Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:25:27 EDT
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: Castaway Hotel: Grand Reopening - Book 7, chapters 39 - 40

The Castaway Hotel: Grand Reopening --Book 7 - by BW
Copyright 2009 by billwstories
Chapter 39 -- New Approaches.

**Author's Note:** Please read the disclaimer in Chapter 00 before you read
this.

Monday started off no better than the weekend had gone, as far as learning
anything more about Vinnie was concerned.  I truly couldn't imagine what
might have happened, since there hadn't been a sign of him anywhere.  If he
were younger, I'd be even more worried than I was now, because the longer a
child is missing the less chance there is of finding him.  However, seeing
Vinnie was older, there was a possibility he was doing this of his own
volition and nothing more sinister was involved.

Throughout the entire day at work, I was totally distracted.  Every time
the phone rang, all I could think about was that it might be news
concerning Vinnie and I would hold my breath until I discovered otherwise.
That was the primary reason I wasn't getting much accomplished.  I think
some of the boys were suffering a similar fate, because I got a call from a
couple of their teachers, wanting to know why the boys seemed to be
daydreaming and out of touch with what was going on in class.

Once I explained the situation to them, the teachers would respond they
understood and apologized for calling.  After that they'd offer their
support and prayers for a happy resolution to our problem.  After thanking
them, I went back to hoping something positive would develop soon.

While looking at my calendar, I realized tomorrow was Trey's birthday and
was relieved we generally planned to hold the parties on the weekend, and
not during the week.  Due to the fact this past weekend had been
Valentine's Day, we had scheduled Trey's party for the following weekend,
so there wouldn't be so many other distractions.  This time that seemed to
work out for the best, and hopefully we'll have heard from Vinnie by then,
so Trey's gathering will be joyous and he won't end up getting
shortchanged.

Once I'd considered that, I focused on Vinnie again.  As each hour passed,
it caused me to become more and more concerned about where he was and what
condition he might be in.  I also tried to think of something else we might
be able to do to help locate him.  Finally, I came up with an idea.

I took a picture of Vinnie and another of his 4Runner and used them to make
a 'Missing' poster on my computer.  After composing it, I printed out a
couple hundred copies.  Later, I would talk to Jake about distributing it
between Temple University and our home, hoping it might produce some leads
as to Vinnie's whereabouts.  I had put the phrase 'call collect', followed
by my cell number, on the flier, so I wouldn't discourage anyone from
calling to give us news, due to the expense.  I also added a $1,000 reward
for information leading to his safe return, as an additional incentive.

When I got home, I discussed this with Jake in detail and Jake decided he'd
call in and take the next day off from his job, so he could help distribute
them.  He felt I should stay close to home, to remain available for any
calls I might get from Vinnie or the State Police.  Jake said it would also
be best if I were able to go wherever I might be needed.

I didn't argue with him, but did suggest he stop and see Kevin too.  Jake
could leave about thirty copies of the missing notice with him and Kevin
could post them on and around the campus.  That way, Jake could focus on
distributing the leaflets at places just off each of the exits and at the
various rest areas between Philly and home.  We hoped someone would see one
of them and be able to supply us with a new lead.  Who knows?  It's also
possible that Vinnie might even see one of these and then realize he needed
to call home.  I thanked Jake for doing this, to which I got this response.

"Am I not one of his parents too?" he challenged.  "Why WOULDN'T I be
willing to do this for him?  I'm just as worried about him as you are."

After apologizing for my seeming lack of understanding on this matter, I
gave Jake a very passionate kiss.  This caused him to drag me off to our
bedroom, and for many wonderful minutes, he took my mind off worrying about
Vinnie.  However, once our lovemaking session ended, thoughts of our
missing young man popped back into my head and I started to fret, yet
again.

Before the boys went to bed, I reminded them that Trey's big day was
tomorrow, so they'd all remember to wish him a 'Happy Birthday.'  Even
though I understood most of our attention would still be focused on our
'missing' family member, I didn't want Trey to feel neglected or less
important.  Birthdays are major social functions until you reach middle
age, if that feeling ever ends, so I wanted to keep things as 'normal' as I
could, under the circumstances.

