Disclaimer: The usual stuff. Most, if not all, of the characters in this story are mine and are the rightful properties of Saban/Toei Entertainment. Blah, blah, blah, -blah-blah-blah…

“Man! I don’t believe him!” Ryan yelled as he slammed the front door behind him. As he walked further in and looked to his left into the den, he saw his J.B. Reese at work at his drawing table. “Oh… J.B. … Sorry. What are you doing here?”

J.B. looked up from his drawing table for moment to give Ryan an incredulous look. “I- live here. Remember?” he returned to his work.

“Oh… um, yeah.” Ryan replied dumbfounded. “Sorry, I…” Ryan realized that need not have apologized. J.B. was again engrossed in his work again. Ryan really needed to talk to someone but he knew that J.B. hated to be disturbed whenever he was doing anything. He did not want his best friend angry with him too… Feeling defeated and sighing heavily, Ryan vied for the only option: wait. He sat down on the bottom stairs leading to the second floor of the house.

J.B. heard Ryan the entire time, but ignored him. He figured that Ryan could hand whatever problem he was going through. Besides, he had enough things to do. Still, J.B. found himself looking up now and again to look at his best friend sitting there deep in thought; waiting for his best friend to take the time to listen to him.

Thirty minutes later…

“Hey Ryan.” J.B. said as he tidied up his workstation. “C’mon…”

“What?” Ryan said dazed from his trance. He looked up and saw J.B. holding out his hand to help Ryan to his feet.

“C’mon…” J.B. reiterated, motioning with his head. “I’m letting the ink dry and we could both do with some fresh air.”

After getting to his feet, Ryan followed J.B. to the side porch pass back through his ‘office’ as J.B. joke-termed it. Since was originally a den, the room was fairly small and Ryan wondered why on earth J.B. chose such a small room that he crammed all his pens, papers, inks, and computer equipment and parts in. As he passed J.B.’s desk, he saw what he was working on…

“Wow…” Ryan thought. Then something on J.B.’s computer screen caught Ryan’s eye.

Scanning Complete

“Ryan!” J.B. called, incidentally snapping Ryan out of his stupor.

“Oh, yeah, comin’ J.B. …Coming…”

As they rounded the corner of the house to the back, the porch joined to an elevated walkway to a gazebo. J.B. took a seat in on of the pillow filled straw chairs, set his sketchpad on the table and started to sketch something.

Ryan was walking around looking everywhere as if to take in everything. The garden, the gazebo and its flowered wall of vines, the house itself even.

“Man…” Ryan finally breathed. “J.B., I can’t believe you and your dad are going to leave all this behind…”

“We’re not… We’re taking it with us.” J.B. said. “The house and all.”

“?!?” Ryan was dumbstruck for a moment.

“My dad worked too hard and too long to get this house and we’re not going to give just leave it.”

“… Okay… How?”

“From a little help courtesy of the V.R. Troopers.” J.B. took a moment to look up at Ryan and give an exaggerated wink of his eye. “They owe me a favor, y’know.”

“But there’s still the cost of a relocation crew…” Ryan started, but he knew J.B. would answer him before he could finish.

“Already taken care of. Dad’s acquired quite a large some from all the novels he’s sold.”

“How long has he been keeping his writing a secret from you J.B.?”

“Quite some time by what he’s told me.” J.B. said in a casual tone. “He just didn’t want me to grow up pursuing what he grew up thinking was a hopeless dream. My grandfather, his father, never supported my Dad’s dream of being a famous Black writer…”

“That’s why he used the surname for all these years?”

“Um-hmm.”

“Whoa… how did he keep a secret like that so long…” Ryan suddenly caught himself. “I mean why-!”

“You were right the first time Ryan…” J.B. laughed.

“So their going to move the entire house for you?”

“Um-hmm.” J.B. was concentrating on his sketch again. “You know, you can’t avoid telling him forever Ryan.”

“J.B…. C’mon, it’s not like I don’t know that.” He looked off into the distance; trying to get away to where the conversation was leading.

“Just so long as you know…” he trailed off, leaving the ball in Ryan’s court. J.B. mentally counted down to himself through the silence between them for one minute and four, three, two…

“J.B….”

“Yeah Ryan...” he replied in an expectant tone.

“Remember the first time I told you… Y’know…”

“Um-hmm.” J.B. responded casually as he continued sketching.

“Well what was your first thought when I told you. Please be honest.”

“Well?” Ryan pushed for an answer. “Why are looking at me like that?”

“That’s my answer.” J.B. finally spoke.

“What? That’s not much of an answer J.B.”

“If my expression wasn’t enou-!”

“Okay! Okay! I got you!” Ryan quickly interrupted.

They both stared at each other in silence for a long moment until neither one could keep down the building laughter that exploded out of them. It was a good minute before either of them caught their breath to speak normally.

“Ahh! That felt good.” Ryan sighed. “I can’t remember the last time it felt so good to laugh.”

“Me too Ryan.” J.B. breathed. “Me too.”

“So that’s what you thought when I told I wanted to be a country singer?” Ryan asked his tone of voice slowly turning serious.

“To be honest? … Yeah Ryan.” J.B. answered with a smile. “I just found it hard to believe. I mean, ‘Ryan Steele Country Singer Extraordinare’.”

“Watch out Garth Brooks, huh?” Ryan forced a smirk.

“Hey, c’mon Ryan, you asked.”

“…Yeah. I should’ve expected it.”

“Ryan, look… It’s just that I never knew... I mean all these years, all you seemed to care about was finding you dad and when we became Troopers that seemed to fill in the ‘purpose-gap’ for you.”

Ryan just there listening. He knew J.B. was telling him straight from the heart. Perhaps hearing it from his best friend’s point of view he could understand in opposition he might face from…

“But that night… Boy, that night…” J.B. shook his head and chuckled to himself. “I didn’t recognize you. I mean, it was like you were like what I hadn’t seen you like even when we rescued your Dad.”

“Oh? And what was that?” Ryan asked.

“Happy, my friend. Pure and utter happiness.”

Ryan was shocked. A lump swelling up in his throat made it difficult for him to speak.“… Thanks J.B.”

“No. Thank you Ryan.” J.B. sighed. “My father was there with me that night and to him that was the ultimate display of courage he had ever seen. He told me all about his ‘secret’ that night and said that if you had the courage to pursue your dream then so should he… and me too.”

“J.B. … I…” Ryan voice strained to speak but he found no words.

“Again, thanks Ryan. You’ve shown my father and I that by letting our true nature and talents show, life can be tolerable now matter what others think about you. We have to go out there and share with the world what makes us happy.”

They both stood in front of each other in silence for the longest of moments. Finally…

“I’m gonna really miss you J.B.” Ryan sighed, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Me too man. Me too.” J.B. replied in the same manner. Both shook hands at first but it transformed in a friendly hug good-bye. A possibly, final good-bye. Finally, they released each other.

“Well, I suppose I’d better get going.” Ryan said.

“Where to?” asked J.B.

“To talk to my Dad.”

“You want me to call your girl Amy so me and her can come with you?”

“No, no… I’m gonna do it by myself. She already knows anyway. I thought I would get a second opinion from her after you, but you just said it all…”

“Huh! I guess I really do have a big mouth…” J.B. mumbled to himself. He looked down and found a picture laying on planks. It was from that night his father told about his writing. They had taken pictures that evening…

“I going to march right into his office and say it to him.” Ryan took a deep breath. “I’m gonna say: ‘Dad, I’m… I’m g…

I’m going to be a country singer!”