Jacob Finding His Way

Jacob Finding His Way 72

Written by J.P.G.

{Jacob Finding His Way is partly fictional. As I am writing this story, I am above the age of 21. If you want a story with lots of sex, look elsewhere. This is a love story. Seeing as it is a love story, sex is in there, but it is in realistic balance in the characters' lives.

Any similarity to any real events, names, or life events is purely accidental. If you are underage, (according to your state laws, a minor), if this literature is offensive to you or to anyone around your viewing area, or it is illegal for you to view such content where you are reading it, stop reading the story.

This story cannot be distributed in any way, shape or form without the author's expressed written consent.}

Story Written by: J.P.G.

Love Scenes Written By: Daddy Rick

Edited By: Daddy Rick

Edited By: Ed

Chapter 72

Mr. Jackson asked the detectives and the officers to stay where they were until he got back. Before leaving the room, Mr. Jackson told his staff to stick to Jacob like glue and not let the detectives take Jacob without showing an arrest warrant for him. The security detail agents nodded their heads in agreement, as Mr. Jackson headed over to the restaurant.

Everyone looked up at Mr. Jackson when he walked in and started to ask him questions. Ignoring the questions, he walked straight to Harold. He bent down and whispered to Harold what was going on. Before Mr. Jackson could finish talking, Harold got up and started walking toward the lobby.

They all got up to follow Harold and Jackson, but Harold stopped them and made them stay. Reluctantly they sat back down at the tables wondering what was going on out in the lobby and why Jackson had to come and get Caleb's dad. Harold walked to the front as quickly as he could, and when he arrived, he found the detective, officers, and the security agents going at it.

The detectives were trying to pull Jacob out, but his detail was refusing to let them near him. Harold walked between them and asked everyone to settle down. It took a few minutes, but they finally quieted down. Just as Harold was about to speak, the detective demanded Jacob to follow him out to his car, which did not make Harold happy.

"May I please see your badge sir?" The detective pulled out his badge and handed it to Harold. "Okay now may I please see your warrant that states that you have to right to make an arrest?" The detective shot a look at Harold that got him even angrier. "Detective you have no warrant, so you have no right to demand anything.

It is not wise to anger a district judge. One way or another you will be in front of me in my courtroom and trust me, when you are I am going to make it hell for you. So let's start from this point on showing everyone in this room the respect each deserves." Harold pointed over to the couches in the lobby. "Let's all walk on over there and sit down."

"Excuse me your honor, Jacob has to come with us so we can ask him a few questions. You have no authority in this matter since you are not the sitting judge. So please step aside and let us do our job. I need to talk with this young man in order to get to the bottom of the fire at his house."

"You are right, I am not the assigned judge to this case, but there is not one yet since the cause of the fire hasn't been finally determined. Therefore, you have no right to demand a thing. If you want to talk with Jacob, you will do it here, in my presence. If I feel the questions are going a direction where you are trying to use him as a scapegoat, you and the officers here will be removed from the hotel immediately."

The detective just looked at Harold. He knew Harold was right, but was hoping he could intimidate his way into getting Jacob to come with him. Now he sees that is not going work, he has no other choice but to talk with the young man here.

"Fine, but if he says anything that I feel warrants an arrest, I am taking him in. If any of you try to stop it the officers will do their job, you all will join him as well. Do I make myself clear on that?" The detective pulled out his little tablet form his inside pocket of his suit jacket as he sat down.

"Before you get started detective, why are you looking so hard at Jacob here?" This time Harold shot the detective a look that he did not like.

"I will get to that through my questions. Now if you don't mind, I would like to get started talking to this young man." The detective looked straight at Jacob. "Now do you know who might have wanted to harm you, your family, or anyone that lives in your home enough to burn it down?"

"I have made a few enemies at my job and a few at school, but I don't think any of them would have gone this far to get back at me."

"That is not what I asked you sir. You need to answer the questions I give you, or I will take you in on suspicion of burning down your home. Once again, who do you think might have done this to you?" Jacob spit out names faster than the detective could write them down. Among the names he gave was Loraine, Norma, Hector her brother, Patricia and a few of the employees he has fired.

"Okay now, tell me why you changed your routine yesterday." Jacob looked at the detective with a confused look on his face. "Let me ask you in a different way. Is it not it true your family doesn't go out together all at once like you all did yesterday?"

"That is true, but yesterday once something..."

"I don't need you to put a twist on why you did what you did. You just admitted that you changed your routine. That alone warrants me..."

"Detective if you don't let Jacob finish answering your questions, I will stop this and ask you to leave. If that happens, the only way you are going to be able to talk with him again is by having a signed arrest warrant for him. Do I make myself clear on that?" The detective did not like Harold's tone, but nodded his head. "Go ahead Jacob finish what you were about to say."

"As I was saying, yesterday was different, just like the day of my boyfriend's birthday party. There are a few times we all leave the house to celebrate something together or help a friend or a family member with something. A family member moved back here to El Paso and we all came down to help him and his family settle in their new home."

"But it was you that talked those that did not want to go into going, right?" Jacob nodded his head. "That is very unusual? What I mean is, normally you always leave someone at your house whenever you leave."

"Normally the things I go out and do don't involve my entire family. I am going to work, school, or things that don't interest the adults, but does interest the others my age that live in my house. You don't bring your family to work do you? If you do, you need to bring them in from your car."

"What I do or don't doesn't matter." The detective got up from the couch looking over at Jacob with disgust in his eyes. "I understand you were here the whole time after leaving your house, is that correct?" Jacob nodded his head. "Who here can vouch for that and is it not a family member."

"Everyone here is family, one way, or another. Some by blood and some not, but we are one big family. You will have to take their word that I was here the entire day working."

"Family members and close personal friends always lie for each other. You have to see why I am thinking what I am thinking here Jacob. First, you changed your routine, which is rare. Secondly, you talked those that did not want to come into coming and finally you have nobody outside of your close net here to vouch for you that you were here the entire day. It leads to one conclusion, you either burned the house down yourself, or you hired someone to burn it down."

"Don't say another word Jacob." Everyone turned to the entrance of the hotel to see Al putting down his suitcases. "There is no shred of evidence of what you are saying because if there was, you would not be having this conversation here. You would have pulled my grandson out of here in handcuffs."

"Sir who are you in relationship of this young man?"