The following morning, Jake took off early, but did manage to pass along
his birthday wishes to Trey before he left.  The rest of us all did the
same and I let Trey open one of his gifts after we finished breakfast, to
punctuate the significance of this day.  He thanked us all, but said it
would be better if Vinnie were here too, so again I hoped that our
A.W.O.L. young man would turn up before Trey's party was held this weekend.

The morning dragged on for me, but after lunch I received a phone call from
Captain De Luca.  "Mr. Currie, this is Charles De Luca.  I have some news
for you, but I'm not sure how you're going to take it.  We have found your
missing 4Runner."

"Great!" I told him, "but you didn't mention Vinnie," I pointed out.  "What
about him?"

"That's the thing," he acknowledged.  "The 4Runner was pulled over by one
of our patrol cars, but Judge Shay's son wasn't in it.  Another young man
was driving, and after a lengthy interrogation, he admitted to stealing the
vehicle from a rest area on I-76.  At first, he claimed Judge Shay's son
had loaned him the vehicle, but when he couldn't give the interrogators a
description of the boy, they knew he was lying.

"The young man finally admitted he found the keys in the ignition, after he
and his friend checked it out.  Feeling lucky, he just hopped in, drove it
away and followed his friend home.  Your son's cell phone and luggage were
recovered too, but we have no idea what happened to him.  We are charging
that young man with grand larceny, but more charges may be added later."

"So, this guy couldn't give you any information about Vinnie?" I followed.

"I'm afraid not," he admitted.  "He said it was late and the car was parked
with no one around, but the keys were in the ignition.  Since he wasn't
able to give us a description of the missing young man, I'm sure he never
even saw him.  He said he didn't wait around to see whom it belonged to and
just jumped in it and took off.  He figured the owner was probably in one
of the rest rooms, using the toilet or something."

"But that must have been one of the rest areas we stopped at, but we didn't
find him there either," I remarked, shocked.  "Where in the hell has Vinnie
disappeared?"

"I don't know, but we are focusing in on that rest stop and surrounding
areas," he acknowledged.  "We'll have search teams go over every inch of
ground there and I'll let you know if we discover anything more."

I didn't like the sounds of this.  Did it mean he thought they'd find
Vinnie's body somewhere around that area or what?

"Do you suspect this guy and his friend might have done something to
Vinnie?" I asked directly.

"No, not at all," he stated.  "We just want to be thorough when looking for
clues.  Don't read more into this than what is there.  We're just doing our
job and that's all there is to it."

"Okay, I hope so.  By the way, thank you for all you're doing," I told him,
but now I was even more confused.

I now understood why Vinnie hadn't called any of us from his cell phone or
responded to my messages, but where had he gone and how had he gotten
there?  Damn, that could have been his 4Runner I saw that first time we
went looking for him!  I just didn't think it was, when he didn't answer my
call.  Did something else happen to him or did he try to walk or hitchhike
home?  Had he been picked up by a Good Samaritan or grabbed by some
unscrupulous scoundrel?  He knows he can always call home collect, if he
needs to use a pay phone, so why haven't we heard from him?  The only
reason I could think of to answer this quandary was that he was UNABLE to
call, and that was not a pleasant thought to have.

The news I had just received troubled me for the rest of the day and that
evening I discussed all the ramifications of what I had learned with the
boys.  I talked it over with them during dinner and they came up with
various suggestions as to what they thought might have happened.  Jake
didn't get back until much later that evening, so we discussed the
situation in bed.

"What do you think has happened to him?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, Josh," Jake responded, "but maybe Steve was right.  Maybe
Vinnie just couldn't stand the thought of facing us all right now, because
he's embarrassed and angry about what happened."

"That may be, but Vinnie should understand he can come to us about
anything," I stated, "regardless of the situation.  I still can't imagine
where he could be."

"Do you think he might have gone back to his old neighborhood?" Jake asked.
"You know, to stay with an old friend or something?"

This gave me an idea, because Jake might be right about Vinnie doing
something like that.  It was indeed a possibility the rest of us hadn't
thought about.  I quickly got out of bed and jumped online, immediately
going to www.switchboard.com.  Once there, I began to look up a couple of
names I remembered.  I had heard them when I went with Vinnie to his old
neighborhood, shortly after he first came to live with us.  I jotted down a
few phone numbers, but I knew I couldn't call these people until tomorrow.
It was too late to disturb them now, but it did provide me with a ray of
hope.  I went back to bed, thanked Jake for the wonderful idea and then we
made out a little, before we snuggled together for the night.

