Beneath the Mask

Beneath the Mask 43

Written by: J.P.G.

{"Beneath the Mask" is pure fiction. As I am writing this story, I am above the age of 21. If you want a story with lots of sex, look elsewhere. This is a love story. Seeing as it is a love story, sex is in there, but it's in realistic balance in the characters' lives.

Any similarity to any real events, names, or life events is purely accidental. If you are underage, (according to your state laws, a minor), if this literature is offensive to you or to anyone around your viewing area, or it is illegal for you to view such content where you are reading it, stop reading the story.

This story cannot be distributed in anyway, shape or form without authors' express written consent.}

Story Written by: J.P.G.

Edited By: Ed

Edited By: Kent D.

Chapter 43

It was a rough night and the morning was no different. It seemed that no one was really in a good mood. Trying not to think of what happened the night before, the group stayed away from the subject. Instead, they talked about everything that has happened at school since Joey left. Although Joey is not going to attend El Paso high school, he enjoyed catching up with what they all have been doing.

Unexpectedly, Harold spoke up, which brought the conversation to a complete halt. "Jacob I don't mean to be rude, but you seem to be distracted." The table got quiet all at once when Harold spoke. "I know what happened yesterday was bad, but you shouldn't let it bring you down. Don't let whoever did this to take your joy of life away."

No one could believe he actually told Jacob what he told him. They also noticed that Jacob was not paying attention to the conversation, but figured he had a lot on his mind. As well, no one wanted to get under Jacob skin, so no one said a word.

"With all due respect sir I have no other choice but to think about what happened last night. I am not thinking about this to allow who ever did this to take away my zest for life, I am thinking about it because it seems like one else is. There is a lot that needs to be done, which most will land on my shoulders to do so I am sorry for making you uncomfortable for trying to get all my ducks in a row!"

They thought what Harold said was a surprise, but Jacob's response took the cake. He pretty much threw out a general statement to everyone when he answered Herald, which grabbed everyone's attention! It was not true what Jacob said it is just that none of them wanted to bring down the mood at the table.

As soon as Jacob answered Harold, he got up from the table and looked around. "All of you that live with me need to be in the lobby ten before ten. My grandpa is going to be waiting for a phone call from me so he can talk with all of us. You all know how he is about time, so let's not be late because I'm going to get him on the line no matter if you are their or not." Jacob pushed in his chair and walked out.

Alex did not look away from the exit of the restaurant until Jacob disappeared. He then turned and looked at Matt trying to figure out if he should go and talk to Jacob or not. Just as he decided that he should, Andy Sr. he got up and left the restaurant through the same doors that Jacob did.

It took a few minutes before the conversation at the table started back up, but it did. No matter how hard Alex tried to get back into the conversation with them, he could not. All he could think of is Jacob and how he must be feeling right now. In one night, he lost everything that he and his grandfather worked so hard to get and share with anyone that needed a place to stay no matter the persons past.

Just as he dozed off again, Alex the second was woken up by the lights being turned on and the opening of his cell door. He pushed the blanket off him and looked out the door to see what was going on. At first, he thought it was going to be another shakedown because of what happened the other night, but something in his gut told him he was wrong. It was something bigger than that.

He crawled out of bed and put on his pants. As he was putting on his shoes he heard a voice over the intercom demanding that all inmates to exit there cells immediately. Not recognizing the voice, Alex knew that something was up so he quickly tied his shoes, and then grabbed his shirt as he walked out of his cell.

When he entered into the commons room, area he saw the main entrance to the cellblock open and state troopers come walking in. The next thing that happens, Alex could not believe. The state troopers walked up to the guards that were on his payroll. They pushed the guards to the ground, took their keys and belt off them before putting the handcuffs around their wrists.

Alex and the other inmates attention was pulled away from the guards being placed under arrest by a voice coming from the guard station. "I want all of your attention over here, because I am not going to repeat myself." Alex looked at this older white man in a suit, white hair, and glasses standing between several guards he has never seen before.

"My name is Benjamin Henderson and I am now the warden to this hellhole. As of this morning, the control of this prison has been turned over to me and let me tell you it is going to be a new dawn in this place. Things that you got away with before will not be tolerated under my tenure.

No one here is above the law and what you are seeing unfold before you right now is proof that. The guards that you are seeing being placed under arrest are going to be charged with accessory to murder. Since they allowed you all to run a mock in this prison and kill each other, they're just as responsible for the murders that occurred here." Mr. Henderson looked at the state troopers. "Take these pieces of shit out of my prison."

The state troopers pulled up the guards from the ground and walked them out of the common's room as the inmates watch. Once they were pulled out, new guards that they have never seen walked in. They turned their attention from the new guards back over to the new warden, Mr. Henderson.

"I will not put up with any of the bullshit that has been going on in this prison. The killings, beatings, and rapes will end and end now. If you are caught doing anything like this you will be charged with another count." Some of the inmates started to laugh when Mr. Henderson mentioned another charge. The guards walked over to those inmates that were laughing and slammed their heads against the bars.

"Gentleman if you think this is funny, you better think again. Many of you in here are in here for life and another charge would not matter to you. However, trust me; I will make your life a living hell. Break my rules or break the rules of this prison, you will wish you were never born. By the end of the day, you will be more scared of me and my staff than any gang member in here."

Mr. Henderson looked at his lieutenant and nodded at him. "If your name is called, step forward." The Lieutenant started calling out name after name. Each of them was a leader for high up in one of the gangs. A quarter ways in, Alex's name was called. He stepped forward and waited until the Lieutenant was done.

"The rest of you will stay where you are until we are done." The Lieutenant stepped down from the guard station and walked to the middle of the commons room. "Now you all strip." Alex could not believe that the Lieutenant requested him and the others to strip in the middle of the commons room. "I am not going to ask a second time for you guys to strip, because of I do, I will not be so friendly."

Alex and the other inmate stood their ground. They refused to strip in front of each other in a viewing audience. The Lieutenant looked over to his guards and nodded to them. They quickly walked up to the inmates and started tearing off their clothes. By the time they were done every single inmate in the middle of the commons room was naked.

"Gentleman you want to act like caged animals, we will treat you like caged animals. You are no longer suitable to be part of the human race since you cannot act like a human. No longer will you all be allowed to do the things you have been doing in this prison." Mr. Henderson looked straight into Alex's eyes. "From this moment on you will be living in solitary. Lieutenant take this scum out of here."

