Bad Behavior Chapter 22

Anticipation and Release

Ryan hadn't slept a wink all night. Every time he thought about the Cohens coming to get him the next day, his heart pounded with anticipation. Rolling over onto his stomach, he stacked his fists one on top of the other and set his chin on the top. The windowsill glowed eerily white from the brightness of the moon outside. Ryan wondered if any of the Cohens were having trouble sleeping. Slightly frustrated with himself, he sat up on his bunk. He knew the fastest way to make tomorrow come was to sleep through the night. Being awake only made minutes feel like hours. In the darkness his mind wandered back to his nights in Juvie, how he would stay awake waiting for the overhead lights to come on. All he had now were crickets outside and Marco's heavy breathing.

When he realized going back to sleep wasn't an option, he got out of bed and padded down the hallway to the bathroom. He snorted a laugh to himself after he flushed the toilet when it dawned on him this was the first time since coming to The Ranch that he didn't have to wait in line to use the bathroom. Splashing some cool water on his face felt good and he decided to go downstairs for something to drink. Maybe he'd ask the night guard if he could watch some TV.

The house was strangely quiet and Ryan made it all the way to the kitchen without running into any of the counselors or the guards. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, he sat down at the table, staring absentmindedly at the design the moonlight made on the table.

"Hey kid, what are you doing up?" one of the guards asked, flicking on the kitchen light.

"I came down for a drink," Ryan answered hoarsely, squinting his eyes against the light and holding up his partially consumed water bottle as proof.

"You sure that's all?" the guard inquired.

Ryan nodded confidently, "Yes sir. My family is coming to take me home in only twelve hours, I am not going to screw that up."

The guard chuckled at Ryan's comment. He wasn't familiar with Ryan, and that was a good thing. That meant he wasn't a troublemaker. He also knew Ryan was not one of the regular late-night-wanderers that he had to keep his eye on.

"Good for you kid. Look I gotta tell your counselor that you're down here. You didn't do anything wrong kid, it's just procedure."

"I understand. Do we have to leave the light on though? You're blinding me."

"Got it," the guard chuckled, flipping the switch off.

Taking a deep breath, Ryan prepared for Gina to make her appearance and in a matter of minutes she'd found her way to the kitchen.

"That didn't take long," Ryan noted.

"Ryan what's wrong? Why aren't you sleeping?"

Shrugging, "I tried…I can't. Tomorrow is a big deal and I just wish it were morning already so I could jump into my chores and make the day go by so it'd be afternoon and my family would be here. This last twelve hours is worse than the whole two weeks."

Gina laughed. "That's what most of the boys tell me. Well try not to stay up too late. You want to be refreshed when your family arrives tomorrow. They're going to want you to show them around and they'll have lots of questions I'm sure. The only thing I ask is that you stay inside the house. No porch and no barn until morning. I realize you find both of those places to be rather soothing, but I don't want any of the guards to misinterpret your intentions and think that you're running. Tomorrow is too important for a misunderstanding like that."

"I'll go back to bed if you think that's best. I don't want to screw this up."

"It's okay, have your drink. Greg? Oh there you are. This is Ryan, he's one of my boys. He's going home tomorrow and he's a bit excited and having a hard time sleeping. He has my permission to stay up and watch some TV for a while. Ryan, if you fall asleep on the couch, just stay there. Morning will come quickly. You'll be up doing chores in a few hours."

"Thanks Gina."

After Gina had gone back to bed, Ryan relocated to the family room and spread out on the couch with the remote in his hand. Since television at that hour was extremely boring, it didn't take long before his eyes felt heavy. The remote slid out of his hand and hit the floor with a 'thud'. Ryan didn't hear a thing. He was out.

"Ryan man, come on! It's your big day! Get up!" Frankie said, with a little too much enthusiasm for five a.m.

"I'm up, I'm up," Ryan whispered trying pry his eyes open. It took a moment for him to figure out exactly where he was and how he got there. When he saw Gina all bright eyed and bushy tailed, he remembered and a smile snuck onto his face. Glancing at his watch, he was pleased to see it was after five a.m., less than eight more hours to go. The lack of sleep didn't faze him in the least. Bounding off the couch, he rushed upstairs to get dressed…Breakfast, then chores, then the Cohens…and then home. He couldn't wait.

