Chapter 34

As usual I had breakfast ready at 6:45 AM.  I had fixed bacon, eggs and wheat toast.

He stumbled in half awake and said, “What’s for breakfast?”

“What did you ask me to fix last night?”

He looked up and gave me a sheepish grin and said. “Oh yeah.”

That was the last thing he said till he finished breakfast. Then he said, “Thanks Uncle” and went to his room to finish getting ready.

10 minutes later he showed back up in the kitchen looking a little more alive and we headed out for his school.

I dropped him off at the corner because it was so congested in front of the school. He grabbed his book bag, headed towards the front door, I watched him till he entered the school.

At first it had seemed so strange to suddenly be a parent. It had taken me a while to find a balance with Matt between structure and allowing him to make his own mistakes. Through trial and error and working with Dr. Woodlief we had found a balance we could live with.

Of course I had been lucky. He was a great young man and I was grateful for how hard he tried to do things the right way.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I was home before I knew it.

As soon as I got upstairs I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed down to my office. I had just started in on my paper work when the phone rang.

“Cary Street Bookshop. This is Joseph how may I help you?”

“It’s Kevin I am returning your phone call.”

“Thanks for getting back with me so quickly.”

“No problem Joseph. What can I do for you?”

“Matt had a kid from school contact him by letter and ask to meet with him at the store. Well to make a long story short it turns out that he was not out to anyone till last week when his mother found out. He comes from a really conservative religious family. The church they belong to preaches that you love God before your family and to kick out gay kids from the house. His mother told him that he had two weeks to find a place to live. One of those weeks has already passed. Thank goodness he is 17 so he can work. I am trying to get him a part time job with Sally, as a dishwasher, after school hours. She is going to talk with him, and if she thinks it will work, she wants to take him as a foster kid. Or if that will take too long, just rent him a room at a low price. With him being 17 can we get away with that?”

He laughed when he heard that and said, “Well it is creative that is for sure. But it might just work. The problem is that he will be in legal limbo. If I am reading this right he is not ready to be out yet. So going before a judge to be emancipated would be tricky. He would have to testify and so would his parents, unless… maybe they could be persuaded to just give up their rights. It’s possible that they might do that rather than be embarrassed in court. The court is going to take a dim view of throwing a kid even a 17-year-old out on the street. After he meets with Sally if she still wants to go ahead with this I will need to talk with both of them.”

“Ok Kevin I will call you as soon as I know something.”

“Tell Sally I said Hi.”

“Ok will do, and thanks for everything.”

“Your welcome Joseph.”

After I hung up I went hit the pile of paperwork that never seemed to end. There were invoices and tax reports to file. I put on my reading glasses and got to work. Before I knew it, it was time to open the store. I opened the safe and set up the drawer and unlocked the front door and turned on the open sign.

Monday was Zack’s day off so I would be handling the store by myself till 3:00 PM. Normally I would have been alone for the entire day. Because Sally was meeting with Robert I had asked Zack to come in for a couple of hours. He had agreed immediately when he had heard why I needed him. I told him that he could stay to closing if he wanted the extra money or he could just come for 2 hours it was up to him.

Zack was studying for a test so he opted to come in for the two hours. I had been hoping that he would stay through closing. Then I had to laugh at myself. Here I was griping about having the store all to myself tonight. When I had gone 5 years without any help. I guess I was getting spoiled.

The morning was not very busy and I managed to get a lot of routine work done. My bestseller section had to be revamped and I took care of that. Then I sorted and put out the new books that had come in that morning. After that I dusted the shelves. Owning your own business had a lot of advantages but it also came with a lot of work.

Matt was getting a ride home with Timmy and his dad so I did not have to get him. We had worked out a schedule and Steve picked them up on Mondays so I did not have to close down the shop to pick him up.

Steve and Timmy were going to stay for supper and then head home. Since I would not have time to cook tonight I had ordered take out from Sally’s and Steve was going to pick it up for me. We were all going to eat at one of the tables in the shop.

At first it had bothered me to be eating in the shop. But then I realized it was more important to spend the time with Matt. So it had become one of our small traditions. Usually it was Chinese when we ate downstairs but Steve was not real fond of Chinese.

