Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 03:29:10 -0700
From: califox08@hotmail.com
Subject: Trust me Part 7

All the usual disclaimers apply. If your local laws prohibit you from
reading this then please leave now.This is a work of pure fiction. Any
resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidence.

Please send all feedback to CaliFox08@hotmail.com. I love reading ALL
feedback (Good or bad) and WILL respond to all messages. Thanks again
=). Also, please donate to Nifty!

Thank you Cody for proofing my story (Yes, his name is Cody, same as the
character in the story. I understand this is weird.)


			      Trust Me Part 7


	The restaurant I chose was a really nice place called Castaways. It
was a favorite of mine as it was located near the top of a small mountain
in the area and had a fantastic view of the surrounding city below.
However, the winding mountainous roads had always set me on edge when
driving, or even just sitting in the passenger seat. To emphasize just how
dangerous this small trek could be, crosses littered the side of the road
every couple hundred feet or so where unfortunate, and more than likely,
intoxicated, drivers had skid off of the side and plummeted to their new
permanent resting place at the base of the mountain. I shook my head
slightly in order to clear my thoughts.

	"Where are we going and why is there so much... DEATH up here?" he
said in a joking manner.

	"I am finally going to treat you to good meal and take you to one
of my favorite restaurants. It's called Castaways and the reason it looks
like a graveyard up here is because people often like to come up here and
drink at night, and then think it's a good idea to drive back down. I don't
know why people do it. They even have a cab service because a young man
died some years ago... I don't know about you but the crosses are enough of
a message for me."

	"Yea, no kidding. So hey, I'm sorry I pushed with that subject
earlier."

	"No, don't be. Ask whatever you want, really. Part of getting to
know someone is learning the good and the bad. Besides, if all information
was so easily shared then it wouldn't mean as much." I patted his knee to
show there were no hard feelings.

	"I guess so."

*******************************************************************************

	We finally pulled up to the place where a young and handsome
looking valet greeted us and took my car. I always found valets nice but
unnecessary and a few YouTube videos of guys joyriding in other peoples
cars always made me a bit wary. We made our way up the walkway which had
numerous fountains and dense vegetation. There was even a Koi pond just
outside the main entrance.

	"WOW, this place is nice!"

	"Yea, my mom actually used to know the owner. I'm sure he'd
remember me, but it's not like we're friends or anything." I chuckled a bit
at the thought of a story the owner, Mike, once told my mother and I as we
were enjoying dinner.

	"What's so funny?" Cody quizzed.

	"Well, you saw the fish in that pond right? Well a few years ago,
there was this cat that kept swinging by and snagging the fish out of the
pond. They never saw him in person, but Mike, that's the owner by the way,
said he would watch the footage from the security cam and see him sneaking
fish out of the pond every night. Mike spent a fortune keeping that pond
stocked with fish and giving this fat white feline his sushi fix every
night. So one morning, he's on his way to work to open up the place, and,
to his delight, he sees a white pancake in the middle of the road. He even
had a joke sign out front which read 'To the owner of the car who hit my
cat... Thank you' but complaining customers made him take it down."

	"That's horrible!" Cody stated rather loudly before entering the
establishment.

	"You sympathize with a vicious fish murderer? What kind of person
are you?" I said with a small grin. Cody laughed at the remark.

	"Table for two?" The waitress asked with a welcoming smile on her
face. One of the nice things about going to a place with a bit of class is
the fact that the staff was happy to be there just as you were. It shows in
how they look, talk, or even carry themselves from one table to the
next. No second guessing if someone spit in your big-Big Mac.

	"Yes please, and outside seating if their is any." The view was
great inside, but the view on the deck which extended far beyond the
mountains natural descent was even better. It was beautiful during the day,
but I suddenly regretted not taking Cody here for dinner instead. Seeing
the entire city lit up at night was something to behold, all while enjoying
a nice meal. It was almost strange, in a sense. Seeing those distant lights
move about and knowing that each one of those lights was a car with a
person inside. A person probably on their way home, from a job they hated,
and to a house they were more than likely not satisfied with. You could see
and even feel the stress if you stared for too long. I had flashbacks of
myself when I was working my ass off at a dead-end job and making close to
nothing but with a dream of owning my own business, so that one day, I
could be the fortunate person sitting up here, looking down on it all.

