The first weekend of our stay

"I need to go now. Will I see you at the main building in about an hour?"

I nod and give him a kiss. He has a lesson to give, and Amanda is going with him. I have something else to do.

I walk to Penny as I look around. My grandparents have arrived a few days ago with Ron, who actually stayed at their house because he feels a lot safer with my grandparents. Now, he stays with Penny, so Billy had to move back his cabin at the staff quarters. Lisa moved to pops and nana, and Amanda moved with her. At least Penny is safe with Ron. She has not been alone since that moment that evening. Robbie has not tried to come any closer to her either, but my guess is that it is because there is always someone with her. I think about Penny's case, my lawyer is with her now, he just arrived to discuss the case, hence why I am on my way there too.

I look at the lake as I went down the little hill when someone grabs me by my arm and pulls me into the bushes. I let out a high-pitched scream, and look at who has grabbed me. I get scared when I see his face, but I also see the same eyes as Johnny. So, this is Johnny's half-brother then? Why do I keep staring at his eyes? I need to look somewhere else for this is getting weird, and a little creepy too. I see his eyes changing a little, and he let my arm go.

"What do you want from me?"

I quickly rub my arm to soften the stinge of the pain. He had been squeezing my arm quite hard.

"I want to make sure what I'm dealing with when the bloody bastard isn't handing over the company to mom."
"Is your mother here?"
"She's around."
"Why does she find it absolutely normal to send her son to do these kinds of things?"

I see him frowning about the question. I guess he did not expected me to ask him questions, especially ones he does not seem to have an answer to. I keep looking at his face. He seems a little at loss, then he inhales deeply and straightens his back. He needed some time to think there. Yet, there was just a fraction of a moment where I could see that he does not like to do this thing he needs to do form his mother.

"Mom deserves it."
"What makes you think that your mother deserves to have a company that isn't even hers to begin with? And what do you gain from acting like the villain in her stead?"
"She'll make me manager."
"Of what department?"
"I don't know, but mom says I'm better that Johnny."
"But you don't know Johnny at all"
"I don't care about him."
"Are you sure about that?"

I keep looking in his eyes now. I see he is getting really confused about that question. He does not seem the brightest person in the world, easily to influence as well, which is a shame because I do think that somewhere deep down he has a good heart. Yes, I know, I may sound naïve right now, but I can see it in his eyes. It is hard to explain.

"Do you want to get to know your brother?"
"I…"

See how I said brother instead of Johnny? I can see he is not correcting me, so that means he does sees Johnny as his brother, at least I hope so. He did not finish his reply because he is thinking about my question. Then, with a deep sigh, he looks away. I keep watching him, yes, I do think he is not as bad as he shows he is.

"Why are you doing these things for your mother?"
"Because only then she shows me love."
"You know, no mother shows her love that way, that's no love. What's your name?"
"Jamie."
"Well, it's nice to meet you Jamie, I'm Frances."
"Don't people call you Baby?"
"That's my nickname, and you may call me that as well."

I do not know why I am doing this, but somehow I want to help him, I feel this urge. I think he is lonely, and that is why he does everything for his mother.

"Listen, Jamie, I can see there's more to you than you try to show, and you really don't have to do these things for your mother. What about your father?"
"He died when I was little."
"I'm so sorry to hear that."
"Mom came back and took me from the streets, she gave me a place to live as long as I do things for her, why would that not be love?"

Oh boy, I guess she made him believe that this is how love works. It is clear Jamie did not had any education, nor any role model to look up to, this is why he comes across as being naïve. I feel really sorry for him, that he has a mother like that. What kind of mother does that?

Shit, I should have recorded this but maybe I can talk into him to choose our side instead. That would actually work greatly in our advantage. I know I sound terrible right now, but it might fix things, and both Johnny and Jamie will get to know each other as well.

"Do you actually want to do these things?"
"No, but I don't have a choice, do I? You seem a very nice person. I've got no one else, mom is the only one who seems to care about me."
"She doesn't really care about you if she's using you for her own good, do you understand what I'm saying? No mother should do that to her children, and especially not leaving them on the streets for years until she needs them."

