This is the continued story of Simon’s Journal.
I would highly recommend you read the first volume of this story,
Simon’s Journal Thirteen Days – The First Crusade
before you begin this novel.

The following narrative is nearly a complete work of fiction.
Any similarity to actual individuals living or dead is completely unintentional.
If reading a coming of age story about boys wearing diapers and exploring their awakening sexuality is offensive or illegal in your area, then might I suggest you go read War and Peace or something equally stimulating.

Simon's Journal

Volume II

Thirteen Nights – After the Crusade

Written by

Danny
Author of Thirteen Days

Chapter - 8

PART 3 – Sunday, March 07, 2004 – Room For Improvement

“Holy crap!” I shouted, “Quick! Turn that up!”

“Why?” Noah asked.

“Just turn it up!” I ordered as I jumped to my feet.

Noah picked up the remote and pressed the mute button in the middle of a special news bulletin, “ . . . believe that this attack is gang related. The family members of the victims have been notified. Again, we are reporting that, in what appears to be a gang related attack here in Riverside, three victims were beat and stabbed. Two of the victims were taken to Riverside Hospital and are reported to be in serious but stable condition while a third victim, Trevor Magilvery, a former member of the High School Panthers Foot Ball Team died in route to the hospital. We will have more on this story for you at during our 6 o’clock news hour. I am Trisha Tackanomi reporting for channel 13 News.

“Who’s Trevor Magilvery?” Becky asked as the Special News Bulletin ended.

I sat back down, held my head from behind, and began to rock back and forth.

“Simon?” Jamie put his arm around me. “You okay?”

“I-I d-don’t th-thing so!” I managed to say.

“Did you know him?” Vanessa asked.

I nodded.

“Who was it?” Noah asked.

“Th-that w-was T-two-Toes’ p-picture!” I said referring to the Yearbook photo of Two-Toes that had been used during the news bulletin. “H-he w-was T-Tator a-a-and B-Bulls f-friend.”

“I think we better go home. Mom might be looking for us.” Jamie said.

“Yeah okay!” Vanessa said standing up.

“I will call you guys when . . .” Jamie started to say.

“Yeah okay!” Becky said.

Jamie and I were back at his apartment in a matter of minutes. We walked in to find Marsha and Ian sitting on the couch talking and drinking something that has a strong aromatic aroma of cinnamon. I was reminded instantly of Lowell’s story, Hamunaptra and how the boy in that story kept encountering the scent of cinnamon and some other spices all mingled together.

“There you are! You boy’s getting hungry yet?” Marsha asked. The words were no sooner out of her mouth than the phone rang and interrupting her.

“I got it!” Jamie said sprinting toward the kitchen.

“Simon! It’s for you! It’s dad!” Jamie called out.

I didn’t run to the phone the way Jamie had; something inside was telling me that dad was calling to tell me about Two-Toes. Jamie handed me the phone and stood close to listen in on what dad had to say but when I gave him a small shove he got the message and left me alone to talk.

“Hello?” I said into the phone.

“Hey Simon! You about ready to come home?” dad asked sounding extremely excited.

“Yeah I guess so.” I answered.

“What do you mean you guess so? Is everything all right there? You and your brother haven’t been fighting again have you?” dad asked.

“No we haven’t been fighting!” I said.

“Well, are you feeling sick? You don’t sound like yourself.” Dad stated.

“Yeah I’m okay. Are you coming to get me now?” I asked.

“I recon we should be there in about half an hour.” Dad answered.

My response to this news was just one word, “Good!”

“Are you sure you are okay? Nothings bothering you?” Dad asked again.

“Yeah I’m sure.” I answered.

“Well, if you say so. Why don’t you get your things together? Mom and I should be leaving here soon.” Dad said.

“Okay! See you in thirty minutes!” I said.

“Hey Simon?” dad said.

“Yeah?” I answered back.

“I love you son!” Dad said.

“I love you too dad! Tell mom I love her! Bye.” I said and hung up the phone. As I turned back around Jamie had slipping back into the kitchen. “Well?” he asked.

“Well nothing!” I said back.

“So they don’t know?” he asked.

“Don’t know!” I shrugged, “He didn’t say.”

“Then what did he say?” Jamie looked like he was about to burst with anticipation.

“That they will be here in about thirty minutes to pick me up.” I answered.

“Thirty min . . . but you can’t go yet!” Jamie whined.

“I got to get my stuff ready.” I said.

Jamie looked over his shoulder to be sure his mom or Ian could not see or hear us. He pushed me a couple steps farther into the kitchen and asked, “What about the rescue mission?” he asked.

“You shouldn’t have told them about that!” I said.

Jamie shrugged and said, “We tell each other everything.”

“Well you shouldn’t have told them that!” I said again.

I pushed past him and into walked into the living room. “They are on their way to get me.” I told Marsha.

Ian moaned, “Ha! I was hoping to get to do a painting of you before you left today.”

“Yeah, me too!” Jamie said from right behind me.

“Maybe next time.” Marsha offered.

I nodded to Ian and he smiled, “Well you better come back soon then!”

I smiled and promised, “I will.”

“Do you . . .?” Marsha started to ask me but she did not have to finish it as I was already nodding to her affirmatively.

She patted Ian’s leg and said, “I’ll be right back. Why don’t you and Jamie get something out of the fridge for lunch?”

“Alright, but I’m warning you now, I am going to have ice cream to sooth my hurt feelings that I don’t get to paint the boys today!” Ian said in a manner that only he could pull off before standing up and walking with Jamie to the kitchen.

Marsha shot one more crack at him, “You keep dipping into the ice cream and you will end up with a big booty.”

Ian clapped his hands over his heart and squealed, “Oh honey, I can only hope!”

As Marsha was marching me into Jamie’s room, I watched from over my shoulder at the way Ian walked. He wiggled his butt when he walked, the way a woman does and I could not help but find it funny.

“What you giggling at?” Marsha said tickling the back of my head with her fingernails, which only caused me to giggle more.

“Nothing!” I giggled despite the fact that inside I was freaking out.