In Newport, Casa Cohen was crawling with activity. Seth was happily up and busy by six a.m., which was unheard of under any normal circumstances. He made sure the playstation was all set up and the new games were all lined up and ready to go. He couldn't wait for Ryan to try them out. He had snack bowls lining the coffee table with the packaged snack inside, just waiting to be set free into the serving bowls.

Eight a.m. found Kirsten was standing perplexed in her closet.

"What are you doing?" Sandy asked his wife.

"I don't know what to wear," Kirsten moaned. "I want Ryan to feel relaxed so I thought I should wear something casual, like jeans…but he's lived here long enough to know that I dress up for special occasions and I want him to know that I think today is special so…should I wear a suit? I don't know! I don't know what to wear! God, I should have thought about this yesterday!"

Sandy couldn't help but laugh at his wife's behavior. "Honey, he's going to be happy to see you no matter what you're wearing. Based on what I've seen, the place is very laid back and I feel a suit will make you feel out of place. Besides, this is Ryan we're talking about and he's all about the casual."

"You're right. You're right, Ryan would pick jeans." Grabbing jeans and a sweater Kirsten laid the clothes out on the bed and sat down at the vanity to apply her make-up. "Oh my God, would you look at the black circles under my eyes! Where is my cover up?"

"Boy you're just a mess today aren't you?" Sandy teased.

"Right, as if you actually slept last night…"

Touché. "No. Not a wink," Sandy smiled before bending down to kiss the top of Kirsten's head. "You win. So fix your eyes and put on your jeans, we don't have much time to waste. Ryan's waiting."

Ryan was actually ecstatic that his morning was busier than normal. When things finally slowed down, he realized it was his lunch break. Looking at his watch again revealed the time was twelve-fifteen. Less than three hours and he'd be set free.

Once their half hour lunch break was over, it was now pushing one o'clock. Ryan found himself unable to sit still from the nerves.

"Ryan…" Gina's voice caused him to just about jump out of his skin. He turned to her, almost fearful of what might come out of her mouth. He quickly reminded himself again, at the end of the day, he was still an Atwood. Expect the unexpected. "Ryan, it's almost one o'clock. You should go upstairs and get showered and put some clean clothes on. Then…I need you to pack your things. It's time," she smiled. "When you're finished with all of that, come find me."

"Okay," Ryan nodded.

Racing upstairs, Ryan was sure he'd set a record in the shower. Matter of fact he rinsed off a second time to make sure he got all the soap off. Stepping out of the shower, he toweled off rather quickly and apparently not well enough when his clean t-shirt stuck to his body. Looking at his reflection in the mirror he realized he had a bit of a five o'clock shadow. Kirsten would say he looked 'scruffy'. Wanting to look his best, he took a few minutes to make sure he was clean-shaven before cleaning up his towels and what not from his shower.

Back in his dorm, Ryan pulled out his suitcase and emptied his dresser drawers of all his belongings. He tried to put things neatly in the suitcase but it wasn't happening. He didn't care. He just wanted it all packed.

It was two-fifteen when he checked the time again. Remembering he was supposed to go see Gina, he scurried down the stairs to her office. Knocking on the doorframe before he entered, "I'm done. You wanted to see me?"

"Ryan, yes, please come in. Why don't you close the door? Don't panic, it's just because this is a private conversation."

Nodding Ryan closed the door and then took a seat.

"So this is it. How do you feel?"

Ryan thought about the question for a moment. "I don't know. I guess I feel a little bit of everything right now."

"Like what?"

"Happy that I get to go home, guilty that the other guys aren't getting the same opportunity with a new family, terrified that Judge Whitney will send me back to Chino."

"That's understandable. You've been through an awful lot. You're one of the strongest boys I've seen come through here in a long time Ryan. I have no doubt in my mind that you will succeed at anything you put your mind to. I want you to concentrate on the positive when you leave here. No matter what gets in your way, I know you have it in you to overcome it. I'm extremely proud of the time you put in here. You did all of your chores, you got along with the other boys and you took great care of Maggie for me. You should be very proud of yourself." Standing up behind her desk, she extended her hand to Ryan. "It's been a pleasure having you at The Ranch Ryan. I know some of the other boys have learned things from you, and I hope you learned a few things during your stay here as well. I'm going to miss you," she smiled. "Since I know guys don't like tearful goodbyes, let's quit before we get too mushy and let's make sure you aren't forgetting anything."

With a nervous laugh shared between them, they stepped out into the hallway where Ryan heard a car door slam, followed by two more.

Peeking through the curtains in the foyer, "They're here!" he exclaimed, glancing down at his watch. "They're early though. That's them, they're here!" He looked to Gina, holding his breath for her reply.

