I can't believe this. The social worker doesn't seem to care to do their job. This assistant has no idea what is going on. This is about a kid's life! Why isn't anyone willing to help? It's like they think I know what's going on, but I don't. This is ridiculous. I could scream at all of this.
"Hey, where is everyone?" Sam screeches from somewhere. I don't think his voice will ever drop.
"Kitchen!" I shout back, probably a bit too loud, but I want him to know where we are even if I don't know where he is. At lest it breaks the awkward pause with Carol.
Sam bounds in a few seconds later. He looks okay. No hint of what may have happened. He's not carrying his bag. Must have left it behind.
"So, I will notarize you filling out the temporary custody forms and financial acceptance waivers, and I will be on my way." Carol was proficient, but she hadn't mentioned the waivers yet.
"What's this about waivers? No one mentioned them before."
"While you are the custodian of Sam here, you will have limited access to Burton family assets until a more permanent solution is reached. I am not sure why this is being set up this way, but it is somewhat standard in temporary orders," she replied.
I take a quick look over the papers. Nothing seemed off, so I sign them. Just wished there was more to do. Everything seems wrong, like there's something missing. Maybe it is just me. At least this is temporary, probably. I stand to hand her the papers, a sign that she can leave. She takes the hint.
"Well, I guess I can leave you two here. Let me just go out the back. . . "
Sam interrupts her. "Go through the dining room. It will be faster and get you to car sooner." He quickly directs us to the door in the corner to our right. I guess he doesn't want us anywhere near the bathroom. From what happened at the car, it can't be smelling that good anywhere near it. I hope I don't have any trouble cleaning it up. Wait, I will be the one to clean it up. At least he wasn't that bad in Lexington, but still, this time could be worse.
"From what I read, when the patio was built, the kitchen was extended to provide access. The dining room likewise. The entire kitchen was redone to make room. It looks like they removed a door to the hall from there," she pointed to where a refrigerator was standing, "and added the island her to make up the missing space now taken by the breakfast nook and doors. The passkey was kept though."
She was pointing to a counter near the door. I hadn't noticed the shut window over it. I guess it made service easier. We go through the door into the dining room where there is a table longer than my car. To the right are two small cabinets bracing a window looking out onto the pool in the back. Two more windows are on the facing wall to the left, with a larger china cabinet between them. A door, to the hallway I guess, is halfway down the wall on the right. A large entry, mostly closed off by a sliding door, is on the far wall. The table is mostly covered by a cloth, as are the dozen or so chairs lining it.
"How often do you use this room? It's too large for just you and your parents."
"We normally eat in the kitchen. My parents only used this room for parties, but it's been a long time since we had one of those." Sam seems to be avoiding something, but I can't tell what.
We walk around the table to the sliding door where Sam opens it. The next room is partially walled off on one side to the larger living room beyond. A small sofa faces the television screen mounted on the wall to the right with a small curtained window to the left. A picture is on the wall blocking off the room.
"Is that your, I mean our father's work? I found online that he was an art professor."
Carol pipes up. "Actually, the is by a William Moses. He is a descendant of Grandma Moses and takes after her painting style. I think Mr. Burton studied with him, at times. Much of his art collection features primitive stylings such as this."
"Dad turned a spare bedroom upstairs into a studio. He only a few of his works here, mostly in the library on the other side of the house," Sam adds. He quickly guides us through the rest of the living room. "Mom wanted this room to be about being 'social,' that's why she moved the TV into this nook. She couldn't think of anything else to do with it."
"Yes. I think it used to be a sitting room before the remodel. There would've been another sliding door right here, between the two rooms." Carol was starting to should like a snob. She should have gone into real estate instead of law. "In fact, the room being used as a library was probably another parlor of some sort. I think there were even two servants' quarters in the back as well."
"We never had any help, not even a baby sitter for me. Dad uses them as a gym, or he used to," Sam chimes in. Lucky kid to have s stay-at-home mom. All I ever got was a grandmother so strict she would sometimes forbid me to go just down the road a few houses to play with my friends.
We leave the nook to go into the next room. The actual living room is rather large. A fireplace dominates the left wall, but it doesn't look like it has been used in years. Another sofa sits in front of it, with smaller chairs surrounding it. Tables with lamps and vases and small sculptures are everywhere. No books or even magazines. I guess they are relegated to the library. This is woman's room, through and through. Plain and uncomfortable. On the right is another sliding door, fully open to the entry way. The stairs are against one wall opposite the front door. That's when I notice the alarm.
"Uh, why isn't the alarm going off. We didn't have to key anything in went we used the back door."
"I didn't set it when I was taken. I am not sure if I know how to set it, although I've done it before, but nothing looked wrong," Sam says.
"Don't worry. The firm made sure it everything was in place. I had the alarms taken off as soon as you two pulled up. Just key in this number," she hands me a slip of paper, "and everything will be back online. I will leave you two here, then. I guess this is goodbye. Just contact the firm, after Monday, if you have any questions, or leave a message if there is an emergency before then."
With a big smile and a brief wave, Carol opened the door and walked out to her car, leaving me and Sam speechless in the open door. Now what.
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