Published: 10 Nov 2022

From Previous Chapter:

Mr. Ken told the teen that if he feels threatened when he goes back to school, over the other students blaming him for their drug dealers being arrested, he needed to go to the office and then call him or Mr. Wayne. The man told Billy that he would not stand for more bullying at the high school, no matter if there is a new principal.

After talking to the boys, Mr. Wayne told his boss he’d be back at about eleven tomorrow. and then went back to his apartment. Mr. Ken went to his private retreat and after taking care of his last-minute draining of his own dragon, he went to bed.

The Cove was quiet that Wednesday night.

It was overcast that Thursday morning when Mr. Ken went out to get his newspaper. Texas weather in August was always fickle. You could always count on one cool front coming through just before Labor Day, but Mr. Ken wasn’t sure if this was it. It really didn’t matter though, he thought, because no one could control Mother Nature.

Mr. Ken went inside to read his morning paper and get his first cup of coffee. He mentioned to Momma Maria that he had to leave by 9:30 to take Robert and Billy over to the high school, so he wanted to eat before the boys came down for breakfast. He added he would then get ready while the boys ate.

Momma made the man some scrambled eggs, crisp bacon and pancakes and poured him a fresh cup of coffee when she served him his breakfast. He continued to read his paper as he ate. When he finished eating, he thanked her for making him his breakfast and then he headed to his private retreat to get ready for the day.

When the boys came down for breakfast, Billy and Robert were dressed in school clothes so they could head off with Mr. Ken to the high school when he was ready. All the boys talked about how fast the summer went by and they would all soon be back in school. Mark said he was a bit apprehensive about starting school, but Matthew told him he knew lots of the boys there and he’ll meet more in his class.

Mark then asked if he’d be able to invite any of them over to The Cove. Robert told him that once he feels he found a good friend he should talk to his dad and ask him. But the teen added that with him moving back to his own home after the Labor Day weekend he may not want to invite someone over knowing they’d only be here one or two weekends and then never come back again.

Mr. Chris came to work about that time and got himself a cup of coffee. He then asked the boys what they thought about Mr. Dennis. The boys looked back and forth to one another to see who would say something first.

Kevin was the first one to speak up and he told Mr. Chris that they really hadn’t had a chance to get to know him. Kyle jumped into the conversation and told the Estate Manager that they were going to ask him for the instructions for the soda machine so they could ask Mr. Dennis to look to see how they could change a few of the racks to hold water bottles.

Robert added that his dad recommended that it would be good for Mr. Dennis, and them, to have to work together on a project and that way, they would each get a chance to get to know one another.

Mr. Chris agreed that he could see how that would bring them together, as they would have to read the instructions and figure out how to make the changes, if they were within their capabilities. Mr. Chris then asked the boys to check their supplies, and in particular, their soda reserves seeing their ‘dad’ is planning on having about 300 people at the Labor Day Picnic and they will go through the drinks if it is hot that day.

Robert asked Charles to do that for him. But Charles told his brother that he and Mark were going sailing when they finished breakfast. Billy spoke up and told his ‘brother’ that when he gets home from the high school, he’d go up to the storage room and check how many cases of soda they had and try to determine what else they’d need for the picnic.

‘Dad’ Ken heard part of that conversation and he was glad that Robert asked someone to handle that while he was gone. He was also happy that Billy jumped up and said he’d not only check the stock, but he’d try to establish how many drinks and anything else they would need for the picnic.

The three Covers headed out to the garage to load into the F-150 so they could be at the high school for 10 a.m. and Robert’s orientation. Once they arrived at Alvin York High School, Robert went to the auditorium where all incoming freshmen were meeting.

Billy checked the bulletin board for the sophomore class list, found his name and then went to the homeroom where he was assigned. It was there he could pick up his class schedule. Mr. Ken told Bill to meet him at the office, where he was headed, so he could meet the new high school principal.

When Mr. Ken arrived at the main office of the high school, he asked to see the principal only to learn from the secretary that the vice-principal was filling the seat temporarily until the School Board finished their search and brought on board their final candidate. Mr. Ken did learn that the vice-principal did not make the final cut and was biding his time as he looked for another opening in a different school district.

