Published: 30 Mar 2023

From The Previous Chapter:

Mr. Ken got his newest Cover settled and told him they would stop by the hospital tomorrow to see his mom. That perked the boy up some. Mr. Ken then told the boy he was in a loving home with four big ‘brothers’ who have experienced many heartbreaks themselves, and that they could maybe help him get through this, too.

Phillip thanked the man and then hugged him. Mr. Ken hugged the boy back and told him to get ready for bed and he’d see him in the morning. The man then went and talked to the rest of his ‘sons’ and before long The Cove was quiet for the night.

Phillip continued to use the converted bathroom in the morning. He liked the big room and the big shower, but what he loved the most was the porcelain god, as his ‘brothers’ called it, as it was easy to use without having to bend over to make sure he peed into the bowl.

Phillip joined Charles and Matthew as they headed down for breakfast. But when the new Cover got to the Kitchen Nook, he went directly to Chief’s bowls, emptied them, rinsed them out, filled one with fresh water, placed it where it was usually kept and then filled the other one about two-thirds full with fresh kibble and then put it next to Chief’s water. The boy then scratched behind Chief’s ears. Chief gave him a few doggie kisses to thank him.

Mr. Ken watched what the boy did and he was glad he did that without prompting. He saw that the boy did wash his hands before sitting down to eat, and he was happy the boy remembered to do that, too.

Momma was ready for when the newest Cover sat down. She had his plate ready with Cinnamon Sugar French Toast Waffles, which were slices of bread dipped into an egg custard, then cooked in her waffle iron then dipped in cinnamon sugar while hot. She also had crispy bacon and sliced strawberries on the side for him to place on the waffles. The woman then placed a glass of cold milk on the table for the boy.

The two older Cover boys told Phillip this was the first time they could ever remember having such a wonderful breakfast treat and they were loving it. They told their newest ‘brother’ that it was because of him that Momma made them this special breakfast. Phillip smiled and said he didn’t believe them, but that he loved having a warm breakfast after having to eat cold cereal in the mornings, and sometimes without milk.

When the boys finished their meal, they cleared the table, hugged Momma and thanked her for making them that special breakfast. Phillip did stop and asked her if she had made it special for him.

Momma hugged him and said, “Yeses, my niño, I dids. Youse neededs sometings tos gets youse tos smiles mores.” Then Momma smiled at the boy.

Phillip smiled up at Momma and hugged her back, and he thanked her for doing the special breakfast for him and his ‘brothers’, and he promised to smile more. The boy then ran to catch up with his ‘brothers’.

Mr. Ken thanked Momma for making that special breakfast for the boys and saying what she did to Phillip. He told her that their newest Cover was having a rough time. He explained he was suddenly taken away from his mom and then his mother had been attacked and was in the hospital, and he didn’t know if she will get better.

Mr. Ken did tell Momma that he and the boy would head over to the hospital as soon as Phillip got home from school today, so they might be late for dinner. Momma Maria thanked her employer for telling her that, but hoped they would not be late. Mr. Ken took the hint and told himself not to spend too much time talking to the doctors and nurses about Mackenzie.

At the school, Phillip’s three friends met him as soon as he got off the school bus. The four boys headed to a section of the schoolyard where they could talk. Westin asked if he would be allowed to come over that weekend, but Phillip told him he wouldn’t know until tomorrow at the earliest, but because he had a physical tomorrow morning he might not know until Thursday.

The three friends asked the Cover why he had had to have a physical. Phillip told them that Mr. Ken wanted to have a base line and to know if he had any medical problems that he would be responsible for now that he was living with him. The boy told his friends that Mr. Ken would pick him up at school tomorrow morning at about nine o’clock, and he would be gone for the rest of the day.

Phillip told them he found out about the Easter Egg Roll and the plastic Easter Eggs and he was going to tell them, but the first bell rang, so he told them he would explain it to them at lunch.

As soon as Mr. Ken arrived at the office, he told his secretary that he had to leave in time to take his newest foster son to the hospital to see his mom, so for her to make sure he did leave at about 3:30. Rosemary said she would put it on the calendar and would remind him at that time.

When Mr. Ken sat down at his desk, he called Dan to thank him again for running interference last night, so his two men and Phillip could get home safely and to keep Rafael from learning where Phillip lived.