Marsha was getting a clean diaper from out of the package that mom and dad had brought this morning, while I was busy unfastening my pants and pulling them down to my ankles. Before I could get myself laid down on the bed, she had turned back around and said, “Why don’t we take that one off before you lay down? I think it would make things easier.”

It was not the way I was used to having my diaper changed but I didn’t really care either way. I shrugged as much as my armor would allow letting her know that I did not mind. She started to reach for the first tape when I stopped her, “Um, w-wait.”

“Why? Are you okay?” she asked sounding alarmed.

When she saw me blushing, she figured out why I stopped her and waited until I nodded to let her know that I was finished wetting. The extra load of urine made my diaper sag between my legs.

Marsha smiled to try to reassure me by talking in an upbeat and jovial way, “Well, it’s a good thing we weren’t in a hurry or we might have had to change you twice!”

I smiled to appease her but I didn’t really feel like smiling inside. After she had the diaper off me, she folded it up and sat it on the floor before helping me to lie down on the clean diaper that she had spread out on the bed for me. Maybe because mom was coming to pick me up and would be doing the next changing, Marsha seemed to take a little more time and was being a little more methodical in cleaning my diaper area as well as thoroughly applying the diaper cream to both sides. I did not have to try to not get hard down there. My mind was swimming with the words of Two-Toes death that I seriously doubt I could have gotten it up if I wanted too just then.

I think she might have over did the baby powder but I’ll give her marks for being able to do it without creating a dust cloud. She even took her time taping the diaper into place and when I stood back up, I noticed that the fit was tighter then I had ever had anyone do before.

After helping me get my pants back on, she lended me a hand with getting my things together and with carrying them out to the living room.

“Would you like to eat lunch before you go?” she asked.

“Yes please!” I answered.

At that, Ian and Jamie walked out of the dinning room. They both had kitchen towels draped over their left arms. Standing proper and speaking together they announced, “Lunch is served!”

The two of them stepped to either side and allowed us to pass between them. Marsha was the first to gasp at the spread that lay before us and when I realized why she made that sound, I too gasped at the wonder of it.

“How?” was all Marsha was able to ask.

“We weren’t in there more then five minutes!” I said as my eye roamed across the table.

“Eight minutes, forty-five seconds!” Ian said proudly.

“Ian how did you do this?” Marsha asked.

The table was decked out like something you would see in a magazine or in a movie. From bottom to top, the table was covered in lacy table cloth, four places were set with a plate sitting under a bowl, two forks and a spoon on either side of the plate and a white napkin folded into the shape of a swan sat atop each bowl. Each place setting had a fancy glass, the kind with stems. In the middle of the table were three lit candles surrounded by two large bowls and two plates. One of the bowls had a tossed salad; the other had a fruit salad for desert. On the plate closest to the kitchen was a pile of finger sandwiches, all with the crust cut off and a toothpick stuck in the middle to keep them together. The plate on the other side of the table had hot wings with a smaller bowl filled with ranch dressing in the center of the wings.

Ian and Jamie were both grinning as Ian explained; “Jamie made the salad and helped me with the sandwiches. I noticed you had some fruit in the refrigerator and it only took two minutes to cut everything up and toss it into a bowl.”

I spoke up, “How did you make the wings so fast?”

Ian put a hand beside his mouth as if he were sharing a guarded chef secret, “I had them in the refrigerator back at my place. I just had to warm them up a bit. They are from Smokey’s and you are going to love them! They have no bones in them!”

Jamie walked over, took my arm and led me to one of the chairs. He pulled it out and allowed me to sit down before pushing me up to the table. Ian did the same for Marsha before the two of them asked us what we would like to drink with our lunch.

“I’ll just have water!” Marsha said.

I looked across the table to Marsha and asked, “Is it okay if I have coke?”

“Sure! Whatever you want!” Marsha said with a smile.

I looked at Jamie and using my best snob impersonation I said, “A can of your finest Coca-Cola please?”

“Yes Sir, right away sir!” Jamie snickered at my funny voice before speeding off to the kitchen with Ian following too.

They returned, filled our fancy glasses for us before filling their own and taking their seats at either end of the table. Jamie was sitting to my right with Ian to my left and Marsha directly across from me. I had to look through the three candles to see her.

“Ian, this is so wonderful!” Marsha said.

“Yeah, really incredible!” I said too.

Jamie and Ian seemed to be relishing in our complements.

“I cannot believe you did all this so fast!” Marsha said still in awe of it all.

Ian picked up the salad and handed it to her, “Would you care to start with a little salad? I think you will love the dressing. It’s a secret family recipe that’s been handed down for countless ages.”

While the salad was passed around, Ian explained that when he was younger he worked for a catering company called ‘Parties-In-A-Minute’. He explained that he would sometimes have to put together parties for hundreds of people and only have an hour, sometimes less to get everything ready.

Ian laughed, “Jamie and I did this in eight minutes and forty-five seconds. Imagine what we could have done if we had five more minutes!”

Jamie added, “Ian says he knows how to make cookies that you don’t have to cook and only take about five minutes to make.”

Once the salad had gone all the way around the table, the four of us dug into our bowls, “Mmmm! Yeah I like this!” I said to Ian.

Jamie asked, “Do you like it mom?”

“Oh I do! I do!” Marsha said as she was taking another bite.

Jamie leaned forward a little and whispered across the table to Ian as if Marsha and I could not hear him, “Can I tell them the secret recipe now?”

Ian whispered back, “I think it’s safe!” and gave Jamie a wink.

Sitting upright Jamie announced, “It is only Miracle Whip with a little bit of sugar and some Pap-pap . . .”

When he could not say the name of the spice they used Ian helped him out, “Paprika!”

“Yeah, Pap-rika!” Jamie repeated.

“Well it’s absolutely magnificent!” Marsha said.

Ian leaned over to Marsha, “Actually, I got the recipe off the back of the Miracle Whip jar.”

Marsha laughed and had to cover her mouth to keep from spitting out her mouthful of salad.

I don‘t think Ian could help tooting his own horn because he said next, “I don’t mean to brag but you have got to try my Fettuccine Alfredo sometime! It takes only three minutes to put together and you will swear I slaved over a hot stove for hours!”

