NOVEMBER 4TH

The following weeks passed by quickly to Jesse. Despite his reservations deep down about how well Mr. Banks' cover for Judy would work, her mother did not appear at the institute at all during the rest of October, so it appeared to be working. Judy visibly had the time of her life on each voyage, often petting and conversing with the various passing whales they did come in contact with. Jake, also, got slowly better with the ocean as the weeks progressed. While he still mostly kept his life preserver on at all times, he became more comfortable with getting closer to the railing and the whales, and soon became adept at tagging them. As for Jesse himself, he felt more at home aboard the boat than he had anywhere else in his life, glad to be able to be with Rae and Randolph and his younger friends regularly. And the various whales that they did come into contact with-Mr. Walker hadn't been exaggerating when he'd spoken to the congressional delegation about these waters being rich with them, he knew now-seemed in a way like friends now too.

There was, however, one very critical missing piece to the puzzle-Willy. Week after week, whenever he was out, he scanned the waters and listened to the recordings of underwater whale calls, hoping for any sign of his friend. No orcas, however, other than a few stray transient ones, appeared in the area for the rest of the month. Although Jesse did his best to hide it, deep down, he was starting to get despondent. Perhaps Willy and his family had indeed moved on permanently-and given what had happened, he couldn't blame them if they had. If so, where were they now, he wondered? Alaska, perhaps? Siberia? Or had they perhaps fled all the way down to the Antarctic if so? Part of him was starting to accept he'd have to move on permanently without Willy, without anything more than that final goodbye in the harbor, with only the hope that he was all right.

It was a cold Saturday after Halloween when he woke up from a deep sleep, where he'd been dreaming of the days with his friend at the park that now seemed so far away. He yawned and stretched, staring out the window, which was now painted with frost. Having spent many a cold winter's night in alleys or other exposed locations, Jesse was particularly glad that he would have a roof over his head this coming winter. The leaves had by now turned numerous colors on the hills around the ocean-he had never really noticed how beautiful they were until now...

"Jesse, breakfast is getting cold," came Annie's call from downstairs. He quickly dressed and bustled downstairs. "Morning," his foster mother greeted him warmly, "Have a good night's sleep?"

"Yeah," Jesse nodded, digging into the French toast set up at his seat, "How about you guys?"

"You could say that," she sat down next to him, "Want to do anything today?"

"Well, I..." Jesse started to say, but was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. "I got it," Glen rose up from his seat in the living room, where he'd been reading the morning paper, and walked over to the door. "Jake? Everything OK?" he said, concern in his voice. Frowning, Jesse got up and walked quickly into the living room to see a saddened Jake, clutching his bookbag and several additional bags, standing in the doorway.

"Uh, morning, Mr. Greenwood. I'm, uh, wondering if, it's all right...could I stay here for a while?" Jake asked in a halting voice.

"Come in, Jake," a worried Glen waved him in, "Have a fight with your dad?"

"A big one," Jake shook his head, "It got really nasty this time. I got home from the institute yesterday, and the house was a total mess, and he was passed out drunk on the sofa. I guess that was the breaking point for me; I've just had enough cleaning up after him after he gets drunk. So I went up to bed and left it lay as it was. This morning, he shoved my door open, still hung over, and yelled at me for not picking the place up. It...it escalated pretty quickly from there, until I told him flat out I didn't respect him anymore and I didn't want to live there anymore. So I grabbed my things and came over here. This feels more like home to me now."

"Oh Jake, I'm so sorry," a sympathetic Annie entered the living room and bent down to his level, "If there's anything we can do for you..."

"I just want to live here now," Jake told her, "You and Mr. Greenwood feel more like my real parents now."

"Well, you can certainly sleep over tonight, Jake, then we'll figure out how to go forward from here," Glen told him, "Let me have your things," he extended a hand for Jake's bags, "Did you have breakfast yet?"

"No. I wanted to get out of there quickly."

"Well I was making Jesse breakfast; I can make you some too," Annie gestured him into the kitchen and the seat next to Jesse's.

