Chapter 4 -- Skirmish
Will you turn me away?
It took three days and calling in almost every favor Benton
Quest was owed to get a hearing before a juvenile court judge on temporary
custody of Brandon. At one point, the
county sheriff had turned up at the Compound to take the boy down to Juvenile
Hall. Jonny had gone ballistic and tried to throw the officer out of the
house. And while Benton was trying to
cool the situation off, Jonny had snatched Brandon and disappeared. The sheriff had been furious and only the
arrival of Aaron Kellerman, the Quest's attorney, with a temporary restraining
order allowing Brandon to remain at the Compound, saved Benton from spending
the night in jail. The two of them
turned back up again as soon as both the sheriff and the lawyer departed. Benton gave them both a lecture and sent
them in to do dishes.
The morning of the hearing dawned bright and clear for the
first time in several days. Jonny took
it as a good omen and laughed and joked with both Brandon and Mrs. Evans. Benton was seriously concerned,
however. They had finally located the
boy's mother the day before and she was flying in for the hearing. From what Aaron had told him early that
morning, she was in a rare temper and was ready to make a lot of trouble.
As the two of them entered the family room late that Tuesday
morning, Benton heaved a silent sigh of relief. The boy had come to them with nothing more than the clothes on
his back. For the first day or so, they
had been able to scrounge some of Jonny's old stuff for him to wear, but it was
obvious they were going to have to do something about a wardrobe. And the child almost went into hysterics
every time something was mentioned about going back home to pick up
anything. Finally, Benton had sent the
two of them out shopping. He had
dreaded the thought of what his son would come back with, but in the end none
of it had been too outlandish. And the
outfit Jonny had dressed him in that morning was perfect. A pair of dark blue dress pants, a white shirt
with a fine blue stripe and a warm, bulky sweater made the boy look like an
absolute angel. Benton was equally
impressed with his son's brand new navy suit and snowy white shirt. He carried a tie in one hand. The outfit spoke volumes to his father because
he knew how much Jonny hated suits
and ties.
The older man knelt in front of Brandon and laid a gentle
hand on his shoulder. "Are you ready
for this, Brandon? You know it's not
going to be easy."
The boy looked at him, his eyes huge. "Is she going to be there?"
Benton nodded. "She
flew in this morning." The boy turned
blindly toward Jonny who gathered him up in one arm and hugged him.
"It's okay, Brandon. We'll get through this together. Won't we, Dad?"
"We certainly will," he replied, praying it would be with
the result they desired.
***
In the end, it had been as nasty as Benton had
expected. But they had won. At least temporarily. Initially, the judge had been inclined to
refuse the Quest petition to have temporary custody of the boy. But when Alicia Simmons thought she had won,
she turned to the boy and ordered him to go home. And Jonny, with impeccable timing, had asked her how the boy was
to get there. The woman didn't even
think about it. She said he could take
a cab; she had things to do. And it was
all done in front of the judge. The
flaying he gave her left her white and shaking. He had then awarded custody of Brandon to the Quests for 30
days. At the end of that period, the
situation would be reviewed again, with the intention of returning the boy to
his mother.
Brandon had sat silent throughout the entire
proceeding. Right after they started,
Benton saw Jonny put his arm around the boy and whisper something to him. By halfway through, the boy was perceptibly
shaking and it got noticeably worse the longer they were there. When his mother had ordered him to take a
cab home, the boy had turned utterly gray, rose to his feet, and turned to
go. Jonny had caught and held him
during the judge's rant at his mother and when it was done and the judge left,
Brandon got sick all over the floor. The three of them could hear Alicia Simmons laughing as she left the
courtroom.
Benton had called Barbara Mason, the local doctor, and asked
that she meet them at the Compound; then they went straight home. Barbara had checked Brandon carefully, gave
him a mild sedative, and put him to bed. Jonny had shooed them out of his room and said he would stay with
Brandon for a while. The last Benton
saw Jonny, he was sitting at his computer, probably planning to check his
e-mail, while Brandon shifted sleepily, trying to get comfortable. Benton escorted Barbara downstairs and asked
if she'd like to stay for a while and have something to drink. With a smile, she indicated she would love some
tea. The two of them settled at the
kitchen table and sat in companionable silence waiting for the water to boil.
Finally, Barbara gestured toward the ceiling and said, "That's a big responsibility up there,
Benton. Does Jonny realize what he's
getting himself into?"
Benton smiled and shook his head. "I doubt it. He's
operating with his heart not his head. Something happened between those two on that mountain in
California. Some connection was made
that I can't even begin to fathom. And
right now Jessie and Jonny's relationship is a bit tenuous and I think Jonny
has as great a need for this as Brandon does."
"What's happened to Jessie and Jonny? I thought those two were inseparable."
Benton shrugged. "I
don't really believe anything has happened. But Jessie has some things right now that are taking up her full
attention and Jonny is feeling a bit left out. Young love is hard at the best of times . . . when the individuals are
separated by continents it becomes even more difficult. E-mail just doesn't seem like an adequate
substitute."
