Regrets And Heartaches - 11. Chapter 11

Harold adjourned his last case and headed back to his chambers. Just as he walked out of the court, into his private hallway, he heard Detective Benson calling for him. Harold turned to see Benson running down the hall towards him. Out of breath, Detective Benson leaned down putting his hands on his knees for support.

“As you know when we found out that Joey’s uncle and mother ran, we put it out to all law enforcements that they are wanted here in Alamogordo. We had hoped that we got it out over the wires in time, and it looks like we have.

Dominic and Beth got stopped crossing the border to Mexico, from El Paso, but we have a problem. They are in custody of the Mexican police. As you know we have no legal right over in Mexico. Beth is claiming to be a citizen for Mexico and Dominic is claiming that he and her are about to get married. This is creating a whole lot of new problems trying to get them back to our side of the border.”

Harold waived Benson into his chambers. He took off his robe, hung it up and headed to his desk. On his way, he pulled a book off the wall. As he sat down, he opened the book and started to read a certain section of it.

“If Beth is claiming to be a citizen of Mexico, they can choose to keep her there. Now Dominic isn’t married to Beth yet, but is claiming they will be. If the officials from Mexico see that, they can as well let him stay. There is no legal avenue we can take to bring them over. At least one that we can get them into court in the next decade that is.”

“If we don’t get them now and they let them go. The chances of ever getting them to face charges here in the USA will be very slim. The Mexican government has no way to track where they are at. Once they get released, we should forget getting them over here.”

Harold picked up the phone as Benson continued to tell him if they don’t get Beth and Dominic back now, they will never get them. It rang a couple of times before it got picked up. Harold told the secretary who he is and asked to speak with Al. She put him on hold for a few minutes before Al picked up.

“I know why you are calling me Harold. I am already on it with the governor. He and the President of Mexico are scheduled to meet tomorrow. Governor Lopez already called the president of Mexico and let him know about what is going on. He made it clear that he will not meet with the president if they release Beth and Dominic. For now, they are holding them until the president tells them other wise.”

“How much pull does the governor of Texas have? He is just a governor of a state. It is not like he is the president of the United States.”

“That is where you are wrong Harold. Governor Lopez is not just the governor of a state in the United States; he is a governor of a state that borders Mexico. The president of Mexico talks to the governor of Texas as much as he talks with the president.

Governor Lopez already wants to pull the plug with Mexico on a lot of things. He doesn’t like the fact that all the jobs in his state are going across the border. He doesn’t like the fact that the government over there is so corrupted. I can go on and on, but you are getting the picture on what I am saying.

The president of Mexico knows he cannot afford this right now. He needs to keep good relations with the governor of the Border States. More so with Texas because we border a lot more of Mexico! They need us a lot more than we need them.”

“I see where you guys are going with this. Please keep me informed on what is going on. That way if the president of Mexico throws everything out the window and doesn’t surrender Beth and Dominic to us, I can work other angles.”

“You will find out the minute we find out what the president of Mexico decides to do. If he surrenders those two over to us, your police will be at the border to take them into custody. That has already been agreed on and no one will claim jurisdiction on them.”

Harold thanked Al before letting him go. As soon as he got off the phone, he explained everything to Benson on what is being done to get Beth and Dominic back across the border. Benson felt a little more better that a higher up in the political scene is stepping in to get them back over the border.

Joey got dressed and asked Fran to help him to Albertsons. At first Fran refused, but Joey did let up. She agreed when she realized that Joey is going no matter if she walks him there or not. Joey had already put on sun glasses, his coat and started to walk to the front door when Fran gave in.

On there way out, they told Janet that they will be back. Janet asked them to wait and she will give them a ride. She grabbed her son as she walked out the door. Fran grabbed a hold of Joey to guide him down the driveway and over to the car. Janet unlocked the doors for Joey and Fran to get in.

Janet took this opportunity to do some grocery shopping, while Joey does what ever he needed to do. With the help from Fran, Joey made his way to the video store. He can hear that they are in the evening rush. Because of that, Joey turned to leave. As he started his way out of the video department, Caleb ran up to him.

“What are you doing here Joey? You are supposed to be at home regaining your strength. Not out here where you might harm yourself.” Caleb grabbed a hold of Joey where he can feel where he is at.

“I am tired of just sitting around. I know I cannot go to school because right now I cannot see. That shouldn’t limit me from going to other places like work to be with you. We were apart longer than I ever want to be apart from you.”

Fran looked at Caleb to see his eyes to start to water. She took Caleb’s hands and put them into Joey’s where he could walk him to the counter. Caleb got the hint and walked Joey to the back of the counter. He pulled up a seat for Joey to sit before returning to work. The line is getting big and the other employee has never worked the video department before.

Joey tried to help with what he could. When a customer came up to ask where a certain movie is at, Joey told them what section it should be. Or if a customer needed help to turn in their rentals, Joey took them. Other than that, everything else had to be done either by Caleb or the other employee. You need your sight in order to get the other tasks done.

Janet made sure that Joey is okay and has a ride home before heading home herself. Joey thanked Janet for everything and promised to let Harold know that she left at five. She smiled at Joey, shook his hand and headed out home with her baby son.

When Helen walked into the video store, she couldn’t believe what she is seeing. She walked up to Joey and asked the same questions that Caleb asked, but in a concerned voice. Joey explained to her why he came down, just like he explained to Joey, and just like Caleb, she dropped it.

She told Caleb, Fran and Joey that she will be in her office when ever they are ready to go. As she walked out, she made it clear to Joey not to do anything that can hurt him and walked out. Helen couldn’t help but smile the whole way to her office. Without a doubt in her mind Joey is really in love with her son.

With help from either Fran or Caleb, Joey vacuumed the video store. They all figured that he could do that since everything is in a straight line. There is really nothing that he can run into and hurt himself. With his help, Caleb and the other employee are able to lock up the video store earlier than they have been locking up.

On the way to Caleb’s house, Helen made it clear to Joey that he cannot just go out and about like he did. Even more right now that his mother and uncle are still out there still able to snatch him up. She continued to tell Joey that there is too many things that can go wrong and will go wrong when a person feels over confidant.

During dinner, Fran could see that there is something on Harold’s mind. Something that he is debating with himself to talk about with them! By the looks of it, Fran can tell that even Helen has picked up on it. At the same time, Helen doesn’t look like she wants to press Harold on what ever it is on his mind.

Caleb helped Joey up to their room. He helped him get undressed and into bed before he headed to take his shower. Once Caleb finished taking a shower, he crawled into bed with Joey. He looked over at Joey, but he found Joey has already fallen asleep. Caleb laughed, kissed Joey on the lips, before turning off the lights.

