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"A Cry For Help!"
By: Ofelia Reveles
Email: juanarev@arn.net
Special thanks to Betty for editing my story.
Summary: Steve reflects back on his past.
Challenge # 57: So just what kind of trouble did Steve get into
before he became a cop?- Larry F.
All disclaimers apply!
Rated: PG
Steve stared at Darien Walker who sat across the bench from him.
He had caught Darien breaking windshields of cars. Steve knew
Darien was not a bad kid. All he needed was somebody to talk to
and someone to care about him. Something he had needed
twenty-five years ago when Steve first met Detective Mike Rogers.
That seemed so long ago and now it was his turn to play big
brother to Darien. After they had talked, Steve began to think
back on how it all began twenty-five years ago.
Steve was fifteen and Tom was sixteen when their troubles began
with the law. They were in MacDonalds eating hamburgers and
having a good time.
"Hey Steve look at that old couple holding hands and
kissing. Isn't that sweet," Tom said sarcastically.
"Yeah you would think old people didn't do that anymore,
especially at their age," answered Steve loudly. The old
couple looked at them and tried to ignore them.
Tom looked around for somebody else to target. His eyes rested on
the young girl behind the counter.
"Hey Steve how much do you want to bet that I can get a date
with that girl behind the counter?" Tom asked laughing.
"How about five bucks," answered Steve laughing.
"You're on," and he got up and walked to the counter.
"Hey what's your name?" Tom asked the girl.
"It's Amber Taylor," she answered nervously. Amber knew
that Tom was up to no good and she didn't want anything to do
with him. "Did you want to order something else?"
Hoping he would leave her alone.
"No I just want to ask you something," he answered with
a smirk on his face.
"What?" she asked.
"Will you go out on a date with me?" asked Tom with a
grin.
"I'm sorry but I really don't know you and I have to go back
to work," Amber answered slowly.
Steve began laughing and throwing food and napkins at Tom.
"You owe me five bucks," he said loudly.
Tom laughed, "Here is your five bucks," and he threw
them at Steve. He also threw food and napkins back at Steve. They
had made a mess of MacDonalds. Tom then went back to Amber and
grabbed her by the arm. "You just cost me five bucks and now
you owe me a kiss," and he tried to kiss her on the mouth
for a consolation prize.
Amber tried to pull away but Tom had a good hold on her.
The manager came out to investigate all the commotion and saw Tom
trying to kiss Amber. He ran quickly to help Amber. He grabbed
Amber by the other arm and pulled her away from Tom.
"Sir you and your friend are going to have to leave or I
will call the police."
Tom was going to say something else but Steve grabbed his friend.
"Let's leave this joint. It's not fun in here anymore. Let's
look for action somewhere else," said Steve pulling his
friend out the door.
Once out the door Tom turned to Steve. "What kind of action
are we looking for?"
"I don't know. Let me think a minute," answered Steve.
"I got it." Let's get even with the manager, Amber and
the old couple," answered Tom with a sneer.
"How?" asked Steve laughing.
"Let's flatten all their tires to their cars. There over
there on the back parking lot," answered Tom laughing.
"Let's do it," Steve replied. They started to walk to
the back parking lot and carefully walked to each car and let the
air out of each tire.
**********
Detective Mike Rogers came driving down the street and saw Steve
and Tom letting out the air of all tires that were in the
MacDonald's parking lot. He radioed in for some back up. He then
got out and walked quickly to the parking lot trying to sneak up
on Steve and Tom.
Tom saw Detective Rogers. "Hey Steve Run! Police!" and
he took off running.
Steve did not see Detective Rogers in time and was grabbed by the
arm.
"Let me go!" yelled Steve and he continued to struggle
with Detective Rogers.
"You're not going anywhere. Now settle down," said
Detective Rogers sternly.
Steve stopped struggling and Detective Rogers let go of Steve's
arm.
"I'm Detective Rogers," showing Steve his badge.
"Now what's your name and who is your friend that took off
running?" he asked sternly.
Steve remained silent.
"I asked you a question and I expect an answer now,"
said Detective Rogers sternly.
Steve still did not answer.
"Okay we will go down to the station and have you printed
and booked into jail." He again grabbed Steve by the arm and
started to lead him to his car.
"All Right! All Right!" answered Steve. Detective
Rogers let go of Steve's arm and Steve began to rub his arm.
"My name is Steve Sloan but I won't tell you who my friend
is," glaring at Detective Rogers.
"That's okay I already put out his description and we will
get him too," answered Detective Rogers. A half hour later a
patrol car pulled up with Tom in custody. The officer brought Tom
to where Detective Rogers and Steve were standing. "See I
told you."
Steve quickly said, "I didn't say anything Tom, when Tom and
the officer were finally standing next to him and Detective
Rogers."
"That's okay Steve, I know," answered Tom.
"Now I want to know your full name," said Detective
Rogers to Tom.
"My full name is Tom Larkin," he answered
sarcastically.
"Well gentlemen you two have been very busy getting into
mischief. Now we are going to take care of that. First we are
going to find the owners of those vehicles and see if they are
going to press any charges," said Detective Rogers and he
marched Tom and Steve back into MacDonalds.
Detective Rogers approached the manager of MacDonalds and
explained the situation to him.
The manager then explained his earlier troubles with Tom and
Steve.
Detective Rogers took the information down on his notebook and
thanked the manager.
The manager then announced to everybody the license plate numbers
of all the cars and the owners came forward.
Detective Rogers again explained the situation to all the owners.
They refused to press any charges if Tom and Steve would air up
the tires for them. Detective Rogers walked over to where Tom and
Steve were standing very nervously.
"Now you two, here is the deal. If you air up the tires and
apologize for flattening their tires they won't press any
charges. So what's it going to be airing up the tires and
apologizing or a trip to jail?" asked Detective Rogers.
"Airing up the tires and apologizing," they both
mumbled.
"What? I didn't hear you," said Detective Rogers very
loudly so everybody could hear.
Tom and Steve looked at Detective Rogers like they wanted to kill
him. He just smiled at them as he waited for their answer.
"We'll air up the tires and apologize," they answered a
little louder.
"Well get going," he said pointing to the owners.
Tom and Steve slowly walked over to the owners and mumbled an
apology.
"They didn't hear you and look at them when you are speaking
to them,"
said Detective Rogers sternly.
Tom and Steve glared at Detective Rogers but they looked up at
the owners and apologized again.
"Now apologize to the manager for all the trouble you two
caused earlier and to Ms. Taylor for harassing her," he said
very sternly.
Tom and Steve apologized to the manager and to Amber for all the
trouble they had caused.
"Now let's go get the air pump from my car and start airing
up some tires."
