Roswell Fanatics

The events of the night at the Evans and Parker house that night were most easily explained by simple inexperience. Not just on the part of the children…but on part of the parents as well.

Although the Parkers had been raising Liz for ten years they were still somewhat inexperienced as parents in handling problems. Oh sure, they’d had the usual problems of the terrible twos …and the conflict over the Billy Souto issue had tested them somewhat…but by and large Liz had been ‘the perfect Miss Parker’ and this was only their second experience with Liz even showing a temper…at least since the ‘terrible twos.’

For the Diane and Philip it was even worse. They had only stumbled into parenthood along a desert road four years ago, and half of that time Diane had spent getting the two kids caught up intellectually and academically. They certainly realized that their children…both of them…had some social problems. But neither parents nor children were really what you would call proficient at dealing with either issues of parenting or of growing up.

For both households it was in most respects sort of rookies versus rookies in the whole parent-child discipline arena. You might have guessed it would not go well. It didn’t.

“Max….,” said Diane. “I think you need some time by yourself to think about what you did today…and how you and I are going to explain it to your father when he gets home. I’d like you to go to your room and think about that. No TV, no video games, and especially no music.” Diane was on edge enough, she figured, without being subjected to that horrid grungey music of his.

“Can I call Liz…make sure she’s OK?”

The request caught Diane off guard. Max had never before requested to use a telephone to call anyone….unlike Isabel who was more of a social butterfly in her own superficial way. But Max had no one he regularly socialized with…except Liz….and he’d never before called her. Normally, Diane would have considered this a social breakthrough and been pleased….but now, considering the events of the day. What if Max really had done something to Liz…something that had intimidated her…caused her to scream? Or what if he needed to talk to Liz to coordinate their excuses? …their lies? Somehow, it just seemed too much of a coincidence that this afternoon was the time Max chose to become proficient at calling friends.

“No Max…No telephones either. Just stay in your room and read your school textbooks….although I don’t know when…or if…you are even going to be allowed to go back to Monterrey Elementary School. We’ll talk about it after dinner…after your father and I discuss it.”

Max’s eyes grew wide….no school? That meant…no Liz. He sadly shuffled off alone to his bedroom. He laid down on the bed sadly…reaching to his nightstand for the picture of her .... the picture she’d given him of the two of the sitting in the booth together. He lay there all alone…looking at the picture.

That wouldn’t last. An upset Isabel would join him there as soon as she could slip away from their mother.

As he heard the bedroom door open, Max looked up to see Isabel. This was going to make a bad day worse, he decided.

“MAX…WHAT DID YOU DO?”

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING,” he almost screamed back.

“YOU DID TOO, MAX. I CAN TELL…YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE HONEST WITH ME…”

Max took several deep breaths. He loved his sister…and he could see she was frightened…upset. This was only making things worse.

“Izzy…” he said softly. “Do you remember the vinegarooncrawled into your sleeping bag the weekend Mom and Dad took us camping?”

Vinegaroons..or whip scorpions… were harmless but ugly relatives of true scorpions. It had been their first…and only …time to go camping….Isabel had nightmares for weeks, and had steadfastly refused to even consider any more camping. Isabel had been having fun up until that point…when she’d crawled into her sleeping bag to go to bed…only to find eight-legged company there. When she’d felt the whip scorpion crawling on her leg…turned on her flashlight and saw it….well…four months of potty training had gone right out the window.

“OH YUK….THAT WAS TERRIBLE!” she cried, remembering the fright she’d felt.

“Well that was only one…Liz had dozens of scorpions on her…the stinging kind…..in her hair…on her face…down her neck….I was pulling them off her with my hands…squashing them as they stung me.”

Isabel was horrified by the thought…almost nauseous.
OH MAX…HOW COULD YOU DO THAT…?”

“It was that or let them sting her, Isabel. She almost passed out from the pain….they’d fallen down her neck…onto her chest…about a half dozen of them were stinging her.”

“DON’T TELL ME ANYMORE, MAX….I THINK I’M GOING TO BE SICK.”

“Well I didn’t heal her, if that’s what you are worried about. I didn’t risk connecting with her. I used molecular manipulation to destroy the toxin in the skin on her chest….”

“On her chest?” Isabel whispered…her eyes growing wide. Isabel also just had breast buds…but they were increasingly tender as she matured…the thought of a half-dozen scorpions rending her tender flesh with their stingers was horrifying to contemplate. All at once she had nothing but empathy for Liz.

“But then the principal walked up and shouted at us…just as I was done with the molecular manipulation.”

”THE PRINCIPAL SAW YOU DO IT?”

“No…not really. She didn’t see the glow or anything…I just hadn’t gotten my hand from under her blouse….I’m not sure what she thought I was doing…”

Isabel was really no older than her brother…but she was less naïve. She often dreamwalked people…to see what they thought of her…and some of them were boys. Her own budding womanhood had not gone without notice by some of the boys in her class….she was pretty sure what the principal thought was going on between Max and Liz…”

“So what did Liz say?”

“She said I was getting scorpions off her….but the principal didn’t believe her….”

“Max…you may be in more trouble than you think. The principal may think that you are interested in Liz…you know, …like Dad talked to you about…”

Max sat back down on his bed…thunderstruck. The ….mating habits…of Earthlings hadn’t been something he’d really considered would ever apply to him. He knew he was….different….that he would never be accepted by anyone other than his sister…and the thought of doing something like that with her went well beyond EWWWW…well into EWWWW overload. So he’d kind of put out of his mind ever doing anything like that at all with anybody….if his kind even did that sort of thing…which he kind of hoped they didn’t….it sounded….well…..EWWWW. If THAT was what his mother and father were thinking…, it was a wonder they hadn’t sent him back to the orphanage already.

“Izzy….you know I would never….”

“I know Max…and I guess I understand. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through that…being stung to death by scorpions. But are you sure Liz doesn’t realize what you did? Are you sure you didn’t connect with her…not even a little bit?”

“I’m pretty sure…but you know…if there was anyone I’d trust to tell…anyone at all to know about me…it would probably be Liz.”

