by: Kim
Over the next few days, Bo continued to believe that Luke set the fire and became angry with his cousin for almost killing him. Bo began to believe the rumors about his cousin starting the fire when they found out that Luke was in the state prison. One student came up to Bo and said,” Bo, ain’t it true that your cousin set the fire because he wanted to get rid of you.” Another student said to Bo,” You know Luke deserves to be in jail.” Luke called from the jail to talk with his family, especially to his cousin Bo. Everyone was happy to hear from him except for Bo. Daisy asked,” How is it going, Luke. Luke answered,” I am okay, Daisy.” Daisy said,” We are all trying to get your case to trial to prove that you are innocent.” ” We will help you all the way and Uncle Jesse wants to talk to you.” Daisy handed Jesse the phone and he said, “Luke how are you doing?” Luke replied,” I am doing okay, Uncle Jesse. How is everyone there at the farm?” Jesse answered,” We are doing fine.” Luke asked,” Is Bo there, I would like to talk to him.” Jesse started to feel unsure on how to tell Luke about his cousin’s attitude towards him. Then he said,” Luke, Bo is in his room and he had said as he left the family room that he does not want to talk to you. He believes that you had started the fire and I know in your heart that you would never do it. So don’t be sad about it, give him some time to heal.” Luke replied,” I understand, Uncle Jesse. I have to go and I will call as soon as I can. Bye Uncle Jesse and give my love to Daisy and Bo.” Luke found out that in three weeks would be his trial to prove he didn’t burn down the barn.
It was a couple of weeks before Luke’s birthday that the family decided they were going to the prison to visit Luke and celebrate his birthday. Bo had gotten Luke’s present a couple of months earlier since he wanted to make a special present to give him and he had hidden the present so Luke wouldn’t find it. It was a picture of Luke with his parents at a young age. Bo had the picture reproduced because he had accidentally ripped the picture several months earlier. Bo had said, ” What you looking at Luke.” Bo grabbed the picture and he accidentally ripped the picture in half. Luke yelled at Bo,” Why did you ripped the picture that I was looking at. You grabbed it out of my hands, causing it to rip it and that was my only copy of the picture.” Bo said, “I’m sorry.” This gave Bo the idea for Luke’s present so he went to the photo store and asked the owner if he could get another print. The owner of the store said,” Yes and it would cost about ten dollars.” So Bo paid for the photo to be reprinted and brought a frame to put it in. When Jesse wanted to visit Luke, he went to ask Bo if he wanted to go, but when Jesse went to the boys’ room Bo had gone to his secret place to spend some time away from the family. This would make Jesse angry that Bo refused to go see his cousin and he would have to tell Luke that his cousin wasn’t home when he asked him if he wanted to go. Luke looked upset every time Jesse came to visit and he expected Bo to be there with him. This caused Luke to believe that his cousin didn’t care or loved him anymore. Luke began to believe that he had started the fire when he stomped out his cigarette and thought it was out. He also hoped to make his cousin believe that he would never hurt him on purpose.
When Luke’s birthday came, Jesse wanted the family to go visit Luke and to celebrate his birthday with him. Daisy came out of her room with her present for Luke and asked, “Uncle Jesse, is Bo getting ready to go celebrate Luke’s birthday.” Jesse replied,” I will go ask if he is ready to go.” Jesse went to the boy’s room and knock on the door. When Jesse did not get a reply, he opened the door and said, “Bo are you ready to go visit Luke.” He saw that the room was empty and this made Jesse mad. He thought to himself.” Why would Bo leave the house without telling me? I can’t believe that he would leave and not care at all about his cousin. Does he not care enough to show up to the prison to celebrate his cousin’s birthday.” Jesse walked back out the family room saying,” Daisy it looks like Bo ran off again and I don’t know where he is and we only have a few hours to visit Luke, so it looks like its just the two of us.” Then Cooter drove up to the farmhouse just as Jesse and Daisy were getting into the truck. Cooter said, ” Ready to go visit Luke to celebrate his birthday. Where is Bo? Uncle Jesse.” Jesse replied,” I think he went to the same place that he has been going to and I am not sure where it is.” Cooter asked,” Do you want me to go find him and get him to reason about missing out on visiting his cousin.” Jesse said,” I would really like it if you could and help explain to Bo that it is not Luke’s fault.”
Cooter left and looked at several places that the boys went to hide out at and he went to the third still site and as he pulled up he thought he saw Bo in the window of the building. Cooter got out of the truck and ran to the door of the building. He opened the door and he saw Bo sitting on the bed with a magazine. Bo had been so busy reading the magazine that he did not notice Cooter coming into the building. Cooter walked up to the bed and put a hand on Bo’s shoulder and asked him,” Bo, why are you not going to see your cousin today.” Bo didn’t answer at first and Cooter sat down on the bed and asked again, “Bo, why don’t you want to see Luke today. Bo replied, ” I hate him because he started the fire and did this to me.” He pointed to his hands and face. “He lied to me and maybe that is why he did not visit me in the hospital. I look so ugly and the kids make fun of me and say Luke belongs in jail.”
Cooter replied,” Bo, your cousin would never hurt you and he was not even near the barn at the time the fire occurred. How could you be so mean towards Luke? It’s his birthday and you are telling me that you don’t care one way or another about your cousin to celebrate it with him. When Bo heard Cooter speak about Luke’s birthday, he begins to cry and said,” I can’t believe I had forgotten all about his birthday. I can’t believe that I would forget his birthday because I didn’t realize that today was the fourteenth of March. Cooter can we go by the farm and pick up the present I got for Luke.” Cooter replied,” Sure buddyro, we can do that and go visit that cousin of yours.” He gives Bo a hug and let Bo cry on his shoulder for a few minutes. Then they both left the building and drove over to the farm to get the present.
When Jesse and Daisy arrived at the prison, it was visitor’s day for all the inmates, They sat all the food, cake and presents on the table and waited for Luke to come out with all the other prisoners to visit with their families. When Luke came out to greet his family, he noticed that Bo wasn’t there and Luke thought that Bo didn’t care enough to be there for him to celebrate his birthday. Luke put that thought aside and went to hug Jesse and Daisy. Daisy and Jesse say,” Happy birthday Luke.” Luke gave both of them a hug and he asked,” Where’s Bo, Uncle Jesse?” Jesse replied, “He ran off again and I don’t know where he went to, but Cooter says he would go look for him.” This made Luke sad that his cousin didn’t want to see him and he also thought that deep down that Bo hated him that he thought he had purposely starting the fire. As Jesse began to get out the cups, plates, and silverware that he noticed Cooter coming up to the table. Cooter says, “Hi.” Luke replied, ” Hey Cooter, it’s been a while since I seen you.” Jesse then walks over to Cooter to ask if he found Bo and Cooter replied, ” No, Jesse.” and he wrinked his left eye telling Jesse that he did and Jesse figured that it was a surprise.” Jesse says,” Okay Cooter you tried.” Then everyone sat at the table and Bo started walking out towards his family and he walks up behind Luke. He puts his arms around Luke to give him a hug. Luke felt someone come up to him and put his arms around him and he notices a present in the person’s bandaged hands and realizes it was Bo. Bo whispers into Luke’s ear,” Happy birthday, cousin.”