I watch him as he turns his back to me, his shoulders start to shake. I think I have pressed the reality button there. I did not meant to make him cry, but I can see this is a sensitive subject for him. I step a little closer and lay my hand on his shoulder. He jumps a little from the touch, and turns his head to look at me. I can see his tears.

"Where are you staying?"
"In a motel nearby."
"What else do you do in your life?"
"I only do things for mom, no one wants me, I'm stupid."
"You sound just like your brother, and I'm pretty sure there's something you can do."

I see him getting curious, the same expression as Johnny. I smile, as I also can see that he does not want to do these things for his mother. He must have been pretty lonely for a long time that he do these things for his mother just for some attention. I think I can fix this. I hold my hand out to him as I give him a smile, he looks at my hand.

"Let me help you. I'm sure your brother would love to get to know you if you would choose your own life."
"I want to get to know him too, but how can you help?"
"First, I can offer you a job, I think I got something for you that would fit you perfectly. Second, I can make sure you get a better place to live, no expenses whatsoever, and third, I can help you with going to school, would you want that?"

I watch him thinking, and frowning. I take his hand as he did not made a move. He looks at our hands, and then up at my smiling face. I give him a reassuring nod, and I can see him starting to smile.

"You know at which cabin we're staying?"

He nods at my question. Of course he does, as he has been spying on us all this time we are here. I guess he has been keeping his mother informed about our every move. I wonder why he made a move just now, and not earlier? There were a lot of opportunities.

"Be there cabin around six."
"Why?"
"To talk about your future, and I'll talk to your brother as well, just do me one favor, don't tell your mother anything, okay? If you want a better life, it's better not to tell your mother anything about our talk here and the meeting later today."
"Okay."

I give him another smile and let his hand go. I see him starting to smile now. I nod and turn to walk away. When I am out of the bushes, I turn my head one more time and I see him still smiling. I wave a little.

That was a little weird, but hopefully he will come to our cabin and choose our side. It is also a little test, I know I might be wrong about this, but if he shows up, I know he wants to change his life. I just need to convince Johnny to agree with meeting him, I know he is not going to be happy about it. Though, I know that he wants to know his half-brother. I do have hope.

I smile as I walk up the stairs and knock on the door. Ron opens the door and looks at me. I smile as he let me in, he smiles and gives me a kiss on my cheek while closing the door behind me.

"Hey, Baby."

I look at Penny and went to her. I give her a smile as we hug shortly. Then I sit down and take her hands, looking at her face.

"You're okay?"
"I am, we've been waiting for you."
"I had a little obstacle on my way here, nothing important, let's get to business."

I look at my lawyer who smiles, we shake hands, and he opens the file when I sit down next to Penny. Penny takes my hand and I look at her with a smile. Ron sits down as well.

"Hey, Baby."
"Hey, Roger."

We shake hands, and look at Penny again. Ron sits himself down at the other side of Penny.

"I'm glad you've decided to re-open the case, miss Johnson."
"Baby insisted, and so did Johnny."
"Tell me, what was your reason to stop the process? And please tell me the absolute truth because only then I can help you."

We watch Penny who inhales deeply. I squeeze her hand a little. She looks at me and I give her a reassuring nod that everything will be all right. I see her inhaling deeply and looking back at Roger.

"Well, Robbie is dangerous, and I'm just really scared for what he'll do when he finds out I'm going to court. Then there's his father, he's powerful and I'm afraid he'll do something bad to me when his son gets in prison again, he already used his power to get his son out of prison and to remove the restraining order."

Wait, Penny did not told us about that. Why in the world did she not mention that there is no restraining order anymore? No wonder that Robbie is stalking her, he is allowed to come near her again.

"His father is the state Republic senator, right?"
"Yes, and I'm afraid that they both will haunt me until I'm dead."

I grab her into a hug. I can feel she really needs this support. She sniffs as I sooth her a little. I watch Roger writing things down, then I look at Ron and see him inhaling deeply while he is frowning. I guess he did not know that there is no restraining order anymore either.

