The Castaway Hotel - 4 - 28. Chapter 28 - Many Missions To Complete

The rest of the week remained hot and the boys continued to use the pool to make themselves more comfortable. They were thankful they had this one small luxury for their benefit and I ended up thinking it might have been one of the wisest investments I had made.

I finally received a call informing me an HVAC specialist would be out to take a look at our central air conditioning unit the next day. I was amazed at how busy all the local firms were and how booked up they had been, but I could understand. It was only recently that it had become hot enough to require its use and people were just becoming aware of any problems they might have. In our case, we needed it to keep the house bearable, especially for those who had bedrooms on the second floor and in the attic.

When the man came to fix our A/C, Dustin stayed by his side the entire time, while letting the guy know he was also interested in pursuing a career in that field. I think the technician was impressed by Dustin’s eagerness and sincerity, so he treated him almost like an apprentice and explained everything he was doing and why it needed to be done. Dustin enjoyed himself thoroughly and the repairman didn’t seem to mind having an assistant, but the best part was that we got our air conditioning back. Now, we were ready for whatever conditions this summer might bring.

On Wednesday afternoon, Shannon showed up at the house quite unexpectedly, so I became curious to discover which boy he was here to see. I was surprised when he announced he wanted to talk to me, but quickly informed him I’d be happy to chat with him, without missing a beat. The two of us went outside and moved to the front porch for privacy, while I wondered what he had on his mind. “What’s up, Shannon?” I asked, trying to get this conversation started.

“Well, I really came here to let you know how much fun my dad and I had at your house when we came for the parties, especially my dad,” Shannon explained. “He told me he felt really comfortable here and had a lot of fun playing football too.”

“I’m glad both of you enjoyed yourselves and you’re welcome to visit us and spend as much time here as you wish,” I replied. I felt he hoped by telling me this it would get them invited over more frequently, so I felt I needed to put him at ease. “You certainly don’t need an invitation to come see us and your father and you are always welcome here anytime. I mean, you’re part of the family now. Right?” Shannon looked at me quizzically, so I felt I should explain. “Well, I am your Uncle Josh and your dad is Uncle Jake to my boys, correct?”

Shannon smiled, when he realized what I meant. “Yeah, Uncle Josh, we are all family.” Nothing more was said for a minute, but then Shannon continued. “You know, Uncle Josh, my dad doesn’t have a lot of friends around here and none of his friends know he’s really gay, except for you. I was hoping that maybe sometime you would ask him to go to a ballgame or out for a drink or something. He doesn’t do much, except with me, and I’m pretty sure he’d like that.”

Suddenly, my mind was flooded with many other questions, although I wasn’t sure I wanted to ask them directly. Was he asking me to invite his father out on a date? Did he think the two of us might hook up after spending some time together? I’m not saying Jake doesn’t appeal to me, because he is handsome and pleasant to talk to. He also seems to have a pretty decent body, at least from what I saw of it when he took his shirt off while playing football the other day, but Jake is only in his mid-thirties and I am in my early fifties, and overweight at that. I wasn’t so sure he would be pleased by his son’s matchmaking attempts.

“Shannon, maybe we could all go to a game or something sometime,” I suggested, as an alternative. “I do have a few connections at Penn State, so maybe I can rustle up some tickets to a Nittany Lions football game next fall.”

“That would be great,” Shannon beamed, “but maybe you guys could go out by yourselves sometime too. I think my dad needs some time doing guy things that don’t involve hanging out with a bunch of kids or just me. Maybe you could set up a poker game or something? Better yet, maybe you two could go to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia for the weekend and check out the sights. I could stay here while you were gone and help take care of the younger boys.” Even after listening to these new proposals, I still wasn’t sure if Shannon was trying to fix me up with his dad or attempting to find a way to spend the weekend with one of my boys, without any adult supervision?

“Well, I’d have to talk to your dad about this first, before I would agree to do anything like that,” I warned him. “He might not even be interested.”