I could have honestly stopped at the salad. I had eaten every single bit of my salad and I am not even a salad lover, it was just that good and filling too! When Jamie began passing the little finger sandwiches, I almost passed on them but I did not want to be rude. Ian had also started the hot wings going around. Everything was fantastic and the four of us talked and carried on as if we were a normal everyday family. Ian kept making us laugh by sharing different stories from his life. For someone as young looking as Ian, he sure has done a lot of living!

When Ian tried to pass me the bowl of fruit salad I thought I was going to explode from my middle, but I took it and spooned a generous helping onto my plate. I ate every bite and did not leave anything behind.

We were just finishing when the intercom buzzer sounded. Marsha excused herself from the table to go let the security guard know that it was okay to send my parents up. When mom and dad came in, Ian tried to get them to sit down with us but they both said that they had only just had lunch themselves and could not eat another bite.

Having food in my belly and seeing my parents again made me feel better then I had only a few minutes ago but I was still feeling really horrible inside for poor Two-Toes. I have never make any secret of the fact that I never much cared for Two-Toes. In fact, I downright didn’t like the guy but I never would have wanted him dead. There was something else; something deep inside me that wasn’t buying into the news report of how he died. However, having dad bend down and give me the best hug chased those negative thoughts from my mind for the time being.

“Ready to go?” dad asked giving my diapered bottom a playful swat as he released me from his hug.

“Yeah, I guess so!” I said and then turned to Jamie who had removed himself from the table and came over to give mom and dad a hug too. I was going to say something to him but instead, I looked up at Marsha and thanked her, “Thanks for letting me stay and for . . . well, for everything.” And by ‘everything’, I meant all the diaper changes. I could tell by the way she looked at me, that she got my meaning loud and clear.

“It was a pleasure to have you stay with us and you are welcome to come back anytime you like.” Marsha said bending down to give me a hug and a peck on my cheek.

Ian stuck out a hand for me to shake, “Thanks for lunch. It was grand!” I said.

“Oh stop it!” Ian said lightly swatting me on top of my head. “You are going to make me blush! Just don’t forget you owe me a posing.”

“Yeah!” I said back.

Jamie had stepped through the crowd and picked up my things, “Mom, I’m going to help carry stuff down okay?”

“Alright, but come right back up.” Marsha said.

Jamie picked up the new package of diapers and put them under his arm in full view. I could have killed him for letting Ian see them. I had purposefully hid the package under my other things when Marsha and I had brought everything out.

I must have been blushing because Ian patted the back of my head and gave me a knowing wink.

So Dad, Mom, Jamie and I left. We road down in the elevator and Jamie was busy telling mom and dad about how he and Ian had put together the lunch and how fast they did it.

Mom had said, “He’s an amazing painter.”

“You know him?” I asked with no small amount of astonishment that she knew this about him.

Dad answered for her, “Met him a few months ago when we were bring Jamie back home.”

“Oh Yeah!” Jamie remembered, “I remember that!”

Down on the first floor we started for the door when dad stopped and told Jamie, “If you’re mother doesn’t mind, how about I stop by after work tomorrow to pick you up so you can come see yours and Simon’s new room?”

I was quick to notice and was quite glad of the fact that Jamie and I would still be roommates. It had been nagging me all weekend that mom and dad might take this opportunity to split us into separate rooms. Even though we have not had the best history, I don’t think I would like not having him sleeping in the same room when he came over.

Jamie lit up like an exploding star, “Yeah that would be great!”

“You should have time to come home and do your homework before I get off work. Be sure to tell your mother that I’ll have you back after dinner.” Dad said taking my things from Jamie.

Jamie looked over at me and handed my e-journal to me, “See ya tomorrow then.”

“Yeah see ya tomorrow! Thanks for everything and for letting me meet your friends.” I glanced up at mom and dad before adding, “I will email you tonight.”

Mom and dad started for the door and I had time to quickly mouth one more message to Jamie before leaving, “Tell them to be ready tonight!”

Jamie’s eyes grew enormous when he realized what I had just mouthed to him and what I meant by it. He nodded, punched his fist triumphantly into the air and ran back to the elevators.

As my parents and I passed the security guard, I saw that it was the same guard that had been on duty that night I had come to Jamie’s building with Bull, Tater, Runt and Two-Two’s so that I could apologize to Jamie for the fight we had. The guard was standing behind his desk looking grumpy. Checking to be sure that mom and dad were not looking, I stuck my tongue out at him and raced outside.

I was surprised to see mom’s van was sitting right in front of the door. It was running and someone I did not recognize was sitting in the driver’s seat. Dad opened the side sliding door so that I could climb in while he went around and put my things in the back of the van. Mom climbed in next to me, which should have clued me in that we were not alone but I guess I was not being very observant.

“When did you get the van back?” I asked as I was buckling myself in.

“Yesterday evening.” Mom said. “They did a fabulous job fixing it and do you remember how the radio would cut out if we his a big bump?”

“Uhuh.” I answered.

“They fixed that too!” She said as she buckled her seatbelt around herself.

It was when dad opened the front passager door and climbed in that I noticed someone else was sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Simon, this is Mr. Segal.” Dad said motioning to the man behind the wheel.

Dispite my sudden surprise at seeing this stranger in our van, I remembered my manners, which I had not had to use all that much recently, and said to him, “Hello sir.”

I still feel really stupid for what I said next and I wish I could take it back now. “Is he our new chauffeur or Butler or something?”

Dad howled so loud I thought he might pass a kidney from laughing so hard. Mom too was giggling but at least she was trying not to laugh so outrageously as dad was.

Mr. Segal, who I might add looked nothing like the movie star by the same last name, looked into the rearview mirror at me. I could only see his eyes, which to me seemed dark and tired. Chuckling in a sort of low gravely voice he said, “I’m just along for the ride. Thought your folks here might need a break!”

As we drove toward home, I kept noticing that every few minutes, Mr. Segal would be looking at me intently via the rearview mirror but when he would see that I noticed him, he would stop looking. It made me feel kind of funny but not in a good way.

