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Bo's Journey Home - Part One Monday June 23rd, 2003, 3:00 PM Carlotta’s Diner   Gabrielle and Max were sitting at the counter at Carlotta’s diner. It was just after 3:00 PM on Monday afternoon, still a bit early for the dinner rush. Once again Gabrielle was seeking some solace from Max, complaining to Max about Bo and all the time he seemed to be spending with Nora.   Gabrielle: “Bo is at Nora’s house all the time,” she whined. “And he’s always making excuses to me, canceling plans with me. But does he ever cancel plans with Nora? Oh no.”   Max looked confused. “What is that all about?”   Gabrielle hesitated for just a moment, before saying his name resignedly. “Matthew.”   Max repeated her. “Matthew? What about him?”   Gabrielle paused for just a second, before releasing the secret. “He’s Matthew’s father,” she revealed.   Max was in shock. “You have got to be kidding me. I thought all of that got resolved when Nora was presumed dead from the train wreck. Didn’t Sam and Bo do the paternity test then?”   Gabrielle nodded, a scowl on her face. “It seems that Sam found out during one of his cases that the DNA lab had been compromised for a while and DNA tests results published during that time were fraudulent; including Matthew’s. Sam had the paternity test run again and this time, the results were 100 percent Bo as the father.”   Max was interested now. “So now what? Bo thinks he can just replace Sam as a father for Matthew?”   Gabrielle shrugged. “I don’t know what Bo thinks anymore. He and Nora haven’t even told Matthew the truth yet. And how can they, without coating the truth? After all, Bo did abandon Matthew and Nora way back when. How do you explain that to a 6 year-old boy?”   Max looked at her doubtful. “Are you sure abandon is the right word? After all, Nora did sleep with Sam, Nora was sure the baby was Sam’s. I’m not sure that if I were Bo that I would have stuck around either.”   Gabrielle waved her hand at him as if to shoo off his insight. “I would just like to try and plant a seed of doubt in Nora’s brain about Bo’s commitment to Matthew. If she has enough doubts, she won’t allow Bo to tell Matthew that he is his real father. She won’t want Matthew to be hurt, not after he just lost Sam. She’ll put Matthew before Bo.”   Max: “So, do you have a plan on how to “plant this seed of doubt?”   Gabrielle scowled again. “No, not yet.” She spoke her thoughts out loud. “Somehow, Matthew needs to find out how Bo treated Nora while she was pregnant. If Matthew knows that Bo walked out on them, he won’t want anything to do with Bo.”   Max looked at her with a question in his eyes. “Are you sure about that?”   Gabrielle replied with determination. “I am counting on it.”   Max countered. “He’s just a little boy. It may not even matter to him that Bo left all those years ago. He may be thrilled to have Bo as a dad, now that Sam is gone.”   Neither Max nor Gabrielle noticed that Matthew had walked into the diner with his baseball glove and bat. He sat down in one of the booths behind where Max and Gabrielle were sitting at the counter. The diner was empty except for the 3 of them. A waitress went to Matthew while Max and Gabrielle continued their conversation. The waitress passed back by them as they continued their conversation. Matthew sat there quietly, waiting for his ice cream. What a miserable day he had; struck out with guys on base. “Baseball sucked.” He sucked. He suddenly heard his name and turned slightly. Max continued their conversation. “So what about you, Gab? Where do you fit into this Bo, Nora, Matthew circle of confusion?”   Gabrielle thoughtfully. “I don’t know. But what I do know is that I won’t lose Bo to some 6 year-old boy. Bo walked away from both of them once before, I can get him to do it again.”   Max challenged her argument. “She slept with Sam!” he exclaimed a little louder than he had wanted. (He lowered his voice) “Bo was devastated. I would have walked myself.”   Gabrielle shook her head, disagreeing with Max. “According to what I know, Nora cried and begged Bo not to walk out that door; and he did anyway, without so much as a look back, without so much of a care for her or for Matthew.”   Max looked right at her. “So what are you planning on doing?”   Gabrielle responded with some slyness in her voice. “Bo still lives with me. I still have some control. And if I plant the seed of doubt in Nora, remind her how Bo broke his marriage promises to her and abandoned Matthew when he was a baby, that he would do it again, especially when we have our own child, she’ll never want Matthew to know that Bo is his real father.”   