Lesley Blue POV
I take all the plain corn on a plate and place it on the dining room table. At this point, nobody was eating anymore. Marcela and Royal were lounging and talking on the furniture. Henry and Roy were on the downstairs living room couch facing the T.V watching music videos, and also talking loudly to eachother, Allie was in my bedroom reading a book (I gave her the permission of course)
"Hey, family! There's corn on the table!" I shouted as I place the clean dishes back into the cupboard. I was being ignored again. I tried not to get frustrated.
I look at the clock and see that it's already 6:40, not only that, but the sky was darkening fast as it started raining again. Scott is out there. Oh my God, that poor kid!
"Marcela?" I ask, peeking into the living room, "What time did Scott leave?"
"What, about an hour ago?"
"An hour and ten minutes." Royal adds.
"No, no, he can't be gone for an hour and ten minutes! Going out and getting to the supermarket by bike itself takes fifteen minutes!" I say as I go back to the window.
"Lesley, calm down! He probably took a long time looking for the butter. Things are hard to find in there!" Marcela says.
"He's been there before!" I explain.
"Yeah, with my kids to keep him in check." Marcela scoffs.
My heart was racing. I waited impatiently by the window, with Royal and Marcela. I tried to convince myself that I didn't need to worry so much and that Marcela and Royal are probably right.
After a couple dreadful minutes, I see Scott walking up to the house. "That poor child must be so cold!" Said Marcela,
"Oh God, why didn't I just take my car and drive around to look for him? He wouldn't get so soaked." I say to myself. I hate questioning my parent abilities, because I know I was never meant to be one. Scott comes up to the door. I can feel him hesitating.
Royal peers at me. "He's scared of your reaction."
"I know he is." I sighed.
Scott was going to come in at some point even if he scares him, he just wouldn't want to stay outside in the thunder.
I couldn't resist. I ran to the door. Marcela and Royal watch as I have another anxiety attack. "Scott! Where were you? You've been gone for so long!" I desperately tell my nephew, drenched from the rain, and noticeably very tired, looked at the floor. "I lost the bike." He murmurs it so quietly, but I can still hear it over the sounds of the heavy rain and the songs playing on the living room T.V downstairs.
"The bike?" Marcela asks wearily from the couch.
"That was 299.99 dollars." Royal breaths under his breath.
Scott looks up at me and bursts into tears. "I chained it so nobody could steal it! I spent a few minutes in the store and the bike was already gone!"
"I'm just glad you're safe." I tell him as I feel my blood pressure calm down. Who could actually blame me when I was that stressed out?
"The bike isn't safe!" Scott cried. I pulled him into my arms as he starts sobbing, taking heavy breaths between every few words. "I only had- I only had- I only had that bike..... I had that bike for..... I had it for.... less than a week!... Hen- Henry payed... so much money.... he payed so much money for that.... bike!"
"Shhh. Shhh. Don't cry. It's okay." I soothed.
"No it's not!"
"There are so many kids at your school who have gotten their bikes stolen. It's happening and that's just the way it is."
He escapes my hug. Tears still coming down his face, he says, "I just want to have my bike again."
Henry and Roy left the T.V on and came running upstairs. "What happened?" Questions a very curious and concerned Henry.
"Someone took his bike from the rack infront of the grocery store." I tell him while trying to calm down Scott. Henry's jaw fell open. "The new one?" He asks this question directly at Scott, but Scott cries so hard that he can't answer, and runs to his bedroom upstairs. That's probably the best option even if he's leaving Henry in the air. Roy looks at Marcela. "Is it?"
She nods in response.
Henry calmly says, "He knows I'm not mad at him, I'm sure, right? The bike was stolen right away, but that's not Scott's fault."
"No, no, I'm sure he knows that you're not mad at him." I say reassuringly, but what the hell do I know? Royal finally gets off the couch and walks towards us. "Lesley, I think that Scott knows that he's going to get harassed in school. He went from the greatest biker, to having broken a bike and losing another."
"Right." I sighed. I hate to even admit it to myself, but this must be exactly what Scott's thinking. That kid never did well under pressure. Henry and Roy go back downstairs while I curl up next to Marcela on the couch and think.
The next day while Scott was in school, I was unintentionally watching Mr Malute out my window during my break from work.
Scott has mentioned before that Mr Malute is the potential bike theif. Of course Scott assumed this because of one experience he had where Mr Malute actually did take a bike, not necessarily stealing it, but in Scott's eyes, taking is stealing. Mr Malute was a lovely man, so full of kindness and patience. It's hard to imagine him and his weird face to be a theif.
I see him step out of his car with his two daughters. Summer Malute, and Gemma Malute. Poor Gemma has to spend the next few weeks with a cast on her arm since the accident. The cast was pink, of course. It didn't go well with the red hair, but she probably didn't mind it. The two girls stand on the grass as Mr Malute opens his trunk to pull out a bike! I had to be sure that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, but that's a bike. It's not Scott's though. This one is dark red. I guess I'll never know for sure what he does. I hate to make assumptions, and I won't do it.
I get a phone call from Officer Smith within a minute after Mr Malute turns the doorknob into his house.
"Hey Lesley."
"Hey Officer Smith. Did anything happen? What is the government going to do with Leo?"
"Oh, many wild things actually." He laughs nervously. "Yeah, does your brother know anything about... well poison?"
Of course Leo knows too too many things about anything, but Officer Smith wouldn't be asking if Leo didn't do anything guilty lately.
"Okay, what happened?"
"I asked you first, Lesley. Does he?"
Author's note: Looking back, I feel like this chapter ended weird. Anyway, stay tuned!