Joey woke up later than usual. He knows that it is later because the way the sun is hitting him through the cracks of the blinds. Joey started to feel around the bed and realized that Caleb has already left for school. That surprised Joey because Caleb has helped him get dressed and out to the living room every morning since he got back. Now he is going to be bumping into walls.

Knowing that there is nothing else he can do, Joey got out of bed. Using the wall as a guide, Joey walked to the corner and started his way down the other wall. He ran right into the dresser halfway down the second wall.

Joey felt around to see if maybe Caleb might have left him clothes at least sitting on top. Knocking over everything on the dresser, Joey didn’t find anything. He started to pull out the draws remembering where Caleb kept his shirts and sweatpants. Finding everything he needed, Joey got dressed before trying to make his way out of the room.

Once he reached the door, Joey felt good. He felt at least there is nothing he can run into in the hall as he makes his way to the stairs. He opened the door and walked out. Still hurting from running into the dresser, Joey moved down the hall slowly. Miss judging the distance, Joey missed the first step and went tumbling down. He tried to grab at the railing as he fell down the stairs, but he couldn’t get a hold of it.

His butt hit the bottom of the stair case with a loud thump. Joey didn’t move at all once he reached the bottom. His head is hurting, arms, legs; hell his whole body is hurting. By him sitting there, Joey is getting angier and angier to the fact that no one woke him up and helped him down to the living room before they left.

Joey pulled himself off the floor after sitting there for ten minutes. He made his way into the living room limping the entire way. As he reached the couch, he slumped down in it and put his legs on the table. Joey just wanted to sit there until his body stopped hurting. Joey is feeling pain on every inch of his body.

Somehow, Joey dozed off to sleep. He didn’t hear the door open or Helen walking in. Her yelling, asking what had happened to him. Joey followed her voice as he waived at her to let her know that he is awake and he can hear her.

“What happened Joey? I went out to open the store and get you something to eat. I was only gone for an hour or so. I walk in here to see you looking like this. It looks like you walked in from fighting someone.”

“I woke up and didn’t find anyone. I thought you all left for the day. So I got up from bed, found some clothes and came down stairs. Now I would normally love to walk down the stairs, but I miss judged the first step.” Joey chuckled, but stopped grabbing at his side. “I made it down here by falling down the stairs.”

Helen walked over to the bathroom, grabbed a wash cloth and walked back over to Joey. She wiped away the dry blood from his face. After her first run, she knew that she needs to take Joey into the bathroom to clean up.

“Are you hurting Joey? What I mean is that can you walk without a problem?” Joey shook his head in the positive. “Okay, I need to take you into the bathroom and get you cleaned up. Once I finish doing that, I am going to go and get you the clothes that Caleb left out for you and you will get dressed. Call me when you are done where I can help you to the couch.”

“Yes ma’am, I have no plans to walk around this house anymore without someone guiding me around. I don’t feel like killing myself in order to get from one room to another.” Joey took Helen’s hand to get up from the couch.

Just like Helen explained to Joey. She took him into the bathroom, cleaned him up and got his clothes to change into. Joey called Helen back to the bathroom to help him back to the living room. Just as he sat down, Janet walked into the house with her son.

Helen walked over to Janet and told her what had happened. Since Janet is a registered nurse, she went over to check out Joey. She wants to make sure that Joey didn’t hurt himself on the fall. She did the best that she could without ex-rays. After she finished checking Joey out, she went over to the kitchen where Helen is taking care of her son.

“With what I can check, Joey seems to be okay. Without ex-rays I cannot be one hundred percent. He has bruises around the rib cage, which means he might have cracked some more ribs. I don’t think he broke them because he is breathing okay and joking. Also he added some more cuts and scraps to his body, but other than that. I didn’t find anything broken.” Janet grabbed her son out of Helen’s lap.

“You will need to keep a close eye on him this morning. If he starts to feel bad or tells you that he is in pain, call an ambulance. Don’t do anything else but that. I should be doing that, but like you said. Joey is joking around and doesn’t seem to be in pain right now. At the same time Joey acts tuff when he is in pain.”

Janet agreed to do what Helen asks of her. Before leaving, Helen gave Joey his breakfast and the remote to the TV. She went over the buttons again with him. She stood at the door way worried about Joey. Helen had to force herself out the door to get back to work. She has already missed too many days with what had happened to Joey.

Governor Lopez looked up from his desk when he heard a knock on the door. Daniel waived Rich into the office as he put the folder down. He got up looking at his watch and walked around his desk.

“Governor Lopez, the president of Mexico, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, is about to arrive. I don’t know if you want to meet him at the front or have him escorted over here to your office.” Rich stood wondering if his boss is going to take the high road.

“Since the press is out in full in front of this office, I will meet the president in the front. I will use tact when we talk, but at the same time, I will get what I want, and that is the two Americans that broke the law. They have to face the law of this country for what they had done wrong. There will be no exceptions to that.”

Daniel straightened out his tie and walked with Rich to the front of the building. They waited inside until they saw the convoy pull up. Once the convoy stopped, Daniel walked out and stood at the top of the stairs. He really didn’t want this meeting with the President of Mexico, but it has been on the books since the last administration.

The cameras started to flash the minute Daniel walked out of the building. Daniel looked straight ahead, ignoring the questions being asked. The door of the car opened and President Gortari got out of his car. He waived at the press as he made his way up the stairs to Governor Lopez. They shook hands with each other and allowed the press to take a few pictures before heading into the building.

On the way to the governor’s office, the conversation between the Mexican president and the governor was nothing but small talk. Basically each of them asked about each others family and if the first lady arrived at the mansion okay. Once they walked into the office, they got right down to business.

They talked on relationships between Texas and Mexico. How they can better their relationship where both sides benefit. As they two men talked, Governor Lopez really didn’t give the President of Mexico any clue where he stands on any of the topics they are talking about. In fact the president of Mexico is more confused now than he was when the meeting first started.

“As you know I am not the one that set up this meeting with you, it was the last administration. I kept it on the books out of respect to our relationship between the two countries. If it wasn’t for that reason alone, I would have never scheduled a meeting with you on any topics that are between our two governments. I believe all that should be at the federal level, not here at the state level.

With that said, I do have a topic to talk with you about though. Members of my staff have spoken with members of your staff about this very topic. I am not very happy with what I am hearing from your side. If you want any good relationship between you and me, we need to resolve this issue. I hope we can come to a solution that is right and neither side loses standing with their people.”