”NO MAX…YOU CAN’T DO THAT. YOU JUST CAN’T…..NOT NOW…NOT EVER….DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“I know, Izzy…I know. I’d never let her know…never ever. You know I’d never tell her.”

“Max….be careful. I want you to have a friend…I want you to have a lot of friends…but don’t get too close, OK?”

“OK, Izzy.”

As was previously stated…it was rookie night. Although she had two fourth graders, Diane had only been a mother for four years. Perhaps if they’d been teenagers, she might have had qualms about listening at the door…but they were only ten years old….and somehow Max seemed to trust his sister more than anyone else. So she had listened at the door…hearing Isabel shout at her brother time and time again. She hadn’t heard his soft replies…or even everything Isabel had said….but she’d heard enough….

“MAX…WHAT DID YOU DO?”


“YOU DID TOO, MAX. I CAN TELL…YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE HONEST WITH ME…”

OH MAX…HOW COULD YOU DO THAT…?”

“DON’T TELL ME ANYMORE, MAX….I THINK I’M GOING TO BE SICK.”


”THE PRINCIPAL SAW YOU DO IT?”

”NO MAX…YOU CAN’T DO THAT. YOU JUST CAN’T…..NOT NOW…NOT EVER….DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?”

Long before Philip got home…Diane was convinced…whatever Max had done…it was bad enough that his sister was appalled by it……

At the Parker residence things were not necessarily going well either. A quick update to Jeff of the content of the meeting with the Principal quickly brought about a family conference over the kitchen table…all the more difficult because, in truth, none of the three really understood what exactly had transpired. The parents, of course, weren’t there, and had to choose the more plausible between competing stories with no first hand knowledge of what actually went on….but even Liz knew that she didn’t understand the entirety of what went on….the strange dream when she must not have been fully conscious….the rather abrupt cessation of the pain….the feeling of warmth his hand and well being that his hand had brought to her. In fact, all Liz was totally sure of about the event was that Max had done nothing wrong…that he would never do anything wrong to her…and that Max was again unfairly in trouble for helping her.

Jeff was doing his best to approach this calmly and openly…just like the books said. Besides...he really figured that he owed Max. Twice the young boy had put himself at risk to protect Lizzy…doing for her what Jeff truly believed was his job…when he hadn’t been there to do it himself. He’d seen the look on both Nancy and Diane the day that he’d run out of the back after hearing their screams and seen Max holding Liz’s broken arm tenderly on the sidewalk…a half dozen feet from the crushed Barbie bike. Yes…today’s news was disturbing…but not disturbing enough to erase the memory of that day or of the story of the drug-dealers dog. Jeff liked Max, and he loved his daughter. He was hoping…somehow…this could all just be straightened out…

“Lizzy…..you know I like Max…but there are some things that boys just shouldn’t do…and if they do those things…well, they need to be corrected…not that they are necessarily bad….but because they need to be taught that there are some things they just must not do. You remember when you and Mommy talked about…well…the birds and the bees..”

Oh yeah…Liz remembered that…she would never forget that terrible day. It was bad enough…the idea that there were some people who would do….that. But as her mother had continued to talk…Liz had come to the inescapable conclusion that her very own mother and father had done…that….at least the once…or she wouldn’t even be here.

The idea had sort of struck her with horror and she couldn’t remember exactly what she’d blurted out to her mother about hoping she hadn’t had to do …that….much before she’d become pregnant. Diane had smiled at her and told her that while it may seem frightening to her now…the time would come when she was a young woman…and met the right young man….and when the time was right for them…. that doing….that….actually wouldn’t seem all that unpleasant to her. And Liz had until now…never really believed her.

“…. and it’s not just for Max’s sake, sweetheart,” he continued, Liz suddenly remembering her father was speaking, “It’s important that you understand that modesty is important….that if you let Max get away with putting a hand where it really doesn’t belong….well, it reflects poorly on you as well…”

And that was the amazing thing, Liz realized. She WAS a modest person….a very modest person. She had nightmares already about junior high, where she’d have to dress and undress in a locker room…share showers with other girls. And the very reason that all the scorpions had gotten hung up in the bra stinging her was that she had wanted to conceal what changes were occurring under that training bra. In fact, when her mother had told her about….that…she couldn't even envision ever even being up close against a boy…let alone doing….that.

But as she’d rolled down the hill from the flagpole with Max….there really had been nothing unpleasant about it...and she’d known when she’d recovered from the pain of the stings where Max’s hand was…felt the warmth from it…and when she’d had ‘the talk’ with her mother nothing in the world would have ever convinced her it would be alright for a boy to have his hand there….but it had been. It had felt warm and good and...right.

Had she changed that much? Or was this how it worked….was his body somehow sending out messages to her….messages that it was alright? Because it had been alright. She had come back to consciousness with the warmth of his hand against her chest…warming her all the way to her heart…and there had been nothing wrong with that….no shame…no fear…

Oh, Liz knew they shouldn’t do that NOW…the circumstances had been special…he was saving her again. But she trusted Max…trusted him implicitly….trust that left no room for any belief that Max might have really been doing something wrong…that he might be trying to take something from her that she was not yet ready to give. ‘Was that the secret?’ she asked herself. ‘Is it because I know that he cares for me….that he was willing to die for me….is that why it doesn’t feel wrong when he touches me?

Is that how it works…that feeling grows over time…and eventually even…that…isn’t unpleasant. Is that how it works with Mommy and Daddy? Because Mommy trusted him…because she knew he cared for her…it wasn’t a violation of her body…but just a joining?’ Liz asked herself. She looked up at her parents…her eyes lighting up with a new awareness.

When they saw the look in her eyes, the look of comprehension…her head nodding slightly…Nancy and Jeff were both sure that they’d made a breakthrough. Liz understood…she couldn’t be an enabler for Max…it wasn’t that Max was a bad kid….he’d saved Lizzy’s life twice, but he was a naïve kid…and fourth grade was just too old to be playing doctor. As they saw her look at them they were almost certain she understood… and agreed…..

“It was all my fault…Max and I are in this trouble,” said Liz suddenly.