"Thanks, Mrs. Greenwood," Jake thanked her gratefully. "Don't ever put them down. Your foster parents are wonderful people," he told Jesse softly.

"I've come to see," Jesse nodded, "I'm sorry you're going through what you are..."

"I've given him every chance I can, but he just won't stop drinking," Jake muttered in disgust, "I want to live here now, where they still care." He slumped his head down on the table. "Why, Mom!? Why couldn't you have pulled through!?" he lamented to his mother, wherever her spirit was now, "He wouldn't have collapsed like this if you were still here!"

He started sniffing. Jesse put an arm around his friend. "You can stay here as long as you want, Jake," he assured him, "You have my word on it."

His gaze was now attracted to the kitchen TV, where a massive fire was seen raging over the graphic INFERNO IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES. "Whoa," he exclaimed, "That's a real bad fire."

"Hoo yeah," Jake exclaimed at the footage, "How do you suppose that got started?"

The two of them got an answer almost immediately, as a photo of a young man that was very familiar to Jesse now popped up on the screen. "...police have arrested this suspect, fourteen year old Perry Bratt, and charged him with arson, alleging that he set the blaze as revenge for being kicked out of the arcade for attempting to steal coins from the machines," the national news anchor related, "The fire then quickly spread out of control and consumed much of the block. While no fatalities have been reported, the district attorney's office has said it intends to try Bratt as an adult given the millions of dollars of damage the blaze caused, and if convicted, he could face decades in prison..."

"Oh my god...Perry started it...!?" Jesse stared numbly at the screen.

"That's Perry?" an amazed Jake pointed at the other boy's image right before it disappeared from the screen.

"Yeah," Jesse nodded weakly, "He said he was heading south when last I saw him, and I guess he did...and now I'm really glad I didn't go with him. If I did...I'd probably have gone along with him on this, and I'd be facing life in jail too..." He shook his head, "Dwight was right; I was making a huge mistake hanging out with him all those years..."

The doorbell now rang again. Frowning, Jesse rose up and answered it before the Greenwoods could. "Judy," he greeted his other new friend, standing on the porch with a bike next to her, "You're able to come over..."

"My mom's out of town for the weekend, so I'm home free," Judy said with a grin, "Can I come in?"

"Sure, come on," Jesse waved her in. "Annie, Glen, this is Judy; she's been going out with Jake and I to study the whales," he introduced her to the approaching Greenwoods.

"So you're Judy? Wonderful to meet you. Jesse's told us all about you," a beaming Annie shook Judy's hand, "I'm glad they were able to make an arrangement so you could still go out."

"So am I, Mrs. Greenwood. It's been the best month of my life," Judy returned the smile. "And you guys'll like this," she turned to the boys, "Northwest Adventure Park's going on the market. Dial defaulted on a loan he used for Willy, and the bank seized it yesterday; he was yelling at my mom on the phone over it before she left. So hopefully somebody who cares more for whales can snap it up now and make it a much better park."

"Like Mr. Walker," Jesse nodded with a grin.

"It's actually on the TV now," Jake pointed into the kitchen, where the front gate of Northwest Adventure Park could be seen. The three of them bustled in for a closer look. "...unable to repay a three hundred thousand dollar loan," the anchor was relating, "Northwest Adventure Park had already been closed since mid-August when the staff walked out in protest of Dial's alleged attempt to kill the orca whale being displayed at the park to get its insurance money. Dial, who escaped conviction at trial via a hung jury, but still faces mountains of legal trouble for his alleged actions, was left with no options but to relinquish control of the park to the bank. Buyers have already started lining up to purchase the property, with the leading candidate reported to be shipping and trucking magnate Keith Walker, whom sources say would bundle the park into an overall development plan on the waterfront..."

"Score!" Jesse declared in delight, high fiving his new friends, "That'll teach him good. And the state attorney told me they're go to try and retry him, so he's still in hot water. We're coming out ahead now."