I was working on some paperwork when I heard someone walk up.

Looking up I said, “How was your day?”

He shrugged and said, “It was ok. How was yours?”

“Not to bad I got a lot done.”

Then he knocked on the counter and I looked up confused.

He said, “Remember the movie?”

So I played along and said, “Who’s there.”

Then he giggled and said, “The Fuller Brush Man.”

We had watched a 1950’s comedy and one of the jokes was about traveling salesman. The brush man was always around when the husband was gone. Matt had really enjoyed the movie and I knew I was going to be hearing a lot of traveling salesmen jokes.

I rolled my eyes at him but I could not help smiling a little. It was good to see him smile.

When he stayed after the joke I knew he had something on his mind. He just stood there for a minute then he said, “Uncle do you ever feel overwhelmed about things?”

“What do you mean Matt?”

“You always seem to help when people are in need. I don’t see how you do it. Sometimes I feel trapped and resentful when people come to me, and need help. I know that’s not how I should feel but…”

He was looking down at his hands and I could see that he was fighting back tears.”

Then it dawned on me. He thought he was letting me down and was ashamed.

I silently cursed myself for not paying enough attention to what he was feeling. I had told myself to be careful not to place too much on his shoulders. Sally had warned me about this a long time ago. Matt tried so hard to make me proud of him. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he was only 15 and had a lot of baggage to overcome.

“Matt thanks for being honest with me. If you want I will take over with Robert. That way you can step back. I’m sorry Matt.”

He looked up confused and said, “What are you sorry about?”

“I should have known that you were not ready for more stress.

Matt there is nothing to be ashamed about admitting you are at your limit. In fact that is a sign of strength and maturity.”

“Your not disappointed in me?”

“Of course not! In fact I am very proud of you. I am going to handle things with Robert this afternoon. So you and Timmy can relax and have some time together.”

He said, “Thanks uncle. Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind at all Matt.”

“I’m going to go back upstairs with Timmy is there anything I can get for you?”

“No I’m fine.”

As he turned to go it occurred to me that Robert might not have eaten today.

So I said, “Wait there is one thing. We don’t know for sure if Robert has eaten or not. Why don’t you order him something just in case? The worst that will happen is that we will have a little left over food, and if not we know he will have a warm meal.”

“Anything else?”

“No that will do it.”

Matt headed back upstairs and I went back to comparing invoices with the last shipment.

I don’t think that I had 5 customers in the morning. But it began to pick up in the afternoon.

Robert showed up an hour early. I liked that he was trying to make a good impression. I took advantage of the extra time to sit down and talk with him.

We sat down at a table and I asked, “How are things at home?”

“They are really tense. But nothing bad has happened. I try to stay away as much as I can so basically all I am doing is sleeping there.”

He stopped and rubbed his eyes. I could tell that he was fighting to keep from crying.

“Robert I know what you are going through and if you ever want to just talk just let me know.”

“He looked up sighed and said, “Thanks Mr. Brooks but right now I don’t think I could.”

“I understand. When you are ready if you want to I am here.”

He nodded and looked back down.

“Robert a friend of mine who owns a dinner around the corner from here has a job opening. I wont lie to you it is hard dirty work. But if she hires you it will enable you to continue to go to school and work at night and on weekends.

Sally can be a little direct sometimes. But don’t let that fool you she has a heart of gold. Please answer her questions honestly you can trust her. She had a son who was gay and was very supportive of him. In fact she has been very supportive of Matt and I both.”

“You said she had a gay son, what happened to him?

“He was murdered, and no one was ever charged. She still believes that he was murdered because he was gay.”

“Oh my God!”

“I’m only telling you this so you will understand that you can trust her. Sally might ask you some personal questions but it was ok to answer them. She is one of those people that when she asks you how are you doing she honestly wants to know. So try to answer her if you can.”

“I will try Mr. Brooks.”

“That’s all I can ask Robert.”

I looked up when I heard the door open. It was Zack and he headed over to us.

He said, “Hi Mr. Brooks, How are you doing Robert?”

“I’m fine Zack and thanks for coming in for a couple of hours it is really appreciated.”

