Published: 20 Jul 2023

From The Previous Chapter:

Suddenly, Billy looked over to his foster dad and said, “Mr. Ken … ahhh …. I’m sorry for arguing with you about me not driving. I … I know now why you should be driving and not me. … The entire time we’ve been going to the prison, all I’ve been doing is thinking about my mom and … and what I want to tell her. There is so much that has happened since I last saw her.

“Mr. Ken … if I had been driving, I know … I know I would have been distracted and since I am a new driver, I might have made some bad driving decisions, so … so you were right in taking the keys and it was best that you drove. Thank you!” finished Bill.

Mr. Ken looked over at the teenager and smiled.

The two drove for about ninety more minutes and finally Mr. Ken told his passenger that they would soon be turning to go towards the penal complex where the teen’s mother was housed. Bill took a deep breath and released it. He knew it was nearly time to see his mom after almost three years.

It was close to twelve noon when Mr. Ken turned into the entrance for the prison. There he joined a line of other vehicles, which were waiting to be cleared into the facility.

When it was their turn, the two Covers had to exit the vehicle. One guard asked them to show him their identifications, while the other guards searched the vehicle for unauthorized items. Once they were cleared, they were told whereto park their vehicle and which building to go to be cleared into the visitor’s center.

Before they walked over to the visitor center, Mr. Ken and Billy placed their cell phones and any paper money they had in the glove compartment, because they weren’t allowed inside the facility. Once inside, the Cover’s had to remove their shoes and belts and take out their wallets and anything else they had in their pockets, like the car keys, the bag of quarters they brought to buy sodas and snacks, and place them in a plastic container before they walked through a walk-through metal detector.

Once they cleared through security, they were then allowed to put their belts and shoes back on, put their wallets and the keys back in their pockets. Bill decided to carry the bag of quarters. But now they had to pull out their identifications in order to fill out some papers to register in the database of visitors.

Once registered, the Covers were shown where they could sit and wait while the guards went to get Amelia Dirketson Franks, Billy’s mom, and bring her to the center. They told them it could take as much as twenty minutes before they brought her to the visitation area. Everything took time and they weren’t the only ones there wanting to see someone. They looked at the clock and it showed it was well past one in the afternoon. They had been gone for over four hours.

It was 1:35 when the guard came to Mr. Ken and Billy to direct them where in the visitation area they could sit, while they brought Amelia to them. The guard reminded Billy that he could hug his mom briefly when he saw her and just before he left and that they could hold hands across the table, but nothing more. Billy thanked the guard for reminding him.

Mr. Ken and Billy had no sooner sat down at their assigned four seat square like table when they heard some rustling, so they looked over to see the guard with a woman walking towards them. The two Covers stood up and immediately Billy teared up, as he saw that the woman was his mom.

As the guard and the woman arrived at the table, Billy couldn’t hold back any longer and he pulled his mom to him and said, as he cried, “Mom, mom, I missed you so much!” The two hugged one another for the longest time, and they cried together, as they were once again joined together as mother and son.

The two hugged longer than they were supposed to, but the guard knew this was the first visitor the woman had received and knew it was her son who came to visit her, so she allowed for the longer embrace. The guard heard the sobs from the teenager and knew the meeting was long in coming, but she eventually tapped the teen on the shoulder to indicate it was time to have a seat.

“Oh, mom, I’ve missed you so much,” started out Billy, through his abating tears, as he and his mom held hands. “So much has happened to me that on the way up here that I … that I had a difficult time trying to figure out what I was going to tell you.”

“That’s OK, Billy … we have all afternoon. So, tell me … tell me all about yourself and what has happened to you ever since we parted ways almost three years ago. And who this is … this handsome young man who brought you here?” asked Amelia, sporting a great big smile as she looked at Mr. Ken.

“Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Ken, I … I should have introduced you to my mom already. Mom … this is my foster dad, Mr. Ken Thomas. Mr. Ken, this is my mom, Amelia Franks,” was how the teenager introduced the two adults.

“It is good to finally meet you, Mrs. Franks, Amelia,” said Mr. Ken, as he offered his hand to shake the boy’s mother’s hand.

“Mom … I’ve lived with Mr. Ken for the last year, now, and it is the best place ever. The other places CPS had me living at were … they were more like hell-holes compared to where I am living now.

