his courage and walks towards Kelly.

Kelly doesn't notice Brandon walking towards him.

"You ok?" asked Brandon.

"Yeah," replied Kelly.

"No, no I'm not," said Kelly who starts to breakdown and cry.

Brandon puts his arms around Kelly. She leans in and hugs him. Brandon slowly strokes Kelly's back. Silver looks at them and smiles.

"It's ok," said Brandon.

"No, it's not. How could you say that?" asked Kelly breaking the hug from him.

"I'm just trying to make you feel better," replied Brandon.

"Well, you're not," said Kelly.

"C'mon, Kel. I'm just trying to help," said Brandon.

"Help? You think telling me that this is ok? Our son is missing. Forgive me, if I sound distress," said Kelly.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Brandon.

"I dunno. I just want him back safely," replied Kelly.

"Me too...I'm sorry Kel," said Brandon.

"Me too," said Kel.

They look at each other.

In the distance, the phone rings.

"Hello 911, what's your emergency?" asked a police officer.

"Hello, this is Marla Simpson again," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Mrs. Simpson, I told you that it is against the law to call this number unless you have an emergency," said the police officer.

"Well, I have a lost little boy here so I think that counts as an emergency, don't you?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"He's there with you, right now?" asked the police officer.

"Yes, he is," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Can you describe the boy, please?" asked the police officer, which catches Brandon and Kelly's attention.

They walk towards the police officer.

"I dunno. He's a little kid. Blonde with a backpack," replied Mrs. Simpson dumbfounded by the question.

"Is that Sammy?" asked Kelly.

"Ms. Taylor. Do you want to see if this is your son?" asked the police officer.

"Yes," replied Kelly who takes the phone.

"Hello?" asked Kelly.

"Who's this?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"My name is Kelly Taylor. Do you have my son?" asked Kelly scared.

"That depends. What's your son's name?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"Sammy," replied Kelly.

"Then unless there's another lost kid named Sammy, then yes, I do have your son," said Mrs. Simpson.

"Oh my god; may I please talk to him?" asked Kelly.

"Well that depends...," replied Mrs. Simpson.

Kelly has a scared look on her face thinking that Sammy has been kidnapped by Mrs. Simpson.

"Depends on what? He's my son. Please don't hurt him," said Kelly who is panicking.

"Hurt him? I never hurt him. I only helped him," said Mrs. Simpson who looks a little insulted by Kelly's assumption.

"Then how come you won't let me speak with him?" asked Kelly still scared.

"Well, I'm not sure he wants to speak with you...hold on, I'll ask him," replied Mrs. Simpson.

Mrs. Simpson hands the phone to Sammy.

"It's up to you," said Mrs. Simpson to Sammy.

Sammy takes the phone.

"Mommy?" asked Sammy.

"Sammy! Honey, are you ok?" asked Kelly.

"Yes, mom. I'm ok," replied Sammy.

"Where are you?" asked Kelly.

Sammy hesitates telling Kelly for a moment where he is fearing whether or not he's making the right decision. Then he looks up at Mrs. Simpson who gives him a weak smile.

"I'm at Mrs. Simpson's...Mommy, can I come home?" asked Sammy.

"Oh of course, you can. I miss you so much, sweetie!" replied Kelly who has tears in her eyes.

"I miss you too, mommy," said Sammy.

We still see Sammy and Mrs. Simpson at Mrs. Simpson's apartment. They hear a knock on the door.

"Hello?" asked Kelly from the outside.

"Who is it?" asked Mrs. Simpson who is gawking at the door with a mean look.

"This is Kelly Taylor...do you have my son?" asked Kelly.

Sammy looks at the door attentively. He looks both worried and relieved.

"It depends...are the cops with you?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"Yes, they're here. Is my son in there?" asked Kelly worried.

Mrs. Simpson looks at Sammy and gives him the silence motion by putting her finger on her lips. Sammy looks scared.

"Yes, he's in here," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Please open the door, ma'mn," said one of the cops.