The guards demanded the inmates to put her hands behind her back so where they could place handcuffs on them. Once they had the inmates handcuffed, they marched them out of the cellblock naked as the day they were born. Before Mr. Henderson left, he ordered the other guards to rip apart each cell for weapons or anything else that is not supposed to be there.

While the cells were being ripped apart, Mr. Henderson went down to solitary. Just as he arrived, the guards placed the last inmate in his room. Mr. Henderson looked over to his lieutenant and asked which room they put Alex in. The Lieutenant looked down the list and then pointed to the room where Alex is. Henderson thanked him and asked him to send several more guards back to the cellblocks to help with the shakedown.

After ordering half of the guards back to the cellblock, the Lieutenant joined Mr. Henderson as he made his way down to Alex's cell. He tried to talk the warden out of going into the cell, but was not successful. The warden ordered the door to be opened and once it was he walked in.

"Mr. Garcia, I know for fact you are the one that ordered the death of all the inmates that were killed the other night. Although I cannot charge you with murder, I will charge you with accessory to murder since you are the one that ordered the killings. Moreover, I know you are the one that killed the leader to the African-American gang. That I will charge you with murder and hopefully will be in the first degree.

If I get what I want and you are found guilty, you will be put on death row. Until then you are my headache. So let me tell you how your life is going to be until you are moved to death row." Alex looked up to the warden with a smirk on his face.

"Smile now, but I will have the last laugh. You will be spending every single minute of every single day in this cell. You will not even be allowed to leave this cell to take a shower. A shower will be rolled up to your door and you will take your showers that way. You will not have any rec time or any kind of time out of this cell for that matter. Visits from your attorney are the only visits you are going to be allowed. You have lost your personal visitation rights.

Inmates will not be delivering your food, my guards will. Before the food tray is given to you, it will be completely searched for any kind of communication. If we find any kind of communication coming from the inmates in the kitchen, you will not eat. So if you do not want to starve to death, do not try to communicate through your meals."

Alex chuckled at the warden. "I have been imprisoned all my life pretty much and no one has ever successfully broken me. You will not be the first. I will beat the rap on all the charges you plan to charge me with because you cannot prove I did any of it and by law, you have to give me three meals a day so that threat on me not getting to eat is in vain. We both know that you have no other choice than to feed me."

"You are right on the fact that I have to give you three square meals a day, but it isn't written on how you receive the meals. As I said every single meal will be searched, which means by the time you get your meal you will not be able to tell what it is. I am not going to let you run your gang from solitary. Just as I have done in my last prison, I will dismantle every single gang in here.

If by any chance you beat every single charge that you are going to be charged with, you will never leave this room. So get used to this eight by eight cell, because this is where you are going to spend your last days on earth. Trust me when I say you will wish death over living in this cell, under my watchful eyes."

Mr. Henderson turned and started to walk out the door when Alex spoke. "When are we going to get new clothes?" This time when Mr. Henderson turned around, he was the one that had a smirk on his face, which did not make Alex happy. He had no idea why Mr. Henderson is smiling back at him.

"Oh did I forget to tell you that you will not be getting a jumpsuit. In solitary, you are only allowed to wear boxers. That way you do not have a chance to hide any kind of weapons on your person so I hope you are not a cold-blooded person because these rooms get cold all the time. In fact I'm going to tell maintenance that it's a little hot in here and they need to turn on the air conditioner."

Henderson started to laugh as he turned back around and completely walked out of the cell. Alex could hear the warden ordering one of the guards to call down to maintenance and get the air conditioner turned on. Determined not to let the warden or anyone break him, Alex curled up in a corner and started rubbing up and down his arms to get warm.

Meanwhile back in El Paso, the conference call with Al just ended. Alex and Matt headed up to their room and got ready to head out. Since they lost everything in the fire, all they could do is straightening out what they were wearing, which was the clothes from the day before. Although they were dirty, they had no other choice but to wear them.

Once they felt that they were presentable, they headed back down to the lobby. When they arrived in the lobby, they found everyone already there except Jacob and a few others. It was not long before Jacob and the others that were not there to join them. Quickly they discuss who is going where and in what car before heading out to the parking lot.

Just like the night before, they all headed out in the same vehicles. It did not take long for them to drive to Basset Center Mall, which is the central side mall. On their way in, they discussed which store to go first. It took a little while for them to agree, but when they did, they decided to go to JCPenney's first.

Everyone walked over to their style of clothes, started pulling off the shelves their sizes, and headed off to the changing rooms. When Alex came out, he noticed that Jacob was sitting outside of the store. He could tell that his old friend was deep in thought like he has been all day long.

He started to wonder why Jacob was not inside the store getting new clothes with the rest of them. Then it dawned on him why. He has never seen Jacob buying his clothes from the mall. In fact everything he wears his non-bran items. That started to make Alex feel like crap. Here he is in with the others buying the most expensive clothes on his dime.

Putting down his clothes, Alex went looking for Matt. He found him trying on a pair of pants in the dressing room. Quickly he went in and closed the door behind him. Matt looked up with a confused look on his face. He did not understand why his boyfriend is inside the same dressing room with him and without any clothes.

"Don't you think it's odd that Jacob isn't in the store trying on clothes?"

"I really didn't even think of that Alex because I thought he was trying on clothes with the rest of us. Now you are here telling me that he isn't. If he's not trying on clothes, where is he?" The look on Matt's face changed from confusement to worry.

Matt gathered the clothes he was trying on and walked out of the dressing room with Alex. On their way out of the store, Matt laid down the clothes next to Alex's pile of new clothes and continued towards Jacob. He was in deep thought so they turned around and walked back into the store.

"Do you think should we go up and talk to him?" Matt asked Alex as they stopped by several mannequins. "No, it doesn't look like he wants to be disturbed, but let me tell you what we are going to do. You know as well as I do it is not fair for Jacob to be spending huge chunks of money on all of us so we're going to watch the ticket price of each item we choose to try to help Jacob out.

I truly believe that everybody has taken advantage of the situation. They are trying to get their entire wardrobe here when the majority of their clothes were probably Wal-Mart or Kmart purchased. Heck, most of my clothes were purchased at Kmart or Wal-Mart and they are at least a couple years old."

"I do not disagree with you on that because I'm just as guilty. With that said, you know Jacob will not allow us to put away our clothes or help pay for them. He will take offense to us doing that. So what do you think, how should we handle this?" Alex just shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Matt.

