All About Love Part VII

It was a dark and humid Georgia night and the town of Junctionville lay silent. The fireflys had turned out their fires, the stars had gone in behind a haze in the night time sky, hell, even the crickets were silent. It was almost as if there were an expectation hanging in the air. The problem was nobody knew what to expect…nobody except for the nine people gathered in the upstairs game room of the Parson household. They were having a pow-wow of sorts. A meeting of the minds. The participants included Natalie and Robbie Burns, Billy and Lisa Osgood, Elizabeth and Todd Hamilton, Deputy Jason Jones and of course, the owner of the house, Scott Parsons and his son Jack.

It had been three days since Jason had knocked the sheriff out with the butt of his gun and the sheriff still had no clue who had come to his wifes rescue. All he knew was that things were starting to spin out of control. His eyes and ears, Deputy Robinson had disappeared without a trace and now certain members of the town council were asking him to back up his claims about the Mayor. For the first time in his life he was beginning to feel helpless and afraid and it just made him more angry and even more dangerous.

Four of the nine people in the room were staring each other down. Jack and Robbie stood facing Billy and Todd. Billy was sitting next to his sister Lisa, and Todd had a protective arm around his mother. She was still battered and bruised but she was happy that she was with her son.

“I still don’t understand Billy,” Robbie said. “Is your mind that weak that you could allow someone who calls himself your friend to talk you into doing all those horrible things?”

“He’s more than my friend Robbie,” Billy said quietly. “He’s my boyfriend. And you off all people should know that you do strange things when you’re in love.”
“You can’t argue with that.” Jack added. “Besides Robbie,” he continued gently. “They are trying to apologize.”
“Jack are you telling me that you approve of what they’ve done? Don’t you remember helping me the night they kicked the shit out of me?”
“Take it easy Robbie,” Natalie said.

“Mom,” Robbie said with anger. “These two have consistently picked on people who they considered less than them. And for what? So the world couldn’t see who they truly are? I don’t buy it! Personally I think they just enjoyed making other peoples lives miserable and now that it’s escalated into a huge mess, suddenly they want to change their ways. Fine! I’ll do as everyone in the room asks. I’ll take them up to our summer home until the Mayor calls his press conference. But it had better be soon because I’m not sure how long I can be in the same cabin with them…let alone a two hour drive just to get there.”

He walked across the room and stood directly in front of Todd. Elizabeth instinctively tried to move between him and her son.
“It’s okay mom,” Todd said quietly. Reluctantly, she moved aside.
“I don’t trust you Todd Hamilton and I certainly don’t like you. But, we’re in this together and I blame you totally for that. You might have everyone else in this room fooled but I’m not. If you try anything…anything at all…I’m not going to care about your daddy the sheriff or your deputy friend standing in the corner. I will do my best to hurt you as much as you’ve hurt the people around you…as much as you hurt me.”

He turned around, glared at everyone in the room and went stalking down the hall. A few moments later they heard Jacks bedroom door slam shut. Jack got up to follow him and Todd blocked his way.

“No,” he pleaded. “Let me.”
Jack stared at him for a few moments with a look that said, ‘tread lightly’, and nodded his head. Todd left the room to go talk to Robbie.

****

Jack watched Todd walk out of the room and then he turned to Billy.

“You can’t expect Robbie to forgive you just like that Billy. He’s right about the trust issue too. I may seem like a nice guy and all but, you’re going to have to work real hard to earn my trust and that goes for a lot of other people you and Todd have messed with over the years.”

“I know Jack. If you think that I’m not ashamed of the things I did then you’re wrong.” He hung his head down. “I-I-I’m not a bad person and neither is Todd…really. It’s just that it seemed so much easier to let people focus on others instead of us. If his father had known about us he would have killed Todd.” He glanced quickly at Todds mother. “I just know he would have.”

Then Mrs. Hamilton spoke up. “It’s not entirely the boys fault,” she said through her split lips. “I am also to blame. I could have left that man years ago but I was afraid. There were plenty of times I was ready to walk out on him but I feared for my son too. Now it’s different. I think I lost all fear this last time he beat me up. Actually I think I lost all fear when I knew he put Todd out. I knew my son was safe from his lunatic father and I had nothing left to lose.” 

She walked over to Natalie. “My son and I have a lot of people to thank but, you…you Natalie Burns should be the first one.”
Natalie smiled warmly and hugged her.
“Okay everyone,” Jason said. “Now that this love fest is over can we finish finalizing our plans?”

“Deputy Jones is right,” Scott said. “The kids are going to go away until the press conference so we’ll know that they will be safe. Thanks to the deputy, and Lisa, Elizabeth is now safe. We also have the good deputy to thank for sending Deputy Robinson on that mission. With him out of the way for awhile the Sheriff has lost his eyes and his ears. He is now on his own. Um..Jason where exactly did you send Deputy Robinson?”

