Same legal stuff as in the previous chapters.
For my beloved Shithead. I may never go on vacation again. Crap just seems to rain down upon your head in biblical proportions when I do.
Chapter Seventeen.
It was still dark when Kirsten walked out to the patio. She had been waiting for Sandy to come back to bed. She'd heard him checking on the boys, listening for his foot steps to come back down the stairs. He had by-passed their room, instead prowling the kitchen. When she heard the garden door open, Kirsten reached for her robe and padded out through the bedroom's glass doors, the damp grass cool on her feet. Sandy looked up as she sat down and pushed his untouched mug of tea towards her.
"Talk to me." She asked softly, reaching for his hand.
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8:16AM.
Seth wandered into the kitchen just as the last of the coffee dripped into the pot. Ryan silently reached for a second mug, filling them both.
"Ninjas?" Seth's eyes were barely opened.
"Bring it on…"
It was nearly 11AM when Sandy woke, Kirsten's head on his chest, her arms wrapped around him. They had talked until nearly 6, first quietly venting their anger and frustration at the latest turn of events and then strategizing how best to address the situation. No matter how they approached it, the fallout could quite possibly break the tenuous hand-hold Ryan had with the family. He'd see this as somehow being his fault. His past rearing it's ugly head. Their goal was to protect him, but not hide this from him. They'd allow him to decide how to handle it. As much as they wanted to take control of the situation, be the parents they've promised themselves they'd be, they had to step aside but not step away, let Ryan lead… But they would still help steer.
Walking into the family room they were surprised to see Seth watching tivo'd Daily Show alone.
"Good morning Parental Entities. You're just in time for a little Jon Stewart… A little cerebral badinage…"
Sandy raised an eyebrow.
"Badinage?"
"I know it's not worth much on a Scrabble board but it sounds rather impressive, doesn't it?"
Seth noticed the smile on his dad's face was restrained.
"Is everything alright with you two? No fighting over the crosswords…"
"We're fine Seth." Kirsten fiddled with the edge of her sleeve.
"Ooooo-kay….And we all thought Ryan couldn't lie to save his life…. You guys are just as bad. While that little flaw is helpful when it comes to intense questioning regarding Chrismukkah gifts, right now it leads me to believe that "Angst Free Ryan Day" will not be held over."
The silence answered for them.
"Well then, seeing as Ryan has left the building, can you give me a preview of the drama yet to unfold?
"Where's Ryan… Did he say when he'll be back?"
"Whoa, Dad… Chill-ax… That vein in your forehead is going "Alien"…"
"Seth…." Sandy's voice was tight.
"He went to see Lindsey… Said he'd be back by 2…"
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Ryan sat on the front porch of Lindsey's house, turning the envelope over in his hands. His name had been written on the front. He made no attempt to open it. It didn't matter what it said. They were just words on a piece of paper.
Meaningless.
Empty.
Redundant.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
4:13 PM
Sandy replaced the telephone handset after speaking to Renee Wheeler. Ryan had told Seth he'd be home a couple of hours ago. Lindsey's mother called, worried about Ryan. He was shocked when she told him that Lindsey had left for Connecticut. She admitted that yes, it was sudden but her daughter had the opportunity to transfer to one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country. She herself had received a job offer at the city planners office in Simsbury. Sandy asked about the unexpected nature of the changes and Renee had replied that both the school and the job were too good to turn down. It would be a new start for Lindsey. A chance to deal with being Caleb Nichol's daughter away from Caleb's influence.
Kirsten and Seth had been privy to Sandy's side of the conversation and were able to fill in the blanks.
Lindsey left.
Lindsey left Ryan.
Lindsey left Kirsten, a sister she was just getting to know.
Lindsey left Ryan, a boy she was getting to know better.
A boy who had enough people leave him.
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Caleb lay back on the bed, his hands entangled in the hair of the natural red head as she went down on him. Julie would be spa-ing her way through Europe for another few weeks. Time enough to hide the majority of his assets incase she tried to contest the pre-nup. There were one or two loopholes that had been overlooked in his lust driven fervour to marry her, but now she was becoming a very expensive pastime in comparison to the dalliance sucking his dick.
Sandy was looking for his car keys, moving the vase of lemons, mentally berating himself for not replacing Ryan's cell phone when he heard the door leading from the garage open. Kirsten heard it as well, a smile of relief erasing some of the worry. Sandy visibly relaxed and adopted a casual pose against the kitchen island.
"Hey…"
"Hey kiddo…" Sandy and Kirsten were at a loss for words. Do they let Ryan know that they had spoken to Renee? Do they wait for him to talk to them?
