THE RENO

Chapter 1

Reno, Nevada 1997

Dawn Atwood put the finishing touches on her make-up, and then turned to smile at her sons. "Okay, now, boys, I'm going to go out for awhile. Trey, here's some money. You take Ryan over to that diner across the street and get him some supper. Ryan, you stay here and do what Trey tells you, okay? I'll be back later tonight," she said while placing a kiss on top of Ryan's head. "Jeez, Ryan, you really need a haircut," she said, running her hand over his shaggy blond hair. "Soon as we get back, okay?" Striking a pose, she asked winsomely, "Well, do I look alright?"

"You look really pretty, Mom," Ryan replied sweetly.

"Thanks, baby," Dawn said while dropping another kiss on Ryan's sandy blond head. "Okay, I'm off. Wish me luck, guys!"

Ten-year-old Ryan Atwood watched his mother whirl out the door on her way to the casinos. He was a little nervous about her leaving him in the motel room but at least Trey was here. He bounced around on one of the two double beds, his too-long blond bangs flopping over his eyes. "Hey, Trey, after we eat, you wanna watch a movie on TV? We've got cable and Mom won't be back til really late so we can stay up as late as we want."

Fifteen-year-old Trey finished combing his hair just right. "Okay, listen, Ryan. I'm gonna go out for a while. Now come on, man, don't get that damn puppy-dog face. You'll be okay here. Just lock the door after I leave and don't let anyone in unless it's me or Mom."

"No, Trey, Mom said you had to stay here," Ryan said gravely. "Besides, we're supposed to go eat supper and I'm hungry."

"Don't be a big baby, Ryan. The diner's just across the street. Here, you can have five dollars so get whatever you want. How's a big cheeseburger and fries sound? Huh? That's your favorite. You'll even have enough for a milkshake, too."

"But Trey…."

"Come on, man. I don't want to sit here all night babysitting you. You'll be okay, kid, don't worry."

"But what if Mom comes back and wants to know where you are?"

"Ryan, Mom won't be back until morning. Trust me on this. I speak from experience. Now come on, grab the key and I'll walk you over to the diner before I go. You'll have fun. When you get back, you'll be able to watch whatever you want on TV, even cartoons."

"Trey, you know I don't watch cartoons anymore."

"Whatever, man. Watch some of that PBS crap then. Now come on, let's go."

As soon as they had crossed the highway, Trey quickly took off down the street before Ryan could fuss at him some more. Sometimes his little brother was way too mature for his age. Trey was going to have to work on getting him to loosen up some when they got home.

Ryan paused for a minute outside the diner and then pushed open the door to the sound of a tinkling bell. He looked around trying to decide between booth or counter. He finally decided the counter was cooler even though it took him a couple of tries to get up on the stool. He was short for his age and wished that he would hurry up and get tall like his brother - and get muscles like him, too.

The waitress, who looked to be not much older than Trey, ambled over to take his order. Her nametag proclaimed her to be 'Sarah'. Ryan thought she was pretty, though not as pretty as his mom, of course. She kind of reminded him of that girl who lived next door to their new house in Chino. Theresa, yeah, that was her name. This girl looked kind of like her; she had black hair, a smooth brown complexion, and friendly-looking brown eyes.

"Hi, there, what'll you have?"

"Ummm," Ryan said, pulling the five-dollar bill out of his pocket. "How much is a burger and fries?"

"$4.50, if you don't want cheese. 4.75 with cheese."

Ryan chewed at his lip. That meant no milkshake. Maybe he should skip the fries and go for the shake. The decision weighed heavily on him. "Uh, could I have a minute to think about it?" He said with a sigh.

"Sure. I'll be back in just a minute." Sarah walked over to the pickup window to chat with Marty and C.D, the short-order cooks. "Hey, guys, grill me up a large burger and some fries."

"Are you eating again, Sarah?"

"Nah, it's for the kid at the counter. Look at him, isn't he cute? What a little doll!"

"Sarah, you gotta quit giving food away," Marty said with mock sternness while getting up to throw a patty on the grill. "Mike finds out and we'll all be in trouble."

"I'm not giving it away. I'll just use some of my tip money to make sure the bill is covered."

She walked back over to Ryan and said, "Oh, hey, listen. Uh, I forgot about the special tonight. It's a burger and fries combo with a medium shake for only $3.99. Glad you took a minute to think 'cause I had totally forgotten about it. Listen, don't tell anybody because if the boss finds out that I'm not promoting the specials, he'll have my ass."

Ryan gave her a brilliant, killer smile. Yeah, this boy's gonna be a heartbreaker one day, Sarah thought to herself. "Yeah, that would be great. Thanks," Ryan said. "Uh, could I have cheese on it too, please?"

"Sure, kid, what else?"

"Everything, I mean, everything except onions," he said, remembering that Trey told him never to get onions on his burger 'cause girls didn't like it. Too bad, though, because he really liked onions.

Sarah turned away and went to fix him a large size shake, heavy on the ice cream. The kid looked pretty hungry.

"So, my name's Sarah. What's yours?"

"Ryan," he said after taking a long, satisfying drink of his shake.

"Well, Ryan, what's your story? You're not, like, a runaway or something are you?"

