I don't know how they acquire, but some people appear to have the ability to tackle everything, including the proverbial "good, bad and the ugly events of the day and get ready for more to come. To take the stuff like that on the chin, pack it neatly, and tuck it away down somewhere in the labyrinth of the subconscious, requires a lot of inner strength. Hardship in life I think builds a mind that has that capability. In a short span of sixteen years, I seem to have built it in me or maybe I inherited it from my Pappy and mom. Along with that, Morpheus has blessed me with ability to fall asleep regardless of the stressful events I have faced.
That's what I experienced on that penultimate night of Anton affair. I expected interrogation but that did not happen. After waiting for mom to return home, and a call from the police or anyone of authority, I slept alone that night without worries of any kind. In the recurring dreams I visited the familiar scenes of intimacy; I needed them at that hour.

Next morning, I woke up with the doorbell and looked at the digital clock on the side table. It was half past nine. Some impatient person was riding on the bell button. I yelled from my bedroom, that I was coming and asked not to make a racket. In few minutes, I was at the door and found a white woman with a briefcase, standing arms akimbo. Apparently, she was annoyed by the delay and she displayed it on her face with a frown. Seeing me at the door in my pajama and a grown, she spoke in a gruff voice:

"I am Magi Malone; I am a Child Welfare Coordinator from the State of Colorado Health and Human Services; I have to speak with you. Can I come in?"

I stepped back to let her in and said:

"Sure, please come in, and take a seat; I will be back shortly."
She went and sat on the kitchen chair and placed her briefcase on the dining table and I went in to finish the toiletry. When I got back to her, she appeared bit more friendly than before and asked me to sit down pointing to the chair opposite to her. She reminded me of Ms. Holland, my West Virginia Attorney. When I settled in the seat, she began speaking in an official tone without sign of any friendliness:

"I have to tape our session and if you have any objection to that, then I have to write down every word and it will take some time. Do I have your permission?"

I had faced this sort of ritual in the West Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice office. I stated for the record:
"I have no objections to taping the interview."

Then she began with a short speech about the purpose of that visit and what her role was, etc., etc., and began her procedural question and answer session.

"Your mom is admitted to the Rio Blanco county's mental health support facility. She is under observation and a watch because she tried to harm herself. I am here not for any investigation but for your welfare and I have to ask you some questions to collect basic information about you so we can assist you to get through the crisis."

I simply nodded my head. She recorded mainly my daily needs and availability of the personal resources. There was nothing that looked ominous to me at that moment but when she completed the interview, a possibility that I never thought of before, came out in her ending remarks.

"You can't live here all by yourself and you will have to move into the Foster Care System. Someone will be contacting you before the day is over and prepare yourself for moving with a family or in a temporary shelter. Don't open the door for anyone except the authorized individuals who will arrive only after calling and setting a time of arrival. Police are aware of your situation and they will come around on to check on you and patrolling the facility. If you have any questions or need anything, call the telephone numbers on this card."

She handed her card to me, got in her vehicle and was gone.

I sat in the chair for a while in a strange subdued stage. I started to get up from my seat but began to feel lightheaded and managed to stand up in a numbing state but could not react to my surroundings. My sense of being stopped working and everything in the room I was trying to relate to, began appearing like a view you would have of the world when in a Roller coaster car that has stopped moving and is trapped upside down. Somehow, I managed to reach the bedroom and fell on the bed. With a deep sense of loss of physical body, and in a dream like semi consciousness, I began to go down and down in a circular motion and passed out in a comatose state.

Floating in that thick darkness a silver line emerged and took a shape. An outline of a figure kept on appearing and vanishing in front of me. Suddenly, a jab in my left forearm brought back the sensation of being alive. In a blurred vision I saw a bag hanging on a bedside rack and in seconds I began to sense liquid flowing through my arm. It was the fluid from the I.V. Bag passing in my vein. I was in the Emergency Department of the Community Hospital.

It took few bags of fluid to get me out of that near coma stage. I learned what happened to me after I passed out that day. The Events unfolded like this:

I had not eaten or consumed liquid for over 24 hours, causing the dehydration and with that, my blood sugar had dropped to such a level that I lost consciousness. When I did not answer several phone calls, the Child Welfare professionals felt that some untoward event must have occurred, and to avert any emergency situation, they called police to check my house. After all, it turned out to be my lucky day event; Candy was on a petrol duty. She arrived and after not getting response to her banging on the door, opened the door with the key still in her possession. In my semiconscious dream-state and the figure I had seen, must be that of her holding me to her heart until the Paramedics arrived.

To cut a long story to a reasonable length, all went as per the standard operating procedures and I came home next morning. As far as moving me to a safer location goes, the County folks were relieved when Candy offered to house me until a permanent solution was found. That of course did not happen as we know how the management by crisis solution works. They got busy and forgot to find that permanent housing for me. Mom returned home in a week and slowly, without much more drama, went about her business. Anton was buried and with him the investigation also died. No one bothered to investigate an obvious accident cause, and all became well, that ended well, as Shakespeare stated (that is, for Candy, me and mom). The time rolled the year out without as much as a ripple on our pond of tranquil life. I finished my education and graduated with the home tutoring, and with Candy by my side, we began our love filled life with a sense of freedom from the past dystopia.