"Well then you better get out there and greet your family or they're going to think you want to stay!"

A genuine smile consumed Ryan's face as he yanked the door open. Hesitating briefly, "Gina…thanks. For everything."

"Any time sweetheart." Gina's eyes puddled up as she watched Ryan turn and bound down the steps towards the parking area.

"Hey guys!" Ryan's smile beamed as he approached the Cohens.

"Oh! Ryan! Oh honey!" Kirsten was the first to throw her arms around him. Ryan welcomed the embrace and squeezed her back just as hard. "Oh sweetie, look how tan you are. Let me see you!"

"His tan? Look at his arms!" Seth joked, giving Ryan a hug. "How the hell is it possible that you're muscles are even bigger?"

"Chores man. That's all I've been doing it lifting stuff," Ryan explained.

"Well hey, I don't want to be left out," Sandy added, giving Ryan a hug. "Do you have any idea how much we've missed you? We were going nuts this past two weeks."

"That's good to hear," Ryan admitted freely.

"Mr. Cohen…"

"Ah, Gina. I'd like you to meet the rest of our family. This is my wife Kirsten, and my other son Seth."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. I really glad all of you came up to get Ryan. This is a special day for him and it's nice to see his family around him like this."

"Can I show them around?" Ryan asked.

"Absolutely. Just warn them about Frankie so he doesn't scare them," Gina chuckled.

Walking through the main house, Ryan showed them his dorm among other rooms and talked about his schedule for the day. Sandy and Kirsten could both see a calmness, or maybe even a confidence, in Ryan that wasn't there before. It was obvious The Ranch agreed with him. It was easy to see, for the most part, he was comfortable there.

Near the fenced arenas, Ryan explained about hauling the bags of feed and the hay. It was about this time that Kirsten drew her attention to the barn.

"Soooo, that's the barn," Kirsten observed. "The barn where you snuck off to be with Maggie all the time."

Ryan quickly shot a look at Gina, who seemed indifferent by Kirsten's comment.

"I really hope you didn't do anything…I hope you were a gentleman with Maggie," Kirsten eluded, skirting the obvious.

Ryan's face went blank with confusion, while Gina's face lit up with a smile. To her, the misunderstanding was obvious.

"Ryan, why don't you see if Maggie is available? Check in the barn. Have her come out here to meet your family." Winking at Ryan, Gina continued to smile.

Finally catching on, Ryan nodded but kept a straight face. "I'll be right back."

They all watched Ryan trot over to the barn door and slide it open. Once he was out of sight, Kirsten felt the need to offer some of her parental apologies.

"Gina, I hope Ryan…I hope he didn't do…anything…truth is he's um, he rather active…with…the ladies…if you know what I mean."

Gina let a knowing laugh escape before enjoying the chance to add some hype to the situation. "Well, yes, I can see that Ryan has a way with the girls, I mean Maggie seemed to fall for him hook, line and sinker. He did make a point of spending most, if not all, of his free time with Maggie. And while they were alone in the barn quite often…well, the boys aren't aware of this but, the entire facility is monitored by security cameras. There isn't anything that goes on that we don't find out about."

"Oh my God," Kirsten muttered, blushing with embarrassment. "If he did anything inappropriate…"

"I can tell you there was an awful lot of touching and petting going on in the barn."

"Oh my God," Sandy seconded Kirsten's panic, suddenly wondering if Kirsten was correct in her assumption about Maggie.

"Ryan really respects Maggie," Gina continued. "They bonded from the minute they met. Not only has Ryan been a complete gentleman, he's been very tender and caring where she's concerned," Gina beamed. "I'm sure we can all agree, that's a side of Ryan we don't get to see very often, but Maggie knows how to bring it out of him."

"Tender and caring?" Seth asked, rather amused. "Are you sure you've got the right Ryan?"

Before Gina could offer any further explanation, Ryan came through the barn door with a very large animal in tow. Gina smiled at Ryan while the mouths of every Cohen dropped wide open.

"Um…um…Ryan…Ryan that's a horse," Seth stammered. "A very, very big…big, big horse."

Ryan's eyes danced and his face lit up with a smile after he brought the beast to a halt in front of his family. He laughed when he noticed Kirsten peaking out from behind Sandy.

"So let's but an end to all the rumors," Ryan grinned. "This is Maggie. Maggie, that's my family."

The horse shook its mane as if to say 'hello'.