That got the secretary and Mr. Ken to talking and they discussed what happened last spring with Billy and Mr. Stanley. The secretary then brought up how Mr. Stanley never protected the student’s rights going back as far as when Collin and Ryan went to school there. Mr. Ken didn’t realize she had worked there that long, so the two stepped aside, drank coffee and traded stories from back when Collin lived at The Cove.

Billy came to the office looking for his foster dad and they told him he was busy with the secretary and that he should just wait for him. When Mr. Ken and the secretary came back into the office, the foster dad told the teen he’d forgotten about him, but he was there now and they could go and get his and Robert’s lunch passes and then head on home.

As they were leaving, Mr. Ken thanked the secretary for the conversation and reminded her he would be looking for an executive secretary to work for him out at his new office building next to the Lakeside Hotel very soon and if she wasn’t interested, she should spread the word to her friends to watch for the announcement. The secretary smiled and said she would.

When Billy returned to The Cove, he changed clothes then headed up to the Pavilion to check the supplies and try to figure out how many sodas they’d need for the Labor Day Picnic. When he got there, Lonnie joined him and the two took inventory and discussed how many drinks they thought they’d need for the huge picnic Mr. Ken was planning.

While Mr. Ken, Billy and Robert were gone, Charles and Mark went out sailing. While they were out there, Charles, who had already begun to show Mark how to sail, let Mark do the honors. It was slow going, at first, but Mark had been out enough times that he caught on quickly and he was enjoying being at the tiller. He crabbed the small craft upwind in order to race it downwind when the time came.

Mr. Dennis arrived at eleven as promised. When he entered, Kevin and Kyle were waiting for him in the MRS Room. They reintroduced themselves to him, and they explained why they were waiting for him. Mr. Chris had already given them the plans for the soda machine, so all they needed to do was go up to the Pavilion, read the instructions on how to convert some of the racks over to vend bottles, open the machine, look inside and see if they could do it.

Mr. Dennis told the boys he needed to check in with Mr. Thomas before he went with them, so to give him a few minutes. The man then knocked on the Study door and told his boss what the boys wanted him to do. Mr. Ken said that was something they had intended to do, so it was a good idea and to let him know if it was possible.

Mr. Dennis and the twins went out to the garage to grab a golf cart to drive up to the pavilion. Once they arrived at the Pavilion, Kevin got the soda machine key, but Mr. Dennis told the boys they needed to get familiar with the workings of the machine before they opened it otherwise, they would begin to warm up the sodas already inside.

Of course, the boys who were already there had to know what they were going to do, so they gathered around them and listened to what they were talking about. Once Mr. Dennis said he thought he had a good idea of what to look for inside the machine, he asked Kevin to open it so they could look inside and check what the instructions indicated against what they saw.

Lucky for them, the soda machine was only half-full, so they could readily view inside the racks and see what they would need to do if they wanted to change a few of the racks over to hold water bottles.

Billy and Lonnie came out from the storage room and heard Mr. Dennis and the twins talking about how to change the machine from cans to water bottles and that the instructions were clear enough, but there weren’t any diagrams to go by to ensure they did it right.

Billy told them that they could probably see if there was a YouTube Video that showed how to do that and if there was such a video, they might be able to stop and start it and replay it to make sure they did it correctly. So, that was what they did.

Billy then mentioned that the soda machine, as it is, vends 540 cans when it is full and with Mr. Ken expecting upwards of 300 people at the Labor Day Picnic that might not be enough and they would probably have to add drinks to it during the day. The teen then added that if they reduce the number of sodas in the machine, they definitely wouldn’t have enough cold sodas for the picnic.

The five loaded into a six-seater golf cart and headed down to the house to talk to Mr. Ken. When they got there, the Study door was closed and Mr. Dennis was going to knock on it, but Kevin asked him not to. The older twin told the new Assistant Estate Master that when their ‘dad’ had the Study door closed they knew he didn’t want to be disturbed unless it was an emergency. The five sat down in the MRS Room.

Robert came into the house just then. That surprised them and Kevin asked him where he came from. The teen told them that one of the parents gave him a ride home from his high school orientation. Robert then asked them why they were all sitting there. Kevin explained about their trying to change some of the racks in the soda machine over to water bottles and they might have a problem.

Robert wished them ‘good luck’, then headed up to his room to change clothes.