The next evening, after work, I called all of the people I'd thought of,
but none of them had seen or heard from Vinnie recently.  They did tell me
they would check with some of Vinnie's other friends in their area and get
back to me, if they discovered anything.  After having them take down my
phone number, I thanked them and said good-bye, but I had no better
understanding of what had happened to my boy than I had before.  The only
consolation was, we now had a few more people looking for him.

We didn't hear anything new the next day either, but now I realized I had
other concerns I should be addressing.  Little Ricky was still dealing with
problems of his own and this lull would give me a chance to spend some time
with him.  I needed to help him deal with his own issues, such as coming to
grips with his father's untimely death.  He was still having difficulty
dealing with that, as well as with his mother's condition.

Arlene seemed to be getting worse as every week passed.  She would go long
stretches of time without recognizing any of us, not even John or Margaret
Spence, even though she was living with them now and they were with her all
day long.  Little Ricky continued to go see her every day, without fail,
but on the vast majority of those visits Arlene didn't seem to have any
idea who he was.  I could see this hurt Little Ricky deeply, both when I
went with him to visit her or when he'd come home after stopping at the
Spences after school.  I did all I could to console him, but it never
seemed to be enough.

Little Ricky would tell me his mother would end up spending most of her
time talking about her parents or something from her childhood.  She even
thought he was one of her elementary classmates from time to time.  It was
as if her memory was slowly being erased, from her most recent
recollections and then working backward.  This appeared to be more than he
could deal with.

"I can tell this isn't easy for you," I began, while pulling him onto my
lap one afternoon, shortly after he got back from visiting her.

"Pop, it's just that she doesn't even know who I am any more," he
responded.  "She doesn't even seem to know she has a son, let alone
recognize me."

His eyes told me how much pain he felt and how deeply this hurt him.  I
could feel his body trembling as he fought to hold back the flood of tears
that were building inside.  No matter how hard he fought it, his emotions
finally got the best of him and he broke down completely.  He was now
bawling hysterically into my chest.

I did my best to comfort him, but there is little you can say to someone
whose whole world has crumbled so completely and in such a relatively short
period of time.  Even though we were all there for him, he had built his
hopes and dreams on being a part of the Becker family, with his father and
mother.  Now, he had to redefine his expectations, with a whole different
group of people.  I let him cry himself out, since I felt the release would
be good for him, and once he began to calm down again, I tried to talk the
problem over with him.

"I don't have any answers for you nor a magic wand I can wave to make
everything better," I began, "but I and your brothers will be here for you,
to help in any way we can."  He looked up at me, from his tear-streaked
face.

"I know and I can't imagine how I'd feel if I wasn't able to come live
here," he told me.  "I was scared when all this happened.  Hell, I'm still
scared, but I'd be terrified if you weren't here to help me when I needed
you most.  I know things will work out and I'll get through this, even
though it may not be easy or go like I want it to.  The good thing is, I
know I don't have to worry about what will happen to me and you'll make
sure I'm taken care of.

"Don't get me wrong," he continued, "and please don't think I'm
unappreciative of what you're doing for me, but I really love my mom and
dad too.  Now, I don't have either of them and that's hard for me to
accept.  Yes, Mom's still around in body, but I can't even stand to go
visit her any longer.  It hurts to see how she is now and that makes me
feel even worse -- like I'm letting her down or something."  He began to
cry again, so I gave him some time to release this new wave of guilt and
pain.  Once he started to calm down again, I spoke.

"We all understand how hard this must be for you, although I won't say I
know exactly how it feels," I explained.  "All I can tell you is that
you've done as much, or more, than your parents, or anyone else, could ever
expect of you.  You've been a terrific son to both of them, and if you'd
like for me to go with you to visit your mother from now on, I will.  If
that will make it a little easier for you to deal with things, then I'll be
right by your side every time you go see her.  If you'd prefer not to go at
all, I'll support that choice too, and no one will fault you for it.
However, only you can make that decision."

"I won't stop seeing her," he countered, adamantly.  "I can't do that, but
I think it might help if you went with me.  Would you really do that for
me?"  He looked hopeful, yet I could still see he doubted I would be able
to go with him on a daily basis.

