Too Equal For My Taste

Chapter 33: The Six Confessions

Ken had lost. It was so hard to believe that just few minutes ago, he was winning. He was almost off of it. He almost beat Mike. However, he failed in Mike's hands. Together, the two explained everything from the start to the finish.

"Mom, dad," Ken said lowly. "It was all me; and Mark. I took the jewels and trinkets. Mark took from his parents."

"You took them?!" Jimmy exclaimed.

Serina looked from one to the other and moved her eyes to the kids standing at the doorway. Then she understood, but listened to the confession. Mark was speaking now.

"I took from my parents," Mark said nervously.

"Why did you do it?" Serina asked. Her voice showed hint of disappointment and anger, but she spoke calmly.

"I asked a long time ago for a raise," Ken explained. "You kept saying no, and I felt distrusted, so I resorted to this. I thought maybe just this once, and we'd stop. We wouldn't make a habit out of it. Now, Mark was always my best friend."

"So, I followed him," Mark continued. "Willingly, but followed him. He was my friend, and I had the same trouble."

"Your parents never had problems with you the way we had with Ken here," Jimmy said to Mark.

"I know, but I don't know how to ask," Mark said lowly. "I know it's a lame excuse, but it's the truth."

"So," Serina said, straightening herself up. "Instead of helping Mark communicate, you draw him into something worse. Now his parents may impose restrictions, and you two will be forced apart."

"No, I'm thinking its back to the original plan," Jimmy said, looking down at Ken knowingly. "I can't speak for Mark's parents, but I can speak for you, Ken. I am giving you till the end of the year. One wrong move and you will be thrown into summer Military School. This means making up for everything you missed."

"This includes giving what you took back," Serina added. "This means getting strings of good grades and good participation. At the end, we evaluate. Do you understand?"

"That's it?" Ken asked hopefully.

"No, you're grounded for a week," Jimmy said. "It would be longer, but Military School is almost inevitable."

Ken looked down, knowing he lost his summer. Jake nodded for Mike to go in next. "Now, I have my own confession, Mr. and Mrs. Murtaugh. I knew of their plan all along. Ken threatened that I'd be beaten if I told anyone, so I only told Jake, and it escalated. Eventually, after a long time if rivalry, we fought."

"And I was part of it," Calvin put in, coming in too.

Jake and Connor stepped in too. They nodded. "And it might explain Ken's bloody nose. It might've been worse," Jake said. "I made a problem with Ken. But, that was because Mike seemed to be affected by it."

"Now, I'm not in the family," Connor said, putting his hand up as if to get attention. "But Jake's my friend, and I can't let him fight someone without me involved."

"I figured that much," Jimmy nodded. "How did it end?"

"Elliot," Sarah spoke up highly. "He ran in and pushed Mike off Ken."

Elliot looked over at Sarah. She was speaking up for him. He didn't know what to say, but to stay silent and let Sarah say what she wanted. It looked as if everything was ok again.

"Elliot pushed Mike off Ken, picked Ken up, and pushed him away," Sarah explained. Jimmy and Serina looked over attentively. "He even pushed Jake and Connor off, and yelled at Calvin."

"And then I realized that I did something wrong," Calvin admitted. "Because I was under the impression that Jake and Mike were the aggressive ones, and were trying to start a fight. So I defended Ken for that."

"So, apparently, you did more damage than you let out," Serina said to Ken.

"I let them tell their parts," Ken said quietly. "I'm sorry, mom. Calvin has the bag, and everything is in there."

"Ken, what do you think we believed you'd do with a raise in allowance?" Serina tested. "Think about the problems we've had with you."

"Probably you thought I'd spend it on something- for lack of better term- inappropriate. Probably on alcohol or worse when I get older."

"Maybe even underage," Serina added in. "Ken, we're looking after you. Before you get a raise, there are thing you need to know. You don't know them yet, because you refuse to listen to anything we tell you. You don't take them seriously."

"Ken, we're sending you to summer Military School," Jimmy said disappointedly. "We were gonna wait for you to make a bad move, but maybe this has the discipline. And, Mark, we're sorry, but we'll have to tell your parents too."

That was how it ended. Now, the fight had ended, and everything was getting together. The Bakers did find out, and it was arranged for Mark to go off to Military School with Ken for half the summer.

As for Tae Kwon Do, Ken was allowed to keep taking it. To keep Mike and Ken even, it was decided that Mike was to go off classes during the half of the summer that Ken was gone. Their only hope was to show their parents they were trustworthy, but after all this, Mike became a regular companion of Ken and Mark. Friendship between the two became inevitable and Mike was to regrettably miss Ken when he was to leave.