*BACK TO FLASHBACK*
"What is the matter, little one?" Officer Bob asked. Boss remembered how Dear Mother called him Dear Little One. "My name's Boss," he replied. "What has happened, child?" Officer Tom asked. "M-my...go to Dear Mother's bedroom..." was all Boss could say.
Officer Tom and Officer Bob raced to Dear Mother's bedroom and stopped dead in their tracks. "What happened?" Officer Bob asked Boss. "I don't know, dern it. I just came home from school and found her like this!" Boss screamed and began to sob again. Officer Bob hugged him as Officer Tom looked at Dear Mother. "She shot herself in the head," he said when he saw the gun in her paw. "Where's your father?" "He died exactly a year ago!" Boss sobbed. Officer Bob picked Boss up and hugged him. "What's this helmet you got here, huh?" he asked. "Dear Mother gave it to me this morning," he cried.
Officer Tom took Boss from Officer Bob's paws and said, "I'm not going to put this boy in an orphanage. Since I don't have a wife and I've been wanting a boy like you, I'll keep you and call you my son. I tried to keep another boy named Mike, but he just ran away. He didn't seem to have many manners, anyways." "NO!" Boss screamed. "I don't want anyone else but my parents!" "I can't just let you stay here," Officer Tom said. "You have to come home with me!" "I won't!" Boss screamed. "I want my parents! Not you!" With that, he ran to his own bedroom and locked the door.
After he locked it, he emptied his backpack and shoved his shovel in it. He packed a few other things in there and crammed his blanket in last. After making sure he had everything he wanted to take with him, he heard a knock on his door. "Open this door!" Officer Tom said on the other side of the door. "NO!" Boss sobbed again and again. Finally Officer Tom and Officer Bob got the door opened. "Oh, good," Officer Tom said. "You already got your things together."
Boss rushed toward the bed and tried to hide under it, but Officer Tom and Officer Bob caught his paws. "Let go!" he screeched and started to sob once more. They pulled him from underneath the bed and Officer Tom picked him up. "NO! NO! NO!" Boss screamed at them. Officer Tom held him tightly as they went by Dear Mother's room. "DEAR MOTHER! PROTECT ME! YOU'RE NOT DEAD!" he cried. Boss tried and struggled to get from Officer Tom's grip, but all he said was, "I can't let you stay here, Boss. You're coming home with me."
Officer Tom struggled to put him in the police car, but finally got him in there. Officer Tom and Officer Bob sat in the front seats as Boss sat in the back. "Put on your seatbelt, Boss," Officer Bob demanded. Boss refused to even look at them. Officer Bob reached hack and buckled him up with the seatbelt. "Now you may drive, Tom," Officer Bob said when he buckled himself up.
When they arrived at Officer Tom's house, Officer Tom took Boss out of the police car. "Bob," he said, "take the car back to the station while I help the boy settle." He held Boss's paw tightly as if his life was in him. Boss tried to get away from Officer Tom, but he dragged him into the house. When they got into the house, he picked Boss up and took him down a hallway. "How old are you, Boss?" Officer Tom asked. "Ten," he replied sullenly. "How old was that other boy?" Officer Tom replied, "Oh, are you talking about Mike? Oh, his mother jumped off a dam because he hated her. And she had killed his father earlier. He was around sixteen. Very malevolent kid. He cursed me when I took him to my house. Said he was going to take over the world because of me and his mom."
Officer Tom took Boss to the last room in the hallway. It was nothing but a bed and a dresser. "Not much in it, but once you get used to me and you learn not to say no to your step-father, you can have more," he replied. He sat Boss on the bed, said, "I'll be back to tell you dinner's ready, OK?", and closed the door behind him.
Boss just sat on the bed. He still didn't believe Dear Mother was dead. Boss felt like he was here against his will and had to get out of there.
A few hours later, Officer Tom came back. Boss hadn't moved or anything. He had only been staring into space and breathing. "Dinner's ready," Officer Tom said. He walked over to Boss and picked him up. "You're light for a ten year old," he commented. No reply came from Boss.
After bringing Boss to the table and seeing him not touch anything for thirty minutes, Officer Tom said, "Do you like television?" No reply. "Do you like to play board games?" Still no reply. "Are you tired?" No reply whatsoever came from Boss. Officer Tom assumed Boss was too exhausted and needed a bedtime story to get to sleep.
Officer Tom took the ten year old back to the bedroom. He pulled back the covers of the bed and tucked Boss into bed. Officer Tom sat on the edge of the bed. "What kind of stories do you like?" he asked. No reply. Officer Tom got up and went out the door to get a book. Boss had thought that he had left for good, but he was proved wrong when Officer Tom came back with a book with bedtime stories. He had also brought a chair so he could sit beside Boss.
