“Oh God baby, why didn't you let anyone know you were home. You got us all worried.” Maggie said, kissing his cheek.

“You can handle it, but you wont yell in my house, not till I'm dead and gone, understand me?” Troy's grandmother was shorter then his father, but she didn't bat an eye as she stood there. “Now he was on the property, but he couldn't really tell anyone he was here if he was sleeping, now can he.”

October 1st 1982
Northern California
:Continued:

Modine hung up the phone, and called Vance to let him know what was going on. She then finished Troy's sandwich. The boy at in silence, till he stopped halfway though the sandwich and he looked at her. “I'm in trouble, aren't I?”

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “Not as much as Vance will be.”

“Why, because of the window?” Troy asked.

“That and for running you off from the bus.” Modine replied.

“But Dad will take his side, he always takes his side.” Troy's shoulders slumped as he put the half eaten sandwich on a paper plate.

“I know.” She replied. “But trust me, he's got another thing coming. You're not facing him alone this time.”

A few minutes later the door opened up and Troy's mother raced in, rushing to his side to hold him tightly. He heard his father coming in and he began to shake.

“Oh God baby, why didn't you let anyone know you were home. You got us all worried.” Maggie said, kissing his cheek.

“I was sleeping.” He said meekly.

“Where the HELL have you been!” William screamed as he got just outside of the kitchen.

Modine stood up slowly and blocked his way into the kitchen. “Now I know your hearing is still good. I told you where he has been. Asleep on my porch swing. So don't you dare yell at him for that.”

“Mom, let me handle this.” He snarled at her

“You can handle it, but you wont yell in my house, not till I'm dead and gone, understand me?” Troy's grandmother was shorter then his father, but she didn't bat an eye as she stood there. “Now he was on the property, but he couldn't really tell anyone he was here if he was sleeping, now can he.”

“Mom, that's not the point. He walked away from the bus stop. We had no idea where he was at.” William replied, his voice losing his anger.

“True, that was bad. But according to him he got to the edge of the farm as the bus was heading the other way.” Modine replied. She turned to the boy who was finishing his food and looked to his mother. “Did you need to call anyone else?”

“Yeah, I need to call Peter's parents.” Maggie said. “But the number is at the house.”

“Well finish that food boy. I was going to send you to bed without dinner, but I can't do that anymore.” William said, shaking his head and glaring at his mother.

“And are you going to send Vance to bed without food?” Modine asked.

“Well it would be unfair now, wouldn't it?” William asked.

“Would it? He did attack Troy at the bus stop, taunted him till he left. Can you blame your son for not wanting to be around someone who is teasing him or beating him up? And when he came home, did Vance have his friends with him? I know you two have a thing about unsupervised kids on the property. Troy watched them, all three of them. Did he not break a window?” Modine put her hands on her hips and glared back at her son. “So far all Troy is in trouble for, in my eyes, is the fact he walked home and I can't blame him for that and for falling asleep.”

She glanced down at Troy and smiled. “Don't go to bed tonight, you may get in trouble.”

The boy failed to suppress a snicker, but William didn't hear it. “Mom, we didn't want them walking till he was old enough. What if something happened?”

She kept her attention on her grandchild. “Tell me Sweetie, when you go to your friends house, do you walk or ride a bike?” She asked.

“Sometimes, if Mom and Dad can't take me.” He said with a nod.

“Good, and doesn't he live in the other direction, past the school?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. About a couple miles past.” Troy replied, his mind working to see where she was headed.

She turned to face her son again. “So it's okay for him to ride his bike to a friends house which is past the school, but he can't walk home from school, and that's a shorter distance?”

“Well...I...” William closed his mouth for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.

“You're right Modine.” Maggie said, standing up and looking at her husband and his mother. “It is a shorter distance. Plus he is a bit more grown up then his brother.”

“More grown up? What about all the times that he punches Vance?” William looked to Maggie, then at his Son.

“Really? Are you that stupid?!?” Modine spat out, causing him to whip his head back and look at her. “I've watched what happens. Vance punches him and runs off. If Troy says anything, you yell at Troy for tattling. You've told him to act like a man. To not let it happen, yet when he defends himself, he gets in trouble. You know your eldest likes to punch him in the kidneys? Whats the most Troy has done? A few throws? I think that kidney damage is a bit worse then a throw to the ground.”

