Someone To Watch Over Me
by Purple Lacey
Part Nine
The leaves made rustling sounds as they blew around in the gentle wind that wafted over the estate. Ezra was laying on his back in his new play fort watching out the fort’s window as that same breeze sculpted the clouds. Ezra had already slid down his slide and swung on his swing until he grew bored with them then he had climbed in to his fort to cloud watch. He had been amusing himself for sometime now in picking out shapes in those clouds, but the game was beginning to lose its appeal too. It just wasn’t any fun playing on the equipment by himself, not like it was at school with all his classmates. The little boy sighed and rolled over on his stomach, resting his chin in his hands as he looked out the fort door.
Buck had told him he could go play in the back yard when the man in the dark suit arrived. Buck had introduced him as his attorney, Mr. Lowell. He was a nice man that had smiled at Ezra kindly and even given him one of the peppermints that he said he kept in his pockets for his grandchildren. Buck had helped Ezra into his coat and sent him to play outside telling him he and Mr. Lowell needed to talk about a few things. Buck hadn’t said the man was here because of him, but Ezra suspected that he was.
Ezra thought about going inside for some of his new toys but wasn’t sure if Buck would get mad at him if he went back in before Buck told him to. He decided he didn’t want to take the chance on upsetting his new guardian. If Buck got mad he might decide he really didn’t want Ezra to live with him after all and he would send him back to his step father. Ezra couldn’t help the involuntary flinch that came with that thought.
Ezra almost sighed again before he caught himself. He wished Casey hadn’t had to go to the store for Miz Nettie. He thought it would have been more fun playing with her, even if she was a girl, than playing by himself. He supposed he would just have to find something to keep himself amused until Buck let him back into the house.
The boy looked around a bit before pulling himself to his feet and, taking the fast way down, sliding down the slide that emerged from one end of the fort. When he landed at the bottom he looked around for anything else that might be interesting to play with. Not seeing anything in the immediate area, he cast one glance over his shoulder at the house before walking in the direction of the big house.
Buck said goodbye to Ronald Lowell and closed the door after the departing attorney. He felt much better for having gotten the ball rolling on gaining permanent custody of Ezra. Lowell was going to do some research on Ezra’s situation and let him know if adoption might be an option. Buck hoped so. From the minute he had walked into that hospital room, Ezra had become his. As good as permanent custody sounded to the businessman, he knew enough about the law and the legal system to know that just as custody could be granted it could also be taken away. Adoption, while not always irrevocable, was at least more difficult to overturn. He would settle for custody now, but adoption was his ultimate goal.
It might be difficult, but if the detectives Lowell had been authorized to unleash could provide enough detailed information on Maude’s transgressions Buck knew they stood a good chance of having her parental rights completely, and permanently revoked. His fists clenched in an almost uncontrollable anger as he thought of the things he knew for sure she had done to her son...no, not her son, he corrected himself, his son. She had already given up any right to be called Ezra’s mother as far as he was concerned. Revoking her rights legally was only formalizing what she herself had already done when she had allowed her son to be abused by her husband and then left Ezra in the care of that bastard knowing full well what would happen to him when the monster found out she had robbed him blind.
But settling Maude’s crimes would have to wait. First, because even with the information Chris had been able to provide, his team of investigators would need time to find corroboration, and secondly because Maude had not resurfaced. He supposed he could ask Chris where she was but the truth was he wasn’t ready to deal with the problem of her just yet. He had another that needed to be taken care of first.
That problem was Howard Sawyer. The name alone was enough to send his blood pressure shooting through the roof. Vin had called to let him know the man had been arraigned and bail been set; a very hefty bail to be sure, but still not enough to keep him where he so rightfully belonged. The idea of the man sitting behind his desk conducting business or walking the greens of his country club instead of rotting in a jail cell fueled a deep, burning rage in the usually good natured, laid back Buck. Buck hoped he didn’t run into the man because he was fairly sure he wouldn’t be able to resist giving the man a little of what he had dished out to Ezra, and he would enjoy every drop of blood spilt by the rotten bastard. On second thought though, maybe he did hope he ran into him...with his truck...several times.
Buck had to spend almost fifteen minutes doing the deep breathing and relaxation exercises that he had learned at the corporate stress seminar that he had arranged for his employees before he felt calm enough to face Ezra. The kid already had too much exposure to adult rage. He didn’t need his newfound security to be shaken by seeing his foster father in a fury.
Buck walked through the den and opened the French door to the terrace. He stepped outside and called out to Ezra but he noticed right away the child was not in the play area beyond the terrace. He looked around the back of the house and still didn’t see the child. He called again but received nothing but silence back. Buck went back inside and called for the boy but Ezra didn’t answer. He went upstairs and checked the boy’s room then the rest of the house for him but he wasn’t there.
Thinking that perhaps the boy had been unable to resist the lure of the stables, the man started down the trail that led in that direction. When he reached the stables Tiny let him know that Ezra hadn’t shown up there. He felt a little nibble of concern rise up, but Buck resolutely pushed it back down. He started back toward the house again but stopped to flag down Yosemite, who was busy trimming bushes, to ask if he had seen Ezra, but the groundskeeper said he hadn’t.
Buck was beginning to get a little worried. Where could the boy have run off to? Buck stopped in his tracks as that thought hit him. Surely Ezra hadn’t run away? No, Ezra had no reason to run, he tried to assure himself. The boy had seemed happy with his new home. He had been perfectly content to go out and play when Buck said he could go outside for awhile. Buck told himself he was just being damn silly.