Neither of them could figure out how to help Jacob. They just stood there, standing by the mannequins thinking of a way to help Jacob, but no matter how hard they think, they could not figure out a way to help. Everything they both said they know they are right on. With Jacob being so hard headed, it makes it even harder because he will not accept or allow any help from anyone.

Since they could not figure out a way to help Jacob, Alex and Matt went back to the only thing that they could do and that is shop, but this time they kept an eye on the price tags of everything they were picking. Alex wanted to pull everyone to the side to tell them to do the same thing, but he decided against it. He does not want one of them walking over to Jacob and asking him if he had a problem with the cost of each item. Knowing Jacob the way Alex has gotten to know him, he will say no.

For the next couple of hours, the group went from one store to the other and picked their clothes. When they were ready to leave, Jacob walked up to the register and pay for the ticket. By the end of their shopping spree, Alex saw that Jacob had spent a little close to three thousand dollars and they are not done yet.

From the mall, they headed over to Wal-Mart to get their personal hygiene items as well as underwear, socks and T-shirts. That is where Jacob, his parents, grandmother and Alex's mother got their clothes. They were not fussy on what they were going to buy. The only thing that mattered to them was having several changes of clothes to go to work, school, or whatever else they do throughout the day.

When Jacob finished paying for everything at Wal-Mart, he informed everyone that they should go and grab something to eat. They loaded up the items in the cars and then headed off to McDonald's. At first, Alex thought that Jacob picked his own restaurants where he did not have to spend any more money, but he was wrong. When they cashier gave a total, Jacob handed her his debit card.

Once everyone settled in, they all started talking about the fun they had at the mall while they ate. Every so often, they try to get Jacob into the conversation, but eventually gave up. They got tired of repeating themselves to Jacob. Then when Jacob pushed Dewayne away from him when Dewayne tried to get Jacob's mind off whatever he was thinking about, they knew Jacob still was not in a good mood.

All the way back to the hotel, Alex and Matt discussed their house and wondered if there was any damage done to it. They know for sure Jacob's house is destroyed, but they still do not know about the house they are purchasing next store from the old couple. According to what Jacobs and Al has found out, the only house that was completely damaged was his and no one else's.

"Do you think Alex that Jacob is going to build a new house on the land where the old house was at?" Alex turned to look at Matt and then quickly turned his attention back to the road since he was going sixty miles an hour.

"To be completely honest with you Matt, I have no idea. I think it all depends on when Jacob can start building his house again. If the investigators are going to keep the land locked up for a while, Jacob will not have any other choice but to build his home somewhere else, which brings up a whole new set of problems."

Alex pulled off the freeway onto the gateway and stopped behind Jacob at the red light. "I think that him and Al have already discussed that and already decided on how they plan to proceed. All we have to do is sit back and pretty much go along for the ride. As I said last night Jacob will not leave any of us out in the cold."

"No I know that and that wasn't what I was worried about. What I was worried about was us living in Joey's hotel. I am sure he isn't too happy about us there because he just moved back. He is trying to integrate back into regular life here in El Paso and having his ex-boyfriend living there with his current boyfriend cannot be easy."

"It cannot be easy for Jacob and Dewayne as well. In fact, I am sure it is even harder for Jacob as Joey was the one that broke Jacob's heart. It took a very long time for Jacob to get over the breakup. I really do believe if it wasn't for Dewayne coming into Jacob's life, we would be seeing a different Jacob than we are seeing today."

They ended their conversations as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. Alex pulled up, parked his SUV next to Jacob's, and got down. With the help and Joey and his clan, it did not take long for them to unload everything from the vehicles. Once everything was in the lobby, each of them went through the bags, got what was theirs, and headed up to their room to put things away.

Alex helped Jeremy take his stuff up to his room. After putting away Jeremy his clothes and making sure he was okay, Alex headed over to his room to help Matt unpack their stuff but when he arrived, he found that Matt had pretty much put away everything they had bought. Seeing that everything had already been put away, Alex went back to spend some time with Jeremy.

The only reason that he went back to spend time with Jeremy because when he left he knew that Jeremy was not okay, even though Jeremy told him he was fine. The look on his face betrayed him and told a completely different story. It told Alex that he was confused and scared all at the same time.

When Alex rejoined Jeremy in his room, he tried to explain to Jeremy what was going on. No matter how many different ways he explained to Jeremy what was going on, he could not wrap his head around. He kept asking Alex when they are going home, and why did he get all this new stuff today.

Trying his best to calm the Jeremy down, Alex was not successful. Jeremy got so wound up; he started running up and down the hallway screaming at the top of his lungs. Alex gave chase, but each time he got a hold of Jeremy, he wiggled out and ran away from him. It took help from Andy Sr. and Junior to get Jeremy back into his room. Once they got him into his bed, Jeremy started to calm down.

"What did you say or do to Jeremy, Alex?" Alex wanted to walk up to Andy and pop him over the head for asking him that question. "What I mean Alex is that you have a good relationship with my older brother and I'm just surprised to see him running from you. You are one of the very few people he behaves for."

"Your brother is very confused and scared right now. He has no idea what is going on and that is scaring him. To make matters worse no one is explaining things to him. Everyone is ignoring him as if he doesn't matter." Alex biting his tongue and holding back on what he really wants to say to Andy Jr.

"What do you recommend for us to do Alex? Every one of us is going through the same thing and is trying to stay strong. I know my older brothers different and I know we have to give him a lot more slack than we give ourselves, so what do you think we should do Alex to help him?"

"Talk to him and treat him like we do each other. He is no different from you or I or anyone else in this building. So we need to treat him with the same respect we treat each other. That way if we do that, we will not have another incident as we just had. All that Jeremy wants is us to talk to him and treat him the same."

Before senior or junior could respond, Marie walked in and informed them that Jacob is asking everyone to go back down to the lobby. Andy turned to Alex, told him that they will talk later on about this, and left the room with his father.

Alex started to debate with himself if he should take Jeremy down or leave him here. He decided it was best that he take Jeremy with him because if he does not he knows all he will be doing is thinking about him so he walked toward to Jeremy and helped him out of bed. As they walked into the hallway, they ran right into Matt.

"I was coming up to get you. Jacob needs all of us downstairs to speak with Mr. Jackson about something dealing with security." Matt has gotten to know his boyfriend and they share expressions really well, and he can tell right now, Alex is surprised. "I reacted the same way when I heard that Mr. Jackson is downstairs."

