It's not like that. Just, like, he's not as kinda in-your-face as he used to be, ya' know?" Oh." Dad thinks a few minutes then shakes his head. "Peter... I'll tell you the truth, I think maybe that water put the fear uh God in the boy. I mean, George and Stacy both noticed something was different - once he started talking again. They were getting' called by the school about once a week. But they haven't gotten one in a couple of months. He's been helping out around the house. George an' me was. " I said, sliding a small cabinet away from the wall to reveal the safe."I hope the combination he gave us works." Added Mike as I squatted down to open it.As I cleaned out the safe, the girls performed a quick search, just in case there were any other nefarious plans in the works."That should do it," I said sliding my pack over one shoulder, "make the call, there should be enough stuff hidden in the crawl space to put these guys in prison for a long time."And, that was it. In and out, quick. " "My parents don't get home for three hours. We could do it now and you could teach me." I was shocked at what she asked. I froze not knowing how to respond. After all, she was only eighteen years old. I thought to myself, "I hope I don't regret this" and took Kathie's hand pulling her towards my house. I couldn't believe I was going to do this. We went up to my bedroom where I sat her on the bed. I positioned myself next to her and gently kissed her saying, "just relax, Kathie." "I not going. ‘Oh, you mean the guy with the shorts? Sure. We were chatting.’ ‘Virginia,’ he said knowingly. ‘He’s not Santa Claus.’ I laughed gaily, ‘Of course not! You thought I…? No, no. He’s not Santa Claus. That’s obvious! Too skinny for one thing.’ Sam’s eyes narrowed. ‘And… Santa Claus doesn’t exist. Right?’ I felt my hackles rising, but I stifled the urge to slap his smug face. ‘Well, that goes without saying. He can’t be Santa because there is no Santa. Everybody knows that. I was just trying to be.