“Well,” he smiled. “The state of North Carolina has a prisoner that needs to be extradicted down here to Junctionville. He’s wanted here in town for petty stuff. Breaking and entering, a few things like that. So, I typed up a memo explaining that he (Robinson) needed to drive up there and pick this guy up. Then, I put the sheriffs signature on it and stuffed it in Robinsons mail box at the station house. I also went into my own checking account and pulled out $500.00. I stuffed it an envelope with the memo. This will ensure that he stops at various places to eat and sleep. He won’t be back for awhile. And because he’s so inept at what he does, hopefully the prisoner will get away from him. That is wishful thinking on my part but it would buy us more time.”

“You signed my husbands name to a memo?” Mrs. Hamilton asked with amazement.

“Yes ma’am I did. I picked up a few tricks working under him and that’s just one of them. I sign his name to a lot of things. Usually to help someone out. He has never caught on. Besides nobody can prove I did it because your husband was out like a light in your bedroom the night I did it and Robinson was out looking for him. The station was pretty empty. It’s okay.”

“You sly old dog,” Lisa smiled as she hugged him tightly. “I knew I loved you for a reason!”

“Okay then,” Natalie smiled. “We’ve wasted enough time. The boys should get packed so they can load up Jacks truck. Jack we’ll contact you on your cell phone when we’re ready for you to come back. It’s important that you arrive back to Junctionville on time for this press conference because we need you kids to tell everything that you know!”

“Okay,” Jack said. “Robbie and I already have stuff in the truck but we’ll need to stop for Billy and Todd.”
“No good!” Jason exclaimed. “We’ll have to give them some cash to buy a few things on the way to the cabin. Stopping at the Mayors house will be risky but stopping at Todds house will be dangerous.”

“Amen to that,” Mrs. Hamilton sighed. She walked to Jack and placed her hands on his shoulders her eyes shining with tears.
“I understand your feelings towards my son. But, I’m pleading with you to give him a chance…he’s not a bad kid…he’s just had bad parents.”
“I understand Mrs. Hamilton. I can forgive him only because I didn’t know Robbie before Todd beat him up but I can’t say the same for Robbie.”
“Don’t you worry about my kid,” Natalie spoke up. “He has a heart that weighs more than his dog!”

****

Robbie looked up when he heard Jacks bedroom close softly. He hadn’t even heard it open. He thought he was getting up to greet Jack but when he saw Todd standing there his lips pressed into a thin line and his back stiffened.

“What the hell do you want? Isn’t it enough that you attacked me and then humiliated me in school? Now you’re turning into stalker boy?”
“I’m not leaving until you hear me out Robbie,” he replied softly. “And I’m standing in front of this door to make sure you don’t bolt.”
Robbie opened his mouth as if he was going to call for help.

“No use calling anyone ‘cause they won’t come. They all know I’m here. I’m only here to talk…not to harm. Those days are over for good and it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not.”

Robbie sat back down on the bed with his back to Todd. “You’re wasting your time Todd but…talk.”

“Good enough. Yes! I’ve done some pretty horrible things in my life. Yes! I hurt a lot of people and I hurt you too. I’d like to say that my father is to blame but I can’t. You know why? Because I have a mind of my own and I realize that I am 100% responsible for my own actions. I can’t apologize to you enough for the things I did Robbie and if you don’t want to forgive me then I won’t hold it against you. But, I will ask that you forgive Billy. He only did what I asked to keep me happy. In some ways I think he was afraid of me and that shames and scares me most of all. Oh sure…I used to threaten him too but I love that kid more than anything in the world and I know that he knows deep down…I’d never deliberately hurt him. Did you know that it was him who turned me in when I spray painted you and Jacks lockers?”

Robbie looked up in surprise. “Oh yes,” Todd continued with a slight smile. “He did it, not to hurt me, but to help me. He said it himself; people do strange things when they’re in love. That night Jack stood up to me and the others; he may not have known it then but, I bet if he thinks about it now he’ll find that he loved you at first sight. I guess what I’m trying to say is this; I’m not changing for you or my mom or any of the kids at school. I’m certainly not changing for my nut-case dad. I’m changing for Billy first and then myself. Anybody else would say they were changing for themselves first but…me? For me Robbie it’s all about love. Isn’t it all about love for you and Jack? I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. Look, you can stay mad and hate me and I won’t care as long as you can remember that Robbie…It’s all…about…love”

Robbie said nothing. He wanted to just let him go. He wanted to hate him. He especially didn’t want him to be right but, in his heart, he knew he was. He sighed heavily, rose from the bed and walked to Todd who was turning to leave. 

“Wait Todd.” Todd turned around with a hopeful look in his eyes.
“Awwww nuts,” Robbie mumbled. He wrapped his arms around Todd and embraced him lightly. Todd returned it with a massive hug and Robbies anger melted away. He hugged him back properly.

“Okay,” Robbie smiled. “But you and Billy are riding in the back of the truck on the way to the cabin!”
Todd gave him a confused look and then smiled broadly. “Deal!”