“Well it’s not entirely YOUR fault…after all, Max certainly played his part, Liz,” said her mother. “But it clearly would have been better if you hadn’t said what you said…about it being OK if he touched you….and you shouldn’t have lied to Ms. Umbrage.”

Their daughter looked up at them…in sudden shock and anger. “You don’t understand….you just don’t get it. What I did wrong was screaming….if I hadn’t screamed…Ms Umbrage would never have come…Max and I wouldn’t be in this trouble.”

Suddenly it all seemed so clear to Liz. She’d screamed for help…and that had never been necessary. Max knew she was in trouble and in her deepest heart she knew he would do anything…anything at all, to keep her from harm. She should have trusted in Max all along…believed in him enough to not even cry out….he’d proven himself to her again and again. ‘Do I love Max?’ she asked herself…she’d have to think about that. Was that what made Max special?

Was that why she wasn’t afraid when he was near her…is that why it hadn’t felt scary when he had been close to her? Is that why she could even contemplate someday doing….that….with Max, and find that it didn’t frighten her…..didn’t repulse her? She needn’t to think about this….but already her heart was telling her it was true.

Jeff and Nancy looked at their daughter…their eyes widening in horror. Clearly their daughter had somehow bonded to Max…bonded in such a way that she was willing to lie for him…or conceal his attacks on her...if that was what it took to keep him out of trouble. She was indeed an enabler...and they needed to stop that...whatever it took.

“Liz,” said Jeff Parker. “Max’s parents are going to be getting together with your mother and me in the morning and we’ll have to decide what to do. But right now, we don’t want you seeing Max…we don’t even want you to leave the house…probably you should just go up to your room. Your mother and I are going to have to work this out with the Evans’ to decide when…or if….you can see Max again…”

Both parents hearts were breaking as her face filled with horror and the tears rolled softly down her cheeks. ‘You never even thanked him…,’ she told herself.

“Can I make one phone call to Max?” she asked.

“Honey…I don’t think that would be a good idea,” said Nancy.

“Daddy..?”

“No darling….not now..”

“But when..?”

Nancy and Jeff looked at each other…each hoping the other one would answer. Finally Jeff looked up at Liz and replied, “I don’t know dear….but not now. Probably not for quite awhile.

As the two parents continued to talk downstairs…not really having any idea of what the right thing to do was, upstairs a ten year-old girl cried on her bed. Finally she gave up and put on her pajamas…and then she saw it. An hour later…laying on her back in the darkened room, her fingers still felt the pendant…her fingertips tracing out the words of the inscription even in the darkened room… ‘To my friend Liz..’ Somehow the warmth in her heart when she thought those words…the feeling she had in her chest…it was so very like the warmth she had felt when she’d come back to her senses in the cave…when she’d felt his hand there…the same place the pendant now rested.

‘It IS love !,” she thought….her eyes wide in the darkness….

Dinner at the Evans house had not gone just a great deal better than they had at the Parker residence...if anything...they had gone worse.

"Max..," said Philip, "..if you really like someone...if they are really your friend...you don't do things to them that you know aren't right... "

"But she had scorpions..."

"But if I understand your mother...when Ms. Umbrage caught you with your hand under Liz's blouse...there were no scorpions."

"But...," started Max...before remembering that was actually true. He actually had gotten the last of the scorpions out of Liz's blouse...before
the principal had shown up..

"...and the nurse said there were no scorpion stings either? Can you explain that..?"

Well..yes he could...but he wasn't going to. Max was pretty sure that going down that path right now wasn't going to lessen his problems...besides, Izzy was staring daggers at him as soon as she'd heard the question asked. No...all he could really do was sit there and look dumb...and guilty too probably, realizing that they actually thought that he would be doing something like that to Liz.

Of course...now that the emergency was over...now that he could look back and recall the sensation...his hand on her...the softness of her skin...he wondered. She had to know...know that the scorpions were already gone when she had come back to her senses...lying there on the floor of the cave. Of course, she knew the scorpions had really been there...but she had to know too that they were gone when Ms. Umbrage was yelling at him.

Still...she was defending him...defending him even without knowing that his hand had been there only to heal. She trusted him, he realized guiltily. Even though he lied to her...lied to everyone...even though his whole life was just a lie...even still...Liz trusted him. He wished more than anything that he was really worthy of her trust...wished he was really the person that she thought he was.

"Max..." said Philip more loudly. "I asked you a question. Your mother and I are perfectly willing to listen to anything you have to say that might convince us we are wrong about this...but when you just sit there and ignore us...when you give us no answers...what else can we believe?"

Diane's heart was breaking as Max stared disconsolately at the remains of his dinner...he'd barely touched it. Max's early life must have been terrible enough...the Child Welfare psychiatrist said as much when he decided both children were suppressing the memories of their early childhood...and now this. She looked at Philip...who was looking back at her with a face as concerned and sad as her own...before finally breaking the silence.

"OK Max, you had your chance. Go to your room and stay there...no TV..no telephone...no CDs. Just stay there thinking about what you did...and what you will need to do to make amends to Liz and her family."

At some time in the life of each child almost all of them will here a parent say ,' This hurts me worse than it does you...' Eventually, most children will come to actually believe that...but it'll take them 25 years or so...and only when they are disciplining their own child will they realize what Mom and Dad said really had been true.

It was long after midnight when Jeff and Nancy finally got up, giving up their fitful attempts to sleep and went to Liz's room. Her tears had long since dried, and she was sleeping peacefully as each leaned forward to kiss her softly on her forehead, without awaking her. Nancy's eyes teared and she shook her head as she saw the pendant clasped in the young girl's hand. Jeff's eyes followed hers and his eues teared up too as they slowly crept back to their bed.

"God Jeff...I hope we are doing the right thing...I've never seen her so upset...not by anything."

"I don't like it either, Nancy,...and try as I might...I just can't bring myself to believe that Max...of all people...would really hurt her. Is it possible at all that there was some sort of a horrible misunderstanding?"

"Not the way the principal tells it."

"Well...let's try to get some sleep...talk it over with Philip and Diane at breakfast....maybe we can figure something out."

"I certainly hope so..."

And at about the same time, Diane and Philip were creeping in to their son's room...and kissing him softly on the forehead as well.

