Molly, Alyssa And Me

Molly and Alyssa looked at each other and I saw tears welling up in their eyes. They both turned to me and said, "Thanks Grandpa." The girls grabbed me in a big family type hug and I had a hard time seeing through the tears. I must have gotten something in my eye.

I have no excuse for what happened soon afterward. The only thing I can say is my ignorance caused a storm to come to my home.

The girls couldn't just sit around my place, they need to go to school; both because of their education and they needed friends their own age. What I should have done was hired a tutor and home schooled them. Hindsight is 20-20, believe it.

I contacted Shirley, a family friend. She worked for the school system as a high level administrator. I explained about the girls, where they came from and their story. Shirley agreed to help get them into school without any hoopla and to keep it as quiet as possible. Problem was the principal at the school contacted the girl's former school for their records. He didn't do it to cause trouble; he was trying to help the girls by getting them into the right grades.

The principal at their old school was a fishing buddy of Ralph's. He of course called Ralph and told him what was going on. Now Ralph knew where the girls were.

I don't believe that Ralph really cared about the girls, except as sex toys. Plus he wanted them at home so he could draw aid from the state on the two motherless children. It was more money for him to piss away and not have to work for it. That's my theory anyway.

The first sign of trouble was about six weeks after the girls started school. They both came home from school all worked up, scared, and almost crying.

"Molly, what is wrong? Why are you guys so upset?

"Nothing Patrick, some boy was teasing us," she lied.

"Bullshit Molly, you are a lot of things but a good liar isn't one of them. What is going on?"

"Alyssa and I saw Ralph going into the school office this afternoon. We are just upset that we will have to go back with him."

"You stepfather was at the school? How did he find you? I need to call Shirley and find out what is going on. You ladies go change and start dinner while I call."

"Shirley, this is Patrick," I said when she answered the phone. "My girls told me they saw their step father at school today. What the hell is going on? I thought you were going to keep this quiet."

"Patrick, I'm so sorry. Mr. Bolton, the principal, contacted their old school for their records. He was just trying to help the girls, but it lead their step father to them. I guess they will have to go back with him until something can be worked out through the courts."

"My girls are not going back with that asshole. I don't care what the courts say. If they go back he will be pimp them out within a week. No damned way. You hear me, no way."

Shirley said, "I will stall him as long as I can. You had better get some legal help. Stay within the law Patrick, don't try your Semper Fi Marine logic on this one."

I laughed, "You know me too well Shirley. Okay, I'll get an attorney and do this the legal way. At least at first, but I told you before, my girls are not going back to that asshole. I don't care what the courts decide; that son of a bitch is not getting his hands on them again, period."

The next day, I told the girls they shouldn't go to school for a few days. At least until I can solve this problem with Ralph. It didn't break their hearts to miss school. I called an attorney, an old friend of mine, and got an appointment for 9:00.

"Molly, Alyssa, I'm going to see a lawyer so I'll be gone for awhile. Lock up after I leave. You have my cell number so you can call me. The attorney's office is only a few blocks from here; I can be back in less than 5 minutes if you need me. Okay?"

"We'll be okay Patrick. Don't worry. The T.V. works so we'll be okay," Molly said. "We trust you Grandpa." Then she and Alyssa both giggled.

Jake Summers was the attorney I went to see. He was also a retired Marine. Jake had been in Judge Advocate's Office while in the Corps. We had met at one of our Marine company reunions. I walked into the outer office, there was no one there. He yelled from his office to come on in. He rose from his desk and walked to meet me and shook my hand.

"Hi Patrick, how are you?" What can I do for you?"

"Hello Jake, I'm fine." I filled him in on what was happening, my history with the girls, and what I wanted.

"You have no standing legally as far as the girls go. No blood relationship. However, this Ralph has no standing either. This is going to be interesting if nothing else."

"No standing, what the hell? I saved them from a child molesting asshole and I have no standing. What kind of shit is this?"

"Take it easy Patrick. We're not completely unarmed here."

"Are you going to help me Jake?"

"Semper Fi, Patrick. Besides, I haven't tweaked the local courts nose in some time. This is going to be fun."