“Oh, he will be! I know he will!” Shannon gushed, excitedly. “You just ask him and I’m sure he’ll say yes.” His enthusiasm for this was evident, but I was still unsure whom he was doing this plotting for, his dad or himself. I guess I’ll just have to keep my eyes open form now on and look for clues. I hadn’t really noticed him spending any extra time with any particular boy or eyeing any of them when no one was looking, so maybe it really was his father he was trying to fix up. Only time would give me the answer to this riddle.

Shannon stayed for a while longer and did things with the boys, but he seemed to float from group to group during his stay. Over the course of the afternoon, he spent time with Danny and Brandon, Nick, Brent and Trey and Dion, but he never seemed to give any obvious signs that he was stalking any of them. He did thank me when he left and seemed in a very chipper mood, but I still had no better idea about what he was up to, than I did when he first brought the topic up.

I didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on it over the next couple of days, as there were other things I needed to focus on too. For instance, on Thursday I would have to take Pat back for his first follow-up examination and there were still plenty of things I needed to get ready before we could make this trip. I wasn’t sure if we’d be staying overnight again, but felt it was best to be prepared, so I packed a few things for each of us and loaded the suitcase into the Grand Am.

When Thursday came, Pat and I took off early and alone. I didn’t allow any of the others to join us on this trip, in case there was any bad news. This way, I could concentrate solely on Pat and be there for him totally.

Pat and I used the travel time to talk about many different things, including his feelings about regaining some of his vision. As we switched from topic to topic, I thought back upon all the time we had spent together since his accident first happened and realized how it had strengthened the ties between us. I also concluded these additional trips to see his doctor were merely the icing on the cake and we’d always remain close because of all we’d been through together. I often wished I could spend this much time alone with each of the boys, but with the numbers involved I knew it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible. I’d just have to do the best I could and try to make sure no one got slighted.

After a lengthy drive, we finally arrived at the office. By the time Dr. Bailey joined us in the examination room, we had about exhausted topics to discuss, so we concentrated on what the doctor was about to do and thinking about what he might tell us. Dr. Bailey seemed very happy to see us again and we talked briefly before he began his exam. He asked Pat many questions about different topics, including whether he had experienced any pain or discomfort since the operation, or if there had been any problems he’d noticed other than discomfort. However, he seemed most interested in learning how Pat’s vision had been after he went home.

Pat told him there had been no problems of any kind and he had experienced only very slight discomfort following the operation. Then Pat told his benefactor that he felt his vision was getting better every day and couldn’t wait to wake every morning, so he could learn how much more improvement there had been since the previous day. The doctor seemed pleased to hear this and told Pat so, before he began examining Pat’s eyes thoroughly.

First he inspected the eye using his small flashlight, so he could check the stitches and scrutinize the surface to see if there were any signs of a problem. Once he had finished that, he tested the irises response to light and then studied the extent of Pat’s visual acumen, by using a machine with changeable lenses. When he finished up, he told us the news.

“Everything seems to be fine,” he began. “There doesn’t seem to be any lasting problems from the operation and his vision is remarkably good for this early in the process. It doesn’t look like we’ll have to change our approach or do anything more to help you. I will want to see you again in another couple of weeks, just to be on the safe side, but until then you are fine to go with just the limitations and care you have already been following.”

We were both glad to hear his news and thanked the doctor enthusiastically, before going out to make Pat’s next appointment with the receptionist. As we were leaving the office, Pat did tell me that before we went in he was kind of worried that his recovery had all gone too well and something bad was going to pop up, but was now relieved it was just his imagination running wild with him.

I tried to make him feel better by explaining it’s normal to think that way, especially when it concerns something you value. “Pat, it’s easy to convince yourself things are progressing too much in your favor and believe the other shoe is about to drop,” I informed him. “There aren’t many people who are truly convinced a roll of good luck will last forever. However, forever can mean different things to different people, and that meaning can vary at different times. Your eyesight probably WILL fail you again some day, but not until you reached old age.”

