Chapter 21

I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing in the living room. I extracted myself from between the sleeping girls and went in to answer it.

"Hello."

"Hello Ron, this is Carl with Family Services. I'd like to talk with the girls."

I had enough sense to realize it was still fairly early. I looked at the clock and it was just 8:30.

"Carl, they're over at the other house. I'll have to go get them. I haven't had time to run a phone line from here to there yet. We had a long day yesterday, shoppin' for back to school clothes and I don't think they're up yet. If they were, they would have woke me up with breakfast."

"Ok, I'll just wait until you get them."

I laid the phone done and walked, quietly, back to the bedroom. I gently woke the girls and told them to be real quiet. Then I told them Family Services was on the phone and I had to pretend to go next door to get them. They nodded and got up and put on a robe.

I went to the door and opened and then closed it and then waited for a bit. I wanted enough time to elapse so he would believe I actually did go to the old house. I let a couple minutes expire and then opened the door and said, "Sally, you take that phone and I'll get the cordless for Bridget."

Sally picked up the phone and sleepily said, "hello."

"Ya, Ron's getting the other phone for her."

Then Bridget clicked the other phone on and said, "hi."

"Oh, no we've talked about it a bit, but we haven't made a decision yet."

"Ya, Ron said something like that might happen. That's why he suggested that we go to a different school. But we just haven't really had a chance to talk about it yet. We spent all day yesterday shoppin' in Springfield."

"Ya, ok, I'll put him on."

"Ya Carl, it's me."

"Listen, the girls' mom made bail and she's looking for the girls. She was here and probably at school too. We told her the girls had been put in a foster home, but wouldn't give her the address. She was not in a very good mood."

"I told them that might happen. They asked about a restrainin' order and I told them they seldom worked. Is there a way that you can get the school not to give out the information about where they would send the girls' record?"

"Ya, we can do that. That's not much of a problem. But I think it would be a good idea to get a restraining order from the court. That way everyone is on record as not wanting her to have contact."

"Well, since they're wards of the state, wouldn't ya'all have to file for it there?"

"Yes, but they need to be present and answer some questions from the judge."

"Well, we can do that. Just let me know when you need them there."

"Ok, it'll probably be sometime around the first of next week, but I'll let you know for sure."

"Fine. Do you need to talk with the girls again?"

"Yes, I need to inform them what we're going to do."

"Ok, here they are."

Sally and Bridget got back on the phone and talked for a bit with him and then told him thank you and the conversation was over.

They came over and sat on my lap and hugged me and we just sort of sat there for a bit while they got their thoughts together.

"I guess we better go to school someplace other than our old one," Sally said.

"Ya, I guess she just don't want to see us happy," Bridget put in.

"Well, that leaves Yellville, Forsyth or Theodosia. We can think about it after we have breakfast. Food always clears the mind," I told them.

I got a kiss from each of them and they headed to the kitchen and put on aprons on over their robes and made breakfast. They brought me a cup of coffee as soon as it was done. When breakfast was ready then called me in and we had a quiet breakfast. They were lost in their own thoughts about their life.

After breakfast, I took my coffee to the living room and they followed after the dishes were done. They snuggled up to me and just sat quietly for a while, I guess weighing their options.

Finally Sally broke the silence. "I don't think I want to go to Yellville. It's more of hick town than Harrison is. Besides, they were our big rivals in all the sports."

"Ya, I don't think I'd like goin' there either," Bridget said.

"I think that's a good decision, but not for the reasons ya'all mentioned. If you're mom is lookin' for ya, then she'll probably check all the neighborin' counties to see if you've moved to that school system. I'm not sure she'd think of lookin' in Missouri."

"Ya, I didn't think about that," Sally said.

"Ok, so that leaves Forsyth or Theodosia. If you think Yellville is a hick town, then you won't much like Theodosia either. Why don't we drive over to both towns and have a look at their schools today?"

"Ok, that sounds great. At least we can have a look at our future and not go there blind," Sally agreed.

I finished my coffee and got several kisses before we headed for the shower. This shower was a bit more normal. There was a lot of groping and kissing and sucking to make sure all the parts were clean and the soap was rinsed off.

After we got dressed, I drove us over to Theodosia and they saw the school there, which is on the main highway. Not really much to look at.

Then we headed for Forsyth. That is a much nicer and newer school. It sits back off the highway and is pretty well maintained. That pretty well made up their mind for them.

There isn't much in Forsyth and, therefore, not many places to eat, especially for teenagers. So we settled for The Mug. I had a steak sandwich and they had a pizza, one each. I have no idea how these small girls eat so much and stay small. We left there around 1:30 and then did some grocery shopping. I was going to need a lot more food at the house with these two in residence.

