Author's Notes: I've been trying to take it easy on the writing this month so I don't get burned out. That being said, to make up for the wait this chapter is a long one. I probably should have broken this one up, but if I did then the chapter would have no Marny, and I didn't want that. Anyway, thank you to everyone who has been supportive of this story, and I hope you enjoy the new chapter :)

Chapter 16

Fake ID

Ace returned to the clubhouse around midnight. This was starting to turn into a habit for him these days. He saw that there was a trash can fire outside, which told him the boys were still awake. He wasn't surprised. They had no schedule, so staying awake whenever they wanted was common for them.

When he walked up to the group they didn't even notice him at first. They were too busy telling each other scary stories and drinking some sodas they stole from a delivery truck.

"And nothing was found but a puddle of the goat's blood," Arturo stage-whispered, "The lady tip-toed around the barn, trying to find the monster. Suddenly, she heard a tap, tap, tap… When she turned around, she saw-"

"AAAAAHHH!" Ace screamed.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!" The boys screamed back, frightened by Ace's trick.

"Dios mio, Ace!" Arturo snapped, "What was that for?"

"Not watchin' yer backs while I was gone," Ace replied smugly, "Good news, gentlemen. Our kid problem is solved."

"Yeah?" Snake asked, "How'sss that?"

"The twerp is stayin' with a nice family in the good part of Townsville," Ace informed them, "She's outta the hospital, away from her gramps, and outta our hair. We don't have to deal with her ever again."

"Fluffy's gone?" Billy asked sadly.

"No, no! This ain't a bad thing!" Ace quickly backtracked, "She's gonna have people lookin' out for her. Now we can go back to doin' what we do best: crime. No more of this Good Samaritan crap."

"But…Billy wanna see Fluffy!" Billy protested, "She's gotta come back!"

"No Billy, that's a stupid idea," Ace argued, "She ain't one of us. We ain't draggin' her back into the filth with us."

"Then we should go see Fluffy," Billy suggested.

"No Billy, that's bad too," Ace tried to explain, "We're crooks, and she's not. Besides, she probably won't be in that house for long. One call to CPS and she's halfway to Farmville or somethin'."

"But then we'll never find her!" Billy panicked, "We gotta go see Fluffy before she goes away!"

"No!" Ace shouted, "No Fluffy! We got other things to do!"

The other three boys cringed and scooted away from the fire. They knew this could get ugly if Ace didn't calm down. While Ace could strongarm every other member of the gang, Billy was too strong to bully and too dense to reason with. The best way to deal with Billy when he was heated was to talk slowly to him and try to get him to think of something else or understand the point. Ace, however, didn't look like he was in the mood to play nice.

"But Fluffy is Billy's friend!" Billy yelled, "We can't just leave her! What if it's a bad family or she gets hurt?"

"She was hurt, you moron!" Ace snapped, "Why do you think she was in expensive care or whatever they call it? We can't help her. We can't protect her. It ain't our job! Just drop it so we can move on with our lives!"

"No!"

Billy then swiped his arm at Ace, hitting the other teen hard enough to knock him to the ground. Ace sat up, wiped the spittle from his mouth, and glared at Billy from behind his shades. Billy looked apologetic, but Ace wasn't ready to stop fighting just yet.

"Look what you done!" Ace griped, "Now I got mud and crud all over my pants! You can't just listen to me for once in yer fat stupid life!"

"Well you never listen to Billy!" Billy pointed out, "Fluffy is Billy's friend! You don't even care! Billy protects the gang. Why can't Billy protect Fluffy?"

"It ain't our job," Ace repeated.

"It is Billy's job!" Billy screamed, "Billy is responsible for Fluffy! She's gonna get hurt and die! She's gonna go someplace she shouldn't and get hurt! She's gonna go back to ABC Land!"

"To what now?" Ace asked, confused, "What the heck is ABC Land?"

"Pfft pfft pfft," Grubber interjected.

"Huh?" Ace grunted, "What're you talkin' about? Newspapers ain't for readin'. They're for linin' our clothes when it gets cold. What happened?"

