Kenny and Peter - Book 1 - 9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons living, dead, space aliens, goats, or others are purely coincidental. There may be sexual content so if this, in any form, offends you, please cease reading. Also, if you are not of legal age to read this, please don't.

Copyright © 2009 by hh5

Kenny and Peter

By HH5

Chapter 09

Kenny

I woke up at 10:00 AM after coming home from the ER at 2:30 in the morning. I was beat. A shower and a simple breakfast helped. The place was quiet without Peter; I decided to call Mrs. Jenkins to see how he was.

“Good Morning, This is Mrs. Jenkins Office.”

“Hi, this is Kenny. May I speak with Mrs. Jenkins?”

I was on hold for only a moment before she picked up. “Hello Kenny. How are you?”

“Hello, Mrs. Jenkins. I’m fine. I got in late this morning…about 2:30.” I stifled a yawn, but I’m pretty sure she heard it.

“Wow, that’s late. I’m glad you were able to call last night. It meant a lot to Peter and Brian.”

“Thanks … I’m calling to ask how Peter was this morning. Was there any trouble?”

“Everything went fine. The boys woke up with no problem. They got ready for school. It was Brian’s idea to walk to school so he could show Peter the way.”

“That was very nice of him. I’m glad that they’re becoming friends.”

“Will you pick up Peter after lunch?”

“Yes. Twelve-thirty, isn’t it?”

“That would be good, or a few minutes either way. The boys will be waiting for you at the flagpole. Perhaps you would walk the boys to your home, to show them the way. It would help Brian to know the way; I’ll tell them, tomorrow, to walk to your home after lunch. Would that be all right?”

“Yes, of course, Mrs. Jenkins … That’s a good idea … I will talk to you soon … Bye.”

As long as I had the phone in my hand, I decided to give Robbie a quick call.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Robbie.”

“What’s this you don’t call me? Don’t send me a post card? Did you guys fall off the face of the earth? You’ve been a bad boy!” Robbie was kidding. At least, I hoped so. I wasn’t really sure, since everything he said was true.

“Yeah, I’m a bad boy, ha-ha, so how are you and Katy doing?” (And, I thought, what did he mean by “Guys”? I really didn’t want to talk about Gary.)

“We’re doing fine. Katy’s away at a business meeting for the week. Mom’s here taking care of little Mary. So waz up bro?”

“Did Mom tell you anything about her last visit to me?”

“She said you have a little boy named Peter? So did you get Gary pregnant?”

“No, I didn’t get Gary pregnant! We split up before I got Peter.” (Gosh, he tricked me into that!)

“Oh I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be heartless”

“It’s okay; we’ll talk more about Gary later… The reason I was calling, well, is I want your advice about how to help Peter. Remember when you help mom raise me. Was it hard?” There was a long pause and it got me worried.

“Of course, you were a pain in my butt!! I wanted to trade you in for a doggie!!” Robbie started to kid me.

“Aw! Now, come on. I wasn’t that bad!” Robbie was certainly enjoying his moment with me.

“You weren’t housebroken. You pooped and peed everywhere! You wouldn’t sit up! You wouldn’t do any tricks!” Robbie was laughing again at my expense. He does miss me, and I missed him.

“Ok I get it! Ha, ha! … Anyway, little Peter and I would like to come up and visit you, little Mary, and Mom this three day weekend? Is it okay?”

“Well, as long as you stay the whole weekend … I just might forgive you for being such a bad boy!”

“Deal! I can’t have you punish me in front of little Peter! So, don’t get any funny ideas!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll just let you take on little Mary and Peter!! And watch you cross your eyes at the mayhem!!”

“Okay; see you then … I’ll call you when we leave here on Friday … Love you … Bye”

Peter

I hate Mr. Morrison!!! He makes my head hurt so much. I don’t want to be here. I want to go home! When’s that stupid bell going to ring? I want to see Kenny and Brian!!

Oh, dance for joy!! The bell rings!!

I got to go find Brian.

“Peter, stay for a moment!” Mr. Morrison blocked my path, and then closed the door.

