Chapter 52

Wednesday, July 15, 1987 - Afternoon

As Donovan carried Sean's luggage into the house, Sean headed straight for his bedroom, closed the door and cranked up the guitar amp.

Donovan placed one of Sean's suitcases on his own bed and opened it. A nauseating stench of sweaty socks wafted out of the baggage. Donovan wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Why did the staff send him home with dirty clothes?

He lifted out a couple pair of jeans with K-Mart tags still attached and shook his head in disbelief. I run out and buy him new clothes, and he doesn't even wear them? Frowning, Donovan picked through the remaining items, three pair of well-worn basketball shorts, seven pairs of underwear, seven pairs of socks, of which only one was dirty, but stinky enough to infiltrate the rest of Sean's wardrobe. Donovan carried the heap of clothes into the laundry room. He snapped the tags off

Sean's new jeans then set the wash cycle to cold/large. Donovan stuffed in the three pair of jeans and glanced up to see Sean standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Kiddo"

"Can I call Scott Hicks?" Sean asked. "I'd like to hang out with him."

Scott was one of the gang bangers Sean hung around with while attending John Marshall High School last fall.

"You'd better not… just yet."

"But I've been gone for six months," Sean complained. "I want to see my friends."

"Maybe you can invite a few over here this weekend."

"With you here?"

"Right." Donovan opened the dryer, pulled out a load of whites, stuffed them into a laundry basket then carried them to his room.

Sean followed him. "That isn't fair. When can I see my friends without you around?"

"When the judge says you can." Donovan dumped the basket, and noticed a pair of silky panties clinging to one of his socks.

You know what'll happen if you take those to her. He grinned.

"You think it's funny, I have to be stuck here?" Sean demanded.

"No, I wasn't laughing at you."

"Bull." Sean stomped out of the room.

He'll probably invite his friends over while I'm at work. Sensing the real test of Sean's cooperativeness would begin tomorrow afternoon, Donovan dreaded the likely conflict.

#

Maggie stirred two teaspoons of sugar into her coffee mug and sat down at the kitchen table across from Julie. She hadn't seen Julie in almost two weeks, and Julie's visit was a surprise. Fortunately for both of them, CJ was down for his afternoon nap.

"How are you?" Maggie asked, watching Julie spoon sugar into her own cup.

Julie brought the cup to her lips. "Good. I went to work today."

Surprised to hear Dr. Graham gave his approval, Maggie asked. "Already? Are you supposed to?"

"No, but I need to be there for Steve."

"That sound's…" Maggie searched for the right word. "Strange. How do you feel?"

"Not a hundred percent better, but almost."

Noticing Julie's mascara was smudged, Maggie wondered if her friend had been crying.

"They won't let me work a full day… yet," Julie continued.

"That's probably a good thing."

"Steve and I've located a couple potential enzymes. We'll be conducting tests with some volunteers who live in the toxin inundated zone."

"Are you hopeful?"

"Yeah."

"You have a lot of bills from your… injury?" Maggie asked, not meaning to make it sound like Julie's only goal in completing the project ought to be the five million dollars she'd receive.

"Yeah." Julie snorted. "I need to set up a payment arrangement. It's insane."

"But when you finish the project, you'll have enough money to pay off the bills."

"I hope so."

"How are you feeling otherwise?"

Shrugging, Julie pursed her lips.

"How's Donovan?" Maggie asked.

"Busy with Sean. You wouldn't believe how big he is now."

"Do you think you and Donovan will stay in touch?"

Shaking her head, Julie didn't make eye contact. "No, he's too busy."

Sitting up straight in her chair, Maggie didn't miss the hurt tone in Julie's voice.

"Is that what he said?"

Julie shrugged.

"Do you think you'll miss him?"

Drawing a breath, Julie looked directly at her then asked, "How's CJ?"

Maggie smiled. "Did something happen between you and Donovan?"

"I didn't come over here to discuss that. I came to see how you and your family are doing."

Discuss that? Maggie wondered. Something must've happened. She's hurt…

Deciding not to press the obviously sore subject, Maggie opted to update Julie on CJ's latest milestones instead. She began naming off all the new words he'd learned which brought a smile to Julie's face.

After Julie left that afternoon, Maggie comprised a guest list, aiming to throw her friend a coming home party. She'd invite everyone who'd been in the resistance, and lived close enough to attend. Maggie wondered if her backyard was large enough to accommodate that many visitors. The bigger issue was to choose a date agreeable for the most important guests. The first person she intended to call was Donovan.