“Ken, I’m glad you called. That tip on that four-door sedan was a good one. Make sure you thank Dennis for me. When the deputy stopped that car, he saw an open container of beer, so he had the men get out and he called for backup. As they searched the vehicle, they found two guns. One was a Glock 19, 15-round 9mm pistol, loaded.

“But it was the second gun that was a show stopper. That gun was a TAC-9. Ken, the TAC-9 was a 32-round semi-auto pistol that found itself as one of the original 19 firearms specifically named on the first Federal Assault Weapons Ban. It somehow went missing, until now. How they got their hands on one of those is beyond me.

“Also, those two men had outstanding warrants, so they are now off the streets, at least for a while. It was a good stop. The deputy observed the driver changing lanes without using his turn signal, and speeding to try to keep up with your F-150. So, for now, Rafael Ruiz is down two members,” finished Sheriff’s Lieutenant Dan Fischer.

Ken Thomas thanked Dan for the update, and the two men said they’d talk again soon. Mr. Ken then began returning calls he didn’t get to from the previous day.

While her boss was busy, Rosemary Martin, Ken Thomas’ executive secretary, buzzed Jacqueline Kromiere, otherwise known as Ms. Jackie, Mr. Ken’s Project Manager, and asked her to come to her area, so they could talk.

When Ms. Jackie arrived, Rosemary told her she did as she was asked, and she Googled her boss’s name and then she also Googled Three Finger Cove, since that seemed to be a prominent term that came up often enough.

“So, what did you find?” asked a smiling Ms. Jackie.

“I had no idea that Mr. Thomas … that he was so connected, and he was so young at the time. He was just out of college and the governor … the governor himself called him after that big storm we had about five years ago and asked him to lead … lead mind you, one of the recovery teams in the county.

“Now, I know where that title ‘mister’ came from that everyone seems to call him. I always thought … I always thought that it was something of, you know, that the people were using it as a means of disrespect, or a way to belittle him because of his age.

“But I learned that it was a form of respect for what he did for the residents of the less advantaged areas of the County. It was those residents … the residents themselves, mind you, who began calling him Mister Ken out of respect for his taking care of them first, before he did the well-to-do areas.

“Jackie, I feel so foolish, that I didn’t know that about my boss. I also learned that he took a bullet for a boy, a teenager that he was fostering at the time. They said his estate … that it was attacked by these men who were looking for the heir of the Wilkinson Enterprise Corporation as he had watched as his parents were killed in front of him.

“I also learned that he was then appointed as the CEO and CFO of that same Wilkinson Enterprises, and as such, he helped organize the “Rally For Rodney” and “Stop Violence Against Students” along with that same foster son, Collin Wilkinson, who now owned Wilkinson due to the death of his parents.

“There was much, much more I learned about the young entrepreneur. He built the Lakeside Water Park for the County and, while he was doing that, he also built the Lake Water Safety and Rescue Team Headquarters for that volunteer group, so they would not only have a more centralized location to serve the lake, but that they could also watch over the out-of-the-way water park.

“Jackie … is it true that four men … that they tried to kidnap four of Mr. Ken’s, there I did it myself, four of Mr. Thomas’ foster sons and those men … they were prepared to take five more boys just to make sure they got the four they were after?” asked Rosemary, to see if she understood what she read really happened.

“Rosemary, yes, those men … they did try to kidnap those nine boys, just to make sure they got the boys they were after. The trial … it was held last May, and you’ll have to read the newspapers to find out how that went. But one of the men … he was found dead in his prison cell not long after the trial started.

“So … now you know a lot more about your boss. And believe me, there is a lot more to know. He is on his ninth foster son, who arrived last Thursday. So, if he seems preoccupied, or has appointments out of the blue, then it is because of his new foster son.

“Even though he has Wayne Mitchell, as his Estate Master, who is also responsible for the boys, and is also a licensed foster parent working for him, he will devote his time to the boy as they are assigned to him and know that Mr. Wayne fills in for him only when he is out of town.

“Rosemary, the longer you work for Mr. Thomas, the more you will find out about him and his ‘family’, as he calls them, and the better you will understand why he does what he does. I think I already told you that he will put everything on hold for those boys. So, keep in mind, those boys … they are very important to him and he will drop everything and he will devote his time and efforts to them, if one or more of the boys ever has a problem,” finished Ms. Jackie.

