Salvation - 50. Chapter 49

We left my office and headed to the dining room. Mo put up his hand to stop us, “Listen.”

“You’ll not be able to beat your luck in coming here. I know I’m loved here. Dad and the adults are here for us. If you go back to the street, you’ll miss out on an opportunity. Dad does a lot for us, we have a swimming pool, and he reads stories to us. My real parents never did that. Yea, you need to think it over before you tell Dad you want to leave.”

“If we tell him we want to leave, he will let us?”

“Toby, I don’t want to leave. They haven’t tried to do what those men who come to the park made us do. If he asks me, I’m staying.”

“Yea, Toby, I’m staying as well if he asks me.”

Then I heard Nour, “Listen, I come from a very rich place, but all of that money didn’t prevent some of our servants from abusing me. Here, I’m not afraid. Here I feel loved as a boy should be. I have friends, I’m not alone, and I feel loved. Think hard about going, you’ll never find a better place to live. Pass that plate of cookies, please.”

We walked into the dining room, “Hi Dad” was like a chorus.

“I see you have met the new boys. After you have had your snack, take them, and show them around. They might be interested in the conservatory.”

“Dad, can you start the story of Sinbad tonight.”

“Sure, you know you boys can take any of those books to your room to read in the evening.”

“No, we like it when you read it to us.”

“I like doing that as well.”

The boys were smiling. I went, followed by my three friends, to the kitchen for coffee. Alex, Sal, and Mo took a few cookies as we passed the table. One of the boys jumped on Mo’s back, “Carleton, we need to get the house fumigated. The mosquitos are huge.”

That just caused the boys to laugh as Mo reached back and hauled the boy over his shoulder. The boy got a hug and was put back in his seat. Looking at the new boys, they were laughing as well. I smiled as I whispered to Steven, “They will stay, we’ll need clothing.”

David brought us coffee and set a plate of cookies in front of Alex. He took one and passed it on. I smiled, a new Alex. “David, have you taken the GED test yet?”

“No, Dad, we’re planning on taking it next Friday. There are three of us.”

“I’m sure if your tutor feels that you’re ready, then you’ll pass. You need to think about college or at least your next step in life.”

“I know what I want to do.”

“And that is?”

“Working in the kitchen with Gram and Jon has been more fun than work. My brothers are always telling me they like my food. So I want to be a chef, what do you think?”

“I think that would be great. I know Alex would appreciate having a chef in the house. Have you looked at schools?”

“No, I need to pass my GED first.”

“You pass your GED, and I’ll take you to check out some culinary schools, even if we have to go overseas.”

I watched the smile on David’s face, the best picture ever.

That evening after dinner, it was storytime. I thought about how we have become routinized. After breakfast, chores, and school, then after a late lunch, more school and time on projects or just recreation time. Dinner and after dinner, storytime.

I noticed some of the boys came to storytime in sweats, ready for bed. If they fell asleep, Mo was the one that carried them to bed. I had sent Peter to buy clothes for the new boys. This also gave him time to visit his girlfriend.

Nour handed me the book of Sinbad the Sailor. I hadn’t read this book, so it was new to me as well. As I started to read, the boys began to grow serious. They were listening.

I read until it was bedtime, “That’s all for tonight, boys. Tomorrow we’ll read more and find out where Sinbad is headed. I think he’s on a dangerous mission, but I don’t know the story, so we’ll have to wait.”

Mo stood up and held out his arms straight in front of him, the smaller kids hung on, and he looked like a monster with live limbs hanging off his arms. The kids loved it, and they were beginning to fall in love with Mo. He was a gentle giant. Sal was fortunate to have him in his life.

The security fence was finished, there was a security building built at the entrance, with guards to control the gate. I relaxed when that was done. The pools a great attraction, and the boys were becoming good swimmers.

The movie house was finished except for seats. They were ordered. The popcorn machine was no problem and was installed and working. Each boy had a pail with their name on it. It was their popcorn pail. The older boys were taught how to make popcorn, and so it was self-sustaining.

It wasn’t unusual to see boys with popcorn at storytime. I noticed they shared since there was an unlimited amount, they didn’t need to hoard it.

I’m not a young man, but storytime was the best time of the day for me. I looked forward to it, for what reason I didn’t know. Alex said it was because I had all of the kids around me, Sal said it was because of the way they looked at me, and Mo said it was the stories. For me, I thought it was confirmation of family.