The Life and Times of Jeffrey Gordon - Part 4
written by SonicBlu

All content within this story is (c) 2001, 2002 SonicBlu. 
Illegal copying and/or distribution of this story,
without the written consent of the author, is 
strictly prohibited. Any similarities with characters 
past or present, living or dead, is
purely coincidental.

     We arrived at Shea's Burger House a bit later 
than expected, and the three of us felt as if
we could all eat an entire house. We sat ourselves 
at one of the vacant booths, and before too
long, the waiter appeared at our table, ready to 
take our order. He was probably one of the largest
brown bears I've ever seen, and as he walked, he 
waddled to and fro, but his gaze faced forward
the entire time. I would expect bears like that 
to be rude and conceited, but he was actually quite
kind, and always had a wide grin on his face. 
He even complimented me on how nice of a kid
Brandon was when he took our order. I figured 
that it was either a very rare trait in the types of
his breed, or it was procedure for working as 
a waiter in a burger restaurant. Once he left our
table, I felt a slight pounding in my head. I 
rubbed my temples with my paws as we waited for
our food.
"So, Brandon, how are you doing in school?" Randy 
asked as the smell of juicy burger patties
began to strongly fill the restaurant.
"It's going okay." Brandon said in a blank tone 
as he fidgeted with the napkin holder on the
table. I always knew his attention wasn't fully 
in the conversation when he does stuff like this. It
happened all the time when Sandra used to come 
around, and now to see him do the same thing
in front of Randy, I had to step in.
"Brandon, please don't play with that." I said, 
but Randy placed his paw upon my shoulder,
giving me a gesture to silence myself.
"He's just having a good time, Jeffrey. At least 
let him enjoy himself." Randy whispered.
"Randy, I'm only showing him how to be more 
presentable."
"I know that, but you have to realize, he's 
only nine years old. We're having a good time, try not
to ruin that for him."
"I'm not trying to ruin anything, Randy. We 
can still have a good time without fidgeting with
everything like that. He does this all the 
time whenever someone talks to him about something he
doesn't want to be involved in. He does that 
to hide, Randy. I know my kid!" I said and covered
my head with my paws. I felt another throbbing 
headache coming on and I did not want to unload
in front of everyone, but at this point, I 
didn't care.
"Jeffrey, are you sure you're feeling okay? 
I never would have seen you to act this way."
"I just...need to get away for a bit. Excuse 
me." I said as I rose slowly from the table. 
"Dad, are you going to be okay?" Brandon asked 
as he gazed up at me; his eyes held the same
type of frightening expression I remembered 
seeing when Sandra was living with us. I ran my
paw gently through his head fur, hoping to give 
him a little reassurance that all I needed was to
get a breath of fresh air.
"I'll be okay, Son." I whispered and left Randy 
to watch Brandon while I walked outside.

     I paced back and forth outside, and I must 
admit, I must have caused a bit of a scene with
the way I've been displaying my nervousness and 
stress. I wasn't even concerned whether or not
anyone even saw me shed a tear. I had to get a 
grip on myself. As I paced back and forth, I
pondered over what I was doing, then asked 
myself what would the old Jeffrey Gordon do? I
found a quiet moment where I could sit down 
and rest my back against the brick building behind
me. Once I was fully at peace and had a full 
grip on my thoughts, I felt my heart beating within
my chest. As I felt the tempo of my heartbeats, 
thoughts of Brandon came to my mind of how we
once were together. I took a quick look at 
the way I've been acting lately, and then I knew right
away what I had to do.
"It's not like me at all," I whispered to myself, 
"but now, I know what I have to do. I have to
bring the old me back once again." 

     I rose from the ground, brushed away any 
loose dust or dirt from my jeans, and headed
back inside the restaurant. I found the booth 
just the way I left it upon returning. Both Randy and
Brandon looked up as I took my seat.
"Feeling better?" Randy asked as he placed his 
paw on my shoulder.