Rosemary sat there for a few moments thinking through what she had read the night before and what Jackie had just told her. The secretary then said to Jackie, “Thank you for having me research my boss. It was an eye opener to me for sure and your insight … it added information about Mr. Thomas that will definitely make my job much easier, as I won’t wonder why he has an all-day physical tomorrow at nine and why he is expecting important phone calls from the Director of CPS and a Sheriff’s Lieutenant.”

“Yes, Mr. Thomas … he, Judy Turner and Lt. Fischer go back to when he helped Collin after the teen washed up on his Patio during that Hundred Years Storm. Then, Lt. Fischer, he was only a Sheriff’s Deputy at the time … Mr. Ken had him recover at The Cove after he was wounded during a shootout. They are all good friends and help one another,” added Jackie.

During lunch at the school, Phillip explained to his three friends about the Easter Egg Roll and what they would be doing on Saturday until all 1000 plastic Easter eggs were filled and ready for the following Saturday’s Easter Egg Roll.

The three friends were surprised there were that many eggs, but Phillip told them that 150 of the eggs have prize coupons in them, so they only had to help fill 850 plastic eggs. The Cover then laughed. Phillip then told them that the rest of his ‘brothers’ and their friends would be there and they should be done in no time.

The Cover then said they would be asked to come to The Cove the following Saturday by 10 a.m. to help put the plastic eggs out for the 2- to 4-year-olds, the 5- to 7-year-olds and the 8- to 10-year-olds to collect to see if they got a prize.

The boys asked if he knew what the prizes where. But Phillip told his friends that Mr. Ken only told him about the eggs and what they would do with them and who would run for them the following Saturday. The Cover added that the plastic eggs should be there either Thursday or Friday and when they came over on Saturday, they would get to see the prizes.

Phillip couldn’t wait until the end of the school day. He kept thinking about seeing his mom later, and his teacher noticed his distraction and asked him why he wasn’t paying attention all the time. When he told her his mom had been attacked over the weekend and he was going to see her after school and he couldn’t wait, the teacher said she understood, but she still asked him to try to be more attentive. Phillip honestly said he would try.

When Phillip returned home from school, he went directly to the Study to see if Mr. Ken was ready to go visit his mom. Mr. Ken told the boy to go drain his dragon and he’d meet him out in the garage.

Momma was disappointed the boy wasn’t going to stay to eat his after-school snack, but he told her he really wanted to see his mom and he just couldn’t eat anything right then. The boy continued to the garage to wait on Mr. Ken. When Mr. Ken came out to the F-150, he had a napkin with three cookies in it. He gave them to Phillip and told him Momma wanted him to eat something. Phillip smiled and thanked the man for the cookies.

The two Covers drove out the Main Gate a few minutes later and then headed over to the hospital to visit with Mackenzie Flores, Phillips’ mother. Traffic wasn’t too bad and it only took the two about thirty-five minutes to drive over to the hospital and park. By the time they entered the building and arrived at the ICU it was another twelve minutes.

Upon their arrival at the ICU, Mr. Ken asked the nurse about Ms. Flores’ condition. She told him she needed him to talk to the doctor, so she picked up the phone and called him. In the meantime, Phillip was allowed to go into the room and at least see how his mother was doing.

Phillip saw his mom was still hooked up to the many I.V. and electrical lines as she was the other day. He had hoped things would have changed, and was disappointed nothing had.

“Mom … I’m sorry … I’m sorry I wasn’t there to give Rafael his … his gun. But … but you shouldn’t have been gone so much. If … if you would have stayed home more I … I would have been there and … and you wouldn’t be here. Please … please get better,” lightly spoke Phillip to his mother, as the tears streamed down his cheeks.

Mr. Ken was standing in the doorway, as his foster son spoke to his mom. He heard what the boy had to say to his mom, and he was glad he had Doctor Doug stopping by tomorrow night for dinner to meet the boy and to start working with him.

“Phillip … you know none of this is your fault. Right?” Mr. Ken spoke up from the doorway.

Phillip turned around to look at the man. He nodded his head, then said, “But … it sure feels like it was my fault. If I had only been there, you know, to give Rafael his gun, none of this would have happened.”

