A New Chance – Chapter IV

More Trouble

Marabeth didn’t exactly sleep well that night. She tossed and turned for most of it until her body overcome with exhaustion finally fell into a deep sleep. Andy, however, other than wakening slightly with his wife’s movements, slept annoyingly well. He was already out of bed when Marabeth woke up to the smell of bacon cooking. That seemed unusual for their household even on a Saturday so she made her way slowly to the kitchen. When she walked in, she saw Chance with a spatula in hand standing at the stove while Andy sat on a stool at the island talking to him.

She didn’t catch the whole conversation but she heard Chance say he didn’t want to find his mom before Andy saw her standing at the doorway. “Morning,” he said. “Chance is fixing us some breakfast this morning,” he stood up to get another plate.

“You don’t have to,” Marabeth said a little embarrassed that her company was fixing her breakfast.

“Oh, I cook,” Chance caught himself, “cooked all the time for my mom,” he said. “I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay here.”

She nodded her head slowly and sat down next to Andy. “I didn’t know we had bacon in the house.”

“We didn’t,” Andy said. “Chance and I ran to the store this morning.”

“What time is it?” she asked.

“8:30,” he said and put a couple pieces of French toast on her plate. “You need to try this, this is great. Chance is quite the cook.” Everyone in the room could tell he was overselling Chance’s stay with them.

“You sure have been busy this morning,” she said looking at the food on her plate.

Chance put a couple pieces of bacon on her plate and then on Andy’s.

“That’s not all,” Andy said. “Chance straightened up our basement last night.”

Chance shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep so I thought I should do something useful.”

The thought of him going through boxes and helping himself to their long-ago stored items made her stiffen a little.

“I didn’t do much. Just organized the boxes a little and made a pathway to the bedroom I’m staying in. I didn’t go through them or anything.” He explained quickly seeing Marabeth’s face.

She forced herself to relax. “Thank you, that was very nice.”

“I know I won’t be here long I just wanted you to know I appreciate it.”

“You’ve done more than enough.” Andy said while cutting his French toast. “I just want you to do one thing for me.”

“What’s that?” Chance asked.

“Just be a kid this weekend. Enjoy yourself. Play some video games. Do whatever it is kids do these days.”

Chance smiled. “I’ll try.” Even he didn’t know what kids did for fun. He had been fending for himself for so long acting like a kid was going to take effort.

Marabeth took a bite of her breakfast. “Wow, this is good.”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Andy laughed. Chance also laughed.

“I’m sorry,” she looked at Chance. “I didn’t mean…”

Chance waved off her apology and went back to the stove to get some more bacon. “Glad you like it.”

After breakfast, Chance helped clean the kitchen. Since JJ wasn’t awake yet, he went back down stairs and did some more straightening. At least, he started to until Andy found him and made him stop.

He felt restless and couldn’t just sit in the house. He needed to do something so he ended up going for a walk. At the end of the driveway, he saw a girl that appeared to be about his age. It looked like she was waiting for someone.

She saw him and sized him up quickly. “Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” he said.

“You a friend of JJ’s?” she asked not attempting to hide her disbelief.

He shrugged. “Yeah,” that was an easier answer than the truth.

She nodded. The conversation appeared to have ended because she turned and looked down the road.

He waited a moment and then continued walking. Before he got to the end of the cul-de-sac, a very expensive looking sports car turned the corner quickly. He watched as it screeched to a stop long enough to let the girl in. As the car sped past him, he barely saw the driver but saw enough to know he was blond and also about the same age.

He walked around for a bit before heading back to the house. As he approached the driveway, he noticed the sign on the mailbox read ‘Lucas-Simpson.’ When he got back inside, JJ was up so they played video games the rest of the afternoon.

That night as they sat at dinner, Chance listened quietly while JJ complained about starting school the next week. Chance bit his bottom lip to keep him from responding. He did not want to be rude to his hosts but he wanted to say he’d give anything to be able to start school next week.

Finally, JJ switched gears. “There’s a big back to school party tonight,” he said. “Can I go?”

“Why don’t you take Chance with you?” Andy asked.

Marabeth looked nervously at Andy. But no one seemed to notice.

JJ looked at Chance. “I mean, do you want to go?”

Chance shrugged his shoulders. “Sure.”

“Where is the party at?” Marabeth asked.

