A Foster's Home

Chapter 9

A few hours after his talk with Darla, Billy split the team into groups. He decided that Eugene and Pedro would work together to find the parents' places of work while he, Mary, and Darla talked to Ezekiel Weathers.

The three of them went to Olive Garden to talk to the friend. Hopefully he was working there today. The quicker, the better so that Freddy could reconnect with his parents faster. Billy held the notebook in his pocket as if it would fly away. He hoped in his heart that the guy will provide answers to where they were buried.

They walked up to a man seating people to tables. Billy looked closely at the name tag, hoping it was him. It said Matthew. Billy sighed in disappointment.

"You two stay here," Mary said, pointing at the seats. "I'm gonna go talk to the guy."

She walked up to the man. "Hello," she greeted.

The man gave her a big smile. "Good evening, ma'am. How many?"

"Actually, we're not here for food. We're here because we want to talk to one of your co-workers. Is Ezekiel Weathers here today?"

"Yes, he is, but he's working. He'll be working all night, so you can try again tomorrow. Next please."

Mary tried her hardest to hide her annoyance, anger, and shock. She tried again. "Please, sir, it's very important that we speak to Ezekiel Weathers, and we're not leaving until we do. Kick us out if you want. We'll just stand outside."

"That will be fine by me. You can stand outside all you want until tomorrow morning."

"Wow," Mary turned to the people behind her so that they could hear what she had to say. "Letting three kids--not to mention foster kids to just stand outside in the cold when all we want is to talk to someone. That's really low if I do say so myself. What will they think of the man who made three lonely kids stand outside in the cold for a long time?"

The man looked around at the people's disappointed faces. He sighed in fustration and defeat. "Fine, I will see what I can do." Then he left without as much as another glance toward Mary's direction.

"Thank you very much."

Mary stepped out of the line and walked toward Billy and Darla. "He's getting Ezekiel for us."

"So I hear," Billy said, still in shock over what just happened. "I didn't know you could be so demanding like that."

"There's a lot about me that you don't know, Billy."

A few minutes after the confrontation with the worker, Matthew came back with a waiter by his side. The man was tall, had dark skin, brown, kind eyes, and a big smile on his face. Billy liked the guy already. Not even meeting him yet and he already understood why the Freemans liked him.

He walked up to the three kids, his smile never going away. "You wanted to speak with me?" he said with a hint of an African accent.

"Yes," Billy said, getting up. "We wanted to talk about something that happened years ago. Did you, by any chance, know a Ryan and Abigail Freeman?"

The man's joyful eyes suddenly turned sorrowful. His smile faded. Billy could tell that he was holding back a dam of tears. "I did."
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The four of them sat at a table farthest from everyone else so that they could talk without anyone eavesdropping. Billy sat next to Ezekiel while Mary and Darla sat across from them. Billy had his notebook and pencil out.

"Before I give you information on the Freemans, I have to ask what this is about. Why so interested in them?"

The three kids all looked at each other, mentally deciding who would speak up.