Mistakes Were Made

Chapter 3: I Trust Him

The Monday morning was warm, bright. The Thorne Bush court room is nearly empty, Dakota sits with her and Drew's lawyer, Louis Harper. Hank sits in a few rows behind them, dressed in a rented suit. The child services sits on the other side of the court. Judge Judd looks through the files, he looks up at the small court.
"So Mr. Harper, what did Miss Ryan decide on the does she want go to go to foster care or does she want to go into the adoption routine?" Judge Judd says, "With her muddy track record, I can't give her the option of going out on her own. She has to have someone with her for the next 11 months."
Hank thinks about what Dakota told him Saturday morning, about what happened when she was in foster care next time. He thinks about what Drew would have wanted. Drew would have wanted someone he trusted to take care of her, to make sure she was safe and watched over.
"Miss Ryan decided it would be best if-" Harper starts to say.
Hank stands up, "-I got guardianship of her until she turns 18."
Everyone in the court turns to him. Dakota looks at him confused, a small smirk on her face. What is he doing? Dakota thinks to herself.
"Pardon my language, but who the hell are you?" Judge Judd says, anger in his tired voice.
"I'm Han-Henry Scott Allen II, sir. I'm a family friend." Hank says nervously, "I am-was Drew Ryan's best friend. He would trust me to take care of her. It's what he would have wanted."
"Wait a minute. I know who you are! And I know who your daddy is too. What makes you think I would leave this child with you? Just because your daddy is the saint of Thorne Bush—" Judge Judd starts to say.
"No, sir, but I know this girl." Hank says confidently, "I've known Dakota for 9 years. If she goes back into foster care, she'll end up worse than she was last time. And we both know what was worst than that. I'm the best thing she needs right now."
Judge Judd turns to Dakota. "And what do you think about this, Miss Ryan?"
Dakota stands up awkwardly. "I-I think that would be okay. I've known Hank for a long time and I trust him."
"Well, then I guess it's settled. I grant Mr. Allen full guardianship of Miss Ryan until she is of age to go out on her own. "Mr. Allen, you have full custody of Miss Ryan and you will help her with former Mr. Ryan's property and their things." Judge Judd hits his gavel, "Court dismissed!"

Dakota and Hank sit on the carpet of her house. A house they both now co-own. They both stare up at the ceiling, wondering how they're going to figure what to do with the furniture and the extra things in the house. Or the funeral. Drew's former boss, Cal Hodge, said he would pay for the funeral. He felt bad for Dakota and her situation. Drew had saved up enough for Dakota to get by for a while, but not enough to keep their house or the truck. She'll have to go live with Hank at his place. He told Dakota that she can take his room and he can move his bed to the living room. She'll have to sell most of the things in the house, or give it away to the rescue mission. To give all of it away, it's not easy. Not when your last hope is gone and you're down on rock bottom. And both Hank and Dakota feel as if they had hit rock bottom.

By Thursday, the house was completely cleared out and sold. It was over 45,000 dollars. Hank knew better than to give it to Dakota so he put it in a savings account for her. Dakota had managed to sell a little over half of the stuff in the house online. She got plenty of money off of everything. The hardest thing to let go was Drew's things. Drew's clothes, his truck, his school trophy's, his CD's, and his collection of Batman movies and cartoon shows. There was no need to keep these things, considering how small Hank's house was.
Hank and Dakota had fixed up Hank's house. They cleaned it up and put what furniture that she couldn't give away into the house, including her small dinning room table Drew had bought a while back. She kept his favorite chair and the living room tv. She put her small, old school tv in her new room after she repainted her room white. They had worked on the house for 3 days, making it perfect for the social worker when they came for inspect. Hank had to hide the pacts of cigarettes and dirty magazines under his bed. He took the bin of empty beer bottles to the dump and fixed the dryer. By the time Monday came, the house was the best looking in the neighborhood by far.
The social worker checked the place out and saw that it was a great living condition for Dakota. She needed some explaining to why there was a bed in the living room but after she realized exactly how small the house was, she felt pity for Hank. In her opinion, a handsome man like himself taking in a young girl was heroic and he deserved a perfect score. She told him that he would have to work on quit smoking since she still smelled cigarette smoke in the air, no matter how much air fresheners they used. But besides the smell, everything checked out perfect. She gave him his number and then left, promising everything had checked out great.

By mid August, Dakota had to be transferred to a new school on the Southside of Thorne Bush. Hank talked to the principal and explained her situation with her new teachers. Dakota was slow to make friends, as she always has. But soon after, she made two friends, Devin and Melody. She started to spend more of her time with them than at home. Hank made a set of rules that insured him that she came home just about every night. On school nights, at least.