Tom and Steve followed Detective Rogers out the door to the cars
that they had flattened. It took them over half and hour to
finish. The owners thanked Detective Rogers and then got into
their cars and drove away. Detective Rogers turned to look at Tom
and Steve, who were trying quietly to sneak away.
"Stop right there you two. We're not finished," and he
walked over to them.
"Now I want your home addresses. We are going to pay your
parents a visit."
"No! Please No!" yelled Tom and Steve together.
"Besides I have my parent's car here. They we'll kill me if
I don't bring it home. Please!" begged Tom.
"You should have thought about that before you decided to
flatten those tires. Now your parents are going to have to pick
it up at the impound office. Tell your parents to call the
station and ask for me. Again where do you live?" demanded
Detective Rogers very sternly.
They both gave him the addresses and Detective Rogers wrote them
down in his notebook. He then called a tow truck to tow the car
away.
**********
Detective Rogers took Tom home first and then Steve.
On the way home, Steve sat in the back seat of Detective Rogers'
car. His stomach was in knots because Steve knew his dad was
going to kill him for all the trouble he and Tom had caused.
Steve thought as soon as we get home, I'll jump out of the car
and run away.
Detective Rogers looked at Steve through the rear view mirror. He
was having fun watching Steve squirm. It was a hard lesson for
Steve to learn but it had to be taught. Maybe this would prevent
future crimes that could be more serious in nature. He had
learned that lesson many years ago and this was his chance of
helping another youth in trouble.
When Detective Rogers pulled up in front of Steve's house, Steve
reached for the door and took off running.
Detective Rogers was all ready waiting for that and he caught
Steve a few yards away.
"You're not going anywhere, young man. It's time for you to
face the music. Now move," demanded Detective Rogers as he
still held on tightly to Steve's arm.
Steve slowly began to walk towards his house.
When they finally reached the door, Detective Rogers knocked on
the door.
The door opened and Dr. Mark Sloan stared at the young man that
was holding on to his son's arm.
"What's wrong?" he asked quickly.
"Hello sir. My name is Detective Mike Rogers," he said
as he took out his badge and showed it to Mark. "And your
name is?"
"My name is Dr. Mark Sloan. "What has my son done,
Detective?"
"May we come inside?" asked Detective Rogers.
"Yes of course. I'm sorry," and Mark stepped aside to
let Detective Rogers and Steve come in. "Now what is the
problem?" he asked again.
"Your son, Steve has been involved in some mischief but I'll
let him explain," said Detective Rogers looking at Steve.
Mark turned to look at his son and said very sternly, "Start
explaining. Now!"
Steve shuttered at his dad's tone and remained silent.
"I said NOW!" Mark shouted.
Steve started very quietly but did not look up at his dad.
"We were at MacDonalds and we decided to let out air of some
of the tires that were in the parking lot."
"Tell him everything," said Detective Rogers. "Or
I will."
Steve still did not look at his dad but took a deep breath and
slowly began again.
"We were eating at MacDonalds…"
"Who's we?" interrupted his dad angrily.
"Tom and I," answered Steve quietly.
"Okay, continue!" said his dad angrily.
Steve began again, "Tom and I began making fun of some of
the customers until Tom spotted the girl behind the counter. Tom
bet me five bucks that he could get a date with her. So I took
the bet and Tom lost. I started to throw food and napkins at Tom
and he threw them back at me. Then Tom tried to kiss the cashier
as a consolation prize. That's when the manager kicked us
out." Steve took another deep breath before he continued.
"After we left we decided to get even with the customers and
the manager. So we decided to flatten their tires to their cars.
But Detective Rogers made us apologize and air up the
tires," he added quickly.
Mark was not impressed. "Is that what happened, Detective
Rogers?" asked Mark.
"Yes sir, Dr. Sloan. The owners of the vehicles will not
press any charges because they did air up the tires and they did
apologize," concluded Detective Rogers.
Mark turned to his son and yelled, "Go to your room and we
will discuss this when I am finished speaking to Detective
Rogers. NOW MOVE!"
Steve ran up the stairs to his room and slammed the door shut
behind him.
Mark turned to Detective Rogers. "I'm sorry about this. I
don't know what has gotten into him lately. Steve has been
getting into fights at school, his grades have dropped. He seems
to be acting different since he has met Tom. I don't know what to
do," and he threw his arms up in disgust.
"Maybe I could talk to him," said Detective Rogers.
"Would you please. Maybe that would help," Mark said
gratefully.
"Of course. What time do you suggest I meet with
Steve?" asked Detective Rogers.
"Anytime tomorrow or anytime this week. Steve won't be going
anywhere because he will be grounded," answered Mark.
"Okay how about 12:00 o'clock, tomorrow? We can go somewhere
for lunch."
"That would be fine. he will be ready. Thank you again for
bringing Steve home," answered Mark shaking Detective
Rogers' hand.
"Anytime," answered Detective Rogers and he walked out
the door.
**********
Steve heard his dad coming up the stairs and he sat very
nervously on his bed waiting for him.
"Now young man, what do you think should happen to
you?" demanded Mark sternly as he entered Steve's room.
"I don't know," mumbled Steve and he looked away from
his dad.
"Well the first thing is look at me when I am speaking to
you!" shouted Mark.
Steve hurried up and looked at his dad. Tears were coming down
his face.
"If you think crying is going to help. Think again. Now wipe
those tears away." Steve wiped his tears with his hand. Mark
handed him a tissue. Steve cleaned his face and looked at his
dad.
"I'm sorry, dad," Steve said trying not to cry.
"It's too late to be sorry. Now you will be grounded all
week. No phone, No dirt bike," yelled Mark.
"But dad," whined Steve.
"I don't want to hear it," yelled Mark. "You are
to come straight home from school and do your homework and your
chores. Then you will stay in your room for the rest of the
evening for all of next week thinking of what you did. Do I make
myself clear!"
"Yes sir. But what about football practice. I have to go or
I will be taken off the team," Steve whined.
"Then you will be taken off the team," yelled Mark.
"But dad. That's not fair," cried Steve.
"Enough!" yelled Mark. "You should have thought
about that when you were letting air out of tires." Mark
slammed the door to Steve's room, leaving him to think over his
punishment.
Steve lay on his bed crying, "It's not fair. I hate
him!" and he cried himself to sleep.
**********
Steve woke up the next morning to his dad's call for breakfast.
He did not want to go down stairs and face his dad. Steve was
still very angry with his dad. So he decided to stay in bed and
ignore his dad's call for breakfast.
Mark went up stairs to find out what was taking Steve so long to
come down. He imagined that Steve was still very upset with him
about football practice and being grounded. He knocked on Steve's
door and when Steve didn't answer, Mark opened the door and
looked in. He saw Steve laying in bed with his back to him. Mark
walked up to Steve's bedside and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Steve we need to talk."