Not a lot was said until we were almost home. Dad turned about halfway around in his seat so that he was able to look at me while he said, “There might still be a few people at the house. They were putting the final touches on everything as we left.”

“Were there a lot of people there?” I asked curiously.

Mom answered, “I counted and at one point there were fourteen people at our house working all at the same time.”

“Wow!” I said, genuinely stunned by that number. “Were they all in my room?”

“No.” dad said, “Some were in the garage putting furniture together, others were painting the doors. Everyone did a little bit of everything I think.”

When dad said ‘painting’, an alarm bell sounded in my head. Once a couple Years ago dad had been painting in the garage and I walked in to see what he was doing. One whiff of the paint fumes and I had a sudden asthma attack.

“But I can’t be around paint!” I said with concern.

“Oh it’s okay. We used a special latex paint that didn’t smell at all.” Dad said.

“Actually it was Mr.Ruddy Nader that had told us about the paint!” mom added.

“Just to be safe though, we have had every window and door in the house open all day long.” Dad reassured me.

As an added security I reached into my coat pocket and fingered my asthma inhaler to be sure it was there incase I needed it.

Mom put her arm around me and said, “You know all those shows we watch on the Home and Garden Channel where they come in and redecorate someone’s room in just a couple days?”

“Yeah.” I answered while looking at dad who was positively blissful. I glanced up and the mirror and caught Mr. Segal watching me again before quickly diverting his eyes back to the road a head.

“It was a lot like that this weekend, except I don’t think our house was as calm and well ordered as those shows make it seem.” Mom said.

“Don’t let your mom fool you! She worked harder then anyone there to keep everyone fed and she kept cleaning all of the messes we made.” Dad said. Knowing mom as well as I do; I could imagine her with her vacuum cleaner in hand trying to clean up right under the feets of those that were trying to work.

We were now entering my neighborhood and my own excitement started to outgrow any trepidations I might have. I looked out the front window and thought I saw something very odd that until later I did not remember seeing. I saw what appeared to be a cat dragging something large. I had glanced away for only a millisecond but when I looked back, the cat was gone. I know seeing that cat was not such a remarkable thing to witness and I probably would not have even remembered seeing it had I not encountered the cat again before the afternoon ended.

Just before we reached our street dad took a breath and said, “It was a really bad thing that happened but I believe when you see your room, you are going to really like the changes.”

Mr. Segal turned the van onto our street and started up the hill toward our house, “Just about there.” He announced.

As we turned into the driveway, I noticed a police cruiser that was parking down the street several houses away. I couldn’t help wondering if it had been following us the whole time without me knowing about it.

I started to climb from the van with my e-journal tucked under one arm and realized I had wet my diaper a lot on the way home. I am not sure why I noticed it, maybe because it felt so bulky between my legs or maybe because Marsha had fitted it so snuggly to my body that the urine did not have enough room to move thought the diaper while I had been sitting down. Mom reached down for my e-journal and said, “Why don’t you let me carry that for you.”

Dad was around behind the van already and Mr. Segal had headed toward the front of the house so I took the opportunity to tell mom, “I think I need a change.”

Mom smiled, “I should have thought of that before we left your brothers.”

I shook my head, “Marsha did it right before you came.”

“Do you think you will be alright for a little while longer?” she asked.

“Yeah I think so.” I said though I really did not have any idea if I could or not.

Now, since I had been indoors all weekend, I had not realized how much the weather had warmed up. The sun was shining so nice and bright though there was still a slight chill in the air; but it was warm enough out that nearly all the snow had melted away. Just the deep snow drifts and piles of snow left by the snowplows were still around. Everything had gone from white to wet in the past couple of days. In addition, the grass, which was brown and lying completely flat, looked almost soupy. I bet if I were to step off the driveway and into the grass I would sink up to my knees.

Although Mr. Segal had pulled the van all the way back to the garage behind our house, we did not go in through the backdoor like we usually do. Dad made us walk around the house and go in through the front door. I couldn’t help but notice that while Mom, dad and I stepping onto the front porch, Mr. Segal had continued walking down the driveway and toward the police cruiser down the hill.

Once on the porch, I could see that there were still people in our livingroom. I started to feel a twinge of apprehension about going inside again but once I stepped through the door, my mood changed for the better.

The very first person I saw was Lowell and his parents who were standing there smiling and clapping along with BJ and both of his parents, Mr. Nader and Officer Mecums who was out of uniform and looked quite grungy with a big blob of what I was guessing was paint in her hair. I had one silly thought that went through my mind upon seeing all those people standing in our livingroom, “I bet mom’s going nuts having all these people standing on the carpet.” However, that thought was canceled out when I looked down to see that the carpet was completely covered with brown paper, taped together with blue masking tape. In an odd sort of way, it looked pretty; I mean if brown paper and blue tape can look pretty.

Once the crowd calmed down Lowell’s dad nudged him and Lowell stepped forward to hand me a rolled up piece of paper. There was a thin baby-blue satin ribbon tied around it that I slid off one end. As I was unrolling the paper and before I even saw the picture, the smell of crayons hit me nostrils. I knew instantly that whatever it was, Lowell must have colored it himself. The first thing I saw were the words, “Welcome to your new room Simon!” wrote across the top. Looking down in the lower left corner Lowell, confirmed my suspicion that he was the artist, when I saw the letters BL. I held it all the way open and saw that it was a drawing of a bedroom and until after I saw my own room, I didn’t know that it was a drawing he had made of my new room.

Before taking me back to see my room, dad made me stand there as each person came up to shake my hand and give me hugs. Actually, it was good because I was able to personally thank everyone, which after seeing my room was much harder to do, as I was so overwhelmed.

With every hand I shook my anticipation seemed to build until I couldn’t stand it any long and asked in a rather demanding voice, “Can I see my room now before I got nuts!” and everyone laughed, including my parents.

Dad led the way down to my room with mom behind me covering my eyes so I could not see anything until she was ready for me too. Under my feet, I could hear the crinkling of the brown paper being crushed under our shoes. Not being able to see a thing made the trip down our hallway seem to take forever and wondered if they somehow made our house bigger.