Barbara chuckled. "I
suppose not." She sobered quickly. "But, Benton, it's not wise for him to shift
his emotional needs to that child. It's
not healthy for either one of them."
"I know," he sighed. "But Jonny is so enraged at Alicia Simmons' treatment of the boy that
he's not thinking clearly." Benton
paused thoughtfully. "I think this is
hitting him so hard because of Rachel."
Barbara raised one eyebrow. "Jonny's mother?"
Benton sighed and shook his head. "Jonny wasn't quite six when Rachel died. And I know he has always missed her; they
were very close. So Jonny knows what
it's like to be without the love of a mother. I think the idea that Alicia Simmons could be doing this to her son
deliberately, causing Brandon to be as isolated from his mother as Jonny is
from Rachel, is what has him so angry. And he does care for the child a great deal. He actually wants me to adopt him."
"Are you serious?"
"Completely."
"Oh my . . ."
"And I can't seem to make him understand that I'm not a
miracle worker. The courts are simply
not going to be willing to remove the boy from his natural mother for
this. My reading of the woman is that
she won't make the same mistake twice. She blew it in that courtroom today and she knows it. She probably won't change her private
treatment of the boy, but she won't let it show any more either. And the likelihood is that once she has custody
of the child again, she will move to bar Jonny's access to him entirely. And if I thought today was nasty . . . "
"Benton, I don't like this one bit."
"Neither do I, Barbara. Neither do I . . . "
***
Jonny sat staring at the blinking cursor on his
computer. He had sat down with the
intention of working on his English Lit essay on Hamlet, but it only took about
30 seconds for him to realize he didn't have the concentration it was going to
take to do it. He glanced over his
shoulder at Brandon. The boy had rolled
over on his side and fallen asleep. Clutched tightly in one arm was Tommy. Jonny looked at the stuffed tiger. It was worn and ratty, but even after all these years it was still
capable of providing comfort to a child in turmoil. It had nursed him through the loss of his mother. It had nursed Jessie through the divorce of
her parents. And now it was providing
comfort to an abused boy who couldn't understand what he had done to make the
world hate him. Jonny didn't really
know what had made him pull Tommy off the shelf in Jessie's room and give it to
Brandon. But when he told the boy about
Tommy's history and how much better the stuffed animal used to make him feel,
Brandon had snatched it and clung to it like a lifeline. Jonny smiled. Tommy was working his magic again.
Jonny turned back to the computer again. He'd check his
e-mail; there might be a note from Jessie. As of this morning, she hadn't responded to any of his recent notes, so
maybe . . . He typed quickly and
watched his e-mail program load. But
there was nothing in his inbox. He
sighed despondently. He glanced at the
clock and a funny thought occurred to him. When they were kids and were separated, this was the time of day they
used to go out and use IRC. It was just
a standing time. He wondered . . . He double clicked the mIRC icon and watched
the program load. Several commands
later he entered the channel #Battle. On the right hand side of his screen was displayed @Sikh.
***JBond (jquest@quest.com) has joined #Battle
JBond Hey,
Hadji! :-)
Sikh Like
minds, my friend?
***Sikh sets mode: +o JBond
JBond Thanks. How ya doin'?
Sikh All
right, I guess. Things continue to be
interesting here. My mother is doing
well and Pasha continues to try to make deals that get him into trouble. How are things at home?
JBond About
the same. Dad's working on the same
stuff as when you left and Race and Jessie are still in Colombia.
Sikh I
thought they were supposed to be home this week.
JBond Yeah,
but Estella asked them to stay and they decided to do that.
Sikh So Race
and Estella are getting along?
JBond Who
knows. Jessie's not talking. She's not answering my e-mails either.
Sikh Are you
okay, my friend?
JBond Yeah. I guess I hafta' be,
right? After all, what can I do?
Sikh You
could tell her how you feel. ;-)
JBond Naaaa. Bad idea. She's got enough to think about right now.
***SciGrrl (jbannon@quest.com) has joined #Battle
Sikh Hey,
Jessie!
JBond Hi,
Jess.
***JBond sets mode: +o SciGrrl
SciGrrl Thanks, Jonny. Hey, guys. I don't even know why I thought of this.
JBond Me
neither.
Sikh It was
worth a try. How are things in
Colombia?
SciGrrl Not
too bad. The work is going pretty well
and Mom and Dad haven't killed each other yet.
Sikh They
are not getting along?
SciGrrl I
don't know. I just always figured that
if they ever got together again everything would be really great.
Sikh But?
SciGrrl Well, sometimes it is. But
sometimes it isn't. They still argue an
awful lot.
Sikh Maybe
that is just "them".
SciGrrl Yeah, maybe. I guess.
Sikh So do
you know when you are going home?