	"Man, I can't believe the view up here! Do you come here often?" I
could see the hope in his eyes that we would be returning in the near
future.

	"I wouldn't say often. It's more of a place for special occasions I
think. You like it so far though?"

	"Are you kidding? This is probably the nicest place I've ever
been." He opened the menu and took a quick glance at everything they had to
offer before deciding on a hamburger. Typical fourteen year old
mentality. Lobster, Crab, this place had it all, and he was settling for
something so ordinary. Even the waitress cracked a grin when he placed his
order. Oh well, the atmosphere is what made this place anyways. "So, how
quickly do you think you'd be able to adopt me and I'd be
your... Son... Wow, that is really weird to say." His face flushed slightly
as he nervously unwrapped his cloth napkin and proceeded to fiddle with the
silverware.

	"I'm really not sure. A lot of that has to do with your past
situation. Who you were living with, if they are looking for you, if they
were hell bent on getting you back... You still haven't told me a lot of
that stuff. Want to shed some light on the subject?"

	"No one will be looking for me. I bounced around from one foster
home to the next for months."

	"No family? Aunts, uncles, grandmothers? Nobody will be actively
seeking you out? Think hard Cody. It is important we know all of the facts
before proceeding with this."

	"I know it is important and no, there is no one but me and my
brother. The only people at our parents funeral were us and family
friends." Acknowledging his parents deaths seemed to strike a chord with
the boy. His demeanor became slightly more sorrowful as he looked out over
the mountainous view, slowly dragging his fingertips over the condensation
collecting on his water glass.

	"Hey, things are going to get better now." I reached across the
table, placing one of my hands on top of his. He seemed to appreciate the
gesture and greeted me with a smile. I wanted to know more details about
his parents and past life, but the subject was painful and seemed to always
have a negative effect on his mood. Perhaps next time I would ask him
specifically about fun memories he had with his mother or father. Hopefully
something that wouldn't immediately bring the tears. However, we were in
public and this just wasn't the place to try such social experiments. Our
food arrived not much later. There wasn't much conversation as Cody was too
busy inhaling his food rather than taking the time to enjoy it. "You've
been well fed for a few days now. You ever going to slow down?" I hadn't
even piled all of the meat from my crab legs before Cody was half finished
with his burger and fries.

	"I've always eaten fast." He looked over at my plate and made a
sort of grimace. "Is that stuff even good?" I understood that crab wasn't
exactly an everyday meal, but fourteen years old and never had crab? Seemed
a bit odd to me.

	"How have you never had crab? Have you had lobster? And yea it's
good, try a bite. Dunk the piece in butter first." He reluctantly picked up
his fork and tried the "strange" new food. "Well, what do you think?"

	"It's not bad. I don't know if I'd ever pick it over something else
though." His response was somewhat disappointing but normal for a boy his
age I suppose. I loved sea food and couldn't imagine choosing something so
mundane as a hamburger instead of lobster or crab.

	"That better be one hell of a burger." I teased.

	"It is!. I think it has BBQ sauce in the meat." He wolfed down the
remainder of his burger, then slowed down on the fries as he noticed I
still had quite a bit of catching up to do. "Thanks for this David, this is
a really nice place." I think it might have been a combination of the
lighting, the mountains, and everything in between, but he looked
exceptionally beautiful when he smiled at me just then. I think him being
content for a change also played a huge factor and you could tell just by a
simple glance.

	"No problem. Maybe next time you can get something that you can't
find at McDonald's" I smiled back at him as I too was rather content. If
what he said was true about no family or friends currently tracking him
down, this could go rather smoothly. The possibility of providing and
caring for someone else excited me. I've always done things for myself and
I greatly enjoyed the car and house I got in return for doing so... But The
satisfaction I felt providing for this boy didn't even come close. I felt
like I had a real reason to exist again. Experiencing love after Lance was
difficult and I always felt like a piece of me was missing. I now suddenly
felt whole again as this new kind of love had taken me over... Or was it
the same kind of love?

