Chapter 13
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B ack home again, Doreen warmed up the last of her leftover soup and sat down to an early dinner. She didn’t know when to expect Mack or if to expect him at all. He’d seemed quite distracted earlier, and, since they didn’t have a set plan as to where they would eat on a day-to-day basis, everything was still very free flowing in their developing relationship. She wasn’t really expecting to see him.
After she finished eating and all the animals were fed, she sat down and did a little bit of research on her animals’ recent behavior. Something was definitely off, and it had started when they had gone to Joe Rich and had met with Milford, who had that very large feral cat. In fact, her animals had all reacted in their different ways as soon as they reached the old homestead—before meeting Milford and definitely before learning of the huge predator cat. Doreen didn’t understand what had happened with her pets that day and wished she could do something to give them back their peace of mind. Something about that trip, that whole visit, had really bothered them, and now her.
Thinking about it, and particularly Thaddeus, she phoned Jerry, who had Big Guy. When he recognized her voice, his laughter boomed through the phone.
“Doreen, how are you? Are you coming down with Thaddeus for a visit?”
“Maybe. I had a couple animal husbandry questions that I hoped you could shed some light on.”
“Sure. How does tomorrow sound? Or what works for you?”
She thought about it, then said, “If you’re okay, maybe we’ll come down tomorrow for a visit.”
“I think that’s an awesome idea. Big Guy will be happy.”
“I know Thaddeus will be too.” She chuckled as she got off the phone, writing down the time and the date, then looked over at Thaddeus. “That should help, right, buddy?”
He just looked at her, walked closer, and murmured, “Thaddeus loves Doreen.”
“I’m really glad you do,” she replied, touched by the sentiment. Normally he was all about Thaddeus loves Nan , but this time he was definitely not feeling well. She picked him up and put him on her shoulder. It was too cold to sit outside, even if she really wanted to. Instead she kept herself busy around the house, as she changed the bedding and put on laundry, just doing some general housekeeping. All the while she looked forward to soaking in the bathtub before heading to bed for the night.
When a knock came at her back door, she frowned over at Thaddeus. “Do we know who that is?” He looked at her and didn’t say anything, just waited for her to do whatever. She headed downstairs, and Mugs was there, sniffing away at the back door.
“Are you okay, Mugs?” she asked him. He sniffed but didn’t bark. Not sure what to make of that, she opened up the door a little bit, so she could see out. “Hello,” she said to the two boys she’d seen at the creek. She opened the door wider and asked, “How are you doing?”
“Did you go see my grandpa?” one kid asked.
“I did,” she confirmed. “He was telling me all about that poor man who disappeared many years ago. Why don’t you boys come inside out of the cold?”
They frowned at each other but hesitantly stood inside just enough for Doreen to close the door.
“And did you tell my uncle anything?” asked the same boy.
“Sure,” she admitted. “When you threaten to throw rocks at my dog, you can expect repercussions.”
“I didn’t threaten,” he argued, staring at her glumly.
“But you did,” she countered, “and I, for one, will always call the truth as I see it.”
He snorted. “Everybody has a variation of truth.”
“Maybe,” she conceded, with a nod. “I will agree with that. What are you guys doing here?”
The other boy spoke up. “He wanted to see if you had tattled on him.”
“Did you get in trouble?” she asked the boy, looking at him with one eyebrow raised.
“He told me not to do it, but other than that he doesn’t care.”
“I think he does care, but maybe he just doesn’t know what to do with you. He doesn’t have any kids, does he?”
The young boy shook his head. “No, he doesn’t.”
“And, of course, you’re missing your mom.”
“I don’t care,” he blustered. “She wasn’t there much for me anyway.”
“Whether she was or wasn’t, it’s a big change in circumstances for you, and it’s hard to adjust.”
Again he shook his head and just stared around the area.
“You boys been home for dinner?” she asked them.
“I don’t think there will be any dinner,” the one said glumly, kicking the little bit of the snow off his shoe and onto Doreen’s kitchen floor.
“I’m sure food is there for you,” she replied.
He looked at her and shook his head. “I don’t know that there is.”
“If there isn’t, then you need to tell people, tell the adults, so they can ensure you get food.”
“I’m not telling anybody,” he grumbled. “I would likely end up in foster care if I do that.”
She just nodded, not sure how that system would work, but having had enough cases that had dubious relationships involving foster care, she knew she needed to watch her step on what she told the boys. “I don’t really know how to cook yet, some hot and fast, but I can make you boys some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. How does that sound?” When they just shrugged and acted like they didn’t care one way or the other, she set about making four sandwiches, figuring growing boys ate more than she did. She motioned for them to sit at her kitchen table.
“I’m sorry life is so tough for you right now,” she murmured. “Yet I’m sure, if you found something constructive to do, it would help you move forward.”
“Yeah, and what does constructive mean?” he asked, staring at her.
“Something to help you or to help others.” She could see the anger, but she could also see the wounding in his gaze. “You guys got any hobbies?” she asked, looking from one to the other. She looked at the second boy and asked, “What about you? Don’t you have a family to go to?”