Steve didn't say anything but kept his back towards his dad.
"Steve please turn around and look at me," Mark said
gently.
Steve still did not move.
"Okay Steve when you are ready to talk, I will be here.
But I want you down stairs in ten minutes for breakfast."
Mark got up and slowly walked out of Steve's room taking one
quick glance back at Steve. It was breaking Mark's heart but he
knew he had done the right thing in punishing Steve for his
mischief.
Steve waited the full ten minutes before coming down the stairs.
He sat in the furthest chair away from his dad.
Mark placed Steve's plate in front of him and said, "Steve,
Detective Rogers is going to come and pick you up at 12:00
o'clock for lunch. He wants to talk to you."
"I don't want to talk to him!" yelled Steve. "Just
leave me alone!" and he ran up the stairs to his room and
slammed the door behind him.
"Great! Now what!" Mark said in disgust.
**********
Time quickly passed until Detective Rogers knocked on the Sloan's
door.
Mark answered, "Hello Detective Rogers."
"Hello Dr. Sloan. By the way call me Mike. Is Steve
ready?"
"Call me Mark. As for Steve, he hasn't spoken to me since
this morning. That is when I told him you were coming to take him
to lunch. He is still very upset with me because he will have to
miss football practice this week and he is afraid he will be
taken off the team. So it's up to you if you still want to take
him."
"Oh I see," said Mike. He thought for a few minutes
before saying, "Let me go ahead an take him, even if we have
to make him go. Maybe I can still get him to talk to me."
"Okay," Mark said. "Steve please come down stairs.
I want to talk to you."
"What?" yelled Steve as he came out of his room.
"Detective Rogers is here to take you to lunch," Mark
answered.
"I'm not going!" yelled Steve.
"You're going and that's final," Mark said firmly.
Steve glared at his dad as he ran down the stairs and pushed
Detective Rogers out of the way and ran to the car. He got in and
slammed the door shut.
Mark and Mike looked at each other.
"Good luck," said Mark with a big sigh.
"I'll need it," answered Mike. "Does he have to be
back at a certain time?"
"No please take your time," answered Mark.
**********
When Mike got in his car, Steve tried to turn his body away from
him. Mike sighed. "Where do you want to go for lunch?"
Steve didn't answer.
"How about grabbing a hamburger and going to the park and
eating it there?" asked Mike.
Steve still didn't answer him.
"Okay, that is what we will do," and he drove to the
nearest hamburger place.
When they finally reached the park, Mike started to get out of
the car but Steve didn't move.
"Okay we will stay in the car and talk. Your dad tells me
you have been getting into trouble lately. Is that true?"
asked Mike.
"Dad made me go with you but I don't have to talk to
you," Steve said angrily and he turned his back towards
Detective Rogers.
"That's true. You don't have to say anything to me. But you
are going to listen to me because I am going to continue talking
to you," Mike replied calmly.
Steve didn't respond to Detective Rogers.
"Steve, I'm sorry about you having to miss football practice
this week but what you did yesterday was wrong. You hurt a lot of
people but the most important thing is that you hurt yourself and
your dad. He loves you, Steve and I know he hates to punish
you." Steve remained silent but Mike could tell he was
listening to what he was saying, so he continued. "If it
helps, I could go and speak to your coach and ask him not to take
you off the team. What do you say? Do you want me to talk to your
coach?"
Steve was torn. He wanted badly for Detective Rogers to talk to
his coach but he didn't want to admit it to him. After all it was
his fault he was grounded and missing football practice.
"You do what you want. I don't care," he said crossly.
Mike knew Steve wanted him to talk to his coach but he was not
going to admit it. "All right, Steve. I will talk to him
Monday morning if you promise me, you will stay out of trouble.
Is that a deal?"
"Okay it's a deal," as he turned around to face
Detective Rogers.
"Great. Now are you hungry or are you going to let that
hamburger go to waste," he said with a smile.
Steve answered by picking it up and taking a bite.
"Now that's more like it,' said Mike laughing. He knew he
had made small progress with Steve. But Mike knew he had a long
ways to go to earn Steve's trust. Not just as a Detective doing
his job but as a friend.
"Shall we head back to your house?" asked Mike.
"Yeah. I better get back and start working on my chores or
dad will really kill me," Steve said sarcastically.
"Steve, your dad loves you," said Mike.
"If you say so," answered Steve, but he knew different.
"Steve is there a problem between you and your dad?"
asked Mike with concern.
"I don't want to talk about it," Steve said firmly.
"Okay Steve," replied Mike. But to himself, "We
will talk about it later."
**********
They finally reached Steve's house.
Steve got out of the car and said, "Thanks for the hamburger
and talking to my coach," and he quickly went inside the
house.
Mike quickly followed Steve. "You're welcome," but
Steve didn't hear him.
Mark saw Steve enter the house. "How did it go, son?"
"Fine!" Steve answered with abruptness and he stalked
off to his room.
Mark turned to Mike, who was taken by surprise by Steve's
behavior towards his dad. "What happened?" asked Mark.
"Is he still angry?"
"I didn't think so," answered Mike. "In fact I
thought we made a little progress today."
"What do you mean progress? What kind of progress?"
asked Mark a little confused.
"I agreed to speak to his coach Monday morning to let him
stay on the team if he agreed to stay out of trouble and he
agreed," answered Mike. "But Mark we do have a problem
with Steve."
"What kind of problem?" asked Mark desperately.
"I don't know how to tell you this but just saying it
bluntly," answered Mike. "Mark, Steve doesn't believe
that you love him."
"What?" yelled Mark. "What makes him think
that?"
"He wouldn't talk about it. Steve just clamed up tight when
I tried to get him to talk about it."
"What do I do now?" asked Mark in despair.
"Well let some time pass. At least until his grounding is
over with and then try to talk to him again," suggested
Mike. "Meanwhile I'll spend some more time with him on
Monday after I talk to his coach about football practice. Maybe I
can get him to talk to me."
"All right but I don't like it," answered Mark. "I
want to talk to him now and try to convince him that I love
him."
"Mark, he is not ready to talk to you. You might make
matters worse. Please listen to me and let me handle him,"
begged Mike.
Mark nodded in agreement.
"Mark, I know it is hard for you as his father but you are
doing the right thing. Please be patient. Steve will need you
when he is ready to talk. Be there to listen and hold him because
he will need you more than you know," Mike said
encouragingly.
"Okay," answered Mark. "Mike thanks for talking to
him and making him understand what he did was wrong and for
convincing him to stay out of trouble."
"You're welcome," and Mike shook Mark's hand and left.
**********
Monday morning finally came and just as Mike had promised Steve,
he went to speak to Steve's football coach.
"Coach Russell?" asked Mike.
"Yes, I'm Coach Russell. How may I help you?… I'm sorry
who did you say you were?"