"I am his grandfather detective??????" The detective pulled out his badge and handed it to Al. "Detective Ramos, I spoke with you over the phone and I did not like your demeanor then and I surely don't like it now. I made it very clear where you stand with this family. You are not allowed to come near them unless you have the proper documents such as a warrant. Until you get a document signed by a judge, I'd better not hear that you are around my family."

"Mr. Serna as you have found out by now, you have no influence here. If you did, I would be off this case, which I am not. So if you don't mind, I need to get back to questioning your grandson." The detective grabbed his badge from Al as he turned his attention back to Jacob. "As I was saying, everything that you did yesterday..."

"Mr. Jackson, show these men to the door. If they refuse to leave willingly, use whatever force is needed to get them out. They have no standing here and they are no longer welcome on this property. There is no worry because they cannot arrest you since they are trespassing."

Just as Jackson and his men moved up to the detective and the officers, they pulled out their weapons. That not only surprised Jackson and his men, it stunned Al and Harold. Never have they seen police officers pull their weapons on men that are not threatening them in anyway.

Al walked over to the phone in the middle of the coffee table and called 911. When the operator answered, Al explained to her what was going on, which surprised the operator as well. She stumbled along in the call trying to defuse the situation, but ended up getting her supervisor on the line.

He had no idea how to defuse the situation, so he called the precinct watch commander, who in return called his captain and eventually the Chief-Of-Police was called. As all this was going on, 911 dispatched several more units to the hotel. When they walked in, they could not make heads or tails out of what was going on.

Even with six more officers on the scene, the original officers and detective did not holster their weapons. All the commotion that was going on brought everyone out of the restaurant. At the same time, Al and Harold told them to go back and not to come out until they come in and get them.

Just as they walked back into the restaurant, several more officers walked in, and then the Chief-of-Police. He ordered his officers and detectives to holster their weapons. Once they holstered their weapons, Harold picked up the phone and called a fellow judge. As he was on the phone, everyone was listening to him. He was explaining to his fellow judge what was going on and then asked for him to issue out arrest warrants, which he got.

Harold hung up the phone and turned to the officers that came in after the guns were drawn on them. "I warned the detective and officers when they first walked in that I am a sitting judge. They were already on thin ice with the way this conversation started. By them pulling their weapons in the manner they did, they broke several laws and many of our civil rights. Put aside the uniform code of conduct they must follow at all times.

Therefore, I called a fellow judge to issue arrest warrants for these individuals." Harold pointed to the detective and the officers that walked in. "I wish I could have been the on signing off on those warrants and you were brought before me. I would throw the book at you all without question. Anyway, as we speak the warrants are being put into the system and you will have no other choice but to arrest them."

"You are bluffing because I did not hear you give our names to the other judge, if you were even speaking to another judge." The detective looked at Harold with a smirk.

"I don't need to have your names since they are going to get them from your dispatch office." The smirk quickly disappeared from the detective's face. "You broke several laws and violated civil rights. You will never put on the badge again. Your lust to go after Jacob has backfired and now you are the one losing out here."

The Chief-Of-Police walked over to the detective and the officers that came with him. "I am sorry but the judge here is right. Even if he did not call in for arrest warrants to be issued, you would have left here without your badges and weapons. I want your badges and your weapons please. Once you give those items you will move toward to the wall and assume the position."

Hesitantly they each handed over their side arms, back up weapons and then their badges. They were searched and then placed into handcuffs. Before going any further, they waited for the arrest warrants to be issued. It was taking longer than they thought, and in return, they thought that maybe Harold was bluffing.

The Chief-Of-Police walked over to the detective. "Ramos I picked you so this wouldn't happen. Then I made it clear to you when we spoke earlier that you need to settle down, but you did not. You made matters worse, causing a person you did not want to be here to jump on a plane and fly down here. You sure did make a mess of things! Why didn't you listen to me when I talked with you? Your career is over!"

Detective Ramos did not say a word. He just starred at the wall hoping that his fellow boys in blue would give up waiting for the warrant and let him go. Just as he was thinking about it, the call came across the radios that the warrants have been received. Immediately after the confirmation was made, they were put in the backseats of squad cars.

"Your honor, Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Serna I don't know what to say, but I am very sorry. The officers and detectives are not like what you saw here. They respect the law, civil rights of people, and more importantly their badge. Whenever we have officers do things as they did, it looks bad for the entire police force. What I am trying to get at is asking you not go to the press on this. Let us clean this up in-house."

"I talked with your detective earlier today and you right afterward, and basically you both flipped me off over the phone so I am going to return the favor by flipping you off. I am going to go to the press and let them know what kind of police force we have here and that it is rotten all the way to the top. It is time for a change and that change needs to start from the top and go down." Al gave the Police Chief the finger.

"Mr. Serna I did talk with my detective when we got off the phone. I told him to go by the book and treat this case like every other case. Why he did not listen, I don't know. All I can say is I did talk with him as I told you I would."

"The reason he did not listen to you because he doesn't respect you. If you don't have your officers' respect, it is time for you to step down. Enough beating this topic, you were warned and you did not listen. I had better not find out this was politically motivated or a vendetta against my family because of its' standing in the community. I promise you if I find that, I will have your head on a platter."

The look on Al's face said it all. There was no way the Chief-of-Police or anyone that saw Al's look would walk away thinking anything except that he is dead serious. Trying to get his thoughts to reach his tongue, the Chief-of-Police was able to only wish Al good night and walk out of the hotel.

When he reached his car, Ramos' Precinct Captain walked up to the Chief. "Do whatever you can to get Detective Ramos out of this. He was only following your orders to take down this family. He should not lose his career for following your orders. Plus you promised him that nothing he does would come back to bite him in the ass."

"I told you and him to do what it took within the letter of the law to take down this family." The Police Chief talked with anger in his voice. "I never told him that he could break the law and pull weapons out on people. Neither of you is dumb, so why are you acting like you are?"

"Excuse me sir, you came to me saying that you needed this family to fall from grace in the community. That way some of the mud could be pushed onto the Governor because your party wants the Governorship back in the next election. As far as I know, you could have had someone torch this poor kid's home in order to get the ball rolling. There is no way I am going to let you destroy this young detectives career."

"You listen to me and listen good, Detective Ramos is done. The least he is going to get is losing his job. More than likely, he is going to serve some time along with the other officers. There is nothing I can do about that so write this off and move on. I want you to have another detective assigned to this case first thing in the morning."