“It’s a bonfire at Emerson’s grandparents’ property.” He looked at Chance. “Emerson is our neighbor.”

Chance figured that was who he saw earlier waiting for a ride.

“Don’t stay out too late. We have church in the morning.” His mom said.

JJ nodded at Chance who nodded back in agreement.

It wasn’t until after 9:00pm that JJ and Chance even left the house. Chance wasn’t sure how they were not going to stay out too late when they left so late. But he willingly followed JJ.

When they arrived at the bonfire, the party was already in full swing.

JJ made his way to a small group on the side. “Hey guys, what’s up?” he asked.

“Hey JJ,” a girl said and nodded. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Chance. He’s…”

Chance held his breath on how JJ would explain his presence.

“Visiting us for a little while,” JJ said. “This is Kelli, Gary, Nelson, and Skia.” He pointed quickly to everyone.

Chance exhaled relieved at JJ’s discretion. The group seemed to accept JJ’s introduction and continued their conversation mostly about school starting next week. It only took a few comments for Chance to realize JJ and his group weren’t part of the popular crowd. It could have been all the Harry Potter references. Or the Marvel quotes. But he recognized the fact they were outliers. Nerds. Geeks. Whatever. It made Chance feel a bit more relaxed. He was even starting to enjoy himself a little bit.

“Hey Lucas!” someone called out.

JJ rolled his eyes. “Forrest,” he said. “How’s it going?”

A guy with blond hair came over and put JJ in a chokehold. While JJ was tall, he was thin. The other guy was big in every direction and solid muscle. Chance recognized him as the driver that picked up Emerson earlier. The sportscar he drove hid his massive size well. “We still going to have the same arrangement as last year?” Forrest asked.

“Of course,” JJ said but the guy didn’t release his hold. Instead, he held him tighter.

“What’s the arrangement?” Chance asked Kelli who was closest to him.

“He makes JJ do his homework for him,” she whispered and started to back away.

Chance winced. So, JJ’s group truly were outliers not just physically but socially.

Forrest didn’t let go. “Who wants to see if I can make Lucas pass out?”

A few people started to gather around them.

“Why don’t you let him go?” Chance stepped closer to Forrest.

“Who are you?” Forrest asked.

“No one you need to remember.”

Forrest didn’t let JJ go.

“Let him go now,” Chance demanded. He had to look up at Forrest and he was sure Forrest had about 25 to 50 pounds of muscle on him but he wasn’t about to back down.

“Make me,” Forrest laughed.

Chance made like he was backing down but instead punched Forrest in the jaw. The surprise attack made Forrest loosen his grip. JJ pulled away and rubbed his neck. Forrest was upset that Chance got the better of him. He charged him and knocked him into a tree.

But Chance had grown up fighting so he knew how to fight back.

More of the crowd at the fire noticed the commotion and joined the growing circle around them. Forrest’s buddies ganged up on Chance and JJ. They were outnumbered five to two and both ended up on the ground. Chance had a black eye and JJ had a split lip and bruised cheek by the time the rest of the crowd pulled them away. Chance noticed Emerson had joined them and pulled at Forrest to get him to join her at the fire. She looked at Chance.

JJ’s friends seemed to have dispersed when the action started because they were nowhere to be seen.

“Thanks buddy,” JJ said when the crowd went back to the fire and the two of them were alone.

Chance felt the side of his face and knew he wasn’t going to be able to hide it from Andy and Marabeth. What was worse, he couldn’t exactly see what JJ looked like in the dark but he knew he was probably going to have some marks on him also.

“No problem,” he answered but he knew this was going to be his return ticket back to jail. “Why does he call you Lucas?” he asked.

“You don’t know? That’s my name. My full name is Jonathan James Lucas-Simpson.”

Chance didn’t respond.

“I know, a mouthful, right?” JJ chuckled.

“I can see why you go by JJ,” Chance nodded.

“My mom is Marabeth Lucas.”

“Why does that name sound familiar?” Chance asked.

“Uh, probably from the Lucas Hotel chain,” JJ said slowly standing up. “My grandpa is Edmond Lucas.”

Chance had started to stand up but fell back down. He was staying with the Lucas family and didn’t even know it! That explained the house. Andy did say he married wisely. He married a Lucas from the hotel empire Lucas family.

Any thought of feeling relaxed fled with that realization.