"I didn't say but my name is Detective Rogers. I am here
concerning one of your players, a Steve Sloan."
"Yes what about Steve. I understand he is being grounded
this week and I'm afraid I am going to have to drop him from the
team," replied Coach Russell.
"Please don't do that. That is why I'm here to talk to you
about," said Mike.
"I'm listening," replied Coach Russell.
"Well Steve and a friend of his a Tom Larkin, got into some
trouble this weekend."
"I know he also has been getting into trouble here at
school," said Coach Russell.
"Please hear me out. Steve is going through a lot of
problems at home and the only way to help him is through
football. He enjoys it so much that if you take him off the team
it might make matters worse. I have talked to him and he has
agreed to stay out of trouble both at school and at home, if you
let him stay on the team. I am also asking you too, Coach Russell
to let Steve remain on the team?"
"Does Steve really have a lot of problems?" asked Coach
Russell, not certain he was believing Detective Rogers.
"Yes he does and if you take him off the team it definitely
would make matters worse. Please believe me," insisted Mike.
"Okay on one condition. No more trouble here at school, and
if he does, he will be off the team permanently. At least for
this year. Do I make myself clear," said Coach Russell.
"Yes I do and I will make sure Steve understands also. Thank
you Coach Russell," said Mike gratefully.
"Your welcome. It's nice to find out that somebody really
cares about our kids," answered Coach Russell with a smile.
Mike left to tell the good news to Steve and Mark. With Steve he
would have to wait until after school when he would pick up
Steve.
**********
At lunch time Steve had caught up with Tom.
"How did it go at your house with your parents?" asked
Steve.
"My dad took the belt to me for getting the car impounded.
He had to take off work to go pick it up and he was very angry.
He also grounded me for a week and no car for at least a
month," Tom said. "What about you?"
"I'm also grounded for the week. No phone, no dirt bike, no
football practice and I know Coach Russell is going to kick me
off the team," said Steve. "I also have to go straight
home, do my homework, my chores and stay in my room the rest of
the evening for this week to think about what I did. It's going
to be a long week."
"No kidding," agreed Tom. "But there's always next
weekend."
"I don't even want to know what you are up to," said
Steve. "I promised Detective Rogers I would stay out of
trouble so he would go talk to Coach Russell into letting me stay
on the team. My dad wouldn't even do that. All he is interested
is his work. He didn't care about Mom and I know he doesn't care
about Carol or me."
"You're right about your dad and my parents, they don't care
about us only themselves," answered Tom. "And I also
say that Detective Rogers really doesn't care about you."
"Yes he does," insisted Steve.
"Okay, you say he is going to talk to Coach Russell about
not dropping you from the team. Is that right?" asked Tom.
"Yeah," answered Steve. "So?"
"Well I think he is trying to gather information from Coach
so that he can use it against you and go squealing to your dad to
get you in more trouble. In fact he thinks all kids are trouble
makers and wants to see all of us locked up," finished Tom.
"Are you sure?" asked Steve uncertain whether to
believe Tom or not.
"Yeah, I'm sure," answered Tom emphatically. "Once
he reports back to your dad, your dad will send you away to
reform school or Juvenile Hall so he doesn't have to put up with
you anymore than he has too. He just waiting for you to mess up
and there you go to who knows where. Besides it was only harmless
prank that really didn't hurt anybody and Detective Rogers had to
make a big issue out of it. Remember Steve if it wasn't for
Detective Rogers, we wouldn't be in trouble now. You with your
dad and me with my parents. Think about it. Why else would he
want to help?" asked Tom.
Steve thought all about what Tom had said and he knew that Tom
was right. It was only a harmless prank that they had pulled but
Detective Rogers had to make an issue of it. And their little
talk yesterday was only a con job into getting Steve to trust
him. When all he really wanted was to get Steve into more trouble
and send off to Juvenile Hall or reform school. Detective Rogers
was helping his dad in getting rid of him. The more he thought
about it the angrier he got.
"You're right, Tom. What do you have planned for next
weekend?" asked Steve angrily.
"I'll fill you in later. It's time for class," answered
Tom. "We better get going before we are late and get into
more trouble. They both walked together to their next class.
**********
When Steve and Carol finally got together after school, they
hurried to catch the bus to go home. Mike honked his horn and
Steve turned to see who it was. He sighed heavily when he saw it
was Detective Rogers.
"Come on Carol our ride is here."
Carol didn't understand but followed Steve to Detective Rogers'
car.
Mike got out of his car and walked to meet Steve and Carol.
"Detective Rogers this is my sister, Carol," said Steve
shortly.
"Nice to meet you Carol," and he stuck out his hand to
shake hands with Carol.
Carol just smiled and shook hands with Detective Rogers. Carol
remembered that Steve had told her he had gotten into trouble
when she was staying over a friend's house overnight and
Detective Rogers had brought him home.
Mike turned to Steve. "I have great news for you. Get into
the car and I will tell you all about it."
Steve didn't say anything but got into the car in the back seat
and slammed the door shut.
Carol and Mike stood in surprise at Steve's attitude towards
Mike. They quickly followed Steve to the car. Carol had no choice
but get into the front passenger seat with Detective Rogers.
Once Mike began driving he looked at the rear view mirror at
Steve. "Don't you want to know the great news that I have
for you?"
"Coach Russell has already told me," Steve answered
rudely. "I told him I changed my mind about playing
football. I don't want to play anymore. He said he would give me
a week to think it over but then he would have to drop me from
the team."
"You did what! Steve, I thought you enjoyed playing football
and you wanted me to talk to your coach about not dropping you
from the team," said Mike in disbelief.
"Yeah Steve that is what you told me yesterday and you
sounded pretty excited that Detective Rogers was going to talk to
coach into letting you play," replied Carol.
"I just changed my mind. Drop it okay," Steve said
angrily.
Mike and Carol exchanged looks with each other. Mike knew that
something else was bothering Steve.
"Steve what's wrong? Did something happen at school
today?" he asked as he arrived at Steve's and Carol's house.
"Nothing happened," he yelled as he got out of the car
and ran into the house before Detective Rogers or Carol could ask
him anymore questions.
Carol and Detective Rogers looked at each other for a few minutes
before Carol finally said, "I'm sorry Detective Rogers. I
guess Steve is still pretty upset. Would you still like to come
in and try to talk to Steve again?"
"No, I think I better let him cool down first. But I would
like to use your phone and call your father?" he asked with
a smile.
Carol was about to answer him, when her father came hurriedly out
of the house to where Carol and Mike were standing.
"What's wrong with Steve? He came running into the house and
when I said hi to him, he ignored me and ran straight to his room
and slammed his door shut."
"Mark I was about to call you," said Mike with concern.