“Mom … the one place treated me more as a servant than as a foster child, and the other places … they weren’t any better. The food there was terrible and they always bought my clothes from the second-hand stores,” offered Billy. Then the teen added, “I think they were only interested in the money they got for fostering me.”

“But, mom, where I am now, us boys, there are five of us, we call one another, ‘brother’,” said the smiling Cover.

“But Billy … you don’t have any brothers or sisters,” corrected the teen’s mom.

“I know mom, but it is easier for us to call one another ‘brother’ than to say we’re foster boys, when we tell other people who we live with, or who the other boys are that we are living with,” explained Billy.

“Well, I guess that does simplify things for you, so you don’t have to explain yourself every time you meet someone. So, tell me Billy … what … what’s so good about living with this man?” now asked the teen’s mom.

“Mom … remember when they were building that big house out on the lake. And … and we were always wondering who could afford to build such a big place like that and … and what would they do with all that space and if they could ever fill it with enough kids to make it worthwhile. … Well, mom … meet the man who built that house … and who has filled it with kids,” said a smiling and beaming Billy Dirketson.

“You have got to be kidding me,” spoke a now surprised Mrs. Franks. “Why … why he can’t be more than 25 or 26 and … and how many children could he have filled it up with by now?” asked the surprised woman.

“Mom … Mr. Ken … he’s not married. But … but what he’s done is … is he’s adopted two boys and he’s fostered a number of other boys, and now I am one of them,” happily announced Billy to his mom.

“Mom, get this … at one time there were six boys, no seven of us living in the house. Right now, there are only five boys living in the house, the two boys he’s adopted and three of us fosters. One boy … he went back home to live with his parents, while the twins … they were taken by their aunt and uncle to raise, because, (but the teen saw Mr. Ken shake his head, so he changed what he was going to say.) well, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Mr. Ken … that he fosters boys … and that we have an awesome place to live in and grow, mom. And maybe, mom, one day … you could see the place.”

“And mom … you ahh, you remember Gina’s son, Charlie? I ahhh … I met him,” announced the teenager.

“No … you didn’t! How?” spoke a very surprised Amelia Franks.

“Yes, mom … I did. And mom … he’s … he’s one of my … my ‘brothers’,” quietly stated the woman’s son, who waited to hear what his mom would say.

“How can that be possible, Billy?” now asked Amelia. “Smokey … he told everyone that if he ever found the boy, he was going to kill him for what he did to him and his mom. And that night … that night that he called Jody, he told him that he found out where the boy was living.

“Billy … he told Jody … he told him that he was going to go there and take him away from there and that was why he wanted everyone to gather at the ‘safe house’, so they could make a plan to grab the boy.”

Mr. Ken was now hearing something no one ever knew, so he kept quiet about what he already knew that happened the night of the carnival, and what he learned that happened the following night during the shootout and Smokey being found in the circling boat out on the lake.

Robert and Eric finally finished cutting and trimming the large field around 1 p.m. and the two teens were very tired and sweaty. But they were also happy the job was now done and they were earning some money. They also talked about cutting the field again the weekend before the Memorial Day Picnic and hoped it didn’t rain, otherwise they’d have to cut it piecemeal during the week before the picnic.

The teens cleaned up the riding mower and string trimmer and straightened out the shed and by the time they had closed the shed doors the rest of the boys were getting the barbeque started. Knowing that, they quickly ran into the house to get their showers and put on some clean clothes, so they could get a burger or two.

By the time the boys started cooking, Lonnie had gathered his inventory ‘team’ to put together the lists Mr. Wayne wanted. Phillip and his friends gave the older teenager their final numbers and told him they also filled up the soda machines, so they didn’t really need to be filled later before everyone left for the day. That put a smile on the older teen’s face.

Logan and Max went next and gave their count of the hamburger and hot dog buns, as well as the number of cups and paper plates that were remaining, but they said that the number would now change after the day’s barbeque. They also had the number of large cans of ketchup and mustard, and the number of jars of mayo and pickle relish on the storage room shelf as well as the number of jars of open mayonnaise left in the refrigerator. But they reminded the older teen they figured that the number wouldn’t change too much after the day’s barbeque.

