“Like so many pipe dream plans, it backfired in our faces. The last thing that we wanted to have happen was to see you hurt. Instead you got kidnapped and went through quite an ordeal trying to set right what we had inadvertently started. I know I feel rotten about that. Can you ever forgive us?”
“You know, Mom and Dad, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry!” Daniel said in an emotional voice. “Here you had this whole amazing life as musicians in a rock band and I never heard a word about it! I sure hope you at least have some pictures from back then. I am dying to see them! I know that the music business is a tough one to break into, and maybe I will fail at it also. But I know I want to at least try. You obviously know a lot about it that you could share with me, and I feel bad that I am finding out about this at a police station instead of our living room. I’m only a teenager, and still have a lot of growing up to do, but the one important thing in life that I have learned from my experiences and from my friend Jason is that the money isn’t that important. If you are good at what you do, somehow it will be there for you. And if you just can’t make it happen, then it is time to move on with no regrets.
“The most important thing you provide for me, Mom and Dad is family. I just can’t bear the thought of our family being broken up over money. And the other issue is openness. I may not be the most wise of counselors, but I know that if we aren’t truthful with each other, then the strong bonds of our relationships are going to break down and we will drift apart.”
“I feel like we are kids and you are the father, Daniel,” Melinda said. “I think we have learned our lesson. I am so proud of you. You really have turned out to be an honorable and righteous person, Daniel.”
“Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate what you just said. Now maybe we can concentrate on figuring out how to spring you guys out of here!”
A few minutes later, Lieutenant Garcia came back into the room. “I just got off the phone with Ethan Savage. Of course he was ‘blown away’ as he said by the fact that you were Daniel’s parents. When I told him about the whole songwriting issue, he was very upset, and said that he would have never allowed that to happen had he known about it. He was adamant that no charges were to be brought against you, Mr. and Mrs. Holmes. He said the last thing he wanted to do was mess up Daniel’s family, since Daniel was the person who rescued him and made things right. He also insisted on having a face-to-face meeting with you. He wants to come up Wednesday and work everything out. He had me write down his telephone number and under the circumstances, I gave him your number. I think it is a good thing that he wants to have this meeting. Hopefully a lot of your problems can be worked out to your mutual benefit.
“However, like I said before, I don’t know what the district attorney’s office will end up doing about your participation. I will relay Ethan’s thoughts to them, and I am sure they will be taken into consideration. There are civil issues to be dealt with here along with the criminal side of this case. It seems clear to me now that you have no criminal culpability that would be worth prosecuting. But you are licensed accountants and your actions in setting up the non-profits may be looked at by the state licensing board. You probably should retain an attorney to represent your interests.
“Daniel, your involvement in this case is, of course, key and the district attorney will have to take that into consideration, since I would assume that you would become very uncooperative if your parents were to be indicted on any criminal charges. So at this point you are all free to go home. Obviously you should not leave town for the time being until all of this is worked out.”
“Thanks, Lieutenant Garcia. I appreciate what you are trying to do for me and my parents,” Daniel said. “By the way, be sure to add an attempted hit and run to the charges filed for Oliver Samuels. You know he tried to run me off the road yesterday. I sure hope you can throw the book at him for what he did to me!”
“Oh yes, Daniel, we plan to, although it hurts to see a fellow police officer go down. But he was a bad apple in the barrel, desperate for money due to gambling debts he owed. Because there is so much that he could be charged with it will probably be plea bargained out given his political clout in the community, his brother being a judge and all. And that might be best for you Daniel. You won’t have to go through a trial and the experience of being cross-examined by his attorneys.”
“Whatever works out for the best will be fine with me, Lieutenant,” Daniel replied. “Just remember that I don’t have a problem standing up to him any time or anywhere after what he did to me. If his case is plea-bargained, make sure he gets a nice long sentence, and isn’t allowed to be in law enforcement anymore! That goes for him and his two lackeys who actually did the dirty work!”
“Daniel, if being a musician doesn’t work out for you, please consider a career in law enforcement,” Lieutenant Garcia declared with some admiration in his voice. “You and Jason have become a formidable team!
“Now take your parents home.” Garcia had to smile as he said, “I can’t believe I’m releasing two adults into the custody of their kid!”
A NEW LIFE FOR ERIC, PART II
(Monday and Tuesday)
Late Monday afternoon there was a knock on the Ferreira’s front door. When Marilyn Ferreira opened the door, Jason was on the doorstep. “Hi, Mrs. Ferreira, how are you? Is Eric at home?”
“Hi, Jason, good to see you. I think that he is in his room. Come on in. Eric!” she shouted toward the back of the house, “You have a visitor.”
A minute later Eric came to the front room. When he saw Jason, a big smile came on his face. “Hi, Jason! How are you doing? You have had quite a weekend. My aunt and uncle and I heard on the news about how you and Daniel broke the Ethan Savage case.”