"Pffft pbrt," Grubber said, "Pfft pfft brrpt."

"Murder?" Ace asked curiously, "What? Was it a bunch of kids or somethin'?"

Grubber then shook his head no, tongue lolling back and forth.

"Then what?" Ace asked impatiently.

"ABC Land is a bad place," Billy told him, "Kids disappear, and Fluffy found it. If she goes back, she'll die."

"Grubber just said the murder wasn't about kids," Ace noted, "So what was the murder part about?"

"Pfft pfft pfft pft," Grubber explained.

"The DA?" Ace snorted, "You said a person got murdered, not a lawyer."

"What doesss any of that have to do with the kid?" Snake asked.

"Fluffy could get hurt," Billy lamented, "Billy has to see her. She needs me."

"Ace," Arturo spoke up, "What could one time hurt? Let's just go over there tomorrow."

"Aw, but we'll have to take the bus!" Ace complained, "It's all the way across town. Besides, those chicks are real pieces of work."

"Please, boss?" Billy begged, pouting his lower lip out.

"Oh, for cryin' out- Fine!" Ace caved, "Just don't blame me when this turns into a whole thing. Trust me, this is gonna suck."

With those words Ace went back into the shack, and his friends put out the trash can fire before joining him. Snake looked over at Billy as he walked past him, and it was clear Billy was still agitated from the debate. Snake didn't know anything about ABC Land or whatever murder Grubber said was in the newspaper two years prior. He did know one thing though. Billy was definitely scared of something.

The next day was Saturday, and as the gang took the bus to the suburbs they saw other people their age and younger roaming about Townsville. They still had the backseat to themselves, as nobody wanted to cross them, but they were still close enough to see people talking and having fun on their phones.

There was always a sense of envy when the gang saw people with easier lives than their own. Snake kept staring at a boy who had air pods on, and wondered what kind of music he was listening to. Grubber mimed out the conversation between two girls, which made the other guys laugh. Arturo combed his hair, trying to look like he was cooler than everyone else in the room. No matter what they did though, they knew. They weren't like these kids.

It took almost an hour with the various stops to make it to the area where B.W.'s family lived. Billy was anxiously asking if they were there yet every few minutes, and Ace was irritated and trying desperately to not grind his own teeth to powder. He knew this was a bad idea.

Once they found the house, Snake walked to the driveway instead of the porch. He saw the small basketball hoop, and ran his hand across the rim.

"Come on, we ain't got all day!" Ace barked.

"Coming," Snake replied dutifully, but took one last longing look at the basketball hoop.

Ace knocked loudly to make sure he got someone's attention, but was thrown for a loop when the person who answered was someone he didn't recognize. It was a middle-aged woman, brown hair loosely tied up and bags under her tired eyes. When she opened the door, her gaze was immediately scrutinizing and skeptical.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked somewhat coldly.

"Uh, yeah," Ace drew out the words to try to come up with a lie, "We, uh…we left our kid sister here yesterday. B.W. was supposed to be babysittin' her, and we just wanted to come by and…see how dat was goin'."

"Your sister?" The woman asked, confused, "B.W. didn't mention anything about that. She didn't really feel like talking last night though. I'm glad you hired her. She was very upset about losing her cleaning job, though honestly I worried the hours would be too much for her anyway. She's always so hard on herself when anything goes wrong. Poor thing."

"I'm guessin' your her ma?" Ace speculated.

"Yes. Barbara McArthur. Nice to meet you young men. What are your names?"

"I'm Ace, and these are my…brothers," Ace lied, "Dis is Sanford-"

"Hey!" Snake shouted in offense.

"Arturo, Grubber, and Billy."

"Well please come in," Barbara replied, her tone softening, "I'm afraid we don't have many snacks, but if you like potato chips I think there's a bag in the pantry."

"Jackpot," Ace muttered quietly to his friends, but then out loud said, "Thank you, ma'am. I hope our sis wasn't too much trouble."

"I didn't even notice her," Barbara shrugged, still confused, "For that matter I don't know where B.W. is right now either. Keeping track of four kids can be rather difficult. Especially teenagers. They always have things going on outside the home. Does anyone want lemonade?"