"Yeah. A little." I replied. I still wasn't 
sure what to expect when I came back, but the 
entire table fell right back into silence. Our 
waiter returned shortly after I took my seat, and 
we started eating quietly. I could tell by the 
look in Randy's eyes and the way he was eating 
that something was upsetting him. I broke the 
silence between the three of us as I reached 
for a few fries. I had to say something, at 
least to Brandon about how I, myself, appeared.
"Brandon, I'm sorry for the way I acted before. 
I was just going through way too much stress."
"It's okay, Dad." Brandon whispered and slumped 
in his seat. 

     As I sat in the booth, enjoying my burger, 
I held my gaze on Brandon and Randy sitting
across from me. They both had their eyes pointed
down at the table the entire time they were
eating, and we haven't said much more. I heaved 
a soft sigh as I worked on cleaning my plate of
the char-broiled delicacy before me. I admit 
that Shea's Burger House made the best burgers on
the planet, but it wasn't even half as good 
when I saw my family and friend in so much
depression. Once we finished our food, we 
rose from the table and I left a tip on the 
table for the burly brown bear waiter that served 
us, paid for our order, then the three of us left 
the restaurant, hoping to release our gloom, and 
let our fur down in a great game of bowling.

     I never thought the discomfort of having a 
gay being amongst us was still getting to
Brandon, but Randy must have tried to talk to 
him while I was outside. I could tell that Brandon's
heart wasn't quite in it when we arrived at the 
bowling alley, and that his happiness I saw from
his bedroom before we left was temporary. At 
first, I was looking forward to the festive evening,
hoping that this outing would ease my weary 
mind and emotions. After awhile, I knew it
wouldn't be like that, and that I would end 
up feeling just as sorrowful as if I was sitting at home
all by myself. Halfway through the game, I 
decided to break the silence between us once again.
"Having a good time, Sport?" I asked as I 
tousled his head fur.
"I guess." Brandon replied and kicked his 
feet swiftly back and forth as he sat, waiting for his
turn to come. Out of nervousness, I looked 
up at Randy, whom approached the alley for his
second try. I turned back to Brandon and 
slightly shivered as I wanted to see exactly what was on
Brandon's mind.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay? Is it 
something I've done?"
"No, Dad."
"Then, talk to me. What's wrong?" Brandon 
looked up at me with saddened eyes and heaved a
soft sigh.
"Dad, it's Randy. I don't feel comfortable 
around him."
"Why, Son?"
"I know what he is, and everyone at school 
makes fun of people like that."
"Listen, Brandon, we don't have to talk about 
this here. Would you like to do this at home?"
Brandon shrugged a little.
"Well, it is something we have to talk about, Son. 
Randy is my best friend, you know that,
right?" Brandon nodded silently in response.
"Just try to relax, Son. I know how hard it is, 
but you must do the right thing, not what everyone
else does. Understand?" Brandon looked up at me 
once again and his bottom jaw quivered
slightly. I attempted to put my arm around him 
to comfort him, but he cringed at my touch.
"Your turn, Jeffrey." Randy said with a smile. 
As I looked down the alley, I saw a brief display of
a strike on the electronic board above the pin setter.
"Randy, I sometimes wonder why you think 
Brandon or I would be that much of a challenge to
you."
"Hey, this is a good evening out with friends 
and family. This isn't a tournament or anything."
Randy giggled and seated himself next to Brandon. 
Once he was in a seated position, Brandon
slowly scooted one seat over. I lowered my head 
and shook it slowly in disbelief. From what I
got in Brandon's reactions, I knew right away 
that something around his school had been going
around against gay beings. I decided to wait 
again to talk to him about it, since I knew now what
was bringing Brandon such discomfort. I picked 
up the bowling ball about ready to take my
seventh turn. I felt my bowling game starting 
to get worse the more I thought about the way
Brandon had been acting, but I didn't care. 
Randy was right. This was an evening to enjoy
amongst family and friends. It's not like this 
game was going to be on the National Bowling
Tournament Association or anything. I approached 
the lane and tried my first attempt at the
eighth frame. One gutter-ball later, I turned 
with a shrug and kept my gaze pointed at the floor. I
kinda expected Randy to jump up and try to help 
me out with my stance and follow-through,
after seeing it through seven previous frames. 
