The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation - 51. Blending the Old With the New

Noah had his first home soccer game on Thursday and we all planned to attend. He’d had a couple of away games before this and his team had won one game and lost the other, but this would be the first time any of us had seen him play. I know we are all excited about watching him, but I’m not sure if any of us understands how Noah feels about us being here today. For all we know, our presence may make him nervous or it might even embarrass him, having so many in the crowd screaming his name. It may also be that he is indifferent and doesn’t care if we are here or not. We just hope he is glad we showed up to cheer him on.

Joshie and I got to the athletic field first and found a place to sit in the bleachers. Brandon showed up about fifteen minutes after we did and Danny pulled into the parking lot a short time later. I’m not exactly sure when Jesse arrived, because he didn’t come sit with us right away. Instead, he stood off to one side of the bleachers and chatted with a group of other young men first. By the time I spotted him, the rest of us had been there for a quite a while, but he still didn’t come over to sit with us until just prior to the opening kickoff.

Before this happened, the rest of us spent our time watching Noah’s team warm up. They were the only ones there for quite some time, because the other team’s bus hadn’t arrived yet. Incredibly, the home team had been going through their drills for about twenty or thirty minutes, before the other team got here. The referee went out to meet the visitors and hurry them along, and he only allowed them a limited amount of time to warm up, after they made their way down to the pitch.

You may be wondering why I referred to the athletic field this way, so I’ll explain. Having followed some of the older boys when they’d played soccer, I’d learned that the playing area is called the soccer pitch. This is the term we’ve borrowed from the Brits, since they are more passionate about the game and have played it much longer than we have. Seeing there are still a lot of people who aren’t as involved or familiar with this game, they tend to call it a soccer field, but active spectators and participants don’t typically refer to it that way. In fact, for the rest of the world this sport is referred to as football, not soccer, but by the time the sport began to gain popularity in this country, we already had a game we called football.

When the visiting team was finally ready to play, the two teams lined up for the starting kickoff. When they did, I quickly noticed that Noah was playing the right midfielder (or halfback) position. The midfielders are basically the only players who are actively involved in both the offensive and defensive play, so they end up doing a great deal of running during the contest. Since I didn’t previously know Noah played this position, I hadn’t asked how he felt about being continually on the go. I certainly hope he’s in shape and up for constantly being on the move. I know Elliot likes to run, but I wasn’t so sure about Noah.

Once the game started, I was quite impressed with Noah’s play. Not only did he have fairly good footwork and passing skills, but he also seemed to have a good general feel for soccer tactics and an astute awareness of where his teammates and the defenders were on the field. Due to this fact, he delivered a couple of very nice passes to his forwards and later made an excellent crossing pass, which another of his teammates was able to redirect into the goal. It was a very impressive assist and we all cheered when it happened.

As we were clapping and yelling enthusiastically to acknowledge the play, I saw Noah look up and give us a grin. It was obvious he was pleased by how excited we were about his accomplishment. I think this also answered any earlier questions we might have had, when we wondered how he felt about us being here.

Noah’s team ended up winning the match, 2 – 1, and after the coach dismissed them, he raced over to join us.

“I’m glad you were all here,” he gushed. “Thank you for coming to see me play.”

“Trust me, it was our pleasure,” Brandon responded. “We were very impressed watching you in action.”

“So you think I did okay?” Noah wondered, showing he was a little insecure about his skills.

“Okay? We thought you were excellent,” Danny answered. “Brandon and I both played soccer on the school teams too, so we can tell when someone knows what they’re doing and has a good feel the game. We were very impressed watching you play today.”

Noah was beaming from ear-to-ear.

“You made a couple of very nice passes,” I added, “but that assist was outstanding. You’re an absolute natural out there. I take it you don’t mind having to run so much?”

“Nah, it’s not bad at all,” he replied.

“Then maybe you might want to start going out with Elliot some morning,” I suggested. “He likes to go running too and he went out a lot with Hayden last year.”

“Really?” Noah wondered.

“Yep, and I go out with them sometimes too,” Jesse added. “Maybe we can all go out and run together next time.”

“Yeah, that sounds great!” Noah confirmed.