“We don’t know that, son,” offered the foster dad. “Rafael … he could very well have caused you problems for just holding that gun for him. What you didn’t know was that gun … that he had you hold for him … it had been used in an incident where it had been fired … against rival gangs. Phillip … this man … he was not your friend. He used you! To hide a gun that was being sought after by the police and he knew it.

“Come on. The doctor is going to talk to us,” Mr. Ken indicated to the boy, so Phillip could find out directly what was wrong with him mom.

“Doc, what can you tell us about Phillip’s mother?” asked Mr. Ken, of the attending physician.

“Well, when she arrived, we had hoped, that it was just a simple concussion and she would wake up later in the evening. But … when she didn’t wake up, when we expected, we decided to perform an MRI. By doing that we learned she was hit harder than we initially thought.

“Well … also in doing the procedure we learned … that she actually had some swelling of the brain. So, we decided to implant a shunt to relieve the pressure and eventually the swelling will go down on its own,” explained the doctor.

“So, when … when will she wake up?” quickly asked Phillip.

“When the swelling goes down, she should eventually wake up,” replied the doctor.

“Will she be, OK?” further asked the boy

“Actually … we won’t know what we’re dealing with until … well, until she wakes up and we can talk to her. Once she can talk to us, and we can perform some tests, we’ll be able to tell if there will be … if there will be any long-term complications,” answered the doctor.

“Wha … what kind of complications?” asked a now scared Phillip.

“Well, son, we can’t speculate, because each patient … they respond differently to blows to their head. We will have to wait until your mom … until she wakes up and we can talk to her and perform some tests. Once we can do that, we will be able to determine what, if any, problems she could experience. We just have to wait. I know you had hoped to hear better news, but … well, that’s all I have for you for now. Maybe tomorrow. I’ve got to go, now, we’ll keep in touch,” finished the doctor, and then he left the room.

With tears leaking down his face, Phillip looked to his foster dad and asked, “Mr. Ken … will … will my mom … will she be, OK?”

“Phillip … I … I just don’t know what to tell you?” began a subdued Ken Thomas and foster dad. “You heard what the doctor said and … and for now … all we can do is wait and see how your mother is after, you know, after she wakes up.

“Hopefully, she will wake up soon and you can see for yourself if there is any change in her. Who, better than you, to decide if there are any changes in your mother? When they tell us she is awake, I’ll make sure to bring you here right away. Will that be OK with you?” asked a now smiling Mr. Ken.

Phillip wiped his tears, hugged his foster dad and told him he would like that. Mr. Ken then told the boy they both needed to drain their dragons and then they needed to head home for dinner, so Momma doesn’t get mad at them.

The two Covers were home in time for dinner. And, as they ate, the other boys asked their new ‘brother’ how his mom was doing. Phillip told them that she still wasn’t awake and that the doctor told him that she had been hit harder than they thought, and they had to put something in her head to drain the excess fluid.

The boy then told his ‘brothers’ that they wouldn’t know if she would have any problems afterwards until she woke up, and that Mr. Ken told him he would take him over there when she did wake up, so he could see if there were any differences because he would know. The new Cover’s ‘brothers’ had to agree and they all told him they hoped his mom would be OK.

After dinner, as he usually did, Mr. Ken reviewed the upcoming events for the boys and The Cove. He reminded Phillip he’d be at the school at 9 o’clock tomorrow to take him to his physical. The boy then asked if he’d decided if Westin could come to The Cove on Saturday. Mr. Ken said he wouldn’t know until tomorrow. Phillip said he understood, but his voice betrayed his disappointment.

Mr. Ken then told Phillip that Doctor Doug would be there for dinner tomorrow night and the two of them would take some time to get to know one another and talk before dinner and maybe afterwards, too. The foster dad did remind the boy that all of his ‘brothers’ have talked to the man and still do, and after tomorrow night he would begin to see him every week for a while.

Mr. Ken reminded the boys that they would be working on the plastic Easter eggs on Saturday until they were all filled with candy, money and the prize coupons. He then asked Bill and Robert if they had created the coupons yet. The teenagers said they hadn’t because they didn’t know how many prizes there were. Mr. Ken told them they should have asked, and he brought out the order form. He made a copy of the prize sheet and gave it to them and asked them to color code the prizes as they had last year. Robert took the paper and said they’d have the coupons done in time for Saturday.