While they sat there, Billy thought of something that happened while he lived with the Golderson’s and he wanted to talk to Momma Maria about it, so he got up to head out to the Kitchen Nook. The teen asked Kyle to come and get him when they went in to talk to Mr. Ken. Lonnie went with his friend.

“Momma,” called out Billy, as he entered the Kitchen Nook.

“Yeses, Billy’s”, replied Momma Maria.

“Momma … when I was living with the Goldersons … one night … Mr. Levi … he … he showed me how to cook chicken breasts. Do you think that we … that maybe one night … that maybe we could grill, I mean … maybe we could barbeque some chicken breasts up at the pavilion one night? We could also have baked potatoes, grilled asparagus and do some grilled corn on the cob? I could help. Matter-of-fact, I’d like to help to do that.

“Momma, it was fun getting to do something different than cooking hamburgers and hot dogs. One night … we even had a big, well for them it was big, we had two other families over and us kids … we had to plan the meal and cook it on the grills.

“We did the barbequed chicken and beef kielbasa sausage and we soaked the corn in their husks in cold water and then shook the water out and grilled them just before we ate. We also did the asparagus and the moms did baked-potatoes and we had sour cream, butter, shredded cheese and bacon bits to top them.

“Momma I had fun doing that. So … do you think that maybe … that maybe you … that we could plan something like that for one-night next week?” Billy finished explaining with a big smile on his face.

Momma stood there with a big smile on her face. She had said that she would like to cook a dinner, up at the Pavilion one night, but had never thought any more about it. And now here was Billy coming to her with a great dinner idea.

“Yeses, Billy’s, Isss thinkses that’s ises these bestes ideas. Wees coulds doss thises anys dayses nexts weeks, ases longses ases its nots goings tos rians,” laughed Momma Maria.

“Letses mes buys everythngs ands … ands whens ises iss readys ises wills gets wich youes ands plans its. Ises that’s Oks wich youes?” asked Momma Maria.

Billy also smiled big and told her he was ready and to just tell him when and what he had to do. He then went over to Momma and hugged her for agreeing to do that. Momma thanked him for bringing such a great dinner idea to her and that she was now looking forward to doing something so unique and different herself.

Just then Kyle came into the Nook looking for his older ‘brother’ and Lonnie and the three headed to the Study. There they joined Mr. Dennis and Kevin who were already describing what they found with the soda machine to Mr. Ken and Mr. Wayne.

Billy was a bit peeved that they didn’t wait for him, but he didn’t want to make a scene, so he kept quiet and waited to tell Mr. Ken what he thought. When it was his turn, Billy told his foster dad that if they change out just one soda rack, they would lose 54 cans of soda. Mr. Wayne countered that they would gain a rack of cold-water bottles.

The teen smiled and further explained that with upwards of 300 people at the Labor Day Picnic he felt they would need to fill the machine at least one time if not a second time because of the number of attendees. He explained that if they take out one rack of sodas, and add a rack of water bottles, he felt that with the number of kids they would drink all that soda and more not counting what the adults would drink.

Mr. Wayne began to counter that the adults would probably drink more water than soda and that Mr. Ken usually had beer on tap for the adults, as well, and that would also reduce the number of sodas the adults would drink. He also added that the boys and girls might like the flavored waters instead of soda and would want those instead.

Billy held his ground and argued back that for every rack of soda they took out they lost 54 cans of soda, and they would only gain 27 bottles of water, because the bottles were almost twice the size of a can and took up that much space.

Mr. Wayne asked him how he knew that. Billy smiled and told him there is a YouTube video that explains how to change out the racks and he watched it. The teen told the Estate Master that they would cut in half the number of cold drinks available for the attendees and they would have to revert back to using the coolers.

Mr. Dennis was amazed at what he was seeing and hearing. He couldn’t believe that Mr. Thomas was allowing the teenager to argue with the Estate Master and not putting a stop to it. After he heard Billy say what he thought was a snarky remark about having to start using the coolers again he felt he had to speak up.

“Mr. Thomas … ahhh … shouldn’t you … ahh put an end to this sort of … of argument?” asked the new employee.

Mr. Ken smiled back at the man, knowing he was being introduced to his style of brainstorming and inclusion of the boys in decision making. He knew he needed to explain it to the man so he didn’t get the idea that the ‘inmates ran the institution’.