"And Robbie is here at the resort as I understand?"
"Yes, he's working here as a waiter, god knows why, he doesn't need the job or the money."
"It's typical predator behaviour. Well, Baby called me a week ago to re-open the case, I made it my priority and I've got a date for the court hearing next week."
"Next week already?"

I can see Penny's astonishment. Roger nods at that with a little smile. I let her go, taking her hand again, she looks at me for a moment before looking back at Roger.

"And since he's here at the resort, it makes things easier, did he try to attack you?"
"Yes, the second day I was here, in the main room during the opening show. Johnny took him outside, and Billy brought me back here and stayed here until Ron arrived."
"I can see you've got a lot of people who care about you."
"I do, they're my family, they are all I have."

I can see he is being a little touched about this. He looks at the file.

"I'm going to need Johnny and Billy to witness. I've got the pictures from when you were in the hospital, that works really great in your favor. I think you've got a very strong case, miss Johnson, but the case would be stronger if everyone who knows about this would be at the court hearing as well."
"Will Robbie be arrested?"
"Yes, as soon as the jury and judge have made their verdict, the judge will write out an arrest warrant. The cops will come here to arrest him then, probably the same day."

Ron inhales deeply again, seeing Penny getting hurt makes him angry. She is like a daughter to him.

"What if he leaves the resort?"
"As long as he doesn't discover that there will be a court hearing, he probably will stay here, otherwise the cops will find him. If he flees, then your case against him will be a lot stronger as it already is."
"On what day and time will the court hearing be?"
"On Tuesday at ten in the morning."

He hands out a paper to Penny who takes it. She reads the details and nods as she looks back up at him.

"Thank you."
"Thank Baby, she's the one with the power here."

I roll my eyes, making them to chuckle about it. Penny looks at me and hugs me again. I smile as I hug her back. I am happy that she will finally get rid of her stalker. I let her go and see, for the first time we are here, a true genuine and relieved smile, she looks at Roger as she thinks.

"I really don't have to pay you?"
"No, don't worry about that, that's all handled."

He looks at me and gives me a nod. I smile and let Penny go. I stand up and shake hands with Roger. He stands up as well as he smiles at me. He closes the file and put it back in his suitcase.

"I'll see you at the court hearing."
"Thanks for coming all the way here."
"It's alright, how's your father doing?"
"He's good, he's here too if you like to pay him a visit."
"I think I will, I've got the rest of the day off anyway."

I smile at him when Ron stands up. We look at him and I smile.

"Are you interested in doing another case?"
"What's the case about?"
"It's about my ex-wife, she's threatening me, she wants to get my company and she threatened me if I don't give her the papers, she will do harm to Baby."

Roger looks from Ron to me, and I see his astonishment. I only nod at him and he sighs. He sits down again, taking some papers out and a pen. Ron sits down again as well.

"How long is she doing this?"
"She's threatening me for about seventeen years now, but her wanting my company started when we officially got divorced, that was about two years ago. She wants me to hand over the papers wherein I write that she'll be getting the company, she wants me to give her those papers somewhere in the coming weeks. I don't know what to do."
"You've got any evidence? Or witnesses?"
"Baby's grandfather has taken pictures of the bruise I got from her other son, whose not my son, he punched me on my face after she threatened me."

Roger looks at me as I sit back down next to Penny, she takes my hand. I look at her and give her a little smile. The thought of something bad happening to me is still terrifying, even if I know I am safe with my family around, and I think that Jamie would not do real arm to me, if he comes to our cabin that is.

"You're Ron Castle, right? From the dance imperium in Manhattan?"
"That's me."
"I heard about your divorce case, that was something big, and I heard you fled to Leo and Lizzy."
"Yes, and I'm still very grateful for their help, and last week as well, when they took me in again."
"If you have time Tuesday after the court hearing, I'd like to sit down and talk, open up the case and see what we can do."
"That would be great."

Roger writes something down and puts everything back in his suitcase. He stands up and closes his suitcase. Ron stands up as well and extends his hand.

"Thank you."
"Thank me later."

Ron nods. I smile and let him out, he smiles at me, giving a nod at Penny and Ron before he walks away to visit my parents.