Officer Tom opened the book and read a short story. Boss still showed no sign of sleepiness. After Officer Tom read a few more, he became tired and started to drift off into sleep. After about thirty minutes Boss being asleep, Officer Tom picked him up and brought him to his bedroom. He tucked Boss into the bed with him and wrapped his arm around him. Officer Tom took Boss's too big helmet off of him and put it on the bed post.
When Boss woke up the next day and found that he was in Officer Tom's bed instead of Dear Mother's, he pressed his face in the pillow and started to sob. He remembered that the next day was Mother's Day. When Officer Tom woke up and found Boss sobbing and mourning, he picked him up and took him to the kitchen. He cried on Officer Tom's shoulder and refused to eat again. "You've got to eat, Boss," he said. The only reply was the perpetual sobs from him.
Officer Tom continued all day to try to get Boss to do something else other that mourn for Dear Mother. He wouldn't even speak to him. Officer Tom laid him on the couch finally and said, "You've got to do something, Boss! You can't die! If you keep this up, you'll be as dead as your mother and father!" That remark caused him to sob louder. "Stop, I say!" Officer Tom demanded. Boss hugged the pillow and buried his face in it and continued to sob. Officer Tom tried to think of what to do. "What do you want to do, Boss?" he asked. "DIE!" Boss screamed. "No, no, no!" Officer Tom screamed. "You're going to live, live, live! What else do you want to do?" "Nothing!" was the only reply.
Boss continued until Officer Tom got tired of it. He hastily picked Boss up and said, "I'm not going to continue to serve you like a king and you not even say a word! Until you decide to say something, you can stay in your room!"
Officer Tom carried Boss to the bedroom and sat him down on the bed. "I'll bring your meals in here to you," he retorted. "And I'll be taking your things since you don't use them either!" Officer Tom grabbed his backpack and helmet. The ten year old got tears in his eyes as he picked up everything. When Officer Tom touched his shovel, Boss screamed at him and started to sob again. "Cry all you want," Officer Tom returned sharply, "but you're not getting anything back until you start to live your life and speak to me without making you!" With that, Officer Tom exited the room and locked it from the outside.
Boss walked to the door and pounded on it. "Gimme my shovel!" the ten year old screamed. There was no reply whatsoever. "Where the heck am I supposed to use the bathroom!" Boss shouted. Still no reply. He threw himself on the bed and cried into the pillow. "Yesterday, I was on top of the world," he sobbed, "and later that same day, this Officer Tom comes around and kidnaps me! Dear Mother, where in heaven are you? Are you with Dear Father? I want to be with you both! I need you!"
*INTERUPTING THOUGHT*
Boss remember how he was. That's how I got so sensitive, he thought to himself. And I thought that was bad. Believe me, second time in my life they come around, I was going through worse. Boss smiled at the thought and then remembered that same day he saw them at that other Bad Hams Place four hours away.
*BACK TO FLASHBACK*
When Officer Tom came back to get Boss for dinner, he was asleep. He smiled as he saw that Boss was getting some sleep. But he stopped smiling when he saw a tear come from his closed eyes. Officer Tom shook him slightly and said, "Dinner's ready."
Boss opened his eyes and replied, "I think you need to change my sheets. It's kinda wet down there." Officer Tom groaned as he thought of what the ten year old did on the sheets. "Where else was I supposed to use it? There's no bathroom in here!" Boss fussed. Officer Tom sighed and said, "Let's go before you have another accident."
Boss finally started eating a little. Officer Tom praised him for eating. After dinner, he tried to get Boss to laugh. Officer Tom tried every thing in the book, but Boss was still depressed about his parents. Officer Tom tucked him into bed and told him another bedtime story. After the first one, Boss had drifted off to sleep. Again, Officer Tom took him to his room to sleep. He opened his closet door and took Boss's shovel out of it. He put it in Boss's paws and whispered to himself, "Now he'll be happy."
After Officer Tom fell asleep, Boss woke up. He found the shovel in his paws and hugged it. "Dear Grandfather," he said over and over. He got out of bed and looked under the bed for his backpack and helmet. No luck there. Boss looked in the closet and found his backpack and helmet.
Boss tried to open the door, but it was locked with a key. And he had no idea where a key would be hidden. Boss tried the window and could only open it half of the way. He lifted himself up to the window and through it. Boss climbed out of the window and took one last look at Officer Tom. "Thanks and no thanks," was the last sentence Boss said to Officer Tom.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
"What is the matter, little one?" Officer Bob asked. Boss remembered how Dear Mother called him Dear Little One. "My name's Boss," he replied. "What has happened, child?" Officer Tom asked. "M-my...go to Dear Mother's bedroom..." was all Boss could say.