“Dennis … I encourage the boys to participate in discussions, especially when they have a view they feel strongly about and can calmly express themselves with facts. Billy has done just that and Mr. Wayne, here is playing devil’s advocate, I hope, to see if there are any holes to his reasoning.

“There is more to it, but for now, just know that I encourage the boys to speak up and tell me what they are thinking. Every night we all meet here in my Study and talk about the day and what’s in store for them in the coming days and weeks.

“OK, as for the soda machine, Wayne … what is your opinion? Do we need to add more water and reduce the number of sodas thus having to refill it more often on the day of the picnic? Or, Billy, do we need to possibly get another soda machine?” chuckled Mr. Ken.

Kevin and Kyle looked at one another, and did the twin speak as they usually did, and Lonnie got a big, surprised look on his face as if he felt Mr. Ken was about to order another soda machine. Mr. Wayne also got a smile on his face as he felt the only reasonable answer was to get another machine, while Billy felt the same way.

Billy answered first. “Mr. Ken, I don’t know how much those machines cost, but if we got one that wasn’t as big as the soda machine we have and we only filled it with plain and flavored waters, I would hope it would satisfy everyone’s thirst on the day of the picnic.”

Mr. Wayne seconded Billy’s answer. He qualified his response by saying that if the Picnic wasn’t an issue, then he’d say to just go ahead and change out four of the racks and the kids would get over it. He asked if he should call Chris to come to the Study. Mr. Ken, instead, picked up the phone and rang the Estate Manager and asked him to come there.

Mr. Ken explained to Chris, when the man arrived, what he wanted the man to do and to see if he could get it done first thing next week, if not tomorrow. Mr. Chris smiled at the direction and then asked if Mr. Ken had decided on the menu for the Labor Day Picnic.

That question threw Mr. Ken for a loop. He thought he had taken care of that, but Mr. Chris told him he was so busy, before he went on his trip, that he put it off until he came back, then found himself even busier. The Estate Manager told his employer he needed to make a decision by tomorrow. Mr. Ken then put it on Mr. Chris’ shoulders to do something different, but similar.

Mr. Ken told the boys they could go as he needed to talk to the men. But before they left, Billy told Mr. Wayne they needed to make a soda run either today or tomorrow, or they would run out of soda either that weekend or by Saturday of next week. Mr. Wayne asked the teen to find two strong teens who could go with him when he was finished with his meeting with the boss. Billy smiled and said he would.

After the boys left, Mr. Ken told Wayne and Chris he needed to explain something to Dennis and he wanted them to be there so they knew what was said.

“Dennis … I know what you saw and heard between Wayne, here, and Bill, a while ago, isn’t something … isn’t something you are used to and … and that you were probably brought up differently that a younger person should never argue with someone who is in authority.

“But there is something going on here that I haven’t totally explained to you. I think I did tell you, that I won’t tell you, why the boys are living with me. That it will be up to the boys to get to know you and when they trust you enough, they may begin to tell you parts and pieces of the why of their being here.

“You may even hear some of it when the boys are talking, and I would ask you not to solicit any more from them than what you hear. That’s where the trust would come from. Anyway … what I want to say is these boys … they come from broken homes where their self-esteem was practically non-existent.

“What I try to do with them here is … is try to give them that chance to build that up, you know, their self-confidence, image, and pride back in themselves by allowing them to voice their feelings and their ideas and their concerns when we have our meetings.

“They have been held back so much in their young lives that they need the encouragement to speak up and out, but respectfully, mind you. We all solicit their input and I want you to accept what they have to say, as well. Their minds are not cluttered with all of the minutia we adults gather as we get older, so they tend to speak more honestly and I don’t want to stifle that.

“I hope you will keep that in mind when you are with the boys and let them be themselves and when they do offer their opinions you will listen and not discount what they have to say. You have any questions?” finished Mr. Ken.

“No, not really. This is only my second day and I am sure there will be many other things that go on here that I won’t understand until someone explains them to me,” offered Dennis Florkert.

“Guys … I also hired my Projects Manager today. When I came back from the high school, I made two phone interviews. I called the two women whom I interviewed for the part-time position I hired Dennis for. They were both surprised when I called.