When I heard the sound of a door latch I knew that it was dad opening the door and that we were almost in my room. I was glad to hear the sound of my shoes on a hard surface as mom led me in. I always liked my hardwood floors in my room because Matchbox cars rolled really well on it.

“Are you ready?” dad asked.

I was trembling with excitement. “YES!” I squealed.

Mom removed her hand and I nearly fell backwards into her with shock. It was nothing like I had imagined and at the same time it was so much more then I ever could have hoped for. Even the picture Lowell had colored for me had not come close to preparing me for what I saw; it was the perfect room.

I will try to describe it but I am not sure I can put into words how perfect everything is in my new room.

On the wall were my bed used to be now sits a grey metal desk with a wooden top and a white rolling chair in front of it. There are three drawers in the desk that look like doors off a gym locker but turned sideways and each painted a different primary color. To the right of that desk was a matching dresser with four drawers like the ones in the desk except the forth drawer was in a fourth color.

There was so much to see that I had not noticed at first that there was a brand new computer monitor sitting on top of the desk. I looked under the desk and screamed when I saw a brand new computer tower sitting on the floor.

“Oh yes!” I shouted and began punching my fists into the air triumphantly! “Yes! Yes! Yes!” I screamed. From out in the livingroom I could hear the sound of laughter and people talking loudly. “He found the computer!” someone said.

It took me a minute to stop crying my tears of joy over the computer. I even leaned over the desk and hugged the monitor.

Mom took hold of my head and turned me around, “Look over there.” She said.

Exactly opposite that desk, on the other wall where Jamie’s bed used to set, is a desk identical to the other with it’s own computer too. “Oh my gaud, oh my gaud, oh my gaud, oh my gaud!” I kept chanting.

“One for you and one for Simon.” Dad said and I noticed that hung on the walls above each desk were paintings of Jamie and I. I stopped, looked at Jamie’s painting, then to mine, back and forth before it hit me. “Hey! HEY! HEEEYYY!” I shouted at the top of my lungs as I realized that they both had been painted by Ian. “Th-th-these are . . .” I tried to say and thankfully dad jumped in and explained.

“It was Marsha’s idea to have Ian paint portraits of you and your brother for your room.” Dad had said.

“B-but w-we n-never posed.” I stuttered out of overwhelming excitement.

“He was just covering so that you wouldn’t figure out he was already painted your portraits.” Mom said.

“So th-that is w-why he c-cov-vered up th-the p-painting when w-we w-were v-v-v-visiting?” Dispite my stuttering I was squealing so loud that mom tried to put her hand over my mouth to try to rein me in some but I moved too fast for her.

I had to go over and touch Jamie’s desk and computer too, walking right past the new bed without even seeing it yet. To the left of Jamie’s desk was a matching dresser exactly like the one on my side of the room.

“My side of the room!” I thought aloud, “And this is Jamie’s side of the room.”

I spun myself around to face mom and dad before saying, “We should have brought Jamie with us today!”

“He will be here tomorrow evening!” Dad said, “Today is your day!”

Dad walked over and standing so that we were facing each other he placed his hands on my shoulders, “What do you think of the bed?” he asked twirling me around so that I was now facing it. I leaned back against dad and went from the occasional happy tear to full out crying. It was enormous and beautiful! Between the two desks and dressers, on the wall where my old desk and wallshelves used to be now stands a metal bed that matched the rest of the furniture in the room.

It is a loft bed, one on top and one coming out from under it. Under both ends of the upper bed there were metal and canvas shelves filled with books and toys. Both beds were dressed out in super nice blue and white comforters with a blue pillowcases on the upper bed and a dark red one on the lower.

“Which one are you going to choose to be your’s?” Mom asked.

I had to go over and sit on the lower bed; I heard the unmistakable sound of a plastic sheet crinkly as I sat down. I then climbed up the ladder partway to see the loft bed, pressed on it and heard the same sound. Still standing on the ladder I decided, “I think I am going to let Jamie choose first!” That simple declaration from me made mom and dad begin to wheep and sniffle.

I climbed back down the ladder and went to the shelves of on my side of the room. The shelves were made of a metal frame with the sides and back covered in canvas that snapped on tight as a drum skin. The front of the shelves had a canvas cover too that was held at the top and left side with snaps and Velcro on the right side. I had to look behind the canvas and saw that the actual shelves were wooden which matched to tops of the desks and dressers. In addition, most everything on the shelves were things that I did not recognize as anything I had once owned, apart from one thing, my golden Yo-Yo Championship Award. I could tell instantly that it had been broken during the invasion and then mended back together by someone. I picked it up and looked at it, turning it in my fingers; I felt a real pain with in my heart as if something inside me had died right at that very moment. I lowered myself to the floor and began to sob uncontrollably. Mom and dad tried in vain to console me for the longest time. Everything that was inside of me came flooding out with my tears. I never said a word, never groaned or made a sound; I just cried and cried until I was out of tears. Then just like that my tears stopped, my heaving chest calmed itself and I declared, “I’m okay now.”

I went back out to the living room to hug and thank everyone again though this time I was doing so with tears of joy flowing freely from my eyes. We kids ended up back in my room, each sharing with me how they helped, what they did and what some of the other adults did. As exciting as it all was, as happy as it all made me, I was relieved when everyone started to leave. It had been an emotional morning and afternoon and I was beginning to feel as if I needed some down time to recharge my batteries.

BJ and Lowell were the last two to go. BJ faked a Karate chop to my neck and said, “See you at school tomorrow?”

“Definitely!” was my response.

Lowell looked like he wanted to embrace and plant one on my lips but since all of our parents were standing right there he just said, “When do I get to sleep over!”

I looked up at mom and dad for the answer. Dad smiled and said, “Soon!”

My parents and I stood on the front porch waving as everyone left. I noticed that the cruiser I had seen earlier was still sitting down the hill and Mr. Segal did not appear to be anywhere in site. I thought to myself, “If he’s supposed to be some kind of bodyguard, he should be here now!” I have no idea where I got the notion that he was a bodyguard but I was soon to learn a whole lot more about him then I cared to know.

For less then an instant I thought I saw something move out of the corner of my right eye but when I turned to look there was nothing there. BJ’s dad honked his horn as they pulled away and I waved again.