I spent over $120 at the store and it was all food. We took home 8 gallons of milk, a case of frozen orange juice, 4 dozen eggs, 4 pounds of sausage and 4 pounds of bacon. And that was just a beginning. Meat, bread, sandwich buns, vegetables, salad making stuff, soup, pizza mixes, Italian sausage, mushrooms, pepperoni, pizza pans to bake them on, and lots of cheese. Then we had to have a taco night, so that meant all the fixings for that night. I had steaks and hamburger in the freezer from the half of beef I had bought, but we got several pork roasts, a lot of pork chops and a dozen frying chickens. Then we got to the ice cream. We got three kinds of ice cream, 4 different kinds of toppings, and whipped cream to go on top. Luckily, I had 2 fridges and a large chest freezer at home. I'd just have to move some beer out to make room.

We got home after 3 and I called Family Services and gave Carl the girls' decision. He said he'd make the arrangements and call me back. Since this was Friday, it would probably be Monday before he got back to me. I told him that was fine and said good-bye.

The girls got all the food put away and came to sit with me on the couch. I got kisses and thank yous from them and we talked about how this was going to work. I told them they'd need to be patient with me because I wasn't used to being a parent. They laughed and said they'd be really good little girls and if they weren't, I could spank them. We chatted a bit and then the phone rang.

"Hello."

"Secure, in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, secure."

I switched the phone over to the secure mode and then listened for the tone. I got 4 of them.

"Ron, this is Frank. I've got Bubba and Earl on the line with us."

"Howdy guys. What's goin' on Frank?"

"I just wanted to give you guys the news. All hell has broken loose about the tapes. The White House is denying everything, but the committee that delivered it to the White House is sticking to their guns. They have pretty well informed him that he is finished as an effective head of this nation. He will be allowed to continue if he wins the election, but he will be kept under close scrutiny. He's also been told that IRS reform legislation will be coming to his desk after hearings take place and he will sign it. Most of the actual proposed legislation will not be coming from the White House. He is not going to have much say in anything anymore. He mentioned about taking it to the people and was told if he did, they'd make the tape public. That seemed to quiet him down some. This ain't over, but it's good ways to being corrected."

"Not the way I want it corrected," Earl pointed out.

"Earl, we talked about this before we took up the mission. This was what we decided we'd settle for."

"I know, Frank, but that don't make me not want to castrate that asshole."

"Earl, we know your wants. But we also know what reality is. This is as good as it's going to get. If he wins the election, he's going to be in office for another 4 years. I've already talked with some of the congressmen and they will vote for a bill of impeachment. They won't get a conviction because they're scared to death of Gore. But they will put that black mark on his record. The country comes first."

"I'm not sure they have the country's best interest at heart, Frank."

"I know, Earl, but this is the best we're going to get. Remember when we pulled out of 'Nam. It was done for the good of the country, not for what was right. We all know we were winning, hell everyone in the military knows that. But the press had lost the war for us by convincing the people that we couldn't win. If you remember, they didn't print the fact that the enemy was decimated after the '68 Tet offensive. They lost so many men they couldn't even mount a good ambush. But the press didn't print that. They also didn't print all the atrocities that took place after we pulled out. That wouldn't have served their cause. They didn't report the mass executions that took place in the months after they took over. They didn't report that all of Saigon was evacuated to the countryside and made to work in commune farms, many of them dying from it. They didn't report that because it didn't fit their version of the war. But shit like that happens and shit like Clinton happens. So you're going to have to swallow the bitter pill and make a better tomorrow for all of us."

"I know, Frank, but, just once, I'd like to see the press on our side for a change."

"Until you switch sides Earl, it ain't going to happen."

"I know, Frank. But I can still blow off steam. They ain't taken that away yet."

"Hey guys, on a different note, I have become a foster parent."

"No shit?" Earl said. "When did that happen?"

"Well, Bubba helped me find the right people to get them girls away from their mom. She was gettin' ready to sell them for drugs. I've got temporary custody and we're workin' on permanent custody now."

"Well, Ron's a daddy. That otta work out good. Maybe you could take in more girls and start a regular home for the wild girls of Arkansas?"

"Don't be an ass, Earl. I did this so I could keep them alive. They mean a lot to me and I don't wanna see them hurt. They've been through a lot in their lives and their dad is in Alaska, at a restricted base, so he can't take 'em. So I've got 'em with me now. We'll have to restrict our wild parties down here. Can't be leadin' these young girls astray."

"Who are you and what have you done with Ron?"

"Earl, damnit, I'm the same person. I just love these girls enough to wanna take care of 'em. Ya, we'll probably still sleep together, but that don't mean I don't wanna help 'em."