Diane reached down and quietly took the picture frame from his hand...tearing up as she saw the two smiling faces having their drinks together in the booth....wishing that today had been that day instead.
Philip watched her put the picture back up on the bedside table. His own heart as heavy as hers. He waited until they were outside the room before asking the question.

"Is there any possibility at all that somehow Ms. Umbrage could have made a mistake?"

"Not the way she explained it...it appears she caught Max pretty much in the act..." said Diane sadly.

"And this story...the one about the scorpions...is there any chance that might be true?"

"Apparently not... unless the nurse was lying to Ms. Umbrage. Oh Phil...I don't like this any more than you do..but maybe Max does need special help...You know..it's not like with Izzy..."

"Yes...I know...."

Both of them had talked about Max...worried about him...worried about whatever secret he seemed to keep that kept him apart from them...apart from all other people...except, apparently, Liz Parker.

"Well..the Parker's seem like reasonable people. Let's talk it over with them...see what we can do. If only Liz weren't his only friend..maybe it would be good for them to spend some time apart...but as it is..."

Diane understood. Sometimes it seemed like Liz was the only reason Max wanted to get up in the morning. She feared what keeping him away from her would do to him...she thought even Isabel feared that.

"Maybe somehow they could be chaperoned...I mean...how much trouble could they get in to having sodas with each other a booth away from us..?"

"We'll talk it over with them...maybe we can work something out," said Jeff.

8:55 AM Saturday Morning, Route 285 3 miles north of Roswell New Mexico.

It had been a lousy Friday night that had run in to Saturday morning and Jim Valenti was dog-tired as he headed for a quick cup of coffee then home for a short nap. Then…with luck…he could take Kyle out fishing like he’d promised him.

He’d started his shift two hours early…at 10:00PM to help out a fellow officer who had taken sick. Sometimes the night shift was actually pretty quiet…but this particular Friday night the knife and gun club had started early, with several bar fights…and it had pretty much kept up all night with fights, drunks, and domestic abuse. It was, it seemed, the very kind of night that most law enforcement people dreaded. But it was finally over…even the paperwork…or at least it would be at 9:00 AM when he drove the cruiser home, parked it, showered…and hit the sheets for a few hours. Or at least that was the plan…fate had other ideas.

At exactly 9AM Jim heard dispatch calling another Deputy…telling him to respond to the Shady Rest Nursing Home to help with a 70 year old resident who had locked himself in a room, and was threatening to shoot everyone….even though he didn’t have a gun. Jim shook his head sadly as he keyed the microphone and told dispatch, “Jessie..? This is Jim Valenti…I’d like to take this one.”

“Jim…are you sure…you should be off duty..”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

”OK then….Deputy Phillips…disregard the previous assignment. Deputy Valenti will handle it…”

“Copy..”

As he walked in to the Nursing Home the charge nurse saw him coming…and shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Jim,…it was our fault. He was visiting with another resident…they seemed to be doing so well…talking about things from back in the Sixties…we just stopped watching them for a minute…and the other resident apparently changed the channel Your dad wound up watching something from the Sci-Fi channel… The Invasion of the Body Snatchers,…. You can pretty much guess what that did to him…”

There were three orderlies crowded around the door…but it had apparently been locked from the inside. “Keep away I’m telling you,” Jim heard his father’s voice scream, “..I’m a cop…I have a gun…I’ll shoot the first one of you alien bastards that walks through that door.”

“Dad!” Jim called at the door.

“Jimmie? Are you really Jimmie? Or are you one of those pod people…the imitations…”

”It’s really me, Dad. It’s Jimmie…please open the door, OK?”

Jim breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the door lock click and saw the door open a crack..one of his father’s eyes peering at him. “Is that really you? Say something…so I can hear your voice..”

“It’s really me, Dad. You need to calm down…everything is going to be alright…”

Suddenly the door was thrown open and his father came out…embracing him. “Oh son…I’m so glad you’re OK….you have to be careful,…they are here….they are looking for people…taking their bodies…putting them in pods…he was a shapeshifter, son…he stole the bodies…he’s going to try to take over the world…you need to help me stop them….give me your gun, son,….we’ll fight them together….”

“No Dad, I really don’t think that would be a good idea,” said the Deputy, fending off the old man’s hands as he reached for his pistol. Jim held his father tightly…wishing that there was something…anything that could be done…but he knew better,,,they’d consulted the best specialists. He held his father close, trying to comfort him as the nurse slipped the needle with a sedative into the old man’s butt…then helped the orderlies settle him back into his bed as the sedative finally took effect.

It was a half hour later that he finally was able to leave, with a final kiss to the head of the sleeping man that he once knew so well…but who was slipping away more and more by the day.

As he left the Nursing Home he had to drive through town. When he saw the restaurant his stomach growled…it had been over six hours since he’d had anything but coffee. ‘Pie for breakfast?’ he asked himself. ‘What the Hell…why not?’

Twenty minutes earlier

As Diane and Philip had sat down at the table, there was the expected awkwardness…but it lasted only briefly.

“Nancy..Jeff….Iam so sorry that this happened,” said Philip, “…sorry for what Liz went through, and sorry for what the two of you are going through over this. Both Izzy and Max have some problems with relationships…we always knew that….but we had no idea that something like this might happen or we wouldn’t…”

Jeff’s hand went up almost immediately.

“Stop it Philip…stop it right now. We are all in this together.”

Jeff looked at Nancy who nodded her head, giving him encouragement. They’d been talking about this all morning…and half the night after entering her room to kiss her goodnight and seeing her clinging to that pendant.

“I’m not sure either of you realize,” he continued, “just how much we feel that we owe Max. I don’t know what that dog would have done to her….I don’t even want to think about it. But I’m the one who picked up what was left of her Barbie bicycle and put it in the dumpster. I know damn well what would have happened to Lizzy if she’d still been lying there on the ground when that car had gotten there. My daughter would be dead if your son hadn’t risked his life to help her…that’s not something either of her parents will ever forget. And I don’t believe Lizzy meant what she said about it being OK for Max to touch her…I mean…I think she just misspoke.