But Sawyer was out on the street, a terrible little voice whispered in his mind. What if the man had somehow gotten on to the estate and made off with the boy. What if...? Buck’s pulse began to get faster as his imagination kicked into overdrive. The precious child was a fighter, a survivor, but still so small and easily hurt by someone bigger.
Or what if he had decided to head for the lake and fell in? Could the little boy swim? Buck didn’t know. New scenarios, each more frightening than the last, began to play out in his mind, and as each new one surfaced his feet picked up speed. He had only just found the boy. He couldn’t bare it if he lost him now.
He headed for the mansion. The child had expressed an interest in seeing it yesterday and Buck had promised to show it to him today. Perhaps he had gotten curious and not waited for Buck to take him himself, the reasonable part of his brain tried to break through his panic. The man grasped the thought like a lifeline. He tried to use it to fight back the fear he felt, but had only limited success.
Buck was almost running full out when he started to pass the garage. The sound of a child’s giggles brought him to a stop so fast his boots skidded on the lush lawn. He turned and followed the sound to the yard behind the garage. There lying on the ground on his back, with forty five pounds of giggling little boy draped across his chest holding him down, was Bob. Buck stood catching his breath as relief flooded him, suddenly feeling very foolish for what he now recognized as his complete overreaction.
As his heartbeat slowed, his previous fear morphed into amusement and a wide smile broke out on his face at the sight before him. As Buck watched, the grinning driver lifted one of his large hands and slapped the ground beside him three times and then lifted the boy off him to hold up his arm and announce, “And the winner is...Ezra the Enforcer! What a match, ladies and gentlemen! Never have we seen such raw wrestling talent in one person. Keep an eye on this rising star, ladies and gentlemen because you’re watching Wrestling history in the making.”
Ezra laughed out loud again then did a little victory dance. “I won!”
“And what do all the best wrestlers say when they win?” Bob prompted.
“I am the greatest!” Ezra yelled out exuberantly, his high child’s voice lowered in imitation of Bob’s deep one, and holding both his arms high over his head in triumph.
“Darn tootin’,” Bob agreed readily.
“Well, there goes my dream of raising a future NBA star,” Buck called out jokingly.
Ezra’s head snapped around to look at the man now leaning casually against the side of the garage. “Buck!” The little boy flew to Buck and almost leapt into the man’s arms in his excitement. “Bob’s teaching me to wrestle. Did you see me win? Bob says I got raw talent. That means I’m real good at it. Did you know he used to be a real wrestler? Bob says he battled with the best like The Motown Mauler, The Widowmaker, and a whole bunch of others.”
Buck grinned down at him and waited for the boy to stop talking long enough to take a breath then answered, “To answer your questions in order: yes, I did see you win. You did a great job of pinning him, champ. And yes, I did know Bob used to wrestle professionally. That’s where I met him. He wrestled his last bout in one of the casino’s I owned. He was really good at it too. If he hadn’t gotten injured in his last match he probably could have won the title.”
“Those were the days, alright,” Bob said with a smile.
“Don’t you want to go back and do it again now that you’re all better,” Ezra asked?
“Nope,” Bob told him decisively. “I like getting up in the morning without the bruises and the aches and pains you get from being piledrived. I like spending my time tinkering with cars a lot better.”
“I didn’t know it hurt.” The child couldn’t help but remember how it felt to wake up bruised and hurting the next morning after one of his stepfather’s tirades. He could understand why Bob had decided he didn’t want to do it anymore if wrestling made him feel anything like that. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
“I’m not,” Bob assured him cheerfully. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me. It made me stop and think. I got out before I wound up like so many of the others did: washed up and banged up too bad to do just about anything without being in pain all the time and maybe needing a few surgeries to repair the damage that had been done. Nah, If I had it to do all over again, I would still leave when I did. I’m real glad Buck there talked me into calling it quits.”
“Hah,” Buck laughed, “I think they call it enlightened self interest. It got me the best damn mechanic in four states.”
The other man made a deep, sweeping bow in acknowledgment, not even making a pretense of modesty. Buck just laughed.
“I think I promised to show you the big house today if I’m not mistaken,” Buck said looking down at the child in his arms. “You about ready to go see it.”
“Sure!” Ezra returned. He looked at Bob and gave a wave saying, “I got to go, Bob. Thanks for teaching me to wrestle.”
“Sure thing, kid,” the man replied cheerfully. “Come on back anytime you’re ready for another lesson.”
“Okay!”
“See ya, kid,” the big man told him as turned and walked back toward the garage.
Buck stood watching the man walk away and waited until he had turned the corner of the garage and disappeared to look at the child in his arms and said carefully, “Ezra, the next time you leave the backyard, please, tell either me, or Casey, or Nettie, where you’re going, alright.”
The boy looked at him abashed and whispered, “Was it bad that I came to see Bob?”
Buck pulled him close for moment then pulled back to assure him, “No, it wasn’t bad. I’m glad you’re already making some friends. This is your home now not your jail and, with a couple of exceptions like the lake and the swimming pool, you’re free to explore it when you want to. I want you to be happy here. I would just like to know where you are so I can find you if I need to. So if you have an accident or something happens to you, I’ll know where to start looking. Can you do that for me?”
Ezra looked into Buck’s serious face and nodded. “I will. I promise.”
“Great,” Buck replied. “I feel better now. So how about we go take a quick walk through the house and then see if Nettie as any brownies stashed in the big old cookie jar she keeps in the cupboards of the kitchen there.”
“Brownies! Oh, boy! I love brownies!” Ezra said happily.
“Well then what are we waiting for!” Buck grinned back.