He shrugged. “They’re out.”
“Out?” she repeated.
“Yeah, out.” At that, his tone turned a little defensive.
“So, let me get this straight. You both have places to be, but you don’t want to be there. Is that it?” They both nodded. “Right, at least I kind of understand that.” She set a plate with two sandwiches before each boy, then poured them each a glass of milk.
They just shrugged, then looked at the food and back at her. “It just isn’t a whole lot of fun at our homes.”
“Right, I’m not sure what I can do to help you with that,” she shared, “but I certainly understand.” She waited for the boys to finally eat something.
“Yeah, but like everything else,” the first boy declared, “understanding doesn’t change it.”
“No, it really doesn’t,” she agreed, nodding at him. “As much as we might want it to, the change doesn’t happen easily.” Mugs stepped out, sniffing the boy, but he didn’t seem to be too bothered.
“You could say hi to him,” she suggested. “If you really want to be nice to him, you can give him a small piece of your sandwich.”
The boys looked down at Mugs and glared, but one boy did offer a corner off of his first sandwich.
Doreen sat down with the boys at the table. “His name is Mugs. He’s got all kinds of tricks at the ready, whenever we get into trouble.”
One boy looked at her with interest. “What do you mean by tricks?”
She laughed. “He has this tendency to trip up people who are attacking me.” He looked at her and laughed, as if she was joking. She nodded. “I’m not kidding. All of them have saved my life many times.”
“Seriously?” Both boys looked down at Mugs and shook their heads.
“I know that he doesn’t seem very scary,” she began, “and he probably wouldn’t take it personally if you mentioned something along that line to him, but he has been a godsend for me.”
“Maybe if you weren’t getting into trouble all the time,” the first boy offered, “it wouldn’t be such an issue.”
“Mack would agree with you.”
“Who’s Mack?”
“He’s a friend of mine,” she replied, with a big smile. “He’s a police detective in town.”
“A police detective?” one boy repeated.
She nodded. “I have to work with the police with a lot of my cases.”
“Wow.” It seemed as if that had somehow earned her some respect. She wasn’t exactly sure though, as the expressions on their faces were quick to fall away.
“I did see your grandfather. He’s nice. Have you spent any time with him?”
The one boy just shrugged and mumbled, “He’s old, older than you even.”
She laughed. “He is old, but he seems to have a lot of stories.”
“That’s all he does is tell stories. It’s boring in there.”
“Do you ever go and just sit and enjoy?”
“There isn’t anything to enjoy,” he stated, looking at her.
“What about your games? Don’t you have any of those computer games you could play?”
“Sure, but we just play on our phones most of the time.”
“And who pays for your phone?”
The taller boy frowned at her and then shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Your uncle?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Okay, that’s interesting.”
“Why? Are you stopping that too?”
“No, I’ve got no intention or interest in trying to stop your phone plans,” she said, with half a smile in his direction. “As a matter of fact, I think, in this instance, that’s probably something that’s keeping you connected to your friends.”
“I don’t have any friends,” he grumbled, staring at her.
“And what about you?” she asked, turning to look at the other boy. “What are your names?” But the hurt boy spoke up instead.
“I’m Gavin, and he’s Randy,” Gavin replied. “He’s my friend, but we don’t have other friends. We’re also cousins.”
“Ah.” Doreen nodded. “Sometimes it’s hard to make friends, isn’t it? Particularly after a loss.”
“Why is that?” he asked, staring at her.
“Because they don’t know how to act around you. They might want to be friends or to at least reach out and be friendly, but they don’t know how to do it without getting into a discussion that they don’t want to get into.”
Gavin grumbled, “That just makes them cowards.”
“No, it doesn’t at all,” she said. “It’s not as if you’ll say anything mean to a friend who lost a parent, would you?”
“No, I wouldn’t,” he replied.
“And sometimes that’s just the way it is. So they may want to be friends with you, but, if you’re acting ugly, angry, or whatever, they’ll probably just want to avoid you until you get over it.”
Gavin sighed. “It’s not something you get over.”
She reached out and stroked his head. When he reared back and glared at her, she smiled. “You’re right. It isn’t something you get over. It’s something you get past.”
He blinked several times. “Just words.”
“Sometimes words count,” she said, “but I get it. Life sucks right now, and you don’t want anything to do with it, but this is the hand you have to deal with. Yet, despite how you’re feeling right now, it’s a better hand than you may realize. You have an uncle who has provided you with a home and food and all that other stuff you need, like a phone with minutes to play your games on. So now it’s up to you to make the most of it. I get that you might not enjoy his food or his rules, but at least he cares enough to try. You might also keep in mind that he suffered a loss too, losing his sister, and he may be just as mixed up as you are.”
When Gavin started to bluster, she interrupted him. “Sure, it would be much nicer if you still had your mom with you, and a dad for that matter, and all that lovely stuff that goes along with it,” she explained, “but it’s still no guarantee that you would have a happy family.”
“Yeah, that’s for sure,” Randy muttered.
She studied him and nodded. “You don’t have a happy family?”
“Not really,” he muttered. “That’s because my dad took off a while back.”