The Chief's driver started his car, causing the captain to step back. "And this time get someone that has a head on their shoulders, not up his ASS! I do not want someone coming into this doing the same thing Detective Ramos did. Get one that will follow the law, but get what I need to have this family fall in status in this community."

Not saying another word, he knocked on the window and yelled at his driver to go. The Captain watched his boss drive off thinking what an asshole he was. He knows that there is no way to accomplish what his boss wants without losing more good officers and detectives, something he is it not willing to do.

Back in the hotel, Mr. Jackson called everyone back into the lobby and explained how the new set up was going to work with the security. After he finished talking, he opened the floor up for questions. The first questions were questions he knew he was going to get, so he knocked them out quickly. Then Gary asked Jackson a question he was not prepared to answer. He looked over to Al, and then Jacob and finally settled on Harold.

Al spoke up; "Right now that program is in the planning stages. Once we get the kinks worked out, there is going to be some type of security for that floor. At this point I don't know what, but it will be people for sure along with locks, sensors, and things like that."

"Al I am sorry, but the program has been kicked off already. I have already released one person to the program and he is here." Harold pointed over to Bobby. "He is the first of many that are going to be coming soon. The only hold off on the rest is getting a full kitchen staff in place and other minor things."

"I did not know that it was given the go ahead to start putting kids into the program." Al looked at Bobby a few seconds and then back over to Harold. "I need to know when things like this get kicked off, more so with my family living in the building now. Harold, you and I will talk more about this at another time."

Mr. Jackson looked at both Al and Harold trying to figure out what they are talking about. He had no idea that one of the floors of the hotel is going to be used as a pilot program that gives young teenage kids another chance to freedom. Without this program, they would not get a second chance and more than likely end up committing more crimes. The result would be them doing actual hard time in prison instead of where they are now.

"I need to know what this kid was in for and what he might bring to the Hernandez and Serna families as far as threats. That way I can be prepared for it." Jackson pointed to Harold. "You and I will discuss that at another time in private."

"No we won't Mr. Jackson." Everyone in the lobby looked over at Harold with a stunned look on their faces. "I cannot tell you anything about this young man since you are not an officer of the court. Even then, you have to be assigned to the case, which you are not. All I can say is that he is not a threat, so move on."

"He might not be a threat, but those he knew in the past might be. I cannot allow..."

"It is really not your choice since Jacob's family and friends are guests here at this hotel that is owned by the foundation started up by Joey here. They have no say on how things are run here. If you feel that Bobby being here is a threat you cannot handle, maybe you should talk with Jacob and Al about going elsewhere to feel safe."

Al did not like the last statement Harold made. He is as well a guest in the hotel and has no say on who stays there and who does not. This is a side of Harold Al has never seen. A side that Harold normally only shows in his courtroom when he is sitting on the bench!

"The transfer of the hotel hasn't happened yet. Just two weeks ago, you people decided to do this move. I have not even put the paperwork in yet to transfer ownership of this hotel to Joey and his foundation, so Harold shut up. My grandson and I still own this hotel."

Helen popped up and stopped her husband from replying to Al. "Why don't we all settle down before we say things that might destroy friendships here. No one is going anywhere. We are going to work together to make sure that all sides are happy and safe. So take let's all take a breath and relax a little."

As soon as Helen finished talking, Jacob's voice came from the front of the room shocking everyone. "If you guys are done measuring your penises, could we move onto something that's actually important?" Both Al and Harold looked at Jacob stunned at what he just said. Neither of them ever thought that he would have said that.

Harold sat down next to his wife while Al whispered to Jackson. The lobby was dead quiet. The only thing you can hear is Al and Jackson whispering, but they were so low no one could make out what they were saying. Finally, after ten minutes of talking among themselves, they rejoined the group.

"As Helen said, we all need to settle down here. It has been a long night; well two long nights. Everyone is tired and wants to get to their rooms. Harold, Helen, Joey, Jacob, Jackson, and I will talk about what we need to do as far as security in this building. There is no doubt Harold that you would not release someone that is still a threat to society or more so a threat to your family.

With that said, I think we can call it a night." As everyone got up, Al walked over to Jacob. "If you can Jacob, I would like to talk with you before you go to bed. There are things I need to talk with you about. Better said things I would like to clear up with you that I feel I was in the wrong."

"Give me a few minutes to go up and make sure Jeremy is okay. I will rejoin you down here in the lobby in, let's say, in fifteen minutes?"

Al agreed to be here in fifteen minutes. While Jacob went up to check on Jeremy, he went over to smooth things out with Harold. In the heat of the discussion, he felt that things were said that if left out there would fester and become bigger problems than they should. That is something he did not want to happen since he and Rich recommended Harold for the new judge seat for the pilot program.

As he checked on Jeremy, Jacob couldn't stop thinking what his grandfather needed to talk to him about. At the same time, he did not understand why his grandfather was back. Then the phone call from this morning came back to him. In his mind, the pieces started to fall into place. His mind went straight to his grandfather did not trust him anymore to run things as far as the company, and maybe even the house.

Jacob was pulled out of his thoughts when he walked into Jeremy's room and saw him playing with Cupid in the corner. He walked over to make sure Jeremy was okay. As he was talking to him, Alex walked into the room and Jacob was glad to see him. It wasn't that Jacob did not want to be with his big brother but he had to get downstairs.

After talking a few more minutes with his big brother, Jacob let Alex take his spot. As he walked out into the hall, he looked back to make sure everything was okay. He found that Jeremy was comfortable with Alex. In fact, he had a smile on his face as they talked an emotion that it is hard to get from Jeremy.

Seeing that he was okay, Jacob walked to the elevator. Just as he got there, Chase called out to him. "Jake let me ride down with you because I need to talk to you about something important." Jacob nodded his head. "I hate to think this, but the timing of the fire is leaving me no other choice but to think it and the guys are thinking the same thing because they are looking at me weirdly."

"I do not mean to rush you Chase, but can you get to the point. I have to meet with my grandfather and I am already running late."

"Oh, yeah that was a surprise. Something big must be going wrong here to bring him back like the fire. Anyways let me ask you what I wanted to ask you when we got on the elevator. Do you think it was Patricia that burned own the house?"

"Chase one thing I learned here tonight is not to blame anyone without proof. I don't know if was her, Loraine or any other person any of us have made an enemy of. I did give the detective her name along with a many others. Let the police investigate this fire. Hopefully they get the right person without doing what they did to me earlier."

