Ain't No Fool

Chapter Sixteen

Tex took a step back in pure shock. 'That was Mark?' He thought to himself 'that was the man Missy had talked about last night, the man that had been in prison? How was it possible that he had found her? Wasn't the foster care program top secret or something?' Tex's mind flooded with questions 'does this mean Pop has access to me and D's foster care family? I mean how would Mark find Missy without it? How was this all planned without Mr. and Mrs. Greenberg's knowing? And Joshua, he was very sly with Missy. How did he not know? And D! She can smell a secret a mile away...how was Missy so secretive with-

"Tex!" Missy floundered her arms in his face trying to get Tex to listen to the rest of her story, "Listen to me."

Tex looked her right in the eye. They were a strange golden color that he had never seen on any other person before.

"Look, I brought y'all with me to tell ya that I'm leavin' the Greenberg's joint. I'm leavin' with my Dad and we're goin' to Frankfurt."

"Frankfurt, Kentucky?" Tex asked raising a brow.

"Yea, it's a random place where no one 'll come lookin'," Missy replied, "But I need ya to tell Mr. and Mrs. Greenberg that I went over to a friend's house. They won't suspect anything till I'm long gone with my dad." Missy smiled in delight of her own plan.

But Tex's mind still filled with questions and thoughts and illusions of bad things happening. Sure, he would help Missy out but what happens if Mr. and Mrs. Greenberg ask more questions that Tex could not answer...or what if this guy was never even really her father? What if he was really a serial killer and murdered Missy...after all he had been in jail.

"Look Tex," Missy started, "I know your mind is filling with all of the what-if's but I need ya to know that I got this whole thing planned out. I'm gonna be fine and you won't gotta worry, I promise."

Tex nodded, "So ya leavin' now?"

Missy nodded, "It was awesome meetin' ya, Texas Winston. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

And with that Missy walked off as if she was just another greaser child getting ice cream with her father. And all Tex could think was There she goes. Tex stood in that same spot for a long while trying to think of something to do. Sure, Dakota was spitting at a table eating ice cream with a few friends from the North side but Tex just stood by the window still watching the spot where she had walked off on. For whatever reason Tex felt a connection to Missy, a connection that he would never be able to put into words. And that was what kept her in his mind for so long.

That night the three Greenberg's and two Winston's sat down for a dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Dakota hated meatloaf so she pushed her fork around it. And Tex, just plain didn't want to eat. Missy was still in his mind. All the what-ifs, that she had promised would never occur, reappeared in his mind.

"Tex?" Mrs. Greenberg asked as she took a sip of her wine, "Is something wrong?"

Tex shook his head, "No, ma'am."

"Are you sure? Did you and Missy get into a brawl or something?" Mr. Greenberg asked.

Tex shook his head no. It finally dawned on him that the Greenberg's still thought that Missy was at a friend's house. They would be very upset when they found out that she had left the city with her father...that is if they found out.

"Well," Mrs. Greenberg sighed, "We have some news."

Tex and Dakota slowly looked up at the woman. She seemed a bit upset, "It seems that Dakota and Tex will be leaving early. Mr. Jackson or Randy, as you kids know him, died last night from an alcohol overdose."

Tex nearly chocked on nothing. Randy...dead? That was impossible! Randy was the devil himself, how could he just die? And...

"So that means that Texas and Dakota will be returning to live with their father," Mrs. Greenberg continued.

Dakota's face shined, while Tex was still trying to get over the fact that Randy was dead. It wasn't like he was sad or anything. He was just...shocked.

"Miss Swaths will be here tomorrow morning to pick you both up," Mrs. Greenberg concluded.

Tex smiled finally...he was going home.