“Hi Eric! Good to see you. You are looking great! Yeah, things have been crazy around my house so I thought I would come over here to get away. I haven’t forgotten my promises to you, and thought we could talk about that for a while. How are you feeling?”
“I am doing a lot better. My bruises are just about all healed and Dr. Cartwright said that all of the blood work came out negative. I am so relieved and happy about that.”
“That’s super, Eric. I am glad to hear that you are making a rapid recovery.”
“Jason, let’s go to my room, or would you rather talk in the living room?”
“Why don’t you boys use the living room,” Marilyn suggested. “I have work to do in the kitchen.”
A couple minutes later the boys were settled into comfortable chairs in the living room.
“How are you adjusting to your new home?” Jason began.
“I have to keep pinching myself to believe that this is really happening to me,” Eric replied. “Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Jorge have been so nice to me. Over the past few days they have taken me up to San Francisco to see Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, and Saturday we went to Vasona Park, walked around, rode the little train, and had a nice picnic. Yesterday Uncle Jorge showed me his tools and work area. There is an old bike that Michael, his oldest son used to ride. We are planning to fix it up so I have my own bike to ride.”
“It sounds like you are finally returning to a normal family life, Eric. I am pleased to hear that you are getting along with your aunt and uncle. They are really good people and they want to help you however they can. You know that your Aunt Marilyn’s advocacy for you is how Daniel and I got involved in helping you out in the first place.”
“It has been so nice to be treated with respect, have regular meals and family time, and be able to wear my new clothes all day, instead of worrying about when my stepfather is going to come home, demand that I take them off and be his swimmer boy! Thank you again for buying these clothes for me. It’s great to have a real selection of shorts and tee shirts to wear. I can’t remember the last time I had a new pair of brand name sneakers on my feet. These navy blue high top chucks are really comfortable and cool. No more flip-flops for me!”
“Eric, helping you out is fun and
rewarding,” Jason said with a big smile on his face, “especially when I see how positively you have responded to everything we have done! In fact, that is the reason that I came over today. Now that you are recovered from your injuries, I wanted to talk to you about getting involved in some new activities so you are not just stuck around the house all day. When you first told Daniel and myself about your life and interests, I made a pledge that you would have these opportunities. One thing that I would like for you to have is a membership at the local YMCA. Daniel goes there almost every day to work out and swim. It keeps him fit and in shape. You mentioned that you had a passion for swimming and this way you will be able to do that as often as you want. At the same time you will be able to build up your strength and endurance. What do you think?”
“That sounds great, Jason. I would like to get back into swimming, now that I don’t have to worry about being picked on by my stepfather. I know I could use some regular exercise.”
“You also mentioned that you were really interested in music, and learning to play the bass. The Whatever Foundation has a program to provide arts instruction for people like yourself. I would like to get you hooked up with a good bass teacher and buy you a bass to practice on and learn. As long as you are willing to work hard at it by regular practice and performance, the foundation will provide this for you.”
“That would be so awesome, Jason. You know that the music Daniel played for me that day was one of the reasons that I came out of my shell. Playing music was one of the few activities I was able to do in Springdale that kept me going the past year. I would really like to continue learning!”
“Consider it done, Eric. Another thing that you will need is a shopping spree for school, which is coming up in a month. You need to have more than just shorts and tees for school, especially when the weather gets colder, and you will need a backpack and basic school supplies. I have two really nice girl friends, Laura Friesen and Diana Miglione, who would like to take you to the mall and get you all set up for school. Or you could just go with your aunt if you prefer.”
“I would really like to meet your friends,” Eric said. “Are you sure that they want to do this for me?”
“Are you kidding?” Jason answered. “There is nothing they like doing better than shopping, especially for a good looking new boy in town. And on the foundation dime! I already mentioned this to Laura and she can’t wait to meet you!”
“Well this all sounds great. When does all of this stuff start to happen?”
“Let’s get together tomorrow,” Jason proposed, “hang out, play some hoops, and talk about you and what you would like to do. Why don’t you come over to my house tomorrow morning around 10?”
“I’ll look forward to it, Jason. It seems like every day around here is like Christmas lately!”
“Eric, it’s about time you had a run of good luck and good times, after the miserable life you had to endure for so long. Hopefully in a few more weeks you will be able to put all of that negativity behind you. I have to get home for dinner now. See you tomorrow!”
After Jason left, Eric went into the kitchen to talk to his Aunt Marilyn. “I can’t believe all of the things that Jason wants to do for me! How did I get to be this lucky?”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Eric. You have a lot to offer Jason and the other kids in the neighborhood. You are no different from them. Sure you had some bad times and were deprived of a lot of things that most kids take for granted. But that’s over now. Look in a mirror and you will see what they see — an attractive young teenager with energy, enthusiasm, and a willingness to learn new things and meet new people. Just like you, Jason and Daniel are excited about having a new friend. Jason especially seems committed to getting you up to speed with all of the things a teenager living in this area should have access to. That’s what life should be about for someone your age!”