He then on went on to explain what happened when he picked up
Steve and Carol from school.
"Okay let me go talk to him. Maybe I can get him to talk to
me. Why don't you and Carol bring back something to eat?"
"Okay Mark. Good luck!" and he turned to Carol.
"Shall we go?" pointing to the car.
**********
Steve lay on his bed furious with Detective Rogers. He was
actually beginning to like him. If Tom was right, why would he
try to con him? He hadn't done anything to him. At least not just
yet. He would talk to Tom and see if they could plan something
against Detective Rogers for trying to con him but how could he
had fallen for that? Steve was glad that he told Detective Rogers
that he had talked to Coach about quitting the team even though
it wasn't true. Coach Russell would have really kicked him off
the team on the spot. He wouldn't have given him another chance
especially after Detective Rogers had already spoken to him about
keeping him on the team.
**********
Mark walked up the stairs to Steve's room. He took a deep breath
and knocked on his door.
"Steve, I need to talk to you," said Mark quietly.
"Go away I don't want to talk to anybody. I want to be by
myself," he answered rudely.
"That's too bad," answered Mark as he entered Steve's
room. "We're going to talk about your attitude and behavior
of late."
Steve sat up on his bed with his arms folded against his chest
with an angry look on his face.
"Now I want to know what happen today at school that made
you so mad at Detective Rogers, who by the way is trying to help
you," said Mark firmly.
"Detective Rogers isn't helping anybody but himself,"
answered Steve angrily.
"Now that's not true and you know it. He went down this
morning and talked your coach into keeping you on the team and
your coach agreed. Isn't that true?" asked Mark firmly.
Steve answered angrily, "Yes but that doesn't mean anything.
He is really trying to find out how he can really get me into
more trouble and I am not going to fall for his lies
anymore."
"Steve that is not true," answered Mark calmly.
"He hasn't lied to you but only tried to talk and help you.
Steve he doesn't want to see you get into more trouble. All he
wants is to become your friend. Are you still angry with him for
the other night when he brought you home?"
"Yes he can't even take a harmless prank. Because dad that's
all it was harmless. Nobody really got hurt by it. And I don't
want him for a friend. The only true friend I have is Tom,"
Steve answered turning away from his dad.
"Steve look at me," Mark said sternly. Steve turned to
look at his dad. "That so called prank did hurt somebody,
they hurt those people. What would have happened if while they
were changing the tire you flattened, they got hurt by it coming
down on them or because of their age they had a heart attack. How
would you feel then? To know somebody got hurt or died because of
your mischief."
Steve thought about it before he answered quietly. "I
wouldn't like it. I guess I didn't think about that. I'm
sorry."
"How about we go talk to Detective Rogers and tell him
that," asked Mark with a smile. "I think I hear him and
Carol coming."
"Okay dad," Steve answered with a smile. He got out of
bed and walked with his dad down stairs to talk to Detective
Rogers. But he thought to himself, "I'm still going to be
careful because he remembered what Tom had told him about
Detective Rogers helping his dad get rid of him."
**********
Detective Rogers and Carol were entering the door when Steve and
Mark were coming down the stairs. Mike looked at their faces and
by the look on their faces, the conversation must have been a
success.
"Mike let me take those," said Mark with a smile.
"And I think Steve would like to speak to you in private.
Come on Carol lets go into the kitchen."
"Okay," answered Mike looking at Steve with a smile.
Steve returned the smile.
When Carol and his dad had gone into the kitchen, Steve began,
"Detective Rogers, I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I
guess I was still upset with you for the other night."
"Steve I thought we had already talked about that. What
brought it back up?" Mike asked.
"It was something that Tom told me at school today and I got
to thinking he was right," answered Steve.
"What did he say Steve?" asked Mike.
"He said it was your fault we got into trouble. It was only
harmless prank that didn't hurt anybody. But my dad explained
things to me in a different way and I knew flattening the tires
to those people's cars was wrong. I could have really hurt them
by what I did," answered Steve. Steve was going to say
something else but changed his mind.
Detective Rogers noticed that and asked. "Were you going to
say something else, Steve?"
"Only that I really didn't tell Coach Russell that I didn't
want to play football anymore. I did tell him that I would stay
out of trouble. He said if I did get into trouble one more time
that I would be off the team permanently. He asked me if I
understood that and I said I did. Coach also said that you must
really care about me because you went to an awful lot of trouble
into getting me to stay on the team and that I should appreciate
that." Steve looked at Detective Rogers and said, "I
really do appreciate what you did for me. You didn't have to go
talk to coach and you didn't have to talk to me yesterday and
take me to eat. Thank you," Steve said with a smile.
"You're welcome Steve," answered Mike with a smile.
"I know it was hard to admit that you were wrong in what you
did and a hard lesson to learn. I know because I had to learn
that lesson the hard way too. I am very proud of you."
"You?" asked Steve in surprise.
"Yes me," answered Mike laughing. "That is why I
was so hard on you and Tom. I felt you needed to learn that
lesson too. And Steve I'm glad that you didn't tell Coach Russell
you didn't want to play football anymore."
"Me too. Coach Russell would have kicked me off the team on
the spot and no second chances, especially after the way you
talked to him. He was very impressed that you care about us kids
and that I should be very grateful."
Mike started to laugh and Steve also began to laugh as they
walked into the kitchen.
**********
When Steve and Carol had finished eating, they went up to their
rooms to do their homework. That left Mark and Mike to do some
serious talking about Steve.
"Well how did it really go?" asked Mark.
"It went pretty well," answered Mike. "He did
admit to me that he was wrong in flattening those tires and about
not wanting to play football anymore. But Mark there is still two
things bothering him but he won't talk about them."
"The first concern is he still thinks I don't love
him," answered Mark with despair. "What's the
second?"
"That I don't know but I know it concerns me," answered
Mike. "That is why I don't think he completely trust me
yet."
"Okay what do you suggest we do?" asked Mark with
concern.
"Well Mark, I think the first step is to keep Tom away from
Steve. Steve looks up to Tom and I think Tom is a very bad
influence on him. He was the one that convinced Steve that what
they did was alright and I caused them to get into trouble."
"That's easier said than done," said Mark. "He
really would explode when I tell him he can no longer hang out
with Tom."
"Well let me run a check on Tom and see if we can use that
with Steve when we tell him," suggested Mike. "The next
thing is that you can tell me about Steve's interest. Maybe we
can get him involved in a program that really interests
him."
"That's a good idea, Mike," answered Mark and he began
to tell Mike about what Steve liked to do.
After Mark finished telling him about Steve, Mike said, "Let
me take him Saturday for some dirt bike racing. I really enjoy
that myself."
"Do you know that dirt bike racing really scares me, but
okay," answered Mark a little worried.
