Chapter 11
Hours later, Gibbs finally locates Vanessa's missing laptop. Due to the time, Tony is sent back to the NCIS building to give Abby the laptop and to also pick-up Chioke from school. Gibbs, Ziva and McGee stay in the town in West Virginia, waiting for the laptop results so they can finally make the arrest.
After dropping off the laptop for Abby, then picking up Chioke at school, Tony makes his way back to the town in West Virginia. Tony brings Chioke with him because Gibbs asked him to come back to the town and he didn't want to leave Chioke behind, though he knows he could've left him with Abby and just figured it would be no problem.
Once back in the town, Tony brings Chioke to Mrs. Hendricks diner in order to feed him. Gibbs, Ziva and McGee are at the police station while Tony and Chioke are at the diner eating. Mrs. Hendricks isn't in the diner at the moment, so a friend of hers is watching the place and taking care of customers. There are a couple other people in the diner as well.
In the diner, Tony and Chioke are sitting in a booth alongside the wall eating their food. Tony is facing the window and Chioke is on the other side of the table with his back facing the window. Members of the McCloud family, Kenneth and his two cousins Derek and Justin are also in the diner. The McCloud's are sitting at a table close to the middle of the diner. Tony's back is facing the McCloud's since their table is somewhat behind him. Chioke is in full view of the boys and notices the dirty looks they've been giving him, though he doesn't understand why, so he just continues eating his food.
Eventually, Tony gets up to go to the bathroom just as Lance and Emmet Wilkinson enter into the diner. The McCloud's attention is immediately drawn to the Wilkinson's who just entered. The Wilkinson's walk to a table somewhere in the middle of the diner and sit down.
"Nigger alert." Derek said.
"I suddenly lost my appetite." Justin stated. "I can deal with one nigger and still be able to eat, but now there are three."
"We better eat our food before the niggers steal it." Kenneth said. "I wonder when pieces of crap grew legs."
"Yeah, they belong in the toilet with the other pieces of crap." Derek added.
"What do you know… It's Snow and his pet dogs." Lance stated. "Oh… My mistake… Those aren't dogs, those are just bitches."
"Why don't you sing, Informer, for us? Talk about a white guy pretending to be black." Emmet said.
"Why don't you go bleach your skin white, like Michael Jackson…? Though, you'd still be a nigger either way." Justin stated.
"But at least it would be easier to look at them." Derek added.
"Like your pale white skin is easy to look at? Every time I see you, I'm blinded by the reflection of the sun off your skin." Lance said.
"How can you stand being black? I mean… You don't fit in here. And being a lower form of life must really piss you off." Kenneth stated. "I can understand why blacks were slaves… But it should've been kept that way cuz you people are a drag on society, too lazy to work so you demand welfare."
As the racist comments continue, Chioke looks on at the boys. Chioke folds his left arm unto the table. He looks at the color of his skin, and then he looks at the McCloud boys. Chioke's eyes begin to wander all over at diner. He looks at all of the people. Most of the people in the diner are white, but there are only three blacks, including himself. As Tony finally comes back, he begins to hear the racist comments the boys are making and decides to get Chioke out of the diner so he doesn't have to listen to this anymore. When he approaches the table, Chioke looks at Tony, and then he looks at his own arm, then back to Tony again.
Before Tony could reach the table where Chioke is sitting, the McCloud and Wilkinson boys attack each other. Tony and a couple other people in the diner, all try to break-up the boys before it gets even more out of hand.
After the boys are calmed down a bit, Tony looks to his table and doesn't see Chioke sitting in the booth anymore. He immediately becomes worried and begins looking in all directions. Chioke isn't in the diner. Tony runs outside and begins looking in all directions again. He notices Chioke is sitting on a bench in front of a shop that's two doors down. He sighs in relief. Tony walks over to the bench and sits down next to Chioke. Before Tony could say anything, Chioke turns to him and begins moving his hands.
'Why we not same?' Chioke signed.
"What do you mean?" Tony asked when really he's just trying to prolong having to give an explanation because he's trying to come up with something to say in regards to what Chioke is asking.
Chioke moves his arm to place it right next to Tony's arm. Tony looks down at their arms, side by side. He keeps trying to think of what to say, but is having trouble finding the words. Chioke finally pulls his arm back and begins moving his hands again.
'Not same color.' Chioke signed. 'Why?'
"Honestly, I don't know." Tony replied. "But I do know this… Everyone in the entire world is different. Whether it be; differences in the color of our skin, our appearance, our preferences in what we like and dislike… Our differences are what make us unique, special." He said. "Even though we're all different, we're all the same in many ways…"
'I special?'
"Of course you're special. You're very special." Tony said with a smile. "You're my special little guy."
'And you my new daddy.' Chioke smiled.
"I love when you call me that." Tony smiled back.
'Tony is new daddy.' Chioke's excitement grows because he loves Tony being his new father. 'Daddy, daddy, daddy.'
Chioke leans toward Tony, places his head on Tony's chest and his arm around him. Tony smiles as he slowly brings up his left hand toward Chioke.
"The tickle monster is looking for Chioke." Tony stated.
Chioke sees Tony's left hand advancing toward him. Chioke grabs Tony's shirt and pulls it slightly to hide his face from Tony's hand. Tony moves his hand around as if it's searching for prey.
"It seems the tickle monster can't find Chioke." Tony said.
As Tony moves his left hand away, Chioke lets go of Tony's shirt to be revealed to the tickle monster. Tony moves his left hand to face Chioke and begins to advance toward him. Chioke starts to pull back a bit and tries to anticipate when the attack will occur. He playfully swaps at the tickle monster. Suddenly, Tony's left hand, the tickle monster, makes a leap at Chioke and begins tickling him. Chioke starts wiggling and trying to push Tony's hand away. He also begins to make a couple brief squeals as he tries to laugh, but due to losing his voice, laughter is a commodity that Chioke is incapable of. As Tony continues tickling him, he wishes so badly that he could hear Chioke's laughter just one time. A smile finally stretches across Tony's face as Chioke not having a voice doesn't make a difference because he loves him either way.
Eventually, Tony stops tickling Chioke and they just remain seated on the bench for a couple minutes. As the McCloud and Wilkinson boys all leave the diner, they start talking about meeting somewhere. Tony immediately takes out his cell-phone and calls Gibbs to let him know that he thinks something big is going to happen soon.