Mr. Ken then told the boys that Easter Sunday would be a ‘Family Day’, as it was last year, and for them to make sure they tell their friends that there would be no skating, no barbeque and no swimming on that day. He told them they would do something together as a ‘family’ as they haven’t done anything as a group for quite some time, and they needed to spend time as a ‘family’.

Mr. Ken then told Bill that since he would be with Phillip all day tomorrow, he would be home early. So, since he already knew the teen could make the Taurus go forward, he now intended to see how well Bill could back it up. He told Bill that when he came home, he would hopefully have his back-up course ready for him when he came home from school.

The boys all teased Billy that he better know how to back the car up, or he might not be getting his driver’s license any time soon. Billy told his ‘brothers’ he knew how to back up the car, and he wasn’t afraid of what Mr. Ken could have him do.

After the boys went up to their rooms, Mr. Ken told Wayne about his call from Lt. Fischer.

“Oh, Dan and I talked today,” began Mr. Ken. “He told me that when they stopped that car last night … that it was a good stop. He said the man changed lanes without using his turn signals and had sped up to try to stay close to you.

“Dan told me they had an open container of beer in the car, so the deputy called for backup. Dan said that when they searched the vehicle they found two guns. Also, both men had open warrants and they were arrested and both are off the streets for now. So, Rafael is down two men for the time being.”

Mr. Wayne then told his boss about the talk he had with Mr. Dennis today.

“Mr. Ken … ahhh, Dennis … he told me today that he ahhh … ahh that he never signed up for getting involved … with gangbangers and possibly being run off the road by them. He said he was so happy that you have a friend in the Sheriff’s Department that you could call to get a deputy to stop them as you did, yesterday,” revealed Mr. Wayne.

“Oh, I would never have thought he would feel that way,” responded Mr. Ken.

“What I never told you was … that when he first began working for you and he learned that I had my concealed carry permit, he asked me if he would be required to get his. I told him that you wouldn’t require it, and that it would be up to him, but you wouldn’t mind if he did.

“And, he asked me again today, if he would have to get his carry permit when I told him about Phillip holding a gun for Rafael. He never told me why he doesn’t want to get the permit, but it could be because of his age, or that he’d been in firefights while in the military and … and he doesn’t want to relive that time in his life,” added the Estate Master.

“Well … I guess … I guess I need to sit down and talk with him, then. He’s been a big help for The Cove and … well, I’d hate to lose him because of the situations that the boys present us at times. It isn’t Phillip’s fault that Rafael … that the man used him and now he might want to extract some sort of revenge, because he wasn’t there to give the gun back to him.

“Wayne … how much does Dennis know about the other boys, and … and the difficulties they’ve had since they came to The Cove?” asked the Estate Master’s employer.

Wayne thought about that question for a few moments and then told Mr. Ken, “I believe Dennis has researched, or Googled Three Finger Cove, and he knows about Collin, the attempted kidnapping and possibly about Smokey holding the knife to Charles, but not by name.

“He told me he always wondered about the need for the armed guards and now … I think now with this experience with Phillip and knowing about the previous instances where outside forces were needed, I think … I believe he is second thinking his wanting to be employed here, Mr. Ken,” honestly replied Mr. Wayne.

“OK, I should be home early after Phillip’s physical, so … and don’t say anything to him, but when I get home, I’ll sit down with him and get his thoughts. But, if he is wanting to move on, we’ll need to look for another part-time person. I don’t want to go through another summer as we did last year, and not have that extra person on-line,” offered Mr. Ken.

The men finished their talk and then headed upstairs to talk to the boys.

Mr. Ken stopped at Phillip’s room first. He told the boy that he probably feels things were still moving along very fast for him, and that he hasn’t had any time to wrap his mind around everything. The foster dad told the boy that tomorrow, during his physical, they will have time to talk about things, and the boy will also have the time to think about the past five days and he could ask any questions he may have.

Mr. Ken said he was sorry he wouldn’t know about Westin until about lunchtime tomorrow, but he won’t be there to tell his friend the result. Phillip asked if any of his ‘brothers’ friends had ever been refused from coming over. Mr. Ken said that he didn’t think they were. So, Phillip asked then why doesn’t he just tell him that Westin can come over and he can tell him first thing in the morning.