"I cannot believe that Mr. Jackson is actually in the hotel. I heard that Al hired him for the building security, but I have not seen him around so I thought maybe I heard it wrong and now he is here at the hotel."

Matt chuckled because it is rare that anyone can confuse his boyfriend, but right now he's very baffled by what is going on. That makes two of them as far as being baffled on why their old guard is here. Matt knows it's not because they are in trouble, but it's still weird having him here.

Alex and Matt were the last to walk in. They were immediately greeted by Mr. Jackson with a smile on his face. "It is good to see you boys. I hear you two are no longer on probation or have the monitors around your ankles, congratulations on that. You boys and the others you got out with you deserve another chance to make something of your lives."

"Thank you Officer Jackson..." Alex trailed off as he showed Jeremy to his seat. "We will prove to everyone that we deserve those pardons."

"Please I'm a private citizen. There is no need to call me officer anymore. As far as proving to people that you deserve what you got, you have done that already. If you had not, you would not have gotten the pardons. I have come to know Al well in the last couple of months. He would not have stuck his neck out for you boys if you had not already shown you have learned from your mistakes."

Mr. Jackson ended the conversation abruptly and headed over to Jacob. He didn't want to keep everyone longer than he had to and neither did Jacob so Jacob introduced Mr. Jackson and explained to the group why he was here. Before Mr. Jackson could get started with this presentation, several uniformed police officers walked into the lobby.

Mr. Jackson turned to the group and told them to go ahead and go back to what they were doing and they will call them back down when they are done dealing with the officers. Alex signed to Jeremy that they have to head back upstairs for a while. Once again, Jeremy was confused, but he didn't react the way he did before. He trusted Alex and so he got up and followed him without question.

When Alex, Matt and Jeremy reached the elevator, they found everyone just standing there discussing among themselves what they think was going on. Alex interjected and told everyone that if it was their business, they will be called out. None of them liked the way Alex talked, but they agreed with him.

"I don't want to go up to my room and start getting busy doing something in there, and then be called back down here." David said in a soft but serious voice. No one around him answered verbally, but was shaking their heads in agreement, to what he said. "So why don't we all just go into the restaurant and wait there?"

No one objected to David's suggestion. They all walked into the restaurant and sat down at the tables except for Francisca, Gloria, and Virginia. They went into the kitchen and started to prepare dinner. Helen and Francisca's sisters walked joined them about five minutes later to see what they can do to help as far as preparing dinner.

Back at the prison, Alex's grandfather was adjusting already to his new life in solitary. He spent his first day trying to figure out how he is going to run things from his cell. The last time he was put here, he handed over control of the gang to his son and once he got out, he didn't mind that his son continued to run things.

Now his son is no longer with him and that creates another vacuum. Anyone not moved to solitary from his gang will be fighting to get control of it. In return, they are going to kill each other off and made the gang weaker for the other gangs to pick apart. That will make it even harder for him to get control of everything that he was trying to get back control of before being moved in here.

There is no doubt in Alex's mind that he needs to find a way to run things from solitary in order to keep control of everything his gang controls but he can see that the new warden is true to his word. The two meals he has had so far today has been searched to the point that he could not tell what he was eating.

By the time he got his tray of food, the food was not recognizable anymore. They combined the food into one part of the plate and tore apart the bread or anything else that was part of the meal tray. Even the drink was searched and the reason he can tell that was that the cup was not even halfway filled when he got it.

That is making this warden a dangerous person to deal with. Alex the second knows that he needs get a message out in order to get control of his gang. The question is how he is going to get that done with the warden having his staff search everything that comes in and out of his cell. By him doing that, communication to his gang is pretty much out of the question.

They started walking back and forth in his eight by eight cell trying to figure out a way to communicate with his gang. All of a sudden, bells started going off in his mind. He remembered something that he had forgotten. The way he communicated with his son the first days of him running things.

The previous warden was not as strict as the new warden was, but writing a kite was out of the question. They did not control the inmates that were delivering the food to those in solitary. By the other gangs running solitary, their kites will not only not be delivered to the right person, but they would know what they were planning.

That leaves Alex wondering if his grandson told the police about how he created a way of communicating without the need of writing. After debating with himself for while, Alex decided to take a chance. He walked over to the metal sink in started to tap their Morris code. It was a lot different from the normal Morris code because they did not want to take any chances if one of the guards or inmates from another gang knew the actual Morris code.

Not even five minutes had passed before Alex heard a response through the pipes. He was a little rusty, but he was able to translate it. One of the lower ranking members informed him that all of the lieutenants and guns were placed into solitary. The only good news he got was it that it wasn't just his leadership that was put into solitary but every gang in that prison lost their leadership, because they were put into solitary as well.

By the time, they finished talking; Alex had put in to place a new ranking system. While all the leadership is locked up in solitary, he put into place individuals he trusted to run things temporarily. They will run things for now, but will not carry out anything without talking to him first. He made it clear they needed his green light to carry out anything.

The last thing they discussed was the taking out of the warden. Alex wanted them to devise a plan to not just take out the warden temporarily, but for good. He wanted a plan done by the end of the week. That way he will go over it and if he liked it, he can give the green light to execute it as soon as he could.

Meanwhile back at the hotel things went from bad to worse. Alex and everyone in the restaurant heard a lot of commotion coming from the lobby and they could not stay put. They headed out to the lobby to see what was going on. When they got there, they could not believe their eyes. The officers had their weapons pulled and pointed at Jacob, Mr. Jackson and the security staff that came with him.

The other surprise they got was seeing Al standing there with a gun in his face. They had no idea that Al was back. All of them thought that it was just Jacob, Mr. Jackson, and Harold out here in the lobby dealing with the officers but boy were they wrong.

At the same time, Al and Harold turned to the group, ordered them leave, and not come out until they come and get them. None of them wanted to go back, but they knew not to go against Al so they headed back to the kitchen and just as they reached the door, several more officers walked in, including the chief of police.

Alex hated being in the restaurant. It is driving him crazy being in here and not helping Jacob. He wanted to be out there helping Jacob and his grandfather with those idiot police officers, but he is stuck in here holding his balls in his hands. Now he is left here driving everyone crazy by walking back and forth with worry.

Finally after almost thirty minutes waiting in the restaurant, Mr. Jackson called everyone back out to the lobby. He started to explain how the new setup is going to work with his security now at the house. As Mr. Jackson went into detail, Alex was trying to keep his mind from wondering why no one was asking what was more than likely on their mind too. Why did the police officers have their guns out when they came out the first time? Since no one was asking the question, Alex kept quiet.