I looked down at my watch and said, “Ok Robert its time to head over there. It’s just around the corner so we can walk.”

When we arrived at Sally’s it was quite. She had a good crowd for breakfast and lunch but not for supper on Monday. 

She was sitting in a corner both. She did that so she could keep an eye on the whole restaurant that way.

We sat down and I said, “Sally this is Robert.”

“Robert this is Sally.”

They shook hands and I said, “I will let you two talk if that’s ok?”

Robert looked a little frightened but everything went fine. Within a couple of minutes Sally had him relaxed enough answer all her questions. Don’t ask me how she does it she just seems to know how to put people at ease. We talked for about 15 minutes and by the time we finished Robert had a job washing dishes on weeknights and helping with cleanup at the end of the night on weekends.

That meant that Robert would be finished up by 10:OO PM on school nights and by 11:00 PM on weekends. He would be starting out at $8.50 an hour which was good for our area. In fact it was more than I thought she could afford and I made a mental note to ask her about it.

As we were wrapping up a family came in for dinner and Sally said, “Well you guys I have to take care of the customers. I will expect you here on Fri at 4:00 PM.”

“Ok. Mrs…?”

Sally laughed and said, “Robert, if you are going to work for me you will call me Sally. That’s why I did not tell you my last name.”

He smiled back and said, “Ok. Sally it is.”

As we were walking back he asked, “Mr. Brooks what am I going to do about a place to live?”

“I am working on it Robert. By Friday I will have something at least temperarly arranged.”

“Ok thanks Mr. Brooks.” He sounded down and I could  understand why. I hated not being able to tell him about Sally’s offer. It would be cruel to tell him and then find out that Sally could not do it. I did not want to  get  his hopes up and then dash them.

“Robert. If things get worse at home and you have to leave early or you feel unsafe I want you to call me immediately. I don’t care what time of the day or night it is, you call me. Ok?” I turned to him and waited for him to answer.

“Yes sir I will.”

“Good.”

“Robert we are having dinner down here tonight because I have to watch the store. You are welcome to join us.”

He hesitated for a moment and said, “I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Robert you’re not a bother. We would love to have you stay for dinner.”

He looked up at me as it trying to decide if I meant it or not. Then he softly said, “Thanks Mr. Brooks I appreciate it. Things are not easy right now at home. It’s like my mom has decided that I am a stranger in the house and she watches me like a hawk.
I can’t believe that she honestly thinks I would want to do something to my brothers. That is so sick!”

“I know Robert. My family was the same way. They freaked and kicked me out and told all the neighbors. That’s why I ended up on the street.

But you are not going to end up that way. I will have someplace for you to stay by the weekend. I can’t give you any details yet. But I should be able to let you know by tomorrow evening.”

“What time will supper be?”

“We will eat at 6:00 PM. So we have about 45 minutes.

If you want grab a book out of the used book section and relax.”

Ok cool. Thanks Mr. Brooks.”

“Your welcome Robert.”

He went to grab a book and I went to talk with Zack.

“Zack how are you on time?”

“I’m fine Mr. Brooks. Why?”

“Two reasons really. First I would like to go and talk to Sally for a couple of minutes and I would like to buy you dinner. We are all going to be eating down here tonight and wondered if you would like to join us.”

“I do have to study some more for my test but I would have had to stop and eat anyway.”

He thought for a minute and said, “Yeah I have enough time and thanks for the invite.”

“Hey it’s the least I can do you gave up a part of your day off for us. Besides we enjoy your company. Matt was just telling me the other day that he missed spending time with you. You know that he looks up to you like a big brother.”

Zack blushed and said; “Yeah I know and I feel bad that I have not spent much time with him lately. Its just that I am so busy with school and personal things right now…”

I cut him off and said, “Zack there is no need to apologize we both know how busy you are. My comment was not meant as a put down. It was to let you know how much you are appreciated by both of us.”

“Thanks.”

“Your welcome. Well I will be back with dinner in about 45 to 50 minutes. What would you like to have?”

“Hamburger with everything on it and fries.”

“Ok I will add that to our order.”

I nodded and headed out the door.

When I got to Sally’s I added Zack’s order in and she took it back to the kitchen.