After we finished our little chat with Noah, Brandon excused himself and left, so he could go over to the high school to pick Elliot up after his practice. Danny, on the other hand, told Noah he’d wait around for him to clean up and change first, and then he’d take him home. Of course, I took Joshie with me, but since Jesse has his own car now, he went home alone.

I don’t believe driving four vehicles to the same soccer match would ever be considered green. However, seeing we were all coming from different places and at slightly different times, I’m not sure how we could have arranged it differently. I know we’ll eliminate one vehicle, once Brandon and Danny are both working at the health center, but seeing Jesse is already near the middle school, it wouldn’t really make sense or save any gas by having him drive home first, just so he could ride down with Joshie and me.

Once we sat down for dinner, Noah shared some other interesting news with us.

“Most of the boys on my soccer team heard about what happened the other day after practice,” he began, “when Elliot had the fight with that other boy.”

“And what did they have to say about it?” Danny asked, obviously concerned about the implications.

“Some of the guys said they’ve had trouble with that boy before too,” Noah admitted, “but s few of my teammates wanted to know where Elliot learned to fight like that.”

“And what did you tell them?” Danny followed.

“I said I thought he took karate or something,” Noah answered.

“Has anyone made any mean or bad comments about what happened that day?” I asked next.

I felt it would be wise to see if there might be some negative repercussions from this incident.

“Not really,” Noah replied, “and the boy’s brother has been a lot nicer to me since it happened. He even told me his father whipped his brother’s butt with a belt when he got home that night.”

When I heard this, I just hoped his father didn’t go overboard doing this and that nothing else will arise out of this incident.

“So was anything else said?” Brandon pressed.

“Well, some of the boys have joked about it,” Noah answered. “They go around telling the other boys that they’ve got to be careful not to mess with me when Elliot is around, unless they want to get their asses kicked.”

Elliot and Jesse almost spit out their food and drink when they heard Noah say this. I don’t know if it was due to fact of what he’d told us or because he’d said the word ass, instead of using butt or something else in front of the rest of us. I think I, and the other adults at the table, found his comment slightly amusing.

After dinner, Jesse filled Elliot in about what he’d missed by not seeing Noah play, so Elliot told Noah he hoped he’d be able to watch one of his games soon. Noah thought it was great that Elliot wanted to watch him play too, so he walked around with his chest all puffed out for the rest of the evening.

On Friday, after I picked the boys up from practice, we hurried home and loaded our bags into the Suburban. I had Jake’s things packed with mine, so we just needed to wait for him to show up, shower and change. He’d told me the previous evening that he’d try to leave work early, so we could get a head start, but unfortunately that’s not how it worked out.

Jake didn’t arrive until around 5:45 and still had to jump into the shower and change first, before we could be on our way. We were finally ready to hit the road about half an hour later and I offered to drive, since Jake had been behind the wheel for most of the day. He happily accepted my offer and we set out for Andrew’s campus. We arrived there just before 8:30 and discovered him waiting for us in front of his dorm. It appeared he was really anxious for us to get here.

“What took you so long? I’m starving,” he stated, in a fairly loud voice, as we pulled up next to him.

“Sorry, it was my fault,” Jake offered. “I couldn’t break away from work early like I’d planned, so we got a late start.”

“It’s okay and I’m not really mad,” he clarified. “It’s just that I’m really hungry and that makes me grouchy. Can we go eat now?”

The boys laughed at the way he’d said this, but Andrew ignored them and hopped into the backseat. I also let him pick out the restaurant we’d go to tonight, so we ended up at an Italian establishment.

After looking at the menus, we ordered a variety of dishes and then shared them with each other. We had pizza, gnocchi, spaghetti, rigatoni, Eggplant Parmesan, lasagna, Veal Scallopini and Fettuccine Alfredo. To say the least, we were stuffed by the time we left there.

Now that we’d filled our bellies, we were going to take Andrew back to his dorm, but he asked if he could stay at the motel with us instead. He said he wanted to spend more time with the other boys, since he hadn’t seen Jesse or Elliot for over a month and had just met Noah. Seeing I had reserved two rooms – one for Jake and me and another for the boys, I agreed this arrangement would be fine. I did manage to pull Andrew aside first, to let him know that Noah was not aware of or involved in any of the sexual escapades. After hearing this, he assured me it wouldn’t be a problem and stated that he merely wanted to spend the night with the others.