Governor Lopez got up to get him a coke to drink. He got one for the President of Mexico as well. As he sat down, he can see the expression on the president’s face, he is not going to give him the answer he wants. Daniel figured that if he doesn’t get the answer that he wants, he is ready to play hard ball with Mexico.

“Governor Lopez, I have weighed what is going on right now in New Mexico. You know if a citizen of our country makes their way across the border, we will not surrender them over to any country. If an American comes across and we catch them, that is a totally different story. Beth Alvarez is a totally different story.”

“With all due respect President Gortari, are you willing to let this effect our relationship? Let me say it another way. By your unwillingness to turn over these two American citizens, you are showing me that you only want and not give in return. Do not be mistaken; Beth Alvarez is an American citizen.”

“You are wrong there Governor Lopez, she was born in Mexico. That makes her a Mexican citizen before anything else. You should respect that more than anyone else; your family did come from Mexico. You are Mexican no matter where you are born.”

Governor Lopez didn’t respond right away. He bit his tongue, because if he didn’t, he will say something that he will not be able to take back. This is one of the reasons that he didn’t want to take this meeting. He has heard this president time and time again say that the new governor of Texas is one of them.

“Mrs. Alvarez took an oath to follow the laws of this land when she became a citizen. She broke the law and broke the oath that she made when she did what she did to her own son. Now she is asking you guys to help her get away from what she had done wrong. That I cannot and will not stand for!

Both of the American citizens you have in your custody must be turned over to the El Paso Police Department immediately. If you choose to grant her request, I will follow up with ever thing I can do as governor of this state. You know the kind of power a governor has and can do to your country.”

“I have made my decision on this matter. I will grant her request and release her to be on her way. If the gentleman that came across with her does marry her, he will be released as well once they do get married. It makes him a citizen of our country by marriage.

As far as you doing something to my country, you cannot. We have already signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. With what I understand about your laws, a state can not pass a law that tries to override a law that has been passed by your federal government.”

“You are right on all those points. NAFTA has been signed, but not ratified yet by our government. You are also right that a state cannot pass a law to push aside a law that has been passed by our federal government. Where you are wrong, I can do a lot more harm to your country without passing a law.

Since you studied up before coming up here, I hope you studied up on me. If you did, you will know how I work. Before on go into battle, I let the other side know what I am about to do and how I plan to get there. And yes you heard me right, I said battle.

The very first thing I will do is raise state taxes on every business in this states that has any dealings with your country. The federal government cannot stop me from doing that. When I say I am going to raise the taxes, it will not be a few cents.

I will place my national guard at the borders and check every citizen from your country that comes across. They will have standing orders to arrest any that have records in this country or yours. They others, I will just have them sent right back over even if they have the right paperwork. They will not be able to come over and make a living. Without them making money, they cannot spend in your country on what they don’t have.

I will not stop there. Every business that is owned by a citizen from your country will get higher taxes dealing with anything in the state. I will have every state office go in and do spot checks on those companies. If they flunk any inspection, they will receive the highest fine possible. It will get to a point they will have to shut their doors.

That is just the beginning. If you still refuse, I will move on to stage two. Trust me President Gortari, you do not want me to even start in on stage one. You can call up President Bush, but there is nothing he can do for you. I will be in my right to do everything I am doing. So are you sure you want to continue down this track?”

“The question you just asked me you should be asking yourself. You are playing in the big leagues now. I think what you are saying is when someone as small as you is trying to move onto the bigger stage. Are you willing to do all that for just two people? In my mind, you should do the right thing? Your federal government can come in here and pull out a lot more funding from this state that you need.”

“If they do that, fine I will accept that. The way I have moved my state, we can go without the small funding the federal government gives our programs. With all the new taxes I will put in place, they will bring in a lot more money than the federal government gives my state. I looked at every outcome before I came to this conclusion. Every move I am doing will not harm a citizen of this state. It will make it a lot better in fact.”

President Gortari got up from his seat and walked out of the governor’s office. Governor Lopez didn’t follow the president; instead he went back to what he was doing before the president arrived. Rich and other members of his staff just sat there not knowing what to do. Plus the governor doesn’t seem to be bothered by anything that just happened.

“Governor Lopez, you know President Gortari is going to walk through the front doors of this building? He is going to have the entire press core to talk to about what just happened in here. Don’t you think that we should try and pull him in?”

“No, I want him to talk to the press core. I want the press core to run this story over and over again. It will look like I am standing up to the president of Mexico. He is wrong here and should turn over those two Americans. The citizens of this state and this country are very smart! They will see who is right and who is wrong here.”

Rich ordered the staff out of the governor’s office. He tried to talk the governor into giving some, but Governor Lopez refused. He stood his ground and Rich finally gave up. He walked out of the office over to his. He wants to make a game plan so when this hits the fan, he can help the governor through the mind fields that are before him.

The principal of Alamogordo High School called for an assembly to be held during last period class. Every student knows what the assembly is all about. It is all over the news and has been for days now. Ever since Joey was found and the brain washing camp got located, that is the only thing anyone will talk about right now.

During the last ten minutes of fifth period, the teachers walked their classes to the gym for this assembly. The principal wants to have the students in the gym and quieted down by the time sixth period final bell rings. He has lot to cover and he has to cover everything in just one hour.

Caleb didn’t say a word as he walked with his classmates to the gym. In fact Caleb didn’t even make eye contact with his classmates. They keep looking at him weird and coming up to him asking questions about Joey. If this thing that happened to Joey, Caleb thought, didn’t happen, those classmates that are asking him questions would never have spoken to him. They are only talking to him for a piece of juicy gossip.

The teachers had the students sit down in an orderly fashion. By the time the warning bell rang, every student in the school is sitting quietly in their seats waiting to see if this assembly is what they think it is for.

Caleb looked down to see the school principal, assistant principals and others he has seen around, but doesn’t know. There are also uniformed police officers and other people in suits that Caleb hasn’t seen around the school before. He figures that they are either the school board or politicians from the local area.

Caleb’s attention got pulled from the stage to the doors. Almost every student in the gym looked where Caleb is looking at. They all heard the door open and saw several more guys walk in. Caleb looked back to the front in hopes no one recognizes the guy in the middle as his father. He doesn’t know why his father is here at the school.

The principal walked up to the microphone right when the final bell rang. He looked out at the student body. He didn’t say a word; he just kept looking around over and over again. No one said a word; they sat in their seats just looking straight at the principal as he looked at them. He cleared his throat and started speaking.