"Absolutely," I assured him.  "We may have to change the times of your
visits though, to fit in with my schedule, but I will go with you each and
every day, for as long as you wish."

Little Ricky hugged my neck and kissed me on the cheek in response, and
then I just sat there and held him, until HE decided he was ready to move
on.  It was several minutes before his grip on me began to ease up and he
finally spoke.

"I've already gone to see her today," he told me, "so can we start this
tomorrow?"

"Certainly," I agreed.  "As soon as I get home, we'll decide if we should
go then or wait until after dinner, but we will go together."  He gave me a
weak smile.

"Thanks, Pop.  I think that will make it a little easier," he conceded.

The next night, Little Ricky chose to go after dinner, but I think he did
that more for my benefit, than for his own.  I believe he felt I was tired
and worn out after working all day, so he wanted to give me a chance to
relax and eat first, before we fulfilled his daily obligation.  I thought
that was very considerate of him, seeing his previous schedule had him
going after he got home from school, so I let him know how much I
appreciated his thoughtfulness.

"It is very kind of you to change your schedule to suit me," I told him,
"but you don't have to do it this late every night, if earlier is better
for you."

"We'll see," he responded, succinctly, while giving me one of his special
little grins.

After dinner, I drove him down to the Spences, because I was too tired to
walk and it was also quite dark out.  John and Margaret greeted us warmly
when they answered the door, but things cooled down from there.  Arlene was
in her room and didn't recognize either of us as we entered.  Hell, she
even thought John and Margaret were her parents and began asking them
questions about some of her childhood friends and pets from years gone by.
I could feel Little Ricky tense up, as she continued to carry on that way,
so I just hugged him against my chest, to will some of my strength into his
body.

He did try to start a conversation with his mother, although she responded
like a small child to a playmate, rather than like a mother to her son.
Little Ricky didn't let this get him down or deter his efforts though, and
I was very proud of how he continued to handle himself.  He always put his
mother first, no matter how much it tore him up inside.

While he was talking to Arlene, John and Margaret left the room and I took
a seat in the lone chair.  Eventually I pulled Little Ricky onto my lap,
thinking physical contact would help him keep his spirits up, no matter how
unbearable the other circumstances were.  We stayed with Arlene for nearly
an hour, before I suggested it was time for us to go home, so he said
good-bye to her.  Although she merely bid him a good night, with no kiss or
hug, he didn't let it depress him further.  As we drove home, he made sure
he thanked me for my support.

His visits went about the same for the rest of the week, with some days
being better for Arlene than others, but none of them were ever very good.
It was during this time that Graham decided to talk to Little Ricky too,
because he had some issues he wanted to discuss with him.  I wasn't sure
what was up, but Graham asked me to sit with them as well.

"Little Ricky," he began, "I've been waiting a long time to talk to you
about this, because I was never sure what to say."

"About what?" Little Ricky asked him.

"About your father dying," Graham told him, but that only brought a
confused look to Little Ricky's face.

"I don't understand," he responded simply, which caused Graham to eye him
carefully.

"Well, you know about my special gift, don't you?" Graham wondered.

"You mean that you can tell when people are sick or something is going to
happen to them?" Little Ricky responded.

"Yes, that's part of it," Graham confirmed.

"So, what about it?" Little Ricky wanted to know.

"Didn't you ever wonder why I never said anything about your father, before
he died?" Graham asked him.

"I guess, but I never really thought much about it," he admitted.  "I just
figured it was probably because you never saw us very often."

"That was part of it," Graham admitted, "but I kept hearing everyone
talking about how tired and worn down he was getting taking care of your
mother, so when I saw the gray haze starting to form around him, I thought
it was just because of that.  It really never got black, like it did with
Cody or Brent, so I didn't think it was anything serious.  I guess I never
noticed it getting darker, because I didn't see him when he was getting
worse.  I'm sorry for not saying anything, because maybe he could have gone
to the doctor and got some help or medicine, so he'd still be alive now."
Graham broke down in tears after saying this, because he felt guilty.  He
thought he had let Little Ricky and Albert down.

"But there was nothing you could have done," Little Ricky advised him, and
then I broke in before Graham could disagree.

