Unexpected 8: Stand Proud

Chapter 20: THE 20 David

"Jim?" they heard a male voice from behind the door, "Street?"

"Hey Buck!" he said waving at the peephole

The door opened violently to a surprised Buck Spivey, former team leader of 20 Squad.

"What are you doing here?" he said as he suddenly turned to the kid next to Jim

"Um.." Jim began as the kid giggled, "I wanted you to meet my kid, Rubio." he said gesturing proudly to Rubio, who stood with a shy grin.

"Oh my God!" he lamented, holding his forehead, "Didn't I tell you to wrap it up, Jim? Tight!" he scolded, as the kid began to giggle and Jim felt embarrassed.

"Hi!" said a skinny teenage boy, standing behind Buck

"Hey, go wait by the couch...and don't eat all the popcorn!" Buck said gesturing inside. The man opened the door wide and continued inside. He then turned to the people at the door. "What? You're planning to stand there all night?"

Rubio shot a puzzled look at Street, who took a deep breath and shook his head with a smile. The kid went first, as Jim closed the door.

After greetings, serving refreshments and settling in the couch, all four enjoyed some quiet time watching a Netflix marathon on dinosaurs.

"You see the last movie of Jurassic World?" Rubio asked the kid

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah, I liked it. I don't know why people say it's so bad!" Rubio said, shrugging

"I guess they don't appreciate good films." the boy said, as they both sat on the couch hauled over the big bowl of popcorn in between their cushions. The boy suddenly turned to Rubio, and excitingly asked "Hey, I gotta collectibles' pack of dinos. Wanna see it?"

"Yeah!" Rubio said with a mouthful of popcorn

The boys rose up immediately and went towards one of the rooms. The adults were surprised at their enthusiasm, but didn't even move a muscle to stop them.

"So...Buck, how u been?" Street said taking a sip of his coke bottle

"Been doing really good. Spending time with the grandkid. It helps a lot. At least I get to see him sometimes."

"He seems like a good kid."

"He is! Really quiet type. He has a couple of health issues, you know?" he paused to think, as Street took another sip, "Gets bullied a lot in school."

"Oh"

"Yeah. He has some rare skin conditions, in his blood and breathing. I mean, poor kid has been sentenced to life with tons of pills."

"But, he seems happy."

"Aw, yeah! He's great. I try to spend as much time as possible with him, you know?"

"How many grandkids you got, Buck?"

"Two for now." he said with a deep breath. "When I lost control, I got divorced and the kids took her side. I did make amends, but only my daughter came forward. She has two, Noah and Oliver."

"He's Oliver?"

"Yeah, I call him Rex coz he's a huge fan of dinosaurs. Says he wants to study history and paleontology when he goes to college. Says he wants to work on digging sites in the mountains or the desert, like Doctor Grant." he paused as he smirked, staring at the direction the kids took when they ran off. "I've never met little Noah. His jerk of a father   took out an order to protection against me coz of my fallout."

"Aww, man, I'm sorry Buck" Jim lamented

"He's a fancy lawyer and has many ties with the big boys. Fought like hell for full custody after my daughter suffered from depression, and that bastard told the judge I was a danger to the kid. Slipped a couple of dollars and got the order."