"Jeffrey, hold it. You're not guiding your arm 
right. You keep casting it off to the left as you let
go of the ball. Here, try it like this." Randy 
said as he stood behind me. I faced the full set of pins
that remained standing on the other side of the 
alley.
"Okay, now lean your upper-body forward just a 
little bit." I nodded and slouched slightly as my
head and shoulders leaned forward.
"Now, just stand here in one spot and move your 
arm through the motions of taking your next
turn." I shrugged and held my arm up slightly 
as my eyes peered over the heavy, spherical ball.
"Okay, hold it. Turn your paw slightly to the 
right. Have your thumb point at two o'clock." I
looked at Randy with a perplexed gaze, never 
even thinking of pointing my thumb anywhere else
but twelve o'clock.
"Now, move your arm back like this, straight 
back, then when you follow it through on your
release, keep your arm aimed straight at the 
pins." I nodded and reached my arm back. The
bowling ball started to become a bit heavy as 
I held it and my arm slipped a bit.
"Oops, sorry about that, Randy. This thing 
gets heavy after awhile."
"It's okay. It's my fault, Jeffrey." Randy 
smiled and chuckled as I started to notice the feeling of
Randy's crotch pressing gently against my 
rump. At first, I didn't even notice it, 
but after Randy threw me that laugh, then 
noticed the way he gripped my arm gently, 
made me think he was planning all of this 
to get closer to me. I also noticed Randy 
was taking his time with showing me
the proper bowling stance. I may not be that 
much of a detective when it comes to finding clues,
but even a real idiot could put the pieces of 
this puzzle together just as easily. A sudden feeling
shot through my veins and almost caused me to 
drop the ball onto the floor. Luckily, my grip was
at attention and I caught it before it started 
to slip through my grasp.
"I'll tell you what. Why don't you stand over 
there and watch me." I said and stood back up
again. I surely didn't want Randy to get near 
me like that in front of the other nearby bowlers,
and certainly not in front of my son, but I 
also knew Randy's intentions weren't always bad, and
that he was trying to help me. What was a 
heterosexual fox like me supposed to think? Randy
slunk near the score card and watched while 
I proceeded to make my stance. I breathed softly
through my nose as I remembered what Randy 
showed me, for I didn't want him to give me
another one of his "lessons". I turned my 
thumb at the two o'clock position and drew my arm
straight back as I began taking five steps 
towards the foul line. Once I knew I was in position, I
brought my arm forward and released the ball, 
stopping just short of the foul line, and watched as
my ball rolled directly down the middle of 
the alley, striking all of the pins, and giving me a
strike. I was astonished, since I hardly ever 
was able to hit all of those pins in just one shot, so I
spun around with a feeling of sheer excitement 
pulsating through me. As my eyes froze on the
spectators that watched me bowl, I saw Randy 
spring to his feet and clapped his paws, while
Brandon just gave a shy-looking grin, then 
pointed his head down again. Deep down inside, I was
screaming for this kid to stop feeling so 
glum and enjoy himself for once, but I think Randy's
presence with me was bringing Brandon deeper 
and deeper into his saddened, uneasy state.

     The rest of my game wasn't too bad. I must 
admit, Randy gave me quite a few tips just in
that little "moment" we shared on the floor of 
the alley, and as we all headed home, many mixed
emotions ran through my heart, along with the 
several questions that continued to drill at my
mind. Why couldn't Brandon just forget about 
what his friends at school told him and have a
good time with us? If I've had a great game and 
a great time with a best friend and my son, why
do I still feel so disappointed? Will Brandon 
ever return to the way he was before? What will he
think now about the talk I intended on having 
with him? I hated every single question with a
vengeance, and didn't even want one single one 
of them answered. I just wanted things to be
back the way they were before, but I know that 
will never happen. Not as long as Sandra
continues to drink her life away and the threats 
of taking Brandon away from me keep going.
What about Randy? What is he trying to do? Is 
he trying to get closer to me even though he
knows he's got the wrong type of fox? If my 
best friend is gay, does that mean I have to be too?