From what he said later, I guess Noah got more than an eyeful of manly flesh that evening, as the boys stripped down in the room, before they went in to shower. It didn’t seem to bother him, although he did make a comment the next day about Jesse’s huge dick. However, since he’d been taking showers with the other boys on his soccer team after practice, he wasn’t freaked out or anything.

Elliot told me Noah spent a considerable amount of time gawking at Jesse and Andrew’s groins though. It also led Noah to ask Andrew why his penis looked different from everyone else’s dick, so Andrew had to explain to him about the difference between being circumcised and uncircumcised.

Elliot slept with Noah, so Andrew could spend the night with Jesse. I think Noah was very happy with this arrangement, since he had slept with his brother before and felt comfortable with him. I have a feeling it also helped to ensure that he enjoyed a good night’s sleep, especially since Elliot told his fathers and me that he’d cuddled with Noah the entire time.

The next morning, after getting up and going out for breakfast, Andrew wanted to show Elliot and Noah around a bit. The rest of us had been here with him before and had seen most of the campus, but since the other pair hadn’t been with us, we decided to do it again. It wasn’t a big deal, so Jesse, Jake and I went with them as Andrew pointed out many areas of interest to the younger pair. I thought it was good for Elliot and Noah to see what college life was like and how the students seemed to be happy and carefree. I hoped it might get them excited about attending college when the time comes.

As we made our way around the campus, I was a bit surprised when Elliot announced that he wanted to attend the University of Pennsylvania one day. He said that’s where his father had gone, so he wanted to go there too. Since neither his dads nor I had ever heard him voice this ambition before, I thought I should comment.

“That’s an Ivy League university and a tough school to get into,” I informed him. “I’m not saying you can’t do it, but it will require you to keep your grades up throughout high school, if you hope to get accepted.”

“That’s okay,” he answered. “I’ll work as hard as I have to, but that’s where I want to go.”

Clearly, this was important to him and a very worthwhile goal. I also made a mental note to speak with Danny and Brandon about this when we got back, so we could all encourage him to continue to pursue this lofty objective.

After we spent an hour or more on this tour with Andrew, I asked him if there was anyplace special he’d like to go next. I told him that I’d like to take him shopping, so he could pick out some items he really wanted for his birthday. After thinking about this briefly, he told me he could use some new clothes, but then he also said he’d like to get a couple of things for his dorm room too. Happily, I agreed this would be fine.

After asking him where he’d like to go to get these items, we took him out shopping. We went to Old Navy first, where he picked out several garments, and then we went over to Office Max and Target after that, where he selected the things he either needed or wanted for his dorm room.

On our way around the store, we passed by the Electronics Department and I noticed the televisions were tuned in to the ‘tenth anniversary of 9/11’ ceremony. It had kind of slipped my mind that today was September 11, so Jake and I talk briefly with the boys about what happened that day and how it affected our lives and the country. Even though Noah and Elliot had been fairly young when it happened, they’d still seen many programs on that terrible day and were able to contribute to the discussion.

When we were done with that, I got my next surprise. I was somewhat amazed when Jesse and Elliot chipped in and bought Andrew a gift too. First of all, I didn’t know they were planning to do this, and second, I wasn’t aware they even had any money on them. If doing this wasn’t special enough, when they gave Andrew their gift they told him it was from the three of them. This means they included Noah in on the gift too, even though he hadn’t been able to contribute monetarily. I know Noah picked up on this fact too and I’m sure he later thanked Elliot and Jesse for doing it for him.

Later that evening, we took Andrew out for his birthday dinner, but this time I insisted he select a nice steakhouse. Once again, Noah was a little reluctant to order anything, since he felt it was all too expensive, but we eventually encouraged him to order a strip steak. I had to describe how they were cooked, so he could determine how to have his steak done, and he ended up choosing it be cooked medium-well. I also let him take a bite of my medium-rare fillet later, to see if maybe he might adjust not only his steak choice, but also how he wanted it prepared, for future outings.

We all had a very lovely meal and each of us thoroughly enjoyed our steaks. Once we had finished the main course, I encouraged Andrew to select his own birthday dessert, rather than merely settle for whatever freebie the house gave out to those celebrating this special event. I think he appreciated everything we did for him to make his birthday special.