Just then, the elevator door opened and they walked off. Jacob went to the lobby, while Chase went to the kitchen to grab a snack. Al was already there sitting in one of the chairs going over some of the work he brought with him. As he looked up, he saw Jacob walking towards him. Closing the file folders, Al quickly jumped up from the couch and walked over to his grandson.

"Let's take a walk outside. What I have to say is for just you and me, no one else." Jacob nodded his head and fathered his grandfather. As soon as they walked out, Al started to talk. "After getting off the phone with you this morning, I couldn't stop thinking about the conversation we had. Then the detective's phone call got me even more worried."

They stopped walking when they reached the corner of the building. Al looked straight into his grandson's eyes. "You have a head on your shoulders that many adults running a company today would kill for. There is never a worry that crosses my mind whenever you are making decisions regarding the company, because I have complete confidence in you and what you do.

I know it did not sound like that the last time we talked and that bothers me. It bothers so much I had to fly down here to talk to make it clear to you, in person, how much I trust you and believe in you." The hurt that Jacob was feeling from the phone call he had with his grandfather earlier was fading as his grandfather talked.

"All I am trying to do, Jacob, is giving you a life like every teenager your age has. You are only are a teenager once and trust me, when I say there is plenty of time to be an adult when you are an adult. So many of us adults want to go back to being a teenager because it was a lot less stressful and more fun than making a living. Jacob, all you should be worrying about is what every teen worries about; boys, what movie you want to see, where you and your friends are going to go and things like that. Not running a multimillion dollar company like we have."

"Grandpa I understand what you are saying, but I am tired of hearing it. I had to grow up fast, but I don't regret one moment of it. Now I cannot go back to being a normal teenage kid, doing teenage things. All I want to do is go to school and help you run the company, and of course be with Dewayne whenever we have a chance to be together.

I am telling you that I am tired of everyone telling me to be a teenager and do teenager things. As surely as I am standing here, the next person that tells me that, I am going to tell them off. I love what I am doing and there is no way I can go back to being a normal teenager after doing what I have done. As much as you want to, Grandpa, you cannot turn time back. I love you for what you are feeling and trying to do, but we cannot go back."

Al finally sees where his grandson is coming from. After seeing and doing what he has done, it is hard to go back to doing nothing, plus he was forced to grow up way before his time, and now everyone is trying to correct that. After hearing his grandson, honestly really hearing his grandson, he is no longer going to try to make him be someone he is not and he is going to make sure no one else does.

"You are right Jacob and I am sorry. I finally understand and get what you have been trying to tell since I moved into town. There is no way we can change the past. You grew up and now we must deal with that reality, so if you can handle the workload, which I know you can, I will take off the training wheels. You will no longer have to worry about me trying to change who you are. In fact I love who you are, the greatest grandson anyone could ask for." Al rubbed his eyes, trying to hide the fact that he is tearing up.

Al took a breath, gathering not only his thoughts, but his composure as well. He is trying to put together the words to tell his grandson that he screwed up by not including him in the interviews to hire a CEO for their company. The way he handled that whole thing, he knows it was wrong and now needs to apologize for it.

"Jacob, the way I handled hiring the CEO, I was completely wrong and I am here literally on my hands and knees apologizing to you for that." Al actually dropped down his knees, causing Jacob to jump back a couple of steps. Once the surprise wore off, Jacob quickly pulled his grandfather off his knees. He couldn't help but think no matter what wrong he does, his grandfather should never get on his hands and knees for anyone. It is just not right for the man of his stature.

"Grandpa never, ever do that again, please." Jacob could not hold back his tears. "I respect you so much and I don't want to ever see you doing that again for me or anyone. You have earned the respect you get and no one can take that from you. Even if you make a mistake, because we all do, we all are human and that is just in our nature."

Now Al could not hold back his tears after seeing his grandson's tears and what Jacob just said. "I screwed up on the way I hired the CEO. If you do not like him in any way, he is gone. Then we will hire the next CEO together like we should have from the beginning."

"I might not like how the hire was done, but there is no doubt that I will like the CEO you hired. Let me tell you why. It is very simple; you hired him, and have many more years of experience on me, not only on this earth, but also in the business world. I trust your decision-making and I will always go along with it. Maybe at times kicking and screaming, but I will always be behind you one hundred percent."

Wiping the tears from his eyes and face so he could see clearly, Al pulled his grandson into a hug. He squeezed him so tight it stopped the blood flow to Jacob's legs, well anything below his chest. As they stood there at the corner of the building hugging, they kept whispering to each other things that only they could hear.

They waited for the other to be the one to break the hug, but neither of them budged. Finally, after being in the hug for almost tem minutes, Jacob pulled away reluctantly. Al once again wiped his face, got control of his emotions before speaking again.

"Let's go in and put the phone call from this morning behind us. We know where each of us stands and hopefully, we will not make any more mistakes, but if we do, we know now that we can talk with each other without worrying that the other is going to over react. I know we still have a lot more to discuss, to move on from here. You have a lot of crap going on in your life, and you need to know you can come to me with anything anytime. Okay?" Al wrapped his arms around Jacob shoulders and together they walked back into the hotel laughing as if they did not have a fight.

Nothing more was said between Jacob and Al when they walked back in. Jacob helped his grandfather take his luggage up to their floor. They picked the room next to Gloria and Andy Sr. for Al to have. Once Jacob put his grandfather's luggage in his room, he said his good nights and headed to his and Dewayne's room.

The minute Jacob crawled into bed; he was out and did not wake up again until the next morning. After taking a shower and getting dressed for school, he headed down to join everyone in the restaurant. As he sat down, he looked around the table and could not stop thinking to himself how funny it all looks.

Half of the guys at the table will be going to Austin High and the other half will be going to El Paso High. Something like that is very weird to see. As he ate, he dawned on him that he is longer living close to Ethan, so he will have to leave earlier than normal in order to not only pick up Ethan, but also get to school at the same time they normally do.

As he was thinking that, another issue popped in his mind; the after school routine. The ones he gives a ride to in the morning normally walk home to the house and pick up Alex's SUV, but that is impossible right now as Alex would have to go to school in his vehicle, which then would not be right to Franseca taking the car away from her to use. So the only other thing he knows he can do is drive them back to the hotel after school or just go straight in.

