Published: 9 Apr 2026

From the Previous Chapter:

Mr. Ken said a little prayer that Phillip, going forward, wouldn’t have any lasting effects from what he experienced that day. He then made sure his alarm clock was set to make sure Bill and Robert were up in time to head over to the Diner to pressure wash the landing and steps and whatever else they could get done before it opened at eight o’clock. Tomorrow, he had a lot on his plate.

It didn’t take long for the dad/foster dad to fall asleep because he was so tired from the events of the day. By the time he did fall asleep all of the boys had already succumbed to the effects of the busy sandman. The Cove was quiet the whole night through with the security guards on high alert for any further action from Rafael Ruiz’s gang members.

Six-thirty Sunday morning was surely early for the owner of The Cove. But he wanted to be up to make sure Bill and Robert were up and getting things together, to go over to the Four Corners Diner, to clean the mess that was there from the shooting, so Mr. Perez could open at eight.

The man didn’t bother taking a shower. He just got dressed in his nylon t-shirt, running shorts and Crocs, then went out to the Kitchen Nook to see if the boys had already left for the Four Corners Diner. He found them finishing a bowl of cereal.

“You two just about ready to head over to the Diner?” asked ‘dad’ Ken, as his way to find out if they just got down there, and if they still needed to get the pressure washer and attachments loaded into the truck bed.

“Yes, dad, we already have everything in the truck,” replied Robert.

“Make sure you take a hose, as I’m sure there isn’t one over there,” offered Mr. Ken.

Just then Darrin and Chief came into the Kitchen Nook.

“What has you up this early?” asked the foster dad.

“I heard what they were going to do this morning and … well, I was hoping I could go with them and help,” said a smiling Darrin.

Billy answered his ‘brother’, “Darrin, I wish I could take you with us. But my provisional driver’s license … it only allows me to take one ‘brother’ at a time when I drive.”

“He’s right there, Darrin,” agreed Mr. Ken. “Bill can only have one other person in the vehicle, when he drives alone. But a third person could help them with the heavy lifting. But seeing that you’re already up, how about fixing Chief’s breakfast, then you can go up and get your shower and get ready for the day. I’m going to get mine then get dressed, as well, and then we both can go over and see how they’re doing. After that, we can come back and get the rest of your ‘brothers’. You OK with that?”

Darrin fed Chief and then went up to get his shower and ready for the day, while his foster dad went and did the same. As that was happening, Billy and Robert left for the Diner.

When the two teenaged Covers arrived at the Four Corners Diner, they looked at what they had to do. It was Robert who asked his older ‘brother’ if what they were cleaning up looked like blood to him. Billy shrugged his shoulders and said that it didn’t matter to him what it was, as Mr. Ken asked him to do this favor for him, and he wasn’t going to disappoint him.

The two teenagers had brought both pressure washers and the two rotating surface cleaning attachments because they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. But seeing that they only needed to clean the steps leading into the Diner they figured they’d be done in no time.

But Billy told Robert that since they had all of that equipment, they should not only do the steps, but they should also do the ramp for the people with disabilities, as well as the sidewalk. The older teen reasoned that they should do it all, so it all blended and looked consistent. Robert agreed and the two got to work.

It was while Robert worked on the long double looped ramp, Billy got to working on the blood-stained steps that the Diner’s manager, Xander Perez, stopped by. He introduced himself and he thanked the boys for coming in that early and cleaning off that big mess for him and Mr. Thomas. The teens told the man they were happy to do that for their ‘dad’ and they went right back to work.

As Darrin was going to take his shower, Charles was coming out of the bathroom and seeing his ‘brother’ he asked him why he was up so early. Then learning that his dad and his ‘brother’ were going to drive over to the Diner to check on how their other ‘brothers’ were doing with the cleanup, Charles decide to take his shower, too, and go with them.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Darrin and Charles met Mr. Ken down in the Kitchen Nook where ‘dad’ Ken wanted to know where Charles was going. The teen told his dad that he wanted to go with them to see what his older ‘brothers’ were doing.

But the teen’s dad told his son that he needed him to stay there with his younger ‘brothers’, as they weren’t old enough to be there by themselves. That disappointed the teenager, but he knew what his dad said was true, so he begrudgingly said that he’d stay. But he told his dad not to take too long. Dad Ken smiled, gave his son a hug, and said that he needed to get going.

