Seth’s Perspective
It was around 10PM when I called Rodney, about 20 minutes later we met at the steps of the BroMax Candle Company where Frankie said he was hiding. We walked up the steps and found him in the shadows to the side of the door, sitting on the cold cement, and hugging his knees.
“What happened?” I asked.
Frankie hesitated, “I was sleeping against a tree in the park, and some guys rolled me and took my backpack. They took everything I had except my wallet and the phone you gave me; they were in my front pockets.” The poor guy shook like a commercial paint mixer as he spoke. “After they left, I started walking over to Che’s apartment for help, I… I don’t really know anybody else here. The two guys that rolled me spotted me walking down the street and chased me. I lost them, then ran up these steps, hid, and called you. I… I... know it’s late, I’m sorry, but I didn’t know what else to do. I need help.”
“Do you want help?” Rodney asked. Frankie nodded his head. We each grabbed a hand and pulled him up.
“C’mon, let’s go back to our office and figure out a plan, you’ll be safe there” I said. The three of us made the short walk to Harrington House, Frankie walking between the two of us for protection. We entered the building and went into the therapy room to talk. Frankie finally opened up to us, he gave Rodney his driver’s license to run a background check, Rodney went into his office to run the information and pull together the paperwork so we could set him up in one of the empty apartments on the second floor. I listened as he told his story, then summarized to make sure I understood, “so, your family thinks you’re here going to school, but you dropped out last semester?”
“Yeah, and they don’t know I’m here, they think I’m at FSU in Tallahassee” he corrected.
“So why are you in North Carolina?”
“I came here to find my real dad, we used to live in a trailer in Burgaw when I was a kid, I came here to look for him but the place is just gone… the lot’s empty” He said quietly, I just looked at him waiting for the rest of the story. He took a deep breath then exhaled and said. “My mom met this guy online when I was in kindergarten, barely five years old, and started cheating on my dad. Then one day she picked me up from school, in an old RAV4 packed with a bunch of our stuff… it wasn’t her regular car, she said it belonged to some friend… then she told me we were moving to Florida. I wanted to say goodbye to my dad but she told me he didn’t want to see me. I begged her, I mean c’mon, my dad loved me, he wouldn’t just let me leave without saying goodbye… but Mom insisted that he didn’t want anything to do with us and just drove towards the freeway. I was devastated and cried to myself the whole trip, I cried out loud one time and she told me to shut the hell up and get over it. I was 5!”
‘He was younger than Freddy,’ I thought to myself. ‘Old enough to know that his world was being torn apart, but too young to understand why.’ I empathized with the guy.
“When we got to Florida, she told me my name was Frankie now, she changed her name too, and we moved in with her boyfriend Gary and took his last name, Morris.”
“Wait, wait, wait, she changed your name? So, what was your name before it was Frankie Morris?” I asked out of confusion.
Frankie got quiet, then he looked up at me on the verge of tears. “Samuel Willis.” Things had been emotional, but this put it over the edge, “I haven’t said that name out loud in like over a decade.”
“What happened to your dad?” I asked.
Frankie shrugged, “I dunno, I never saw him again, and I wasn’t allowed to ask about him or talk about him. It’s like he just disappeared, I don’t even know if he knew where we moved to. She hated him and pretended like he never existed… I don’t even have a picture of him.” Frankie paused and took a deep breath, “he was my hero, we were best buds, and she took me away from him and made me live with Gary, I fucking hate my stepdad” Frankie said swearing for the first time. He looked me in the eye as he said it.
I wasn’t sure how to respond it all sounded shady and kind of surreal to me, “is that why you didn’t go to them for help?”
He scoffed, “Yup. I don’t trust her, and he hates me. My stepfather’s mean as hell and just sees me as mom’s useless baggage, he won’t let her help me. He always says I’m a failure and won’t do crap with my life, I’m not going home and proving him right.”
“When was the last time you saw them?”
“The beginning of the year” Frankie replied. “I was home for the holidays when I got my grades, and found out that I lost my financial aid because I skipped most of my classes. I know it was stupid, but I was so happy to be free of them and just kinda lost control, I guess. When my grades started to drop, I started to feel lonely and hopeless, and just stopped going to classes all together.” It was clear to me that he was dealing with depression. “Without my scholarship I didn’t have the money to pay for school on my own, and I didn’t have anywhere to go. I just pissed away my opportunity for a decent future. I have a stepbrother who’s a couple years older, Parker, he lived with his mom when we were growing up. He goes to FIU in Miami now and is making straight A’s. he came to stay with us a few times, his mom keeps him away from Gary and my mom, but my stepdad still rubs him in my face all the time, he’s the golden boy and I’m the useless disappointment. I don’t wanna go back. I wanna find my dad.”