Charles and Cooper had the count of the number of hamburgers and hot dogs that were remaining in the freezer, but they told Lonnie that just as the number of buns that would be used so would the burgers and dogs, so they would have to revise their numbers after the barbeque was over. They did indicate they waited until the cooks prepared the tomatoes, lettuce and onions and that their count of them was pretty accurate.

Lonnie thanked all the boys for volunteering to do the inventory and he asked those who counted the buns, burgers, dogs, cups and paper plates to revise their numbers after the cooks stopped cooking and to give them to him then, so he could give Mr. Wayne an accurate count before they all left for the day.

By then Robert and Eric had come up to the Pavilion to get something to eat. They heard that Lonnie ran the inventory that Mr. Wayne asked for, and for that Robert was thankful. Then he remembered he needed to tell Mr. Wayne that there was no gas for either the mower or the golf carts.

So, the Cover teen went over to Lonnie and asked him to put on his inventory list the fact that all the gas cans were empty and that meant that there wasn’t any more gas for the riding mower or the golf carts. Lonnie asked the Cover why he didn’t tell the Estate Master himself. Robert said that if he was compiling lists this was the easiest way for Mr. Wayne to know the gas cans were empty as it was written down.

Phillip and his friends enjoyed everything they could at The Cove. As they rested after they skated, Jeffrey asked Phillip if he thought Mr. Ken was kidding about him bringing his drums over and practicing there. Westin then asked if it would be okay for him to bring his guitar over, too.

Phillip had no idea what to say. But he did tell his friends that he would try to remember to ask his foster dad those questions and let them know. He did remind his friends that right after school is over, he and his ‘brothers’ would be going on a trip for at least ten days, so it wouldn’t happen until after they returned. The Cover’s friends said that sounded fair and they would have to wait until they heard what Mr. Ken had to say.

It was quiet for a few moments amongst the boys, when Preston asked, “Ahh, Phillip … ahh, have you heard anything more about your mom?”

The question caught the Cover by surprise, but he recovered quickly and he told his friends that his foster dad, Mr. Ken, had talked to his mom’s doctor yesterday and that he was recommending that she be sent to a rehabilitation facility so she could get the treatment she really needs to fully recover.

Preston then asked Phillip if he would get to visit his mom again, soon. Phillip told his friend that he asked Mr. Ken if he would be able to see her again, but his foster dad told him he would have to look into seeing if he could, but he wouldn’t know until later in the week. Phillip said he would just have to wait and see.

Billy told his mom that he never knew the reason why Jody had to go out that night that he was shot and killed. The teen told his mom that he just figured the man was just going out to pick up some more drugs from Smokey, like he usually did, which was why he took his gun.

The teen’s mom just shook her head and bowed her head as she shed a few tears, probably from thinking about what did happen that fateful night. The woman then changed the subject and asked her son to tell her about what he’d been doing those past three years.

Billy told his mom about being grilled by the police about what they found in the house after they searched it. He then told her how Children’s Protective Services sent him to live with different foster families while she was waiting for her trial and after she was convicted and what he had to endure in them.

Amelia was surprised to hear what her son had to put up with at the first foster homes he lived in. She couldn’t believe that the people were only concerned about the money they got for housing the foster children and not really doing anything for, in this case, her son.

Billy then told Amelia about his being taken to The Cove and how he almost was sent away that first night because of the way he tried to be the Alpha. But the teen then explained how Ms. Judy, his caseworker, explained to him who Mr. Ken was and what he could do for him if he’d just give him the chance.

Billy then told his mom how he apologized to Mr. Ken and how the man started the interview all over, as if nothing ever happened, and how he was accepted to remain at The Cove and enjoy what there was to do there.

Billy then began telling his mom more about The Cove, Mr. Wayne, Mr. Chris, Mr. Dennis, Momma Maria, Chief, his bedroom and the water toys, the personal watercraft, the Pavilion, the Cove Skate Park, the trips he’d been on and the carnival Mr. Ken holds every 4^th of July for his community.

Mrs. Franks didn’t say anything about what her son just told her. She sat there thinking for a few moments and then asked her son if the carnival his foster dad held was the same one where his step-dad was arrested.

Billy looked at Mr. Ken because he didn’t know the answer.