“Good afternoon students and thank you for being on time for this assembly. I am looking out to this student body and I see every walk of life before me. I want you guys to look around to those that are sitting beside you, in front of you and behind you. I want you to see your friend, classmate and fellow human being.

Come look at your neighbor and when I say look, I mean look at your classmate.” Everyone in the gym looked around as the principal instructed them to do. “You should see that there are students taller than you, shorter, different color skin, different ethnic group, different sex and yeah you all dress differently.” The gym broke out into laughter on the last thing the principal said.

“But everyone that is sitting here is a human being. Not one of you should be treated any differently than the other, but yet you do that every day. If you are not part of the popular groups, you are looked down on. You are picked on and teased every day. You are treated with less respect than others. Why is that going on in this high school and every high school, middle school and, I hate to say, elementary school around this nation?

I believe this is going on is because that is what you think you should do. From your parents, aunts and uncles telling you stories of their years in school to what you see on TV. You think this is the way things should be done. I am here to tell you that you are wrong and it will not happen in this school.

As you know, one of your classmates got kidnapped off of school grounds. He got kidnapped because society has taught their parents and you that being different is wrong. In fact you can change a person by sending that person to a brain washing camp. That is what they think should be done to people like Joey Alvarez.

The reason I am mentioning this is because the school board has passed a zero tolerance to this kind of behavior. If you are caught treating another student wrong and it falls into this new rule, you will be expelled, not suspended, but expelled from this school. Other school districts in our neighboring cities are passing the same zero tolerance against hateful treatment to your fellow student.

You can see that your classmate is not different than you are. So why do you treat your fellow classmate differently? You guys are the only ones that can answer that question truthfully to your selves. If you are the one doing the miss treatment, put yourself in those other students’ shoes. You will not like looking through their eyes. So don’t continue making fun of your classmate or making lives miserable to your classmates that you feel is less than you.”

As the principal introduced Caleb’s father, everyone looked at each other. The principal made his way to his seat looking out to the student body. He can see in their faces he has gotten through to a good majority of them. The few that he didn’t will get a shock when they or one that they know get expelled when they test the new rule.

“I only have a few minutes before the governor of Texas begins his news conference. So let me quickly tell you a little bit about who I am. I am a judge here in our fair city. I see criminals before me every day. They come before me and I sentence them either by a plea or by what the jury decided. My two kids attend this school and one is about to graduate.

Never did I think I would ever see the day when parent would kidnap their own child and send that child to a camp that has a reputation of teenagers dying while they are in there. But now I cannot ever say that again. I would like to talk with you all more about this, but I am running out of time. I need to tell you what you are about to see.

Right now the governor of Texas is going through a stand off against the President of Mexico. Our New Mexico Governor has joined the Governor of Texas on the stand off. As well the Arizona governor has put her support behind the governor of Texas. The reason I am saying this is because never before in modern history, has a governor of a border state stood up against the Mexican government.

In just a few minutes the governor of Texas will talk to the people of Texas and explain why he is standing up against the Mexican government. We are asking you guys to watch this because it involves members of our community. It will hit home as you watch what the governor has to say.

At anytime you are not comfortable watching what Governor Lopez is saying, you can leave the gym. There is a classroom set up for you to wait in until the bell rings. At no time do we want to push political beliefs onto you. We just want you to see what is going on in our community. Plus you will see how other communities help out each other.”

Harold nodded and the lights turned off in the gym. Several TV’S got rolled out in front of the students to watch. There is enough TV’S that there is no way a student cannot see the governor give his speech.

When the TV’S got turned on, the picture showed a podium with the US and Texas flags behind it. It went back to a split screen with several news hosts sitting at a desk talking about what they think the governor is going to say. They keep referencing back to a statement that the president of Mexico made shortly after his meeting with the governor.

The students looked straight at the TV’S, quietly waiting to see what the governor is going to say. As far as they can remember and have read, their city has not been in the national news before. Now it is, and it is not good. What ever the governor of Texas says, the students interested in what is going on, hope it is good. The others really don’t care. They are just kicking back, loving the idea on having a free period like this.

The news ankers stopped talking and the screen switched back to just the podium. The gym went completely silent once the screen switched over. Just seconds after the switch, the governor of Texas and several of his staff members walked up to the podium. Governor Lopez looked out to the press and made eye contact with the camera.

“Good afternoon and thank you all for coming down this afternoon. I know you have a busy news cycle and I am just adding to it. Let me say that I try to keep out of the national news, but this issue needs to be front and center for all Americans.

By now, you all know I had a meeting with President Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico. This meeting was scheduled before I took office as governor of Texas. I kept the meeting because I wanted to keep good relations with Mexico, more so now that our Federal Government is working out the final kinks of NAFTA.

At the same time, a local matter has hit our local news. A matter that I am way too familiar with and hoped that it would not come back to haunt me again. A citizen from Alamogordo, New Mexico was taken and placed into a camp that claims they can change a sexual orientation of a person. This camp was located between the borders of New Mexico and Texas, just outside of El Paso. That is how it was brought to my attention.

I will not go over the details since it has been all over local and national news. Our TV’S have been blanketed with images of this camp and the teenagers that are being brought out of this camp. What I will do is take responsibility of what is happening within the borders of the state I have been elected to represent. These camps will be located and shut down where ever they are here in Texas.

Like I have said, this is hitting way to close to home with me. Just before I became governor, my ex-wife tried to send one of my sons to one of these camps. I shut that camp down before becoming governor. Now I can see there is a lot more of these camps in our state. Let me tell you what I believe about where those camps rank at in my personal opinion.

I believe those camps are no different than the camps Hitler created to put the Jews in. Those camps almost killed off entire society of people because of what one man believed. Although the gay community is not being gathered up and thrown into these camps by the thousands, but if the people that believe in these camps get their way, they would do just that. In their opinion they want to rid this world of a sinful way of life just like Hitler believed about the Jews.

They torture and at times even kill the teenagers that are put into these camps just like the camps of Hitler’s time. You guys need to understand that these camps are wrong and the only way I can make my case is by comparing it to one of the ugliest time of our world history. If we continue to turn a blind eye to these kind of camps, then we get as bad as the camps I have mentioned.

Please do not take what I just said wrong. I am not saying that those that are running the camps are Hitler’s, but the camps themselves are just like the Hitler camps. Many teenagers are sent in there and never seen again. They leave the camps in body bags. The parents that send them there already written their kid off as dead! So when they are told their kid died, they buried their child and moved on.