While I was waiting for her to come back my thoughts were on what to do to help Robert without over stressing Matt. I was going to have to walk a fine line with it. But in the end my duty was to Matt first. That’s why Sally’s offer if it turned out was such a godsend.

I had not noticed her come up and she startled me when she said, “Joseph are you ok?”

“Why?”

“Because you were really lost in thought and I had to speak twice to get your attention.”

“I’m sorry Sally I have a lot on my mind right now.

Matt came to me today and told me that he is getting overwhelmed with everything. He can’t help with Robert as much as he wants to.

I thanked him for being so honest with himself and with me. I told him that I was not disappointed in fact I was proud of him for being mature enough to recognize that he needed to cut back on level of stress. So now I am going to be dealing with Robert more than Matt.”

“I’m glad he was honest with you Joseph. That shows how much progress he has made and I am proud of you for making it a positive situation for him.”

“Well I can’t take the credit for it. You are the one who warned me about him trying to hard to make me proud. Without your heads up on it I might have missed it entirely.”

She shook her head and said, “I am sure you would have figured it out. You are too good a parent not to.”

“Most of the time I don’t feel like I am all that good a parent. Half the time I am just praying I am doing the right thing.”

“That’s how all parents feel particularly the good ones. There is no manual for being a parent and even if there was every child is a little different.”

Sally paused for a long moment then said, “Joseph I have been thinking about what we talked about. It will not be easy for either one of us. But he needs a place to stay and he needs to know that it is permanent till he goes away to school. Not knowing where he is even going to live is only adding to his stress.
He seems to be a nice enough kid and I have decided to offer him a place to rent. If it turns out that he and I can get along then I will apply to be his foster parent.

The reason is that it takes time to be certified as a foster parent and it would bring a lot of attention to Robert he is not ready to face yet. I am not sure what position I would be in legally renting to him. He is under 18 and this will have to be done correctly for his sake as well as mine.”

“I have already talked to my lawyer and he is looking into it. He wanted me to call as soon as you made your decision. I will try and catch him right now.

As soon as he lets me know I will come over and let you know.”

Sally headed back to the kitchen to check on our food.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed his number. His answering machine picked up, and I left him a message letting him know about her decision, and asking him to contact me as soon as possible.

About 5 minutes later she showed up with dinner all packed up carry out bags. With all the people eating tonight there were two large bags.

I paid her for everything and headed back to the shop.

When I arrived at the store Steve was back. So all I had to do was to call Matt and Timmy down from our place. It was about 10 minutes later that we all sat down to our meal.

As we sat down I introduced Robert to Steve and we dug into our food. I was just finishing up my burger when the phone rang. I excused myself and went to my office to take the call.

It was my lawyer. I was a little surprised that he had called this late but was glad that he had.

I asked him, “Hi Kevin what did you find out?”

“Well it is doable, she can rent to him. The problem will be getting his mother or father permission. If we could, it would make both Roberts, and Sally’s position much safer.”

“Ok I will talk with Robert tonight and let you know in the morning.”

“That sounds good, I will be waiting for your call.”

We hung up and I headed back out to finish my supper.

After supper I asked Robert to come talk with me in my office. He looked a little nervous but followed me in. When we were seated I asked him, “Robert do you think your mother would sign a paper giving someone the right to make medical decisions and such for you.”

He looked confused. So I tried to clarify what I meant. “When someone’s underage the parents make decisions about what is in the child’s best interest. When you live with someone else there could be emergency situations where the person you were living with would need to approve treatment for instance, if you were not able to speak for yourself. I have that power for Matt I also have documents that allow me to enroll him in school. We would need to get that authority from you mother or father if it is possible. If you do not think that she will sign then we will have to try other means to persuade them.”

I could see that Robert was terrified of the idea and I said, “Robert I know this is scary but we need to make sure that everything is done correctly. That way the people trying to help are protected and so are you.” 

“If you want, I could have the person you would be staying with talk with your parents. If that’s what you want then we could arrange for you all to meet somewhere public where it would be safe. That way your mom and dad could sign the paperwork. I was thinking that you could perhaps meet at my lawyer’s office. If you met there he could have the paperwork ready and all they would have to do is sign.”