"I want you apologize for the way you treated me on the phone tonight first," said Mrs. Simpson.

"What?" asked the cop.

"Sammy, are you there?" asked Kelly loudly.

"Mom?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"Sammy? Honey, are you ok?" asked Kelly.

"I'm ok," replied Sammy.

"When I first saw your son alone at the playground, I called you and you disregard my call. If you had taken my call seriously, Sammy would be home now," replied Mrs. Simpson.

"Look lady, we did comply with your call with procedure. We checked the park out and we didn't see the kid. Now, are you going to let us in or do I have to break your door down?" asked the cop.

"Are you sorry?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

"Yes, we're sorry. Now let us in. This is your final warning," replied the cop.

Kelly thinks that Sammy is held hostage. She is very anxious to get into the door.

Mrs. Simpson looks at Sammy.

"Are you ready to go home?" asked Mrs. Simpson.

Sammy slowly nods.

"Ok," smiled Mrs. Simpson.

"Ok, hold your horses. I'm coming to the door," said Mrs. Simpson walking to the door.

Mrs. Simpson walks up to the door.

"I'm gonna open the door. Please don't shoot me," said Mrs. Simpson.

"Open up," said the police officer.

Mrs. Simpson opens the door.

Kelly sees Sammy and runs to him.

"Sammy!" said Kelly.

"Mommy!" said Sammy who runs to Kelly.

"Oh honey, I miss you so much," said Kelly.

They hug.

"We miss you, Sammy," said Silver.

"Silver!" said Sammy who goes and hugs Silver.

"I miss you too," said Sammy.

Brandon goes to them.

"Sammy, are you ok?" asked Brandon.

"Daddy!" replied Sammy who sees Brandon.

The hug.

"You're back," said Sammy.

"Yeah, I came back because I was worry about you," said Brandon.

Sammy smiles and goes and hugs Brandon again.

Kelly sees them hugging and smiles too.

"Mamn, I have a few questions to ask you," said the police officer.

"Oh now, you want to ask me questions?" asked Mrs. Simpson being sarcastic.

"Yes; now this is just normal procedure," said the police officer.

"Fine...but keep it quick. I've had a rough evening so I'm very tired," said Mrs. Simpson.

Kelly turns around and goes to Mrs. Simpson.

"Hi, before you begin, I just want to thank you for saving my son," said Kelly who goes to Mrs. Simpson and the police officer.

"You're welcome, Ms. Taylor," replied Mrs. Simpson who realizes that she doesn't know Kelly's name.

"You have a very courageous son," added Mrs. Simpson.

"Thank you. Sometimes, I forget that he's growing up so fast," said Kelly looking at Sammy who is talking with Brandon.

"We try not to include him in our problems but I guess sooner or later, he's going to figure it out," added Kelly.

"He's a smart kid," said Mrs. Simpson.

"Smarter than most of these stupid police officers who can't even see a solution to a problem when it's staring right at them," said Mrs. Simpson glaring at the police officer.

"Mrs. Simpson, don't make us take you downtown for questioning. Now do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way?" asked the police officer.

"Alright alright, let's get this over with," said Mrs. Simpson.

"Thanks again," said Kelly to Mrs. Simpson.

"You're welcome," said Mrs. Simpson.

Kelly turns around and just looks at Brandon and Sammy together.

The front door of their house opens. Kelly, Brandon, Sammy, and Silver walk in.

"Sammy, are you hungry?" asked Kelly.

"Kinda. Mrs. Simpson gave me something to eat," replied Sammy.

"I know, why don't we all go out for dinner? My treat," smiled Brandon.

"I think we all had a long enough night. Sammy, why don't go to your room and I'll bring you a snack?" asked Kelly.

"Well ok, Sammy, do you wanna go grab a burger?" asked Brandon.

Sammy is nervous to answer.

"Ok," replied Sammy.

"No, Sammy, you're not going anywhere else tonight. Go to your room," said Kelly.