Those that come out of the camps, so called changed, struggle for the rest of their lives! They never lead a normal life, if they live at all. Some may think they were changed, but if they actually look at themselves, they would see that they were not. No one can choose to be gay or straight, it just happens.

President Gortari and I are at odds on where to go about two American citizens…...”

The governor went into detail about what got discussed between him and President Gortari. He explained about the two wanted individuals that fled across the border of Mexico. He spoke about President Gortari refusing to surrender the two Americans to the El Paso Police Department. Ignoring the agreement between the two governments about extradition! He finished off with what he plans to do to get the two wanted Americans.

“In every generation, there is a battle of rights that are fought by the generation able to make those changes. The generations before mine fought for equal rights for woman, African Americans and Indians for example. What is so different about the gay community? This is a battle I believe is in front of my generation to fight. We must get over our fears and pass laws that give equal rights under the law to the gay community.

I hope what has been blanketing our TV screens is a wake up call. We can no longer stand by and allow the youth of our nation be sent into these camps and killed off because they are gay. I am making my stand here and demanding the Mexican government to turn over those two that are wanted here in the United States. If they refuse, I will not hesitate to execute what I explained to you all earlier.

I will not stop there. The next bill I will be sending to my state houses is a bill that gives equal rights under our state laws to the gay community. A bill long over do and I should have done as my first bill when I first became governor. I am asking the people of my state to put aside their difference and back me on this bill. Let’s stop killing those that are different and let them live with the same rights we all live with.”

Governor Lopez stopped talking for a few seconds and just looked straight into the camera. Just then the bell rang for school to be over, but none of the students budged from their seats. They sat quietly, waiting for the governor to continue talking.

“This is what is called a third rail political topic. Many governors that came before me would never touch this topic. No matter what you do here, you will anger half of the voters. I would not touch an issue if it was not necessary to do so. Some I believe should stay in the hands of the federal government and others can be dealt with at the state level.

At the same time I cannot stand by and be governor to a state that has places like what we have seen on our TV’S. I cannot look at myself in the mirror every morning with the knowledge of this and I did nothing about it. These kids do not deserve what is happening to them. This society of our country does not deserve what is happening to them. If I am a one term governor because I took on this issue, so be it. I will leave office with my head held high, knowing I did what was right. I govern by what is right and not by the polls.

I would like to close with thanks to several of my fellow governors. The minute that President Gortari talked with the press, I got a call from every governor that borders Mexico. They are putting their support behind me and made it clear they will follow my lead on what ever I end up doing.

We have an agreement between the two countries. If a wanted fugitive lands up across our borders and is caught, we will hand them over to the government that wants them. All that I am asking for is what has already been agreed between the two countries. Hand over the two wanted individuals and this stand off will end. The decision is left to the Mexican government. What ever happens from here on happens because they want it to happen.

Thank you and God Bless the great state of Texas.”

Principle excused the student body once the screen switched back over to the news desk. Caleb walked down to his father as he walked off the stage. As they walked to the car, Harold go a glimpse of what Caleb has been going through since this started. Every student they passed just stood there a looked at them.

“I will take you to work where you don’t end up getting there late.” Harold unlocked the doors for Caleb and his sister to get in.

“Dad, did you know the governor of Texas was going to do what he is doing? I think he is going too little too far with this. Joey’s mother and uncle are in Mexico now. There is no way they can do any harm to Joey and Fran while they are in Mexico.”

“Caleb, a governor like Governor Lopez cannot allow another government to come in and tell him to be bad. More so since there is an agreement between our two nations to extradite wanted fugitives. The president of Mexico is breaking that agreement when he refuses to surrender Beth and Dominic to us. We as a nation cannot allow another nation to decide when they want to follow agreements that they make with our government.

He has to do this in order to make it clear to the Mexican government he is not a person they can push around. He feels that he dropped the ball on allowing camps like these to stay in business in his state. Now he is going to correct that mistake. So no I do not think he is going to far here. I want those two to face justice, not be able to run.”

“Well he said it best when he said that he is going to anger half of his voters. By doing that, he will not get another term as governor dad! I hope that my brother and people like him get equal rights under the law, but not use what happened to Joey as a spring board to it. He should work with the Mexican government and try to get what he can.”

“Valerie I never thought I would here anything like that comes from any of my kids. It takes something this horrible to wake up everyone. I believe he is wrong and you are wrong about angering half of his voters. I believe his voters will support him because it is right. Plus he is taking on the Mexican government and putting them into their place. They need to follow agreements they make with us, or face the consequence.

No, Governor Lopez just won a second term in office by standing up to Mexico and somewhat to the Federal Government. We all want leaders, not those that just govern by what is popular. This guy is on the national stage now and those that want to run for president better watch out for this governor. America just saw a glimpse of a president they will vote into the White House.”

“Sorry dad, I just believe we can get the same thing, but in a different way. I believe Caleb, Joey and others like them have to take baby steps to get where they should be at. Not this jump, leap and way business that the governor of Texas is doing. He might get it done in Texas, but it will set the movement back everywhere else in the United States.”

No one said another word as they drove up at Albertsons. Caleb said good bye to his father and sister before he got out of the car. On his way he thought that his sister is wrong on what she said. He didn’t tell her so because he didn’t want to fight with her. She is set on this belief and there is no changing her mind.

All through the shift, Caleb kept looking up at the door to see if Joey is going to walk in, like he did yesterday. When the crowd settled down, and Caleb started to clean the video department, he felt relieved. He felt relieved because Joey didn’t come down and try to be normal when he isn’t right now.

Once Caleb and the other employee did their closing procedures, they called for the floor manager to count their drawers. After the floor manager signed off on the drawers, Helen walked in to see if Caleb is ready to go home.

Helen explained to Caleb on the way home what she found when she walked into the house this morning. She could tell that Caleb is upset, but didn’t say a word. She knows now that she underestimated Joey and his will to be independent of others. Now she is going to make sure that Joey knows what is going on before she leaves the house.

They drove up and Caleb walked in to see how badly Joey is hurt. He found Joey in the living room watching TV, like the night before. He chuckled to himself because of the fact Joey cannot see what is happening on the TV. He walked over and sat down next to Joey, waiting to see if Joey would notice that he had sat down next to him.

“How was work today Caleb? I already heard what happened at school from my sister. I already knew I was going to have a hard time getting back to school, but now, it is going to be even harder for me to go back to school. All the kids there are going to look at me like I am some kind of alien.”

“By the time you return to school, they will be feeding on other gossip by then. You know as well as I do that gossip topic has a life until another juicy piece of new gossip comes down the pipe. You are out for at least four weeks and in that time. Several screw ups and things gone badly will have happened. You will be a thing of the past.”