But Max apparently had a pretty hard life before he was adopted and I know there’s a lot he doesn’t understand. If he misinterpreted what she said….well, they are too old to be playing doctor at their ages and Lizzy knows that. But if she thought that what she said had led Max astray so to speak…well I wouldn’t put it past her to try to do something to keep him out of trouble if she thought it was her fault.”

“Neither Jeff nor I really believe this codependency stuff,” said Nancy. “Lizzy has always had a real good sense of right and wrong….but if she thought she’d caused the problem….by what she said…well, it may well be that she’s covering for Max.”

“But unfortunately…,” said Philip, ‘…that gets us no closer to solving the problem. If Max really doesn’t understand what he did was wrong…and Liz won’t cooperate with us to help him to learn what is and is not appropriate…she really is enabling his improper behavior.”

“Maybe Liz is the key,” said Diane. “Our daughter says that it’s almost like Liz has some strange power over Max….she’s really his only friend, and I think he cried himself to sleep last night holding that framed picture of the two of them. Maybe if we could just get her to understand how important this was…important if Max is going to grow up to be happy and able to deal with people…to make more friends…maybe she could be a help rather than a problem..”

“Well…I don’t suppose it would hurt to give it a try,” said Nancy. “Let me go get her…”

Liz looked somewhat frightened as she saw the Evans’ sitting with her father as her mother led her up to the booth. But the look on her face changed quickly as Diane Evans began to talk.

“Liz…we’ve been talking about you and Max…and what happened. Everybody makes mistakes, Liz…, and Max probably has more reason than most four year-olds to make mistakes…but if you really care for someone…well, you help to correct them if they make mistakes so they’ll know not to make those mistakes again…you don’t make excuses for them. I know that you are Max’s friend and you want what’s best for him….and Liz what’s best for him is to tell the truth….to acknowledge the mistakes Max had made, and to help us to see that Max learns from his mistakes…so he won’t make them in the future and cause himself even more trouble.”

For a brief moment, as they watched Liz look first at one..then another…of the adults at the table, the parents thought that Diane’s words had gotten through to Liz. The phrasing had been great…the tone of her voice…the compassion she had shown….it seemed to them that her request was so eminently reasonable that Liz Parker would have to see reason. But as the adults watched Liz’s reaction…as Diane looked at the anger burning in those small eyes…they suddenly realized that they could not have miscalculated much worse.

Liz truly was ‘the perfect Miss Parker’ that her teachers had nicknamed her…the last time she’d shown visible anger around her parents was during the ‘terrible twos’…but on this particular Saturday morning the fourth grader unloaded twenty hours of frustration and unhappiness, and her target was Diane Evans…

“Mrs. Evans…” Liz said, her nostrils flaring…” I don’t care that you think that I’m a liar….that you call me a liar…but you are Max’s mom…or at least you say you are. You should know Max better than anyone else in the world….what kind of a horrible mother doesn’t trust her own son?”

“ELIZABETH!” screamed Nancy.

“Lizzy…you apologize to Mrs. Evans….IMMEDIATELY!” said Jeff.

Diane Evans was taken aback. Like many adoptive parents, she’d had her feelings hurt from time to time by well meaning people who sometimes implied that she wasn’t the REAL mother of her children…but to be read the riot act by a fourth grader…and a fourth grader who was generally the most polite kid she’d ever seen. Even though she knew the words were just said in anger…meant to hurt…even though she knew she loved Max with all her heart…whatever his faults…she choked back tears.

“I’ll apologize to her when she apologizes to Max…and not before,” said Liz…not backing down an inch.

“Lizzy…you don’t talk that way to Mrs. Evans…you don’t talk that way to any adult…,” said Jeff. “You will apologize to her right now or you can plan on spending the weekend confined to your room.”

“Well that would be FINE...,” said the young girl, spinning on her heels and heading for the stairway, “…the company is nicer up there anyway…”

“Elizabeth Parker,” said Nancy loudly, “..this is NOT over. You just stay up there…I’ll be up shortly.”

The silence was deafening after Liz went upstairs. Finally it was broken by Nancy Parker. “Diane…I am SO sorry for what Liz said to you….I don’t know what’s come over her. That is so unlike her…or maybe Principal Umbrage is right…maybe I don’t know my own daughter nearly as well as I thought I did.”

“Well…whatever her motivation,” agreed Jeff Parker, “…the effect of this is certainly to enable Max’s behavior. We might have no real option but to keep them separated.”

Philip hugged Diane close to him, seeing in her face how much the little girl had gotten to her. “It might be best if we did put him in special education, dear…,” he said, “…Max could get counseling…maybe a smaller ratio of kids to teacher. It’s not your fault…Lord knows, you worked miracles with both of them…but maybe Max just isn’t really up to this yet. It’s been over a year…he still doesn’t even go out to recesses yet.”

“Perhaps it would be best…” said Diane. The words of the young girl were still ringing in her ears…the sting of them causing her to choke back the sobs. ‘If Liz only knew how hard I’ve tried to make him care….how many times I’ve asked him to tell me whatever has been bothering him…whatever secret he’s keeping….’ she thought.

“The problem we can’t get around..” said Philip, “…is the lies. If either of the children had just come clean…admitted that Max made a mistake..and that Liz made another covering up for him…”

“Yeah…If Lizzy had just not dug in her heels over this…if she was willing to at least listen to reason…..” said Jeff, shaking his head sadly.

“But she isn’t…and we can’t let this get by either, Jeff,” said Nancy. “Whatever they decide at school…well I just don’t see how we can let them stay in the same class…let them socialize…at least not now. Maybe in a few months…if they admit their mistakes….maybe then we could let them get back together…appropriately monitored…but the way Lizzy’s acting right now….”

Within a few more minutes the decision was made…and it was unanimous…neither child would see the other for at least the next three months and both would be punished…both for their actions and their lies.

“And Diane…I am so VERY sorry about what Lizzy said…she was so out of line.”

Diane thanked Nancy for saying that…and it really did make her feel better…for almost thirty seconds.