Darrin and Mr. Ken got in the van, and they hurried over to the Four Corners Diner, to see how Billy and Robert were coming along with the mission they were asked to perform. But when they got there, they also found that the morning news crews were there to do a morning segment about the previous days attempted kidnapping and subsequent shooting and the death of one of the gunmen.

The news crews were setting up in front of the steps where Billy was working and they had asked him to stop cleaning, so they could get their shot in during the news. But the teenager told them that he had a job to do and he needed to get it done, so the Diner could open by eight o’clock that morning. And with that said, Billy kept the loud pressure washer going.

Mr. Ken and Darrin went over and asked Bill what was going on and the teenager told them what the news crew wanted him to do and that he told them that he wouldn’t stop because he had a job to do. Hearing that made Ken Thomas smile.

The news reporter still made her reporting segment from the parking lot of the Four Corners Diner, but the pressure washer noise, although low, was still in the background and Billy could also be seen in the background cleaning the stairs.

Mr. Ken and Darrin didn’t stay too long at the Diner talking with Bill and Robert. Mr. Ken was happy with how the stairs were looking now that Bill had been pressure washing them. And he was happy that Robert had decided to pressure wash the disabled person ramp, which was now looking just as good. The two then said they needed to go, but that they’d be back right after they go back to The Cove to pick up Charles, Matthew and Phillip to bring them back to the Diner for breakfast.

The three Cover boys were all showered, dressed and ready when ‘dad’ Ken and Darrin returned to The Cove. Chief and Sarge had been fed and they both wanted to go with the family, as they were walking out to the van. But Mr. Ken knelt down with the resident pets and told them that the Diner wasn’t a place where pets could go. Chief and Sarge both bowed their heads in disappointment, since they couldn’t go along.

Upon the Covers arrival, they saw that there were loads of people who were already lined up outside the Diner waiting to go inside. Mr. Perez had asked them to wait until the teens moved all of the equipment out of the way, so they would be safe as they entered.

Mr. Ken went up to his ‘teens’ and thanked them for the wonderful job they did with not only the stairs and ramp, but also with the sidewalk. He then asked them if they were ready for breakfast.

It was his son Robert who told him that they were going to go around to the restaurant side and clean that while they were there. Bill added that it wouldn’t look good if one side was clean and the other side was still dirty and dingy looking. ‘Dad’ Ken didn’t know what to say to what his ‘boys’ were going to do other than to tell them, “Thank you boys for thinking outside the box”.

So, while Billy and Robert headed over to the restaurant entrance to pressure wash it and the sidewalk, it didn’t have a ramp, the rest of the Covers went inside the Diner to eat breakfast. Mr. Wayne had arrived by then and he joined them after inspecting the work Billy and Robert had performed.

The news reporter and her crew, knowing that the diner was scheduled to open at eight o’clock stuck around to give one last report from there before heading back to the news station. She wanted to get some customer reactions to what happened there the previous day.

But when she saw Phillip arrive with Mr. Thomas, she was ecstatic that she might be able to get a prized interview with the boy, since he was back there at the same Diner where he had been held hostage.

She was also aware that the Diner’s patrons from yesterday indicated that the boy was the focus of the gunmen, and said that the boy was supposedly to have held a gun for one Rafael Ruiz, who she now knew was serving a fifteen-year prison sentence for participating in a gun battle with Sheriff’s Deputies last summer.

When she saw that Mr. Thomas and the people who were with him, and they were now seated inside the Diner, she went in with a camera crew. They went directly to Phillip, without even asking Mr. Thomas if she could, and began asking him questions about what happened the previous day and about the gun he was supposedly holding for Rafael Ruiz.

Ken Thomas saw red when the news reporter barged into the Diner and went directly to Phillip and began harassing him by asking him questions. The man stood up and got between the news reporter and Phillip and called out to Mr. Perez to call the Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Wayne also called 911.

“You can’t interrupt my interview just like that,” barked out the news reporter.

“My name is Ken Thomas and I am this boy’s court appointed guardian. And as such you have NO RIGHT to talk to, or interview him without my expressed permission. And ANY video that you have of him MUST be deleted immediately, as you have obtained it without my direct permission,” demanded Ken Thomas.

“I don’t need your permission to talk to a well-known personality,” barked back the reporter.