Andrew stayed with us at the motel again that evening, but this time he convinced Noah to share a bed with him. Although doing this put the two smaller guys in one bed and left the two larger ones in the other, I don’t think anyone minded. Elliot and Jesse were used to sleeping with each other and Noah thought it was really special that Andrew wanted to spend the night with him.

We all showered at the motel the next morning, but Andrew wasn’t able to get dressed there. We had to drop him off at his dorm, so he could change into another outfit. When we got there, the boys helped him carry everything we’d bought him the previous day up to his room, which they all got to see for the first time. After he finished putting on clean clothes, we then went over to the campus chapel for services. When the sermon ended, we took Andrew out to brunch and then back to his dorm. We said goodbye to him when we got there and wished him a happy birthday again, before the rest of us started the trip back home.

We’d had a nice time with Andrew, but we were all a little exhausted by the time we arrived at the house. Once we’d unloaded the Suburban and unpacked our bags, Danny, Brandon and I urged the boys to get their homework done next, before it got too late. They all grumbled a bit and said they wanted to wait a while first, but we insisted they get it done now or else we wouldn’t allow them to go on any other trips when school is in session. Since they didn’t want this to happen, they did as we asked and were finished with their assignments before dinner.

After we had eaten, the boys lay around and watched TV for the rest of the night. Before they went to bed, they admitted they were glad we made them do their homework earlier, because it had been nice to relax and take it easy after dinner. We merely told them they needed to remember this the next time they objected to doing what we told them.

On Monday, we all got back into the normal swing of things again. Before the boys left for school, I reminded Jesse that it was his week to pick Noah, Elliot and Hayden up after their practices and he said he remembered it was his turn. Since that had been cleared up, I told the boys I’d see them again at dinner and then they headed out the door.

True to his word, Jesse brought Elliot and Noah home later, after he’d dropped Hayden off at his place. It was nice for me to not have to do it this week, since I had a lot of laundry to catch up on. We’d been gone all weekend, so I’d fallen behind on my chores.

During dinner, Danny and Brandon asked the boys about their day and wanted to know if they had anything special lined up for the rest of the week. This was when Noah told them he had a game after school the following day and an away game on Saturday. After hearing this, Danny and Brandon asked Elliot when he had a meet and he advised them his first meet wasn’t for another week. He would be competing for the first time next Tuesday. Once we had gathered this information, the rest of the evening was fairly quiet.

The next afternoon, we all went to watch Noah’s next home soccer match. When he saw us in the bleachers this time, he was all smiles and seemed pleased we were there. I would even go as far as to say that he was proud his family had shown up to support him. I think he’s beginning to appreciate how close-knit our family is and that we go out of our way to support each other.

As it turned out, it was another exciting game and Noah played very well again. This time, however, the biggest play he made was when he stopped the other team from scoring on a corner kick. The ball was kicked to an area in front of the goalmouth, but was almost immediately deflected away from where most of the players were located. After rolling untouched for a few seconds, it came to rest in a dangerous location, where it could have easily been kicked past our goalkeeper by one of the opponents.

When Noah saw the ball in this vulnerable position, he reacted quickly and streaked across the gap. He was intent on making sure he reached it first, before someone from the other team could get to it. He not only booted the ball out to midfield, but he was also able to get it to one of his own team’s players, who dribbled it toward the other goal. Although they didn’t score on the play, it still made a tremendous difference. If the other team had been able to cash in on that opportunity, it would have tied the score. Instead, Noah’s quick thinking and skillful play helped to secure a 1 – 0 victory for his team.

When the game ended, and after his coach had dismissed them, Noah jogged over to where we were waiting for him. We expected he would be thrilled about the outcome of the game, but his demeanor showed he wasn’t happy at all.

“Smile, you just won,” Jesse teased, as he got closer.

“Yeah, but I didn’t score or have an assist this time,” he whined.

“But that was one hell of a defensive play you made,” Brandon remarked. “If the other team had scored when the ball was rolling around loose in front of your goal, then the game would have ended in a tie.”

“Yes, I was very impressed with how quickly you spotted what a dangerous situation that was and then reacted to it,” Danny added.

“Not only did you boot it away,” I continued, “but you even got it to someone on your team, so the momentum shifted when your team put pressure on the other keeper. I think that’s what made your defensive play even more impressive.”