Mike started to laugh. "It will be all right," he said
trying to reassure Mark. "Let's tell Steve right now. Maybe
it will make his grounding this week go by faster if he has
something to look forward to."
"Okay," answered Mark laughing, "But I think is
you that can't wait for Saturday." Then he hollered for
Steve to come down.
"Yeah dad," yelled Steve from his room.
"Steve, please come down. Detective Rogers has something he
wants to ask you," answered Mark.
"Okay dad," he yelled back. "What did you want to
ask me Detective Rogers?" when Steve finally made it down
stairs.
"How would you like to go dirt bike racing this
Saturday?" asked Mike with a smile.
"I would love to go. Can Tom come too?" asked Steve
excitedly.
"I was hoping just to spend some time with you. Is that
okay?" asked Mike in a hopeful voice.
"It just that Tom and I had already planned to go see a
movie together," answered Steve. "Maybe I will go with
you some other time when Tom can come with us. "I'm
sorry," and he left to go back to his room.
Mark and Mike looked at each other in disappointment. It was
going to be hard telling Steve he could no longer hang out with
Tom. And also in the back of their minds what kind of trouble did
Tom have in store for Steve.
**********
Steve lay on his bed thinking about Detective Rogers. Why did he
want to spend time with him and not Tom. He finally decided that
maybe Detective Rogers didn't really know Tom like he knew him.
He wished he would though. Tom needed somebody to talk to and
care about him. His parents didn't really care about him. His
father was an alcoholic and would abuse Tom's mom. Tom then would
try to stop his dad from hitting his mom and his dad would turn
on him. That's probably why Tom liked to fight at school. Tom
didn't have any friends at school except him. That is why it was
important that he go to the movies with Tom instead of going with
Detective Rogers. Tom had always been in trouble with the police
and Steve thought it was for attention even if it was from the
police. So he would try to change that. Tom needed somebody that
really cared about him and Steve decided that would be him. But
he needed Tom's friendship as much as Tom need
his. Because Steve thought he wasn't getting it at home with his
dad, especially after his mother's death. His dad only cared
about himself and his work and nobody else. He saw his mom go
through a lot of suffering and pain before she died. His dad
could have helped her but he just stood by and let her die. His
dad didn't care that's why Steve would never forgive him for what
he did.
*********
Tom had been sick almost all week. He had finally gone back to
school on Friday and was having lunch with Steve.
"Hey Steve are we still going to the movies, tomorrow?"
asked Tom.
"Yeah," answered Steve. "But I guess we are going
to have to take our bikes since you can't drive your parent's
car."
"That's what you think," answered Tom with a grin. He
took out some keys from his pocket and dangled them in front of
Steve.
"Hey! How did you get your dad's keys? I thought he took the
car away from you for the month?" asked Steve with surprise.
"He got tired of taking me everywhere. But he did warn me, I
better not get the car impounded again. Besides he said I was
preventing him from going out with his friends."
"All right," shouted Steve and gave Tom a high five.
"What movie do you want to go see?"
"I don't really want to see a movie," answered Tom with
a mischievous grin.
"What do you want to do?" asked Steve with suspicion.
"Let's go drag Main Street and see what comes up,"
answered Tom.
"Okay," answered Steve. "Sounds like a plan."
"But don't tell your dad because he will worry that we will
get into trouble. Just let him think we are going to the movies.
Okay?" asked Tom.
"Okay but I don't like lying to him," answered Steve.
"It will be all right. You'll see," said Tom laughing.
**********
Saturday finally came and Steve couldn't wait to get out of the
house. It had been driven him crazy that he had to stay in all
week.
Tom showed up at five to pick up Steve from his house. He had
made sure that Steve's dad was at work at the hospital before he
came.
"Hey is still too early to go drag Main Street," said
Steve. "Where do you want to go until it's time?"
"Let's walk the mall and see if we can pick up some girls
that would like to go drag Main Street with us," said Tom.
"Okay," answered Steve laughing. "That sounds like
a great idea. Which mall?"
"Let's go to Third Street Prominade," answered Tom.
"It an outdoor mall and they have great music out there with
lot of girls that love to hang out there."
Once they got to the mall, Steve and Mike began to look for some
girls.
After awhile they couldn't find anybody that they knew so instead
they went into some sporting good store. Tom saw some footballs.
"Hey Steve catch," and Tom threw the football to Steve.
Steve caught it and threw it back at Tom. Then he picked up
another and they began to toss both footballs back and forth to
each other. Finally Tom missed catching the football and it
knocked over a nearby stand filled with on sale merchandise.
The manager ran out and saw Steve and Tom tossing footballs and
the stand that they had knocked over.
"You kids get out of here or I will call the police."
Tom and Steve laughed at him and as they left they knocked over
another stand. When they manager began chasing them, they took
off running and quickly lost him.
After they lost him, Steve said, "I'm hungry. Let's get
something to eat."
"You're always hungry," answered Tom with a laugh.
That's what got us into trouble at MacDonalds."
"Oh yeah. Who's idea was it to bet five bucks to get a date
with the cashier and to flatten those tires?" asked Steve
sarcastically.
"Both our ideas," Tom answered and both of them began
to laugh.
"Hey it's time to go and drag Main Street. Let's go grab a
hamburger and take it with us in the car," said Tom.
"Okay," answered Steve.
While driving on Main Street, Steve and Tom spotted an old
building that looked like it was about to come down.
"Hey Steve, I have an idea. Why don't we go to the store and
buy some spray paint and spray paint that old building,"
said Tom with a mischievous grin on his face.
"Tom, I promised Detective Rogers that I would stay out of
trouble so that I can play football," answered Steve.
"You're just being a chicken," answered Tom and he
began to make chicken noises.
"No I'm not," answered Steve angrily. "It's just
that Detective Rogers went to a lot of trouble for me and I don't
want to blow it."
"Well he hasn't done anything for me. As far as I see it was
him that got us into trouble the first time."
"No it wasn't Tom," yelled Steve. "It was our
fault for pulling that prank."
"Fine if that's the way you feel, then you can walk back
home to your daddy that really "cares" about you,"
yelled Tom. He pulled over to the side and yelled, "Get out,
Daddy's boy."
Steve didn't move. He didn't like being called a daddy's boy.
Steve knew his dad didn't really care about him. So what if he
got into trouble. His dad wanted to get rid of him any ways. Then
he thought about Detective Rogers. He had gone out of his way to
help him and it would hurt him if he got into trouble again. But
then Steve remembered that Detective Rogers was out to help his
dad in getting rid of him and that made him angry.
"All right you win," answered Steve. "Let's go get
the spray paint."
Tom turned to Steve. "Now you're talking. And Steve, I'm
sorry I called you a daddy's boy and a chicken."