Would I hurt Randy to tell him "no" each time 
he wanted to get close to me? Every question has
an answer, and I was still not up to finding 
them out anytime soon, but I feel that it's inevitable,
and that each day that goes by, henceforth, 
each question will be answered one at a time, but will
I like the answers I'm given? By this point, 
all I wanted was to get away from all of this. Just for
a moment. After I shook Randy's paw to see 
him off at the door, I turned around as I closed the
door about to speak out to Brandon, but he had 
already scampered up the stairs and into his
room. I heaved a small sigh as I held my gaze 
down at my hard-wood floor, pondering over how
and when I will discuss the uncomfortable issue 
to Brandon.

     I stood in the foyer of my house for a few 
minutes in silence, not knowing what to think. I
blamed my own shyness keeping me from doing what 
needed to be done, and Brandon needed to
know once and for all how I felt. I thought about 
all the advice I gave him while guiding him
through life, and as the thoughts of the past 
came rushing up to me, I realized I could use my own
advice. With a heavy breath through my lungs, 
I made my way across the floor and up the stairs,
not letting anything holding me back. I started 
reaching for the doorknob to Brandon's room, and
I could have sworn I heard a sniffle. I knew 
how Brandon felt about me constantly barging into
his room, so I knocked softly on the door.
"Yeah?" Brandon said through the sniffling, and 
I could easily hear his sorrows more clearly.
"Brandon, it's me. Mind if I come in?"
"I know what you're going to tell me, but you don't 
have to bother. I'm not interested."
"Son, you know how I want you to do the right 
thing, and this is completely out of context. Do
you know what that means?"
"I don't care, Dad. Why do you want me to 
understand something that has nothing to do with
me?"
"Because, Brandon, sometimes you have to take 
to mind of the things that are not a part of your
life. It's the only way you'll truly understand 
how others feel. Do you understand?" The door to
Brandon's door slowly opened and I saw in 
Brandon's eyes that he was crying heavily. I sighed
softly through my nose as I made my way into 
his room and seated myself on the foot of his bed.
"Listen, Son, it's not right to keep discriminating 
against gay beings like that."
"Dad, all the kids at school are saying it. If 
I were to ever disagree with that, they would think
I'm gay or something and would spread lies all 
over the school about me."
"Who said you had to take part in what they 
say or do? Besides, you're not gay either, and neither
am I. Do I put that against Randy because he's gay?"
"No."
"Now tell me the truth, Son. Did you and Randy 
talk about homosexuality while I was outside
the restaurant tonight?" Brandon nodded silently.
"What did he say?"
"Just that being gay made him very happy and 
it was who he was."
"What did you tell him?"
"Nothing. I just sat there."
"What would you have told him if you had the 
chance? Would it be something Brandon Lindsay
Gordon say or would it be something you heard 
at school?" Brandon sat on the other side of his
bed in silence for a few moments as if he was 
in thought of an answer that just wouldn't come to
him.
"Brandon?" He looked back into my eyes with a 
worried expression on his face.
"I don't know, Dad. I don't know what I would 
have said."
"So, by saying that, you also wouldn't know 
how you feel about gay beings, is that true?"
Brandon slowly nodded his response.
"Now, let me tell you my feelings. When I 
first found out Randy was gay, I was very shocked. I
had never known it until last year. Do you 
know what else I felt?" Brandon silently shook his
head.
"I also felt happy for him. He's my best 
friend, and I would never hurt his feelings for what he is.
I respect his feelings, and I understand 
the lifestyle of a gay being."
"But you're not gay. How could you understand 
them?"
"It's easy, and I'll show you how. First of 
all, put yourself into their position and understand how
you would feel if someone else discovered 
something about you that they didn't understand.
Let's say it's your baseball practice. You 
really like it, don't you?"
"Yeah, Dad. It's my favorite thing in the world."
"I don't blame you for that. It really makes 
you happy and you love it so much. If someone you
know does not like baseball, they won't 
discriminate you for liking the sport, would they?"
"I don't think so, Dad. It's just a sport."