“You do when they are a minor!” calmly argued Mr. Ken. “Now … you and your crew … you will delete what you have taped of Phillip here. Then you will leave these premises, or I will have you trespassed from here,” matter-of-factly stated Ken Thomas.

The female news reporter was fairly new to the television station, which was why she was on the Sunday morning reporting crew. And being new to the area, she also didn’t know who Mr. Ken Thomas was, but the cameraman did, and he told her to stop arguing and to just leave. But the woman thought she was in the right and wouldn’t budge.

The Sheriff’s Deputies had just arrived and they went directly to Xander Perez, the Diner’s manager, who told them why he called. He explained how the news reported barged right in and went directly to Phillip, and how Mr. Thomas got up and stood in front of the her and stopped the unauthorized interview.

Mr. Perez also told them that Mr. Thomas was the Diner’s owner and that he told the reporter that if she didn’t leave, that he would have her trespassed from there. The manager recommended that they ask Mr. Thomas if he wanted them to do that, and if he did then they should carry out his request.

The senior Sheriff’s Deputy, of the two who arrived, went over to Mr. Ken and asked him if he wanted to trespass the news crew. And without a second thought Mr. Ken said, “Yes”.

That’s when the Diner’s customers really got a show, as the reporter got mouthy saying that she had a First Amendment right to report on what was happening in the community and sitting right there in front of her was the boy who had held a gun for a man who was now serving a fifteen-year prison sentence.

The Deputy told her, “You say you have that right. But … you do not have that right to do so on private property when the owner … when he has asked you to leave. So, miss … the owner of this establishment has asked us to trespass you. You are hereby ordered to leave.”

“He can’t do that. This is a public place where people gather to eat,” maintained the haughty reporter, who made no effort to leave the Diner.

The Sheriff Deputies immediately conferred with one another and before the female reporter knew it, she was arrested, handcuffed and charged with a Class B misdemeanor for criminal trespassing. The cameraman continued to film the entire episode and caught the Diner’s patrons applauding the Deputies actions.

But the cameraman wasn’t the only one videoing what was happening, as just about everyone in the Diner had their cell phones out, and were videoing everything that was going on inside there. Even Wayne Mitchell had his cell phone out and he was recording everything, as he wanted his boss to have a first-hand account of what was transpiring, right there in the Diner, in case he needed it in the future.

Billy and Robert were pressure washing the restaurant side of the dual Four Corners Diner/Restaurant building and they had no idea of what was transpiring inside the Diner side as they worked. And since there was no ramp to pressure wash that side of the facility went extremely quicker than the first side had.

It still took the two teens about forty minutes to setup and then pressure wash the entrance area plus all of the sidewalk. Then they had to clean the equipment and then put everything into the truck. After that they needed to change their clothes, as they were practically soaking wet. And lucky for them that Thanksgiving week was exceptionally warm in the area.

The teens had brought dry clothes with them and they had planned to change in the Diner’s Men’s Restroom, but after seeing how many people were outside and waiting to eat inside the Diner, Billy suggested that they go over to the Marina and use the Restroom over there to change. So, that’s what they did.

When they arrived back at the Diner, they walked over to where the other Covers were seated. It was then that they heard what happened while they were outside working. That was a story they just couldn’t believe, but with everyone telling them the same thing they knew that had to believe it.

The other thing that they missed was that because the reporter had caused such a scene, it caused all of the ordered breakfasts to go undelivered by the wait staff, thus all of the food went cold and had to be thrown away.

After the Sheriff Deputies removed the news crew, Mr. Ken got with Mr. Perez and then he got everyone’s attention and announced that their breakfasts would be free because of the chaos caused by the news reporter. He told them to enjoy, but to please, not forget to tip the wait staff.

When the applause died down from Mr. Ken’s announcement, the facilities manager, Xander Perez, came over to Billy and Robert and he thanked them both for cleaning not only the Diner’s front area, but also the restaurants, too. He told them that he owes them big time, and that any time they come there to eat, their meals will always be free, as long as he is the manager.

Matthew spoke up right then and said that they always come with their ‘dad’, so they eat free anyway. That made everyone laugh, including Mr. Perez. But the manager recovered and told the teenagers that as they start dating and it is just them and their date, that is when they can count on collecting their free meals. Mr. Perez added that he’ll make sure that the day and night time assistant managers know that score as well.

