Chapter 74

FRANKIE'S POV
'Did you say your last name was Harley?" Maddie's voice echoed our thoughts as we all stared at the kid in shock. If there was a Harley that wasn't a grown up, does it mean Jay had a child? Jay Harley didn't look like someone that would hide the existence of his own son, it made no sense.
'Yes, his name is Clarence Harley" Ken answered while the boy nodded in agreement. If Jay Harley had a son, why didn't mum or Aunt Mel mention him? Or did they not know?
Danny shot me a look, 'Okay, Clarence Harley, you're now one of the knights guarding the kingdom. Do your best, okay?" He handed the card to the boy and I couldn't help but wonder why they saw such a thing as a privilege or worse still, an honor.
With Danny busy with his new recruit, Maddie pulled me slightly to the corner,
'Do you think Jay Harley had been hiding his son from all of us?" She asked in pure curiosity mode. A curious Maddie always ended up with me taking the fall for her actions, it was never a good idea. I didn't even know what to say to her, I was still trying to process the whole thing.
'We technically didn't ask if he had a child or better still a family, you know?" Danny pointed out as he walked towards where we thought was a private spot. I gave what he said a quick thought, Jay never did tell us about himself, we were just contented with being friends with our idol.
Maddie didn't see that as an excuse and her response revealed that, 'That doesn't matter, Frank. If he wanted us to know, he would have told us. We're children, how many things do we remember to inquire about?" A valid point.
Danny scoffed, 'We are children and that is the exact reason why we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Adults always have some kind of shit going on, we can't conclude on something we have close to no idea about" Another valid point.
Maddie wasn't one to back off of an altercation, 'So, you're an expert on adults and their emotions?!" She spat at Danny who looked so unbothered it was amusing to watch. I know I was supposed to intervened as the eldest but I was having way too much fun.
'I am not an expert but at least I have the common sense to know adulthood is entirely different from being a fourth grader with no real ambition" Danny responded in a pleasant smile on his face. Introverts have been known to give the lowest blows, not just low per say, their blows were definitely deadly also.
Maddie looked like she was about to cry and i decided it was time to step in, besides Stacey had deemed us worthy enough to get close to again and she had left the pavement where she had been sitting ever since we got out of the school's main entrance.
I decided a change of topic would ease up the tension, 'I think it's about to rain, why don't you guys stop your bickering and let's put heads together to find a way to go home since our parents have abandoned us?" I turned from one angry sibling to the other. If they had weapons with them, we would have experienced a live Dungeons and Dragons action but thankfully, weapons weren't allowed at a middle school.
'I think we should meet the principal and get him to help us call your mum" Stacey spoke for the first time since I found her crying in the bathroom after the unfavorable exchange with the bullies. Her idea was way better than the ones the warrior siblings had brought but there was a hitch in the plan, going to meet the principal would result in an interrogation I wasn't interested in engaging myself in.
Maddie saw an opening to make a comeback, 'Can you hear what a sensible idea sounds like?" Her question was directed to Danny and as I saw him gearing up for a return, I quickly cut in, again.
'Since we're all bringing up suggestions to get out of our current predicament, how about I make one of my own too?" Danny nodded, Stacey did too but Maddie did a low huff and crossed her arms around her chest. It was as close as a yes I would get, so I accepted it anyways.
I made sure their attention was on me before I started, 'Going to the principal is a good idea, Stacey" I turned to my princess and then back to my siblings, 'But it would mean our parents had other important things to do asides coming to pick us up and the principal would want to hold another meeting" I stopped to see if they were following but it seemed they weren't understanding what I was saying.
'What I'm trying to say is that, our parents can't afford to attend one of Principal Curtis's meetings right now with everything going on with Uncle Ken and Aunt Mel" I gave Stacey a sympathetic look which she acknowledged. Thank God.
'There are other solutions to this problem, we just have to look for them. There are two sides to a coin, you know" Maddie scoffed and Ken giggled. I had been too focused on Danny and Maddie's little fight, I had totally forgotten about Ken Jr and where was that kid that was with him?
It seemed I wasn't the only one that had forgotten about the child that was supposed to be in our care, Maddie turned her attention from Danny she was giving the stink eye to Ken, 'Where have you been all this while?" She almost shook the boy. Ken was totally different from his sister and he kept on giggling.
'Where's Clarence?" Danny asked Ken who had just finished laughing. I rolled my eyes, their clan leader had finally caught on the obvious.
'Isn't that Clarence?" Stacey's voice captured all our attention as a car drove past us slowly. It looked like Clarence but that wasn't what caught my attention. Was that Jay Harley?