To everyone's surprise, Mr. Jackson did not take much more time. He quickly went over the rules in the new setup before opening up the floor for questions. The first were questions he knew he was going to get so he knocked them down quickly, but then Gary asked Jackson a question he wasn't prepared to answer. He looked over a two Al, and then Jacob and finally settled on Harold.

It was about the new program that was put in place by Harold. Al had no idea that the program had already started and answered the question with that in mind. Harold jumped in and had to correct Al. He informed him that he already released one person into the program, which started a miniature fight between Al and Harold.

Everyone just sat there quiet as these two tried to show the other that they are the one in charge. Mr. Jackson was just as confused as the others in the group were. When he finally had a chance to get into the conversation he put down some requests as well, which started a completely new avenue of fighting.

Harold made it clear to Mr. Jackson that he has no plans to let him or anyone on his staff see personal files of those who are being released into the program. They went back and forth with each other. Then Harold said something that got Al all up in arms and back into the conversation.

"It's really not much choice since Jacob's family and friends are guests here at this hotel that is owned by the foundation started out by Joey here. They have no more say on how things are run here. If you feel that Bobby being here is a threat you cannot handle it, maybe you should talk to Jacob and Al about going elsewhere to feel safe."

The look in Al's face was of anger and resentment on what Harold just said. Although the hotel was given to Joey, he still has say in it right now since the paperwork has not been officially put through. When he spoke, he made that very clear to Harold and Joey. Then when he said to Harold to shut up grabbed everybody's attention.

Helen immediately popped up and stopped her husband from replying to Al. She tried to calm everyone down in order for them not to say more things that they cannot take back. As all this was going on, Alex looked over at Joey and could not believe that he didn't say a word. After all, they are fighting over something that has been given to him out of the goodness of Al and Jacob's heart.

As soon as Al had finished talking, Jacob spoke a shock to everyone. "If you guys are done measuring your penises, could we move on to something that's actually important?" Both Al and Harold looked at Jacob as well as the rest of the group with the same look on their faces, stunned. None of them could understand why everyone is fighting today.

No one else said another word for the next ten minutes. Harold settled back down next to his wife, as Al and Mr. Jackson were talking among themselves. They were whispering to each other so low that no one could make out what they were saying. Finally, they came back over to rejoin the group.

Al spoke up and agreed with what Helen on that everyone needs to settle down. He went on saying that it has been a long two nights and everyone is tired. That was no lie, Alex thought. All he wanted to do at this point is get out of the lobby and go back up to his room and go to bed. Therefore, when Al called it a night, Alex was one of the first ones on his feet in at the elevator pushing the button to go up.

All the way up to the floor, no one said a word. When the elevator door opened, Alex took Jeremy to his room and made sure he was okay before he went back to his room. Matt was already in bed when Alex walked in. He got undressed and joined his boyfriend underneath the covers. They cuddled for a while before dozing off to sleep.

Since they went straight to bed the night before, when Alex and Matt woke up the next morning they jumped into the shower together. They played around a little bit but knew they could not go all the way. They had to get dressed and head downstairs for breakfast.

As they got dressed, Alex did not like that he had to comb his hair. He misses the days that all he had to do is crawl out bed, get dressed, and head downstairs. Now he has to spend time combing his hair. He did not realize that he was talking aloud his thoughts and Matt was hearing everything he was saying.

"You are a very handsome man no matter if your hair is long or short." Matt walked up behind Alex and wrapped his arms around his waist. "I love how your hair is right now Alex. It makes you more down to earth and what you are, which is not what everybody else thinks you are. You are no longer that person and I love you for changing."

Alex turned around, leaning his butt against the dresser and started kissing Matt on the lips. They stood there for a few minutes going back and forth with their tongues in each others mouth before breaking the kiss altogether. Alex leaned in and squeezed Matt's butt as he whispered in his ear that he loved him with all his heart.

There was no need for Matt to say a word because Alex already knew that his boyfriend loved him as much as he loved him. They kissed one more time before heading to the elevator to get downstairs. When they walked into the restaurant, they were not the last to arrive but also not the first.

Everyone at their own table talked with each other's table as if they have known each other all their lives. That included the group from Alamogordo, which Alex did not know much about them. He figured the only way he is going to get to know them is by talking to them so he talked to them as if he was talking to Carlos or any of his childhood friends.

Just as the conversations were getting good, Jacob spoke up and told everyone that they need to get going. As they got up to leave, Jacob stopped them. He brought up the driving issue, which no one thought of. While he went into detail, Alex saw where he was coming from and agreed with him.

They have all gotten used to routine, no one thought of how they plan to get to work after school. Thanks to Jacob that was brought up to the forefront. By the time, they finished discussing the topic, they decided, at least for today, to go to school as they normally do. After school is a different story, so for today, they decided to go ahead and car-pool with Jacob.

As soon as they settled how they plan to get to work after school, they headed out. Even with the hotel far from where their house is, they were only five minutes late to pick up Ethan, which made them just a few minutes later to school than normal. The only one that realized that was Alex, at least until he saw Jacob looking at his watch.

When they arrived at school, they went straight to the cafeteria and fell back into the routine. The only difference today than any other day was that everyone was looking at them. It did not take long for those that are watching Alex in the group to start talking about what had happened to the house. It got so bad, Alex was about to jump out of his seat and start knocking a few heads together get them to stop talking and looking at them, but Matt placed his hand on Alex's thigh to keep him out of trouble.

A few minutes after Jacob and Chase had left; Alex and the group got up and headed out to the stadium as they normally do. They talked all way up to the bell, and once the bell rang, they continued talking as they headed to the main building. When they reached the staircase, Josh called out to Alex and Matt.

At first, Alex thought that Josh was making a mistake when he was calling for him, but when he called out to him for the second time; Alex knew it was not a mistake. He walked over to Josh to see why he needed to speak to him and Matt. As he walked over to Josh, he was confused but at the same time, he was intrigued that the governor's son, who he really doesn't know, wanted to speak with him.

"First let me say how sorry I am to hear that your house has been burnt down. Please if you see Jacob before I do let him know that if he or anyone in his family needs anything, just pick up the phone." Josh extended his hand for Alex to shake. "And that comes from my father, not only from me.