Back inside I went right to my room to look at everything again but I had no sooner stepped one foot onto the wooden floor then I got the shock of my life. Sitting on the lower bed was a cat, and not just any cat; I knew the little furry beast instantly as the one I had seen in Crazy Old-Man Johnson’s spooky, book filled, house a few days ago. The cat was sitting right in the middle of the bed and a filthy cloth bag lying beside him.

I took a single step backward and the cat stood up on all fours looking mean as can be. “How did you get in here?” I spoke to the cat.

“Reoow!” was its reply.

I looked at the window thinking it had come in that way but the window was still closed. When the cat took a step toward me I quickly jumped out of my room and pulled the door shut, trapping the cat inside, which wasn’t such a smart move because now I had a man eating cat trapped in my room with no way of getting it out.

I was just about to scream for dad or mom . . . or anyone for that matter but stopped and thought for a quick second. “Wait a sec? Why is Crazy Old-Man Johnson’s cat in my room?” I was thinking aloud but whispering so that no one could hear me.

I heard the cat just on the other side of the door cry out in a low angry growl, “Reoooooow!” and I feared that someone might hear the cat if I didn’t do something and fast.

I glanced down the hallway to be sure no one was coming or looking for the origins of the cat noise before stepping over to close the door to mom and dad’s room. I slipped down to close the bathroom door as well and figured that if the cat was going to get out, at least it might run into the rest of the house for someone else to find. I thought that maybe they would assume the cat had got in during all the work this weekend and would not associate the cat to me in any way.

Putting my back to the small section of wall between our two bedroom doors, I slowly turned the knob and pushed the door all the way open. I was braced for the cat to run out and maybe even attack me, but it did not even try to escape my room while it had the chance. Leaning forward only enough to allow myself to peek into my room, I could see no sight of the cat except for the filthy cloth bag it had left on my bed. Without moving from were I was standing I continued to scan the room hoping to spot it under the bed or maybe one of the desk.

With another glance down the hallway to be sure the coast was still clear I called out softly, “Here kitty, kitty, kitty!” and listened.

When I did not hear anything, I tried calling for it again only a little louder this time on the odd chance that maybe the cat was hard of hearing. “Here kitty, kitty, kitty!” Still nothing.

I closed my eyes and in a sort of prayer, I mumbled; “Get out of my room and go back to your crazy owner!”

Then the thought occurred to me that maybe the cat was never there; maybe I was really just sleeping and dreaming! I mean - I sure have been having some weird dreams in the past few weeks that at the time seemed pretty-dang-real while I was dreaming them. “But why would I dream about that stupid cat?” I asked myself aloud.

From out in the living room I heard Mr. Segal’s voice talking with one or both of my parents. I figured he must have come back in and could tell by the way he was talking that he was attempting to keep his voice low enough so that I would not or could not hear him. I suppose he was succeeding since I could not make out a single word that was said.

With my eyes scanning frantically for the cat again, I muttered softly, “You are not welcome here cat! You have to go elsewhere! Far, far, far away! Just go away!”

I took a very cautious step into my room while keeping my senses at their optimum levels of operation for any sign of the monster feline.

I was four or was it five steps into my room, crouching as low as I was able while still trying to be cautious of ribs. I had searched every inch of my room and found no sign of the cat anywhere. I had started to think that maybe it had run out and I just did not see it; suddenly there was a funny noise over by the window and I jumped a little mostly out of nervousness. I was all the way over on Jamie’s side of the room so I had to walk around the bed to see what had made the noise.

It turned out to be the cat but here is the most amazing thing that I still cannot explain. The cat was sitting on the window ledge, on the OUTSIDE of my CLOSED window!

“How the heck did you get out there?” I groaned and scratched at my head.

With one last, “Reeoooow!” it jumped down and vanished from site leaving me in a state of shock and bewilderment.

I raced to the window to try to catch another glimpse of the cat before it got away to prove to myself that it had really been here but I saw nothing but the police cruiser sitting down the street.

I felt as if my feet had been frozen to the floor and when I looked down at them, I was horrified to find a small puddle around my feet. “What the heck?” I thought, and for a second or two I had thought I had peed my pants but then remembered I was wearing a diaper. I then noticed the small muddy paw prints that lead from the window to the side of the bed. And in the middle of the bed, where I had seen the cat sitting was a dirty spot right beside the muddy bag the cat had left behind.

Thinking fast I slipped out to the bathroom, got two wet rags and a towel before racing back to my room, closing my door and cleaning the new bedspread. Luckily, it appeared to be some kind of moisture resistant material because with a little elbow grease I was able to get it completely clean. I remember thinking how cool it was that someone had thought a head and got bedding that was bladder friendly. As for the muddy bag the cat had left, I rapped the towel around it and stashed it under my dresser while I finished cleaning the floor and the inside windowsill.

After slipping back out of my room and into the bathroom, I rinsed both rags until no sign of dirt or mud could be seen on them before hanging both of them in my shower to use in the morning before school.

While in the hallway I took the opportunity to stop and listen to the conversation going on in the living room between my parents and Mr. Segal. I also heard someone else’s voice but I did not dare attempt to see who it was and risk being seen.

Within a short thirty seconds, I heard all I needed to hear from the fourth unknown voice. “ . . . after that we will run some tests to see if there are any connections between the slaying and the missing children but as it stands now, it looks as if the Magilvery boy and his two friends were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Back in my room I clinched my fists and groaned to myself, “I knew it!”

I made sure to stay clear of my window now, as it made me have a serious case of the heebie-jeebies whenever I would think about that darn cat and how it managed to get through a closed window. I did however notice something that I had not noticed despite being so near the window already. I no longer have mini-blinds, or heavy curtains the way I did with my old window. I now have new white shear curtains that complement the blue comforters on the beds. I was more then a little concern about the idea that I would not have the privacy that the mini-blinds and heavy curtains afforded me, but mom later assured me that the fabric was specially made so that when I closed the curtains, the sunlight could still shine in but no one outside could see into my room.

Mom came back into my room just as I was about to retrieve from under my dresser the item the cat had left. Had she been two seconds later I am sure she would have caught me kneeling down to get it.

