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Bo's Journey Home - Chapter 29 Saturday morning was more of the same for Nora. Matthew still wasn’t speaking to her and there had been no contact from Bo, for her or for Matthew. Not that Matthew would speak to Bo anymore than Matthew was speaking to her. At least she and Bo were on equal ground when it came to Matthew’s anger and stubbornness. “This was just great,” she thought out loud, standing in her living room. Matthew had come down from his room, dressed for his friend Hector’s birthday party and carrying his game boy. He walked past his mother without a word on his way to the sofa.   “Hello, my handsome son,” Nora said loudly, just to have some sound in the house. “I see you’re dressed for Hector’s birthday party. Did you remember your swim suit and Hector’s birthday gift?” Matthew pointed to his backpack by the bottom of the stairs. But he refused to speak to her. “Still not speaking to me, are you?”   Matthew did not look up from his game. Nora tried again, kneeling down in front of him. “Matthew, I know you are angry at me right now. But sooner or later, you are going to have to speak to me so we can work this out. You have to try and understand why Bo can’t live here.”   “That’s right, Matthew,” came Bo’s voice from the doorway. “Bo can’t live here.”   Nora and Matthew were both startled by the sound of Bo’s voice. Nora looked up at Bo from where she was kneeling in front of Matthew. There was something different about him. Besides the fact that he was dressed in jeans and a pocket tee shirt; he was wearing a goofy grin on his face. And there was something about the look in his eyes; she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. But Nora quickly pushed those thoughts aside. Her anger was starting to rise. She just realized she never even heard the door. “Don’t you know how to knock?” she asked angrily.   “I did knock,” he replied. “You were to busy talking to hear me and the door was unlocked, again, so I let myself in, thanks.” He still had that goofy grin on his face.   She glared back at him. “Just because a door is unlocked, doesn’t mean you walk right in to a person’s house,” Nora argued angrily.   He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. “I seem to recall a time when you just let yourself into my house. Remember?” His smile changed from goofy to smug. She knew what he was talking about but was too angry to let it get to her. “No, I don’t remember,” she lied, not looking at him. “And I certainly wasn’t talking to you, because I’m not speaking to you,” Nora said angrily, getting up off the floor and sitting down beside Matthew on the sofa and folding her arms across her chest. “I was talking to my son.”   Matthew said his first words in a week. “But I’m not talking to you,” he said, looking at his mother, “or you,” he said, looking over at Bo.   “Good,” Bo said, nodding his head slightly, his hands still in his pockets. “Because I don’t want either of you to talk; just listen.” They both looked away from him and Bo continued. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the other night. And I think Matthew is right.” Matthew looked back at Bo with interest now. “If I’m going to be any kind of father, I need to spend as much time as possible with my son. And the only way for me to do that, is for us to live together.” Matthew was staring at him, half believing him, half afraid to believe him. Nora’s arms were still folded across her chest and she turned to glare at him after his last comment. Bo continued. “That means all of us.” He pulled his hands out of his pockets, flipping his thumb towards the door. “So let’s go.” Nora and Matthew looked at him confused.   “Where are we going?” asked Matthew suspiciously.   “It’s a surprise,” said Bo with a glint in his eye. “Interested?”   Matthew nodded with a smile, his suspicion turning to anticipation. Nora looked at Matthew like he had double-crossed her and switched sides. Then she glared back at Bo. “Matthew can’t go with you; he has a birthday party to go to. And I won’t go with you, because I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” She held back from saying what she really wanted to say to him, only because Matthew was standing there.   Matthew looked at Bo, remembering when he had told Bo the same thing about not going with him. He saw Bo casually reach behind his back and Matthew knew what was coming. “I’m going with him,” Matthew said, hopping off the sofa, and going to stand beside Bo. “And I can miss the party.”   Bo looked down at Matthew at his side. “It works out better if you go to the birthday party first,” said Bo. “I was going to drop you off at Renee’s because I need to talk with your mom first.”   Matthew looked at him disappointed. “But what about the surprise?”   Bo touched the top of Matthew’s head gently. “After I talk with your mom, I’ll come get you for the surprise, all right?” Matthew nodded disappointedly. “I promise,” Bo added. “The surprise is for both of you, I just need to talk to your mom first.” He looked back at Nora with amusement. “And I thought you liked surprises.”   