Then my 17th birthday came closer, and Candy and I were overjoyed with the sense of freedom to do whatsoever we were doing in secret and without the utmost cautions. Now we could love each other openly. My legal adulthood rights were to be granted at the stroke of midnight, on my birthday. We had plans to do so many things and how we were going to come out in open in a profound way. We were going to get engaged to be married despite of, the local prejudices, and the political games of the state. However, an unexpected event brought our plans to a complete stop.

Three days before my birthday, mom called me at Candy's place and asked me to come for dinner. I accepted the invitation but insisted of Candy coming with me. She in a mysterious way said:

"Not to night love; this evening there are some private, and legal family matters we have to deal with only among us."

Reluctantly I went to old place which I had avoided for the obvious reasons. To my surprise, Mr. Roy was standing in front of me with his broad smile and open arms. I was delighted to see him. My past was linked to him in an awkward way and yet, there was a trusted relationship with him. I hugged him and asked him what brought him to that remote part of Colorado? He replied:

"I have an obligation to fulfill on your 17th birthday and be free of a promise I made to your grandfather."

I couldn't understand all that stuff and I said to him:

"Oh; that's great! That mean you will be here for my birthday and that's a great idea; it's goanna be a great day for us. I have announcements to make on that day also and we have to go for Ice Cream like we used to."

I learned about the purpose of his visit during that dinner. According to the Trusty Agreement, he was to handover the inheritance coming from Pappy's stocks and cash to me upon achieving the legal status of adulthood, which was to happen on my birthday. He explained to me the legal procedures and the administrative stuff we had to do on that day.

Mom was dismayed a bit that her dad left nothing for her. However, with a belief that as my mom, she and I would be living together, and somehow, part of the benefits would have to go to her. I was still a baby in her mind and as a parent she had a right given to her by law in the first place. She hugged me and said with some sincerity:

"That's a first good thing has happened to you and I am glad that things look promising for us."

I kissed her on the cheek and said what I knew, she was hoping I would say:

"Mom, it's for both of us; I am going to do my best to take care of you."

That night, I told Candy that story of my coming in with a modest amount of money. She did not show interest in my good news nor was excited about my freedom. I couldn't figure out the sudden change in her demure and happy personality. At that moment, she appeared as indifferent to my good news. Candy simply congratulated me and moved on to the other mundane subjects and then using tiredness excuse went to bedroom.

Stunned with that, I sat in the living room confused and apprehensive about if my receiving money was causing some sort of emotional storm of separation in her. In the year that I spent in her loving and caring relationship, I had changed completely. Happiness of receiving and giving love with the comfortable living, brought positive changes in me. I learned not to be suspicious of people when acceptance of me as I am, began to happen. Since moving with Candy, I learned how to reciprocate to love and friendship. People liking me despite of my male persona was the greatest catalytic event of life.

Now, when things were going in the right direction, I was sensing a sudden barrier rising between us. I couldn't figure out a single cause. I knew, unless I get to the bottom of it, I won't be at peace. I had to find out and decided to get it out of Candy immediately before the night was over. I got up and went to her. Gently, I pushed the bedroom door, and saw her laying on the bed in a fetal position with her face away from me. A muffled sobbing sound alarmed me, and I rushed towards her, put my arms around her and lifted her. She turned her head to face me. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. I wiped them and held her close to my heart and in silence, we remained for a time that appeared like the eternity. I could not even ask her what was wrong. Instinctively I felt, Candy came home with some bad news from work.

The signs of troubles for her at work began brewing since I moved with her. She has been experiencing sexual harassment from other men in uniform ever since she joined the force. However, so far, she had managed to handle that with complaining to her superiors. In the beginning, they used sexist humor and subtle hints, and then some tried to seduce her, and the others made her offers of marriage.
A specific individual who wanted her badly, had taken her refusal to the higher level of hostility. He began spreading rumors about her sexual preferences. My presence in her life gave him more ammunition for developing gossips. I was a minor and he began probing my past relationship in West Virginia. It frustrated him when he found out that I was not involved with any other student in any relationship but those of hostile nature. Nevertheless, he kept that line of thinking and whenever he found Candy alone, he alluded it to her that he has the knowledge and proof of our illicit relationship.
That night, I wanted to hear her story in her words, but the timing was not right; she was frightened and hurt; she needed strength of love and I was there for her. She perhaps felt my inner strength and we slept in same position and without changing cloths. I fell asleep after I sensed her rhythmic breathing. Next morning was to bring me a new vista of life without the yoke of juvenile immaturity dictated by the well-meaning rules and regulations of our Bible influenced legal system. A new day will bring something new and awesome gift to us; is it not Pappy? I silently asked my Oracle and closed my eyes.