“Okay, are you ready to get changed?” she asked.

Without answering, I laid myself down sideways on the lower bed with my feet hanging over the side so that mom could change my now tremendously wet diaper. I looked up at the new ceiling light fixture. It looked to be a little larger then two-foot square and almost looked like a real sky light right in the middle of my bedroom ceiling.

“Is that a real sky light?” I asked while mom was wiping my diaper area clean for me.

“No sweetie, it is electric but isn’t it pretty?” She asked.

“It is perfect!” I replied.

Mom finished getting me cleaned up and started applying the diaper rash cream when I asked, “Have they found Tater and Mike yet?” and it surprised me how little emotion I had when I said it. I think after crying for so long and so very hard only a few minutes ago it left me void of tears and sadness. I just hope it doesn’t last forever, I don’t think I would like going through life feeling this cold inside.

Mom got quiet for a second before answering me straight, “No, not yet.”

“Mom?” I said after a couple more seconds of thinking.

“Yes?” she answered hesitantly as she reached for a baby wipe to clean the diaper rash cream from her hands.

“Do you think the police will find them?” I asked.

I could tell by the sound of her voice, this was not a conversation she was looking forward to having with me, and now that it was happening, she sounded slightly panicked. “I don’t know, but I really hope so.”

Yearning to not shock her too badly, but not knowing how else to ask her, I spoke softly and inquired, “Were you and dad going to tell me about Trevor being killed?”

I wasn’t looking at her but up at the light as I posed my question and even though I couldn’t see her, I could feel her fingers trembling as she attempted to get my clean diaper taped into place.

Before she could answer I said, “Seen it on a special new report thingy today.”

“I wish we could have been the ones to tell you.” Mom’s voice gave out.

“I didn’t really like him you know!” I stated honestly, “But still, I never wished him to be dead.”

She finished with my diaper and had straightened herself back up to return the diapering supplies to my new dresser. I watched as she crossed to it, placed both hands on top to brace herself as her body began to tremble as she finally broke down crying.

I sat up and was going to go to her to hug her, but I did not have too. Dad came back into my room right then. When mom saw him she said, “He already knows about the other boy being killed.” She fell into dad’s arms and wept as I had done only minutes before.

While dad comforted her, I got up and went to my new dresser in search of plastic pants to put on over my diaper. Now that I was home, that is what I wanted to wear. However, I had to run my fingers across the smooth wooden top, admiring its finish before opening the top drawer to see what had been placed in there for me. When I saw no plastic pants, I slid it closed and checked the second drawer. Much to my elation, I found all new plastic pants, but not just the solid colored or clear ones, like I had before. I think I might have smiled at seeing them because I knew that Lowell or maybe his whole family had been responsible for this wonderful gift. The drawer was filled with all different colors and most had some kind of little images on them, some more juvenile then others. I pulled out the pair that had a big superman emblem on the back of them. They were red with blue piping around the leg openings and the waste elastic.

Dad must have seen me looking at the plastic pants and assumed I did not like them because most of them looked so baby-like. “We’ll get you some more plain ones tomorrow.” Dad had said.

“No!” I said a little too quickly, “These are good! I-I like these fine, just surprised there are so many is all.” I tried convincing them.

I still had on my socks; they were the same pair I had been wearing while running around the hallways of Jamie’s apartment building today and they were more then a little dirty. I pulled them off by grabbing a hold of the toes and giving them each a good yank. I turned to toss them into my laundry hamper; I think that was the first time that it really and truly hit me that I was in a different room now.

Looking up at dad, who was still holding mom, I asked, “Where?” and held up my filthy socks to let him know I was looking for my dirty clothesbasket. Before my room had been trashed, I used to keep it right beside my closet. A few times I had actually put it into my closet but stopped doing that because it took up space for me get in there and lay down so that I could write, think or just hide-out for a while.

He tilted his head toward the closet; “Right side is yours. Left is for your brother.”

I started to cross over when he asked, “Will you be alright in here for a few minutes?”

I looked at him as if it were a stupid question to ask, “Yeah!” I said and he took mom out to try to calm her down.

My old closet doors used to slide from side to side and were flat, stained-wood doors but the new doors are louvered, painted white with blue and brass hardware. However, the most different characteristic is that they are bi folding instead of sliding back and forth. I think I like my old doors better; at least when I sat in the bottom of my closet I had more privacy with the old style of doors. However, when I opened both sides of the bi-folding closet doors at the same time, I realized that my days of sitting in the bottom of my closet were over. The inside had been completely organized with rods, white laminated shelves, shoe racks and cubbyholes for sweaters and things. There was no room on the floor for me to even sit Indian style now.

My disappointment at loosing my favorite place to sit and write was quickly replaced by amazement once again, as I realized that every article of clothing handing in the closet was brand new and still had the tags on them. Even Jamie’s side of the closet was packed with new clothes. On my side of the closet alone were new pants, jeans, three complete school uniforms, more shirts then I could count, belts, ties, a new suite and many sweaters of various colors and styles. Down by the floor was a new pair of Nikey trainers, my new track shoes which I was so glad were not trashed too and a new pair of school shoes with the Velcro closers, which are my favorite. I later found out that mom had spent over an hour scrubbing my new track shoes clean for me.

I noticed three other things hanging in my closet that, had my tears well not run dry, probably would have pushed me over the edge for sure. The Panther jersey that had been signed by all the Panthers was hanging, undamaged. At least it looked undamaged. Mom Later told me that she had to do a little mending to it too. Also hanging in my closet was my new Varsity track shirt along with the oversized yellow Junior varsity shirt Mr. Shaffer had given me the day I had helped Mikey to the nurses office after falling and busting open his lip.

Something in me made me take out my Varsity Track shirt to look at it. “How many sixth graders have ever made the Varsity team?” I asked myself and then followed up with, “I wonder if I will get to compete at all this year?” before hanging it back in the closet.

Setting between Jamie’s and my shoes was a white, wire basket with a cloth bag inside it. On the outside of the bag it said, “Laundry” in blue letters that matched the rest of my room. I dropped my socks in before going back over to my dresser and slipping on the new plastic pants. After tossing my pants, which were laying on my bed, into the laundry basket, I pulled off my shirt and dropped it in too.