"Um, mostly," Jake blanched. Jesse turned to the set and saw the exact reason for his friend's glumness: "...other news, the citywide garbage strike at Perkins Sanitation continues, with garbage now piling up high on street corners everywhere. Union president Hal Carroll has told reporters that efforts to arbitrate with company president George Perkins have proved fruitless so far, and that he and his union members will stay out on strike until Perkins will meet their demands. Perkins could not be reached for comment at this time, and sources indicate he has vowed to hold a hard line against the union..."

"So I guess we're in for a long haul with the trash, then?" Jesse asked Jake with a shake of his head; it had been piling up outside the Greenwoods' house for weeks with no garbagemen collecting it.

"Probably," Jake shook his own head miserably, "I'm not the only one he's angry with these days; he used to be OK with the union before, but after Mom died, he got angry with them too. This is probably going to go on for months now, unless they get him to sell the company."

He sighed. "But enough about him. Since we're all here, you guys want to do anything today?" he asked Jesse and Judy.

"I didn't have anything in mind, so we could just hang out here together," Judy proposed, "I've really never done that, to be honest."

"No?" Jesse inquired.

"No," she informed him, "Mom's micromanaging of my life extends to my social life. She tries to control who I hang out with and how long. Truth is, you guys feel like the first real friends I've ever had. I've felt more comfortable around you two than I have with all the other kids I've known."

"To be honest, Judy, I've felt that way with you and Jake too," Jesse admitted, "All the kids I hung out with on the street, looking back now, it was more convenience than any emotional connection to them. And they were the same with me; hardly any of them would have done anything for me. Even Perry. I thought he did care for me for the longest time, but now I can see I was just someone he could manipulate. After all, he abandoned me at the park to save himself when the cops showed up," he scowled at the full realization of how much Perry had abandoned him on that night when he'd needed him the most-although this was balanced deep down with the knowledge that Perry had now gotten his just desserts for his sins. "You two and I, I think there is really something between us," he told his new friends, putting his arms around them, "I think we share something deep down, really, just like Willy and I did. I really like having the both of you around. So I guess it would be fine if we just hung out together as friends this weekend..."

The Greenwoods' doorbell rang again. "Is this the Ritz Carlton now?" a puzzled Glen stepped back into the living room. He frowned in confusion when he opened the door. "Uh, can I help you?"

"I take it you're Mr. Glen Greenwood?" came a familiar jovial voice, "My name's Jack Banks, I've Jesse's biology teacher, and I promised him I'd get him some books on whales."

"It's all right, Glen; he's been working on...whoa!" Jesse exclaimed upon reaching the door. For a U-Haul truck packed with what had to be hundreds of books was parked in the street, to the gawks of the neighbors. "Those are all whale books?" he asked Mr. Banks.

"Every one I could find," his teacher beamed at him. "Is there anywhere in particular I can put these?" he asked Glen.

"Um...Annie, you want to come here a minute?" Glen called to his wife. Annie appeared moments later and went wide eyed at the sight of the book trucks as well. "Uh...you got all this for Jesse?" she asked Mr. Banks with a stunned expression.

"He requested, I searched around, and this is what I came up with," the teacher nodded, "Could I come in?"

"Uh, yeah," Glen recollected himself and gestured Mr. Banks in, "We'll, uh, we might be able to, uh, find maybe a, uh, safe deposit box for some of these, since I don't think we quite have the room for all of them. Thanks for caring though; we...hold on a minute," his cell phone had started ringing. "Glen Greenwood. Yeah, we do annual inspections. There is a slot in the garage's main door for keys if you're not able to make it during regular business hours. Do you have a time you'd want an appointment...?"

He walked towards the back porch to continue his conversation with his customer. "So, um, you're Mr. Banks?" Annie greeted him, "Jesse's spoken highly of you...seems to me you're the only teacher he has a positive opinion of at the moment..."

"Well he may not have told you as much, but Jesse's done me a lot of good too. He and his friends there have stood by me in a couple of hard times, and I'm really grateful for that," Mr. Banks beamed at Jesse and his friends. "Plus, I can relate, since I have an affinity for whales myself. In fact, I've made the final arrangements at the institute to take his class on a field trip there on Monday."