Either way, he cannot be the one making the decisions on this. He will need to bring it up to them now. "Um you guys, we need to start heading out now if we are going to pick up Ethan and get to school at the same time." Everyone stopped eating and looked over at Jacob. "Plus we need to decide quickly how we are going to handle after school.

You all normally walk home to get Alex's car, but now we live too far from the school. That leaves us only two choices. Either I drive you guys back here to get the vehicle, or we go straight to work after school in one vehicle, or you Alex, drive your vehicle to school every day until we get back in our own home." Jacob chuckled as he put a spoon of scrambled of eggs in his mouth. "I should have said we had three choices, not two."

Everyone at the table started laughing. The quickly talked about what Jacob brought up and decided to go ahead for today go in Jacob's truck as of normal, and then go to work straight from school. Then when they get home tonight, they will talk more about how to handle the transportation for the future.

By living farther from school, Jacob got to Ethan's house five minutes later than he normally does and in return got to school five minutes later. Immediately they went to the cafeteria and fell right into their routine. When they first walked, no one really looked at them, but as soon as they made their way through the breakfast line, that changed.

It did not take long for everyone to be talking about the house burning to the ground and them looking at their table pointing at them. It got to the point, it was very uncomfortable because if felt to them that everyone was looking at them, which they were. Matt had to keep his hands on Alex's thigh to keep him from jumping up from his seat and knocking a few heads together to get them to stop looking at them.

Jacob finished his breakfast, second one of the morning, and started to head out. When Chase saw his friend get up, he got up as well and followed him out. At first, he was walking behind Jacob, not saying a word. When Jacob reached the door leading to Schuster Street, he turned around and asked Chase what he wanted.

"I am sorry Jacob, I am um, um, wondering if, um we can talk for a, um, few, um minutes, if that is okay." Jacob nodded his head as he walked out. Not asking Chase if he wanted to talk in private, he assumed he did since he came running after him when he was alone. So he walked across the street and over to his truck where they wouldn't be bothered or over heard by anyone.

As soon as they got into the truck, Jacob started it and turned the heater on full blast. They both rubbed their hands together to warm them up. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, Chase spoke in a very low whisper, causing Jacob to ask him to speak louder so he could actually hear him.

"What I said was I need to tell you something, but I don't want you saying anything until I am done. Once I am done, please understand this talk is very hard for me to have with you. I have always looked up to you since our first year when you were shot and then were told that you had cancer. You did not give up as most people would have, I probably would have. So I feel by not coming to you weeks ago about this, I haven't been a good friend and in return I have let you down."

"There is nothing..." Chase stopped Jacob from speaking. "I asked you not to say a word until I was done, so please let me finish." Jacob nodded his head. "Now first when you told me that you feel that I don't consider you my best friend, you are way off base on that. You are my best friend, no scratch that, you are my brother. I would not be here if it wasn't for you. You were the only one that did not turn your back, as my family did. So never, ever say that I don't consider you my best friend, because I do."

Chase is doing everything he can to hide that he is shaking, but not only Jacob can hear it in his voice, he can see that Chase is shaking really bad. He knows this conversation is taking every ounce of power for Chase to get through. For that, Jacob will never forget it.

"Now I guess this second part I better start at the beginning." Chase started his story the first day he met Ethan and what he felt soon after for him. He went on to tell Jacob that he doesn't feel that way about any other guy, so he doesn't know if it is just a phase or he might be bi or even gay. He finally ended it with telling Jacob that he told Andy, but he added that he needed to talk to another straight person to see if this was common.

"First let me say thank you for finally telling me this. I know it must have taken a lot for you to tell me the dark secret of yours. Heck, I remember the days leading up to when I came out to you how I was feeling. I couldn't keep anything down or sleep because I thought you would run for the hills once you heard I was gay, but you didn't. You stuck around and never abandoned me so I will do the same for you, because we are brothers.

As far as you talking to my brother before me, I understand why you did that, so don't worry. I wish you felt you could have come to me sooner, but that is unimportant now. There is no need to beat a dead horse. As I said, I am glad that you are opening up to me about this and I will try to help you any way I can.

Now I do not know much about bi men, but I really think you are bi, not gay and let me tell you why I say that. You have always dated girls. In fact, you almost had a baby. I know that really does not mean anything as now day's gay guys have married, stayed married for decades, had kids and raised them. Therefore, being with a woman and having kids doesn't prove that you are straight or bi.

The reason I think you might be bi is because you are so happy with women. If your last two girlfriends did not end up being bitches, I think you would still be with them. I would place you bi, if I had to say either way. I foresee you getting married, having kids, and living your life out with the woman you marry. That is without you pushing your true feelings deep down into the pit of your stomach.

Chase cleared his throat. "Then why do you think I have the feelings I have for Ethan? Is it that I have these feelings because I live in a house dominated by gay men? Maybe because that is all I see, my mind is starting to think that is how I should be."

Not trying to be rude, Jacob started to laugh at what Chase said. "Look Chase, you cannot catch being gay. I don't care if you are the only straight guy in the city of gay guys, you cannot be turned gay, just like gay guys and girls cannot be turned straight no matter how much people want that to be true.

Now with that said, I think you are feeling the way you are feeling because you see something in Ethan that you like. There is nothing wrong with that. Although now that Ethan has a boyfriend, you will never find out what those feelings that you had were. Another guy may pop up that bring out those feelings again, but that is very rare to happen I would think."

"So you are saying I should just forget about what I was feeling about Ethan and just date girls." Just as Jacob was about to answer, Chase stopped him. "Oh yeah, Patricia knows about me having the feelings I have for Ethan. Since I broke up with her on Friday I am afraid she going to blab it all over school."

"If she does that, she will be the one that looks bad since it would look like she is angry over you breaking up with her. No one is going to believe her because of you being the one that broke up the relationship and those they do, when they start thinking about who you have dated in the past, they will once again come to the conclusion that Patricia is talking out of her ass. Even if there is a few that believe her, who cares; truly, who cares?

Moreover, you got me all wrong when I said that there is not another Ethan out there for you, because there is. What I was trying to say is that you should do what ever your heart is telling you to do. Who cares what others think or say? What really matters is that you are happy with whomever you decide to date.

Look at me and Dewayne, I love him so much I do not see myself without him in my life anymore. I thought after Joey left me, I would never love another person like that again. All that you need is your Dewayne to come along. No matter if it is a guy or a girl, you will find your Dewayne and never look back."