Officer Tom and Officer Bob raced to Dear Mother's bedroom and stopped dead in their tracks. "What happened?" Officer Bob asked Boss. "I don't know, dern it. I just came home from school and found her like this!" Boss screamed and began to sob again. Officer Bob hugged him as Officer Tom looked at Dear Mother. "She shot herself in the head," he said when he saw the gun in her paw. "Where's your father?" "He died exactly a year ago!" Boss sobbed. Officer Bob picked Boss up and hugged him. "What's this helmet you got here, huh?" he asked. "Dear Mother gave it to me this morning," he cried.
Officer Tom took Boss from Officer Bob's paws and said, "I'm not going to put this boy in an orphanage. Since I don't have a wife and I've been wanting a boy like you, I'll keep you and call you my son. I tried to keep another boy named Mike, but he just ran away. He didn't seem to have many manners, anyways." "NO!" Boss screamed. "I don't want anyone else but my parents!" "I can't just let you stay here," Officer Tom said. "You have to come home with me!" "I won't!" Boss screamed. "I want my parents! Not you!" With that, he ran to his own bedroom and locked the door.
After he locked it, he emptied his backpack and shoved his shovel in it. He packed a few other things in there and crammed his blanket in last. After making sure he had everything he wanted to take with him, he heard a knock on his door. "Open this door!" Officer Tom said on the other side of the door. "NO!" Boss sobbed again and again. Finally Officer Tom and Officer Bob got the door opened. "Oh, good," Officer Tom said. "You already got your things together."
Boss rushed toward the bed and tried to hide under it, but Officer Tom and Officer Bob caught his paws. "Let go!" he screeched and started to sob once more. They pulled him from underneath the bed and Officer Tom picked him up. "NO! NO! NO!" Boss screamed at them. Officer Tom held him tightly as they went by Dear Mother's room. "DEAR MOTHER! PROTECT ME! YOU'RE NOT DEAD!" he cried. Boss tried and struggled to get from Officer Tom's grip, but all he said was, "I can't let you stay here, Boss. You're coming home with me."
Officer Tom struggled to put him in the police car, but finally got him in there. Officer Tom and Officer Bob sat in the front seats as Boss sat in the back. "Put on your seatbelt, Boss," Officer Bob demanded. Boss refused to even look at them. Officer Bob reached hack and buckled him up with the seatbelt. "Now you may drive, Tom," Officer Bob said when he buckled himself up.
When they arrived at Officer Tom's house, Officer Tom took Boss out of the police car. "Bob," he said, "take the car back to the station while I help the boy settle." He held Boss's paw tightly as if his life was in him. Boss tried to get away from Officer Tom, but he dragged him into the house. When they got into the house, he picked Boss up and took him down a hallway. "How old are you, Boss?" Officer Tom asked. "Ten," he replied sullenly. "How old was that other boy?" Officer Tom replied, "Oh, are you talking about Mike? Oh, his mother jumped off a dam because he hated her. And she had killed his father earlier. He was around sixteen. Very malevolent kid. He cursed me when I took him to my house. Said he was going to take over the world because of me and his mom."
Officer Tom took Boss to the last room in the hallway. It was nothing but a bed and a dresser. "Not much in it, but once you get used to me and you learn not to say no to your step-father, you can have more," he replied. He sat Boss on the bed, said, "I'll be back to tell you dinner's ready, OK?", and closed the door behind him.
Boss just sat on the bed. He still didn't believe Dear Mother was dead. Boss felt like he was here against his will and had to get out of there.
A few hours later, Officer Tom came back. Boss hadn't moved or anything. He had only been staring into space and breathing. "Dinner's ready," Officer Tom said. He walked over to Boss and picked him up. "You're light for a ten year old," he commented. No reply came from Boss.
After bringing Boss to the table and seeing him not touch anything for thirty minutes, Officer Tom said, "Do you like television?" No reply. "Do you like to play board games?" Still no reply. "Are you tired?" No reply whatsoever came from Boss. Officer Tom assumed Boss was too exhausted and needed a bedtime story to get to sleep.
Officer Tom took the ten year old back to the bedroom. He pulled back the covers of the bed and tucked Boss into bed. Officer Tom sat on the edge of the bed. "What kind of stories do you like?" he asked. No reply. Officer Tom got up and went out the door to get a book. Boss had thought that he had left for good, but he was proved wrong when Officer Tom came back with a book with bedtime stories. He had also brought a chair so he could sit beside Boss.
