Family Story

I realized that I have been picking on Scott with the family stories. The two tales I told about him were the Rhino Beetle or God Spoke And I Listened and Yes Mother! I feel it is time to pick on my oldest son, Rusty aka James. I have always called him Rusty but now that he is an adult he has chosen to go by his legal name, James.

It was just Rusty and I for the longest time. We lived in Springfield, a rather large city which was great since I didn’t know how to drive. We walked everywhere. We walked to the grocery store, we walked to pay the bills, and we walked for the fun of walking. When Rusty was about 2 ½ years old he was picked up by the police. No he wasn’t the youngest fugitive or criminal on record, he was taking a walk at 2:00 a.m. He told the police officer his name and showed him where he lived. He even told the officer he was taking a walk. You can imagine my surprise when I was woken up by a happy kid and one angry police officer. I was told I would be having a visit by a CS worker. The next morning the CS worker showed up along with a different police officer and she asked me why my son was out of the house at 2:00 a.m. Rusty tried to tell her he was going for a walk and I just looked at her and said “I have no idea.” I was asked if I kept my house locked at that time and I showed both the CS worker and the police officer the dead bolt, the regular lock, and the chain lock on the front door. I even showed them the iron bar I used to lock the glass sliding door. The police officer asked Rusty how he got out. My son first unlocked the dead bolt, and then unlocked the regular lock; he then took a broom and popped the chain lock. Yes he was a regular Houdini. I was told by the CS worker to correct the problem by the next day or she would have to take Rusty into custody. I honestly didn’t know what to do and after they left I started crying. I was seriously considering nailing the door shut but Rusty was also good with tools. To my relief the same police officer showed up later that afternoon with two new locks. It was a chain lock but it required a key to open it. He installed the chain lock for me, and then he put a lock on Rusty’s bedroom door. I felt kind of bad at night when I put him to bed because after good night kisses and hugs I had to lock him in his bedroom but he never got out again. What I find ironic is my little Houdini grew up to be a Prison Guard.