With everything that happened at the Diner that Sunday morning, it was well after eleven o’clock when the Covers arrived back at The Cove after having a laid-back breakfast. And when they arrived, they were greeted with a group of waiting news reporters who wanted to talk with Mr. Ken and Phillip.

‘Dad’ Ken sent the boys down to the house, including Phillip, as he didn’t want them to be asked questions by the reporters, since they would not know what to say and how to say it. He especially didn’t want Phillip there, because the boy didn’t need more stress.

When Mr. Ken went outside the Main Gate, the reporters immediately asked him what he knew about his foster son supposedly holding a gun for Rafael Ruiz. Mr. Ken had to think how he wanted to answer that question.

“OK, here’s what I knew. When Phillip came to live here at The Cove, I was not aware that he had been handed a … ahh a gun, by a man we now know was Rafael Ruiz, to hold for him. It wasn’t until that weekend when we were going out for breakfast that the then ten-year-old became distraught.

“It took me considerable time to get from him why he was so afraid. He eventually told me that someone, in his words, that someone was going to kill him. When he told me the whole story about how this Rafael Ruiz forced him to keep the gun for him, until that weekend, because he was someone that they would never suspect of having it.

“Lucky for us, my friend, Sheriff’s Lieutenant Dan Fischer, he stopped by to meet my new foster that morning. And it was he who coordinated the search for the gun in the mother’s apartment where the boy formerly lived.

“The gun was found where my foster son said he had hidden it. The unfortunate thing was … that Mr. Ruiz and his cohorts … they not only destroyed the majority of what was inside the apartment … one of the gang members … he beat the boy’s mother with a gun that gave her a such a serious concussion that put her in the hospital and then a rehabilitation center for many months.

“The boy … remember … he was a ten-year-old at the time, and he was also an unwilling participant and he did NOT know what he was getting involved in. Rafael Ruiz … he essentially threatened him into holding that gun for him, which was why he was scared that the man would KILL HIM, because he wasn’t there to give the gun back to him.”

The next question that came from the news reporters, dealt with if he knew why the gunmen were after the boy yesterday. Again, Ken Thomas had to decide how much he wanted to tell them. But he also knew that it was best to tell the truth, as it was easier to remember the truth, than the lie that you told.

“You probably know more about what happened in that Diner yesterday, than I do. You’ve all talked to the customers who were in the Diner. As, I have not. So, I have no idea what they have told you, concerning what the gunmen and the two people they were there for, said to one another.

“What I will tell you is this. The boy that they came for. They were there to kidnap him and they were going take him somewhere … and where that is they never told him. But what they did tell him was that they were going to do to him what Rafael Ruiz was because … because he wasn’t there to give him back his gun.”

The reporters then asked if they could talk to Phillip. Mr. Ken smiled and told them emphatically, “No!” He added that the boy is still scared that Ruiz, who somehow controlled his gang from within his prison cell, will continue to send his minions after him. The boys foster dad told them and, as such, he may have to hide the boy in plain sight.

The reporters asked him about the boy’s mother, but Mr. Ken refused to answer any questions about her saying that she is an adult and that she could answer them for herself.

Then one reporter asked him why he trespassed the reporter that morning from the Four Corners Diner. That question caught the other reporters off guard, because that was the first time they were hearing of it.

Ken Thomas smiled and then asked the reporter if he had watched the video the cameraman continued to shoot during the confrontation inside the Diner. When the reporter said that he hadn’t, Mr. Ken told him that the entire dispute was on tape. He added that if the television station continues to employ that female reporter, they will probably find themselves in serious litigation because she is a hot head who thinks she knows the constitution and the ‘law’.

Ken Thomas told the reporters that he had nothing else that he could offer them and then wished them a good day. The owner of The Cove then walked inside the Main Gate, while more reporter questions were being thrown at him.

All the while that was going on, Darrin was up in his room thinking about what happened to his ‘brother’ Phillip. He was thinking how all of this was good for him, as he was hoping that it would keep any more investigations off of him, at least for now, and the arson fires that were near his home a few months ago and, of course, the deaths of his mother, father and older brother.

He knew he and his older brother were responsible for all of those fires. They had figured out a way to build a fire-starting delay mechanism that would put them at home when the fires began. They knew that would stymie the investigators in trying to pinpoint them as the arsonists.