Chase took every word Jacob was telling him to heart, because it made sense. He now sees that he is trying too hard to be what everyone expects him to be instead being true to his heart. When he does find his true love, it might be a girl or it might be a boy. Whenever that happens, he knows his heart will tell him and when it does, he will listen to it, unlike what he did when he lost out to Ethan.

"Thank you Jacob, really thank you. I should have come to you when I first was feeling these feelings and maybe I would not have lost Ethan. I am glad he found someone and I will respect that. Now all I can do is do is what you say, listen to my heart when my Dewayne comes, no matter if it comes in a form of a girl or a boy, I will know. When that day comes I am not going to screw it up like I did with Ethan."

Jacob was happy to hear his old friend's voice. He missed the Chase he first met and now he is back, hopefully for good. They talked for a few more minutes before getting out of the truck and started to head back to the main building. As they walked down to the lower parking lot, a car went flying past them. Jacob thought he was going to hit the park cars, but he did not.

He got out yelling to those that were in the car with him how cool that was and slapping high fives as they met at the back of the car. Jacob just looked at them thinking how stupid they look celebrating looking like a pack of idiots.

Just as he turned around, he ran right into Principal Michaels who was also looking at the kids that were in the car that just speeded on. He said something over the radio and before turning his attention to Jacob. The greeted each other as they watched the security guards of the school approach the kids and pull the driver to the side.

"So Jacob, how is everything going?" Principal Michaels looked at Jacob with a concern look on his face. "I don't mean to pry or anything, but I heard about your house burning down. I think the entire city of El Paso heard since it was all over the news this weekend. I wasn't expecting you or any of the guys that live with you to show up to school today."

"We are doing okay all things considered. Well maybe without our house, but we do have a place to live since my grandfather had bought a hotel."

"Is that hotel that is being transferred into a shelter for gay teenagers that either their family kicked out or cannot get adopted out of foster care?"

"Wow I didn't know you knew about that! Yes, it is the same hotel. Long story short, my grandfather bought that big building very cheap and was going to do something with it, but this shelter idea came along so he donated it. They are barely opening it up, which is lucky for us because there is room for us there to stay."

The principal had to stop Jacob from talking because just then the security guards were walking up to him with the driver of the car. "Take this young man to my office and have him wait for me there." The security guard nodded his head and instructed the student to follow him. Jacob felt bad for him now because the poor kid looked like he was about to vomit all over the place. The smug look he had on his face when he got out of his car is now gone and replaced with fear.

"I am sorry about that Jacob! If I do not handle things like that when it happens, it will get around and other students will start doing it. That student came flying in and almost hit several students on his way. That is something I cannot allow. Anyway as you were saying before we were interrupted!"

"Um yeah, um let me see, oh yeah as I was saying that we are living in the hotel, but it is not in this area. It is only going to be until we either rebuild my house or buy another one in this area. Since we are no longer living within the zone of this school do we have to transfer to Austin High School?"

"Normally the answer would be yes, but in your case it is a no because what happened. Your house burnt down and that is it not your fault so as far as my records are concerned you still live at the address where your house was at. If you rebuild it, we do not have to talk about this again. If you buy another house in the area, you will need to change your address with the attendance office, but again we don't have to talk about it again." That made Jacob happy and took one worry away.

"I know you are a busy man, so I will make this quick. I know we don't have a Drivers ED program, why is that? Is it because you don't have the money in your budget for the cars or the teachers or both?"

"Well to be completely honest with you Jacob, I really never gave it much thought. No school in the district and in the city has a Driver's ED program. They did away with that program way before I became a principal. May I ask why you are asking?"

"I don't know if you know this or not, I was left several car dealerships. If you don't mind, I would like to donate several cars to a Driver's ED program. They won't be new, more than likely they will be cars that were traded in, but they will work. On top of that I will give you free up keep on them whenever needed so they stay safe for students to learn in."

"That is a good deal, but you need to give me a couple of days to get my ducks in a row before I am able to give you an answer on that. I need to find out why the program was shut down. If it was money issues, I will take you up on the offer. If it was something else, the answer might be different. But as you can see, we need a program like that by the way that student came flying into the parking lot this morning."

Jacob agreed with the principal and told him that the offer will be out there until he says no to it. As they were heading into the building, the bell rang. Principal Michaels thanked Jacob once again and wished him luck on the house as he headed to his office. Jacob went down the hall the opposite direction to his locker.

Once he got what he needed for his morning classes, he headed to first period. The morning did not drag on for Jacob as he thought it would. Although he was tired from all the excitement over the weekend, he managed to stay awake through his morning class. When third period came around, Jacob could not believe it.

He and Chase fooled around all through class. Several times their teacher asked them to pay attention, which they did for a few minutes, but went right back to either passing notes or punching each other playfully on their shoulders. The teacher finally had enough and pulled them both out in the hall.

Just as she was about to speak, the bell rang, which put a big smile on Jacob's and Chase's face. They just dodged a bullet. "Boys it is good to see that you are in a chipper mood with what is going on at home right now. Just please don't interrupt my class like you did today again." Jacob looked at Chase trying to figure out if they were in trouble or not. "Go, just go, and have some lunch."

They walked in and got their books. As they passed their teacher, she spoke once more, but this time playfully. "You boys burn off all that extra energy during lunch so you don't give hell to your fourth period teacher. And Jacob, if I was a student here you would have my vote for student council president."

"Thank you ma'am for that and I wish you were able to vote. I don't think the students here are going to break away from what they know and that is to vote for those that really don't do anything. Hopefully I am proven wrong on Election Day, but I don't think that's going to be the case for me."

"Trust me Jacob you are going to be surprised on Election Day. What I have overheard you have the votes unless you do something dumb, which I don't see that happening. Go and have lunch and burn off that energy. We will talk more tomorrow."

Jacob thanked his teacher again as he turned around and started running. She yelled out to him and Chase not to run in the halls. They stopped running and yelled back at their teacher at the same time sorry ma'am. She just looked on at them as they disappeared into the stairwell thinking to herself what they are going to be when they get out of high school. There is no doubt in her mind that they are going to be very successful.

All morning long, Al worked on dealing with the house between his conference calls to Austin. By ten, he realized something that Jacob realized just the day before. They are going to have to bear the expense at first and then replace what they spend when the insurance company finally sends out the check.