Joey moved over to Caleb and laid his head on his shoulder. “Since you are here, can you tell me what is happening on the TV? I can hear what is going on, but I need to know how cute the guys look in the series I am watching.”

Caleb jabbed Joey in the shoulder when he said he wanted to know how cute the guys are. They both laughed as they cuddled up with each other. Caleb described all the male actors and left out the female actresses. They both started to rate the actors and in no time Valerie and Fran joined in. The only one that felt at of the loop is Alan. He doesn’t like guys in that way, so he cannot rate them.

A couple hours after dinner, Caleb and Joey headed up for bed. Joey stayed up with Caleb while he did his homework. He helped Caleb when he could, but mostly just laid on the bed in silence. Once Caleb finished his homework, he put the books away.

He got up to take off Joey’s clothes. He started to pull down Joey’s pants and saw a whole lot of new bruises that were not there before. Caleb touched a couple of them on Joey’s out thigh, which made Joey squirm a little. Caleb stopped and finished pulling off the pants, but had a hard time getting the pants past Joey’s left knee. Joey grabbed for his pants, yelling out in pain for Caleb to stop.

“What did you do to your knee Joey? Obviously you are in a lot pain, but you didn’t say a word to anyone that you messed up your knee.”

“It is just bruised, that is all Caleb. Please just leave it alone and let’s go to bed. I will be bed in the morning.” Joey pulled back up his pants and buttoned them.

Caleb just sat there on the edge of the bed trying to figure out what he should do. He knows what ever is going on with Joey’s knee is more than just a bruise. He is so fat right now they cannot take off Joey’s pants. He got up to go and tell his mother what is going on, but Joey called him back.

“Do not go and tell you parents anything Caleb! I am tired of being treated like a baby when I am not a baby. I hate this, man do I really hate this. You don’t know how this feels being like this. You don’t know how it feels depending on people to feed you, bathe you, dress you and the simple things like walking down the dam hall. It is just a bruised knee, it will be better in the morning. So let’s just go to bed, please!”

Caleb didn’t say a word; he just turned and went to bed. Afraid of hurting Joey anymore, he didn’t cuddle up with him like they always do. One thing that Joey made very clear, he doesn’t like losing his independence. He is to used to doing things on his own and now that he cannot, he is getting frustrated.

No matter what Joey did, he couldn’t sleep. He would doze off, but the pain of his knee would wake him up. By morning, Joey could barley keep himself from crying out. He is tired due to not getting any sleep, but the pain of his knee is making things worse.

Joey pretended to be asleep while Caleb got ready for school. He waited to see if Caleb would wake him up and help him down stairs. He felt Caleb looking at him, but Caleb didn’t wake him up. He did put out clothes for Joey before leaving, but that was it.

When Joey heard everyone leave, he curled up in a ball. He started to cry silently. The throbbing pain of his knee is worse than all the other parts of his body that is hurting. He knows now that his knee is not bruised, he might have shattered it yesterday when he fell down the stairs.

He pulled himself together and crawled out of bed. Joey first put his right foot on the floor, but the minute he put his left foot on the floor, he fell right back into bed. He reached out grabbing around his knee as he rolled around the bed. The whole time Helen stood at the door watching Joey as he rolled around in pain.

“When ever you are ready to let me know that you want to go to the emergency room, just say the word. I know you did something to your leg or foot, but you don’t want to tell me or Harold. So if you choose to ignore the fact you did something to your leg, I will help you down to the living room and put you in front of the TV.”

Joey lay on his back, with tears rolling out of his eyes. “Please can you take me to the hospital to get my knee looked at. I think I might have broken it when I fell down the stairs yesterday. The pain I am feeling is more than just a bruise.”

Helen walked into the room and helped Joey put on his socks and shoes. She grabbed the t-shirt that Caleb left for Joey and gave it to Joey to put it on. Once Joey got dressed, Helen helped him up and down the stairs. She let him rest against the wall while she went to warm up the car. Just as Helen started her way back up the sidewalk, Janet walked up.

“Are you already heading to work ma’am?”

“No Janet, I need to take Joey to the hospital. It looks like he has been hiding the fact that he might have broken his knee yesterday. He is in a lot of pain this morning and that is the only reason I know that he did that.”

“Ma’am, I know that you have missed a lot of work already. If you want, I can take Joey to the hospital for you. If it is more than just a broken leg or knee, I will call you or Harold. There is no need for you to miss another day of work since you guys hired me.”

Helen turned and looked at Janet. It never dawned on her to ask Janet to take Joey to the hospital. Janet is right when she said that she has already missed too many days of work. Plus it is not the right time for her to miss any work because her bosses are coming into town later in the afternoon.

“If you would do this for me, it would take a lot off of me. I am very worried abut Joey, but if I don’t show up to work today. I might actually find myself on the unemployment line. That is something we cannot afford right now.”

“No problem ma’am that is why I am here. You go to work and I will take care of Joey for you. Is he ready to go to hospital?”

Helen shook her head as they walked into the house. She noticed that Joey did not move an inch while she was outside. Helen explained to Joey what is going to happen. After she finished telling Joey, he did no object to Janet taking him to the hospital. He agreed without the fight Helen thought she was going to get from him.

The one thing Helen doesn’t know is why Joey did not fight her on Janet taking him. He heard every word that Helen said to Janet. That is the thing that he was trying to get across to Caleb last night. By everyone taking care of him, they are putting their lives on hold. In some cases by taking care of him, they could lose what they have worked for.

Janet and Helen helped Joey down to the car. Before leaving, Helen made sure that Joey has his key to the house. She drove off, looking back in her review mirror feeling as if she is letting Joey and her son down. The very thing she holds dear to her heart is the fact that she would do anything for her family. She considers Joey part of her family now since her son loves him so much. Getting to the freeway, she went one direction and Janet went the other direction.

Janet or Joey didn’t speak a word on the way to the hospital. Even when they drove up to the emergency entrance of the hospital, the only thing Janet said is she is getting a wheel chair for Joey. She got out; leaving the car running and didn’t return until she got the wheelchair and a nurse for Joey.

Both the nurse and Janet helped Joey into the wheel chair and pushed him in. After Janet signed Joey in, she went out to move her car out of the emergency entrance. She parked her car in the first parking spot she could find and ran back in to Joey. She wants to make sure that she is there in case he needs something.