“Like you?” he challenged, sporting a huge grin.

“Yes, like me,” I whimpered, playfully. “I think you’ve noticed I can’t read much without my reading glasses and that happens to nearly everyone when they reach mid-life.”

After that, I also told him I believed if this was the window that God had opened for him, then he wouldn’t have to worry about it lasting more than just a short period of time. He seemed to feel much better after our little discussion and we drove home listening to the CD player and observing the scenery.

It was getting late by the time we arrived home, so we didn’t do very much before we went to bed. We were exhausted from the trip and drained by the tension we each felt prior to the examination. Pat stayed with me on the sofa bed that evening, I think mainly as a walk down memory lane and a look back at the nights he had lain there and worried he would never see again. It was a very relaxing slumber and we both awoke quite refreshed.

The next morning, after breakfast, I asked the boys to help me start getting the house ready for Richard’s birthday party, as I wanted to make this a very special day for him. I also ordered the cake, picked up his present (which I had arranged for earlier), made sure we had everything else we would need and then worked with the boys decorating the family room. After we finished making the place look festive, I went out to the kitchen and began preparing some of the food in advance. By the time the evening rolled around, almost everything was ready and we felt good about what we were going to do.

The Beckers showed up bright and early Saturday morning, as was their custom, bearing all kinds of goodies for our breakfast again. Right away Mrs. Becker set to work preparing bacon, ham, home fries, eggs and toast. She was only willing to accept a limited amount of help from me, and that was only to help her locate the items she needed to cook with. Richard was her key assistant this time around and he happily helped her prepare the meal. In fact, I was amazed watching him and thought he was doing a very good job of it. He seemed especially pleased to be helping to do something special for us and eagerly told us to all sit down at the table, while he and his father served us. It was a wonderful meal, with plenty to eat, as well as having great company and good conversation. We all enjoyed it immensely.

After breakfast, the boys dragged Richard off to show him the family room, so he could see how it was decorated. He beamed brightly when he saw it, so much so that he almost outshone the early morning sun on this nearly cloudless day. He was so excited and overjoyed that he ran out to get his parents, so they could also see what we’d done for him. He was so excited about our preparation that I was worried he might wet his pants before he calmed down, but fortunately for him, that didn’t happen. After everyone had seen and commented on our creative accomplishments, we all relaxed and talked some more, this time letting Richard tell us what the last couple of weeks had been like for him.

Richard was eager to do this and relayed every detail of what he had done on the farm, while using what seemed to be one humongous, unbroken sentence to do so. He only hesitated when he needed to take another breath before continuing, and it was extremely obvious he enjoyed his new life and new family. He even invited us all out to visit them, so he could show us around. When I told him he should check this out with his parents first, he told me he already had and they agreed we were welcome to come to the farm too. After discussing various dates to do this, we finally settled on going out there two weeks from today.

Around noon our other guests began to show up and the older boys and I started cooking the meat on the grill. By now, Mark, Sally, Steve, Mary and the Spences had joined the party, and Richard was busy telling them about his new life on the farm. He was very animated in relaying his story and just as excited about everything as he had been when he told us, just a short time before. While some of my boys manned the grill, I sat and watched Richard’s angelic expressions, as he went on and on about the things he had done during the past couple of weeks. I was enjoying all his youthful exuberance, which just seemed to ooze from every pore, as he kept his audience spellbound. He was the consummate entertainer, even acting out some of the events in a slapstick fashion, and he soon had the room in stitches. Richard seemed to relish this newfound attention from adults, which made him ham it up even more, and it was almost as if this opportunity was erasing at least part the years of neglect he had been forced to endure when he was younger.

When the meat was finished cooking on the grill, the boys summoned everyone out to eat and we spent the next hour chowing down. After that, we decided to let Richard open his presents, as we didn’t want him running around or begging to go swimming so soon after eating.

