Spot had left his key necklace on one of the empty crates on his dock where he normally does when he wants to go swimming.

He had taken off his shirt, pants,and suspenders and laid the key on top of the clothing articles. He even put his shoes on top of them to be extra cautious. Clearly in this situation, it wasn't enough.

Spot had climbed onto the dock about half an hour later and put his shoes on. He went to throw on his pants when he noticed his key wasn't there. In situations such as this, Spot knew to stay calm. He calmly put on his clothes and looked around the crate.

When he didn't see it, he broke open the crate and looked around for it. When it wasn't in the crate he looked in the little cracks in the dock, but they weren't nearly big enough for the key to fall through. So, Spot came to the conclusion that one of the Brooklyn boys had it. He grabbed his cane from where it leaned against the post and slid it through his belt loop. He then walked to the lodging house next door to see the boys sitting on the floor playing poker. The younger ones stood around them, watching intently. Spot looked at all the boys pockets, to see if the leather strap connected to his key was hanging out of it. But, he couldn't see it anywhere.

He walked up behind his second, Ace, and pretended to look at his cards.

"Hey Spot," Ace said.

"Ace," Spot greeted. Then the youngest boy they had, Flick who was six, ran up to Spot.

"Spot! Guess what?" Spot faked interest and looked at the youngster. Normally he would be genuinely interested, but he was determined to find his key. He couldnt bear to be without it. Especially not today.

"What, kid?" Flick didn't pick up on Spot's disinterest and smiled brightly. Some of the older boys who had been with Spot a lot longer, knew what this tone of voice was.

"I lost my first tooth today!"

"Well that's good kid, means youse growing." Flick went back to his spot and sat down. Spot continued to watch the boys play until finally Ace asked the worst thing you could possibly ask Spot.

"Spot, what is wrong?" Spot raised his brow. "You'se pacing and fidgeting. You only do that when you'se upset." Spot cursed Ace for knowing him so well.

The boys stopped the game and looked at Spot.

"Which one of you has it?" Spot asked. The boys looked around.

"Has what, Spot?" Thunder asked.

"You know what I'm talking about. The only object that matters to me. What else could I be looking for?" Spot asked angrily. Ace stood up, he knew what this was about.

"Spot, we can explain-" That's all Spot needed to hear.

"Explain? Explain what? That you stole from me? I think that's pretty self explanatory. But what I wanna know is which one of you punks has it on you right this minute," Spot said. The boys looked at each other and Ace fished the key out of his pocket. He tossed it to Spot who caught it without breaking eye contact.

Spot looked at the key, inspecting it to make sure that nothing was wrong. But something was different. The key was cleaner, almost restored to the state Spot remembered it being. And there was something on the back. He turned it over and saw a small engraved word.

Brooklyn

Spot looked at the boys who were smiling. Spot didn't know what to say, not many people knew what this day was except for Ace.

"You did this didn't you?" Spot asked quietly. Ace nodded.

"Well I organized the whole thing and came up with the idea, but everyone chipped in. You'se our leader. And whether you like it or not we'se a family." Spot fought back tears. Then Flick walked up to him and hugged his waist. Spot put his arms around the boy. Eventually everyone joined the hug.

One thing no one can deny is that them Brooklyn boys is a family and always will be.