"Si, señora. Gracias," Arturo replied politely.

"Oh, are you boys from Mexico?" Barbara asked curiously.

"Papi was, but I've lived in Townsville my whole life," Arturo replied.

"I see," Barbara smiled, "I'm guessing you boys are a found family. That's nice. Most of my children are adopted too."

"You could tell that?" Ace asked.

"Well…call it an educated guess," Barbara replied knowingly, "Anyone else want lemonade?"

Everyone said yes, so Barbara went about handing out lemonade and chips. The boys ate greedily, surprising the woman with how quickly they gobbled everything down.

"Oh my…" Was all she could say when they were done.

"So, where's our sister?" Ace asked casually.

Before Barbara could answer, Brittney Jay came running down the stairs and straight to the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks however when she saw the motley crew of green gangsters sitting around the kitchen table.

"What are you doing here?" Brittney Jay asked accusingly as she pointed at Ace, "I thought you said you wouldn't come back!"

"Brittney Jay, what's going on?" Barbara asked, "Is something wrong?"

"We had a beef at school," Ace easily lied, "Look Brittney, I ain't here to cause trouble. We just came to check on our sister."

"Your sister?" Brittney Jay repeated skeptically, "You mean Marny? B.W. left with her almost an hour ago. I don't know where they went, and I don't know when they'll be back. You might as well leave."

"Brittney Jay, don't be rude to our guests," Barbara chastised her, "Your sister likely doesn't want to lose another job. She's had enough problems, between getting yelled at by her employer and being mugged on the same night. She needs our support right now."

"But Mom!" Brittney Jay whined, "These guys are trouble!"

"Look, if it's that big a deal, we can wait out in the garage," Ace suggested, "Dat way we don't make your precious little angel here uncomfortable."

"That won't be necessary," Barbara insisted, "You can wait in the living room and watch TV. Brittney Jay, we need some milk from the store. I'll let you take the car, but be careful with it this time, okay?"

"Really? I'm supposed to leave right now?" Brittney Jay asked incredulously, "You know what? Fine. I don't feel like ending up bruised and scabby like B.W. anyway."

With all the dignity and sass she could muster, Brittney Jay took the key from her mom's hand and huffed out the door. Ace and his friends, never the type to turn down free TV time, made their way to the living room.

For the next few minutes nothing of interest happened. The boys found some cartoons to watch, and Barbara stayed in the kitchen busying herself with dinner for the family. Soon another set of footsteps came downstairs, and Bethany walked in on the Gangreen Gang sitting on the couch watching Tom and Jerry.

"Not again…" Bethany sighed when she saw them, "Ace, what are you and your friends doing-"

"Shh!" Ace harshly silenced her, "Dis is the good part."

Bethany scoffed and crossed her arms, annoyed by these hoodlums showing up out of nowhere. She sat down on a chair and decided to wait them out, wondering what changed to make them come back.

While the boys watched TV, Bethany observed them. Each one seemed to have some sort of deformity. In fact, Ace was probably the only one who could come close to looking normal. One boy had a hunchback and eyes bulging out of his head. Just looking at him made her queasy, but he didn't seem to be in pain. Another one had dwarfism and a pronounced underbite, while yet another looked like a living reptile. Bethany could see why they would cut such an imposing figure for the citizens of Townsville, even if they didn't have the technology of other villains.

The last member of the gang was the easiest to spot, a large fat boy with red hair and clothes that were at least three sizes too small. At first Bethany was intimidated by his size, but the longer she looked at him the more she realized he looked familiar. This guy looked just like Billy Williams if he had lived to this age. He was the right age, the right color, and most likely even the right size.

The cartoon finally ended, and Bethany turned off the TV before the gang could become interested in something else.

"Hey!" Ace griped, "What'd you do that for?"

"I'm sorry, but I need to speak to you," Bethany said seriously, "More specifically, I need to speak to him."

"Billy? Whaddya want with Billy?" Ace asked quizzically.

"So your name is Billy?" Bethany inquired.

"Yeah," Billy replied dully.