Now the reason I called you is to find out a little bit about your friend Ron." Alex did not know that Josh knew about Ron, so he was confused that Josh brought it up. "Once again, my condolences for your loss! I did not know Ron, but the little that Jacob told me the other day he sounded like a very good man.

I understand today is his funeral, am I correct?" Alex shook his head. "Well Jacob asked me if I would sing at Ron's funeral, which I have no problem doing but I need to ask you first if that is what you want. It's not for me or Jacob to make that decision."

Right there and then Alex realized two things. The first and most important thing is that he does not have a ride to the funeral. He completely forgot about it this morning. Now he is here at school with out the transportation to get to the funeral. The second thing he realized is that this was what Jacob mentioned to him the other night. Jacob didn't go into detail because he hadn't spoken to Josh yet.

"Thank you and I would be honored if you would sing at Ron's funeral. Let me give you the address of the funeral home and what time the funeral is." Alex quickly pulled out a sheet of paper from his notebook and scribbled down all the information that Josh is going to need about the funeral.

They did not have much time left to talk, so they decided to get the details out of the way before heading their different directions. By the time, Alex was done giving a brief bio of Ron, Josh knew exactly what he was going to sing. The only problem he sees is that he needs the entire Show Chorus.

So instead of him going to his first period class when he and Alex went their separate directions, he headed to his Show Chorus classroom. Alex and Matt on the other hand went running to the locker, quickly grabbed their books they needed for their morning classes and headed off, barely making it before the final bell.

All through first period, the only thing that was on Alex's mind was how he is going to get to the funeral. The only thing he could do is go to Jacob and ask him to take him back to the hotel for his truck. Something that Alex really does not want to do, but knows he has no other choice but to bother Jacob for a ride.

Normally Monday dragged on for Alex because it is hard for him to return to school from the weekend, like any high school kid out there but this Monday was flying by quick for him. Before he knew he was heading to third period, eight hours away from having to head on over to the funeral home.

It seems it works this way all the time for Alex. Whenever he wants the time to slow down, it goes faster, and when ever he wants the time to go fast, a goes slow. Today he wanted the time to go slow because he did not want to bury his friend, a man that came along at the right time in his life when he needed a friend and a father figure!

About fifteen minutes until the end of class, Alex and Matt were called out to the attendance office. The note instructed the teacher to inform the boys that they each are to take all their personal items with them so Alex and Matt did as they were instructed; gathered all their stuff, and headed over to the attendance office.

When they walked in they found Alex's mother standing there waiting for them. She got up from her seat and walked over to Alex and Matt. "Do you guys have whatever you need to do your homework for tonight because you are not returning to school today." Alex and Matt both spoke at the same time that they needed to stop at their locker. "No problem, meet me in the parking lot. I will be waiting for you in the car by Jacob's truck." Alex and Matt agreed and headed out to their lockers.

They quickly put in the books they did not need and grabbed the books they did before heading out to the parking lot. When they walked out of the Schuster door, Francesca had already pulled up in the teacher parking area. The boys jumped into the SUV right when the school security guards were walking up. As they pulled out Matt kept looking back to make sure to school security guards had left.

"The fire to the house is really put a kink in everything." Francisca looked over at her son and then back at Matt. "You guys forgot to buy suits yesterday when we went out to buy all of our clothes so Matt look in the back and you will see two bags. The top one is yours and the bottom one is Alex's. I know my sons size, but I really do not know yours.

Before I headed out to buy your suits, I went into your room and looked at Matt's clothes to get his correct size. I know your sizes change depending on what you are wearing, but I tried my best so can you please look at your suit Matt and see if it will fit you. If not we can go ahead and quickly go back to the store and exchange it."

Map pulled his bag over the seat and unzipped it. He quickly looked at the size of the shirt and then the pants before answering Francesca. "You did great mom, they all are the right size." Matt re-zipped the bag and put it back on the seat behind him.

The rest of the way to the funeral home, Alex was telling his mom about what Jacob had done for him. Francesca was not surprised at all to hear that Jacob did what he did. It is just in his nature to help others whenever they need help.

With that said, Francesca asked if any of the other guys from the house were going to go. "I really do not know mom. When I told Jacob about Ron's death, Jacob did not have on his platter to find a place for us to live. So I really don't know, but what I took from the conversation we had most of the guys are going to come".

"I know if Jacob told you that he's going to attend the funeral, he will. Nothing is going to stop him even the burning down of the house so I am going to go ahead and save some seats for him and the rest of the family. What you boys need to do is as soon as we get there is go to the bathroom and change into your suits."

Neither Alex nor Matt disagreed with their mom so as soon as they got to the funeral home; they headed to the restroom and changed their clothes. Matt took what they were wearing at school back to the truck, while Alex went to go find a funeral director to make sure everything was on schedule and to inform him of the last minute addition of Josh singing.

Just as Matt found Alex, Alex had just finished briefing the funeral director about Josh coming in and singing. The funeral director had no problem with the change. He will do what ever add on that Alex and Matt wanted. As long as it stayed with in what Ron wanted for his funeral. Adding someone to sing a song is not going to take anything away from that.

Once they got that out of the way, Alex and Matt made their way to the church. They found not only Francisca there, but also Al, Virginia, Jeremy, and Alex's grand parents were already sitting in the front row. Alex and Matt walked over and greeted them before taking a seat. A few minutes after they took his seat, they heard Ron's brother voice echoing through the church.

Alex got up and walked to the back to find Ron's brother arguing with the funeral director. He tried to find out what was the problem, but he was just ranting on about so many different things. The poor funeral director had no other choice but to stand there and take the ranting, but Alex did not.

"Sir, excuse me sir, this is a day of mourning. This is not the day for you to come in here and be arguing with somebody that is just doing their job. Ron had set out what he wanted and that is what the funeral director is following. So if you love your brother the way you have been staying that you do, respect him and his wishes. Please take a seat and say your final goodbyes to your brother."

Ron's brother just stood there looking at Alex in aw of what he just said. Finally, after several conversations, Alex actually got through to him. He apologized to the funeral director before rejoining his family. Once he rejoined his family, they walked into the church together and sat down.

When Alex turned to rejoin his family, he saw Josh and the entire Show Chorus getting out of a van in the parking lot. That was the biggest surprise. The entire Show Chorus was in black suits. Not only did they come at such a short notice, but also they came in suits.

Alex walked out to greet Josh and the others. "I am glad to see that you were able to make it Josh." Alex looked at the other members of the Show Chorus. "And thank you all for coming and doing this on such a short notice as well." Alex went around and shook every one of the member's hands before showing them into the church.