"Graham, he's right," I agreed.  "Even if you had said something, Albert
was a very stubborn man and I doubt he would have gone to see a doctor just
because you told him you saw a gray shadow around him.  I actually think
Albert would have laughed it off and still done nothing.  Don't blame
yourself, Graham.  You had nothing to do with what happened to him."

"Pop's right," Little Ricky confirmed.  "I never thought anything about
your gift, because I knew you weren't responsible and probably couldn't
have helped anyway.  Like Pop says, my dad wouldn't have believed you.  He
didn't believe in psycho things."

"I think you mean psychic things, Little Ricky," I corrected, hoping I
didn't embarrass him.  He seemed to brush it off.

"Yeah, that's what I meant," he agreed.  "My dad didn't believe in that
stuff, so it wouldn't have helped if you told him, Graham.  I really don't
blame you.  I actually kind of blame him.  He cancelled the night help Pop
got for Mom and I think that's really what killed him.  If anyone is to
blame, it's just him.  I tried to tell him that myself, but he didn't
listen to me either, so I don't think there's any way he'd have listened to
you."

Hearing this made Graham feel better and helped to clear his guilty
conscience.  It also gave me a little better insight into why Graham had
asked Little Ricky to be his date for Valentine's Day.  His guilty
conscience might have prodded him to make that invitation, although I felt
he still had an attraction for our newest family member.

Now that this issue had been addressed, we could all move on.  I think
confronting this topic had been good for Little Ricky too, since he finally
was able to admit he blamed his father for what happened.  That was a major
step for him and at least now I knew he wasn't blaming himself for his
father's death.  That thought had been bothering me since his father
passed, but I didn't know how to confront him to find out for certain.
Inadvertently, Graham had helped me with this problem, so he had done us
all a big service.



The Castaway Hotel: Grand Reopening --Book 7 - by BW
Copyright 2009 by billwstories
Chapter 40 -- Where in the World is Vinnie?

By the time the weekend finally arrived, I was actually glad for the
distraction of Trey's party.  It also gave me a chance to visit with some
of the most important people in my life, our extended family.  I took this
opportunity to discuss many things with them, beginning with Vinnie's
disappearance and Little Ricky's emotional conflict over Arlene's
deteriorating condition.

Steve, Mary, Jake and I did spend some time alone, so we could discuss the
Vinnie situation in private.  We didn't want to accidentally alarm the
others or cause them undue stress, if they overheard some of what we had to
say.  During that conversation, Steve informed me of something I did not
yet know.  He had called Captain De Luca before coming to the party and had
discovered that a waitress in Somerset, Pennsylvania had reported serving
Vinnie and another young man the previous weekend.  She claimed the two
seemed friendly and the boy on crutches didn't seem distressed, coerced or
to be there against his will.

 This information confused me.  Vinnie's car appeared to have been stolen
from a rest area east of our home, between here and Philadelphia, but
Somerset is west of here, between our home and Pittsburgh.  I could not
imagine why he would be seen heading in the opposite direction.

Steve thought the waitress' report was most likely a false sighting, but I
doubted that.  How many guys fitting Vinnie's description and using
crutches could there be?  I didn't think there would be too many.  This
caused me to wonder why he was traveling further away from home, whom the
guy was that Vinnie had been seen with and where they were going.

If this waitress had actually spotted Vinnie, then it couldn't have been a
planned meeting with this other fellow.  Vinnie had intended on spending
the whole weekend with Kevin.  So, how did this guy get involved?  Could
this be a voluntary pairing or was there something more sinister involved?
I had no answers for any of these questions, which only heightened my sense
of dread.

In an attempt to avoid ruining the party for Trey, I moved our discussion
on to other topics.  I hoped that doing this would distract me long enough
to prevent my making a fool of myself or inadvertently bringing this affair
to a crashing halt.  I didn't want my doubts to become too apparent or my
fears too obvious, since most of the boys seemed to be able to read me like
a book.  Due to that fact, I had to keep my emotions under control and
focus on making another son happy today.  It also helped that I found some
solace in focusing on the fact that the waitress who had seen Vinnie
claimed he didn't seem to be in distress or fearful.