"By the same token, if someone you know likes 
football the way you like baseball, you would
understand that football makes them happy 
too, right?"
"Jason Crowley. He loves football even more 
than I love baseball."
"Alright, perfect example. Would you say 
anything against him for loving football?"
"No, of course not."
"Well, there you go, Son." I said with a grin.
"But Dad, being gay is a totally different thing."
"Not really, Son. Baseball makes you really 
happy and it's something you love. Your friend,
Jason, loves his football and that makes him 
happy."
"Yeah." Brandon said slowly.
"Randy is gay. It makes him happy and it's 
something he loves." Brandon's eyes seemed to light
up when I broke it down into a way where I 
knew he would understand.
"I get it now, Dad. Only I don't understand 
something."
"What is it?"
"If you say I have to understand feelings of 
others, how come you had Randy back off from you
when he was just showing you how to bowl 
tonight?" My cheeks started feeling warm with
embarrassment and I got an uneasy feeling of 
nervousness rushing through my veins.
"Well, Brandon. Randy started giving me the 
wrong signals that night. He knows I'm not gay,
but I think, deep down inside, he wanted to 
try to get me to be that way. I honor his decision for
being gay, but once he tries to get me in on 
it, I had to draw the line."
"I guess he needs to understand your happiness 
as a straight fox." Brandon said with a giggle. I
smiled and gave him a tight one-armed hug. My 
smile seemed to return to my muzzle for a short
time before I recalled the way we both have 
been acting towards each other lately. Just thinking
of that very concept caused a frown to appear 
just as fast as my smile faded away.
"Brandon, I want to ask you something."
"Sure, Dad. What is it?"
"About us. I know we've been through enough 
already, and I did notice a pretty big change with
you. Mind if you fill me in?" Brandon lowered 
his head and held his gaze on the carpet that lined
his bedroom floor.
"What's wrong? You know what I mean, don't you?"
I asked. Brandon silently nodded his head.
"Look, Son. I know I haven't been acting like 
myself lately, but there's a reason for it. You might
not understand now, but when you get older, 
you'll find a much harder life will take its toll on
someone. Through all these court hearings, 
custody battles, and the way my boss works me to
death, I get cranky. When you made a mess of 
your room that evening, I wasn't feeling in the
right mood. I know it was wrong for me to 
raise my voice, but that's how grown-ups get when
they had a rough time."
"Oh, I understand that, it's just that..." Brandon 
went silent as he looked blankly around the
room, hoping for an answer to come springing out 
from nowhere.
"Just that what, Son?"
"It felt like you were acting like Mom used to." 
I knew it. The dream I had was not just a dream,
but real feelings were behind it in order to 
make it a possibility.
"You know I'll never get like your mom used to, 
right?" Brandon nodded again.
"Your mom still drinks, doesn't she?"
"Yeah, but not as much as she used to. She 
doesn't even get as angry anymore."
"You do realize she's still trying to find 
ways to take you away from me, right?"
"She keeps asking me lots of questions like 
how well you've been taking care of me."
"You told her the truth, right?"
"Of course, Dad."
"Do you think your mother is putting on an 
innocent face just to get you to like her more?"
"What does that mean?"
"You know, like treating you a lot more 
special than she's ever done before, giving you things
for no reason, stuff like that."
"Now that I think about it, she's acting a 
lot different around me every time I see her."
"Last time she brought you home, she told 
me something you might have told her. She said that I
don't listen to you. Do you still feel that way?"
"Not anymore, but..."
"But you did before, right?" Brandon slowly 
nodded his head, and I could have sworn I saw a
tear forming in his eye.
"I'm sorry, Dad. You were changing and Mom 
started showing things the way you used to."
"I want you to know, Son, that you don't 
ever have to be afraid to tell me anything. I've always
been there for you before, and I won't stop 
now. This is something we both have to work on
together. No more of this 'one-word' stuff 
anymore. The way we're talking now is much better,
and it's the only way I'll ever know how 
you truly feel. Understand?"
"I understand, Dad. I was getting kinda scared 
though after awhile."
"Scared of what, Son?"