Shortly after Josh and the Show Chorus arrived, Jacob and the guys walked in. Once again, Alex was surprised to see them in suits. Just like him and Matt, they did not buy any suits the day before when they went out shopping.

Jacob and the guys took the bench behind the bench that Alex and Matt were sitting in. Before Jacob settled in, Alex started talking to him. "Thank you for coming and doing what you did on getting Josh on board to sing a song for Ron. I know he is looking down at us and is grateful for not only for you guys are showing up, but for getting Josh and the Show Chorus to sing here today."

"It was the least I can do. Ron was a very good man and I really enjoyed getting to know him. It is sad that he passed away way before his time but he left a legacy with you and you need to honor that legacy. He taught you and told you many things. Take everything you got from him and pass it on."

"That is what I plan to do is honor the man that didn't judge me from my past mistakes like so many do. He took a bunch of boys into his room and showed them a different way to look at life. Something I was never taught by my father and that I will never forget."

Jacob and Alex continued to talk while the Church filled up. Right at one o'clock, Ron's Priest walked up to the podium and started the service. The minute he started talking the Church went quiet. They listened as the priest went through Ron's favorite passages from the Bible. Once he finished he invited Ron's family to come up and say a few words.

No big surprise, the first one up at the podium was Ron's brother, and then after him were the other members of Ron's family ending with Ron's son. When he finished the priest retook the podium and invited anyone else that wanted to say a few words. At first no one got up, but after a few minutes of silence a few of Ron's military buddies went up and said a few kind words.

Alex got up and walked up to the podium as soon as Ron's military friends took their seats. "Matt and I didn't have the honor to know Ron as long as many of you in this church have known him but we did have the honor to spend the last months of his life learning from him. Learning from a man that had a lot to teach the youth like me that there is a different way of living your life.

The only thing I knew was what I was taught by my father and that was nothing but trouble. Ron took me underneath his wing and taught me that there was a lot more to life than gang banging and causing trouble. He was an angel that came into my life at the right time when I needed an angel. He never once judged me from what I have done in my past. He gave me a clean slate the moment we met.

Very few people in my life have done that for me. Those that have are sitting here in this church with me and I am proud to call them my family as I was with Ron." Alex choked down his tears trying to not breakdown at the podium. "My friend, no correct that, my brother Jacob said the right words about Ron before the service started. Let me share those words with you because they are exactly what Ron is.

I know this is said so many times when someone passes away, but with Ron these words ring true. He was taken away from us way too soon with so much still to teach us. Those he met throughout his life span became better people by meeting him. Not only did he share his experiences of his life with everyone he met, but also he showed us life is worth living. He left us his legacy and we must pass that legacy onto anyone that we meet.

Therefore, whenever we have a chance to help someone that is in need we need to do that. Because we know if Ron was here and met that same person, he would help that person. He would not judge the person from their past or would he hold a grudge against anyone. Let's honor the man by doing what he has done for us and that is give."

Alex wiped the tears away as he walked back to his seat. Matt grabbed Alex's hand as he sat down and held it tightly. The priest took the podium and said a couple more Bible verses before inviting Josh and the Show Chorus up to sing. As they made their way to the front, Alex and Jacob got up to see if they could help them with anything.

They did not need any help since everything was set up before the services had started so Alex and Jacob retook their seats and waited for Josh to start singing. Josh chose a beautiful song by Alabama called Angels Among Us. He felt what he learned about Ron from Alex this morning it matched him perfectly.

Josh grabbed a microphone and walked in front of the Show Chorus. He started to speak with just the piano playing in the background, which confused everybody since they all thought he was there to sing. By the second line, Alex understood it was part of the song.

I was walking home from school on a cold winter day.

Took a shortcut through the woods, and I lost my way.

It was getting late, and I was scared and alone.

But then a kind old man took my hand and led me home.

Mama couldn't see him, but he was standing there.

And I knew in my heart, he was the answer to my prayers.

By the end of the first verse, Josh started singing. His baritone voice echoed through the church grabbing everyone's attention. It did not take long before Alex started to tear up as well as almost everyone else in the church.

Oh I believe there are angels among us.

Sent down to us from somewhere up above.

They come to you and me in our darkest hours.

To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.

To guide us with the light of love.

When life held troubled times, and had me down on my knees.

There's always been someone there to come along to comfort me.

A kind word from a stranger, to lend a helping hand.

A phone call from a friend, just to say I understand.

And ain't it kind of funny that at the dark end of the road.

Someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope.

At this point Alex could not hold back his tears. Along with his mother, Al, Virginia and Gloria, Alex started to cry and shake. The song that Josh chose is right on target as far as what Ron was to him and more likely, to everyone else he met! Matt felt Alex shaking and he looked over to see his boyfriend wiping away a steady stream of tears. Seeing that, Matt started to cry as well.

Oh I believe there are angels among us.

Sent down to us from somewhere up above.

The members of the Show Chorus stepped up to where Josh was standing and started to sing along with him. If there was a dry eye in the house before this, there was not one anymore. The Show Chorus singing along with Josh did what it was supposed to do, touch every heart and soul in the room.

They come to you and me in our darkest hours.

To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.

To guide us with the light of love.

The pallbearers got up from their seats and walked over to Ron's casket. When they picked it up, everyone in the church got up from their seats and turned towards the aisle. Alex tried to stop crying, but when Ron's casket passed by him with the United States flag draped across it, he barely was able to stay on his feet.

They wear so many faces; show up in the strangest places.

To grace us with their mercy, and our time of need.

Josh and the other members of the Show Chorus continued singing as the casket made its way out of the church. No one moved until Josh and the Show Chorus finished singing the song. The pallbearers that were carrying Ron's casket stopped at the double doors, turned, and waited until the song had completed.

Oh I believe there are angels among us.

Sent down to us from somewhere up above.

They come to you and me in our darkest hours.

To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.

To guide us with the light of love.

To guide us with the light of love.

Everyone just stood there as Josh finished the song. When he looked out to everyone in the church, he saw that every person was actually crying. Not just misty eyes, but full out crying. Some tried to hide it, but could not. Alex grabbed a hold of Josh and pulled him into a hug as he passed them to get to his seat. Through his tears, Alex thanked Josh repeatedly and when he finally let him go, he told Josh it was a perfect song.