So, the bottom line was that his mom thought he was going to school in Florida and living in the dorms, but he’d been wandering the streets of Wilmington since the beginning of the semester looking for the father, he was ripped way from and was told didn’t want him. “Doesn’t your mother call to check on you?”
He scoffed again, “I dunno. Someone stole my phone a long time ago, I called my mom today with the phone you gave me.”
“How’d that go?” I asked.
“She said I should call her back; she was on her way home from work and too tired to talk. She didn’t even ask why I was calling, or notice I called from a different number, she just blew me off.” Then he paused and looked me in the eye, “So, shitty. The call went shitty. She hadn’t heard from me in a few months and didn’t even notice or care.”
My heart broke for the kid, “I’m sorry you had to go through all that.” Before I couldn’t say much more Rodney came back.
“He’s got a clean record” he said to me and then threw me a set of keys for the apartment across from Che and River.
“Frankie, we want to help you get back on your feet. We’ve got an open apartment on the second floor; you’ll be safe there.” We talked about getting him a job for now and setting him up until he figured out what he wanted to do. It took a lot of convincing, but he agreed to stick around for a month and let us help, we went through the rules, and signed the paperwork.
“I’m not sure I even want to stay in Wilmington, I want to find my dad. Um… do you think you could help me find him?” Frankie pleaded with sad, desperate eyes.
“Well, we can try” Rodney said.
“Let’s get you settled in upstairs where you can take a shower and get some sleep, then in the morning come back down and we’ll put together a plan for you, help you find a job, and start searching for your dad.” I said. Frankie smiled for the first time; he had a cute smile.
“We’ll go through the closet downstairs and find some clothes for you too” Rodney added. After that we took him upstairs and showed him his new home, it was almost midnight, but we could hear the TV on in River and Che’s place so I knocked on the door. Che answered the door cautiously, but happy to see Frankie was finally letting us help him, River… well not so much, there was obviously a little jealousy there.
We got Frankie set up in his new home, and Rodney and I finally called it a night. I dropped Rodney off at his house a few blocks away and updated him on what Frankie had told me including his mother taking him away from his father when he was a kid and changing his name. I ended with, “I might be wrong here, but I think his mom may have abducted him.”
“Holy shit! Samuel Willis? Did you get his parents first names?”
“No. I’ll ask tomorrow” I promised. We talked in the car outside of Rodney’s cottage for a while before I finally headed back home.
The house was quiet as I made my way to the bedroom, checking on the kids along the way. They were all fast asleep and cute as hell. “Hey, everything good? I was worried about you” Zach said as I snuck under the covers.
“Yeah, for now. Me and Rodney got the guy off the streets and set up in an apartment for now, but some things don’t add up. I’m wiped, I’ll tell you about it in the morning.” With that, Zach spooned me and we called it a night.
The next morning Zach and the kids woke me like an hour late, “shit, I missed my alarm” I said groggily.
“Hahaha, you said a bad word” Freddy laughed as he and the other two kids climbed into bed with me.”
“Don’t say shit Daddy Zeff” Izzy added.
And Ali just smiled and repeated, “shit.”
Of course, Izzy didn’t miss a beat and barked with a scowl, “ALI! Don’t say shit. Shit a bad wode”. Freddy cracked up, and Zach and I did our damnedest to correct them all without cracking up. Great, we were raising three potty mouths.
“I turned your alarm off, you needed some sleep after last night. The kids are dressed, fed, and ready to go. I’m running the carpool today; you can take the Jetta” Zach said. “There’s a breakfast plate waiting for you, it’s probably cold so put it in the microwave” then he kissed me, god I loved him.
“Can I call you later? I might need some legal help with this new kid.”
“I’m intrigued” he joked, “Of course. I don’t have any meetings until this afternoon.” Then yelled, “C’mon gang let’s hit the road!” The three kids all hugged me, kissed, me, said goodbye, and headed off to school while I just lay there trying to get my bearings. Once they were gone, it was just me and Petunia in the house. I couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. I warmed my breakfast, poured myself a cup of coffee, and thumbed through my phone while I ate. After that I took a nice, long shower, walked the garden, checked on the bees, etc. I took my time for a change and it felt good.
I picked up Rodney on the way in, we were about an hour late. “Where the hail have y’all been?” I was gettin’ worried” BA said barked as we walked in.
“It was a late night at The Village” Rodney said as he walked past her and into the kitchen.
“What the hail is he talkin’ about?” she asked and I updated her. “That sweet, scrawny little feller with the long hair? That’s awful… but I’m gotdamn happy he’s off the streets and safe upstairs” The three of us went through everything we needed to deal with that day, then went into our separate offices to get to work.