Now, any other time I think I might have stayed like that, wearing nothing but a diaper, plastic pants and my body armor but I figured there might still be some people in or around the house so I pulled out a pair of desert style camouflage pants form the closet and slipped them on. They fit a bit loose and for a few minutes I was a little disappointed until I realized that if I were wearing cloth diapers right then they would have first perfectly. I reached in, took out one of the plain white shirts, put it on and decided to go back to the dresser to see what other goodies might await discovery in the bottom two drawers.

I had already discovered that the first drawer contained socks for both dress and play whereas the second drawer contained plastic pants and diapering supplies. Pulling open the third drawer I found disposable diapers and Goodnite bed wetter pants. The diapers I had recognized as the ones mom had been getting for me, attends youth which I think I like more then the Pampers 6 that Lowell would let me wear. The Pampers looked more babyish but the Attends held more pee and were bigger meaning they fit me better. When I looked in the last drawer, the blue one on the bottom, I saw that it was filled with cloth diapers and a clear plastic container with a light blue lid that contained large diaper pins.

After closing the blue drawer I was standing beside my dresser buttoning the last two buttons on my shirt when a single word flashed in my mind, “slippers?” Now I did not remember seeing any slippers in the closet but I went back for another look and this time when I was finished, I closed both doors to preserve the beauty and neatness of my new room. I was thinking to myself, “I can’t change a single thing until after Jamie gets to see everything tomorrow.”

Not finding any slippers in the closet, I walked over to the shelves on my side, the left side, of the bed to see if maybe someone might have put them there and when I didn’t find any, I went to Jamie’s side thinking maybe someone made a mistake and put two pair on his shelves. “Huh!” I exclaimed in amazement. “They thought of everything but . . .” and then I spotted a pair of slippers sitting neatly on the floor beside Jamie’s dresser. I’d not been able to see them from anywhere else in the room and sure enough, when I checked beside my dresser I found not only a pair of nice gray and green slippers but also got a chance to check out the new white diaper pail which I had noticed earlier. When I slid on the slippers, they fit great and felt so incredibly soft against my bare feet.

I had been looking for slippers because I had intended to go out into the rest of the house to check on mom but instead I decided to sit down and check out my new computer. Despite all the excitement and joy my new room brought to me, I still had a mission to accomplish tonight and if everything went right, I would be bringing home Tater and Mike before the sun came up in the morning and before anyone knew I was gone.

Since the computer was a windows based PC instead of a Mac like my old computer, which is what I am use to using and also what we have at school, it took a while for me to figure everything out. I am not completely ignorant when it comes to PC’s with Windows installed but I am also not anywhere close to being fluent. I was able to get online but was not able to get into my email yet. Then I remembered my e-journal had the information I needed and went in search of it as well as the rest of my stuff I had brought home with me.

All of my things were sitting by the front door, which was closed and I noticed something new had been added to our door. There was new, shinny brass, deadbolt lock above the knob and in the middle of the door were two new peepholes. One at mom and dad’s height and one lower just for me. I was peering through it when dad asked, “Someone at the door?”

“Nope! Just looking!” I said unfazed by his presents in the room.

I turned and asked, “Mom okay?”

“She’s just tired.” Dad said, “But I’m more concerned about you right now.”

“I’m okay.” I said.

“No, I don’t think so.” Dad said.

I shrugged as much as I was able and started to reach down for my things.

“Simon,” dad said and I think he was going to say something else but he didn’t, at least not right away.

With my things in hand I said, “Yeah?”

Shaking his head slightly he said, “Nothing. It can wait ‘til later.”

“Okay, I’m going to go play with my new computer and see if I can get the email to work.” I said feeling relieved that he was letting the matter drop, at least for the moment.

I heard dad mumbling something as I was headed down the hallway but could not make it out and did not know if he was directing it to me or was just mumbling for the heck of it. The paper covering the carpet crinkled louder then my diaper with every step I took. It was somewhat funny now and I wondered how long it would be before mom had that stuff pulled up and the carpet beneath vacumed.

While looking for the cable to connect my e-journal to my computer, I found a brand new accessory kit in the top drawer of my desk. There was a very small explosion in my head when I saw it. “Dang they must have trashed the other too!” I said to myself and then realized that, “Dad must have thought about this!”

After managing to get it opened so that I could have the connecting wire, I looked for a way to get it plugged into the computer, however I couldn’t find the right kind of input jack. I turned back to the assessory kit for instructions and saw another cable with a small yellow plug on one end and the right kind of plug for my e-journal on the other. Now that I was actually reading what the package said I could see that the cable I pulled out was for connecting to e-journals together, which I’ve no idea why anyone would need to do that and the other was for a pc installation. A minute later, I had the two connected together and was able to get into my email.

Boy was my inbox full! I had emails from everyone plus several hundred pieces of spam. I was not in the mood to spend the rest of my day going through all the email so all I did was delete the ones I knew to be spam. Then I sent only two emails out; one to Jamie, telling him to have everyone ready at exactly midnight and be waiting for me and a second one went out to the only person I thought I might be able to get help from, Bull.

Bull,

Simon here! No time to go into anything now but I will later if I see you. Right now I need your help again! Please don’t tell anyone! If you are able to, I need you to come in your car and meet me at the same place you picked me up that one night. I will be waiting there at 11:30 p.m. tonight. Please come; it is a matter of life and death!

Simon

I signed off my email and disconnected my e-journal from the computer and since I did not have my closet hide-away anymore, I desired that the loft bed would have to do. I climbed up, sat myself down while leaning against the fresh white walls and began journaling to pass the time.

Next Installment:

PART 4 – Sunday, March 07, 2004 – Bump in the Night

** For the latest news on how each installment is coming along as well as answers to questions asked by other readers and so much more, visit me at www.talkhard.5u.com.  As always, your thoughts matter to me very, very much, so please send any comments, questions, suggestions, or criticism to me at: [email protected] and I promise that I will reply personally to everyone that takes the time to write to me!  **