“They each thought I was calling to tell them they got the part-time position they interviewed for. But when I told them that I was now looking for a full-time Projects Manager and they had the qualifications; they were both interested. But only Jacqueline Kromiere, Jackie, was interested when I told them there would be travel involved.

“Chris, Jackie will be here Monday at ten. I told her she would be on a four-month probationary period, and that she also would be a salaried employee. I’ll give you her salary particulars later. I want you to meet her at the Main Gate, get her registered into the database and then take her to your office and do what you did for Dennis. Then bring her up to my office and I’ll take it from there.

“Men, Jackie will work directly for me. She will help me move my Study office over to the new office building and then she will primarily work from there. But I want her in the database as she may have to come here from time to time. I also want you to meet her, and her you, because you all may cross paths and if she is here, I want her treated as one of us, since she will be working close to me. Any questions?” finished Mr. Ken.

“One last thing. I am also going to hire an executive secretary to work for me at the office building. I will probably have a professional hiring company do the leg work for this one. They will not be a part of The Cove. Do any of you have anything for me?” asked Mr. Ken.

When Mr. Ken was finished talking to them, Mr. Wayne asked Dennis to go with him to get the sodas. He explained that way he’d know where they go and if he is asked to get something from there. The Estate Master added that they would probably have to get water and flavored water next week once Chris got the new dispensing machine.

The boys were cooking the burgers and dogs when the two men went up to the Pavilion, so they decided they should wait to go to get the sodas. Mr. Dennis wanted to watch the boys in action again, so he went over to the grill and watched how the boys cooked the hamburgers and hot dogs.

The cooks told the man that he could take one if he wanted too, but Mr. Dennis said he’d wait until everyone else was eating. The man then walked around some more to get better acquainted with the layout of the estate.

As he was doing that, he saw some of the boys coming from around the corner of the house and realized they had been swimming and were coming up there to eat. Mark and Charles were two of the many boys coming to eat, and also coming to eat were the lifeguards.

The boys knew the men were going to get more sodas, so they had them, plus Lonnie and Gabe, who were going to go with them, get in line first, so they could eat and then go on their task. As they ate, Mr. Dennis was surprised at how well the serving line was presented and how good the burgers tasted.

Mr. Dennis told Wayne he wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it. He explained that the boys worked as a team and they took pride in setting up the serving line and making it look nice and neat.

Mr. Wayne told his assistant that many of the boys have been cooking the burgers and dogs for a good eighteen months now, so they knew what they were doing and they’ve been setting up the serving line since the Memorial Day weekend when the Cove Skate Park and Pavilion were turned over to them.

Billy still wasn’t well enough to carry heavy things, so he couldn’t go to get the sodas, so when they had finished eating, Lonnie and Gabe joined Mr. Wayne and Mr. Dennis in the F-150 and the four headed out the Main Gate to the big box store. The rest of the boys were asked to be around the Pavilion in about two hours to help unload the truck when they returned.

While those four were gone, Mr. Levi returned to The Cove and with him he had his wife Miriam. Mark saw his dad drive through the Main Gate and he ran down to the house to greet them. Billy also saw the man and woman arrive, so he took the four-seat golf cart and drove down to the house.

Billy did what he could to help Mrs. Golderson get out of the vehicle. Mark greeted his mom with a big hug and a kiss and the two boys helped her get into the house. Mr. Ken was at the Foyer Door holding it open for the woman who was using a walker to steady herself as she made her way up to the doorway.

“Welcome to The Cove, Miriam,” was how Mr. Ken greeted the woman as she entered the house.

“Ken, this is more than I ever expected,” replied Miriam.

Momma Maria was there and she was introduced by Mr. Ken. Momma then asked Miriam if she wanted anything to drink or a snack before dinner. But all Miriam wanted to know was where her clothes were and where would she be staying. Levi took her over to the elevator and took her upstairs to their guest suite. Mark, Billy and Mr. Ken took the stairs to meet them up there.

Miriam was generally surprised at everything she was seeing. She loved the fact that she would have an elevator she could use to get up and down whenever she needed to. She also loved the large guest room she and her husband were going to use until they moved back to their home in two weeks, or so.

Mark had to show his mom his room and Miriam couldn’t believe how much space he had, just for himself. Mr. Ken explained to her that the room was built for two boys to share and that if he had gotten another foster boy Mark’s age then her son would have had a roommate.