They sat in the waiting room for over an hour before being taken to a bay. When the nurse helped Joey from the chair to the bed, he cried out in pain. He demanded something strong enough to get rid of this pain or he will take as many pain pills he needs to get rid of the pain. The nurse left and came back with the IV and a pain shot.

Once the pain shot took affect, Joey settled down in the bed. “Janet, I have a weird question for you, so please do not take what I am about to ask the wrong way. I know you have a baby, but is that the only kid you have?”

“Yes, he is my first baby. He might actually be my last baby since his dad took off after hearing the news that he was about to be a father. I hate the baby's father, but I adore my little baby boy. He means the world to me.”

“Wow that is awesome that you are so chipper after getting a bad hand. The way you handed the curve ball the baby’s father threw you is great. The last couple of days I heard the baby while you were at the house, but today I don’t hear him. If you don’t mind me asking another question, where is the baby today?”

“I don’t mind you asking me those kind of question Joey. My mother is taking care of her grandchild today. She is normally really busy, but somehow, she got her day clear. So when she offered to watch him, I didn’t need to be asked twice.”

The doctor walked in with several nurses. “Mr. Alvarez, what brings you in here today? I am the doctor that treated you the night that you were brought in from that place that you were kept at. I didn’t know you were already released from the hospital.”

“The doctors on the floor released me on Saturday. They felt I was ready to go home, so they sent me home. Now I am here because I tried to walk to the living room alone without assistance. I made it to the stairs, but missed the first one and went tumbling down the flight of stairs yesterday. I think I might have broken my left leg.”

The doctor tried to push Joey’s pant leg up, but couldn’t. He asked one of the nurses to get him a pair of scissors. When the nurse returned with the scissors, she carefully cut up Joey’s pant leg. She stopped right at the crotch and removed the scissors.

“I thought you were about to cut my manhood off. No matter what you think, I do use the item that lies between my legs.” Joey started to laugh as well did everyone in the room.

The doctor removed the pant leg to get a closer look at the leg. “There is not a doubt in my mind that you broke your knee, but to make sure. I am going to send you up for some ex-rays. You should not have waited this long to have it looked at. I hope the healing hasn’t begun, because if it has. You might land up walking with a limp.

Let me also take a look at your eyes since you are here. Your eyes have had me up at night, because I have never seen anything like it before. I believe in the body’s ability to fix what is broken, but again I have never seen anything like what has been done to you.”

The doctor unwrapped Joey’s eyes to take a look at them. The swelling has gone down a lot since the first time he saw Joey. There is a lot more black and purple around the eye, but the doctor figured that much. He rewrapped Joey’s eyes with clean gauze and let the nurses take him up to get ex-rays.

Janet waited for Joey in the bay. Once he returned, the nurses rolled in the bed and left. At first Janet thought Joey had fallen asleep. So when he turned and started to talk with Janet, she almost fell to the ground.

“I am pretty sure you know who I am. To tell you the truth I think everyone knows who I am right now. What do you think about taking care of a gay guy after being taken out of a brain washing camp? Please tell me the truth; it would not bother me if you don’t like me because I am gay. My mother and family don’t, well, except my sister.”

“Joey I have no problem with gay people. I agree with what the governor said yesterday on the TV about the gay community having equal rights under the law. The only thing holding that back is fear. Fear that people have of something they do not understand.”

“Thank you for being truthful with me. Now here is a curve ball for you. What are your plans on taking care of yourself and your baby boy? This job taking care of me is not going to last for ever. Soon I will be well enough to return home and get back to school.”

“I figure I will cross that bridge when I get there. For now I will take care of you and then when this job is over, I will look for another. The only problem I have is getting a sitter for my son. My parents both work full time jobs and don’t have any spare time to baby sit. My brothers and sisters don’t live here in town, except the one that works for Harold. So as you can see, I need to find a sitter to take care of my son that will not cost me everything I earn working.”

“I have a weird offer for you. You can say no and we will leave it at that. But let me tell you my offer before you answer me.” Janet said she agreed to hear Joey out. “As you know I am gay and in a gay relationship. A relationship I hope is my last one. At the same time I do want to have kids of my own, without the marriage that comes with it.

I am looking for a woman that will carry a baby to term for me using my semen. I will pay for all hospital bills and what the woman needs during the pregnancy. Once she has the baby, she gives up all rights of the baby to me. For that I will pay her a lump sum of money for doing this for me. Let me explain it a little better…..”

Joey laid there telling Janet what he is trying to get at. He took her step by step on what he is willing to do during the pregnancy and afterwards. What he wants in return for the money he is willing to give the lady that is willing to have a baby for him. Just as Joey finished speaking the doctor walked in.

“You shattered your knee. I will do what can to make sure it heals right. Plus I will give you more pain medicine for you to take as well as instructions. What I recommend is that you sleep down stairs until you find out if you can see or not. Even having someone help you up and down the stairs, you can fall. The next time it can be worse.”

Joey agreed to follow the doctor’s orders. He got rolled out of the room into another for them to put a cast around his left leg. Once they casted his leg, the doctor gave orders to the nurse to give him one more pain shot and release him with a prescription for pain meds. He wished Joey luck and reminded him once again to stay away from stairs.

On the way home, Janet didn’t say a word. Joey thought that he might have gone too far this time with her! They have only known each other for a couple of days and here he is asking her to carry his baby for him. He doesn’t even know how she looks or how old she is. All he knows is that she is in need for a job and it might look to others that he is taking advantage of that situation.

Janet helped Joey out of the car and into the house. She sat Joey down on the couch and went back to shut the doors to her car and the house. Before returning to Joey, she cooked him something to eat. She knows that Joey hasn’t eaten since they left the house so early.

“Joey, I have cooked you something to eat. While you eat I would like to say something to you without you interrupting me.” Joey shook his head as he grabbed the plate. “I know you cannot see me, so let me describe myself to you.

I am twenty two years old, barley out of college. I am not Hispanic like you, I am white with blonde hair, blue eyes, still loosing the weight I got with my son. Although I don’t have a husband now, I do hope I do get married.

With all that said, I have no problem with what you propose. I just want you to be for sure that this is what you want. You need to make sure you are doing this because you want to do it, and no other reason. Once it starts, you cannot stop it. Plus you need to make sure I am the woman you want to be carrying your child.”

“Janet, if I go to a clinic to get this one, I would never meet the mother. I will donate my sperm and nine or so months later I will be called that I am a father. How would I ever know how the lady carrying my baby was treated right, didn’t do drugs, drink or got paid for what she did. They charge a huge amount of money, but most of it goes to the clinic.