Once Josh and the Show Chorus took their seats, everyone started to file out. Once the immediate family reached the casket, the pallbearers, which were uniformed soldiers, started their way out of the Church. Everyone follow them in silence to the plot that Ron had chosen to spend his afterlife.

The Priest said a few more words before he handed it over to the honor guard. All of a sudden, everyone heard loud clicking sounds coming from behind. Just as they turned around to see what was going on they started to fire. The nine-gun salute is given to every soldier when they pass away.

Just as they finished their nine-gun salute, several fighter jets flew above making a loud noise and shaking the ground. As they passed, bagpipes started to play as several soldiers pulled the flag off the casket and started folding it up. Once they had it in a triangular, a soldier walked over to Alex, handed him the flag, and said one the sentence.

"From a grateful nation, who thanks Ron Baird for his service!"

Alex took the flag and just stood there not able to feel a thing as Ron's casket started to be lowered into the ground. As soon as the casket hit the bottom, one by one each person walked over, grabbed a shovel, and threw dirt onto the casket. Alex and Matt were the last to do it. Once each of them tossed the dirt onto the casket, they stood there for a few more minutes saying their final goodbyes.

When they felt that they said everything they could have, they walked back over and rejoined the family. Normally somebody has a meal at his or her house after funeral, but Ron asked for that not to happen. He wanted everyone he knew to go on with their life as happy as they can be. However, this is one thing Alex is going to disregard. He called everybody over and invited them to the Texas Roadhouse to celebrate Ron's life.

TO BE CONTINUED...

I have a home page for you to see what the characters look like or what the places look like. If you want to walk in their shoes, please go to: http://jacobmillertex.com/

WRITER'S CORNER:

{Welcome back to another chapter of "Beneath the Mask". This chapter was a very exciting, but yet sad chapter at the end. We all knew for a couple chapters that there was going to be a funeral, but no one, including myself, knew how was going to be. As I wrote out the last couple of pages of this chapter, I had to stop several times in order to get control of my emotions. I actually cried several times as I wrote the last part of this chapter and I hope it touches you as much as it did me as I wrote it.

Let me stop there about the ending and I will get back to it later on in this summation. First, let us start out with the beginning of the chapter, which picked right up where the last chapter ended. Now much of what was covered at the beginning of this chapter was also covered in "Jacob Finding His Way", but in a lot more detail so if you want more detail about the fire and the aftermath go to chapters seventy-one and seventy-two of Jacob.

I did not repeat myself on any of the main topics that was in complete detail in my other stories. I did though write a little bit about it so where you guys knew where I was as far as the timeline in the story. I am glad that everyone went to the hotel as a family after the fire and was there for each other if anyone needed the other.

More and more Alex is growing into a better person and we saw that a lot in this chapter. Let us start out with him noticing how Jacob was the day after the fire. He did not feel right on how everyone was acting as far as selecting their new clothes but at the same time he knew that Jacob was not going to let him help with anything. Again, Alex is showing that he is growing into a better man every day.

I loved it when Alex and Matt kept an eye on the cost of each item. They did their best to try to help Jacob save on spending money. I hope that Jacob did not catch on to what they were doing. The answer to that concern is in chapter seventy-two of Jacob.

Alex being Alex wanted to go out to the lobby and back up Jacob with the police. I am glad that Alex showed some restraint and stayed in the restaurant. Knowing Alex he would have retreated to his old self and end up doing something stupid to land him in jail. He has put his life together and he needs to continue to show restraint whenever things come up in his life that might push them back to its old ways.

Let us talk a little bit about Jeremy, because it's starting to seem to me that Alex is becoming more of a brother to Jeremy that his own brothers except for Jacob, because he is probably only one in the family that actually spends time with Jeremy and checks up on him! However, the others seem to want to Monday morning quarterback Alex whenever they see something they do not like. I like the way Alex handled the situation with Andy Junior and Senior.

Now back to the ending of this chapter. Alex hurt more with the loss of Ron than he did when he lost his own father. In such a short period, Ron influenced Alex in such a way that he will always remember him. To prove my point on that is by the way he was taking Ron's death plus what he said when he went up to the podium. Alex will never forget his friend and mentor Ron as long as he lives.

I know there are many characters in the saga that you have not seen for a while. In the chapters to come those characters will be back. I have many plans for each of them and you cannot miss one chapter or you will be kicking yourself in the butt for it.

I hope you have enjoyed this story and my other three stories I am writing. I do not know if you are because the e-mails have stopped. To tell you the truth I really do not know what else to say to get you guys to tell me what you think. When I first started writing these stories I got a lot of feedback that gave me many avenues to go in my stories. I read each one of your e-mails and if I like your suggestions, I use them. So please when you have a chance drop an e-mail even if it's a few lines letting me know what you think about what you have read.

If you do not like dropping e-mails, you have several other ways to let me know your thoughts about what you are seeing and reading. Either you can drop your comments on the story page, at the end of the chapter you are reading or on the main page area, that says story discussion plus I have a forum you can go to and see what others are saying and put a comment there as well. The shortcut to that forum is on the main page.

I do not want to say too much more and spoil the future chapters to come, so I won't. I warn you though! Do not skip a chapter, or you will be lost. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacob@jacobmillertex.com, Thanks!}

EDITOR'S CORNER: As your guest editor for this chapter, I must also start with my reactions to the funeral service. I, too, had many tears as the message of the positive impact that Ron (and hopefully each of us can do the same) had on Alex and others. I hope that during my own half-century as an educator, I have been able to have at least a little of Ron's type of impact on others. Let us know who has had a major positive impact on your life. We will be most interested.

Grandfather Alex has his task set out for himself as he must "rule" his gang from his Solitary Confinement amidst new, strong, and rigid prison rules. "Turncoat guards" are no longer available so he will have to be very creative. Will his version of Morse Code work or be found out? Can he do want he wants? How might he do it if his Code does not work? Share your own perceptions and predictions with our author soon--he will listen to them! I will as well!

I want to know why the authorities seem to be showing such a negative and forceful side towards Jacob and his 'extended family're the torched homes! Their attitudes and actions seem to be way beyond normal and especially unusual when directed at a family with both strong economic and political ties in the community and state.

Again, your speculations as to the police motives would be of interest to Jacob and to me! Please respond!

If you do not already read Regrets and Heartaches which I edit, I invite you to join with the many who also follow Joey and his family who are now moving to El Paso

as well.

--Kentohio@jacobmillertex.com