Dodger

I never get togged up, but I wouldn't mind occasionally.

A great question and some encouraging responses. The general theme seems to be that writers will find a way to write and be creative, even if the rest of the world is upside down. I've also been creative. I've become very localized, focusing on the small community where I live and staying away from the big city. My income has taken a battering, but I've got to know my neighbours a lot better and made a fascinating discovery.

If Don was to paint himself as a rainbow, march at the head of pride, donate all his money and free time to gay causes, and somehow discover the cure to Coronavirus, I still don't think most of the readers would be prepared to forgive him. As for Alex. We know he's a bully and he may even have reason to dislike Nathan, but I doubt if he would be capable of such a vicious assault. If you annoy Alex you're likely to end up with a black eye and maybe missing a couple of teeth but not in the hospital with those kind of injuries.

The last thing he needs for sure. Robbie is nowhere near mature enough to be a father, but we don't know for sure if this is the case.

It may be too late now for Don to redeem himself with his family. It's hard to see how he would be able to do that. Perhaps he will see the error of his ways and choose to go down with his ship, or he could simply implode as Jo suggested.

There has been a definite power shift in the house and the kids have played a big part in this, particularly Nicola, who, it seems has now thrown her weight behind Robbie. The fact that Don can no longer buy her allegiance represents a significant blow for Don's futile attempt to control his family. He may not be a thoroughly bad person. Maybe he's not as bad as Robbie wants him to be. We don't know yet, but we know Don has made some fundamental mistakes and allowed ignorance and bigotry to destroy the family he wanted to protect.

It sounds crazy but Robbie would have preferred Don to find something. Jo had prepared him for it and he knew what to do. This probably means that Don isn't involved in any attempt to set up Nathan, which complicates things. Just when Robbie was starting to get the better of him. Don has lost a lot of his bite recently and thanks to Jo, Robbie has become increasingly confident when dealing with parents. His newfound confidence has resulted in him becoming more confrontational, as you rightly point out, to the point of stupidity and that highlights perhaps his biggest issue. Robbie doesn't know his limitations. Most people know how far they can push someone. There's always a line you can't cross, but he has no natural understanding of where this line is, so he keeps pushing until the person he's pushing snaps. He's done it with everyone, not just Don and Sue, or people in authority, but also his friends and even boyfriends. This is an issue that will need to be addressed if he's ever to hold down a long term relationship.

I'm guessing it's searching through Robbie's stuff without just cause and then not bothering to apologize when he couldn't find anything. Nathan's honesty may cost him in the short term but be beneficial in the long run. Perhaps Robbie should take note.

I doubt if anything Robbie does will make Don douchecanoe happy and he doesn't deserve to be happy either.

While I slumped in the armchair, resigned to an outcome that seemed no longer in doubt, Sue was sitting on the couch opposite leaning forward with her head in her hands. She looked as though she had at least thought about what I said, and the fact that she hadn’t dismissed it outright provided a glimmer of hope. It would have been asking a lot of most people to believe their partner was capable of something so despicable, but she didn’t laugh at me or shout me down. She didn’t do or say anyt

Thank you for your kind words. Glad you've enjoyed it. I can promise a chaotic but entertaining ending.

That would really throw the cat among the pigeons.

I don't think Jo takes a vacation, but Alex definitely needs her help and he seems to have gone missing again after promising to tell Robbie something he needs to know!

Not sure where the rent boys come form, but drugs, sex, crooked police and religious nuts doesn't sound much like Cobourg to me. This sleepy little beach town is better known as the retirement capital of Ontario.

He tried unsuccessfully to get himself grounded after the New Years Eve party as a way of avoiding Conner. On this occasion it was probably more a case of his temper getting the better of him, but it gives him a bit of breathing space. However, he may find himself grounded for the rest of the year if Don finds anything in his room. I'm not sure how long cocaine remains detectable in the bloodstream, but I'm sure Sue will be able arrange for a test, should anything show up. To show she's not picking on Robbie, perhaps the whole family should be tested.

Hmm. Don's popularity seems to be at an all time low. Everyone knows he's a crook, yet somehow against all the odds, he still manages to cling to power!!!

Don didn't do himself any favours by getting into an argument with Robbie. He may have resisted the urge to strike out but what he said about Nathan only reinforced Robbie's original point of contention. Nathan obviously isn't always welcome in the house like Sue had claimed, and if I were Conner I would think twice before going back there too. Robbie may soon have more problems to face but despite his temper tantrum, he came out of that round in better shape than Don. Nicola's confession was also a fairly hefty blow for her father. She has a comfortable lifestyle and in the past, although she has defended Robbie, she has also shown a reluctance to do anything that would potentially make her life more difficult. There's no longer any doubt about who's side she's on and this will not sit well with her father, who would have happily believed anything she told him, no matter how outrageous.

It can only be a bad sign when someone like Don befriends your boyfriend.

Anything is possible. Alex was at the party for a reason although he obviously didn't expect to bump into Robbie.

Mr Lube (I can't even remember if he has a real name) has failed to endear himself to the family. Maybe he should take lessons from Conner.

We saw flashes of a more dominant Sue in this chapter, but it seems like she curtailed to Don's plan in the end. Robbie will feel betrayed because she deliberately kept him upstairs to allow her husband enough time to search his room.

Jo's influence has given Robbie the confidence to stand up for himself, but his temper got the better of him and he took it too far. He is a classic example of a troubled and problematic teenager but not without reason. Only Nicola and Daniel seem capable of understanding his frustrations. Hold tight, because the intensity will continue to increase as the story nears the end.

He definitely needs to take Nicola's advice and end it with Conner.

It was seven o’clock on Sunday morning, but everyone except Amy was awake and gathered in the kitchen in their respective nightwear waiting on news from the hospital. Sue was the messenger, sitting at the breakfast table with her cellphone pressed against her ear and signalling for the rest of us to be quiet. She was talking to one of her colleagues in an attempt to circumnavigate the official lines of enquiry. When she ended the call, the room fell silent. “He’s in surgery,” she said, and t