Thinking back to his ‘brother’, Darrin felt bad that those men had come looking for Phillip and were going to do whatever their boss man had told them to do. He was glad he wasn’t in his younger ‘brothers’ shoes right now, especially if from what he said about the man, that they wanted him dead, was true.

Another thing that the foster teen was thinking about was how busy he’d been ever since he was brought to The Cove to live. He knew he was busy when he lived with his family, but never as busy as he was now. He’d been so busy here that he hadn’t even thought about fires let alone setting one.

Well, come to think of it, he did remember seeing all of those cans of gas in the storage shed located in the Parking Corral, not too long ago, and he did feel a tingling of anticipation go through his body then. But he told himself that was the first time that he’d felt that way ever since he’d been taken to the hospital, after the fire that took his family.

Then, as he sat there on his bed, he remembered seeing the inside of the guest house when Robert showed it to him. He now saw in his mind how open it was and he thought to himself how quickly it would go up in flames with the right amount of accelerant. Then he remembered where he could easily get it from. A little smile came to his face just then.

The Cover’s friends began arriving, as they always did around twelve, noon, but this time, besides skating, swimming and enjoying the barbeque, they all wanted to talk to Phillip. But the young Cover wasn’t up at the Pavilion just yet. He was in the Study talking with his ‘dad’ trying to decide if he should go up to the Pavilion after everything that had happened to him and his mother.

‘Dad’ Ken sat opposite the youngster, as the two were in the big leather chairs, and he told the boy, “Phillip … you’re going to have to face this sooner, or later. It might be somewhat easier for you today if … well, if you go up to the Pavilion and answer the questions your friends and your ‘brothers’’ friends will obviously have for you.

“If you don’t do it today … you do know that tomorrow at school … your classmates … they are going to surround you and ask them. My recommendation to you is … is for you to go up there and, as difficult as it might be for you, it will prepare you for what will happen tomorrow.

“And NO, you can’t stay home from school, because eventually, you will have to go there and your classmates … they are still going to want to know everything about what happened in the Four Corners Diner on Saturday.

“So … what do you say, young man? Are you ready … to go up there and face the world?” lightly teased the boys ‘dad’.

Phillip sat there, with tears streaming down his cheeks, thinking about what he was going to have to do. ‘Dad’ Ken saw them and opened up his arms for the boy, and the youngster immediately jumped into them, sat in the man’s lap and cried some more. Chief was there and she put her paws on the boy and began to lick at his tears.

In a few moments, Phillip felt his fears begin to fade away and he thanked his ‘dad’, and Chief, for being there for him. He told them both that he was going to go up to the Pavilion and get it over with. But first, he was going to wash his hands and face, so he didn’t look like he was crying.

Before Phillip left the Study, ‘Dad’ Ken told the boy that he would do OK. He then gave him a new coin to replace the one that he’d used. The boy thanked his ‘dad for giving it to him, and then mentioned that he would still like to get his original coin back.

‘Dad’ Ken then suggested to Phillip, that he ask the boys to sit down so he could give them a synopsis of what happened to him before he answered all their questions. The man reasoned that it might help answer some of their questions and reduce the number they do finally ask.

Phillip smiled at his ‘dad’ and thanked him for being there for him, and that when he gets up to the Pavilion, he would do just that, and tell them to all sit down as he wanted to tell them what happened, before they ask their questions. The boy and Chief then left the Study.

Ken Thomas then called Kate, as he knew she would want to know was happening with Phillip.

Today, not only were the regular Cover friends there, but a few of Billy’s friends arrived as well. Lonnie, Brett and Gabe came and they were honest when they told the oldest Cover that they not only wanted to know what happened to Phillip, but they had seen him on the news segment that morning pressure washing the steps at the Diner, and they wanted to know more about that, too.

The question that Billy’s friends had for him on the pressure washing, was if it really was the guy’s blood who was shot and killed on the steps late Saturday afternoon. But all Billy could tell them was that it looked like dried red slime, and that there was the outline of the man’s body where he undoubtedly lay after he’d been shot.

The Cover’s friends all smiled knowing that what Billy was pressure washing had to have been the man’s blood, since the man’s outline was present, as they all knew that was part of the way the Sheriff’s investigators collected evidence at the scenes when someone was dead.