I think he was temporary awestruck by the number of presents there were for him to open, but once he got over the initial shock, he proceeded to rip off the wrapping paper with sheer delight. He received some lovely gifts, including clothing, electronic games and a few other age appropriate gifts, but there were still a couple of special presents we hadn’t let him open yet. The first of these was something special from Ricky.

Ricky had purchased this gift with his own money, because he wanted it to be just from him, and he even picked out his own card and wrapped the present without any assistance. Although I knew what he had bought, the rest of what happened next came as a complete surprise. First Richard opened the card and read it out loud, so the rest of us knew what it said. His voice cracked a little as he spoke the words. “To Little Ricky from your very special friend and big brother, Ricky.” He didn’t even open the present right away, but instead looked up at Ricky and spoke. “My name’s not Ricky, it’s Richard, but my mother used to call me Richie.”

“Well, my real name is Richard too, but everyone has called me Ricky for as long as I can remember. I just thought it would be very special if I called you Little Ricky, so we would have something more in common. No one else will have to call you that, if you don’t want, but I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I did.”

Richard thought about it for a minute and then a grin began to spread across his face, almost splitting the bottom third away from the upper portion. “I like that idea a lot and I want everybody to start calling me that, but I’ll call you Big Ricky.” Ricky agreed and Little Ricky came over and gave him a big hug, then kissed his idol on the cheek. It was quite a touching scene.

Once that was over, Little Ricky went back and opened his present, a new pair of athletic shoes – the very kind every kid seemed to be wearing nowadays. His mouth dropped open and he looked up at Ricky again. “How did you know that I wanted these?” he demanded.

“Remember when you stayed here and we went out shopping?” Ricky asked him. “I saw you looking at them in the store window and knew that you really wanted them.”

“I do, and I love them, but they cost too much money,” Little Ricky protested.

“Nothing’s too good or too expensive for my little bro,” Ricky responded. After tearing up a bit after hearing that response, Little Ricky went over and hugged Ricky again. I waited patiently for him to decide when he had thanked Ricky enough, so I could give him his final gift, this one from our entire family.

Once he broke his energetic embrace of his idol, I reached across and handed him a single, large envelope. He thanked me, opened it and pulled out the contents, to examine what was inside. He looked at me somewhat confused, so I thought I’d better explain what it was he had received. “Ricky, those are roundtrip airlines tickets to Orlando, Florida, passes to Disney World and the Epcot Center, and your hotel reservation confirmation for a week, for you and your parents. Happy Birthday from the Curries.”

Ricky looked at his new mom and dad, and then at all of us, before leaping into the air. For the next several minutes, he continued to jump around, while whooping and hollering about going to Disney World – a whirling dervish of excitement, if I’d ever seen one. During his celebration, the Beckers looked at me and began to speak, but I anticipated their reaction and held up my hand to stop them.

“I know what your objections are, but I’ve already anticipated them,” I informed them. “First, you’re going to object about the expense, but it’s what we wanted to do and we won’t take no for an answer. Secondly, this has been planned for the first full week after the Fourth of July and I’ve already made arrangements, with the help of your neighbors, to have the farm looked after during your absence. I am paying all the expenses for that and everything has been completely taken care of.”

They now looked at each other, nodded back and forth, and it was then that I knew they had given in and accepted my offer. A minute or two later, Mr. Becker stood up and spoke. “You and your family have done so much for us that we will always be indebted to you. From the bottom of my heart, and for my whole family, I wish to thank you once more.” He came over to me, shook my hand and then wrapped me up in a bear hug to end all bear hugs. I was very touched by this, although he nearly crushed and suffocated me at the same time. After he finally released me, I caught my breath and told them my entire family wanted them all to have a wonderful time.

Once things settled down from that surprise, we lit the candles on Ricky’s cake, sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him and let him make his wish and blow the candles out, before we passed out the cake and ice cream. In between the time we had the cake and the boys were allowed to go swimming and play in the pool, I noticed Ricky and Little Ricky had disappeared. I guessed they had some things to talk over about this new relationship of theirs, as hero and devotee. I don’t think anyone else noticed they were gone and they were both smiling and joking with each other when they returned later. I guess they had established their roles and were both happy with this new bond.