"That's okay. You just got me to thinking about my dad and
Detective Rogers. You're right they don't care about me. So what
if I get into trouble. All they can do to me is ground me and
prevent me from playing football this year. I can handle
that."
**********
Mark was working at Community General Hospital and he began
thinking about Steve. It had been a week since Mike had told him
about Steve not thinking he loved him. "I need to talk to
Steve tonight but by the time I go home it will be too late. I
will definitely talk to him tomorrow morning," he said to
himself. Then he got an idea to at least call Steve and tell him
on the phone that he loved him.
"Hi honey," said Mark when Carol answered the phone.
"Hi dad," answered Carol. "When are you coming
home?"
"Not for a couple of hours yet?" answered Mark.
"What are you doing?"
"My friend, Karen and I are listening to music in my
room," she answered.
"Listen I called to talk to Steve. Is he home?" asked
Mark.
"No dad is not," Carol answered slowly. She didn't want
to get Steve into trouble.
Mark sighed heavily as he looked at his watch. It was still early
and he let a big sigh of relief. He was worrying about nothing.
Steve was still out with Tom.
"Dad are you okay?" asked Carol slowly when he didn't
answer right a way.
"I'm fine, honey," answered Mark. "Tell Steve to
call me when he gets home," and he gave her the phone number
to the hospital. "And Carol?"
"Yeah dad," she answered.
"I love you," said Mark.
"I love you too dad," answered Carol and she hung up
the phone. Carol
sighed with relief when she hung up the phone with her dad. She
thought she had gotten Steve into more trouble and was happy that
she didn't. Carol didn't want to see Steve in anymore trouble.
After a couple hours it was time for Mark to go home. He was
tired and he looked at his watch. It was 11:00 at night. Mark
hadn't heard from Steve and he decided Steve just forgot to call
him at the hospital. Mark finally made it home.
"Carol, Steve, I'm home," Mark called out.
"Hi dad," answered Carol coming out of the kitchen with
a donut in her hand.
"Hi honey," and he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Where's your brother?" A sleep already?"
Carol looked away from her dad and down at her feet.
"Carol where is your brother?" asked Mark firmly.
"He's still not home, dad," answered Carol slowly.
"What?" yelled Mark. "It's twelve o'clock and he
is still not home. Did Steve at least call to let us know where
he is at and when he is coming home?"
"No," she answered hesitantly.
Mark took a deep breath to calm down. "Okay. Why don't you
go ahead and go to bed. You look tired."
"Okay dad. See you in the morning," answered Carol. But
she knew that Steve was in trouble again when her dad began to
pace back and forth and then stop to look at his watch.
**********
After writing all over the building, Tom and Steve began
laughing. They didn't see the patrol car that slowly pulled up
behind them. The officers slowly and quietly crept up behind Tom
and Steve.
"Tom let's go home. It's getting late and my dad will kill
me if I am not home when he gets home from work," said
Steve.
"You two are not going anywhere," answered one of the
officers as they grabbed Tom and Steve.
Tom and Steve struggled to no avail.
After reading them their rights, they put Tom and Steve in the
patrol car and drove them to the station.
Tom didn't tell them about his parent's car because he knew his
dad would really kill him if he got the car impounded again.
"All right you two," said one of the officers.
"You have each one phone call. Who do you want me to
call?"
Tom and Steve looked at each other. Steve finally answered,
"Detective Rogers."
The officers looked at each other but one finally picked up the
phone and dialed. He filled Detective Rogers on what happened
with Tom and Steve. Detective Rogers told him that he would be
there in thirty minutes. After hanging up the phone, the officer
turned to Tom. "Who do you want me to call?"
Tom turned to Steve. "Do you think that Detective Rogers can
get me out also?"
"Yeah I think so," answered Steve.
"Then I'll just wait for Detective Rogers," said Tom to
the officer. The officers put Steve and Tom in a holding cell by
themselves until Detective Rogers would come for them.
Detective Rogers came exactly thirty minutes later. After the
officers gave their reports on Tom and Steve, they were released
to Detective Rogers' custody. When they were finally brought out,
he went directly to Steve.
"Not a word out of you until I get you home," he said
angrily. Then he turned to Tom. "I am going to take you home
first and I hope you have a very good explanation for your
father. Because this will land you in court and Juvenile Hall
with your record. Let's go."
Tom and Steve didn't say a word but quickly followed Detective
Rogers out the door to his car.
**********
After getting the call from Mike about Steve and Tom, Mark waited
very impatiently for them. When Mike and Steve finally pulled up
in front of the house, Mark opened the door and quickly went
directly to his son.
"What happened?" he yelled.
"Mark not out here," Mike said calmly and he pushed
Steve to keep him moving forward into the house. Mark quickly
followed and slammed the door.
Once they were inside, Mark turned to his son again. "Start
explaining, Now!" he shouted angrily.
Steve gulped and just stared at his dad.
"I'm waiting!" Mark shouted at his son.
"I don't have anything to say to you or Detective
Rogers," Steve finally shouted back angrily. Then he took
off running upstairs to his room.
"Come back here young man. I am talking to you!"
shouted Mark. But Steve ignored him and kept going to his room
until he slammed his door shut.
Mark started to follow him until Mike stopped him.
"Mark cool down. It's not going to do anybody any good if
you keep loosing your temper. Let's everybody cool down and talk
in the morning. When everything is more calm. Okay?" he
asked.
Mark stared at Mike. "You're right. I'm sorry. You're
welcome to stay the rest of the night."
"I'll take you up on that offer," said Mike. "I'm
too tired to drive home."
Mark showed Mike the guest room and then went to bed himself. But
he didn't get any sleep that night because he was too worried
about Steve and what trouble he had got himself into now.
**********
Steve woke up in the morning with a huge headache. He hadn't
slept very much and when he did it was very restless. Steve
thought of all the trouble he was in. He had heard Detective
Rogers tell Tom that he would have to go to court and probably
get sent to Juvenile Hall. How about him? He was in this just as
much as Tom was. Did he finally succeed in making his dad and
Detective Rogers in getting rid of him. Steve was very scared and
didn't know what to do next. Then he finally heard his dad call
his name to go downstairs. The time had come for the truth to
come out. Steve slowly made his way downstairs to where his dad
and Detective Rogers were standing and waiting for him.
"All right Steve," said Mike sternly. "Everybody
has had time to calm down and now it's time for the truth to come
out. Start talking."
"Yes sir," answered Steve in a very scared voice. Steve
went on to explain what happened and stopped talking after he got
to the part where they got arrested.
"Steve do you know how much trouble you are in?" yelled
his dad. "This is not just some harmless prank. You broke
the law and that is very serious!"
"I'm sorry dad," answered Steve on the verge of tears.
"Steve being sorry is not going to cut this time,"
replied Mike calmly. "It's not going to be like being
grounded but you will have to answer to the law or this case a
judge. Do you understand?"