As Jim Valenti came in to the restaurant his eyes went immediately to the counter where the pies were stored…his eyes lighting up when he saw the blackberry pie. But as he sat down at the stool he suddenly became aware of the four parents starting to get up from the booth at the side of the restaurant. He got up and took two steps in their direction before starting to speak.

“I was sad to hear about Lizzy and Max. How are they doing?”

The look in the parents eyes told the tale….even before the parents replied.

“Not the best, Deputy Valenti,” said Jeff Parker. “Lizzy’s up in her room….probably won’t be leaving it except for meals and to go to the bathroom before Monday.”

“And Max is looking at pretty much the same….and that’s just for starters,” said Philip.

Jim Valenti shook his head sympathetically. “Well, at least they aren’t in the hospital…that’s something?”

“The hospital?” asked Diane.

“Hey…I’ve seen it happen…young kids with multiple scorpion stings. Sometimes they even die. Kyle was stung once when he was smaller…just the one sting, but he spent the night in the hospital anyway. He’s apparently real sensitive to their venom. He was up on the edge of the arroyo when Liz was attacked. It scared him to death when he saw Max pulling them out of her hair…off her face…just crushing them to death with his bare hands. He and Bobby Armbruster ran to get Mr. Raff, but apparently Ms. Umbrage got the kids to the bus and got them to medical care before they could get back.”

“Kyle….SAW Liz being attacked by scorpions?”

“Yeah. Apparently there was a nest of them burrowed in next to a fossil in the cave Liz was in and when she reached for the fossil…out they came. Kyle said Mr. Raff went in and got it out…it was a beautiful fossil. There were scorpions all over the place though…you could see the ones Max had crushed..but there were probably still a couple dozen live ones.”

You didn’t have to be in law enforcement to recognize a stunned silence.

“Uh….what’s going on?” asked Valenti.

“Apparently Mr. Raff neglected to inform Ms. Umbrage about this…” said Nancy.

“Uh…I don’t think so. Kyle said Mr. Raff called her with a cellphone on the bus on the way home…asking her how they were. She said she was taking care of them… He reassured all the kids on the bus that they were alright.”

“I’m going to kill her…” said Nancy.

“I’ll help..,” said Diane.

“Who?” asked Jim Valenti.

“Mary Umbrage..” said Jeff and Philip… in unison.

Jim Valenti chuckled. “Well…if you are making serious plans…you might not want to do that in front of the deputy Sheriff. I think I’ll go over to the counter and have a cup of coffee and a piece of blackberry pie. If anyone asks you…tell them I didn’t hear a thing….”

At that point the talk at the booth got real interesting…..

“I am SO going to get that woman…” said Nancy.

“That would be…I think…job number two,” said Jeff Parker. “Job number one would require me to go get out the cookbook.”

“The cookbook?” asked Nancy.

“Yeah,” said a solemn faced Jeff. “Would you guys prefer…. humble pie….or crow….? Because we have a couple of fourth graders that we need to speak to…”

“Omigawd…,” said Diane, “..that’s right.” Nancy and Philip were also looking chagrined…but nodding their heads in agreement.

“I need to apologize to Liz,” said Diane, “..as soon as you and Jeff are done talking to her, Nancy.”

“Diane…you were lied to…you didn’t know. And she shouldn’t have talked that way to you….that was rude of her.”

“You’re right, Nancy. I was lied to….but not by Liz…and if I’d trusted her…and Max…well, she wouldn’t have acted that way. No…it wouldn’t be fair to hold what she said against her…I was the one at fault. I gave her that pompous speech about everyone making mistakes when I practically accused her of lying to me….well the mistake was mine. The very least I can do is to apologize to her…”

Liz hadn’t expected it would take her parents long to come upstairs to punish her for insulting Mrs. Evans, so she really wasn’t surprised when she heard the knock on her door. But as she said, “Come in…,” she had ceased to care about getting in to trouble. She could feel the gentle weight of the pendant swinging from her neck underneath her blouse, and defending Max was more important to her than being ‘the perfect Miss Parker.’ As the door opened the two parents faced 4 ft two inches and 68 pounds of angry fourth grader..spoiling for a fight. But as she heard their first words..…

“Lizzy….we made a terrible mistake….will you forgive us?”

….and she looked up to their tearful eyes, Liz didn’t say anything at first…just hugged the both of them looking at them through her own tearful eyes.

“We know that Ms. Umbrage was wrong….that she was…not telling the truth. Kyle Valenti saw the scorpions attacking you…Oh Lizzy…we’re so sorry we doubted you.”

“I’m sorry too Mommy…I shouldn’t have gotten so mad I guess. I wouldn’t have if it had just been about me….,” she cried, “…but Max…they were stinging Max too…and he was pulling them off me…and …and he didn’t do anything wrong, Mommy,…he wouldn’t…”

Nancy ran her fingers through her daughter’s hair. “I’m so sorry, dear. I know you like Max…we all owe him so much…we owe him an apology too, dear…and trust me….he’ll get one.”

It was another five minutes before Nancy and Jeff left the room…but Liz wasn’t alone for more than a few seconds before the second knock came on the door. When she said, “Come in…” Liz found herself face to face with Diane Evans.

“Liz…I am so sorry. I guess I owe you a couple of apologies….one for even questioning what you would do….another for not believing you once you made it clear to me what had really happened. I don’t blame you for being angry with me…”

“That wasn’t why I was upset,” said the fourth grader….and it was plain to Diane that she wasn’t yet completely over her anger. “You don’t know me that well…but you know Max. You should know that Max can be trusted. I certainly trust him.”

“Well I know that now…but at the time…,” Diane shook her head, “…if Max would only be more open…if he only didn’t have…..well, never mind.”

“You mean you didn’t trust him because of his secret?” Liz asked.

Diane was stunned…quickly sitting down on the chair by Liz’s dresser. “Liz…do you know Max’s secret?”

The fourth grader shook her head,,,. “Only that he has one. We talk a lot…the two of us…but when we get to certain areas…certain topics…he changes the subject… But I think….I think he didn’t have a mom and dad that loved him…before you adopted him. I think sometimes he doesn’t think that….that he’s worthy of being loved…I think that he never really learned how nice he is. I think that’s why he’s afraid to tell us his secret.”