"I'm not interested in fun; just put a stop to this shit Jake. I'll cover all the costs and your fee; just send me a bill when it's over."

"Don't worry about that; if I work it right the state will have to pay on this one."

My cell went off and I picked it up. It was the manager of the restaurant on the ground floor at my place. He told me there was a strange guy sneaking around in back of the building. The car the guy was in has Utah plates on it. I thanked him, told Jake I had to ditty mao. (Means get going fast). About half way home, my cell rang again; it was Molly. Ralph had climbed the fire escape and was trying to open a window.

"Molly grab Alyssa, get into my bedroom and lock the door. No one short of a swat team can get in there. Don't come out until I tell you to. I'm 3 minutes away, be right there."

I slid the truck to a stop in the front and sprinted up the stairs to my apartment. As I entered my place, I could hear a window break in the dining room. I keep a .45 Colt over the door, in case of a home invasion. I grabbed the Colt put it under my belt in the small of my back and walked into the dining room.

Ralph was crawling through the window into my house. I guess it was him, I had never seen the asshole.

"Son, you are about to make a bad career move. I suggest you go back the way you came. This is the only warning you'll get," I told him.

"Screw you old man. I'm Ralph Henning and I came to get my daughters. Where are my girls?"

"Two things. First, they are not your daughters or your girls. You never adopted them, so you are not their father."

Ralph got through the window and stood up facing me.

"Second, you are going to be really embarrassed to tell the sheriff that this "old man" kicked your ass. Last warning, it would be in your best interest to leave."

He yelled and started for me, throwing a round house right. I won't go into the details of the altercation here; I will just tell you the results.

It took almost ten seconds and poor old Ralph was finished. He was sitting with his back against the wall to hold himself up. His right shoulder may have been dislocated, his nose was bleeding profusely possibly broken, and his left knee was starting to swell. The "old man" as advertised had kicked his ass. I heard a police car with its siren screaming pull up in front of the building. .

I walked to the door and waited on the sheriff to come up the stairs. Nodding at him, I pointed to the dining room and followed him into the room.

"What going on Patrick? Molly called me. Who is this guy?" The sheriff, Bob Smalls, asked me.

"Don't know who he is, said he's Ralph Henning. I caught him breaking into my house. I asked him to leave, but he attacked me. I had to defend myself Bob."

"Did you have to beat him so bad?'

" I blocked his first punch and only hit him twice after that. Believe I'm within my rights to defend my home."

"Yeah you are, but the medical bills for him are going to cost the county a lot. Couldn't you have taken it a little easier on him?"

"I did take it easy on him. He's still breathing isn't he? I slowly pulled the Colt out and showed it to Bob. "I could have just shot him, I guess."

The sheriff got Ralph to his feet and led him down to his car. Bob turned and said, "You'll need to come down and sign a complaint this afternoon."

I nodded and went to my bedroom; knocking on the door I said, "You can come out, he's gone."

They rushed over to hug me. "I thought you would be hurt, Grandpa," Alyssa said. "How did you stop him?"

"He fell coming in the window and hurt himself. The sheriff got here before he recovered."

"It's not nice for me to say, but bullshit Patrick," Molly laughed.

Things settled down for a few days. One morning as I was walking to my truck a man approached. He asked, "Patrick O'Rourke?"

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"You have been served," he said. He handed me an envelope and walked away.

It was a summons to appear in the question of custody of Molly and Alyssa. The custody hearing was set for the next day. I had no intention of letting the court take the girls away. I called Jake right away; he was aware of the summons and was prepared for the hearing and told me not to worry. My door bell rang and the sheriff was standing there when I opened it.

"What do you want Bob?'

"I'm sorry Patrick, but I have a court order to pick up Molly and Alyssa and take them to a foster care facility until the custody hearing is over."

"Bob, I don't think I'm going to..............."

"Stop right there. Don't make any threats; that way I don't have to arrest you. Come on Patrick, be smart for once. One on one you can take me, but you can't take the whole department. Please just go along. It will work out for the best."

I stood staring at him and thinking. He was right; nothing good could come of me going all Semper Fi on him. The girls needed me there in court, not in jail. I just nodded at him and went to get the girls.