Getting back to the task at hand, we sat down to enjoy Trey's birthday
dinner, which he had personally selected.  He had asked for Bleu Cheese
Chicken, which is a chopped chicken breast, served over bowtie pasta, and
covered with a bleu cheese sauce, which also contained bits of bacon.  In
addition to that, we also served everyone a Caesar salad and had trays of
raw vegetables placed on each table, to give everyone the opportunity to
dip these various items in the extra sauce.

Once the meal was completed, Trey and the rest of the boys put on their
coats, hats and gloves and went outside to have a snowball fight.  It had
snowed the previous day and I guess they figured they could work off their
restless energy that way and have a little fun in the process.  This proved
to be especially therapeutic for Little Ricky, who had been so tense over
the past few days that I sometimes thought he might snap.  It was nice to
watch him carry on like a kid again and have some fun with his new
brothers.  The boys hadn't been treating Little Ricky with kid gloves,
although they had been taking it a little easy on him.  This now extended
to the snowball fight they were currently having.

I was enjoying standing in front of the picture window and watching them
laughing and having such a good time.  When Little Ricky noticed me doing
this, he smiled and then threw a snowball at the window.  He didn't do this
hard enough to break the window, but the snowball did have enough force to
let me know it was intended for me.

After shaking my finger at him, I ran and put on my own outdoor gear and
sneaked out the backdoor.  I also took the time to stop and make a couple
of snowballs first, before I slipped around front.  As I approached, I
peeked around the corner of the house, so I could locate Little Ricky
first, before I moved into the open.  Once I knew where he was, I stepped
forward and let my first snowball fly.  I was amazed at my own aim, when
the projectile hit him in the left shoulder and caused him to look up to
see who had assaulted him.

When he saw me standing and laughing at him, he took the snowball he had in
his hand and threw it at me.  After he released it, he quickly stooped down
and made another one.  His first projectile missed, but I wasn't about to
give him a second chance.  Seeing what he was up to, I threw my next
snowball, which grazed his arm, and then raced forward and tackled him.
This left both of us on the ground, lying in the snow and laughing
hysterically.

Although Little Ricky was laughing, he was also trying desperately to get
away.  To prevent that, not only was I using one hand to hold on to him,
but I was also busy using my other hand to scoop snow off the ground and
toss it at him.  The more I used my right hand to claw at the ground and
push snow in his direction, the harder he laughed.  Soon, he also had me
laughing so uncontrollably that I could no longer hold him down.  That's
when he got away and began to use both of his hands to heap snow on me.

By this time, the other boys saw what was happening and came over to assist
Little Ricky.  Before long, I had snow flying at me from several
directions.  Having to save face and not be bested by my boys, I began to
grab them one at a time and pull them down into the snow, in one big pile.
Then I managed to get up and position my body across the heap of wiggling
forms, to keep them all pinned to the ground.

We were all laughing so much that we hardly heard the rapping on the
picture window, but when we looked up, there stood the rest of the family
enjoying our antics.  They were all smiling, waving, or pointing at us, and
we could tell they were getting as much enjoyment seeing us interact, as we
were having taking part in this madness.

Discovering they now had an audience merely spurred the boys on and before
long they had all escaped my grasp.  Now, they were multilaterally renewing
their attack on my person and the snow was flying fast and furious.  It
wasn't long before I had so much snow clinging to my body and clothes that
I was actually beginning to look like Frosty the Snowman.

I was now totally soaked and beginning to get chilled, so I decided to
surrender to their magnanimous good will.  I hoped they would take pity on
an old man, but I should have known better.  Seeing me acquiesce just
encouraged them to utilize more devious plans against me.  They were
obviously going to make the most of this rare occasion when they were able
to best me.

Using their new superiority, the boys made me get on my knees and stretch
out prone before them.  They were insistent I beg their forgiveness for
every perceived grievance they had against me.  They weren't about to let
me get off that easily though, because they were determined to watch me
suffer a little longer.

Andrew and Little Ricky decided I also deserved a spanking for my affront,
so with me bent over on the ground, the two moved behind me.  They stood,
one on each side, and began whacking me playfully on the butt, which
elicited even more laughter from their brothers and those watching from
inside the house.  Once they felt I had been appropriately punished, they
let me up and we all went to the back of the house to reenter.  We did this
so we didn't track in snow and leave a watery trail throughout the entire
house.

