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Bonds of Trust -- Part II Matt and Kallie are sitting in the food court, holding hands and watching the other teens doing exactly what they were doing. There is a couple on the other side of the food court having an argument. The guy grabs the girl by the arm, she pushes him away and stomps off. He follows her, making a scene. Matt shakes his head. “Guys can be such assholes.”   Kallie smiles at him. “Your mother would have a fit if she heard you talk that way.”   Matt grins. “That’s why I only do it when she’s not around.”   Kallie turns serious. “I can’t believe that guy would treat her that way. I would kick him to the curb so fast!”   “I asked my dad about stuff like that.”   Kallie looks at him. “Stuff like what?”   “Guys hitting women.”   “What did he say?”   “He said he would never and that guys don’t hit girls.”   “Well, yeah,” Kallie answers sarcastically. She looks in the direction the arguing couple had gone. “Although, from what I’ve read, men who would do that will always lie about it.”   Matt looks at her seriously. “You think my dad would do that?”   “I’m not saying your dad. I’m saying that if you asked about it, of course they would deny it.”   Matt stares at her, lost in thought. “Let’s change the subject. This is depressing.”   Kallie shakes her head. “It may be depressing but it’s also real. Guys can get away with it because women don’t want to talk about it – especially teenage girls. Maybe I should do an article for the school paper. You know, raise awareness.”   Matt nods. “That sounds like a good idea.”   “I’ll talk to my editor tomorrow.”   Stevie and Danielle walk up to their table. “What’s up, Buchanan?”   Matt is surprised to see him. “Hey, Stevie. What are you doing here?”   Stevie drapes an arm around Danielle. “Same thing you are. Just hanging out. I can’t believe your mom let you loose.”   “It was my dad.”   Stevie laughs. “There will be hell to pay at your house tonight.”     Bo and Nora sit on opposite sides of the couch, watching TV. Bo keeps giving Nora sideways glances and moving ever so slightly toward her. She watches him out of the corner of her eye as he approaches. When he gets close enough to put his arm around her, she turns to him. “Don’t even think about it, buster.”   Bo grins, pulling her into a hug. “Just try to resist.” He playfully nuzzles her and she can’t help but laugh. “Ha! I knew I could get to you.”   She shoves him away, laughing. “I’m still mad at you.”   “Come on, Red. Don’t you think you’re over-reacting just a little? He’s a teenager. He’ll be 14 in a couple months.”   “Exactly! But he’s not 14 yet and he’s not old enough to be on unsupervised dates. You were a teenager once, you should know what he’s thinking.”   Bo smiles. “He and Kallie are not really dating, honey. From what Rex tells me, they’re playing it cool and not admitting they’re together. Evidently, the really ‘in’ thing is to be part of the group and not just a pair.” Nora frowns at him. “I’m just telling you what I hear through the grapevine.”   “Don’t you think it’s suspicious that Rex would just impart this knowledge to you? Maybe that’s Matthew’s way of throwing us off.”   He chuckles. “We have to learn to trust him, Red.”   Nora shakes her head. “He still needs us to be parents. Giving in to him now is going to lead to more trouble down the road.”   “You need to cut him a little slack. He’s a good kid. He clued me in on your upcoming birthday…” She glares at him. “What?”   “So you need our son to remind you about my birthday? Nice, Bo.”   Nora gets off the couch and stares down at him. He tries to tease her. “Come on, Red. I would have remembered. It’s on my calendar at the office…”   She walks away. “Never mind, Buchanan. I see where I rate.”   “It’s not like that…” He stops when he hears the door to their bedroom slam. “I’m having a real good evening here.”   Bo sinks back into the couch, flipping the channels on the TV. He looks over at the door when he hears a short knock. Thinking it’s Matt, he heads over and pulls open the door. “Forget your key again?”   “Did you give me a key?” Rex grins as he saunters past Bo and wanders into the living room.   Bo closes the door behind him. “I thought you were Matt.”   Rex shakes his head. “I’m the taller son – and better looking.”   “What do you want, Balsom?”   He takes a seat on the couch. “Where is the squirt? Is he in trouble again?”   “I left him at the mall to have dinner with Kallie…”   “And the Mrs. isn’t speaking to you, is she?”   Bo plops into the chair. “Nora is upstairs.”   “Right. She’s giving you the silent treatment.”   “Why are you here?”   “I wanted to discuss the Turner case.”   “Okay. Any luck today?”   Rex shakes his head. “I told you not to take this case.”   “Can we skip the ‘I told you so’ for now? What’s happening?”   Nora walks into the room. “Oh, Rex, hi. I heard voices, I thought Matt was home.”   Rex grins. “I’m the taller and cuter one.”   Nora smiles. “Right. So easy to confuse the two of you. What brings you by?”   Rex ignores her question. “I hear Matt’s in trouble. How many weeks of grounding are we talking about?”   Nora glares at Bo. “There’s no grounding since his father gave him permission to be out on a school night.”   Bo shrugs. “Executive decision. Won’t happen again. I’ll be sure to call you first if there are any decisions to be made about Matt.”   “Don’t be sarcastic, Bo. You know how I feel about him dating and on a school night, no less.”   “It wasn’t a date…”   “Hey!” Rex holds up his hands. “Easy, you two. I’m sure you will have much more important things to disagree about down the road. A harmless burger at the mall seems pretty minor.”   Bo smirks at Nora. “Thanks, Balsom.”   Nora turns her glare on Rex. “Why are you here?”   Rex smiles sweetly at her. “Actually, I came by to discuss a case with Bo, not get involved in your family spat.”   “Well, carry on. I’ll be in my room.”   As Nora is about to leave, the front door opens and Matt walks in. “Hey, guys. Rex, what are you doing here?”   “Hey, squirt. We were just talking about you.”   Matthew puts his jacket in the closet. “Something wrong?” He looks at his watch. “I’m early. Dad said 9 and it’s only 8:30. Is there a problem?”   Bo looks at Nora. “Is there a problem?”   She reluctantly shakes her head. “No problem. Did you finish your homework?”   Matt walks in and takes a seat on the couch. “All finished.”   Nora smiles. “Good then. I’ll let you boys talk. Night.”   Nora leaves the room as Matt turns to Bo. “What’s wrong with Mom?”   Bo shakes his head. “Nothing. She’ll be fine. How was the mall?”   Matt shrugs. “Fine. We had burgers in the food court. No big deal. Is Mom freaked that I was on a date?”   Rex grins. “You would be wise not to use that word, squirt.”   “Mom’s mad, isn’t she?”   Bo sighs. “You just have to give your mom time to get used to you being a teenager. I think she’s more mad at me right now.”   “Sorry, Dad.”   “Don’t worry about it. It’s not just you. She thinks I forgot her birthday.”   “I reminded you.”   Bo smiles. “I appreciate the heads up, but I remembered on my own.”   Rex chuckles. “Sure ya did, partner.”   Bo rolls his eyes and is about to respond when Matt jumps in. “Wanna play video games, Rex?”   “I have to meet Lauren at the club. I came to talk to your dad about business.”   “Okay, maybe next time.” Matt gets up from the couch. “Catch ya later. Night, Dad.”   “Night, son.” Bo watches Matt leave the room before turning his attention to Rex. “What’s the problem with the Turner case?”   “You said this would be a snap. All I had to do was watch Turner’s business and catch his employees stealing from him.”   “Right.”   “Well, it’s gotten a little more complicated than that now.”   “How?” Rex glances toward the stairs. Bo follows his gaze. “What? Does this involve Nora or Matt?”   As Rex was about to answer, his cell phone rings. He checks the ID. “I have to take this.” He gets off the couch and walks into Nora’s office.     Matt knocks softly on his parents’ bedroom door. “Come in.” He pushes open the door. Nora is propped on the bed, reading a file. She pulls off her glasses. “Something wrong, Matt?”   He walks in and sits on the end of the bed. “Are you mad that I stayed at the mall with Kallie?”   Nora sighs, putting aside her file. “I’m not mad at you, sweetie. Although you do know how I feel about you being out on a school night. Your father shouldn’t have given you permission to stay at the mall.”   “I don’t want you to be mad at Dad either. All we did was have a burger and hang out with Stevie and Danielle.”   “So, was this all planned ahead of time?”   “No. We just ran into Kallie and she asked me to stay for dinner. I had no idea Stevie would be there either.”   “I believe you, Matthew. But from now on, I expect you to adhere to the rules I’ve given you and don’t put your dad in the middle. You know as well as I do that he can’t say no to you.”   Matt grins. “Yeah, I kinda know that.”   “Right. So, you’re being unfair to him by pushing my limits when I’m not around to say no.”   “I understand. So you’re not mad at Dad?”   “As long as it doesn’t happen again, I guess I can let it go.”   “Good. Because I hate it when you two are mad.” Matt gets off the bed and gives Nora a kiss on the cheek. “Night, Mom.”   She gives him a brief hug. “Night, sweetie. Sleep well. No video games until midnight, okay?”   Matt smiles. “Sure thing, Mom.” He leaves the room, closing the door as Nora picks up her file, slipping her glasses back into place.   Rex saunters back into the living room, snapping his phone shut. “I gotta run, partner.”   Bo gets off the couch as Rex heads to the door. “We haven’t finished our conversation. What’s going on with the Turner case?”   “I don’t have time to explain. Shaggy wants to meet with me and I need to talk to him. I’ll catch up with you in the office tomorrow.”   Rex is out the door before Bo has a chance to stop him. Bo locks the door, turns off the light and heads upstairs to his room. He smiles when he sees Nora engrossed in her file. “Interesting case?”   She doesn’t even look up. “Hmmm?”   Bo joins her on the bed. “Who are we saving tonight?”   Nora closes the file. “Just one of the kids at the center. Petty theft. I’m working with Antonio on a way to keep him out of juvie and get him back on track.”   “You’re a softie.”   “This kid isn’t a hardened criminal. He’s just a scared kid who needs a break. Sending him to juvenile hall will do more harm than good. Antonio thinks so too.”   “Are you going to be in court next week?”   “Why?”   “No reason. Just wanted to know about your schedule.”   “Does this have to do with the birthday you forgot?”   “Honey, I didn’t forget.”   Nora climbs out of the bed. “Sure, you didn’t. How convenient that you mention it now, after Matthew reminded you.”   “I didn’t forget!” Bo shakes his head as Nora disappears into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.   TBC