“Mrs. Franks … Billy, as you well know, wasn’t living with me back then, but yes … the carnival … that was where your husband, Jody, was arrested. … He along with four other people, that night, were arrested. Is there anything you want to know about that particular carnival, or night?’ directly asked Mr. Ken.

Mr. Ken’s answer stunned the woman and she was quiet for a time. She then said, “So … it was you who … who got my husband killed?”

Mr. Ken smiled and quickly replied, “No, Amelia, Jody … he got himself killed … when he fought a gun battle with the Sheriff’s Deputies the following night. And you well know that!

“But it was Smokey … he was the one who called your home the night he was killed, on the 5^th of July … because as you just told us, Smokey … he wanted his gang to gather at the so-called ‘safe house’ in order to plan a kidnapping.

“But, unbeknownst to ‘Smokey’ and his gang, the Sheriff’s Department … they had assigned detectives to follow all five of them, who were arrested at my carnival on the 4^th of July, hoping they would lead them to Smokey’s cache of drugs. But what ‘Smokey’s’ gang did instead was … was they started the shootout that got your husband killed and ultimately Smokey wounded,” finished Ken Thomas.

“How do you know all that?” demanded Amelia.

“I know all that because … because I have a friend in the Sheriff’s Office. He’s a lieutenant, now … but that night … he kept me abreast of what was happening at the shoot-out, and because Smokey got away, they were afraid he was headed back to where the carnival was held and to … and to kidnap my son … my son, Charles.”

“Your … your son … Charles? But … but, how?” asked a dumbfounded Amelia Franks.

“Charlie, you know, Gina’s son … he was brought to my home the day before the carnival and when Smokey, your husband Jody, Patrick ‘Spider’ Pearce, Paige ‘Chickee’ Perrie and Jacob ‘Butcher’ Cook came to my carnival on the 4^th of July, Smokey recognized Charles right away and tried to get him to go with him, but I wouldn’t allow it.

“But the five caused such a commotion that they were all arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing and a few of them were also charged with possession of a deadly weapon. Oh, and by the way, I did have Sheriff Deputies working at the carnival that night, so a few of them were also charged with assault on a police officer.

“But Smokey … he somehow made bail that night and he came back to the carnival. He entered the estate and he found Charles standing alone. The boy was watching his friends riding an amusement ride and so he forced Charles … he forced him to a dark corner of my estate and from there he intended to kidnap him.

“But my dog Chief … she found them … and she snuck up and attacked Smokey and when she did that Charles … Charles was able to get away. And the knife that ‘Smoky’ held to Charles’ throat … the knife he threatened to slit his throat with … it hit Chief when the dog attacked and that was how ‘Smokey’ was able to get away, as it distracted the Sheriff’s Deputies. The man had already hot-wired a boat across the fence line and got to it before the Sheriff’s Deputies could react,” reveled Mr. Ken.

“So, Smokey … he wasn’t lying when he called Jody that night. He did know where Charlie lived and … and if they hadn’t gotten into that shootout, he would have gotten the boy,” laughed Amelia.

Mr. Ken smiled at what the woman just said. Then, he told the woman, “That would NEVER have happened. The Sheriff’s Department … because he had tried to kidnap Charles that first night, they figured he would come back … so they were waiting for Smokey to come back to my place.

“But, as we all know … Smokey … he was shot during an exchange with a Sheriff’s Deputy. During that shootout, and even though he got away he almost bled-out on that stolen boat he had hidden and used again. I’m not sure if you knew this, or not, but he was found going around in circles out on the lake. He died on the operating table the following day.

“As for me adopting Charles … it was last October, that I adopted him. Gina, Charles’ mom … she didn’t want to give up her parental rights, but she did herself in when she made some statements that were recorded of her saying of how she was going to kill Charles when she got out of prison. She will never get near her biological son, ever,” declared Mr. Ken.

Amelia Franks just had her bubble burst, now that she heard information that she was never made privy too, and from a person who had direct knowledge of the events.

Mr. Ken saw the conflict in the woman’s face, so he asked Bill to go and get them all something to drink. He did that so just he and she could have a private conversation without the teenager there to hear it.

With Bill gone for a few minutes, Ken Thomas took advantage to talk to Amelia alone.