Once we rejoined the others in the family room, they had to give us their
view of how they saw our little spectacle.  For the most part, I heard that
I probably deserved the spanking or it had been a long time in coming.
Seeing I wasn't going to get any sympathy or support from anyone here, I
excused myself to go dry off and change, as did many of the boys.  When I
finished toweling off and putting on dry garments, I opened the door to my
room.  All I saw was a blur, before I felt two arms wrap around my body and
squeeze me.

"Thanks, Pop," I heard a voice say, before I looked down to see whom it
was.  Little Ricky was now entwined around me, like a constrictor.  "That
was great!  I loved it.  Thanks for coming out and doing that for me.  I
love you, Pop."

Words escaped me at this point, so I just hugged him back, to let him know
I appreciated his comments and loved him too.  He didn't seem to want to
let go of me right away, so I stood there holding him until he decided it
was time to break our embrace.  As we walked back to join the others, I put
my arm around his shoulders and we reentered the family room in that
fashion.

As soon as we were in sight of everyone else, I put him in a headlock and
gave him a nuggy.  That's when you rub your knuckles back and forth across
the top of a person's head, so the friction causes some discomfort, but not
unbearable pain.

As I did this, I told him, "I always get in the last word... or action,"
which caused another round of laughter in the room, from those watching us.

"You cheat," Little Ricky wailed, before he began to laugh again.

"Nope.  I just have impeccable timing," I replied, before letting go of his
head and pulling his whole body against mine, so I could give him another
affectionate hug.  He responded in kind, although he did have his own
comment to make as he did so.

"I'll get even with you for this," he threatened, lightheartedly.  This
elicited a feigned hurt expression and a pout from me, which caused him to
cuff me playfully on the shoulder.

Once we ended our frolicsome exchange, we turned our attention back to
Trey, who had been enjoying all of our antics.  Even though this was
supposed to be his day and he should have been the center of attention, he
seemed to be enjoying this too.  Since I now felt bad, I pulled him aside,
to apologize for getting carried away during his party, but he didn't seem
to want to hear it.

"I loved it," he assured me, as he attempted to put my mind at ease.  "I
haven't had that much fun in ages and wouldn't mind doing it again
sometime.  Don't worry, Dad.  All of us had a great time."

At that point, I felt it was a good time to have his cake and ice cream,
which would also allow Trey to open his presents.  My announcement met with
approval from all, especially the boys.  I guess they had burned off enough
calories outdoors to take care of the meal they had only recently devoured,
so I made sure to give each of them a little larger portion than was
normal.  It was lucky that Jake and I had mistakenly each ordered a cake,
so we had more than enough to go around.

After the presents were unwrapped and all those who had given the gifts had
been thanked, the topic of Vinnie was broached again.  After telling them
all I could, some of the extended family tried to think of ideas we might
be able to use to locate our missing loved one -- suggestions we hadn't
thought of before.

After a lengthy discussion, it was decided the best thing we could do was
to start putting out more fliers along I-76 and I-70, the ones with
Vinnie's picture and our phone number on it.  Seeing the last report we had
about him was that he had been seen heading west, traveling with some other
guy, we decided to put the majority of the leaflets out along the westbound
lanes of those two interstates.  That way, we might be able to generate
more information as to his whereabouts.  Although we weren't sure how
successful that effort would be, it was definitely worth a try.

We also decided that we'd notify the State Police in both Ohio and West
Virginia too, in case Vinnie and this other guy decided to leave
Pennsylvania.  None of us had any idea why Vinnie might be with this person
or if Vinnie even knew him.  We weren't sure if he was just hitching a
ride, but if that was the case, Vinnie could have asked to be dropped off
at the exit closer to our home as they passed this way.  Did this suggest
Vinnie was a captive of sorts, possibly abducted from the rest area?  The
waitress had said Vinnie seemed to be in a good mood and with the guy
voluntarily, if it had indeed been Vinnie she had seen.  Then again, what's
the possibility of another young man on crutches and looking like Vinnie
being in that area?

This caused me to rethink the situation again.  Could this guy possibly be
someone Vinnie had known in the past?  Was it possible Vinnie had called
this guy after he saw Kevin with that other boy?  There were so many
questions and so few answers that it was driving me nuts.  I didn't think
this was like Vinnie, because he'd never done anything even close to this
before, but maybe it was just his way of dealing with Kevin's infidelity.