“Sorry to hear that. An awful lot of single parenting is happening nowadays.”
“Yeah, a friend of ours has got a single dad, and here I’ve got a single mom.” Randy laughed. “We should put them together.”
“Or not,” she said. “I’m not sure either one of them would take kindly to your matchmaking.”
“Maybe not,” Randy noted, gulping down the last of his sandwiches and the remaining milk. Then, as if disinterested, he said, “Come on, Gavin. Time to go. You got the answers you wanted.”
“Yeah, I don’t want her interfering in our lives.”
She smiled to see that both boys had eaten both sandwiches. “I’m not planning to,” she told them, “unless you’re threatening my animals or you’ve got anything to do with my cold cases.”
“What cold cases?” Gavin asked, turning to look at her.
“Like Bartlet, who went missing, the one I went and talked to your grandpa about.”
“Oh, you mean the one about that old guy who disappeared ages ago.”
“Yeah, that one. That’s one of them anyway,” she replied. “I’m just taking a look to see if anyone out there has information I can use to find out what happened.”
“You won’t find anything. That was a long time ago.”
“I know that can happen. That’s one of the reasons why I take a look and see what I can dig up. If I can’t find more clues, then I can’t move forward.”
“I remember Grandpa saying the old guy was a hound dog and probably got what he deserved a long time ago.”
“Interesting.”
“It might be interesting to you, not so much to me,” Gavin muttered, as he opened the back door and turned to walk out onto the deck.
“Go home and get some real dinner, huh ? I know it’s a trite thing to say, but life does look a little better when you have a full tummy.”
“Yeah, I don’t really care about food right now.”
“Neither did I,” she muttered, “not for a long time.”
He stopped and looked at her. “Did you lose somebody?”
“I did, not the same scenario as yours and not in the same way,” she shared, “but it still sent me into a tailspin. Yet there is life afterward.”
He just snorted and walked away.
Mugs gave a solid woof and ran behind the boys, as if wanting something.
Gavin looked down at him and back at her, then bent down and awkwardly petted Mugs, as if he’d never had a pet before.
She smiled. “He really is a good dog.”
Gavin just nodded and then quickly disappeared down the pathway with his cousin Randy.
Mugs came racing back to Doreen, looking happy, as if he’d made a new friend.
“Don’t know what that was all about,” she noted, looking down at him. “However, I don’t think he’ll be throwing rocks at you again.” He hadn’t thrown any rocks, but he surely made it seem as if he was willing to. Either way, she was glad he’d had a change of heart over hurting her dog. Mugs might be a lot of things, but he wasn’t mean or dangerous, and he certainly wasn’t a nasty dog that people needed to even think about treating in a bad way.
She headed back into the kitchen, then realized how late it was and that the boys were out all alone. She frowned at that, wondering if she should follow them home. Now she wished she had a way to contact their uncle. If she stepped up and said something, her inquiry might not be very welcome. Still, she’d never been afraid of interfering in things before, so why start now?
She quickly phoned Nan and asked for Lynon’s phone number. Nan was a little cross about it.
She asked, “What do you want his number for?”
“It’s Nate’s number that I need. I had his nephews here just a bit ago, and I think he needs to know.”
“He probably won’t appreciate it.”
“Maybe not,” she said, “but I didn’t get the feeling that Nate was heartless. I think he’s just lost and doesn’t quite know how to deal with the boys.”
“Oh, that could be true,” Nan conceded. “Let me go see.” Then she ended the call. When she phoned back, she just said, “Hang on,” as she handed over the phone. A younger man than she was expecting answered.
“Doreen, this is Nate, Lynon’s son.”
“Oh, good. I wanted to talk to you. Your nephews were just here, not very long ago.”
“Oh no. Gavin’s supposed to be home, doing homework.”
“He came to see if I’d tattled on him.”
There was a pause. “Oops, I guess I let it slip, didn’t I?”
“Doesn’t matter,” she said, “but the thing is, he’s hurting.”
“I know. I just don’t know what to do about it.”
“I’m certainly not a psychologist or in any way the person with answers, but I do think he could use some help of some kind.”
“Yeah, if you can tell me how to make it happen and in what way it’ll make a difference, I’ll be happy to do it,” he stated. “He won’t talk to a counselor, and it seems as if he doesn’t care one whit about anything.”
“I know this will sound strange and probably not a responsibility that you want to take on, but one of the last things he did before he left was pet my dog, Mugs.”
“So, you think I should get him a dog now? Just from that?”
“No, not necessarily, but I am thinking that he needs something to love,” she suggested. “Something that’s his, that won’t be taken away, like his mom.”
“Ouch, that hits a little close to home.”
“I don’t know about you, but I think all of this hits a little close to home for him. Anyway, I just thought I should let you know that he was out and about. I told him to go straight home, but he just shrugged and said that home sucks.”
“Great,” he muttered, “now he’s telling everybody I’m a terrible parent.”
“I don’t think he’s telling everybody you’re a terrible parent. I think he’s just telling the world that he doesn’t like his life right now.” And, on that note, she disconnected.