It was really hard to explain to Molly and Alyssa; it was even harder to get them to go with Bob. I promised them that they would never have to go back to Ralph. I told them it didn't make any difference what the courts decided, they would not go back to that monster. The girls left with the sheriff; I went to my bar and poured a large bourbon. Thinking about it I decided the girls needed me sober. My door bell rang again.

"Did you forget to get my balls, Bob?" I yelled at the door.

There was a woman standing there looking surprised. "Excuse me," she said.

"I'm sorry, thought you were someone else. How may I help you?"

"Are you Patrick O'Rourke," she asked?

"Yeah, that's me."

"Mr. O'Rourke, I have come a long way to see you. My name is Jennifer Riley." At the blank look on my face she continued, "I am Molly's and Alyssa's aunt. My sister Alice was their mother. I just found out you had them.

I was in shock. "I thought the girls didn't know where you lived or anything? How did you know they were with me?"

Jennifer answered, "I didn't even know my sister Alice had died until I ran into a mutual friend. My friend said Alice had been alone in the car when it crashed. It reported that she was survived by a husband and two daughters. I couldn't leave the girls with Ralph so I went to their house to bring them home with me. No one was there and I checked around in town.

The waitress at the diner had written down your license number but didn't give it to anyone as she hates Ralph. It seemed strange to her that Ralph's step daughters would be with a stranger. That license number is how I found you Mr. O'Rourke."

"Come in Mrs. Riley, Molly and Alyssa aren't here. They just left with the sheriff. Let me tell you what has happened."

"Left with the sheriff? Why, what have they done? I need to go to them."

"Please, calm down. They aren't under arrest; they are wards of the court. Come in and let me explain before you go running off in a huff. Give me ten minutes. Please."

She studied my face intently and said, "Okay ten minutes, but then I'm going to get my nieces. No funny business Mr. O'Rourke."

We went to the bar area of my game room and I offered her a drink.

"White wine would work. Maybe it will help calm my nerves; and it's Miss Riley. Call me Jenny."

I fixed her drink and made myself a weak bourbon and water. Then I told the tale, from nearly running the girls down in the storm, to the diner, and the reason I brought them with me to Arizona. The story took around 30 minutes.

"Molly and Alyssa told me they didn't know where you were or how to contact you. If they had, I would have taken them to you before dragging them across three states. I was trying to look out for two young ladies that needed help Jenny."

Jenny again studied my face intently before replying. "I believe you. You have a kind face and your eyes light up when you mention the girls. It's obvious that you care for them very much."

"I guess I really didn't know how much they had grown on me until Ralph showed up."

"Ralph's here? How did he find them? I have to get them away from that drunken sot. I have to go to the girls now."

"Hold on Jenny the girls are not with Ralph; they are in a foster care facility. There is hearing tomorrow to determine who should have custody of the girls. I have my lawyer working on it and intend to fight to keep them away from Ralph. I made Molly and Alyssa a promise that they would not have to go back to Ralph and I will keep that promise legally if I can but in other ways if I have to. They will not, I repeat will not, have to live with that animal."

"What do you mean, legally or in other ways?"

"If it comes to it, I will load the girls in my truck and take off for parts unknown. Don't believe the law can track me. If I have to I will take them to Canada or Mexico. Doesn't matter, they are not going back to Ralph. Period."

"I know you love those girls, it shows; but why would you give up your home and your life here to protect them?" Jenny asked.

I told Jenny about fate or whatever that brought the girls and me together. Molly and my wife's shared name. How I thought of them as the granddaughters my wife and I never had and reminded her again about my promise to the girls.

"However, now we have a trump card to play tomorrow," I told Jenny.

"What card? What do you mean?"

"Jenny you're the trump card. You are a blood relative and should have the custody. Much more so than some asshole step-father; more so than an adopted grandfather even. We are going to put a stop to Ralph's plan."

She began to smile then, for the first time since we had met. Then she started to giggle. "I think Ralph has run into more than he knows," she laughed. "He knows some of it. He broke into my house yesterday to get the girls and I had to show him the error of his ways. Don't be surprised at his appearance when you see him tomorrow; he is a little the worse for wear."