"No but I heard you tell Tom that he would have to go to
court and probably be sent off to Juvenile Hall. I figured it
would be the same for me," answered Steve.
There was a knock on the door. Mike was closes to the door and
went to go answer it. Mike opened the door and there stood Tom.
"What are you doing here," said Mike very sternly.
"I know you don't want to see me but I need to Steve real
bad. Please," begged Tom crying.
Steve heard Tom's voice and went hurriedly to the door.
"Tom what are you doing here? What's wrong?" asked
Steve with concern.
"My parents threw me out of the house and I don't have any
place to go," answered Tom in tears. "I need your help.
Please?"
Steve looked at his dad and at Detective Rogers and they nodded
their heads yes. Steve helped Tom in the door and to the couch
then he sat down next to him.
"What happened Tom?" asked Steve.
"Steve, my dad started beating me up and told me, I was no
good and he didn't want anything to do with me anymore. As far as
they were concerned I don't exist anymore and they told me to
leave and not to come back ever again." Tom broke down again
in tears.
Steve held his friend and said, "I'll help you." Then
Steve turned to his dad and to Detective Rogers. "Can we
please help Tom?" he asked in a pleading voice. "I
promise you that we won't give you anymore trouble."
Mark and Mike looked at each other before Mike answered.
"Okay we will help both of you but this time I want no more
lies. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir," they both answered. "What do you need
to know?"
"Steve, you mentioned to Mike that you thought I didn't love
you anymore? Is that true?" asked his dad. "And is that
why you are getting yourself into trouble because you didn't
think I loved you?"
Steve looked at his dad for a few minutes then looked away.
"Yeah it's all true."
"Why Steve? What makes you believe that I don't love
you?" asked his dad in surprise.
Steve remained silent.
Tom turned to Steve. "Tell him or I will," he
threatened.
"I can't Tom. I don't want to hurt him anymore,"
answered Steve.
"Steve, we promised them the truth. Tell him," insisted
Tom sternly.
Steve remained silent.
Tom saw that Steve wasn't going to say anything so he said.
"Dr. Sloan, Steve believes that you don't love him anymore
because of his mom's death. He blames you."
"Steve why do you blame me for your mom's death?" asked
his dad in surprise. "She died of Cancer and there was
nothing I could do to help her."
"That's not true," yelled Steve. "You could have
given her something to make it go away. You're a doctor and you
are suppose to cure people not
see them die. But you were to busy worrying about work and
yourself and nobody else mattered. Not Mom, Carol or I mattered
to you." Steve then took off running towards the door to
leave but his dad caught him and held him. Steve struggled with
his dad. But his dad would not let him go but held him more
tightly until Steve cried uncontrollably on his dad's chest.
"Steve, I do love you very much and I love Carol. And if
there was anything in the world that I could have given your mom
to cure her I would have. Son, I loved your mother very much and
I miss her," said Mark with tears in his eyes. "Please
believe me."
Steve stopped crying and looked up at his dad. "Then why are
you and Detective Rogers trying to get rid of me?"
"Steve whatever gave you that idea? I told you, I loved you
very much and Detective Rogers is here to be your friend and help
you. Why would we want to get rid of you?"
"I'm sorry Dr. Sloan that is my fault," answered Tom.
"I told Steve that you didn't care about him and that you
wanted to get rid of him so you wouldn't have to put up with him
any longer than you had to because of all the trouble we were
causing. I guess I was jealous of yours and Steve's relationship
and I knew that my relationship with my parents would never be
that way. You see my dad is an alcoholic and beats my mother and
me. But my mother is too afraid to leave him so she sides with
him and now they both kicked me out of their lives for good. And
I also told Steve that Detective Rogers didn't care about him
either and was helping you get rid of him." Then he turned
to Steve. "I'm sorry I told you that. Can you ever forgive
me?"
"It's okay Tom, I forgive you," answered Steve wiping
the last of his tears away. I know you just wanted somebody to
care about you and Tom I do care about you."
"Thank you for telling me, Tom," answered Mark and he
gave Tom a hug.
"And we both care about you, Tom," said Mike and he
also gave him a hug.
After things had settled down Mark began firmly. "Okay you
two now what are we going to do about the trouble you are both
are in?"
"Detective Rogers what is going to happen to us?" asked
Tom and Steve together.
"Well in a few days you two will have to appear in court in
front of a judge. That judge will determine whether you will go
to Juvenile Hall or do some community service hours,"
answered Mike. "My guess he will give you community service
hours because this will be your first offense." Then he
looked at Tom but since you don't have any guardians anymore he
will send you off to Juvenile Hall."
"No he can't do that," yelled Tom and Steve. "Is
there something we can do to stop it."
"There is one way. If someone will be responsible for you
and take you in as their guardian until you are eighteen,"
answered Mark looking at Mike. Steve and Tom also looked at Mike.
"Please take me in. I promise I won't give you anymore
trouble," begged Tom.
"Okay I will do it but if I have anymore trouble out of you,
you will be over my knee. Is that understood?" demanded
Mike.
"Yes sir," answered Tom with a smile.
"And Steve that goes for you too," said his dad.
"Is that understood?"
"Yes dad. I definitely understand." And they all
started to laugh.
**********
A few days later Steve and Tom were in front of the judge.
"It seems that you two like to get into a lot of mischief
and you like to do it on your weekends," said the judge.
"Is that correct?"
Steve and Tom looked at each other and replied, "Yes
sir."
"Well we will take care of that," said the judge.
"I hear by sentence you both to 50 hours of community
service. To be served on weekends only. Starting first by
repainting the old building on Main Street, then a few weekends
at MacDonalds and finally at the Sporting Good Store. "Also
I will fine you both $100 dollars each. And it is not to come
from your parents or guardians. You will have to earn it after
you do your community service. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir," they both answered.
"Good. Now if I see you two in front of me again. I will
guarantee you both that it will not go as easy the next time. Do
I make myself clear," yelled the judge.
"Yes sir," they responded quickly.
Mark and Mike looked at each other and laughed. Steve and Tom had
definitely learned a valuable lesson that they would never
forget.
**********
Steve sat on the bench reflecting on his life that he did not
hear his dad come up from behind him.
"Hi Steve. I was wondering where you were."
"Hi dad," answered Steve. I just been sitting here
thinking of the past."
"Well speaking of the past, we have two guests that would
like to say hi to you. Are you ready to go?" asked his dad.
"Let's go," answered Steve. When they finally made it
home, Steve was the first to walk in.
Former Detective Mike Rogers and current Detective Sergeant Tom
Larkin yelled, "Surprise!"
Steve stood there in shock before he finally said with a smile,
"I was just thinking of you two."
The End!