Then another little boy around the age of five or six came running into the kitchen. His face was covered with freckles and he
had his mother's curly hair.
'John Patrick, bring Mr. Freeland into the kitchen.'
The little boy wasn't paying his mother any attention. He had squeezed up next to Michelle and had latched onto her arm.
'We should get out of your way,' Theo said as he pushed his chair back. 'I've read through these papers, Daryl. You can keep them here.'
'You can't leave,' Cherry said. 'Mr. Freeland came all this way to meet… I mean, it wouldn't be right for you to leave without meeting him.'
'Since he just happened to be in the neighborhood,' Daryl said. His gaze was directed at the table-top, but Theo didn't have to
look him in the eyes to know he was lying.
'Does Mr. Freeland happen to have a legal problem?' he asked Michelle.
She smiled, then promptly changed the subject. 'John Patrick,' she said to the hovering child. 'This is my friend, Theo Buchanan. He came all the way from Boston just to go fishing.'
John Patrick nodded. 'I know who he is already. Everybody knows. Dr. Mike, can you tell your brother he's got to come
around again? And will you tell John Paul to hurry 'cause I left my kickball in the backyard and I need it. Okay?'
'Is Lois back?' she asked.
'The boy seems to think she is,' Daryl said. 'He's going to get an ulcer fretting about her.'
'We haven't seen Lois in over a month now, but John Patrick's still worried about her showing up unexpectedly. He won't get
his ball out of the yard until your brother comes by again, and he won't let any of us go out there and fetch the ball for him either.
I have to hang my clothes out to dry in the side yard just to calm him. Our John Patrick's a worrier,' Cherry added for Theo's benefit, as if that would explain the child's bizarre behavior.
'John Patrick's named after Dr. Mike's brother, John Paul,' Daryl interjected.
'So will you tell him?' the boy pleaded.
Michelle put her arm around the child. 'Just as soon as I see him, I'll tell him you'd like him to come back over. Now, you've got
to stop worrying, John Patrick.'
'Okay,' the child whispered. 'The man sitting here…'
'Theo?'
John Patrick nodded.
'What about him?' Michelle asked.
'Could I ask him something?'
'You can ask me anything you want,' Theo said.
John Patrick straightened and turned to Theo. Though Theo didn't have much experience dealing with children, he thought he could hold his own with a six-year-old.
'What do you want to know?'
The boy wasn't shy. He leaned into Theo's leg, stared him right in the eye, and said, 'My daddy says Big Daddy Jake says
you've got a gun. Do you?'
The question surprised him. 'Yes, I do have a gun, but I'm not going to be keeping it much longer. I'm going to give the gun back,' he told the child. 'I don't like guns.'
'But you've got it now?'
'Yes, I do.'
The kid's fascination was a concern, and Theo thought he should probably give a short lecture about the dangers and how guns weren't playthings. He was trying to figure out how to put it all on a six-year-old's level, but apparently John Patrick had already, moved on.
'So could you go outside?'
'You want me to go out into your backyard?'
John Patrick solemnly nodded. Theo glanced at Michelle and caught the twinkle in her eye.
'Okay?' the boy asked.
'Yeah, okay,' Theo agreed. 'And what do you want me to do when I get out there?'
'Could you shoot Lois for me?'
He knew the kid was going to ask that question, but it still shocked the hell out of him. He was speechless.
'No, Theo isn't going to shoot Lois for you,' his father said in exasperation. 'You don't want Dr. Mike's boyfriend to get into trouble with the law, do you?'
'No, Daddy, I don't.'
'It's just as well,' Michelle said. She patted the little boy as though she were consoling him. 'If Theo shot Lois, he'd just make
her mad.'
'She's mean when she's mad,' the kid told Theo.
The screen door banged once, then again and again in the background. 'Go and wash up for supper,' Cherry told John Patrick.
The little boy gave Theo a look of disappointment and then went to the sink.
'He's kind of a bloodthirsty little boy, isn't he?' he whispered to Michelle.
'He's a sweetheart,' she replied.
'If I were Lois, I'd run for the woods.'
The screen door banged again, and suddenly the floor under Theo's feet began to vibrate. It sounded like a herd of buffalo was running through the living room. Then a slew of boys of various ages and sizes came lumbering into the kitchen. Theo lost count after five.
Mr. Freeland was the last to enter the crowded kitchen. Elliott had to squeeze against the refrigerator to let the man in.
Freeland could have been mistaken for one of the boy's friends, except he was dressed in a shirt and tie. He was just a little
over five feet tall and rail thin. He wore thick horn-rimmed glasses that slid down the bridge of his nose. He pushed them up
with his index finger.
'Mr. Freeland's the music teacher over at the high school,' Daryl explained.
'Nice to meet you, Mr. Freeland.'
There were two of Daryl's boys behind Theo's chair, making it impossible for him to stand. He reached around to shake
Freeland's hand.
'Please call me Conrad,' he insisted. 'Cherry, Daryl,' he added with a nod to each of them. Then he turned to Michelle and nodded again. 'Mike.'
'Conrad,' Cherry said, nodding back. 'How's Billie doing?'
'Billie's my wife,' Conrad explained to Theo. 'And she's doing just fine. The baby's only getting us up once a night now, so we're both getting more sleep. Billie sends her regards.'
'Boys, move out of the way and let Mr. Freeland sit down beside Theo so they can talk,' Cherry said.
There was a good deal of shuffling in the kitchen as the children took their places at the table. Theo moved closer to Michelle
to give Conrad room.
'I can't stay but a minute,' Conrad said as he pulled the chair out and sat. 'Billie's got supper waiting for me.' Turning his full attention to Theo, he said, 'Daryl and Cherry understand the importance of an education for