He really had no problem with that, but he did have a problem after speaking with the fire marshal. They are not going to allow the clearing of the land for weeks, if not months for them to rebuild on it. That means that if they want to move out of the hotel any time this year, they would either have to find an empty lot to build on it or buy another house.

Buying another house would not make any sense since they need a big house. It might not be the size they had, but close because of the amount of people that live with Jacob. In addition, to makes matters worse Al knows they are not going to be as lucky as they were in past getting four houses back to back to join.

That leaves them really one choice and that is build a new house. Now that presents another set of different questions. The first one and the most important one is do they use land they already own and build on it or do they buy new land on this side of town and build the house there.

Just as he was going through the pros and cons of each idea, his secretary came over the speaker informing him that the Governor was on line one. Al quickly dropped what he was doing and picked up the line. After greeting each other, the Governor quickly went into why he was calling.

"I know a lot is going on right now there in El Paso, but I need to know when you are coming back to Austin. I need all hands on deck right now because of the two pieces of legislation I am trying to push through the state house and to put it more bluntly I need you because you have a way to move people and make them change their minds from a negative vote to a positive one for me."

"As you know Mr. Governor I had no plans on coming here, but because of what happened in the last couple of days, I did not have any other choice. I had hoped to head back Saturday, but it does not look like that is going to happen. In fact, it looks like I might not be able to go back in time before the vote. I need to figure out what we are going to do about our living arrangements. We cannot live in the hotel forever.

If you need to replace me on your staff since I cannot give you my full attention right now, I understand completely. I really love working for you, but my family needs me right now. Mainly Jacob needs help. The guy can handle a lot, but right now there is just too much being put on his shoulders for him to take care of."

"I won't replace you on my staff. You are a key person in my administration that cannot be replaced, so let us not even go there. Let us put our heads together and find a solution to your situation. With what I understand you need to find a home and a regular size home won't do, correct?"

"Yes sir Mr. Governor you are right on both counts. I need to find a home and due to the number of people that live in our home, a regular size home will not work so I have no other choice but to build one, but the fire marshals down here won't release my land any time soon. It looks like it is going to take awhile before they do."

"So basically you cannot rebuild on your land any time soon." Al answered yes. "And knowing how things work, it is going to be months before the investigation is finished and they allow you to rebuild again. More so I think the investigation is going to take longer because the way the house was set on fire."

"With the little bit of information I have been able to gather, I came to that same conclusion, Governor. I cannot have my family living in that hotel for months waiting for the land to be released, and then three or four more months to rebuild the house. Trust me when I say the house needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. I drove by it this morning and there is nothing left of the house except a pile of wet rubble."

"Okay now remember Al when we talked yesterday and I asked you to come and see me in a day or two once the shock of the house burning down wore off. I had an idea where you could build your new house if it went to that." Al answered yes. "Well it looks like it has come down to you building in a new location.

Your family is more than likely the richest family in El Paso. I might be wrong on that, but I do not think so. You have already started getting the ball rolling on security for you and your family, which tells me a lot also. As you know, I had my house built on a nice piece of land there.

The thing I do not think you know is that I had to buy all the land around my house in order to close off the one road that leads into my home. Therefore, I have a lot of land that I am not doing anything with. I would like to offer you this land at what I paid for it where you can build you home next to mine."

"What about the live in staff you have? I thought you were going to build a home for your head of your house security and his sister. They need to live nearby in order to stay on top of the house duties and keeping the grounds safe."

"Yes they do and I have already built a small home on the property for them. There is still a huge chunk open at the beginning of the property I am willing to sell you. I know I can trust you and your family to live close to me and my family. In addition, the added security you will bring would not hurt. We both will benefit on that part."

"You're right on that sir, but are you sure you want to offer me this? Do not forget there are two individuals that live in our home that you pardoned. How would that look to the press first? Second, how will they get clearance through your security staff? I cannot ask my grandson to tell those two young men to find somewhere else to live. That would not be right. The mother of one of them works as our housekeeper."

"By now you should know that I don't care what the press thinks of me. I do not govern by the polls. I believe those that govern like that are doomed to fail. Now about the two young men, you are talking about; I would not have pardoned them if I felt they were still a threat. When I signed the document, I asked myself if it would bother me to have them living next door to my family, and the answer was no. If it had been yes, I would have never signed the paperwork because I would be two faced doing so."

"You're right on all counts. The way you govern is what brought me to you. I am tired of seeing those elected officials make their decisions on how the political wind is blowing. Anyway, I would be honored to take you up on your offer. With the land issue not being a problem, I can head back to Austin Saturday, is that okay with you?"

"That is fine with me as long as we can get a hold of you via phone and you call whoever you need to call to push my bills through." Al chuckled and promised the Governor that he will stay on top of that while he is in El Paso. Before hanging up with the Governor, they agreed on the price of the land, and when they could start building.

In the mean time back at school, Jacob and the guys were just finishing up their lunch and were about to go outside to the stadium when Patricia and her friends walked up to them. When Chase looked over at Patricia, he knew she was up to no good by the look on her face. He scrambled to his feet to try to pull her away, but she escaped his grasp.

"Patricia you have no business here anymore since you and Chase are no longer together. So I suggest you and your group of friends just go on your way." Jacob intervened after seeing the look on his friend's face. "You have worn out your welcome with us and you know that without a doubt. Do what is best and move on with your life. There are plenty of guys here at this school that you can corrupt and make trouble for."

The last part Jacob said did not make Patricia happy at all. There is no doubt in her mind that it was he that got Chase to break up with her. She realized that all along she should have been working to destroy the friendships with him and the others in the group. That's a mistake she promised herself that she would never make again when she gets a new boyfriend.

"You better watch your mouth faggot boy!" All the guys at the table got up when Patricia said that. Her friends stepped back several steps when they saw them get on their feet. "My friends and I can probably beat you up without a problem since you are what you are; a sissy boy." Patricia had no idea her friends had hidden behind her.

Patricia looked at Jacob and saw how he was reacting. Immediately she knew that Chase had told his best friend that he might like guys. She had hoped to be the one to tell the group the news. Hopefully, after she told them, they would turn their backs on Chase for not telling them his secret.

"It looks like little Chase here told Jacob a secret he has been keeping from you guys." Everyone looked quickly at Jacob and then at Chase before turning their attention back to Patricia. "Well that doesn't matter, I am going to still let you all in on Chase's little secret since he refused to trust you with it. Do you all know that Chase..."