The other friends were wondering where Phillip was, and all the Covers could tell them was that their ‘brother’ would be up there eventually, and they just had to wait for him to show. And as they did, some of them got out the big Pavilion games and played them, while some skated and others helped get the barbeque ready.

After Phillip washed his face and hands, he took a big breath and went outside and called Billy to ask him if he’d drive a golf cart down to the house and take him up to the Pavilion. Billy quickly did that for his little ‘brother’.

When the Cover, that everyone was there to see, arrived at the Pavilion, they all gathered around him and began asking him questions. Billy already knew that Phillip was going to talk to them, so he told everyone to take a seat under the Pavilion, so that his ‘brother’ can tell them all about his ordeal.

With everyone seated, Billy hugged Phillip and told him to just start slowly and to speak up so everyone can hear him. The youngster thanked his big ‘brother’ and then faced the gathered group of Cover friends and began to tell them what happened to him and his mom at the Diner.

It took Phillip about twenty minutes to get his story out. He was terrified as he began to speak, mainly because he didn’t know what the boys would think about what happened to him and his mother. But as he got into telling what happened in the Diner, he began to relax, and he realized it wasn’t as scary as he thought it would be.

Phillip also realized that as he was talking, just as he did last night in the restaurant, he remembered little things that went on as he sat there in the Diner. He didn’t reveal them to the boys, but he figured he needed to tell his ‘dad’ later.

When the young Cover was finished telling what happened to him in the Diner, he told the boys that he would answer their questions, as best as he could. The boys first wanted to know if he knew the gunmen. The Cover said that he didn’t. He didn’t let them know that the man who was killed was the man who had beat his mother with a gun, and had given her a severeconcussion that put her in the rehabilitation hospital.

The boys also wanted to know if he’d used his coin. Phillip said that as soon as he realized that the first gunman wanted to kidnap him and his mother, he squeezed his coin. He then brought out his new coin. Seeing the new coin surprised all the boys and they asked about it.

Robert shook his head for Phillip not to say anything about the new coin, but the boy did so anyway. The young Cover told the boys that Mr. Ken had some prototype test coins made for him and his ‘brothers’ to try out and they were going to test them between now and the Holidays. Phillip, tongue-in-cheek, told them that they obviously work, as he was the first one to use it.

The Cover went on to say that it did get very hot and the men couldn’t hold it because it was so hot. The boys then wanted to know why the men had touched the coin. Phillip told them that they thought he had another cell phone and they made him empty his pockets and when they picked it up, they couldn’t hold on to it.

One boy brought up his coin to compare the two. They showed the large difference in the two coins. Matthew then stood up and said that when he activated his old coins, he could hold them, even though they did get very warm. He added that if the new coin has the same internal stuff, but in a smaller package, and it works the same way, but gets hotter, maybe the new coin isn’t so good after all.

After the discussion of the coin, the questions about Phillip’s hostage situation then continued. The boys wanted to know what the men talked to him and his mother about. Phillip told them that the first guy told them that he was going take them somewhere, after his buddies arrived, but by then the Sheriff Deputies were outside and the two new gunmen shot at them which brought more Deputies.

The boys also wanted to know what the men talked about. But all the Cover could tell them was that once there were more Sheriff Deputies that the gunmen only talked about how they were going to get out of there. Phillip told the boy that they talked about waiting until after it got dark, or going when they did.

Then one boy asked Phillip what he thought about when the one gunman was shot. Phillip sighed as he had hoped that no one would ask. But since they had, he told them that he and his mom had talked about how they needed to try to get away.

The Cover explained how they decided that they would take any advantage to get away. And so, when the man was shot and they saw that other two men were distracted they both went limp and fell to the landing, which allowed the Deputies to shoot them, too.

One boy then asked how he felt after the men were shot. Phillip told the gathered group that he didn’t feel anything, because as soon as the men were shot, the Sheriff’s Deputies came rushing out of the Diner, grabbed them and took them away to a waiting ambulance, which brought them to the hospital where the detectives debriefed them.

Someone then asked what did the detectives ask them. The Cover said that the investigators did something like what they were doing. That made everyone laugh.

After Phillip talked to the boys many of them went up to him and shook his hand and thanked him for talking to him. His band mates told him that they’d try to protect him at school in the morning. The skating then proceeded while the barbeque got setup and before long the burgers and dogs were being burned.

The day proceeded, as the days usually did, and at five o’clock the Covers’ friends departed The Cove and the Covers then went out to dinner.