A short time later, one of the other boys suggested it was time to take a dip, so all of the boys raced inside to don their swimsuits, before charging out toward the pool. This included Richard, I mean Little Ricky, since we had suggested he bring his attire with him when they came. Happily, he followed the others, eager to have fun and cool off. I was somewhat surprised to see that Mark was also joining them.

While the boys were splashing about and making a great deal of noise, the rest of us decided to go inside to talk, since no one was ready to jump into the pool with a bunch of hyperactive young men. The Beckers now told us their version of the past couple of weeks and explained how much they’ve enjoyed their new son and how he had caused them to look at everything through young eyes again. They informed us how much they had already grown to love each other and felt not only comfortable together, but also euphoric from this new relationship. They told us how Little Ricky was adapting to the life on the farm, how he helped with the various chores and how he brought so much joy into their lives.

They did express one regret, but that was that Little Ricky had no one his age to hang around with. The neighboring farms were also owned by older couples, who either never had children or whose children had grown up and moved out on their own, so there was no one close by for him to connect with. They mentioned again how they wished they were in a position to adopt a second child, someone Little Ricky could have for company, and then they said it might be possible they could do that next year.

I think that comment caused an immediate reaction by nearly everyone else in the room, and each of their minds was suddenly thrust into gear. We all wanted to come up with a suggestion the Beckers could accept, so they could adopt that second child and not look at it as if they were receiving a handout. As I scanned the faces of the others sitting with us, I could see the far-off stares, meaning they were lost in their own thoughts at that point and not really paying attention to anything else. I made a mental note to pull Sally aside later or call her tomorrow, to see if we could put our heads together and come up with a plan to help the Beckers do just that, without making them think we were forcing the issue. We all realized they were a very proud couple, unwilling to accept things they couldn’t provide for themselves, with a few exceptions, so tact was going to be the key in being successful with this venture.

After the boys finished in the pool and played a couple of games in the yard, I told everyone to clean up and I’d take them out to dinner. It had been a while since we had eaten Little Ricky’s birthday luncheon and I was fairly certain everyone was getting hungry again. After some mild protests from the other adults that I didn’t need to do this, I finally talked them into meeting us at the restaurant in an hour. I called ahead to reserve our ‘special room’, since that’s how we began to think of it, and everything was set.

When we got to the restaurant, Mr. Spence stood outside and held the door open for all of us to enter, coming in last and then disappearing for a few minutes. He told us later that he had needed to use the little boy’s room and joked that we’d learn more about those types of needs, as we grew older. Now that we were all together, we sat down to a lovely dinner, with wonderful company and great conversation.

As I looked around the table, I noticed Little Ricky was sitting beside his mother, but he had somehow also made sure his idol was sitting on his other side. This was truly a cute case of hero worship. Eventually I asked for the check, only to be told it had already been taken care of. When I asked by whom, I got no response, so I went looking for the manager to find out what was up. He seemed rather embarrassed that I hadn’t known about this in advance and then informed me that an older gentleman had already put the check on his credit card, including the tip. At that moment, I realized that Mr. Spence hadn’t disappeared to go to the little boy’s room, as he told us, but he had sneaked off to locate the manager and take care of the tab. I’d have to have a little chat with him about this later.

When we got back home, the boys moved the table and chairs out of the dining room, brought down a boom box from upstairs and started playing some CD’s, specifically the ones I had used to entertain them on Valentine’s Day. Before long, they had the adults dancing on our makeshift dance floor, after pulling the more reluctant ones into the action. In short order, the Spences, the Beckers, the Shays, and Sally and I were swaying to the music, our minds wandering back to memories of when we’d first heard each of these wonderful songs.