She turned her head away from him, partly to ignore him, partly to avoid looking into his beautiful blue eyes. “Not when they come from you, I don’t,” Nora replied angrily. “As I said, I’m not going anywhere with you.”   Bo then winked at Matthew and then looked at Nora. “As I see it, you have two choices, Red.”   Matthew chimed in. “Mom, he’s not kidding.”   Nora continued to sit there, trying to ignore the flutter in her heart as he called her Red. “Calling me that will get you no where. If you want to take Matthew to his party, I’ll give you the address. Other than that, feel free to leave, without me.” She turned her head to now ignore them both.   Bo continued. “Fine, NORA,” he began, emphasizing her name. “Here are your choices. You can walk out to the car with me, or I can pick you up and carry you out. Either way, you are coming with us.”   Nora turned back to glare at him, extending her arm and pointing her finger at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”   Bo took that opening and was at her side in a second, flicking out his handcuffs and snapping one side on her wrist and the other side on his wrist. He sat beside her, his face close to hers and he whispered deviously, “Wouldn’t I?” He could see the shock register in her eyes before the anger returned.   Matthew was staring at both of them, shaking his head slowly from side to side. “I tried to warn you mom,” he said, in a kind of ‘I told you so’ tone of voice.   “Bo Buchanan, you take these off right now,” she demanded, struggling to wriggle her wrist from the shackle.   “I can’t,” he said smiling. “The key is in the car.” He looked down at both their connected wrists, trying not to laugh. “And stop twisting your wrist so much, these things hurt.”   Nora was more than furious at him. She was bordering on unforgiving. She gave her wrist another twist just to annoy him, even though the handcuff pinched her when she did. But seeing him wince gave her a small amount of satisfaction. She turned to their son. “Matthew, go out to Bo’s car and get his keys.”   Matthew looked from his mother, to Bo and then back to his mother. He was torn. But Bo’s comment about living together had given him hope. He made his decision. “I think we should go with him mom.”   Nora stared at Matthew and then at Bo. “Great. Now you’ve turned my son against me.” She paused. “You’re a jerk,” she whispered, so only Bo could hear her.   “Our son,” Bo corrected, ignoring her anger and smiling at Matthew, who smiled back at him. Then Bo looked back at Nora. “So, you walking or riding?” he asked, standing and practically dragging her to her feet with him since they were handcuffed together. She lost her balance and fell into his arms. “Oh, you’re riding?” He reached to pick her up and she grabbed the front of his shirt.   “Don’t you dare,” she hissed at him, steadying herself. Bo smiled. “Good. Then you’re walking.” He grabbed her handcuffed hand into his and pulled her along by their attached arms. “Then let’s go. Get the door, son,” he said, as he pulled Nora with him through the open door. Matthew grabbed his back pack, slammed the door closed behind him and ran a head of Bo and Nora to the limo that was parked in the driveway.   Matthew turned and stared at Bo in amazement, pointing at the limo. “Are we going in this?”   Bo nodded and smiled. Matthew gave a whoop and ran and climbed into the car. Nora stopped short, pulling at her hand being held in Bo’s, causing his arm to be pulled back. “What’s going on?” she demanded.   Bo gave her a soft smile. “I borrowed Asa’s Limo.” He beckoned her with a quick shake of his head. “Just come with me and you’ll see.” He yanked a little on their handcuff wrists, still holding her hand tightly in his and she had no choice but to follow him and get into the car.   “Mom, look, there’s a television and we can watch movies.” Matthew’s excitement had him forgetting that he hadn’t been speaking to her for a week.   Bo interrupted. “Hold on there, Cowboy. Television and movies are on hold.” He picked up the small intercom phone and spoke to the driver. “We’re ready, you can go.”   “Go where?” Nora interrupted, still angry and now confused.   Bo held up his finger to hush her, continuing to speak to the driver. “We need to drop my son off at a friend’s first.” He looked at Nora. “Where’s the party so I can tell the driver?”   “Where are we going?” she demanded again, ignoring his question.   Bo smiled and shook his head. “You’ll see. Trust me.”   “I used to trust you, before this,” she said angrily, lifting their arms that were handcuffed together.   “Hector lives near the community center,” Matthew offered.   Bo spoke into the phone. “Head to the community center and I’ll get you an exact address.” He looked back at Nora with a question in his eyes but she ignored him. “Maybe look for balloons on a mailbox,” Bo suggested before he hung up the small phone and then turned back to Nora. “Okay,” he said, reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out the keys.   Nora stared at him in disbelief. “I thought you said the key was in the car.”   