Jenny laughed out loud, shaking her head at the idea of Ralph biting off more than he could chew. She and I discuss strategy and decided to keep her presence quiet until the hearing. We would spring her just before the judge would make his ruling.

"Guess I had better find a hotel for the night," she commented to me.

"No need. You can stay here in the girl's apartment. That's the one on the top floor. It was basically just their bedroom and bath. They spent almost every waking hour here in my place. You are welcome to stay over. We can have dinner at the restaurant downstairs and we won't have far to go to get home."

We spent an enjoyable evening at dinner and then had a couple of drinks at my place. Jenny went up to the girl's place about 11:00.

The next morning I awoke to the smells of breakfast. She had made coffee and breakfast for us. We talked some more about the hearing and our plans for her surprise appearance.

"Patrick I want you to promise me something. No matter how it goes, I want you to promise me you won't do anything to Ralph."

"Why?" I didn't want to make that promise.

"If you do something drastic to him you may end up in jail. I think you could help Molly and Alyssa more if you were not locked away. Please, promise me."

"I will make this promise. If Ralph does nothing to provoke me, if he makes no threats toward you or the girls and if he behaves himself; he will leave my town healthy. If he doesn't behave himself, he will pay a heavy price. That's the best I can do."

I called my lawyer, Jake, and told him about Jenny. He laughed and said how much fun it was going to be, to pop Ralph's bubble. Then it was nearly time to go.

We both went to our rooms and dressed for the hearing. I put on a suit and tie for the first time since my retirement party. Jenny came down dressed in a nice dress. We went to the courthouse in my big Ford. I could have taken a car but I had the truck packed and ready to run if the need arose.

The hearing was set for 9:30. When I entered the courtroom at 9:15 I was alone. We were going to surprise everyone with Jenny at the right time, so she waited in the hall. Molly and Alyssa were sitting with a sheriff's matron at a table near the judge's bench. The girls saw me, dodged around the matron, and ran to me. We stood there hugging each other for several minutes.

Ralph and his attorney came into the room. He saw me and the girls hugging each other and frowned but didn't say anything. My buddy Ralph didn't look too good. His nose must have been broken, it was all bandaged up and he had two black eyes. His right arm was in a sling and he was walking with a decided limb. Looked like someone had kicked his ass.

I sent the girls back to the matron and sat at the table with my lawyer Jake who had just arrived. While waiting for the judge Jake rewrote some notes now that he knew about Jenny. The judge appeared at 9:30 on the dot.

He opened the hearing by explaining why we were there; as if we didn't know. The hearing was to determine who should have custody of the underage girls Molly and Alyssa Kelly. He went on to say that their mother had died in an auto accident and there was no blood relative available to take responsibility for the girls.

Ralph Henning, their step-father had petitioned the court for custody as their closest relative. In addition, a Mr. Patrick O'Rourke had petitioned for their custody as a friend of the court.

"Does that about sum it up gentlemen?" You may proceed with your case gentlemen."

Ralph, through his attorney, stated he had raised the girls as his own during his marriage to their mother. After her death he had continued to take care of them as they had no other relatives. The attorney said that one Patrick O'Rourke had persuaded the girls to run away from home. Mr. O'Rourke had crossed state lines with the juveniles and should be held accountable for his actions. Mr. Henning feels the girls should be returned to the loving home he had provided.

Jake, my guy, told the court that the only reason that I had given Molly and Alyssa sanctuary was their report of child molestation by their stepfather. Mr. O'Rourke felt the girls were in danger and did what he could to deliver them to safety. In addition Mr. Grant is an alleged felon. He was arrested for breaking into Mr. O'Rourke's home.

This allegation resulted in more debate. These arguments are not direct quotes; they are just what I remember and there was a lot more. A bunch of whereas and the law dictates, further mores and other legal mumbo jumbo.

Jake stood and said to the court, "Sir, we do have one witness to call please. The witness has just come to my attention."

This brought an objection from Ralph's attorney.

The judge banged his gavel for order. "Call your witness, Mr. Summers. "We call Miss Jennifer Riley," Jake had the bailiff call out.

The door to the courtroom was opened so hard it hit the wall. It was an accident, but it got the judge's attention and he looked up.