By you doing it, I can see you while you bring my baby into this world. I know you will do what is right because you just had a baby yourself. As far as ethnic group or eye color or hair color I do not care about that stuff. All I care about is if you can do it and that you or the baby will not die during the pregnancy.”

“Let’s do this Joey first. Get the paper work together that you would need me to sign to get what you want to have done. Then you and I go into a clinic or wherever we need to go and get tested to see if it can be done. If everything falls into place, then we move on.

In the mean time you will get your sight back. When that happens, you can see the person that you are asking to carry your baby. If you don’t like what you see, we can stop at that point. I will not take any offense to that. If you do, we just continue as planed.”

Joey agreed with Janet on every point that she made. She turned on the TV to watch, while Joey sat eating his breakfast. He cannot stop thinking about the fact he could be a step closer to being a father. He never thought that Janet would say yes, but since she has. There is no way he is going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Joey put the plate down on the coffee table and lay down on the couch. The pain shots he got at the hospital are finally catching up to him. As he started to fall asleep, the same thoughts kept bouncing around his head. "If everything works out, this time next year you could be a father. I can actually be a father!"

TO BE CONTINUED…………………..

WRITER’S CORNER:

{Man do I love story telling because I can throw in so many curve balls it gets the reader all wound up. This chapter has so many curve balls, you guys do not know if you are coming or going. I opened plots in this chapter I never thought I would and went to areas I never thought I would in this story.

Let me start with the Governor of Texas. He has been hinted at in the last couple of chapters, but never talked about. The only ones that appeared from Shadow of My Father are Rich and his state attorney general. Also you guys cannot forget this story is ahead of Shadow by almost a year and a half. [Editor: Thanks for this 'time' reminder! Although I read all of the stories, it helps be reminded of the timelines for each story.]

That caused me to really think about this plot I put into this chapter. I need to remember this plot because it is a huge plot. A lot of this are going to be left hanging in the air about this plot and will not be answered until Shadow catches up with this story. That means you guys are going to hate me for a while. In the next couple chapters Harold and the others will get the answer from Governor Lopez, but will not know how it happened. Nor will you know how the stand off ended until you read it in Shadow.

Now I love the point that Governor Lopez stood up to the president of Mexico. That president needs to turn over Beth and Dominic to the El Paso Police Department. If only to follow the agreement between the two nations! If a fugitive gets across the border and is caught they are to be turned over to the government that wants them. Governor Lopez is putting his career on the line for this one issue. I agree with Harold, it will pay off.

I also love the speech that he gave and the fact the school had an assembly to watch the governor. I also like the fact the school passed a zero tolerance policy on that kind of behavior. No school can stop the teasing and the jocks picking on the kids they feel are less than they are. But this is a positive step in that direction.

Joey is getting bothered about the fact he needs others to help him get around. Don’t forget readers that Joey has been on his own for several years now. Yes he was with Jacob, but they didn’t really have a grown up living in their house. They made all the decisions. So now he is feeling that is being taken away from him. He will come around and deal with it. Joey cannot stay mad or be hard headed for that long.

We heard for the first time in this chapter from Valerie, Caleb’s sister. Many that do not have to walk in the shoes of those that are being wronged feel some what the way she feels. Take baby steps to get what they want, but these baby steps she is talking about has been going on for decades with nothing to show for it. It is sad for something ugly like what happened to Joey to open the eyes of people to the wrong being done.

To bring up a topic I have spoken about in the past to prove my point. There was really no movement on the gay front before the Mathew Shepperd killing happened. After that the nation woke up and passed its first hate bill signed into law by President Clinton. It takes an evil thing to get people to move the right direction.

I threw in a curve ball in this chapter I never had planed to do. We all know Joey is going to have a baby, but we don’t know with whom. I first was going to use Valerie for that, but changed my mind. It wouldn’t look right with Caleb’ sister carrying his boyfriend’s baby to term! A perfect character fell into my laps and I used this character.

Now as you all know the way I write, something can happen to throw this all off. For now I plan to use Janet to be the woman to give Joey his baby. But there is going to be a lot of hoops they are going to have to jump through to get there.

We know where Beth and Dominic are at. The only question there is out there is if they will face justice. Has Beth and Dominic used all their nine lives up? Or do they have another life in them to use? If they do get turned back over, what will they get charged with? Will they get what they deserve as far as sentencing goes? Those questions will be answered in the chapters to come.

Also in the chapters to come, Alan will come back in. Now will Alan and Fran become boyfriend and girlfriend? Or will they just stay friends out of fear of what Joey may think? Plus the question of Joey moving back home, going back to school and work will be answered in the chapters to come.

There is so much going on in this saga. I can keep writing, but I won’t. You guys are going to need to tune in to the next chapter to see what is going on. More plots are going to open and old ones will be closed. This story, like my others, will keep you on your toes. Don’t miss what is coming up in the chapters to come.

I do not want to say too much more and spoil the future chapters to come, so I won’t. I warn you though! Do not skip a chapter, or you will be lost. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacobmillertex@aol.com, Thanks!}

EDITOR’S CORNER:

[As an educator for 52 years now, I have no problem with zero tolerance policies so long as they still allow room for common sense and judgment to be shown. ZT for no weapons at school is fine, but a plastic dinner knife in a first graders back pack is not a case for suspension for a first time offense!

The idea of becoming a parent is too often like a fairy tale and has little to no foundation in the reality of what this means. I am hopeful that the adults in the picture will give Joey the opportunity to gain some of this experience and reality prior to the process being begun for him to become a parent. Some schools have classes with a "toy" baby that both the boys and girls must carry with them for an extended period of time. The 'baby' cries, wets, upchucks, etc. at the most unexpected times just like in real life! The 'parent' gets the feel of the full-time commitment needed in order to be a parent.

Joey has so much to learn as he grows and matures. He also has a lot of healing yet to do. Learning to allow others to help you is a huge lesson, especially for teenagers.

I wonder whether or not Joey will be able to master this life-lesson. His healing process is likely to be a slow one, will he have the patience to give himself the needed time for it to work?

I also wonder how the "Mexican Stand-off" will end! Will Beth and Dominic be returned to New Mexico or to Texas? How will the U.S. Federal Government respond to this stance of the southwestern states? Will this be a replay of the 1860s when the South was the union's breakaway group?

Caleb's family is growing as his parents seem willing to accept more and more individuals into it. Will there be the very natural problems of a 'growing family' and if so, how will all of the members be able to deal with them? I am ready for chapter 12 to be posted so that at least some of these questions may be addressed.

--Kent D. (sw Ohio area)