"Well, I've noticed Randy coming over a lot and 
I see him looking at you sometimes. I knew
Randy was gay, and I was afraid you were becoming 
gay too."
"You know I'm not gay, Son."
"Yeah, I know that now, but I was frightened then. 
If you were becoming gay, I would be too
embarrassed to even be seen at school."
"Did your mom ever know anything about Randy? 
About his being gay?"
"I think she already knew too."
"Does she suspect that about me?"
"I don't know. Maybe she does. I really don't know."
"Well, looks like me and her are going to have 
to talk about it."
"Oh, don't tell her I told you this. Please? 
I don't want her to do anything mean to me." Brandon
darted a terrified look into my eyes.
"Don't worry, Brandon. You know I will do what 
I can to keep you safe. Your mother won't ever
do anything to hurt you either. Deep down inside, 
she loves you."
"That's what Brittany Ferguson said about her 
father when he tells her the same thing and he
beats her."
"Brandon, your mom is trying to get off the 
alcohol, and she will never beat you. If she does, she
will automatically lose any chance of ever 
being able to visit you, and I know she doesn't want
that. I need to talk to her about some certain 
issues, and putting you in the middle of it all is not
the right way. That's something that is also 
going to have to stop. I want straight-forward talk
from her. She will not put you through any 
more of this." I said. I started feeling a rush of anger
breezing through me like a blizzard rushing 
through my body as I rose quickly from Brandon's
bed. I walked swiftly down the stairs and 
into my den where I slid the door closed and latched it
shut, in case Brandon decided to walk in on 
me. I never did have much use for that latch, since I
never had anything to hide, but for something 
like this, I wanted complete privacy. I paced back
and forth in my den trying to ponder over what 
I was going to say to Sandra about her actions.
She's gone too far, and if none of the legal 
authorities can do anything about it, I sure as hell
wasn't going to sit back on my tail watching 
as Sandra puts our only son in the middle of our
issues. I kept sneaking glances over at the 
phone sitting on the small table by the sofa, and every
time I looked at it, I got the same sudden 
rush of nervousness, knowing that this was not going to
be a pleasant call to make. I wasn't sure if 
I wanted to even give Randy a call for advice on the
matter, since at this point, I didn't know 
what I wanted to do next. As I slowed down my frantic
pacing on my den floor, I thought about what 
needed to be done to help fix the matter, and I
knew what I had to do. I wasn't going to let 
my nervousness get the best of me, and with a
feeling of sudden strength running through my 
veins, I reached for the phone and quickly dialed
Sandra's number. As the phone on the other 
side continued to ring, I held the receiver in my paw
for a moment and my mind started going blank. 
Exactly how was I going to talk to Sandra? I
need to talk to her about this matter, but I 
knew I had to work into it somehow. I couldn't just call
her up and start chewing her out from the start. 
I thought again of how Brandon tensed up slightly
when I mentioned of this talk I needed to have 
with Sandra, and since nobody seemed to be home
anyway, I placed the receiver back onto the cradle. 
"Whatever happens will happen, I guess. I can't 
do much about it but to take life as it comes." I
said to myself as I sat myself down at the sofa 
in the den. I thought about making the
environment more peaceful by adding a fire to 
the fireplace. It always used to help me relax
whenever I felt tense. I rose from the couch 
and looked at the phone, which made the nerves
rushing through my veins tingle. I shrugged 
it off as I placed a few logs into the fireplace and
ignited them with a long-stem match. I breathed 
heavily through my nose to help ease the tension
within my system, and my whiskers twitched 
slightly. As I gazed at the rising flame within the
fireplace, my mind began to wander. I placed 
my paws upon the brick mantle as I rose from the
floor and stopped my eyes at an old picture of 
Sandra, Brandon, and I that was taken at Sun
Valley Park. Brandon was only two years old at 
the time, and Sandra had just started drinking.
The family that was in the picture seemed like 
a separate world from the way things turned out
now.
"A lie. It's all a lie. Had I not known it then." 
I muttered to myself as I picked up the photograph.