When the Covers returned from eating, ‘dad’ Ken held his usual evening meeting. He told Darrin that he’d had an appointment with Doctor Doug on Tuesday and that either Mr. Dennis or Mr. Wayne would pick him up at school. He then told Phillip that he would try to make an appointment with Doctor Doug for him and he’d let him know when it would be.

He mentioned to the boys, that he would be going back east to be with Ms. Kate when she goes to court against Lane, sometime in early December. ‘Dad’ Ken then told the boys, that they needed to be working on their Christmas Wish List and what they wanted to give as ‘Gag Gifts’ to their ‘brothers’. He told them that they would have to start going out and buying Christmas gifts pretty soon, as the Holidays would soon be upon them.

‘Dad’ Ken then asked the boys if they had anything they wanted to bring up. Robert then told his dad how Phillip showed the boys the new coin, while he told them his story but explained it as a prototype. Matthew spoke up and asked if the coin got as hot as Phillip says it does, was it a good design. Darrin then asked him to explain what ‘gag gifts’ where again. His ‘brothers’ booed him and told him they would explain it to him.

Mr. Ken sent the boys up to their rooms early that night when he saw Billy and Robert yawning. He figured all of them needed a good night’s rest and so even he went up to say goodnight to them earlier than usual.

In Bill’s room, Mr. Ken thanked the teenager for taking care of that issue for him that morning. Bill told him that it wasn’t all that big a deal. He then told his foster dad that his friends saw him doing it on the morning news segment, when they stopped by today. Mr. Ken smiled hearing that Bill’s friends did stop by, finally. The two shared a hug before the man moved onto his son’s room.

In Robert’s room the dad again thanked his son for helping pressure wash the Diner and Restaurant entrances that morning. The dad told his son that both areas look so much better now and that it was something that probably should be done twice a year. The son told his dad that he was happy to help him out. The two shared a hug and dad Ken moved on to his next son.

Charles knew his dad would be there after he visited his brother’s room, so he was ready for him when he came to the door. The two hugged and the dad thanked his son for staying with his ‘brothers’, while he and Darrin went over to the Diner to check on his other ‘brothers’. Charles told him that he understood why he had to do that and he wasn’t gone all that long, anyway. The two hugged and the man moved onto Phillip’s room.

Phillip was waiting for his ‘dad’ and when he entered the room, the boy launched himself onto the man. The boy then thanked his ‘dad’ again for everything he’s done for him. Phillip then told his ‘dad that he thought of something else today. The two then talked about it and ‘dad’ Ken told the boy that he’d have the detectives stop by after school tomorrow. The two hugged and Phillip held it longer than usual, which made Mr. Ken smile.

When it was Darrin’s turn, the teen was waiting for his foster dad. ‘Dad’ Ken told the teen that it takes a while to talk to all of his ‘brothers’, so he hoped he didn’t feel left out. The teen said that he understood, since Phillip told him how it felt being the last one talked to every night.

As the two talked, Darrin told his foster dad that he couldn’t fathom what Phillip could be going through, or feeling, right now after experiencing what he did on Saturday. The teen offered he had gone through a lot after the loss of his family, but knowing that the men were there to ultimately kill him, he could not begin to grasp what could be going through his young mind right now.

Mr. Ken thanked Darrin for recognizing what his ‘brother’ could be dealing with right now and he asked the teenager to watch him for any changes in behavior and any acting out. Mr. Ken asked the teen to come to him if he saw any of that.

It was a long and grueling weekend for Ken Thomas, if you were to ask him. And he now has a youngster under his roof that will need some sort of protection for the foreseeable future.

The owner of The Cove knew he was as tired as he looked when he saw his face in the bathroom mirror. He quickly got ready for bed, then he went and sat on the edge of his king-sized bed, and thought some about the events of that tumultuous weekend. He soon realized there was no way he could have anticipated what happened to Phillip and his mother.

The dad/foster dad was tired and he made doubly sure that his alarm clock was set for his usual Monday morning wake up time. He told himself that he didn’t want to oversleep. The man then turned off the lights in his bedroom and climbed under the covers.

It didn’t take long for Ken Thomas to fall asleep that Sunday night and when he did, all of the boys were already asleep. And even though the house was quiet throughout the night, one boy, in particular, didn’t sleep all that well.

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

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