“But it’s so hard to trust him…when he keeps secrets like that, isn’t it.”

“No it isn’t. He’s never done anything to make me not trust him… Besides…whatever the secret is…it really bothers him. I think sometimes he’d like to tell me…but he doesn’t trust me quite enough yet.”

”Yet you DO trust him…” said Diane.

“How could I expect him to trust me…if I’m not willing to trust him?”

‘Out of the mouths of babes…,’ thought Diane. “So I should just trust him…the way you did when you let him pull those scorpions out of your blouse.”

“To tell the truth…I don’t really remember that part much. The pain was so bad…but when it stopped…his hand was there..and there were no more scorpions.”

“So if they were gone…but his hand was still there…how could you really know that Max….”

“He doesn’t think about me that way…yet,” said the fourth-grader, starting to blush.

There was something about the shy smile…and how it contrasted with the sort of predatory sound of the word ‘yet,’ that somehow struck Diane as amusing. The child-rearing books said that girls matured prior to boys…and it looked to Diane that Liz was developing a puppy-love crush on Max.

“Sweetie…I don’t think either of you are ready to think about each other that way….yet. But someday…..when both of you are very much older…nothing would make me happier than if the two of you became…well…more than good friends. But in the meantime…I think you are right. Max deserves my trust…and he’s going to get it.”

“In that case…I AM sorry…sorry I got angry at you.”

“Angry? Sweetie….you were only vexed at me…and rightfully so. You have nothing to apologize about. Angry? Well…you’re going to see angry on Monday….when your mother and I take you and Max back to school and see Ms. Umbrage.”

It was less than twenty minutes later that Diane and Philip were back at their own house…. The knock on the door of Max’s room came only second later.

“Come in..”

Max had never before seen that expression on his parents faces…their eyes with tears…acting almost as if they were ashamed to talk to him. He wondered…briefly…if somehow they’d found out…found out his terrible secret…but as his mother came up and hugged him…his father hugging both he and his mother together…he was pretty sure THAT hadn’t happened. Even so, he was surprised by their words…

“Max, we are so sorry…,” said Diane. “Sorry we didn’t trust you more…sorry we didn’t listen better. You’ve lived with us for four years…and never lied to us…you deserved better than to have us take someone else’s word over yours.”

“Son….please forgive us….we should have known you’d tell the truth about what happened with Liz…you always do…”

But as the two parents hugged him, the feeling in his heart was bittersweet…because he knew they were wrong. He had lied to them…every single day of his life had been a lie to them…to the parents who thought he was a HUMAN son. They had been good to him…good to him for almost his entire life…at least the life he remembered…the life since leaving his pod…and they deserved a human son. But he knew he could never be that human son…not really…but he had no right to steal their dreams from them.

‘I’ll never tell them,’ he thought to himself. ‘I can’t be that cruel to them…’

“I love you son…,” said Diane, ‘…your father and I both love you so….even though we make mistakes sometimes…like not believing you,….we always love you. You understand that, don’t you?”

He nodded his head, choking back tears….wishing he really could be the son they wanted….not some freak. But he’d do his best…do his best to keep them from ever finding out…”

“I love you too, Mom,” he said…hugging back.

But even as he did it, Diane knew. He was still holding back…still going through the motions….still doing what he thought they wanted him to do. The little boy hugging her wasn’t really Max…it was Max playing the part he thought they wanted him to play.

‘But that’s OK,’ Diane said to herself. ‘If Liz can trust him without knowing….so can I. And if I trust him enough…someday my little boy will become real….’ She smiled as she held him, content right now to wait for that moment.

“Come on downstairs Max, to the office. We’re in the middle of some work….it might even interest you…,” said Philip.


As Max entered his parents home office he looked up to see two people…and looked across the room to see two more.

“We need to apologize too,” said Nancy.

“And thank you so much for helping Liz again,” Jeff continued.

But his eyes were already sweeping past Nancy and Jeff..and even Isabel….to a fourth grade girl sitting on the floor….next to a box full of milkshakes with one root beer float.

“I never did have time to say thank you for getting all the scorpions off me. Thank you, Max. Want a milkshake?”

“Yeah….,” he said….his failings as a son already forgotten. “I would…”

“OK,” said Philip, “…We’ve got some phone calls to make…”

The first phone call came at 11AM.

“Is this Mrs. Reynolds? The School Nurse at Monterrey Elementary?”

“Yes. To whom am I speaking?”

“This is Diane Evans…Max Evans’ mother. I wanted to talk to you about an examination you did on Elizabeth Parker…did you get permission of her parents to do that exam, by the way?”

“Well it was sort of an emer…., I’m sorry Mrs Evans…that’s a patient privacy issue. I really couldn’t discuss that without the Parker’s permission. “

“Well….as it so happens, I’m a lawyer representing them. Here’s Nancy right now..”

“Mrs. Reynolds? This is Nancy Parker. I am very concerned about what my daughter’s telling me about your actions and what you told Ms. Umbrage after you examined her…and the fact that you both did this examination without my permission and did not even advise me that you had done it…what you found…and who you gave the results to. My daughter’s privacy is not a trivial thing to me.”

“Mrs. Parker…I assure you…it wasn’t like that…not like that at all.”

“Well perhaps you ought to come down here to the office then,” said Diane, “..and give us your version of exactly what did transpire, because Mr. and Mrs. Parker are quite upset with the allegations being made by Ms. Umbrage about their daughter and I’m none too happy with what she’s saying about our son either….”

“Mrs. Evans….I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

It has been said that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but after only about three minutes in a crossfire between Nancy Parker and Diane Evans, Mrs. Reynolds figured that a scorned woman had nothing on two very pissed off mothers defending their children.

“I assure you, I only examined Liz without getting permission because multiple scorpion stings can be a medical emergency and I needed to determine whether or not Liz needed to be taken to the hospital for further treatment. Once I had determined that she did not…well I guess I expected Ms. Umbrage to completely fill you in on my findings.”

“And your findings were?”