"Billy Williams?" Bethany pressed.

"Yeah."

"Do you know who I am?" Bethany asked, this time more gently.

"Dah…no," Billy replied.

"I'm not surprised," Bethany smiled wanly, "It's been a long time. My name is, or rather was, Bethany Grimwald. We used to know each other at ABC Land."

"ABC Land!?" Billy exclaimed in fright, "You take Billy back to ABC Land? Billy no wanna go!"

"Shh!" Bethany hissed, "Mom's in the next room. Be quiet!"

"ABC Land?" Ace repeated, "Dat's the place with the murder, right?"

"I don't think so," Bethany answered, "ABC Land was a group home that was shut down about 5 years ago. Billy and I both lived there for a while. He's B.W.'s twin brother."

"Say what?" Ace asked, surprised, "Billy never told us about havin' a twin sister."

"That's not her name," Billy protested, "Billy's sister's name is Brittney."

"I know," Bethany said placatingly, "B.W. stands for Brittney Williams. We had to do that because Brittney Jay lives here too. They settled who kept the full name by playing Rock Paper Scissors. Brittney Jay won, obviously."

"So…Brittney is alive?" Billy asked hopefully.

"Yes Billy, she's alive," Bethany confirmed, "She's not home right now though. She took Marny somewhere, but they should be back by tonight. Billy…I…I can't believe you found your way here, after all this time. You have no idea how long we've been looking for you."

"You were looking for him?" Arturo asked, "Why?"

At this Bethany's face fell, and she sat back down in the chair to compose herself.

"Mom and Dad were going to adopt Billy," Bethany finally told them, "Dad…he fought for so long to get ABC Land shut down. Miguel Mendez, the guy who ran the operation, committed so many acts of fraud and assault. They even had him on human trafficking charges. Dad was the key witness in the trial, but he never made it there. I know Mr. Mendez had something to do with his murder, but the state hasn't been able to prove it yet. They were still able to put Mendez away without Dad's testimony, but…the cost was pretty high."

"Oh, so that's the murder Grubber wears talkin' about!" Ace exclaimed, "Makes sense. Even normies know that snitches get stitches."

Bethany glared angrily at Ace, but didn't yell at him like she wanted to. She didn't want to scare Billy, and she remembered that he was always a sensitive child. She only hoped the gang life hadn't sapped that part of him away.

"Sssoo…where did B.W. go?" Snake ventured to ask.

"I don't know," Bethany told them, "Please just…just go back to watching TV. I'm sure she'll be home soon. Mom is going to want to know about this. Please, let me tell her about Billy. I don't know what lie you spun to her, but this is important. Our family has been waiting 8 years for closure, and she'll be thrilled to learn Billy is alive. Please?"

"Whatever," Ace snorted, "As long as yous don't go to the cops, I don't care what you do."

"Deal," Bethany quickly said, "I'll go find you something else to eat."

With that Bethany left them to their own devices, and everyone turned toward Billy.

"So, you had a family dis whole time?" Ace asked him.

"Uh…I dunno," Billy shrugged, "Billy might have space parents."

"Somehow that seems more believable than this," Arturo remarked, "How come you never told us you have a sister?"

"We don't talk about our business," Billy replied, "Boss said. We don't talk about each other, so we don't have to tell the cops."

Ace slapped his forehead and groaned in frustration.

"Dat's for criminal activity, you dunce!" Ace shouted, "You coulda told us you was a runaway. Most of us are. We understand."

"You do?" Billy asked, touched, "Well…Billy ran away. ABC Land made Billy's sister disappear, and Billy was scared."

"Disssapear? Sssounds like she got adopted," Snake reasoned, "Sssounds like all you had to do wasss wait, and you would have been adopted too."

"Brittney said adopted is when you get a pretend family," Billy recalled, "Billy was supposed to have a pretend family?"

"Sounds like it," Ace shrugged, "Shame you didn't get in on it when you had the chance. This place looks pretty sweet."

Just then, Bethany led her mom into the living room. From the cautious looks on their faces, it was clear she told her mother everything.