"THAT'S Maggie?" Kirsten asked, bewildered. "Honey, that's a really, really…REALLY big detail that you left out of your letter!"

Laughing, "Sorry. You know I'm not good with words."

"She's beautiful," Sandy said, stretching his arm to pat Maggie's nose. "You really know how to handle this horse Ryan? She's huge!"

"Yeah I do. Gina's got this 'sink or swim' method of training and Maggie knows all the routines forwards and backwards. By my second day here I was at least faking like I knew what I was doing," he smiled.

"Oh don't let him fool you," Gina interrupted. "He was terrified when he first met Maggie but I only had to show him how to do things once. He was a natural. Must've been a cowboy in another life. Go ahead Ryan. Climb up there and show them a couple things."

"Yeah sure." Jumping up on Maggie as if it were no big deal, Ryan took her in the arena and did a few simple turns and commands. The Cohens were impressed with his performance.

Jumping down he walked her back over to the gate just as Frankie was walking up with Tattoo.

"Hey Ryan, so this is it huh?" Frankie asked, halting his horse.

"Yeah I guess so. Frankie this is my foster family, the Cohens. This is Frankie, he's one of the Cruisers."

One by one, handshakes and greetings were exchanged. Frankie was impressed by the turnout at Ryan's release. He could only dream of such a thing on his last day at The Ranch.

"So Ryan, got time for one more race before you go?"

Ryan curled his lips into a Grinch-like smile, "You just want me to kick your ass one more time before I leave."

Laughing, "Call it what you want man, I almost got you that last time! Come on man. Gina does he have time for one more?"

"It's up to him," Gina answered with Frankie turning back to Ryan and waiting for an answer.

"All right, one more."

"Yes! Hey Cohens, wait until you see this guy ride man! He's unbelievable."

Walking their horses past the arenas and out to the clearing, each boy mounted their horse as Gina stepped out in front of them.

"Okay boys, this is for all the bragging rights. It's down to the barrels and back." The horses danced in their places anticipating the run. "Ready! Set? GO!"

With the drop of her hands, the boys took off across the field, their hair plastered to their heads in a show of speed and power.

"Oh my God," Kirsten mumbled, clutching her purse with worry while Seth and Sandy were cheering Ryan and Maggie on at the top of their lungs.

Before they knew it, the boys had rounded the barrels and were on their way back. Gina had walked several paces out into the field in order to make a finish line and still give the boys enough room to stop. As they flew past her, "Time!" she yelled.

Both boys came to a stop almost as out of breath as their horses were.

"Damn Atwood! You showing out in front of your family? Man you were flying!"

"Last one," Ryan panted. "Had to make it count."

"Ryan, that was incredible!" Seth boasted.

"Amazing! You really do know what you're doing!" Sandy added.

"Scary," Kirsten added laughing while everyone looked at her. "Come on now, I'm a Mom. I was very impressed with his ride but I like my boys with all their limbs intact, that's all!"

Dismounting their horses, the boys walked them back to the barn while Gina and the Cohens waited at the picnic table. After Frankie had locked up Tattoo and left the barn, Ryan looked around to see if he and Maggie were alone. When he noticed they were, he took a moment to say good-bye.

"So this is it Mags. I'm leaving. I'm actually going to miss you. I should say thanks, you know, for listening to me ramble all the time. You made my stay here a lot easier. I hope the other guys that take care of you are good to you. If their not, call me and come back and I'll break their legs," Ryan laughed nervously while Maggie stomped her foot as if to second his 'squash them like a bug' theory.

Reaching down, Ryan pulled a tuft of hay and fed it to Maggie. When she finished chewing, she bent her head down and pressed it against Ryan's chest. The gesture not only stunned Ryan, but also broke all his boundaries and brought tears to his eyes.

"I didn't know horses could give hugs," he whispered, stroking Maggie's neck momentarily before she slowly raised her head. "You taught me a lot of things Mags. Most importantly, sometimes you just gotta trust the people, or the horse, that want to help you. You're just like the Cohens. All of you believed in me before I believed in me. Thanks Maggie. You're a good girl. Take care of yourself." With a few last strokes on her nose, Ryan backed away giving a weak smile to the horse. "I'll see you around."

Wiping his eyes, he turned and walked out of the barn without looking back.

(TBC)…

Not my best chapter but we had to get Ryan off The Ranch and prepared for (gasp) Judge Whitney, more Dawn, and Caleb: D More to come soon: D