“Well, Liz had one obvious area on her hand where something had occurred…most likely a sting. As for any other areas….well, like I told Ms. Umbrage, I’m no expert at scorpion stings, but the reference books say that they can sometimes be readily apparent…sometimes quite subtle…sometimes they will sting and put very little venom in the site and the sting won’t reallyu be visible at all. It’s a neurotoxin…designed to paralyze their prey. It really hurts…and in sufficient volume, can give children like Liz severe problems. From her history, she was pretty much incapacitated by the pain…unable to even get them off of her. Fortunately it appears Liz had Max there to get them off for her…otherwise….well, who knows what might have happened.”

“Let me get this straight,” said a red-faced Nancy Parker, “..you never told Umbrage that Liz was lying about the scorpions?”

“No…of course not….I had no reason to doubt what she said…I mean your daughter is legendary… 'the perfect Miss Parker’? Why would I doubt her?”

That hardly made Nancy feel better. SHE had doubted her daughter….and doubted Max as well. Diane seemed equally upset with herself.

“Mrs. Reynolds, I’d like to take a statement from you, then have you sign it, to attest to it’s accuracy.”

“Perhaps I should talk to the lawyer for the school district first,” said the nurse uncertainly.”

“Oh…I think it would be an excellent idea to bring the district’s lawyer in to the conversation…but not just yet. It’s not really you we are after right now Mrs. Reynolds, not the district either. At least…not as long as you and the district cooperate,” said Diane Evans.

The look in the two women’s eyes left little doubt in nurse Reynolds’ mind that she didn’t want to cross these women. They were fighting for their kids…and they were plenty pissed off. Besides, …she hated that arrogant bitch Umbrage anyway….

“Well.” Said Mrs. Reynolds, “ I wouldn’t want you to think I wasn’t cooperating. Besides….there’s more…the woman took one lousy psychology course in college, and she thinks she’s a psychiatrist. She really does need to be stopped.”

The second telephone call came at 1:30PM

“Hello”

“Hello. Is this Mr. Raff? The Science teacher at Poco Mesa Junior High?”

”Yes it is…”

“Good afternoon Mr. Raff. This is Diane Evans….Max’s mom. Would it be possible for you to meet with me to discuss the field trip yesterday?”

“I’m sorry Mrs. Evans. I uh…I really have no comment on the field trip.”

“Really? Well you do realize I can compel your testimony…make you give a deposition…simply by filing a civil suit against the school district and naming you as a witness? I suppose I’ll have time to do that Monday since I won’t have to get Max ready for school…since he’s been suspended.”

“Suspended? Max? Why?”

“Oh, it appears that as my son was getting scorpions off of his classmate….well Ms. Umbrage believes the children were both IMAGINING the scorpions, and what was really going on was some sort of a fourth grade make-out and groping session.”

“Max and Liz??? That’s ridiculous. What did Liz say?”

“Oh…she apparently got suspended too. It would appear that Ms. Umbrage doesn't believe about the scorpions and believes that Liz is lying to protect Max. I am amazed that no one told her about the scorpions, since according to Deputy Valenti, Kyle and his partner witnessed them.”

“She WAS told about…..Mrs. Evans…I’m at a little bit of a disadvantage here. Would it be possible for us to have the lawyer for the district there when I talk to you?”

“If that would make you feel better, Mr. Raff. You know, the legal community in Roswell isn’t all that big. Bob Peterson is the district lawyer. He and my husband are both officers on the county bar association. Do you need his number?”

“Uh…yes, I guess that would be helpful, Mrs. Evans…..Uh...thank you...”

Bob Peterson listened to his phone call with mounting concern. “She actually told you not only that she had spoken to me…but that I had told her not to talk to the parents?”

“That’s exactly what she said to me. Now the student’s mother is saying that she has suspended two students because she doesn’t believe the kids…even after I reported to her exactly what had happened.”

”Well who are the two students…and who is this mother? We need to get to the bottom of this…and fast.”


”The children are Liz Parker and Max Evans…it was Diane Evans who called me…she’s who gave me your number too, by the way.”

‘Well that’s just great,’ thought Bob Peterson. ‘Not only does Umbrage pick a fight…but she picks a fight with a kid whose parents are BOTH lawyers…’

'I know Philip Evans quite well, Mr. Raff. And I’ve met his wife socially…but I understand she’s a highly competent lawyer in her own right. I think it might be in everyone’s best interest if you and I went over to their house and talked this over with them. Neither are unreasonable people…perhaps we can get to the bottom of this before it gets too far out of hand.”

Forty-five minutes later it appeared to Bob Peterson that the situation was going from bad to worse.

“Mrs. Evans….Mrs. Parker…you have to understand….I am not in a position to negotiate Ms. Umbrage’s removal as a principal…”

“Well, in that case would you be ready to negotiate a settlement for the class action suit that we are going to file…on behalf of my son and all the other children that this woman has erroneously categorized as special needs children? Because that’s the other option.”

“I wish it were that simple….but it’s not. The teacher’s union fights us on every single issue involving discipline of one of its members…..and it’s in the contract. We have to give notice of cause for action…put the person on a performance improvement plan…demonstrate that they have failed to improve after a year….then send the whole disciplinary matter to binding arbitration. We simply can’t do it.”

“Mr. Peterson,” said Diane sweetly, “we support the school system that educates our children. We would feel just DREADFUL if we were forced to sue the district for several million dollars….dollars that might better be spent on educating the children of Roswell. If I could suggest a way out of this for the school district that WOULD satisfy us…and the only cost to the school district was the cost of retesting all those children that Ms. Umbrage diagnosed as having mental disorders….retesting by competent physicians that is…would the district be willing to assist us in our efforts to convince Ms. Umbrage it was in her best interests to step down?”

Bob looked over at Philip…and was tempted to ask him for advice. Diane Evans certainly knew how to play hardball…no question of that….but Philip seemed almost amused by his growing discomfort.

‘What the hell,’ he thought. ‘Umbrage WAS a pain in the ass….and she created this mess,’ “Well Mrs. Evans…what exactly did you have in mind?”

The eyes looked straight at his, and her face held an ominous smile. “Well Bob….may I call you Bob? Why don’t you call me Diane? All we need from you is an itsy-bitsy favor…..”