"Billy?" Barbara asked nervously.

"Uh, hi," Billy waved.

Barbara smiled then, and Billy smiled too, though Billy was oblivious to the significance this meeting held for the older woman. Barbara walked up to Billy and took his hand in both of hers, looking up at him as if she were reuniting with her natural son.

"Billy, I'm so glad you're safe," Barbara said lovingly, "B.W. will be so happy to see you. I'm glad you found a family to call your own."

Barbara then hugged Billy, who hugged her back without question. For her, it was a moment of relief, and for him it was a moment of affection he wasn't willing to question.

"Don't worry," Bethany whispered to Ace, "I didn't tell her about the gang stuff."

Ace, in turn, smirked and winked at Bethany. He didn't want to let his guard down, and all this sincerity was making him a little sick. Still, deep in his heart, even Ace had to admit this moment was special for Billy. What it would mean for their futures though was yet to be seen.

Townsville medium security prison. A place for mediocre crooks and criminals to correct their mildly capricious character. This prison doesn't have the worst of the worst, but lukewarm crime is bad enough to keep most law-abiding citizens away nonetheless.

B.W. walked hand in hand with little Marny Milford as they entered the facility. Both of them were nervous about what they were doing, though for very different reasons. B.W. was nervous because she had a plan, and Marny was nervous because she didn't.

They arrived at a security checkpoint, where both girls were scanned and Brittney had to empty out the contents of her purse. They were here to visit an inmate, and both were terrified about all the ways this meeting could go wrong. Not to mention the cops looked rather dour in this place.

Once the security check was complete they were led to an area with tables and chairs. There weren't many other people here, and the slight echo of low conversations gave this place an eerie feeling, like the droning of last rites or the low hum of a nefarious machine.

Marny looked up at B.W. and squeezed her hand.

"Don't worry," B.W. whispered, "We're going to be fine."

The prisoner that was led to their table was a large man with a brown handlebar mustache, tattoos along his arms, and big flat teeth. Marny didn't know who this was but B.W. did.

"Hey, I remember you," The man growled, "You're one of McArthur's brats. Yeah, the retarded one with the giant eye. What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Mr. Mendez," B.W. replied guardedly, "I came here because I need something done, and I remember you'll do things for money."

"If it's a hit, I don't have the proper connections these days," Mendez informed her.

"No, though I probably should have thought of that," B.W. pondered, "But no. I'm here because we need a fake ID. I have a kid that needs to disappear, and you made a lot of kids disappear back in the day."

"Identification was never my department," Mendez told her, "You want Mrs. Woodrow. She knew how to get the 'proper paperwork' for parents willing to pay. I can give you her contact info, but I want something in return."

B.W. just sat there and waited for him to continue.

"Cigarettes are the currency of this place," Mendez explained, "I want enough money in my account to purchase 5 cartons of cigarettes from the prison commissary."

"Uh…I have $5," B.W. winced.

"Really?" Mendez sighed, "That's not even enough for one carton. Did you really expect me to work for five bucks?"

"I don't wanna be here, Mr. Mendez. I have to be here. Mr. Mendez…I don't like you. You killed my Daddy. I know you did. I can't prove it, but I know. This is important though. A little girl is gonna die if we can't get her away from her grandpa. I can pay you back over time, but I need that info now. Please?"

"You think I'm stupid?" Mendez scoffed, "You won't come back. If I tell you what I know you'll take off with it and I'll be left high and dry."

"Yeah, but you'll have five dollars you didn't have before," B.W. pointed out, "So it's still not nothing."

"You're wasting my time," Mendez said curtly.

"Good," B.W. retorted, "I'll waste a few minutes, and this prison will waste another 15 years. You deserve every bit of it. I got lucky, but I know what you did to so many others. You don't deserve to get out."

"Hey, I provided a service for the paying parents-to-be of Townsville," Mendez shrugged shamelessly, "It ain't my fault you stupid kids had to be kept in line. You know how many little psychopaths I had to keep under heel? Do you know how many group facilities I ran? ABC Land was just one little horse in the stable. I would have forgotten your face if it wasn't for that lousy snooping McArthur. You're not getting anything from me, you worthless brat."

