A few hours later, Ty heard Mark's car pull into the driveway. He'd been worrying about how to best handle this. He heard the front door open, and moments later Mark yelled, "Ty! Get your ass down here!"
Ty yelled back, 'Yes sir!" as he headed for the stairs.
Ty encountered Dustin running up. "Don't think I've forgotten what you've done to me!", Dustin snarled. "I don't know how you did it, but I've got special plans for you, after dad is done with you!" Dustin shoved past.
Ty reached the living room, where his foster parents, Mark and June, were standing, angrily waiting for him. "I gave you only one chore to do while we were gone. Why isn't it done!"
Ty would normally be cringing expecting punishment, but this time, he calmly looked directly into Mark's eyes, and said, "I was busy. I apologize. I'll do it right now," and snapped his fingers. "Done!"
"What new kind of insolence is this?" roared Mark, "You're going to get a beating to within an inch of your life!" Even June winced a little.
Ty stood his ground, continued staring Mark in the eyes, and said, "There are going to be a few changes around here, but let's all sit down and calmly discuss it."
"Damn right there will be changes, but we're not going to be calm, you little shit!" Mark stepped toward Ty.
June was dumbfounded at the exchange, but actually was starting to be very concerned about the way the "conversation" was heading. She reached out to grab Mark, and said, "Maybe we should calm down and talk things over."
"Take your goddam hands off me, you worthless cunt!" he spat at her, and continued advancing on Ty. Suddenly Mark froze in place.
"I don't think this is very productive," Ty said, as Mark stared at him in terror. "You need to calm down. I'm going to give you a moment, then I'll release you. I'd like you go look outside, see that the lawn and weeds have been taken care of, come back inside, and sit and talk with June and me." After a few seconds, Mark was released, and immediately started raging again. Then Mark froze again, and Ty sighed, "I really had hoped not to have to do this the hard way. June, please have a seat while Mark and I step outside for a moment."
June looked terrified, but did not sit. Defiantly, she said, "You can't order your parents around like this."
Ty replied, "Step parents, as you so often have reminded me. I'm not ordering you to sit. I asked politely. You can do as you please while Mark and I step outside." Ty started walking to the door. He didn't look back, but he knew that Mark was involuntarily marching along right behind him. They stepped out into the yard. Mark remained frozen, and Ty closed the front door. Ty stepped back around, directly facing Mark. Mark's eyes were darting wildly, but otherwise he couldn't move. "I know it's going to be difficult for you, but it really will be best if you try to calm down. I'm going to let you move your head in a moment. You will nod if you think you can talk to me without yelling or threats. OK?" Mark was still very freaked out, but he swallowed, then nodded his head in the affirmative.
"Good," Ty said. "I'm going to release you in a moment. Please stay calm, so that I don't have to freeze you again. I know you didn't believe me when I said a few moments ago that the yard and weeds were done. You had no reason to believe what was obviously a ridiculous claim. So now I want you to calmly look around and confirm the state of the yard. Can you please do that for me?"
Mark did look slightly calmer, and nodded vigorously. "OK," said Ty, releasing him.
Mark looked around, in somewhat of a daze, and said "But how?"
Ty replied, "Come back inside with me, and you, June and I will talk about it." Mark followed Ty into the house, looking defeated. All the fight seemed to have gone out of him.