When the lunch buzzer rang, the three teens made their way quietly to the dining room and took their usual seats, earning dirty looks from two new residents who thought they had claim on those chairs.
Dustin came out of the office. Oddly, he seemed a little rattled as he made his announcement. “Okay, you are making a preliminary appearance today. After lunch, I want you to clean up and dress appropriately. Chief Braden will be transporting you, so be downstairs no later than 2:15.”
Trepidation flowed in the glances the three exchanged.
At 2:10, Myron and Adam came downstairs. Myron was dressed in his usual khakis and an olive-green polo shirt. Adam was wearing his least scruffy jeans and a navy blue-and gray-striped polo shirt courtesy of Myron. Both were cleanly shaved, and their thick hair was tamed.
Soosie descended a minute later. She was wearing blue jeans, but she had replaced her usual tee-shirt with a blue and pink paisley top made of material that floated over her arms and her body. She had French-braided her hair and added makeup emphasizing her blue eyes and soft mouth. Instead of the street-tough girl they were used to, this was one who might inspire some mushy poetry from a locker-room Lothario. Even Dustin looked startled by the transformation.
She threw a nervous look to Myron, who stepped back to the bottom step and held his hand out. Soosie clutched at it.
When she reached the main floor, he was the one who slowly extracted his fingers from her grip while she glanced up at him through her eyelashes.
Observing the ploy, Adam mentally shouted out a warning. “Don’t do it, man! Don’t look in her eyes. You’re dead meat if you do!”
The potentially lethal flirt was interrupted by a knock at the door. Dustin opened it for the police chief.
“You kids ready?” the chief asked.
The two young men stood back, allowing Soosie to go first before following. Once again Adam and Myron crawled in the back seat while Soosie sat in front.
Getting behind the wheel, the chief leaned forward to check his side mirror then smoothly pulled away from the curb. It was silent as death as each of the three sat stone still. Finally, the car pulled around the back of a building. The chief got out and opened first the back door and then the front door of the car. The teens got out slowly and huddled together.
He nodded toward the steel door. “Since each of you has been here before, I think you know the way to the reception desk. I’ll meet you there after I park the car.”
Hesitating outside the doors, the three looked at each other with confusion. Finally, Adam pulled on the handle and the door opened. They could see the reception desk at the other end of the hall.
They advanced slowly, glancing at the doors lining the hall until they reached the desk. The chief was just entering the building. He motioned them forward.
Myron stepped around the corner first, then reached back, pulling Soosie and Adam up beside him as whoops and shouts greeted them.
Elena rushed to them, enveloping each of them in a hug. “We passed the inspection! Everyone is to stay here. You did such good work the inspector said he would have no fears putting his own mother here.”
The front door opened again, and Dustin stepped through. The three kids stared at him. “Cake. I heard there would be cake,” he said to them.
They automatically closed ranks and looked at each other, silently wondering what was going on. Was this just a way stop?
David rolled up with an unlit cigar in his mouth. “He tell you yet?” motioning toward Dustin.
They shook their heads.
David pulled a folded piece of paper from beside him, using it to motion Dustin over. “You got something you want to say to these three?”
“Yeah. So, after consideration, we decided you actually did not meet the criteria for being runaways since we knew where you were the entire time you were absent from the Pitt, a fact verified during your conversation with the chief. That means you were technically only guilty of leaving without permission, and you returned willingly. Sorta. So, in light of those circumstances, we are scrubbing everything from your records. You are in the same position as you were before you left last Friday. Fair enough?”
During his speech, Dustin wasn’t looking at the teens. He was looking at David, who grinned around the cigar in his mouth and held out the paper. Dustin snatched it. After flipping it open and scanning it, he refolded it before carefully tearing it into small pieces.
David jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Lots of good food on the table. Dive in.”
Dustin tossed a resigned look at the kids before circling around David’s wheelchair where Elena was handing out plates.
The three looked back at David. “Just figured all of us needed to sleep in our own beds tonight without worrying about the morrow, so I borrowed a page from Adah’s playbook. I wrote a letter purportedly to the editor of the Sentinel. It didn’t exactly flatter the Pittison House leadership. I emailed it to Dustin with the promise it would be delivered if you three were punished for helping a bunch of old people who couldn’t help themselves.
“Now I am going to go enjoy a stress-free cigar. Save some chow for me.” He turned his chair toward the front door, and the chief hit the button to open it. David raised a hand as he sailed out onto the porch.
Although it had, in fact, only been a few hours since they left, the teens and the residents were reacting as if it had been days. Unaware that both Dustin and the chief were closely observing their interactions, the teens hugged, shook hands, and kissed their way around the room. Finally, they settled on the loveseat with their plates loaded with food and began to pack it away.
While they were eating, Elena motioned Dustin to her office. When they emerged, he was carrying three plastic bags. Adam was the only one still sitting on the loveseat. Dustin made his way over to him. “Where’s Myron and Soosie?” Adam tried to hedge, but Dustin wasn’t having any of it. “Look, I was sorta strong-armed into the whole let you three get away with breaking the rules thing, but that can still change.”
Sighing, Adam got up and led the way to the back hall. He stopped outside the laundry, loudly clearing his throat before flicking on the lights. Although Soosie and Myron had stepped away from each other, it was evident from their flushed faces what they had been up to.
Dustin goggled at them. “Hormones? When the hell did hormones instead of violence break out between you two?” He flung the three bags on the folding table. “Mrs. Fuentes has requested you three be allowed to continue to work here. Our agreement is you will work here as long as you are living at Pittison. Once you age out, any continued opportunity for employment will be between you and Mrs. Fuentes.
“Now, go back and enjoy your party. When we get back to the Pitt, I’m obviously going to have to wire alarms on some people’s doors.”
“That won’t be necessary, sir,” Myron said. “I promise the only person I’m going to sleep with while I am at the Pitt is Adam.”
Dustin feigned his eyeballs coming out of his head on stalks. “Is there something you two want to tell me?”
“Thanks, dude. Screw my reputation before I even see if I like kissing girls,” Adam said.
Myron looked at Soosie with a huge smile on his face. “Oh, you’re definitely going to like it.”
Dustin turned away, flapping his hand in their direction. “Do me a favor, you three. Just finish growing up and go away!”
“That is our plan, sir.”