Noah tried to downplay his accomplishment and even attempted to convince us that if he hadn’t gotten to it, then one of his teammates would have instead. To tell you the truth, I thought his humbleness and modesty were endearing.

“Maybe, but they didn’t and you did,” Danny countered. “No matter what you think, that was one fantastic defensive play.”

Noah was suddenly all smiles and no longer worried that he hadn’t scored or had an assist. We had finally been able to get him to realize that good defensive play is just as valuable as scoring or making an assist.

During dinner, Noah reminded us that he had an away game on Saturday. After hearing what school they’d be playing, we realized it wasn’t too far away, so we all began thinking about attending. There was only one problem – Elliot was still grounded and this created a minor problem for his fathers. They felt one of them would have to stay behind to make sure Elliot didn’t take advantage of them being away.

When Dion and Trey heard us talking about this, they suggested a solution. Since I had already asked if I could take Joshie with me, they offered to keep an eye on Elliot until the rest of us got back. This meant neither Danny or Brandon would have to stay behind with Elliot. Since Danny didn’t have to work this weekend, Brandon said he’d have his receptionist rearrange his appointments, so he would be able to go watch Noah play too. They enthusiastically thanked Dion and Trey for offering to do this and even promised to repay their generosity by doing something for them in the future. Danny and Brandon were thrilled with how this had worked out, but Elliot did not share their enthusiasm. He had been secretly hoping he’d be able to go watch Noah play too.

Jesse was kind of torn at this point and felt he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to go watch Noah play too, but then he thought he should stay and keep Elliot company instead. After he mentioned his dilemma to Elliot, Jesse was quickly told that he didn’t need to stay home and baby sit for him. Elliot informed Jesse it wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t go, so he shouldn’t end up having to share in the punishment. After they finished their conversation, Jesse came out and let me know he would be going with us as well.

Elliot was still depressed about not being able to watch Noah play, so I went to talk to Danny and Brandon about the situation. I felt that since Elliot didn’t have practice on Saturday, this might be the only game he would be able to attend, so I suggested they might want to give Elliot an option. They could give him the choice of going to watch Noah play this Saturday, if he was willing to agree to an alternative punishment to compensate for this privilege.

Danny and Brandon were willing to consider my proposal, but admitted they didn’t know what other punishment they might suggest instead. Seeing they were stumped, the three of us put our heads together to come up with something suitable. After discussing some other possibilities, Brandon came up with a potential solution. He said that if I were willing to teach Elliot how to do the laundry, then they would be willing to let Elliot go with us, if he was willing to be responsible for doing that chore when we got home on Saturday, as well as on Sunday. Brandon said that he thought I deserved a break, since I do so much around the house, and this would give me one. When I agreed this would be acceptable, we went to speak with Elliot.

“Elliot, we know you’d like to watch your brother play on Saturday, so we’re going to give you a choice,” Danny told him. “We’ll let you go with us, but you’ll have to do something else as punishment to make up for this privilege. Are you willing to agree to something like that?”

“Yeah, but what would I have to do?” he wondered.

“If you agree to this, then you’ll have to do the laundry this weekend, then we’ll allow you to go,” Brandon informed him, “but we’ll leave it up to you.”

“But I don’t know how to do laundry,” Elliot insisted.

“Papa has agreed to teach you,” Brandon countered.

“So I just have to put the dirty clothes in the washing machine and then move them to the dryer?” Elliot wondered.

“Not exactly,” I answered for them. “Once the garments are dry, then you have to fold each item or put it on a hanger before it gets wrinkled. Then you’ll have to take each person’s belongings and place them in his room, like I do when I do the laundry.”

“And you’ll help?” Elliot followed.

“I’ll show you what you need to do and help you decide which items belong to whom,” I replied, “but you’ll have to do all of the work.”

Elliot didn’t look as if he was really eager to do this, but since he wanted to see Noah play, he finally relented.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” he sighed, in resignation. “I guess it’s worth it, if I can go to my brother’s game.”

Noah and Jesse were also excited when they heard about this arrangement and even offered to help Elliot do the laundry. That’s when we had to step in and say that wouldn’t be acceptable. Elliot would have to do the laundry by himself, seeing it was his punishment, or the deal was off. Reluctantly, the three boys agreed to our stipulation.