SciGrrl No. I figure I'll just hang
until they get tired of having me around. At least they don't fight as much when I'm here. How about you? When are you going home?
Sikh Soon, I
hope. At least for a while. I'm almost done with everything I need to
do. Mother does very well. She knows more than I do. And I need to get away from here for a
while.
SciGrrl What's the problem?
Sikh sigh I just do not like palace politics.
SciGrrl LOL. You've never been very good at them either! ;-)
Hadji's computer suddenly beeped and JBond appeared in a private chat icon at the bottom of his
screen. He clicked the icon and the
screen changed.
JB Hey, man,
what's up?
S Nothing
really.
JB Wrong. Something's buggin' you .
. . big time. I can tell. What is it?
S Just
typical palace politics, Jonny. And
Jessie is right. I do not deal with it
very well. I'm not really ready to talk
about it yet. Can you give me some time
to sort things out?
JB sigh Yeah. I can
relate. Life's a bitch sometimes. :-(
S I agree
completely.
*JBond looks at Sikh closely.
JB That bad,
huh?
The response was a long time coming.
S Yes. It is that bad. You are right, my friend. Sometimes, life is a bitch.
JB You sure
you don't want to talk about it?
*Sikh shakes his head.
S Not yet.
JB Okay. Just let me know.
S I will.
Jonny clicked the icon for #Battle again and bounced back to
the main channel.
SciGrrl Hey,
guys, you still there?
JBond Still
here.
Sikh Me too.
SciGrrl You
both seemed to disappear.
Sikh Trying
to do too many things at once.
SciGrrl You're pretty quiet, Jonny.
JBond Not much
to say, I guess.
Sikh I need
to go, my friends. More people to
see. Will you be here again tomorrow?
SciGrrl Don't know. I can try.
Sikh I will
check in.
***Sikh has quit IRC (Until tomorrow)
JBond Haven't heard from you for a while. Did you get my e-mail?
SciGrrl Yeah, I got 'em. It's just been
busy here and I haven't had much time to deal with the mail.
JBond So
what's goin' on?
SciGrrl Well, we found a new chamber in the temple Mom was working on. Government isn't real happy about it,
though.
JBond Why
not?
SciGrrl Oh,
they would have preferred to find it themselves. Since Mom did, she's in charge of the excavation. Ruben says it's all politics.
-JBond Ruben?
SciGrrl One
of Mom's interns for the term.
JBond I
didn't realize she had any interns.
SciGrrl Yeah. This project's a big
deal. She actually has . . . had . . .
six. Four guys and two girls. One of the girls quit when she realized we'd
be working in the jungle. She was a
ditz anyway.
JBond So
what are they . . . archaeologists from one of the museums or what?
SciGrrl No. High school and college
students who are getting credit for working on the dig. Typical thing. Ruben's actually from USC . . . a junior with a major in archaeology. He's specializing in South American
archaeology. His family's real
influential here in Colombia . . . it's where he's from . . . and they got the
gig for him. He's pretty good, though,
so I guess it's not so bad.
JBond Oh.
SciGrrl Oh? What do you mean, "Oh?"
JBond Nothing. I just didn't realize
she had interns. So what's he like,
this Ruben whateverhisnameis?
SciGrrl Ruben Calderone. He's nice. Friendly, polite, knows his stuff. Has a good sense of humor too . . . he's pretty
funny. He's good at making Mom and Dad
laugh. And he spends a lot of time with
Dad. Helps him on stuff around camp. They've become pretty good buddies.
JBond Sounds
like he's just what you guys need.
SciGrrl Yeah, he's pretty nice. He's
kinda filled the gap of not having you around.
Time passed with no further conversation.
SciGrrl Hey,
are you still there?
JBond Yeah,
I'm here. By the way, I borrowed Tommy.
SciGrrl *Borrowed* Tommy? You don't have
to borrow him . . . he's yours, after all. You just loaned him to me. But
why did you need him?
JBond I gave
him to Brandon.
SciGrrl To
*Brandon*? As in Brandon Simmons? Why?
JBond He's
living here right now.
SciGrrl What?! You never said anything
about that.
JBond I sent
you an e-mail about it.
SciGrrl Oh.
There was a long pause.
SciGrrl So
what's going on?
There was another long pause.
SciGrrl Jonny? Are you there?
JBond It's a
long story. Look, I think I better
go. I've got an English Lit essay due
that I gotta work on. I'll try and
check in again tomorrow. Talk to you
later.
SciGrrl No!
Jonny, WAIT . . . .
***JBond has quit IRC
Jonny slumped back into his chair and stared at the computer
monitor for a long time. He was
completely numb. So it had finally
happened. She had found someone
else. He always knew it would happen,
sooner or later . . . he wasn't good enough for her and never had been. It sounded like this new guy had it all . .
. money, brains, talent, a good family. And Race obviously liked him and spent lots of time with him. He didn't stand a chance. Oh God, how did he ever get into this? He cared for her so much . . .