B.W. sat there stunned as Mendez called the guards to lead him away. She needed to find Mrs. Woodrow, but that old hag escaped police pursuit years ago. Finding her would be nearly impossible without Mendez's help.

"I'm sorry, Marny," B.W. said ruefully, "I tried to help you. Maybe we can still- Uh, Marny? …Marny?"

B.W. looked around, but Marny was nowhere in sight. Somehow, the little girl had disappeared while B.W. was distracted talking to Mendez. B.W. was on the verge of panic, having lost the little girl she was supposed to be protecting.

Inside a prison cell, a large muscular black man and a scrawny white man sat around the bottom bunk trying to carve the tips of their toothbrushes into shivs. They each only had a tiny rock to work with, but they were both making decent progress on their macabre project.

Their work was suddenly interrupted by a light jangling of the prison bars. The black man turned and glared, assuming a guard was there to torment them, but instead he saw a little girl with fluffy brown pigtails gazing at them owlishly.

"Aww, it's a kid!" The man gushed, "Hey Muskrat, there's a little girl here! Ain't she cute?"

"Can't talk…no, I can't talk to you either! Shut up, everybody!" The white guy snapped at thin air.

"Sorry about that, kid," The first man apologized, "He's off his meds. What are you doing here, sweetie? Visitation is supposed to be held in that room with the tables and chairs. Are you lost?"

Marny, for the little girl was indeed Marny, handed the prisoner a piece of paper.

"Hm…Dan Bellows?" The man read off, "You mean the tweaker in cellblock D? You looking for him?"

Marny nodded.

"Okay then, you go down this hallway until you see an orange door," The prisoner instructed, "You go through the door, and keep walking until you see cell #277. Dan Bellows should be alone, unless they found another cellmate for him. You got all that?"

Marny nodded again.

"Now listen, sweetie, if you're a mule, you really should find a more subtle way to get through the prison," The man warned her as gently as he could manage, "You're cute and all, but guards around this place have seen everything. Don't think you won't get in trouble just because you're a kid. Be careful, okay?"

Marny frowned, but nodded nonetheless.

"Good. Now, I gotta get back to my, uh, craft project," The man said cryptically, "Stay safe, kid."

Marny just walked away without another word. Once she was out of sight, the prisoner returned to carving shivs with his schizophrenic cellmate.

Marny couldn't help but think about what that tough looking guy just said to her. He called her a mule. Marny had just started believing she wasn't an animal, and now someone else confuses her for one? That had to mean something, right? She wasn't a dog, that much her grandma had told her. Was she a donkey? Did that mean she should be able to carry more stuff? Could she learn to talk again? The donkey in Shrek knew how to talk. Maybe there was still hope.

She found the orange door the man mentioned, but it looked really heavy. There was one of those big rails to push the door open, but it was too tall for Marny to reach. She blew air out of her cheeks in frustration, realizing she might have to go all the way back to the visiting room.

No, Marny wasn't ready to give up yet. If she was a mule, then she should be strong. Maybe even strong like Billy. She could push the door. She just needed to try.

She started pushing the door with her shoulder, scuffing her feet on the ground to try to make the door move. It still wasn't budging, but Marny didn't give in. She pushed with all her might, grunting softly as her arm began to hurt.

Finally, the door opened, and Marny stumbled through to the other side. What she didn't see was that a prison guard had opened the door. Thankfully, the guard didn't see the small child tumbling down the hallway either, so involved was he in the music blasting on his phone.

The door closed with a loud latching sound, and Marny dusted off her clothes before continuing on her journey. Now, what did that big guy say…? Oh yeah, cell #277. That was where she needed to go. As she walked she patted a side pocket on her coveralls to make sure her notepad and pencil were still there. They were. Good. This might be her only chance to talk to Dan Bellows, and she didn't want to be caught without her voice.

It didn't take long for Marny to find the right prison cell. Part of her was nervous, but part of her was excited too. Her mom used to say so many nice things about Dan. Of course her grandpa used to say a lot of mean things about Dan, but Marny didn't put much stock in what her grandpa said these days.