Max appeared shocked. “Your own child? Are you pregnant?”   Gabrielle shook her head no, but before she could respond, Matthew stood up, facing them. He had heard what Gabrielle had said. Matthew stood, calling out angrily. “That’s a lie!”   Max and Gabrielle turned abruptly from the counter where they were sitting, staring at the 6 year-old boy. Max acted like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Un-Oh.”   Gabrielle shushed him. This was better than she could have planned.   Matthew repeated his statement, his face white. “That’s a lie!”   Gabrielle spook to him slowly, not sure what Matthew had heard. “What’s a lie, Matthew?”   Matthew spoke, almost defiantly. “Bo is not my father.”   Gabrielle replied to him, now in a more gentle tone. “Matthew, I’m so sorry you had to hear it like this.”   Matthew repeated himself. “It is not true.” His voice was full of anger. “My mother would have told me.” Matthew was clenching his hands into fists at his sides. He said his simple statement again. “My mother would have told me.”   Gabrielle’s smiled was almost sinister and she continued to speak softly to him. “Maybe she didn’t tell you so she wouldn’t have to hurt your feelings. Everyone knows that Bo abandoned you and your mother just when your mother needed him most; Bo hurt her very much, he made her cry and he broke every promise he ever made to your mom about being there for you. Bo walked out on her when you were just a baby.”   Matthew’s anger was rising, and he stood, trying to defend his mother. “That’s not true. Bo is my mother’s friend; mine and my mother’s. Sam is my father – he was there for my mother.”   When Gabrielle responded, her voice held a slight edge. “Bo is not your friend. Oh, Matthew, what grown man has a 6 year-old boy for a friend? Let me explain what Bo is doing. Bo is spending some time with you because he feels like he has to. Bo feels like he had to make up for what he did to you and your mom a long time ago.”   Matthew was filled with an anger that he didn’t understand and it was overwhelming him. He headed quickly to the door, yelling, trying to drown out her voice. “You’re lying! You’re lying!”   Max jumped off the stool, calling for him. “Matthew! Wait!”   Gabrielle grabbed a hold of Max’s arm. “Let him go.”   Max looked at her like he didn’t know her. “What’s happened to you? He’s just a little boy.”   Gabrielle spoke menacingly. “Not a word, Max. I’ve been keeping yours and RJ’s secret about the gambling ring you’re running between Atlantic City and Llanview, so you better keep this one.” She looked towards the door, seeing a couple coming in. “Besides, he’ll get over the disappointment. Kids bounce back quick. Let’s just get out of here.”   Matthew stormed out of the diner, banging through the first customers of the dinner rush, tears streaming down his face. He ran blindly, not knowing where he was headed, just trying to drown out Gabrielle’s voice. “Keep moving, don’t think,” he told himself. Matthew kept a steady pace, running blindly down sidewalks, through parks, on deserted paths, and crossing streets. He fell once, skinning his hands and banging his head on the pavement. He got up quickly and started to run again. He stumbled a few more times, a little groggy from banging his head, but he resumed his pace, running blindly throughout neighborhoods and streets. He didn’t know how far he had run or for how long. He just knew that whenever he stopped, it hurt more than if he was moving; so he just kept running, the steady slap of his Nikes against the ground giving him a rhythm to keep pace by. When he finally slowed, he was gasping for deep gulps of air, his heart painfully restricting against his chest. He didn’t know where he was, except that he could hear the water, slapping against the pier, seagulls squawking overheard. He was sweaty, his face lined with tear stained streaks and some blood from a cut over his left eye. His hair, normally soft with natural curls twisting at the collar, was damp with sweat, caked to his forehead and neck. His entire body was soaked in sweat, causing his tee shirt to cling to his chest and his back, his jeans damp at his knees and hips. His hands stung from the scrapes he had suffered when he had fallen, and he was still sniffing back tears, Gabrielle’s words still ringing in his ears. “Bo is your father and he abandoned you and your mother.” “Stop!” Matthew yelled out loud, slamming his hands against his ears, closing his eyes so tight that more tears squeezed out to stream down his face. “Just stop!” He started running again, harder, the pain in his side raging a war against the pain in his heart. To be continued...