Was this an attempt to run away for good or was he just trying to run away
from a hurtful situation?  No matter what his reasons for doing this were,
the thing that bothered me the most was that he didn't even call to let me
know where he was or what he was doing.  Hell, he had never even tried to
call to discuss what he'd walked in on at Kevin's dorm.  I always thought
we had a better relationship than what his actions now indicated.

After we had beaten this issue to death, the others went home and I set
about printing more of the fliers.  Jake and I would head out the next day,
and seeing the two routes ran together for quite a while, we agreed that
I'd stop at all the even numbered off-ramps, while Jake got off at the odd
numbered exits.  We'd also take turns stopping at the rest areas, but we'd
make sure we left a poster on the bulletin boards before we left.  We'd do
this until I-76 and I-70 split, and then Jake would continue on I-76, and
I'd follow I-70.  From that point on, we'd stop at all the exits and
continue on until we hit the state border.

While we were finishing getting things ready for our trips, Kevin phoned
and wanted to speak with me.  "Dad, have you heard from Vinnie yet?" he
asked.

"No, Kevin, I haven't?" I replied.

"Dad, I feel soooo bad," he whined.  "This is all my fault."  His voice was
choked and full of emotion.

"I won't argue that point now," I told him, "but we have heard a report
that Vinnie was seen at a restaurant west of here, so there's still hope.
Don't get too discouraged yet."

"I know, but I'm sooooo worried about him," Kevin added.

"I understand and Jake and I are going out tomorrow to put up some more
posters," I informed him.  "We are hoping doing so will generate some new
information about Vinnie."

"You have to let me come home and help," he pleaded.  "I can't just stay
here and do nothing.  I have to help find him and apologize for what I've
done."

"Kevin, we won't have time to come get you and then still do this
tomorrow," I explained.  "I think it's more important that we get these
fliers out where people can see them, so you'll just have to stay put and
let us do what we can."

"What if I take the bus home or find another ride?"  He sounded hopeful.

"Kevin, there isn't time for that and I don't want you just taking off with
anyone," I protested.  "That's why it's important for you to stay where you
are for now."

"But this would never have happened," he reasoned, "if it hadn't been for
me and what I did."

"That might be," I agreed, "but it won't change the fact that you probably
couldn't get here in time. Therefore, I want you to stay at school."

"But, Dad..." Kevin began to whine, before I stopped him.

"No, this stops here and now," I insisted.  "I will do this much for you
though.  If Vinnie isn't home by next weekend, someone will come to get you
on Friday and bring you home or I'll let you take the bus then.  Deal?"

"But, Dad..." I cut him off again.

"It's either that or you can stay where you are," I offered.  "Is it a deal
or not?"  He didn't respond immediately, so I knew he was thinking it over.

"I can't come home before that?" he finally asked.

"No.  I'll let you come home next weekend, but not before," I reiterated.
"There's nothing you'd be able to do here and the rest of us will still be
going to school and work, so you might as well just stay there and attend
classes.  Like I said, next weekend you can come home and then one of us
will take you back before Monday."

"Dad!!!" he bellowed into the phone, but I didn't let him continue.

"Kevin, there's nothing you can do by staying here," I explained.  "I will
let you come back for the weekend, but only for the weekend.  If you can
live with that, then I'll call you Wednesday and tell you what arrangements
I've made.  Otherwise, you can just stay there.  What's your choice?"

"Okay, I'll do it your way," Kevin replied, "but I'm not happy about it."

"I know, but that's the best I can do for you," I offered.  "I also suggest
you don't goof around with your studies during this time either.  If you
do, you'll regret your actions later, when Vinnie is back home and
everything has returned to normal."

"Okay, okay.  I'll do what you want," he agreed, but then he paused.  "And
just so you know," he began again, a few seconds later, "I understand you
think you're doing what's best for both Vinnie and me, so thank you... but
I still don't agree with you."  He did manage to get in his final shot, but
I decided to ignore it.

"Okay.  I love you and I'll call you on Wednesday," I reminded him.  "If
you need to talk before that, just call us, and we'll call you if there are
any changes."

"Bye, Dad, and I love you too," Kevin ended, and I knew he was being
sincere.

'Yes,' I thought to myself, 'sometimes you do have to put your foot down
and be a son-of-a-bitch to be a good parent.'


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