The old woman stood her ground and glared at her son as he just watched her. “You let Vance run wild because of him playing in sports, but Troy is on a tight leash.”

“She's right.” Maggie walked over and stood next to her mother-in-law. “You do treat Vance differently then Troy. I've never said anything till now, but I should have.” She looked over her shoulder to her youngest Son. “I'm sorry baby.”

“It's okay Mom.” Troy said, keeping his attention on what was left of his sandwich.

“Have you even tired to talk to your son? To find a middle ground? Something the two of you can do together?” Maggie asked. “Or, because he isn't into sports, you just gave up on him, hoping he'll become a man on his own?”

“I....” He thought about it for awhile. He tired to think of the last time he had done anything with just Troy. All his free time was with Vance.

“Now I'm not saying we're too tough on Troy, god knows I let him get away with stuff, but between the two of them, he's doing better in school. His friends are nicer then Vance's.” Maggie put a hand on her husbands shoulder. “I'm easier on Troy and give him stuff because he helps around the house, always has. Vance? We have to threaten just to get him to do the dishes.”

William remained quiet, but slowly nodded as he realized she was right. “William, you want Troy to grow up, but you baby Vance. You turn a blind eye to his little stunts. Between the two of them, Vance should be the good one. The one setting the example.”

“Yeah.” He said with a sigh.

“Look, I'm not saying he shouldn't be in trouble for not telling people that he was going to walk home, but I can't blame him for why he walked. If someone was pushing me and teasing me, I'd leave too.” Maggie looked at her husband. “And I've watched you do the same, so don't blame him for that.”

“Tell you what. Go get Vance, come over and Tory and I can warm up some left-overs.” Modine said, moving to the refrigerator. “Let's get a little food in us and maybe we'll all calm down. Then I can suggest some punishments for both boys, okay?”

“Okay Mom.” William knew it was pointless to argue with his mother. So he headed for the door.

Connor came into the kitchen with a paper grocery bag in hand. He began pulling out cartons of ice cream and setting them in the freezer. “Everything okay here?”

“For now Dear.” Modine said, giving him a peck on the cheek. “Thank you for going to look for him.”

His grandfather looked at him and nodded his head. “Just glad he's safe.” It was one of the few times that Connor had treated him nicely and he liked it.

“Me too.” Modine said, then she tapped Troy's chair. “Come on young man, we got leftovers to heat up.” Maggie started to move to the stove and Modine held a hand up. “Consider this a start to his punishment.”

“Okay.” Maggie said with a smile.

Troy got up and with his grandmothers instruction, he began heating up the food, except for the pasta salad that he had made the weekend before. A few moments later William came back in, with his eldest in tow. Vance held his head down, trying to not make eye contact with his mother.

Troy began placing food on the table and Modine grabbed the plates. “Help yourselves.” She told them. As the family slowly reached for the food, she took a seat and began. “I try to stay out of your business, normally. But today I had to step in and for good reasons.” She said to her son. “I am sorry, it's not that I don't think you can't raise your sons, but sometimes you need an outside perspective. So I'd like to offer a thought on punishments, if you'd consider them.”

Both Vance and Troy looked at their plates. William didn't reply, but Maggie nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Well, first I want to hear Vance's side of the story. Then I'll tell you what I came up with.” She looked at the elder child in the room. “So, young man, tell me what happened, from the end of school to now.”

“Well.” He began, trying for his most pathetic look he could muster.

Modine just fixed him with that gaze that all mothers and grandmothers get. The one that says. “I don't believe your going to try and lie to me.”

He slumped in his seat and began his tale. “Well, I was walking to the bus and I tripped, accidentally pushing Troy to the ground. Then he didn't get on the bus...and then OW.” The screamed out seconds after a slap hit him in the back of the head. Maggie glared at him.

She held one finger in his face. “We've got two people who say you pushed him to the ground and then teased him. Stop lying.”

He nodded slowly and then started again. “Okay, I kind teased him a little and he walked off. It wasn't bad at all.”