Officer Tom opened the book and read a short story. Boss still showed no sign of sleepiness. After Officer Tom read a few more, he became tired and started to drift off into sleep. After about thirty minutes Boss being asleep, Officer Tom picked him up and brought him to his bedroom. He tucked Boss into the bed with him and wrapped his arm around him. Officer Tom took Boss's too big helmet off of him and put it on the bed post.
When Boss woke up the next day and found that he was in Officer Tom's bed instead of Dear Mother's, he pressed his face in the pillow and started to sob. He remembered that the next day was Mother's Day. When Officer Tom woke up and found Boss sobbing and mourning, he picked him up and took him to the kitchen. He cried on Officer Tom's shoulder and refused to eat again. "You've got to eat, Boss," he said. The only reply was the perpetual sobs from him.
Officer Tom continued all day to try to get Boss to do something else other that mourn for Dear Mother. He wouldn't even speak to him. Officer Tom laid him on the couch finally and said, "You've got to do something, Boss! You can't die! If you keep this up, you'll be as dead as your mother and father!" That remark caused him to sob louder. "Stop, I say!" Officer Tom demanded. Boss hugged the pillow and buried his face in it and continued to sob. Officer Tom tried to think of what to do. "What do you want to do, Boss?" he asked. "DIE!" Boss screamed. "No, no, no!" Officer Tom screamed. "You're going to live, live, live! What else do you want to do?" "Nothing!" was the only reply.
Boss continued until Officer Tom got tired of it. He hastily picked Boss up and said, "I'm not going to continue to serve you like a king and you not even say a word! Until you decide to say something, you can stay in your room!"
Officer Tom carried Boss to the bedroom and sat him down on the bed. "I'll bring your meals in here to you," he retorted. "And I'll be taking your things since you don't use them either!" Officer Tom grabbed his backpack and helmet. The ten year old got tears in his eyes as he picked up everything. When Officer Tom touched his shovel, Boss screamed at him and started to sob again. "Cry all you want," Officer Tom returned sharply, "but you're not getting anything back until you start to live your life and speak to me without making you!" With that, Officer Tom exited the room and locked it from the outside.
Boss walked to the door and pounded on it. "Gimme my shovel!" the ten year old screamed. There was no reply whatsoever. "Where the heck am I supposed to use the bathroom!" Boss shouted. Still no reply. He threw himself on the bed and cried into the pillow. "Yesterday, I was on top of the world," he sobbed, "and later that same day, this Officer Tom comes around and kidnaps me! Dear Mother, where in heaven are you? Are you with Dear Father? I want to be with you both! I need you!"
*INTERUPTING THOUGHT*
Boss remember how he was. That's how I got so sensitive, he thought to himself. And I thought that was bad. Believe me, second time in my life they come around, I was going through worse. Boss smiled at the thought and then remembered that same day he saw them at that other Bad Hams Place four hours away.
*BACK TO FLASHBACK*
When Officer Tom came back to get Boss for dinner, he was asleep. He smiled as he saw that Boss was getting some sleep. But he stopped smiling when he saw a tear come from his closed eyes. Officer Tom shook him slightly and said, "Dinner's ready."
Boss opened his eyes and replied, "I think you need to change my sheets. It's kinda wet down there." Officer Tom groaned as he thought of what the ten year old did on the sheets. "Where else was I supposed to use it? There's no bathroom in here!" Boss fussed. Officer Tom sighed and said, "Let's go before you have another accident."
Boss finally started eating a little. Officer Tom praised him for eating. After dinner, he tried to get Boss to laugh. Officer Tom tried every thing in the book, but Boss was still depressed about his parents. Officer Tom tucked him into bed and told him another bedtime story. After the first one, Boss had drifted off to sleep. Again, Officer Tom took him to his room to sleep. He opened his closet door and took Boss's shovel out of it. He put it in Boss's paws and whispered to himself, "Now he'll be happy."
After Officer Tom fell asleep, Boss woke up. He found the shovel in his paws and hugged it. "Dear Grandfather," he said over and over. He got out of bed and looked under the bed for his backpack and helmet. No luck there. Boss looked in the closet and found his backpack and helmet.
Boss tried to open the door, but it was locked with a key. And he had no idea where a key would be hidden. Boss tried the window and could only open it half of the way. He lifted himself up to the window and through it. Boss climbed out of the window and took one last look at Officer Tom. "Thanks and no thanks," was the last sentence Boss said to Officer Tom.
*END OF FLASHBACK*