	"Whatever, this is waaaay better, but alright, Ill broaden my
horizons next time and try something new." By the time the waitress came to
collect our plates, Cody had practically licked his plate clean. As we
walked out the front door, I made sure to grab a handful of complimentary
candies in a basket. Cody flashed me a questionable look.

	"What? With the prices they charge, they're lucky I don't take the
whole basket." Cody giggled at the remark. "Did you ever do that a
Halloween?"

	"Do what?"

	"You know, when people leave out bowls of candy and there is a
little sign that says 'Only one piece per person please.' My cousin and I
were little dicks our first few years of trick-or-treating alone. We'd
always split the bowl between the two of us!"

	"I was not a bad kid like you, Mr.. Fox." He said with honor and
jokingly held his chin up high. The valet just pulled up with my car and
tossed me the keys. After a quick inspection of the interior, I handed him
a five dollar bill and we were on our way home.

	"Mr.. Fox. That reminds me of something... If everything goes
smoothly with the adoption, are you wanting to keep your current last name
of Bending or would you like the name 'Cody Fox'." As soon as the words
came out of my mouth, I somewhat regretted the question. Although his
brother was no shining example, it sounded like his parents were fine
people. He more than likely didn't intend on erasing them from his
name. "Actually, sorry, I shouldn-"

	"No, it's fine... I don't know. I'll think about it." is all he
said as he enjoyed the last moments of the spectacular view as we slowly
made our way back down into the claustrophobia that was the city
freeway. The ride home was pretty quiet. I kept glancing at my watch,
wondering when Saul would get back to me with all the details. It was
nearly 1 when we pulled into my driveway. I walked in and set my keys on
the counter after petting my sleeping hedgehog through the metal bars of
his enclosure. I glanced at my watch again as the frightened animal huffed
and puffed while throwing his back of soft quills against my hand. "You
nervous about what Saul will say?" The question broke my trance as I was
lost in thought.

	"I wouldn't say nervous is the right word. I'd say anxious." I put
on a smile and appeared to be optimistic but the truth was that I was
rather nervous. I knew nothing about the laws and tried to keep my
expectations relatively low for the moment. Even if the process of becoming
a suitable adoptive parent took a while, I decided I was simply going to
hide him out until the time was right. I wasn't losing him and I'd do
whatever it took to ensure that. It was as simple as that. As long as no
one was looking for him then I was fairly certain we would be alright.

	The rest of the day was spent lazily lounging around the house and
anxiously awaiting Saul's call. It consumed both of our thoughts and
completely drained any motivation we may have had to do something
productive. We settled on watching a Walking Dead marathon as a new season
was beginning within the next few days. Cody sat on the couch beside me and
draped his legs over mine. I tried to give the show my full attention, but
I kept wondering if these last few hours were possibly our final ones
together. I kept squeezing his leg at the very thought of having to give
him up. He took it as a simple loving gesture and just smiled at me when I
did so. It was loving, but it was primarily fear.

	"Do you think Carl is cute?" The question came out of nowhere and
took me by complete surprise.

	"Who?" I asked legitimately not understanding.

	"You know, Carl, in the walking dead? Geez, we've only watched like
5 episodes straight." He said sarcastically. I suddenly felt tense and
completely uncomfortable. Lance was the only other person that knew my
interests and he found them completely sick. This was the first time anyone
had ever asked me such a question about a boy so young. There was no way he
was over fifteen in this current season.

	"Oh.. uhh, yea, he's nice." Is all I said while rubbing his leg up
and down. He squinted his eyes and stared at me until I finally gave in and
looked his way.

	"You know what I mean." he shot back. I sighed as I knew there was
no real way out of the situation.

	"I think he's-" I was interrupted by the ear splitting sound of my
phone going off in my pocket. I jumped at the sound and fished my phone out
of my pocket. The Caller-ID confirmed that it was Saul. This is it, this
call was going to completely change our lives, one way or the other. "Hey
there Saul."

	"David! Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier, very busy day. Is
this a bad time?"