A deep feeling of rage shot through my veins in 
an instant as I held my gaze on the picture of
Sandra. My enraged train of thought was interrupted 
by the sound of the phone's ringing. The
sudden noise caused me to leap and the picture 
almost dropped from my grasp. By the third ring,
I decided to place the picture back on the mantle 
and cross the room to the phone.
"Hello?"
"Yes, is this Mr. Gordon?"
"Yes it is."
"Mr. Gordon, I represent the law firm of Grueber 
and Garrett. I understand you're one of Frank
Garrett's clients."
"Yes I am. What's going on?"
"Sir, I regret to inform you that Mr. Garrett 
recently fell into cardiac arrest."
"What? When did this happen?"
"Two days ago. He arrived at the St. Victor 
Emergency Hospital in critical condition, and his
doctor says he will most likely be out of 
commission from any further work. His partner, Mark
Grueber, has been informed of your case and 
will be continuing where Mr. Garrett left off."
"Okay. Thank you for calling." I slowly 
returned the phone back to the cradle and sat with my
knees upon the floor of my den. My paws lightly
brushed across the cushions of the sofa.
"Great. with Mr. Garrett gone, I'm going to 
have to entrust a lawyer I don't even know with the
rest of this case. Mr. Garrett was the only 
one I could ever trust. I don't know what Mr. Gueber is
like, but I know I won't get half as good of 
a lawyer as I got with Mr. Garrett." I didn't know at
the time how to feel about my case changing 
to another lawyer's paws just like that, so I tried not
to concentrate too much on that. I had my own 
problems, and I didn't need any more stacked on
top of it. I just hope that this new lawyer 
will be as fair and just as Mr. Garrett was.

     A few days passed, and I have not yet 
contacted Sandra about the issues that were left
standing. Just as the doctors predicted, 
Mr. Garrett's life ended in the emergency room. There
was nothing else they could do. Once I got 
word on the day of the funeral, I left Brandon with
Jennifer and headed to the cemetery. Once 
there, I saw a glimpse of a few other clients Mr.
Garrett had and I realized that I wasn't 
the only one who entrusted him. It seemed to me that he
left behind quite a reputation as well. 
Across the distance, I saw Mark Grueber looking blankly
onto Mr. Garrett's tombstone. I decided 
to go over and introduce myself to him personally, which
would also give me an idea of how good a 
lawyer he really is.
"Mr. Grueber?" I said as I slowly approached 
the stout-looking raccoon. He turned to face me
and I could not see one bit of emotion in his eyes.
"Mr. Grueber, I'm Jeffrey Gordon. Frank Garrett's 
been handling my divorce and custody cases."
I said as I thrust my paw slowly forward for 
him to shake. He lightly gripped my paw and shook
it slowly as he gazed blankly into my eyes.
"Hello, Jeffrey. I guess I'll be taking over 
for you, but now is not the time to discuss legalities.
You understand, right?" I nodded slowly. It 
took me awhile to agree with him, but I did have to
admit, it wasn't quite the right setting to 
discuss legal matters. At the end of the ceremony, Mr.
Grueber gave a brief eulogy on Mr. Garrett's 
behalf, and then we all got up and headed for our
vehicles. I followed along with the procession 
for a few miles until we all started to separate. As I
drove back home, I started growing uneasy 
having to give my trust to someone that didn't seem
energetic enough as a lawyer. Maybe it was 
the funeral that was bringing him down, but I had a
sinking feeling that his attitude in the law 
firm and courtrooms were no different. Although Mark
Grueber is part of the same firm as Mr. Garrett 
once was, he's still a different lawyer entirely. My
nerves felt as if they would ever be put to ease.
"One of these days, all of this will be over. 
One of these days, I will set my uneasiness to rest.
Until that day comes, I don't know what will 
happen." I said aloud as I drove into the familiar
territory of my neighborhood. As I parked my 
car and walked slowly up the walkway, I couldn't
help but think of what will become of the 
future. Will I ever find happiness again, or is it just
another emotion found only in a dream? The 
funniest thing I've often found out about life is that
some questions frequently continue returning 
to me time and time again.

End part 4