Chief was with them the entire time, and Mark told his mom that because he was the last Cover to arrive, he was responsible for the resident pet and that she stayed with him in his room. That surprised Miriam and her son had to explain to her what a ‘Cover’ was. Chief then sat in front of her and offered her paw to Miriam to shake.

Mr. Ken gave Miriam a quick tour of the house. It was enough to orient her to where things were. He told her he would give her the full treatment tomorrow after a good night’s rest and a good Momma breakfast. Their last stop was the Kitchen Nook where the women could talk and get to know one another.

When it was time for soccer practice, Mark was out there on the pitch with his team. Their coach again asked the older boys to practice against his team, since the more they did that, the better his team got. This weekend would be a big test for them, as they were playing the number one team in their league. The team could tell they were getting better against the older boys, they all hoped their practicing against them would prove to be what they needed.

For dinner that night, Momma Maria made a wonderful Mexican dinner in honor of Miriam’s arrival to The Cove. Momma also served it in the formal Dining Room which totally surprised Miriam.

During the dinner, the boys talked about their day, as they usually do. Kevin and Kyle mentioned that they were probably going to get another soda machine to dispense bottles of plain and flavored waters. Miriam asked what that was all about and Mark gave her a quick explanation of how the first soda machine came to be. Billy then explained the conversation in the Study earlier that day and how a second soda machine would now be added.

When their dinner was finished, the boys began clearing the table and Mark was doing his share. Miriam thought back to when Billy was living with them, and now she knew that it was something that they all did without any prompting.

When Momma brought in their dessert that evening, Mr. Ken asked her to sit down and share it with them. The woman smiled and said she would when she brought in their coffee. The five adults talked and Miriam couldn’t say enough about how good the meal was that evening.

After dinner, the boys all gave Momma Maria a hug before heading to the Study for their evening meeting. That surprised Miriam and what surprised her even more was that her own son also gave the woman a hug, as well. Mr. Ken had to explain to his new house guest why the boys did that.

‘Dad’ Ken held their meeting down in the Great Room that evening because there weren’t enough chairs in the Study with Mrs. Golderson in attendance. The man reviewed the normal items. He told Billy he had a doctor’s appointment with Doctor Powers at ten the next day and Mr. Wayne would be taking him.

He then told Matthew that he would meet with Stewart Russell at ten the next morning and he should be dressed in nice clothes for the meeting. That got the rest of the boys talking about what that meant. Mr. Ken told them to settle down and they would find out in due time.

‘Dad’ Ken continued and told the boys that he hired Jacqueline Kromiere, Ms. Jacqueline or Ms. Jackie, as his Projects Manager and that she would start Monday and would work out of the new office building, but they might see her there at The Cove. He then reminded the boys that school began on Monday and they all needed to get to bed early on Saturday and Sunday night, so they were good to go Monday morning. He added that Robert would be getting up later now that he is in high school.

‘Dad’ Ken told them he would let them know when they would meet with Doctor Doug next and then when their dentist’s appointments would be, which would probably be after school as they were just before school let out last spring.

The boy’s ‘dad’ also reminded the boys that there would be as many as 300 people at the Labor Day Picnic, so it would be a busy day and they needed to talk to everyone as well as have fun. He told them he was looking to take them to Six Flags Fiesta Texas for their Fright Fest and SeaWorld for their Christmas Celebration, which was a reverse of what they did last year. He told them no dates had been selected and to stay tuned for further developments. The boys smiled at one another at hearing that.

Mr. Ken then asked Mark to help his parents strip their bed in the morning, since tomorrow was Friday and the cleaning crew would be there. He reminded all the boys to make sure their dirty clothes were in their hampers so everything got washed.

When, after being asked, the boys said they didn’t have anything to discuss after their meeting, Mr. Ken asked them to go up to their rooms to relax and that he and Mr. Wayne would be up soon to say goodnight.

The men started at Mark’s room and Mr. Levi remained there afterwards, so the two could talk. Mr. Ken and Mr. Wayne stopped at each boy’s room individually, which the boys actually liked, as they got to spend personal time with each man that way.

It had been a busy day for everyone and when they finally let their head lay down on their pillows that night, it didn’t take long for them to fall asleep.

It was quiet in The Cove household that Thursday night.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhound at CastleRoland dot Net

73,359 views