"Sorry I'm late…"
"You're not late… You're just in time to navigate as we trek to the Mongolian Grill… Unless you want to drive…"
"Is talking optional?"
"I'm afraid not."
"You better drive…"
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The road trip to the Grill took considerably longer than usual. A detour to a park where an uneasy monologue took place and a silent, emotionally battered young man re-entered the Beemer staring vacantly out the window. Sandy drove home, the hush thick and heavy. The food was cold and forgotten by the time they returned home. Ryan slipped quietly up the stairs, closing the door to the former guest room behind him. While Sandy and Ryan were gone, Kirsten told Seth of the new developments.
"I don't get it… Why now? Ryan hasn't seen his… Him or heard from Him and now he wants to be Ward Cleaver? Being with us was supposed to make things better for Ryan…"
"I know things are difficult right now but you have to trust that your father and I are handling this as best as we can, but we need to find out how Ryan wants to deal with this."
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Seth absently played computer games in his room, listening for any sign of Ryan. The food stayed untouched in the plastic containers. Kirsten tried to read one of the books she'd picked up last Monday. Sandy isolated himself in his office looking for any legal stratagem he could use. The ruling in "Linetty vs. Weldy" did not bode well for Ryan. Their only hope would be to continually file motions, hoping to stall the petition.
Unfortunately that tactic came with a risk. He'd very well end up sitting in jail on contempt charges.
He'd do it in a heartbeat if it meant the hearings would be delayed, but Judge Winchester didn't like games.
He could be enough of a bastard and have Ryan removed from their custody until his 18th birthday.
Sandy usually wasn't opposed to a gamble but this time the stakes were too high.
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Prison gave a man a lot of time to think… When he wasn't fighting for survival. Roger Atwood's thoughts were of grand plans once he got out of prison, now that he had finances in place. A parole hearing next year meant he had a limited amount of time to assert the hard won authority he had over the other convicts before he'd step away from his outward show of dominance and play the game. A clean record for six months should make him a good candidate, especially with his new best friend paying the bills.
Re-shelving the books in the prison library, his mind wandered to his boys. Normally he pushed away any images of them far into the recesses of his brain.
That was another life.
Now those memories crept into his daily thoughts. He hadn't seen either of them for over 8 years. He had a hard time picturing Trey. If he were still alive, would he have even recognized his son?
And Baby Boy…
Born despite Dawn swearing she'd had an abortion.
They'd just moved to Fresno. They had no money…were living out of their car.
He found out he'd gotten a job at the foundry while Dawn was giving birth on a dirty kitchen floor while working a double shift at Dunkin' Donuts.
The bitch didn't even look pregnant.
She was a fucking cow when she had Trey.
Despite another mouth to feed and the loss of Dawn's income, Roger couldn't help but believe the Atwood luck was changing. A job with benefits, a pension plan…
He was living the American Dream.
The plant closed.
Re-opened in China.
The dream ended.
A series of low paying jobs.
Never enough to get by.
He took out his frustrations on Trey and Baby Boy.
Mostly on the little one.
Loved to make him cry.
Didn't take long before the brat didn't cry anymore.
Didn't say much either.
Scrappy though. But a reminder of how fucked up everything was.
The robbery was easy. Lots of money in the register because the Power Ball was 90 million.
People buying dreams at 2 bucks a crack.
Celebrating with Jim, Jack, Jose and a few lines of Colombian.
A knock on the door.
Opening it to find cops starting to explain about the little bastard being hit by a car.
Seeing a handgun and drug paraphernalia .
Probable cause.
Guilty verdict.
9-12 years as a guest of the California Prison System.
Now Baby Boy was grown.
Living a new life with a new family.
Staring him down at the chapel.
The kid definitely had balls.
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Ryan buried the envelope from Lindsey in the dresser drawer.
The one overflowing with new boxers.
He couldn't deal with this now. Maybe it was for the best. He was already on drama overload. Looking around the guest room he noticed more of his things had been brought in from the pool house.
His things.
He came to the Cohens with nothing but the torn and smokey clothes he'd been taken to juvie in. Everything else was lost in the fire.
Those were his things.
These weren't.
Not really.
He hadn't earned them.
He hadn't done anything to deserve them.
For the last year and a half he'd been waiting for them to ask for pay-back.
That's how it worked.
It's what he was taught.
Beaten into him.
Lessons never forgotten.
Now the Cohens were showing him something different.
Living different.
Words, not fists, bottles or belts.
Bringing him into the family instead of kicking him out.
He wanted to trust them and he does, but he's so used to dealing with his own shit.
How fucked up is that?
The biggest gift he could give the Cohens is to let them take his burdens from him.
To give them the last bit of trust he'd been hoarding…