Brian

Boy, I’m so glad Mrs. Carson remembers me. I’m happy to see her again. I didn’t know that she changed jobs to work here. We moved here, like, a year ago. I had her when I was in second grade. I think Peter will like her a lot. Maybe he will get to see her tomorrow or Thursday. I’ve got to tell Peter about her. Which reminds me, I wonder how he’s doing? Mr. Morrison is a strict teacher; at least, that’s what I overheard when Mom was talking about the four teachers in this program. Mom said the world isn’t exactly perfect. There will be all kinds of different teachers; some good; some bad; some hard; some soft. I need to ask Peter about Mr. Morrison, because I’ll get him tomorrow or Thursday. Groan… I hope I survive.

Oh, great! The bell!!

I started to leave. “Bye Mrs. Carson.”

“Wait a moment, please,” She replied.

“Sure.”

“Brian, it’s so nice to see you again. You’ve grown since we last saw each other.”

“We moved here a year ago. I didn’t think you would be here.”

“My husband got a new job in this city. So, I applied for a teaching job here. I was lucky to be accepted. I asked your mom not to tell you I was here. I wanted to surprise you.”

I saw Peter just outside the door. “I was surprised. … ahh … Please … Excuse me for a second.”

I rushed to the door and brought Peter in. He looked sad, but I introduced him, anyway. “Mrs. Carson, this is my new friend Peter. He’s new here.”

Mrs. Carson looked at Peter and smiled. Peter kinda ducked his head, but didn’t say anything. He looked like he was about to cry. “Hello, Peter. I’m a friend of Brian’s. I was his teacher in second grade.”

“Uh … Hi … sorry … I’m not having such a good day.”

“Well … I bet you’re hungry!” Mrs. Carson said.

Peter nodded. He still looked sad. I knew it wasn’t hunger. Mrs. Carson must have seen it, too. She hugged Peter until he smiled just a little.

Then she patted him on the back and sent us on our way. “We’ll talk more tomorrow. Bye, guys!”

Peter seemed to perk up a bit. He waved goodbye to Mrs. Carson, and I took him to the cafeteria. I thought the wave was a good sign. We got our food, and found a table with a view of the schoolyard. Peter and I talked about our classes. He said that Mr. Morrison made his head hurt. I asked how, and if Mr. Morrison had hit him. Peter said, no. But he also said it was hard for him to explain. I figured I’d better drop the subject because it looked like Peter was about to cry. So, I asked him what he and Kenny were going to do today.

“We’re going swimming at the Y,” he said.

“Neat! Can you ask Kenny if I can come, too?”

“Sure. I want you to come. I think it will be fun. Can you swim?”

“A little bit,” I said. “Mom gets busy sometimes, and can’t take me.”

“Can you ask your mom if it’s okay? I’m sure Kenny will take you with us.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll ask mom before we go meet Kenny. Hey, you’d better eat up your lunch! Swimming takes a lot of energy!! You do want to have fun, don’t you?” Peter smiled, and finished his lunch.

Kenny

I arrived at the school flagpole at 12:25 PM. I thought I was a bit early, but I was right on time. Peter and Brian were walking out of the school when I got there. I waved hello, and they started running to me. Peter beat Brian to the flagpole. They horsed around a little, just like Robbie and I had done as kids. Robbie always won, because he was older. I watched the guys go at it till they settled down a bit.

“Hey, guys. Ready to go home?”

“Yeah, Daddy!! Can Brian come with us to the Y? His mom said yes, if we were going.”

“Sure. But first, I have to show you two how to walk home from here. Then, Brian can show me where his place is so he can get his swimsuit.”

“Ahhh, Kenny – I don’t think I have one. It got lost in the move.”

“That’s okay, Brian. We’ll go to the mall and get one there. Ready? Then let’s go.”

I showed them the way home. Brian seemed to be very good with directions. He said that some days he rode his bike around, a lot. The last few blocks past the Y were new to Brian. He kept looking around for landmarks as we walked the rest of the way home. I asked if he was in the cub scouts. He said that he was up until a little over a year ago.

We got to the apartment parking lot, and hopped into the car to go to the mall. Peter was excited to go there. I guess he wanted to see what swim suit Brian would pick. As soon as we got to the mall, the boys ran to the store where we had bought Peter’s suit. I followed more slowly. I figured if I took my time, they’d have picked out a suit for Brian by the time I got there.