"But mom," said Sammy sadly.

"No buts! Now, for the last time, go to your room," shouted Kelly.

Sammy looks at Kelly with a surprised scared look.

"Do you have to yell at him like that?" asked Brandon.

"I'm not yelling. And don't try to tell me how to raise my son," replied Kelly.

"You are yelling and he's my son too," said Brandon.

Silver and Sammy looks scared. Silver moves Sammy closer to her.

"I've been a mother to him way longer than you were ever in the picture," said Kelly.

"That's because you kept this from me for 5 years," said Brandon.

"Brandon, stop making me the bad guy, here," said Kelly.

"Stop it! You're mad at me, remember!?" said Sammy.

Sammy runs to his room.

Brandon and Kelly looked at each other before both walking into Sammy's room.

Sammy is sitting on his bed with a teary eye.

"Honey, we're not mad at you," said Kelly.

"Well, you should be," said Sammy.

"It's not true," said Brandon.

"You can tell me the truth; it was me. I ruined your surprise to daddy," said Sammy.

"It wasn't you, Sammy," said Kelly.

"Then who was it?" asked Sammy.

Kelly realizes that sooner or later, she is going to have to tell Sammy the truth.

Kelly looks at Sammy face to face.

"It was me...and daddy," replied Kelly.

"Did you have a fight?" asked Sammy.

"Yeah," replied Kelly.

"Can't you say you're sorry and be together?" asked Sammy.

"Honey, I wish it was that easy but it's not always so simple," replied Brandon.

"I don't understand. You yelled at me and said I'm sorry. Then we're ok again. How come you can't do that?" asked Sammy.

Kelly looks at Sammy with tears in her eyes. Brandon and Kelly look each other.

"I don't know why, honey," replied Kelly.

"All I know is that we're both very sorry that this is happening and for causing you so much pain," said Kelly.

"Do you still love each other?" asked Sammy with a worried look.

"Of course, I do. I will always love your dad," replied Kelly looking at Brandon.

"Does you still love mommy?" asked Sammy to Brandon.

Brandon doesn't answer right away.

"Yes, I do," replied Brandon.

Kelly has a relieved smile on his face.

A little while later, Brandon and Kelly make their way back to the living room.

"Brandon, I'm sorry for what I said. I wasn't trying to say that you're a bad father," said Brandon.

"I know," said Brandon.

"The truth is that you're a great father when you're here...but when you're not, it just hurts so much," said Kelly.

"If it makes things better, I could stay the weekend," said Brandon.

"And then what?" said Kelly as she looks at him with a sad face,.

Brandon looks at her with silence. He gets a little teary.

"I dunno," replied Brandon.

Kelly walks up to him. She takes his face and kisses him by surprise. Brandon gives in and kisses her back.

"We want you to stay," said Kelly.

"Yeah, I already said I would," said Brandon.

"No...we want you to stay forever," said Kelly looking into Brandon's eyes with tears.

"I love you," added Kelly.

Brandon looks at her.

"I love you too...but I can't stay forever...just not yet," said Brandon.

"I'm sorry," said Brandon as he turns and starts to leave.

Kelly starts to cry slowly but quickly tries to cover it. Brandon notices.

Brandon looks as if he is about to go to her but decides not to.

He goes to the door and opens it.

He turns and sees Kelly looking at him. She gives him a brief teary smile as a moment of acceptance.

Brandon leaves and closes the door behind him.

She waits a few seconds before hearing Brandon driving off.

We flash to a computer screen where someone is typing an e-mail.

"Hey guys. I know it's been a while and I've been meaning to call you but I've just been so busy. Anyway, I hope you got my messages earlier. I heard about the wedding from mom and dad and I want to congratulate you both. If you have time, I really want to come and see you. And I actually got a big surprise of my own to show you guys. So please let me know. Thanks. Hope to talk to you guys soon...bye.

Love,

Brenda."

Coming Next - Brenda contacts Brandon and Kelly in efforts to resolve their conflict with each other.