They started walking down the path to the car.

“Where did your friends go?” Chance asked looking around.

“Oh, you know, high school is about surviving. They didn’t want to be pulled into our fight. None of them wanted to be here anyway. It was my idea to come tonight. I thought maybe this year could be different. So, I’m sure they are all safely at home probably in bed by now. Our group tends to shy away from fights. By the way, I sincerely thank you for that. I’ve never been in a fight before.”

“I’m sorry,” Chance said.

“It was great!” JJ said excitedly. “I’ve never felt so alive before.”

“Well, that’s the adrenaline,” Chance replied. “Trust me, you’re going to feel differently when that wears off.”

“Ha,” JJ said. “That was just so exhilarating.”

They arrived at the car and JJ looked over the roof at Chance. “You really had my back and I appreciate it.”

Chance shrugged. It wasn’t a big deal for him to get into a fight. His whole life he had to fight for anything he received.

When they arrived home, the light was still on in JJ’s parents’ room. JJ made sure to stand in the shadow when he told them good night. It worked, his mom didn’t notice his face.

The next morning, however, the shadows were gone and there was nowhere to hide. JJ dressed in his church clothes tried to act nonchalant about his wounds. But Marabeth was not happy about it at all. She wanted Andy to take Chance to Child Protective services that morning. Andy explained it was Sunday morning. He wasn’t going to do that. She was still quite upset when they went to church. The sermon happened to be on “I was a stranger and ye took me in.” JJ leaned forward in the pew and tried to make eye contact with her but she refused.

After church she sat in her office thinking when JJ walked in.

“Mom,” he said sitting on a couch. “We should let Chance stay with us.”

She looked at him. “Absolutely not. You have never been in a fight before.”

“That’s because I never had anyone have my back before. But it was all my fault. Don’t punish him because of me. He was defending me. You know, he should stay here and go to school.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she said.

“Why?” JJ asked standing up. “Do we not have room for him in this house?” He waved his arms around. “Of course we do! Can we not afford another mouth to feed?” He stepped closer to her and looked her in the eye. “Maybe not dad but we all know you can afford it.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Just think about it,” JJ walked toward the door. “He helped me out, mom. He’s a good guy.”

Before she could respond, he walked out of the room.

A little later, Marabeth walked out of her office and saw Chance staring at a painting. She stood next to him and stared at the painting also. It was one of her favorites, a Jackson Pollack.

“Sorry,” he said when he realized she was next to him.

“Don’t be,” she said. “It’s fun to see the paintings for the first time through someone else’s eyes.”

He nodded and looked back at the painting.

“It’s making you feel something, isn’t it?” she asked.

“I guess it’s making me feel normal for feeling so chaotic. Life is chaos, isn’t it?” he asked.

The weight of his words hit her. He should have been too young to fully know about life’s chaos. That should have been a secret he learned in adulthood. But from Andy had told her, she knew he was fully aware of how unsettled life could be. How those twists and turns can keep a life in chaos. “It can be,” she answered him.

“But the colors he chose,” he continued to look at the painting. “Reminds us there is beauty in life, too.”

She nodded. “I think he reminds us that beauty comes because of the chaos sometimes.”

He looked at her. “I’m sorry about JJ. It was my fault.”

She wondered if she would ever fully know the story of the bonfire. Somehow, she doubted it. But one thing she did know, the two of them were covering for each other. Just like the painting, there was beauty in that bond that had formed so quickly.

It wasn’t an easy decision but that night as she watched Andy climb into bed beside her, she spoke quietly. “What would it take to be Chance’s foster family?”

Andy listened. “It just so happens, I have the paperwork to start that process.”

“Since when?” she asked annoyed that he was a step ahead of her.

“Friday when I brought him home,” he kissed her cheek and turned on his side.

She rolled her eyes. “What if this had turned out differently? What if I would have been right?”

He turned and faced her again. “In your version, we would have probably been robbed and murdered so you wouldn’t have been able to say I told you so anyway.”

She hit him with a pillow.

“Seriously, I know you. I know your heart. You have this tough exterior for the world that everyone else sees but I see you. I know your kindness would rise to the occasion and that’s why I love you.”

She looked at him. “And that’s why I love you.” She kissed him and turned off the light. But the thought occurred to her, she just became the mom of two teenage sons. What did she get herself into?