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reassurances. He was very solemn. Soldier looked over at Dillon and nodded to Tommy. Dillon
shrugged and started to gather the others up, leaving Soldier with Tommy and Gom.
I ll go and let you sleep. You look real tired, Tommy said.
Not yet. Gom, baby, will you let me talk to Tommy a minute? Then I m gonna sack out. Thank
you all for being so good in there. I ll be with you in a few hours. I promise.
Gom had settled down into sighs and hiccups. He pulled out of Soldier s neck and smiled through
all those tears. He patted Soldier s face again and leaned to kiss his scarred cheek. Soldier took it
as the blessing it was. Gom scrambled down and went with Dillon and the others.
What s on your mind, Tommy? Soldier asked quietly.
It was him, wasn t it? Tommy said, his head down.
I think so. I think I saw him in the back of the yard when I was moving the truck. He left a gas
can so we know it was started on purpose. Soldier hated what this was going to do to Tommy. I
won t lie to you. If they catch him, he ll go to jail. Maybe her, too, if she helped him.
I don t care about them. I m sorry about your house. It s my fault. They re mad at me, cause I
won t go back, and they tried to kill us all, Soldier. Tears were now on Tommy s face, running
in a steady stream. I have to leave. I can t let anything happen cause of me. What if... what if...
it s all cause of me. He shut down then, just sort of folded his arms around himself and closed
himself off. No way was Soldier allowing that.
Hop up here. That s a bunch of crap. You hear me? Don t you even think it s your fault. Maybe
it s my fault cause I threatened him last night. Maybe I should leave, so you all will be safe.
Soldier could see Tommy shake his head, getting ready to say something, but he went on. If you
leave, they win. We can t let that happen. You are safer, healthier, happier here than you ve ever
been, right? Yeah, I know. You are not to think it s your fault. He kept having to tell kids that
their parents were scum, not them. It was a fucked-up world.
They re bad people. I m sorry for that, but it certainly isn t your fault. Is it Gom s fault his
mother took drugs and hurt him? At Tommy s wide-eyed head shake, Soldier went on, Of
course not. Some people are just bad, Tommy, and it s not a child s fault when a parent is bad.
Soldier put his hand on Tommy s shoulder and squeezed. You promise me you won t think of
leaving us. We really couldn t do without you. We love you and need you here to make us all a
complete group. Okay?
Tommy nodded and raised his face at last. He looked a little stronger and more settled. He
scooted up a little and raised his arms to Soldier for a hug.
Soldier embraced him and hugged him hard. You re such a good, strong boy. We love you,
Tommy. It would mean a lot to me if you would sing for us tonight before we go to bed. It s just
what we need to calm down and settle into being safe and together. Soldier knew Tommy
needed to help in some way, small though it was, to make up for his feeling of responsibility.
He d have to find other ways to keep the boy from thinking of leaving. I think we re staying
here one more night, and then we ll all go out and find what we need tomorrow. I ll need your
help.
I ll help you. And I ll sing for you all tonight. I... I love you, too, Soldier, I think. I never knew
what that meant. Love, I mean. Gom says it a lot. But, I think it s what I feel for you all, like I
wouldn t be... right inside without you all. Is that right? Tommy looked to Soldier for
confirmation of his feelings.
Just about right. None of us would be right inside without you with us. You re a smart kid, too.
Run on, now. I m about to flake out. It s been a really long couple of days, huh?
Yeah. You rest. I m gonna tell Dillon to come back in here for a while, til you go to sleep. I ll
watch the others. We re just watching TV... cartoons. I know you all aren t gonna... you know...
but I think he needs to be with you a little. He was really worried about you.
God, you re an old twelve. Thank you. I d like to talk to Dillon before I fall asleep and tell him
about some of the stuff from this morning and what we have planned for tomorrow. I m glad we
have you, Tommy. You re a great kid. Soldier s words were becoming slurred as he felt
exhaustion taking over.
In just a few minutes, Dillon slipped back into the room and came over to Soldier. He pushed
Soldier over, pulled the covers back on the side of the bed, then rolled him over onto the clean
sheets, covering him up. Then he went around and slipped into the other side. He reached out and
took Soldier into his arms and smiled when Soldier rested against him, his face in Dillon s neck.
I ll leave in a bit. I just want to hold you, breathe the same air. I want to feel your heart beat.
Rest now. He cradled his large man against him and watched him breathe.
Soldier simply said, Oh, God.
He was out like a light and didn t move for five hours.
Chapter Twelve
Dillon had the boys ready for supper out when Soldier showed up at their door at about six. He
opened their door and saw eight smiling faces. He held out his arms. He felt whole again. All was
right in his messed up world.
The staff at the buffet was tickled to see them back and, when the boys told them what happened,
they got the royal treatment. The kids ate like pigs and ended with specially made sundaes for
each. Dillon and Soldier put away a fair amount themselves.
They would go back to the hotel and talk, all nine of them, about what was going to happen next.
They were all a unit. They had called Officer Jansen, who d lost the name Asshole when he
offered to help with the dogs. Soldier told him they were staying there one more night and asked
if he would arrange to board the dogs somewhere, and the man had again surprised him by
offering to keep them until they had a place. Would wonders never cease?
They invited Daniel over for the meeting and pretty soon, there were ten of them sitting on
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