Mr. Ken was taken aback by the forwardness of his new foster son. The boy had a point though, and the man knew it. None of the boys that his ‘sons’ asked to be approved to come over to The Cove had ever been refused permission to come over. So, why shouldn’t he just tell Phillip he could tell Westin he can come over on Saturday?

The man knew that to do so would be to reject his protocol for having Jules do a cursory check on the boy’s friends and thus open The Cove to someone who could be a bad actor. He wished these checks could have weeded out Kaden, at the time, but the background checks don’t know what the person is into now, only what they’ve been involved in, in the past.

“Phillip, I do what I do for a reason. And it is because of that we will have to wait until I get the answer before I can tell you if Westin can be invited to The Cove. All of your ‘brothers’ have had to wait for the answer on their friends, and you will have to as well, I am afraid,” responded the foster dad.

Mr. Ken could see the disappointment in Phillip’s face, so he hugged the boy and told him he just had to wait another day for the answer. The man added that it will take time for things to settle for him, and that maybe by the end of the weekend he’ll have had time to reflect on his time there, talk to his ‘brothers’, and begin get into a routine.

Phillip asked about his mom and if he’ll still be able to visit her when she wakes up. Mr. Ken told the boy that he promised he would take him to see her and when the doctor lets him know she is awake he will take him over there to see her.

Mr. Ken then reminded the boy that after he knows how his mom is doing, that the courts have declared that he and his mom aren’t supposed to have contact until she completes the training courses and other requirements the courts have laid down for her.

Phillip asked how long would that take. Mr. Ken told his foster son that he did not know what exactly the courts are requiring his mom to do. He added that it will be up to his mom to do what is required of her before they will be able to see one another and his mother will have to do more before they can be reunited. Mr. Ken told the boy that he could very well be with him until the end of school.

“Mr. Ken … what about those men who were following us last night? What happened to them?” asked the youngest Cover.

“Well, Phillip … Lt. Fischer … he called me today and told me that when they stopped them, they had an open container of beer in the car, so the deputy called in backup. They then learned the men had arrest warrants, so they were arrested and they were taken to jail. So, that means Rafael … that he is down two of his men for the time being,” explained the foster dad.

“So, he doesn’t know where I am living then?” was the boy’s next question.

“So far that is what we suspect. The men never followed you back here, because they were stopped, and Mr. Wayne … he never saw any other car following you, so hopefully that is the case,” offered Mr. Ken.

“I hope he never finds me. I bet he’s really, really mad that I wasn’t there to give him his gun back and now … and now that the police have it, I bet … I bet he is even madder,” spoke up Phillip.

Mr. Ken hugged the boy and told him not to stay up late, and to make sure he drained his dragon before he got too sleepy and fell asleep on the top of the covers and he peed the bed. The boy laughed at what the man said and said he wouldn’t pee the bed. The boy then ran to the bathroom as his foster dad went to talk to his next foster son.

When Mr. Ken talked to Bill, he asked him to talk to Phillip about how it was when he arrived at The Cove when school was in session, and how long it took him to get settled there. Mr. Ken explained that Phillip is a bit overwhelmed with everything happening so fast and he needs someone who can relate to him.

Bill said he’d try to sit down with him tomorrow, but with Doctor Doug stopping by he might not get the chance. Mr. Ken said just a few minutes to tell him that you’ve been there where he is right now would let him know he isn’t being singled out and everything will work over time.

Bill said he’d do that, and then he asked his foster dad what kind of test he was going to give him tomorrow. Mr. Ken laughed, and told the teenager that he created a backup course for Collin and Ryan and they could eventually back the Taurus up by only using the side view mirrors. He then told the teen how he taught Collin how to back the car up with the WaveRunner trailer attached.

Bill asked if he would have to back the car up with the trailer attached. Mr. Ken said he wouldn’t, but he would eventually want to teach him how to do that because it is an important task to know and as he got older just knowing the principle behind it would help him.

Before long, the owner of The Cove talked to all of his ‘boys’ and then he finally got to bed. The Cove was quiet the entire night.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhnd at Gmail dot Com

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