When she looked inside the cell, she saw a pale brown haired man sitting on his bunk. There were red scratch marks all over his arms, and it wasn't hard to see why. He was scratching his arms even now, and had a wild-eyed expression on his face as he stared at the wall.

Marny shook the bars, and the man turned sharply to the sound.

"Who…what…?" The man muttered quickly, "A kid? What's a kid doing here? This is a men's prison. Juvie is across town."

Marny then took out a piece of paper she kept on her person for the man to read.

My name is Marny.

"Um…okay?" The prisoner replied uncertainly, "My condolences. I guess your parents didn't think much of you if they gave you an old lady's name. What are you doing here though? Did Manic Mike send you? Please tell me he did. It's been almost a week since my last hit, and smuggling's getting harder around here."

Marny took out her notepad and pencil, but she didn't write anything down right away. Despite fantasizing about this moment since she was very little, now that she was actually standing in front of him she didn't know what she wanted to tell him. Besides, he didn't seem to know her.

Dan Bellows, getting annoyed that the kid was just staring at him without saying anything, blew air out of his cheeks to relieve the tension he was feeling. He then went back to scratching his arms.

"Aggie should have the money under a rock by the oak tree outside the prison," Dan instructed, "The rock kinda looks like a turtle shape, at least that's what she says. Now, can you give me the stuff?"

Marny looked at him quizzically, unable to figure out what he was talking about. Finally, she figured out something to write.

You are my dad.

"Huh…?" Dan looked completely baffled for a moment, but then, "Deanna or Chelsea?"

Chelsea.

"Chelsea…I didn't think she'd come all this way to see me," Dan said sorrowfully, "I mean Deanna I'd understand. She had no self respect. Chelsea though…Chelsea Milford. You must be our second kid. Our first one was a boy, Chester. Yeah. Chester was such a rascal, always getting into things. He didn't just start walking, he started running! Hah! I wanted to name our little girl Marshmallow, but I guess Chelsea didn't like that idea. She said it needed to be an M name because most of the girls in her family had M names. She didn't, so I don't know why it mattered. Where are they, anyway? Shouldn't we be in the visitation room if Chelsea came to see me?"

At this Marny cringed and stared down at her notebook. She knew the words she needed to write next, but didn't really want to. Having something in writing made it more permanent than just saying it.

"Hey kid, where is Chelsea?" Dan asked again.

At this Marny knew she couldn't just stall forever. He didn't know what was going on. He thought everything was fine. He didn't know the world ended and her life was taken over by a gray-haired monster.

Mom and Chester did.

"Did? Did what?" Dan shrugged.

Diid.

"Uh, Mary, that's not a word," Dan prompted.

Diiiiiiiii—

Marny's word devolved into angry scribbling as she fought with her own frustration. Why couldn't he just understand? Why was he making her live through this again? He was her dad! Couldn't he just be happy to see her like the dads on TV? Why did he have to be such a moron?

"Hey, come on, whatever it is it can't be that bad," Dan tried feebly to console her, "Did they…do something bad?"

Marny shook her head vigorously. Part of her just wanted to run away from him. She didn't want to have to deal with another useless grown up. The one thing that kept her from leaving was knowing she would never see him again if she did. Despite everything she still wanted a few moments to get to know her dad. She just wanted one nice thing to hold onto. One person that loved her, even a little.

"Did they…move?" Dan guessed again.

Marny couldn't take it anymore. The anger drained, and all that was left was sadness. Tears began to fall as she grieved. She grieved the loss of her family, but she also grieved for the life she knew she couldn't live anymore. Her mom was dead. Her brother was dead. Her dad was in prison. Worst of all though, her grandpa was still alive. These thoughts were not new to her, but for some reason this time the pain felt fresh.

Dan didn't know what to do to help the little girl, so he just scratched his neck and tried not to look like he was staring at her. Marny didn't even care. Everything melted away into shadow as she let her sadness consume her. It felt like nothing could pull her out of her misery.

"Hey, kiddo," Dan finally spoke up, "I just noticed something about you. Your freckles look just like hers."