“Amelia … I wish you could have seen the roller coaster of emotions your son went through when he learned I would bring him to see you, after he built up the courage to ask me to. So, please … please let go of your past and be happy for your son and what he now has.

“The people you once knew … they are no longer around. And it will be at least another ten years before you are up for parole and by then Bill … Bill will be twenty-six and hopefully successful and … and he may very well have a family of his own by then.

“Amelia … Bill and Charles … they have talked about their time around what Smokey had done to their families. And I’d have to say that they are good friends now, and they now call one another … ‘brother’. I ask you to be positive with your son and look to his future.

“Bill is very bright and intuitive and I’d say he has a good future ahead of him and … and he will undoubtedly remain with me until he ages out of the system at eighteen. But he will always be welcomed at my home.

“By the way, I own a number of businesses and I will do my best to lead him in the direction that he wants to go. But any encouragement that comes from you will go a long way in getting him to look to his future and to further his education in whichever vocation he chooses.

“So, please … don’t bring up or dwell on the past. It does him no good. Here he comes with our drinks. Please encourage him to focus on his future. Ask him to tell you more about the things that he’s done and any plans he has. Remember … we need to be upbeat and encourage him to be successful,” finished Mr. Ken just as Billy returned.

“The guards … they made me open the drinks in front of them. He told me that was so they don’t get taken back into the wards. So, drink up, while they’re still cold. … So … so, did you two speak about me while I was gone? I figured you did, which was why Mr. Ken sent me to get the sodas,” quickly chattered the teenager upon his return, as he sat down.

The teen’s mother looked at her son and told him that they were talking about him, and that his Mr. Ken wanted her to know that he was a very bright and intelligent teen who had a good future and that he wanted her to help him encourage her son to go to college and be successful.

Billy blushed at what his mom just told him and then he looked over at his foster dad and thanked him for saying what he did to his mother. The three all took a drink from their sodas and then Amelia asked her son to tell her more about the things he’d done and the plans he had for the summer.

After the boys cleaned up from the barbeque, most of them went to swim, but a few of them decided to skate, since they’d have the whole Cove Skate Park to themselves. Phillip and his friends debated on which one they should do. Then Bryson asked if Phillip knew where they would be sleeping when they had the sleep over.

Phillip and his friends went in search of Charles, as the older Cover told Phillip he’d help show him where they would sleep. When they found the teen, he was just about ready to change into his swim suit, so he told them to wait for him out in the Great Room, and he’d show them where they would set up come Friday.

Charles quickly changed and met the five younger boys out in the Great Room.

“OK, when you arrive on Friday, Billy and his friends will set up in the MRS Room, Robert and his friends will be in the Theater, me and my friends will set up under the stairs and Matthew and his friends are usually next to the pool wall. But they may change now that Kevin and Kyle and their friends are no longer coming.

“So … I’d say if you get here first … hurry inside and set your things next to the fireplace. Then roll your sleeping bags out and claim it as your spot. Kevin and Kyle and their friends …they used to take up all of the area around the fireplace and in the middle of the Great Room. And let’s hope Matthew and his friends don’t try to hustle you out of the fireplace area. Are you going to be good there?” finished Charles.

The five boys all agreed that the fireplace looked as a great spot to them and they all thanked Charles for taking the time to show them where to go and set up on Friday. After Charles left to go swim, the five boys had to decide if they were going to swim or skate.

Westin saw Phillip’s guitar on the sofa and asked if he could play it. The Cover said he could, so the boy picked it up and began to play something. The four boys sat down and listened to Westin play.

Mr. Wayne was up in the Study and he too heard the guitar music, but it sounded different to him from this morning’s playing. So, he went out to the glass banister in order to look out to the Great Room to see who was playing. He saw it was Westin.

“Hey, I know that song,” Mr. Wayne heard Bryson say, and then the boy began to sing. Then he heard Jeffrey began to drum out the beat on the coffee table.

“Geez, I wish I played an instrument,” spoke up Preston. “Listen to these three and it’s just a simple song without much of anything. I bet if you added Phillip on his guitar and Jeffrey on his full drum set, you’d have a good band.”

The five boys talked about that for a few moments, but then decided to go out and skate because they had to leave by five on Sunday’s, and it was already 3:30.