“Jason told me that all of this run of good things started because of you, Aunt Marilyn. I am really grateful for all you have done for me!”
Marilyn came over and hugged Eric. “I am so glad that we can be here for you in your time of need, Eric. I am just sorry that we weren’t aware of what was happening to you earlier. No kid should ever have to go through what you suffered! I guess I did hit the jackpot when I contacted Jason about your situation. What he has done for you has been miraculous! But know this, Eric. Even if I hadn’t been fortunate enough to get Jason’s help, I would have done whatever it took to get you away from your stepfather!”
“You are the best, Aunt Marilyn!”
“Eric you are part of our family now. Having you here makes Jorge and myself feel young again. It’s like we have been given an extra son to raise. You are welcome to stay with us as long as you want to. Now help me set the table for dinner. Jorge should be home soon.”
* * * * *
A little after ten o’clock the next morning, Eric knocked on Jason’s front door. A minute later, the door was opened and Jason said, “Hey, Eric, good to see you. Come on in!”
Eric went inside and the two boys went into the living room and sat down. “Let’s figure out what we want to get accomplished today, Eric. We need to talk about implementing the pledges you were promised, and maybe some talk about what lies ahead for you. How are you dealing with all of the changes in your life?”
“I can’t remember when I have been this happy in a long time, Jason. Everyone has been so nice to me, and I really like living in such a caring neighborhood. I do miss my mom, but we talk on the telephone, and hopefully she will be able to move up here soon.”
“You look so much better now, Eric. From what you said yesterday your bruises are now all healed. Dr. Cartwright said that once you were healed, we could start looking at some new activities for you. I would say that the first order of business is to get you into some regular physical exercise so you can build up your strength and self confidence. One of the things we should do today is get you a membership at the YMCA. My dad said that he would swing by and drive us over there in about an hour. Plus we can play some hoops right here after we get tired of talking and brainstorming. Daniel and I like to do that when we are trying to solve a problem. The exercise helps clear our heads and when we come back we can concentrate on what we are trying to figure out a lot better.”
“That sounds great, Jason. Now that I actually have some decent basketball shoes I would like to get into playing basketball again.”
“Are your sessions with Dr. Agoura working out for you?”
“Oh, yes. He has been great to work with. He doesn’t push me at all, but somehow he gets me to unburden myself of the fears and doubts that constantly keep running through my head. It’s sort of hard to explain, but inside myself I have a lot of guilt for all of the abuse I received from my stepfather, even though I was not a willing participant. Slowly we are working out why I am reacting this way when I know that the crimes were committed against me and not by me.”
“I understand exactly what you are saying, Eric. When I was released from the captivity of my kidnappers earlier this summer, it was the greatest feeling I ever had. But then within just a couple of days I began to have doubts and fears that were making me lose my self confidence and ability to concentrate. I felt extremely guilty for all of the mental anguish that my family and friends went through, even though I was the victim and subjected to a lot of physical pain while I was held prisoner.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, because I know I was the victim of my stepfather’s abuse, yet I still feel guilt and shame about what happened to me!”
“The thing that worked for me was when Daniel persuaded me to actively investigate my own kidnapping case. It forced me to concentrate on reality instead of spinning my mental wheels in a sea of self-doubt. We have to figure out what kind of activity or course of action will have the same healing power for you. Then you will stop being the victim, and become someone who can do something about the wrongs committed against you!”
A serio
us expression came onto Eric’s face as he said, “I never thought I would have the strength or resolve to fight back. I was raised to obey my parents, and even though I knew what Rogelio was doing was wrong and evil, I guess it just wasn’t in me to be defiant.”
“I would say yes and no to that, Eric! Everyone has that capability buried somewhere inside. It’s a survival instinct. It becomes a question of when and if you have the courage and desire to use it. Think about it, Eric. You did have that resolve inside you because you knew what he was doing to you was very wrong. Your stepfather kept playing mind games on you to prevent you from asserting yourself. And then he used his superior physical strength to intimidate you. That’s why he kept beating you up and tying the bandana in your mouth. He really tried to suppress all of your courage and sense of right and wrong. He did everything in his power to keep you from speaking out about the wrongs he was doing to you.”
“But Jason,” Eric replied with frustration in his voice, “when I finally defied him, I got beaten up until I was unconscious, sexually molested and left to roll around in the dirt taped up like a mummy. It was the worst experience of my life!”
“No argument about that, Eric. You were treated horrendously and cruelly!” Jason then turned and looked Eric in the eye. In a very animated voice he told Eric, “But for the first time your stepfather didn’t have total control over you! In order to force you into submission he had to commit a string of serious felonies that will eventually result in his serving a long and well deserved jail sentence. For the first time, you made him lose his composure and expose himself to the outside world for the predator bully that he is. Anyone who ever hears this story will be on your side and know him for the low life creep he is!
Double Fugue Page 16