Marny looked up at him, trying to figure out what he just said. She wasn't listening to him before, but she had a feeling he just said something nice.

"Yeah, your freckles. They look like Chelsea's did when we started dating. You know, I've had a lot of girls in my life, but Chelsea was different. College sweethearts and all that. Yeah, college would've been a waste of money if I hadn't met her. I know it didn't work out, but sometimes I still dream about her."

Marny wiped away her tears, and then wrote…

Me too.

Dan read that note, and saw the way she reacted, and finally managed to put two and two together in his substance-addled brain.

"She's dead, isn't she?" Dan finally whispered.

Marny nodded.

"…Chester?" Dan asked, the name getting caught in his throat.

Marny nodded again.

Dan made a keening noise that wasn't quite a scream and wasn't quite crying. His fingers clawed at his hair and his back slid down the wall. Marny could tell he was in shock, but his grief looked less like a normal sadness and more like the panic of a trapped animal.

"No…no…no…no…" Dan just started muttering to himself, "…no…that's…that's not true. I can't do this now. It's been almost a week. I can't…no…"

Dan didn't even look like he saw Marny anymore, and Marny wondered if she should finally leave. Part of her was almost relieved he finally showed some emotion, but he seemed to be as trapped in his own grief as she had been a moment ago. He pulled her out of it by talking to her, but she couldn't do the same for him.

After a few minutes Marny shook the bars, hoping it would stop him from uttering that maddening mantra. Dan looked at her as if he had forgotten she was there, and crawled back to the door to look at her.

"So…if you're still here…then where do you live?" Dan finally had the lucidity to ask.

Grandpa and grandma.

"The Milfords?"

Marny nodded.

"Yikes," Dan hissed sympathetically, "I know you love your grandparents and all, so don't take this the wrong way, but…your grandpa sucks. I remember how he was always on my case, trying to get Chelsea to break up with me. He had resources to make my life miserable, too. Both of my priors were because he turned me in for drug possession. The first time it was just weed! He just couldn't let Chelsea live her own life or make her own choices. The man was a total helicopter parent. Look, I'm sorry. I know. He's family, and he took you in when you needed him. Look, just forget everything I said, okay? I know it's my own fault I'm here."

Dan was ready to spiral again, but then Marny reached through the bars and took his hand in hers. There was a stark contrast between his calloused hand with long dirty nails and her soft sticky hand. Dan looked down and smiled. He couldn't help himself. She looked so much like Chelsea, yet also kind of looked like him. He hadn't felt this type of warmth since Chester was born.

"I'm sorry," Dan whispered, "No kid should have to lose their family. I know me and the 'commandant' will never see eye to eye, but I'm glad you have someone. I don't get out for another…I think 8 or 10 years. I dunno. I'd have to ask my lawyer. Either way, it was nice of you to look me up. I hope you have a good life, kid. By the way, don't try Chemical Y. Don't ask me why, just trust me on this one. Okay?"

Marny smiled and squeezed his hand before letting go. Her dad wasn't everything she had hoped for, but she was at least grateful he was willing to try. That was more than she got from certain people.

The moment was soon interrupted when a prison guard came rushing down the hall, B.W. in tow.

"Marny!" B.W. shouted in relief, "Thank goodness you're alright! Honey, you shouldn't go running off in a prison! What if there was a riot or something?"

B.W. then picked up Marny, something Marny was getting sick of but tolerated anyway. B.W. was quick to walk away with Marny so they could go home, and Marny looked over B.W.'s shoulder to take one last look at her dad. The guard was questioning Dan Bellows, who was already scratching his arms again and staring blankly at the wall. It was as if nothing happened.

"I couldn't get the fake ID," B.W. told Marny, "But don't worry. I'm not giving up. We just have to find someone else. Don't worry, sweetie. We'll figure this out."

Marny wasn't actually concerned. There was nothing she could do anyway. She just tried to remember everything Dan said to her. She wanted to remember as much of this day as possible, and hoped that he wouldn't forget either. Then again, he seemed like the type that forgot everything.