As the two Cover’s and Amelia talked, a guard came over to Mr. Ken and asked him to step aside. When the two did, the guard told Mr. Ken that the shift Captain asked if he could talk to him. Mr. Ken said he didn’t mind, but he didn’t want to leave his foster son alone there with his mom. The guard said that the captain would come over to him, as he knew the teen couldn’t be left alone, as he was under age.

A few minutes later, the shift Captain came over to Mr. Ken.

“Mr. Thomas, I am Captain Perkins, Everett Perkins, and … and I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with me. It isn’t often that we get a famous celebrity visiting here and … well, I just wanted to come down and meet you and personally thank you for what you’ve done for the boys you foster and your involvement in the saving of that teenager, as well as for the other things you’ve done down in your area.

“You see, I have some friends in the Sheriff’s Department, where you live, and they … well they’ve told me about some of the events that you have had to deal with over the years. The attack on your home, where you protected that teenager and were shot in doing so, is just one of the many issues I’ve been told about. And I want you to know that I admire you for what you did, that and all you’ve done.

“Well, thank you, Captain, for saying what you did. But … well, I just did what I would hope any adult would do for any child to keep them safe. We, as adults, owe it to them as they usually can’t do it for themselves as they don’t have the means, training or wherewithal to do it for themselves,” offered a somewhat embarrassed Ken Thomas.

While Mr. Ken and Captain Perkins talked, Amelia was happy to hear everything that her son, Billy, was doing at The Cove. After Billy told her the highlights of the most exciting things he’d gotten to do while at The Cove, Amelia had him tell her about them in more detail.

Billy then began to tell her about the attack at his new school and how Mr. Ken hired a lawyer to defend him against the high school principal. The teen’s mom told him she was surprised that her son’s foster dad would spend that kind of money, but that she was thankful the man treated her son as if he was his real ‘son’ and supported him throughout.

Billy told her about helping with his first Easter Egg Roll, the opening of the Cove Skate Park and the Memorial Day Picnic, going to Mr. Ken’s amusement parks, on a special three-day trip with Mr. Ken and then about the 4^th of July Carnival the man has for his community. Billy then told his mom about the drugs being planted in his room and his being sent away,

Billy then told Amelia about his time living with the Goldersons and what he’d gotten to do there. The teenager told his mom about Mark and his wanting a ‘big brother’ and that the parents selected him, even though he was much older than who they actually wanted.

Billy continued and explained to his mom how the attack happened and what took place in his bedroom and what Bennett Grafflers, Santiago Sanchez and Weston Thrumble accused him of.

Amelia told her son that she knew the names, but not the men, but she couldn’t believe the men blamed her son for what happened to ‘Smokey’. She was also surprised they were able to reconstitute ‘Smokey’s’ drug trade. She was also totally upset how they tried to beat up her son to get him to admit that it was he who got ‘Smokey’ killed.

Billy told her about the shootout and his recovery at the hospital and how Mr. Ken saved Kaden from being killed by one of the men who invaded the house. The teen then explained that it was that same teen, Kaden, who had planted the drugs in his bedroom that got him banned from The Cove.

The teenager went into more detail about how Kaden was befriended by the men and was the drug runner for them at the high school and that they had used him to plant the drugs in order to get him away from Mr. Ken as they knew they could never get to him as long as he was behind those big walls.

It was then Amelia Franks heard that Mr. Ken hired lawyers to sue the alarm company for $2.5 million, in his name, that she was grateful Billy was now living with someone who really cared about her son and would do what he had told her earlier, which was that he would look out for her son.

Billy continued telling his mom what he’d done while living with Mr. Ken and told his mom about going to Collin’s for Thanksgiving and the Holiday Parties and what he’d gotten for Christmas last year. He told her about the cruise he went on and all the excursions he went on with his foster dad and his ‘brothers’.

The teenager also told her how Mr. Ken met Ms. Kate and that he had brought her, her sons and her mother on the cruise and how they spent lots of time together during the cruise. He then told her that he personally thinks they will probably get married. Amelia smiled at hearing the man was looking to find a woman to marry.

But Billy really didn’t get the chance to fully go into any great detail about all the things he wanted to, as the guard came to them and told them that their time was up for their visit. Amelia was disappointed, thinking they had all afternoon, but the guard told them that they usually only had 60 minutes, and they had already given them ninety as this was her son’s first visit.