We were all really enjoying this thoughtful gesture, when we noticed some of the boys taking the floor with us. At first it was just Danny and Brandon, but then Trey and Dion joined in, before Kevin and Brent joined in, seemingly unconcerned that anyone would object or utter a disparaging remark about their doing so. About that same time, I also noticed Ricky and Little Ricky attempting to dance as a couple, and then became aware that Graham and Cole were also seeing what it was like to dance with each other.

Now that those boys had joined us, Sammy and Andrew quickly followed them out, after deciding they didn’t want to be left out of the fun either. I kind of smiled as the older boys tried to teach their younger siblings how to dance and was impressed by their patience. I think the other adults thought this was cute too, but I could also tell the straight boys were a bit jealous that their girlfriends weren’t here for them to dance with. It was then that I almost burst out laughing, because Frankie grabbed Nick by the hand and led him out to the floor, having chosen him as his partner. As they began to dance, their actions motivated the final pair, and Dustin and Pat released their inhibitions and joined the fun too. As we all swayed to the beat, I wondered what any passersby would have thought, if they had looked in our windows, only to notice all the young men who were dancing with each other.

After moving our bodies around the room to numerous songs, our guests began to announce it was time for them to leave. Slowly they got their things and headed for the door, but not before I cornered Mr. Spence. He just laughed and told me I was just upset because the old fox had outfoxed him. He laughed at the fact that he had pulled it off so easily and was giddy he had won this little game.

When I finally conceded my protestations were doing no good, I dropped the issue and just told myself that next time I’d have to be more observant about what he was up to. It wasn’t long after that before the Spences, the Shays, and Sally all said their final good-byes and left for their homes. The rest of us followed them out to their cars and waved as they drove off, but the Spences were already about halfway to their place as the last of the others finally pulled away. I stayed out and watched them walk the rest of the way, just to make sure they got there safely, before I joined the boys inside.

The Beckers were the only ones who were staying with us tonight, so I gave them my bedroom for the evening and reminded them where everything was. Even though they had tried to decline the use of my room again, I explained I would sleep on the sofa bed, as I was quite used to it and it was more than comfortable. They finally acceded to this arrangement, but it came as no shock to any of us when Little Ricky announced to his parents he was going to sleep with Big Ricky tonight. We each told him that would be fine.

The night passed by quickly and I awoke the next morning to the aroma of breakfast being prepared. Without even going out to check who was responsible, it was easy to speculate that Mrs. Becker was already up and at it again. I got dressed and walked out of the family room, but was surprised to discover most of my boys were already in the dining room eating. They soon told me the smells had awakened them and made them hungry; so they gave in to their bellies and came down to eat.

After a wonderful meal, we thanked Mrs. Becker and her helpers, and then we all got ready to go to church. It was a nice service and went very quickly, as the pastor seemed to be taking it easy on us this Sunday. As we left the church, the Beckers announced they thought it best to start home from there, as they were sure there was still much they would have to do before dark. Before they left, though, they thanked us again for the special weekend and Little Ricky’s birthday party. As they were preparing to get into in their truck, they stopped and gave us one final thank you for all of the gifts their son had received, especially the trip to Disney World which each of them would enjoy.

As his parents were opening the doors to their vehicle, Little Ricky asked me to bend down. I thought he wanted to whisper something in my ear, but when I bent over he gave me a very special hug and kiss, as his way of saying thank you. I knew then that I was sure going to miss this little bugger, although I did suspect we’d be seeing both him and his new parents from time to time. I didn’t know how the little guy did it so easily, but he had wormed his way into many hearts around here, including mine.

We all waved at the Beckers as they drove off and I thought I saw a tear making its way down my Ricky’s cheek as their truck moved out of sight. This touched me deeply and not only indicated how close Ricky felt to Little Ricky, but it also made me wonder what they might have been up to when they sneaked off by themselves and slept together. I wasn’t really worried about what they might have done, because I knew Ricky would never do anything with a younger boy unless the boy had initiated it or thoroughly agreed to what they were going to do, but I was just curious as to how deep their new ties went. Maybe I’d get the nerve up to ask him one of these days, but until then I’d just let sleeping dogs lie.