"Patricia shut the hell up." David stepped up to her. "Whatever you have to say we already know, trust me. He may not have said it aloud, but we know because we know the friends that we have grown to love like brothers. So why don't you just take your little group of followers and just get out of here. Leave us the hell alone!"

That was it! Patricia had enough of them talking to her with total disrespect. She swung at David, but missed. He saw the punch coming way before she even curled up her little fist. Since she used all of her body weight, she ended up following forward, almost hitting her head on the table.

Once she got her balance, Patricia turned around and went to swing again at David, but someone grabbed hold of her arm. At first, she thought it was Chase, but when she turned around to see who was holding onto her, she almost fainted. She tried to pull her arm back, but she could not.

"Why don't you let go of my arm..."

TO BE CONITNUED...

I have a home page for you to see what the characters look like or what the places look like. If you want to walk in their shoes, please go to: http://jacobmillertex.com/

WRITER'S CORNER:

{Hey welcome back one and all to another exciting chapter of "Jacob Finding His Way". It was another filled chapter. A lot happened in this chapter on the emotional side and on the physical side, I do not even know where to begin this time. I guess the best spot is the beginning of the chapter. What do you think?

Well last chapter I left you on a cliffhanger and I picked right up at the cliffhanger. I would normally say here `what was up with that detective', but we know. Al, Jacob and the others do not know, but we as readers do know.

The Police-Chief is playing his detectives like a puppet to pull Al and his family down a couple of notches in their standing in the city. They hope that by doing so, it will rub off on the Governor. It is sad that our politicians can be that way, but they are in some instances. We no longer have leaders because the moment they are elected they are gearing up to run again. They do not get any work done and that is why our country is going to hell in a hand basket very quickly.

Hold on, hold on here; I am going on my little rants, sorry. Let us get back to the chapter at hand. I hope that the Chief of Police fails and ends up being voted out of office, but who knows. You all know me and how I love to mix things up but here; I might just go where you all think I am going to go with this plot. I guess we all have to wait until I write the next few chapters.

The talk Al had with Jacob, I loved it. I loved seeing that Al is willing to admit when he is wrong, even if it makes him look bad. The good thing is that Al saw that this conversation needed to be done in person and took the first flight out of Austin. Yes, it would have been a lot easier to have the conversation over the phone, but I am glad they did not. They got a lot taken care of in that conversation.

Jacob finally got Al to see that he is no longer a kid. He was forced to grow up a lot faster than he should have. I agree with Jacob when he told Al that he could not see himself being a kid again. He has gotten too used to being an adult and doing adult things. Now that Al sees that, I think some of the friction between them is gone.

What about Chase, has he returned? It is about time that he got your balls back and once again became the friend that Jacob knew. I am glad that he finally told Jacob about the feelings he has for Ethan. Jacob gave him some great advice and hopefully he will take that advice to heart as he said he would.

Talking about Ethan I know he has not been around in the last couple of chapters, but don't worry he will be back. That one plot is not going anywhere. I want to know what is going on in his life with him and Derek. I also want to see what Ethan is going to do regarding his family. What I mean by that is that Ethan came out to the guys but will he come out to his family any time soon?

What do you all think about the proposal the Governor made to Al? Since Al accepted it, that is going to be one interesting plotline in the chapters to come. More and more you are seeing how the stories are going to come together as one. Now you are seeing more of Josh and his story coming into this one and I hope you will like it.

Finally, let us talk about the end of the chapter. We all knew Patricia was evil and was going to reappear to make trouble. Well here, she is and man, she is holding nothing back, showing her true colors. I like how David stood up to her and helped Chase. What I do not like is the fact that Patricia thinks that she can swing at the guys and get away with it. I wonder who the one that grabbed her arm was. Whoever it was, she is scared of that person since she felt like fainting.

As always I can go on and on about the open plots in the story! If I do that, I can actually write several more chapters. So many plots can take a turn at anytime. You might think it is going to go one way, but is ends up going another. Do not miss anything, or you will be kicking yourself for it.

There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Stick around and keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacob@jacobmillertex.com, Thanks!}

EDITOR'S CORNER:

I wish I could say that I am surprised that there is a political agenda going on with the police handling of the fire investigation. I am not the least bit surprised, yet I wonder just why the Police Chief does not realize he is playing a dangerous game messing with Al and his family.

The Police Chief is in a bad spot but he does not know it yet. He has thrown Det. Ramos to the wolves. Now, my bet is that Ramos is going to turn on him when the heat is turned up. He will have no loyalty since his career has been torpedoed. The Chief is a fool not realizing he has a `loose end' and my money is on Ramos being the hinge pin that will take the Chief down. There is another loose end for the Chief; the Precinct Captain. The Captain is not willing to sacrifice Ramos or anyone else in his command for the Chief's agenda. I wonder if the Chief has crossed the line into the criminal yet.

Jacob and Al's relationship took a real and positive turn. As JPG said, the catharsis could not have happened over the phone. What happened had to be face to face. Both Jacob and Al grew in mutual love and respect as they effectively closed the book on Jacob's childhood and acknowledged his earned standing as an adult. His age is merely a number. There was a lot of wisdom showing when Jacob stated that, through the circumstances life has presented, he has had to grow up and that he cannot go back. Life is what it is. The cards in hand have to be played.

It appears the Governor has the solution for Al and Jacob for a place to build a new home. It sounds like a real win-win situation; the Governor can sell of excess property he doesn't need and two high profile families will be able to have homes that are easily kept secure.

Yup, Chase finally found his stones! He had to be backed into a tight corner before he realized what he had to do. He then had to steer himself to do what he knew he must. He had to come clean with Jacob. Hell, everyone already knew the nature of what was going on; they just did not know the nitty-gritty details. Chase can be so blind about the world around him all too often. He also needs to understand that his friends are TRUE friends that will have his back and not be judgmental nor would they ever reject him if he's honest with them.

I am hoping that everyone involved with and around Chase will gather forces and keep watch on Patricia. They all know the dangers an obsessed and vindictive person can pose. I do not know who grabbed Patricia's arm, but I am very glad whoever it is, was there to intervene. Perhaps if the person was an adult and authority figure, the Patricia issue can be dealt with quickly before there can be any innocent casualties, either emotional or physical.

Until next time,

"Daddy" Rick