I saw Peter waiting anxiously near the changing booth, as if he wanted to be in the same room with Brian. “So,” I asked, “how many suits is Brian trying on?”

Brian heard me and giggled. “Eight”

“Eight?” Both boys laughed their heads off at my reaction.

Peter confessed. “Actually, three.”

“Well, I’ll go browse a bit. Come and get me when you’ve decided.” I browsed around the swimsuits. I looked, again, at the Speedo that Peter had wanted me to get. I still was amazed at how little material was in it. The boys came over with their selection and we went to the cashier to pay. I looked at Brian. “I’ll get this, Brian. It’s a thank you for taking care of Peter.”

Brian was surprised. “Thanks, Kenny.”

We left the mall, and reached the Y. While we changed, I noticed that Brian’s Speedo was a little more conservative than Peter’s. Gosh, I thought, looking at the two of them, youth does shame us old folks. When we reached the pool, I encouraged them both to jump into the deep end. The boys hung around near the wall. I showed them a basic survival technique of floating on their backs, I explained that this was in case they got into trouble in the water, and that it would help the rescuer have time to reach them. I had both of the boys try it several times. Then, I had them try the backstroke. Both of them learned quickly. It wasn’t long before they were doing the length of the pool. The tricky part was teaching them the return leg of the backstroke.

After a couple of laps, it was time to get them into the shallow end and let them horse around while I did some laps myself. I was doing pretty well but it was still quite a workout, and I got tired sooner than I expected. The boys were watching me doing my final lap when my strokes faltered, and my leg developed a cramp. The boys realized that I was in trouble, and yelled to me to do the backstroke. I heard them, and changed to a backstroke until I could reach a wall. Even that was slow going. The boys asked what happen. I told them that I had overdone it. They both told me they were glad I didn’t drown. The lifeguard came by and congratulated the boys, patting them on the back as a thank you for looking out for someone. The lifeguard ask who had taught them and they pointed to me. I blushed.

After changing, we went home. The boys pitched in to help make dinner. I was glad for the help; we were all tired from the day’s activities. My pager went off just as we finished the dishes. I looked at the code, and quickly I took the boys to Brian’s house, hugged them both and left for work.

When I reached the hospital, I saw that the ER was in chaos. Gary saw me come in just as he was on the way out. He glared at me as he passed me. I watched him leave, and then muttered to myself “What’s got his panties in a wad?” I shook my head and hurried to the locker room to change into my scrubs. One of the nurse assistants popped his head in the locker room. “Hey, Kenny! Hurry up … We need a hand with this bleeder …” I followed him into the bloody mess. Nothing surprised me; this was the official start of the holiday season.

Brian

“Hi, Mom. Kenny dropped us off early. He had a call to go to work early. Some accident happened.”

“Well, do you know what Kenny does for a living?”

“No mom. I never asked. Kenny took us to the Y for a swim and he bought me a pair a Speedos as a thank you for taking care of Peter.”

“Really? That’s nice of him. Did you enjoy the swim today?”

“Yes Mom. Did you know he use to teach swimming?”

“No I didn’t”

“He taught us an important thing to remember when you’re in trouble in the water.”

“Like what?”

“Like floating on your back and doing the backstroke. And, it actually works. Kenny showed us what getting in trouble looks like and we yelled backstroke to him. And he did it. The lifeguard said we did a good thing in helping Kenny.”

“Oh … you mean Kenny got in trouble in the water?”

“Yea … he got a cramp and he was way tired in the water.”

“Well guys … you’ve learned a lot today. So where is Peter?”

“He’s in my room playing on the Wii.” Mom nodded.

“How did he do today?”

My face changed a bit. Mom saw my reaction. “Peter wasn’t very happy today when we met after class. I don’t think Peter likes Mr. Morrison.”

Mom thought for a long moment and said “It will take time for Peter to adjust to a new school, new teachers, a new home, and a new foster dad. All these things are so new to him. It is … scary for him, dear. Please be patient with him. Remember be his friend!!”

“Oh, sure, mom … You know I will … We all made dinner tonight … Kenny had me bring some for you … I hope you like it.” Mom smiled at me for a long moment; there was a tear in eye. She hugged me and sent me off to go play with Peter.