by: Kim
A week later, Bo’s burns began to heal, so he was ready to come home, but he would need plastic surgery to remove the area of skin that was burned by the fire. Luke kept his promise to his uncle that he would visit and help take care of Bo once he came home. When Bo came home from the hospital, Luke helped his cousin while he healed. One day when Bo was getting ready for school, he was having a hard time gripping the buttons on his shirt. Every time he had the button almost in the hole, it would slip out of his hands because he could not grip them very well.
After several times, he was about to give up when Luke came in to see what was taking his cousin so long to get ready because they were going to miss the bus. Luke said,” Bo, do you need some help with your shirt.” Bo replied,” Yes, Luke can you help me, please.” Luke went over to where Bo was sitting on his bed and finished buttoning his shirt and Luke told him, “Let’s go Bo.”
When they arrived at school, Luke told Bo that he had to go to class and he will be there to eat lunch with him. Bo said,” Okay Luke I will see you later at lunchtime.” After Luke left, some of the students knew the situation of Bo’s accident, but had often tease him for several years, began to tease him again.
Several students came up to Bo and said,” Hey Bo, with your looks you can star in a freak show. Bo, you know that Halloween has been over for three months, you can take off your mask now.” That is when one student started to grab at Bo’s face where it had been burned, it caused Bo to scream while another student push him down onto the ground and it forced him to fall down with his hands hitting the ground hard. Then Bo managed to get up and ran to his first class. This continued through out the day till lunchtime. When Bo met his cousin at lunchtime, he noticed that Luke was very quiet and he noticed some bruising on his left cheek. He asked, “Luke, what happen to your face?” At the same time he was asking the question, he moved his hand up to his cousin’s face and Luke suddenly slapped his hand very hard. Bo cried, ” Ouch, Luke that hurt.”
Then Luke realized what he had done and said, “I’m so sorry Bo, please forgive me, I did not mean to have slapped your hand, it’s just that you spooked me that’s all” Then Bo says to Luke, “I know Luke, don’t worry I still love you and forgive you.” Luke said,” I had a run in with a couple of guys and I don’t want to talk about it Bo.” Bo said, “Okay.” Luke didn’t want to tell Bo the truth that their uncle had slapped him. Luke asked,” How was your day so far, Bo?” Bo didn’t answer at first, but he finally said,” The kids here are making fun of me because they say I am a freak and to take off my Halloween mask.” Luke just put his arms around him to give him a brotherly hug and said,” Don’t worry about them and I am here to listen when you want to talk more.” Bo just put his head on Luke’s shoulder and began to cry. He whispered into his cousin’s ear,” Please don’t tell Uncle Jesse about what happen.” Luke answered Bo,” I promise I ain’t going to tell him anything.”
The state police had drove up to the Duke farm to investigate the ruins of the barn. The police came up to knock on the door of the farmhouse and Jesse answered the door. He asked, “How can I help you sir.”
One of the policemen answered,” We believe that this barn fire could had been done on purpose and since your nephew almost died, it is our responsibility to find out what happen. Can we take a look at the site and so we can find any evidence for this case.” Jesse said, “Sure, I would really would like to find out what had happen to cause the barn to burn down.”
The police went to do their investigation of the barn site and after a couple of hours, they came back to talk with Jesse. One of the policemen knocks on the door again. When Jesse answered the door, one of the men asked,” We believe that we have found something that could have caused the fire in the barn. He brought the bag from behind his back and pulled out a burnt lighter. He asked, “Does this belong to anyone in your family.” Jesse answered,” Yes, it belongs to my other nephew, Luke. I recognized it because I can see some of the design where his initials are on the one side of the lighter”. The policeman said,” We need to talk to Luke about this matter and if he had caused the fire, then we have to arrest him and take him to the state prison in Atlanta.” What everyone did not know that the real cause of the fire was the gas can that was hidden in a pile of burn wood which the police didn’t go through to make sure that they investigated the whole site. One of the policemen asked Jesse,” When do you expect him to be home.” Jesse answered,” At about three this afternoon after they come home from school.” The policeman said,” Okay, we will be back at four this afternoon since its only eleven in the morning and it will give you time to talk with your nephew. Please talk to your nephew about this situation. After the state police left the farm, Jesse began to wonder if this is the truth, then why did he lie to me and say he did not burn the barn that had nearly killed his cousin.
When the boys came home, Jesse asked Luke if he could talk to him. Luke said,” Sure, Uncle Jesse, what is it?” Jesse answered, “Luke, the state police were here this morning and are coming back in one hour. The had said they found some evidence that maybe the cause of the barn fire.” Luke asked, ” What did they find in the barn ruins.” Jesse replied,” They found your lighter.” Luke paled when he heard Jesse say it was his lighter. Luke replied,” I had some of my things in a box in the barn, but you know that I would never burn down the barn.” Jesse answered,” Well, Luke, Daisy had found your cigarettes in your room by accident. Why do I find it hard to believe that you didn’t cause the fire.” Luke became upset by his uncle’s remark,” You know I would never do anything to cause harm to Bo or anyone here. You know that I had gone into town to get the supplies and Cooter told me on the way back what had happened. Why don’t you believe me, Uncle Jesse.” Jesse said,” Luke I like to believe you, but with what happen to your cousin, I am not sure what to believe.” Then a car pulled up to the farm and Jesse and Luke saw it was the state police.” One of the men got out of the car to ask if he was Luke. Luke answered,” Yes,” Then he said,” I have talked to your uncle about the situation of the barn burning earlier today and I am sorry to say that you will be charged with the crime from the evidence we had found and you need to come with me to the state prison.” He grabs his handcuffs and tells Luke to place his hands on his head. Luke does what he is told and the policeman grabs one of his hands behind his back to put on the handcuffs and does the same with the other hand. Once he has Luke’s hands secured, he opens the back car door and tells Luke to get inside and drove away from the farm.
Bo came out of his room to see who had driven up to the house and he saw the state police handcuffing Luke and placing him in the car and heard the conversation between his uncle and Luke. Bo asked. ” Why are they doing it, Uncle Jesse?” Jesse replied,” Bo, I am sorry you had to see this, but the state police are here to arrest your cousin.” Bo became upset when he asked his uncle.” What for?” Jesse answered, ” He is charged with burning down the barn because they found his lighter in the ruins of the barn. I am so sorry, Bo.”
When Bo heard that his cousin was going to jail, he ran back into the house to his room and lied down on his bed with his head faced down into the pillow. He began to cry because he realized that his cousin may have had started the fire that almost killed him. When his uncle knock on the boys’ bedroom door, he didn’t get a reply so he quietly opened the door and saw that Bo had cried him self to sleep. Jesse saw Bo lying on his bed facing the door, he could see the dried tears on Bo cheeks. Jesse began to wonder how the family is going to survive and how will Luke fight for his freedom for a crime he may not have committed. He slowly left the room and closed the door. When Daisy came home from work, Jesse told her what had happen and why Luke was in jail. She said, ” We have to fight for his freedom because he didn’t or could have ever burn down the barn especially when Bo was in the hayloft. ” Jesse answered, ” I know baby, I know and we need to stick together to bring Luke home. But I feel that Bo believes that Luke did it, since he heard me talk to Luke about you finding his cigarettes and we need to prove to Bo that his cousin would never harm him. Let’s go to bed now Daisy.” Then they both went to get ready for bed.