“Oh, Billy, you sound so happy. I am very happy for you and … and I want you to do your best. And please, please listen to your Mr. Ken and continue to do what he wants you to. When do you think you could come back, son?” finished Amelia Franks.

“Mom, probably not until later in the summer. Robert … his parents are in prison, too, and Mr. Ken … he is taking him to visit his mom next. Then we have a big Memorial Day Picnic with about 300 people and when school is over, we are going on a 10-day trip to visit Mr. Ken’s amusement parks. After that there is the 4^th of July Carnival. Mr. Ken … he keeps us busy,” explained Billy to his mom.

“Yes, I do keep the boys busy and they keep me on my toes,” chimed in Ken Thomas.

“I hope you two had a great visit,” stated Mr. Ken.

“Oh, Mr. Ken …how can I ever thank you for bringing my son to visit me? Today … this was such a wonderful surprise for me when I learned that Billy was looking to come and visit me, and now … and now here he is,” now cried Amelia, as the tears began to fall and the mother and son embraced.

As the two pulled apart, Billy said, through his own tears, “Oh, and mom, I’m … I’m going to put some money in your … I think’s it’s called your Trust Fund Account. That’s so you can buy the things you need to help make your time here ahh … ahh better.”

“Yes, my Estate Manager has looked into what we needed to do,” began Mr. Ken, “and next week we will be making sure $200.00 is sent to your Trust Fund Account, so be sure to watch for it. And be aware that the State does have a handling fee but I do not know how much that is so you may not get that full amount,” finished the teen’s foster dad.

“Oh, Billy, and you too, Mr. Ken, you didn’t have to do that for me, but I will be so ever grateful for the added money,” said a tearful Amelia Franks.

The guard came over and told the three that it was time for their visit to be over. Amelia and Billy hugged one last time and then the guard took the woman towards her ward and the two Covers walked to the Visitor’s Center area where Mr. Ken thanked the guards for all of their help. Billy added his thanks as well.

As Amelia was walking away, Billy yelled to her that he would write. She turned and waved and then disappeared behind the large metal door.

Out in the parking lot, Mr. Ken asked Billy if he wanted to drive back to The Cove. But Billy said his emotions were riding too high right then, and that his foster dad had better drive. Mr. Ken smiled and got behind the driver’s wheel. The two Cover’s headed back home.

At The Cove, as Phillip and his friends skated, they asked him about his search for the dinner bell. The Cover told them he talked to Mr. Ken and that he needed to narrow it down and show him what he thought would be good to use up at the Pavilion.

The boys asked him which type of bell he was leaning towards. All Phillip could tell them was that he wished he could have the bells there to see how loud they actually were. The young Cover explained that he liked the large cast iron farmhouse dinner bell that you pull a rope to ring. He added that if it is big enough, it could be what they needed.

Phillip then said that he also liked the large ranch or cowboy triangle dinner bells that, if they were large enough, they, too, could be just as loud when rung, but he just couldn’t fathom how loud they could be without actually hearing them. He told his friends he just wished he could have them there to be able to choose.

At five that afternoon, the boy’s friends began to filter out of The Cove. Most of the Covers’ friends had a parent come to the estate to drive them home, while a few rode their bikes and headed home after saying goodbye to everyone.

After all of their friends left for the day, the Cover boys gathered in the Study with Mr. Wayne. The boys talked with the Estate Master and they all wondered when their ‘dad’ and ‘brother’ would be home. Mr. Wayne called his boss who didn’t pick up, so the Estate Master then called Bill’s cell phone. Billy answered and explained that he was too emotional after meeting with his mom to drive, which was why Mr. Ken didn’t answer his phone.

Mr. Wayne then learned that the two traveling Covers would probably be home at about seven o’clock and that they should go out to dinner without them if they wanted. Mr. Wayne took a vote with the boys and told Bill to tell his boss that they all agreed they’d meet them at the Four Corner’s Diner, and in the meantime, they would drive the Go-Karts while they waited.

When he heard what his Estate Master said, Mr. Ken told Bill to tell Mr. Wayne that he was ‘buying’. Everyone had a big laugh.

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

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