Bo smiled. “One set. The other set is here in my pocket.” She let out an angry sigh. He held the keys in his hand and then looked at both of them. “Okay you two. Here we go.” He looked at Nora first. “The reason I brought the limo is so that no one can up and leave. I mean, the car is moving, right.” He looked over at Matthew. “So no one can run away.” They were all quiet, all knowing he had covered their escape routes. “Now, we are going to drive around in this limo until the three of us can come to some kind of agreement about the three of us.” He looked at Nora. “What, no comment this time Red?” She looked up at him. He had done it again, called her by her nickname. But she was still to angry to give in. She sulked and turned her head away from him. She might be forced to sit next to him because of the handcuffs, but she didn’t have to speak to him.   “Looks like your mom isn’t ready to talk,” he said to Matthew. “So why don’t you start. Tell us again what you have to say, and then I’ll let you out of the limo to go to your party.”   “But I want to go with you and mom,” Matthew insisted.   Bo nodded. “I know. But I need to talk to your mom first.” Matthew looked at him, the hope starting to fade. “Trust me, son,” Bo assured him. “After your mother and I talk, we’ll come back and get you and I’ll show you the surprise.”   Matthew wanted to so much to believe in Bo. That’s why he had sided with him over his mother back at the house. He looked intently into his father’s eyes and seeing the love there that he felt up at the cabin, he let go of his mistrust and spoke to both of them. “I told you both; I want us to all live together. I want us to be a real family. That was the deal. Why is that so hard for you two?”   Bo looked over at Nora who was ignoring both of them. “It isn’t, Matthew,” Bo agreed. Bo looked at his watch again. “Tell me where this party is so we can get you dropped off. By that time, maybe your mom will be ready to talk.”   Matthew spoke. “I just know Hector lives near the community center.” He looked over at Nora. “Is it Oak Street, mom?”   Nora interrupted them. “Don’t I get a say in any of this?” she asked angrily.   “Sure,” Bo nodded. “Let’s hear it.”   “I want to know what’s going on?” she demanded.   Bo nodded again. “You’ve been telling me for weeks you want to talk. So let’s drop Matthew off, and we can talk.”   Nora heaved a sigh again and turned away from them. Matthew went and stood directly in front of his mother. “Just talk to him, mom,” Matthew pleaded. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you all week. But talk with Bo. Please?”   Nora looked at Matthew. His eyes were pleading with her. She thought back to the other night. Was she repeating her past and now ruining her son’s life? She heaved another sigh. “Fine. I’ll go with him and talk.” Matthew sat on the seat across from his mother and father. Nora turned to Bo. “Matthew’s friend lives on Oak Street, two streets from the community center.” Then she added with a smirk. “And how would you know to look for balloons on a mailbox?”   Bo winked at her. “I’ve picked up a thing or two about children’s birthday parties.” He picked up the intercom phone, relaying the instructions to the driver. When they got to Oak Street, the driver opened the door. Sure enough, there were balloons on the mailbox.   “We’re here, buddy,” Bo said.   But Matthew didn’t move. Matthew looked at Nora. She looked mad. Then he looked at Bo. Bo looked nervous. Matthew didn’t think he should leave them alone. “I think I should go with you and mom.”   Bo reached for Matthew’s hand with the hand that was attached to Nora’s handcuffed wrist. He held Matthew’s hand in his, Nora subconsciously placing her hand over the two of theirs. The three Buchanan’s were connected by a touch. “I promise,” Bo said, looking right into his son’s eyes. “We will be back for you. I really need to talk to your mom.”   Matthew looked over at Nora. She gave him her best reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine, Matthew.”   Matthew let go of Bo’s hand and went and stood directly in front of his mother again. “Bo won’t hurt you, mom. He told me that he still loves you and would never hurt you again.” Nora stole a quick glance at Bo, seeing his discomfort as Matthew revealed his heart’s inner secret. Matthew continued. “And you told me that you still missed Bo a lot and wanted him back. So stop being mad at him and talk to him.” Nora felt her cheeks go red as Matthew disclosed one of her own inner secrets. Matthew leaned in to hug his mother. “Just listen to him, mom,” Matthew whispered in her ear. “Please? I really want this.”   Nora kissed the side of his head. “Go have a good time, sweetie. And don’t worry about us. We’ll be back soon.”   Matthew looked at Bo before leaning in and hugging him. “Make her understand,” Matthew whispered to Bo, “that you still love her and that we should be a family. We need to live together.”   Bo patted Matthew’s back, pulling him out of his arms. “Go. Have a good time. Everything will work out.”   Matthew grabbed his back pack, climbed out of the limo and took one last look back at them before the driver closed the car door and walked Matthew to the front door. To be continued…