"Oh, no way. My mom and brother and I are staying over at the motel across the road. They went out for a while so I decided to come over and get something to eat. They'll be back pretty soon," he said with more confidence than he actually felt.

"Uh, huh. I see. So where you from, Ryan?"

"California. We used to live in Fresno but when my dad…anyway, we just moved to Chino."

"So, how do you like it?"

"Uh, it's okay, I guess. We haven't been there very long."

"Got a girlfriend yet?"

Ryan blushed to the roots of his blond hair. "Yuck, no way."

Sarah laughed and said, "Oh, that'll change pretty soon. The girls are going to be wild for you, just you wait and see." A bell dinged behind her and she turned to get Ryan's meal from the pick up window. "Here you go, Ryan. Need some ketchup?"

"Yes, please."

A ketchup bottle and salt and pepper shakers appeared in front of him. "I'm going to go clean off some of those tables but I'll be back in a minute. Holler if you need anything, okay?"

"Sure, thanks," Ryan said, eyeing the sizzling hot burger eagerly.

When Sarah returned back behind the counter, Ryan had finished about half his meal. She noticed how neatly and carefully he ate. If he dropped a crumb on the counter, he quickly wiped it up in a napkin.

Ryan dragged out his stay at the diner as long as he could, reluctant to return to the dark and empty motel room by himself and also kind of nervous about crossing the dark area between the diner and the motel. Trey was right; he really was just a big baby.

Sarah noticed his reluctance but didn't rush him. Anyway, her shift was over. "Well, time for me to get out of here," she said with relief.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to keep you," Ryan said softly, embarrassed at being a bother.

"You didn't keep me. I enjoyed having some company. It starts to get a little lonely around this time of night." When no orders were up, Marty and C.D. usually ended up playing black jack in the kitchen and completely ignoring her.

Ryan jumped down from the stool and, when Sarah wasn't looking, slipped the change from his $5.00 bill under his milkshake glass. He said goodbye and then hesitantly headed out the door. Sarah quickly wiped down the counter and discovered the change hidden under his glass. What kind of mother leaves a sweet little kid like that all by himself in a damn motel? She thought angrily. Well, she'd make sure he got back okay. This was kind of a rough section of town and it was certainly no place for a kid to be wandering around in the dark.

When Sarah came out the door a few minutes later, Ryan was still standing on the sidewalk in front of the diner. Although he was trying to look cool about it, she could tell he was a little nervous.

"Hey, Ryan, would you do me a favor?" Sarah asked casually.

"Sure," he said without hesitation.

"Well, my car's parked down the street and sometimes I get kind of scared walking over there by myself late at night. Would you mind walking with me?"

Ryan quickly agreed, his own fear lost in his pride at being able to help. It made him feel gallant – a word he had just learned last week. The two walked the half a block to where her car, a battered old VW bug, was parked. "Thanks a bunch, Ryan," Sarah said. "Hey, hop in and I'll give you a ride to your room."

"Cool, thanks," Ryan said, with thinly disguised relief.

With a sputter, they did a u-turn in the road and headed back to the motel. Ryan indicated their room and Sarah pulled into the parking space right in front of their door. When they got out, she was trying to think of a way to subtly ask to come inside and check it out for him and turn the lights on so he wouldn't be scared, though she knew he'd never admit to it.

Just then, footsteps sounded on the gravel behind them and Trey appeared. "Hey, Ry, what's going on?" he asked, surprised to discover his little brother standing outside their room talking to a very pretty girl. He's having more luck than I am, thought Trey. Maybe I should have taken him with me. It's kind of like having a cute puppy; the girls just couldn't resist.

Introductions were made all around. Sarah thought Ryan's brother was pretty cute too but he had a look of trouble about him. But at least now Ryan wouldn't be alone. Trey tried turning on the charm in order to convince her to stay but she demurred. Before she left, she turned to Ryan and said, "Come see me again next time you're in town, okay? I really enjoyed meeting you." With that she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, causing Ryan to blush furiously even though he was secretly beaming with pride on the inside. He laughed out loud when Trey's mouth dropped open. Sarah smiled, then turned and climbed back in the Bug, roaring out of the parking lot in a haze of exhaust smoke.

"Damn, Ryan. I leave you alone for a couple of hours and you hook up with a hottie. Yeah, you're an Atwood alright," Trey said, thinking that he should have just gone with Ryan to the diner. His night might have turned out a lot better. Sure would have beat losing his money in a back alley craps game.

"It was great, Trey. She was really cool, and nice too," Ryan enthused, then remembered something Sarah had said to him when they were walking to her car. "Hey, Trey, what does bedroom eyes mean?"

"What?!," Trey exclaimed turning to look at his baby brother. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Sarah told me I was gonna have bedroom eyes when I got older. Does that mean I look sleepy or something?"

"Okay, Ryan," Trey said with a groan. Where the hell was Dad when you needed him? "I guess it's time you and I had 'The Talk'. Come on, kid, let's get comfortable. This could take awhile."

"Okay, Trey," Ryan said innocently, glad that his brother was actually going to talk to him about something, instead of brushing him off to watch baseball. You know, this trip was turning out pretty good after all, he thought happily.

TBC