When I was finally alone in my office, I called Zach and told him about Frankie. “Holy shit, do you really think she abducted him?”
“Well, what the hell else would you call it?” I said. Zach said he had some resources for investigating Samuel Willis, he also suggested I call officer Booth, which I did as soon as I hung up. Meanwhile, Frankie came down for our session. He seemed well rested and I don’t know… relieved, I guess? I met with him first and asked a lot of questions about his depression, I was worried about his mental state. When Rodney joined us, we talked about goals, money, and of course jobs. He couldn’t think long term yet, he was happy to be off the streets, but so obsessed with finding his father that talking about long term was a waste of time. The three of us made a one month plan which included him staying at Harrington House, getting a job, and of course looking for his father. I told him that I had spoken with my husband (the lawyer) and officer Booth (who he had met the night he met Che) and they were looking into finding his dad. I got his father’s name (Samuel Sr.”) And his mother’s name (Marnie), and any other info I could. After a very productive two hours, We walked him over the Candle Factory to meet Ricky. Ricky was happy as hell to see us.
“We got a huge order in this week and are short staffed with Max out… are you ready to start, like NOW?” Ricky asked.
Frankie was caught off guard, “yeah, um sure.”
“Here, sit down, Che will show you what to do while I get your paperwork.” Ricky said. Frankie sat next to Che and started to work… just like that. Getting these guys set up and working had become so routine for Ricky. If we brought him an able body, he’d put it to work. Rodney and I made sure Frankie was settled then went back to The Village.
Zach had the Atlas, so he was picking up all the kids. I made a stop at the grocery store, and then went to Karen’s apartment to make sure everything was ready for her arrival the next day. I filled the fridge with Cheerwine (Freddy told me once it was her favorite), and got her some stuff for easy meals like mac n’ cheese, ramen noodles, bread, and cold cuts, until she could go shopping for herself. I also picked up some flowers for her coffee table. The place looked cute; Kelly had done a good job making it homey. It was perfect for a newly free woman.
I got home just in time for dinner with the family. Zach had stopped by McDonalds on the way home and the kids couldn’t have been more excited. It made me wonder why I busted my as every damn night to put dinner on the table when all I need to do to be a hero was pick up a few happy meals. We hung out at the kitchen Island and ate, the kids were all in great moods, I hoped it wasn’t the calm before the storm.
That night in bed, Zach and I fucked. No playfulness, no foreplay, no lovemaking, just a down and dirty fuck. We were both lying in bed reading when Zach grabbed my book from me and put it on the nightstand next to his. Then he grabbed the lube out of the drawer, slickened his fingers and went right to work on my hole. He didn’t get a word of complaint from me. I lie on my side as he inserted his first thick finger into my tight hole.
“Fuck that feels good” I groaned. Zach responded by moving his finger around inside me, searching for my prostate, he didn’t have to search long; he knew my body well. Oh my god, it was like instantly orgasmic! My entire body responded and I groaned and whimpered enjoying the pure pleasure of it all, my hole convulsed as Zach subtly added a second finger. His fingers moved in and out in a circular motion stretching me and making me want more. Before I knew what was happening, he inserted a third finger, loosening me up for what was to come. I was still on my side when he wrapped an arm around my chest and pulled me against his smooth, broad chest. He pushed his hips forward and rubbed his magnificence against my slickened hole and entered slowly. I let out a gasp as his big head breached my ring, I pushed out, opening my hole for him. He always made me feel so full and satisfied… he kept moving forward slowly until he was all the way in. We just lay there for a while spooning with him deep inside me. His hand caressed my chest and his soft lips kissed the back of my neck; he slowly pulled out of me, he was still half inside me but my body already started to miss his presence, just then he started pushing back in. He moved slowly in and out of me as he continued to give my body his full attention, I was putty in his hands… as always. Zach fucked me at a leisurely pace and I savored every inch and every movement, I swear I was cooing as he filled me with pleasure. The more I cooed the faster he moved.
While he was pumping in and out of me sending thrills through every pore of my body, he smacked my ass and whispered, “get on all fours.” He put both arms around my waist and we moved together as one, his hot, hard, manhood never left my hungry hole. I was on all fours with Zach behind me holding my hips and pounding me with all he had. His balls were slapping against my ass and my face was buried in the pillow which was stifling my screams of ecstasy. It felt amazing. Zach reach around and was pumping my cock in rhythm of his pounding. The faster he pumped, the faster he stroked; it didn’t take long before he warned me, he was cumming and shot his warm spunk inside my hole. The intense pounding and warm explosion in my bowels sent me over the edge and I came all over the sheets. Zach’s sweaty body collapsed on top of me, I turned my head and we ended our session with a passionate kiss, then we fell asleep… spooning in the wet spot.
