Terry and I spent a lot of time together, and we included Bobby in as many things as we could.  Terry tried with everything he had to help Bobby behave.  Terry didn't have any kids of his own, but had four step children from another marriage.  So it wasn't like he was totally clueless.  But Bobby wouldn't cooperate with anything we tried.

We found out from Anne, that Bobby had been caught shop lifting at the convience store across the street from Terry's house.  Once again we find out too late to really do anything.  Terry talked with the cashier that was on duty.  For all the good that did, they wouldn't press charges.  Bobby was no longer allowed in the store, that was the best that they would do.

For Thanksgiving, my mother was doing the dinner for the family and invited Terry for dinner.   I again only found this out too late to do anything about it.  During dinner Terry had asked Bobby to pass the butter.  Bobby replied with "Fuck you" real quiet under his breath.  No one else at the table heard this.  Terry tells me that he came very close that day to walking out of my life forever.  I consider myself extremely lucky that he didn't.  It seemed to make him more determined to love me that much more.

I worked a Saturday which was out of our normal routine.  I had Bobby that weekend.  Terry agreed that Bobby could stay with him while I was at work.  Terry had been trying to quit smoking for three days, had been using the nicotine patches and was doing wonderfully.  Until this Saturday.  Bobby was caught playing with the lights on Terry's police truck.  A supervisor happened to drive by and see the lights flashing.  He followed Bobby into the house and let Terry know what the boy was up to.

Then Terry caught Bobby coming back from the store.  Bobby claimed to be talking to a friend of his in the parking lot.  Which Terry didn't believe, cause Bobby didn't have friends on that side of town.   Well this started a argument between the two.  Terry calls me at work telling me what Bobby had been up to that day, and that he was sitting there with a cigarette in each hand.  All I could do was shake my head.

In December, Terry's roommate claimed Bobby had taken two hundred dollars from his room.  Bobby of course denied this.  The roommate got into a big argument with Terry and Bobby.  He filed a report of theft against Bobby.  Terry found out about this the following week, and talked with the assistant chief.  Terry got the warrant for Bobby's arrest stopped.  He was afraid that I would hold it against him if this had gone through.  We had found the money in the living room couch the night that it mysteriously disappeared.   Now we could kick ourselves for not letting it happen.