I would need to talk with my lawyer and see if that would be ok with him. Do you want me to do that?”

“I guess. I am really scared about my dads reaction when he finds out about this.”

He looked terrified.

“Robert can I make a suggestion?”

“What.”

“What if we were to go and get the stuff from your house or at least what they will let you take. We could do it in the day while your dads at work. That way it would be with your mother’s permission if she agrees. If you do that I would suggest that you take what is most important to you. Then if it gets ugly you will at least have those things already out. Does that sound like a good plan?”

“He sighed and looked up and said, “I just wish it did not have to be this way.”

“I know Robert. I know.”

“You still have not said where I will be staying. Have you found a place for me yet?”

“I was just getting to that. Sally the lady who gave you the job has agreed to let you stay there. You would pay her a small amount of rent and that way it is safer legally for her. She is willing to rent to you at a far lower level than you could get even in the pay by the week places that are so bad.”

“She would do that for me?”

“Yes it was her idea. She said she could not just sit there and watch you end up on the streets. That is why she asked you so many questions yesterday. She was trying to decide if it would work out. She just told me a few minutes ago that she wanted to do it. So I called my lawyer and that is when he told me about getting the documents signed.”

Before I could finish Robert began to cry. I knew it was from relief and just let him cry it out. After a few minutes his crying stopped and he said, “I don’t know how I can thank all of you. When I wrote that letter to Matt I did not think that he would meet with me. I had figured that I would end up on the street. I almost did not show up on Sunday because I did not want to lose the last little bit of hope. But I did and you all really did help me. I still can’t believe it.”

 

“Robert what I want you to do is when you go home tonight is to figure out what you want to have from your room. See if you can fit some of it in your book bag and take it to school. Then you can drop it off at Sally’s after school. That way the most important items will already be out of your house.”

He nodded and I continued. “When you go home tonight I want you to think about what we talked about. Then after school tomorrow drop by and let me know what you want to do. If you do decide to try and get them to sign the paperwork let me know. I will have Sally or my lawyer contact them to get it set up. That way you wont be caught as much in the middle.”

Robert looked up at me and I could see that he was near the breaking point. It was no wonder with all that was going on around him.

He looked at me and said, “Mr. Brooks I am scared. Really really scared. My whole life has been turned upside down. My own mother does not even trust me around my brothers. And she is going to tell my dad this weekend. Mr. Brooks you don’t know my dad. He has a really bad temper. If I am around when he finds out it could get really ugly fast.”

“I understand Robert that is why I want you to get some of your stuff out tomorrow and then let me know if you want us to contact your mother. The down side to that is you probably will have a hard time going back for a while. Who knows they may mellow as time goes by. But for now it is not going to be easy at all.”

I stood up and said, “We should probably go back out and finish up our food. Don’t forget to call me after school and let me know what to do.”

“I will, I promise Mr. Brooks.”

We headed back to the table and finished our meal. Robert stayed till almost 9:00PM then left for home.

After we had cleaned up from dinner we said goodbye to Steve and Timmy. Then we headed upstairs.

I decided to have some coffee and Matt had tea. We sat there and for a few minutes neither of us spoke. Matt was the first to break the silence when he said, “Uncle do you think that Robert is going to be ok?”

“Matt I can’t guarantee it but he has as good a chance as any kid in that situation. He is lucky to have people who are willing to help.”

“Do you think this is a good idea for Sally to take him in? I mean I am glad Robert is going to have a place to stay but I am worried about her.”

“I know I am as well. But she has made the decision and it could turn out to help them both.”

“How?”

“Well Sally needs to have someone to care for. You have seen it. The whole restaurant gets treated like they are family. She is one of those people who are happiest when they are needed. I think she will be fine. It will be an adjustment for both of them. But if they are willing to try and make it work they well be ok.”

He nodded but did not seem totally convinced.

I finished up my coffee and rinsed out my cup in the sink. I turned to Matt and said, “Goodnight Matt.”

He smiled up at me and said, “You too uncle.”

By the time I hit the sack I was so tired that I was out almost right away.

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© Joseph Men 2005