The next morning, we got up early, I stripped the bed and threw the sheets in the laundry (yeah, clean-up was a hassle but it was worth it). We sat down to breakfast as a family. “How did Daddy Sach do driving you to school yesterday?” I asked the kids.
“He dood good” Izzy said.
“He plays better songs than you do” Freddy added while he chomped on a strip of crispy bacon.
“Oh yeah?” I asked with my eyebrows raised, “like what?”
Then the little imp sang ‘I’m a dangerous man with some money in my pocket keep up.’
And Zach continued, ‘So many pretty girls around me and their waking up the rocket keep up. Why you mad, fix ya face, ain't my fault y'all be jocking, keep up’ and then they all laughed. Zach loved him some Bruno Mars… the words weren’t exactly kid-appropriate, but they had no clue what they were singing. “I’m driving you to school again today because Daddy Zeff has a meeting.” The kids cheered… yeah, that stung a little bit, but at the same time how could I not love the fact that they were having fun with their other daddy. I loved our family, and worried it might all change.
I helped Zach load up the Atlas and said goodbye to the kids, then I got in the Jetta and drove to the detention center to Pick up Karen. I had cleared my calendar to spend my morning focused on her reentry into freedom. I got to the detention center and waited in the lobby, she came out right on time dressed in the clothes Nathan Hall had brought her for the court appearance and holding a plastic bag with her belongings. It was awkward to see her... I mean, do I hug her? Shake her hand? What was the protocol? I went with an awkward hug which she accepted gratefully and returned with a vice-like embrace. She probably hadn’t been hugged in over a year other than during her visits with the kids. “So, you ready for the real word?” I asked.
Karen laughed, then took a deep breath, “Ready, yes. But scared as fuck” she flashed Izzy’s smile at me.
I grabbed her bag and we walked to the Jetta. “Wow, this is a nice car” she said.
“Yeah, it’s Zach’s, he just traded in the old one he bought when he was in high school and has been driving forever” I said with a smile. “Freddy has already laid claim to this one when he turns sixteen.” That got an awkward laugh out of her. God, it was so awkward!! If it wasn’t for the kids, we’d have zero in common.
“Hey, can you take me to a bank? They gave me a check for what was on my commissary account, they pay us to work there, plus they gave me $200 to use to get started. I want to open an account.”
“Yeah, there are a couple near your apartment, let’s drop your stuff off then I’ll take you. Anywhere else you need to go?” I asked.
“Yeah, I got an old cell phone I want to get reactivated” she answered. “But after that I think I just want to relax.”
“Sounds like a plan” I said as we pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building.
Karen looked around as we got out of the car, “this is nice. Jason and Abby own this building?”
“Yeah, they just bought it recently, your rent is only $600 a month starting next month They’re good people.”
“They used to send care packages and cookies for the kids when I rented from them” she said just as I put the key in the door and opened it for her. “Oh my god, Who did all this?” She asked in disbelief as she looked around her new home.
“Grandma Kelly did most of it, but everyone we know pitched in to find furniture, and other stuff like dishes and pans. You should have everything you need” I said, “I even got your some groceries to hold you over.”
She opened the refrigerator and saw the Cheerwine, then laughed. “I love Cheerwine, how did you?”
“Freddy” I said with a chuckle, then I handed her the Visa card and said, “We all pitched in, there’s a few hundred bucks to help with food and bus passes until you get a job.”
The conversation stopped as she took the card from my hand. She looked around, and seemed to kind of zone out as she took in her new world. She put her meager belongings away and noticed that there were some clothes in the drawers, and some of her old things around the apartment. We had salvaged what we could from the boxes Jason had given us at Christmas.
She was still looking around when there was a knock on the door, Jason and Abby entered, “How do you like it?” Abby asked with excitement in her voice as she hurried over to Karen and gave her a hug. Jason sat a gift basket down on the kitchen counter before he went over and welcomed her home.
“Wow, you guys really got this place looking good” Jason said.
It was clear Karen was overwhelmed, “I can’t believe how nice this is, and, and all you guys pitched in.”
The four of us talked for a bit, then Abby and Jason said goodbye, as they walked out the door Jason turned to Karen and said, “A lot of people worked hard to give you a second chance… don’t screw it up. You call us if you need help, okay?” Karen nodded and thanked him.
After that I took her to run errands, she opened a bank account, got her phone reactivated, and then I took her by the drycleaners to introduce her to Ray Ray. He offered her a job starting Monday and she accepted on the spot. By the time I dropped her back at the apartment she had her new life pretty much set up… all she had to do was make it work, and not screw it up.
To be continued…