“Oh, calling him a baby and saying he needs diapers in front of his friends and classmates wasn't bad?” Maggie turned her chair towards her son.

“Maggie, it's okay, I know when he's lying to me.” Modine said, causing Vance to look at her, his jaw dropping open. “Please continue.”

“Okay.” He said. “Well we got home and he wasn't there so I knew I'd get in trouble and I was trowing rocks and one accidentally hit the window.”

“And you blamed someone else for that.” Maggie reminded him.

“Yeah, I blamed Frankie.” He said, looking at his hands.

“Some friend you are.” She said with a disapproving shake of her head. “Is that all?”

“Well I was worried about Troy.” He looked up, trying for the innocent look, and failed miserably.

“Worried about him, or worried that you were going to get in trouble because of what you did?” Modine let the statement hang, then she called out to her husband “Connor, can you come in here?”

A few seconds later Connor walked into the room and leaned against the door frame. Modine looked from him to her son. “We try to stay out of your business and when it comes to punishment for the kids, but I have a few ideas, Connor has been busy in his shed and then there's work in the field.”

She looked at Vance, he kept his gaze on his lap. “Vance, you have a big problem with your lying. Plus you're a bully to your brother. Yet when he defends himself, you go crying to your dad, not really fair is it.” When the older boy looked up in surprise, she nodded. “Yes, I've seen you do it.”

Troy began to smile till she looked at him. “You shouldn't go wandering off without telling people where you are. Plus, you know to be the bigger person and to walk away from a fight, but I can't yell at you for defending yourself, anyone would do that.”

She looked back to her own son. “So here is my idea. More chores for both of them.” To her side, both boys groaned. “For Vance, since he is the stronger of the two, I think him working in the field and around the house would be a good thing. Put that destructive side to him to work in a good way. There's lawn work. The leaves will start to fall soon. He can mow the lawns, weed the gardens and flower bed, rake the leaves. He can help Connor clean the garage. The olives will be ripe soon too, so he can help there as well.”

Vance looked up. They had always helped with the olives, but their grandfather had paid them for it, giving them money to spend on Christmas gifts. “Will I still get paid for what I pick?” He asked.

“I don't see why not.” She replied.

“What about me? Can I still pick the olives too?” Troy asked. He didn't like the work, but the money they got paid was always good.

“I'm not sure. It depends on if you have free time.” She turned to face Troy. “For you I suggest something a bit different. You helped me in here today and last weekend, so for you I want help in cleaning my house once a month. Plus, if your mother agrees, I think you should take over a bigger role in the house. Cleaning a room of the house once a week, but not their bedroom.” Vance began to smile at him, till his grandmother continued. “But you'll have help in your room. It would be unfair to clean your room all alone if someone else is making it dirty all the time.” Troy smiled at his brother.

“I also want to teach you how to cook. I've talked to your mother many times and when she comes home from work she doesn't want to cook. So you and I and you and your mother will be teaching you how to cook.” She looked at Maggie and raised an eyebrow. “That seem fair to you?”

Maggie nodded, but kept the smile from her lips. They had already agreed on that job, but it worked. Now Vance couldn't claim favoritism. “Works for me. I hate eating so close to bed time anyway.”

“But the dishes can be done by both of them. If you're home and Troy doesn't cook, then he can do them, but if you work, it's Vance's job. So do both punishments seem fair? I feel it's better to make them do something productive, rather then tan their hides and send them off to bed with no food. That only breeds anger and resentment.”

William nodded slowly, then looked at his mother. “Okay, I'll agree with it. More then what I was going to do.” His gaze fell to his boys. “But you're both grounded for two weeks as well.”

“Both of them?” Maggie turned to face her husband. “We discussed why Troy left.”

“Trying to be fair.” He said, to which his wife just glared at him. “Fine, you're right. Vance, you're grounded for two weeks. Troy, one week. And before we go home, you two can clean up this mess.”

“Unless Troy cooked, which he did.” Modine replied.

“It's fine Grandma. I can dry the dishes.” Troy replied. “I'm not above doing my part.”

Here's part 2. This is not the end of Vance's attitude, but only the beginning. I know the Grandma coming to his defense with a plan they already had seems hokey, but hey, it worked for me as a kid.