	"No, no, not at all. What did you find?" The question rushed out of
my mouth as though time was precious. I wanted to know everything at that
very moment, so much so that the thought of having to wait for this persons
lips to form words slightly annoyed me.

	"Well, he's officially missing as you probably know. As far as I
can see he doesn't have a permanent residence as of now. He would more than
likely go to a random foster home if you were to turn him over to the
authorities."

	"Are you saying I can adopt him?" The tension in the room was high
as Cody placed his ear to the back of the phone, listening in on the
conversation.

	"Well, you do have to go through several courses involving child
care. Your home also needs to be inspected by CPS and of course, as with
anything involving law, you have quite a bit of paperwork to look forward
to. This is a long ordeal. 3 months easy."

	"But what about in the mean time when all of this is getting done?
Can he stay with me?"

	"Typically, someone in the middle of this process is not permitted
to take in children... However, there is something called extended family
care. This basically allows a judge to give third party custody to a family
friend or relative... My suggestion is, wait, you know the kid has a
brother, right?"

	"Yea, Brian. Currently in prison I'm assuming?"

	"Yea, for killing somebody... A kid actually. Anyways, my
suggestion is to schedule a meeting with him as soon as possible and inform
him of everything going on. Have him write a statement saying you were
close to him and his family. That is how you obtain the third party custody
and ride it all the way till the adoption process is complete." The plan
sounded great, but it also had a glaring flaw.

	"And if he refuses to write such a statement?" Saul was quiet for a
moment before responding.

	"Look Dave, this is really all you can do. You need to make a good
impression on this guy. On the bright side, even if Brian doesn't agree to
the arrangement, a child over the age of 12 must consent to their own
adoption. The kid could simply refuse to be adopted until you were ready. I
know that's not ideal, but things would work out regardless... So, shall I
get the paperwork started for you? I'll also call the prison tomorrow and
see if I can get you a meeting scheduled."

	"Yea, I guess that would be the next move. Can I swing by tomorrow
and pick it up?"

	"Absolutely my man. I'll probably be here, but on the off chance
that I am not, I'll leave it with my secretary."

	"Alright, it's a plan then. Thanks a million Saul, I owe you a
steak, my friend."

	"I'll take you up on that offer buddy so get ready for the call!
See you tomorrow Dave." I hung up the phone and finally looked to Cody. It
was a mostly blank expression more than likely filled with hope and worry
as was I. This had the potential to work perfectly, but it could also blow
up in our faces and give us 3 months of hell. I just hoped I could convince
his brother that I was worthy enough of being Cody's new father. My nerves
ran high and the silence in the room became almost deafening except for the
occasional sound of wood shavings, collapsing under the paws of the
hedgehog in the kitchen.

	"So... What do you think your brother will say? I wanted to
continue the reassurance that everything would work out fine, but he heard
the call just as I did and it was apparent that the situation was no longer
in my hands.

	"I really don't know. You ever have that feeling like you don't
even know someone any more? He fell back and collapsed on the couch,
appearing stressed from the entire conversation.

	"I do." Of course I thought of Lance.

	"Brian was an amazing brother when we lived with mom and dad. He
only started doing bad things after everything fell apart." He folded his
hands and sat up in a hunched position, looking as if he was attempting to
come up with a plan. I too sat on the couch and thought of what exactly I
was going to say when I did finally meet with his brother. Convincing him I
should get custody of his little brother was going to be enough of a
challenge, but going into the situation blind and not know what sort of
person to expect made it even harder. I just had to give it my all and have
faith that he would see reason. I'm young, I'm intelligent, and I have my
own business. I am better off than almost anyone I know at my age.
Hopefully my life would be enough of an example for him to grant me that
trust I needed and craved.

	"Should we go out to eat bud? I'm starving." I got up to get my
keys, sitting on the counter top.

	"I want to go with you when you talk to him." The statement came
from nowhere as I stopped in my tracks to give him my attention. "I think
he may come around more if I were there." Perhaps this was a good idea.
Maybe the best way for him to realize I was the best thing for his brother
was from Cody himself.

	"Fine by me."