"Well, that's good," Annie nodded, "Um, about the books," she glanced back at the truck outside, "Do you think you could have Jesse look through them and see which ones he'd want most, and then maybe pack the rest away in a safe place until he's done? I appreciate you trying to help him learn more about whales, but I just don't think we have..."

The Greenwoods' house phone now rang. "Oh, excuse me," she told Mr. Banks, bustling to the kitchen to answer it. "So, you three having fun out there with the whales the last few weeks?" Mr. Banks asked his students.

"Sure are," Jesse told him, "We've gotten up close and personal with a couple dozen of them. You're going to love it when you come out."

"I bet I will," Mr. Banks rubbed his hands in excitement, "This will be..."

He abruptly stopped. For Annie's voice had gotten very loud and excited on the phone in the kitchen: "Really!? And you're absolutely sure it was him!? That's wonderful! I'll tell him as soon as I can." Jesse's head shot around, his heart now pounding. Could it perhaps be...for real this time...?

"Right, thanks so much for calling," Annie hung up. She dashed into the living room. "Jesse, that was Rae. He's back!"

"He is!?" Jesse's face lit up like a Christmas tree, "Where is he!?"

"They spotted his pod passing by Preston Cape on one of the underwater cameras; they saw the collapsed dorsal fin and knew it was him."

"Then what are we waiting for!? Let's go!" Jesse declared excitedly, delighted beyond words that his wish had been granted. "Glen, Glen, we're got to go!" he rushed to his foster father on the back porch and tugged his shirt hard, "Willy's back!"

"Huh? He is?" Glen inquired, surprised.

"They saw him off Preston Cape; hurry, let's go before he moves on!" Jesse begged him, running for the door, and waving for Jake and Judy to follow him. Glen turned to Annie, who nodded in affirmation with a big smile of her own. Glen returned the nod and grin. "Tell you what, something important's come up here," he told his customer, "I'll give you my top assistant's number, and he can make the arrangements for the inspection. Yeah. It's 555-3991; he'll set you up. Right, glad to do business with you."

He hung up. "Well, I guess that fills out the rest of the afternoon," he shrugged to his wife, rushing for the kitchen and grabbing the keys to his truck.

"Deep down I had a feeling Willy would be back this way again," Annie said with a deep grin, "I knew he wouldn't let Jesse down..."

"Glen, Annie, come on, quick!" Jesse goaded them impatiently from the driveway.

"We're coming, we're coming!" Glen told him firmly.

"I'm coming too," Mr. Banks followed them out, beaming himself, "Both for professional and personal reasons. Uh, tell you guys what: just dump the lot on the lawn here," he instructed the U-Haul's crew, all standing by the back of their vehicle, "They'll go through it all and pick out what they want."


"And that's official confirmation that it was him?" Dial asked on his phone inside his mansion's living room.

"Heard it right over the tap, Dial; they kept exclaiming, 'It's Willy!' over and over, so it was clear it was him," his inside agent at the institute said.

"Excellent," a dark grin crossed Dial's face, "All right, get in touch with your boss; he'll get everything with his operation on standby. Then see if you can get that whale's exact position. They'll take care of the rest."

"Just so we do get paid for this, Dial," the undercover man said firmly, "I'm taking a big risk going undercover like this, and with you defaulting this week, how do I know it'll be worth it for me and my colleagues!?"

"Don't worry, I have enough money left on me for this. Plus, I called around to a few other potential buyers, and they'd be interested as well, which means they'll be giving me and you money too. So get as many as you'd like; we'll all make a fortune from this, not just me."

"You'd better come through, Dial," the agent warned him before hanging up. Dial leaned back on his sofa with a confident smile. "No problems at all," he mumbled to himself, his grin deepening, "It just took me a bit longer to get the million off that whale, that's all. And there's nothing the kid'll be able to do this time."