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- 01/22/2021
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
A Child's Haven - 76. Chapter 76
I woke up early and feeling in a good mood. Getting dressed for the day, I headed to the cook shack. Mario and Janet were preparing breakfast for the kids. “Good morning Mario, Janet, could I please bother you for a cup of coffee?”
No sooner said than a cup of Italian coffee was sat before me. “Do you want something to eat now or wait until later?”
“I’ll wait. Have you and the misses had a chance to look at the catalog?”
“I told Maria how you refer to us as being married. I thought she would laugh, but she looked at me and said it sounded like a good idea.”
“Great, so when is the date, or should I prod you on that as well.”
“We’d like a fall wedding. I need to save up some money for the wedding and honeymoon.”
Now I had a plan. “When am I going to meet this lucky lady?”
“I was hoping you’d let us look at the apartment tonight after dinner.”
“Mario, you have the keys. You don’t need my permission. But I’d like to meet this lady who has stolen your heart. Why don’t you ask her to dinner tonight? She’ll see how much the kids love you. We can talk about your selection of appliances after dinner.”
Mario smiled as he went to use the office phone. “She said she is excited to meet you and will be here at 5.”
“Great, be sure you do a great job in preparing our dinner.”
“I’ll have professional help tonight. Adam is going to help. He has the night off at the restaurant.”
Taking another cup of coffee, I headed to the infirmary. “Aaron, you’re up early. I thought I was the only one who got up with the chickens.” I need to carry a book with me. We could raise a few chickens in the garden area.
“Nope, I’m getting ready to discharge our star patient. Ahmed is ready to go.”
“So you are feeling ok, Ahmed.”
“Yes, sahib.”
“Ahmed, my name is Brad. Everyone calls me Brad, and so must you.” He just smiled at me.
“Can he walk to the dining hall, or must he use the wheelchair?”
“He can walk. He’s been exercising every day.”
“Well, let’s go to the dining hall for breakfast.”
With Aaron and me on either side of Ahmed, we walked to the dining hall. I think this was the first time he was in the hall since the changes. His eyes were everywhere. Adel and Amman saw us entering and quickly came over to Ahmed. They started to jabber in their language, Adel and Amman took Ahmed to the breakfast line. I’m sure they explained about to take what you can eat and then go back for more. Ahmed’s eyes got big when they said what I believed they said to him. Passing in front of Mario, Ahmed said something to Adel. He shook his head yes. There was a big smile on Ahmed’s face as he pointed to the eggs. Mario put a large pile of eggs on his plate, they weren’t that large, but to Ahmed, it was large. Next was the sausage. Again Adel explained there were two kinds. He chose the turkey sausage, toast, and a small bowl of oatmeal finished off his breakfast. Amman went and got him a juice and milk. This morning I was ready to make an exception for Ahmed if he didn’t eat all the food on his plate. But I needn’t worry, he cleaned his plate and went back for more eggs. I just smiled as he sat back and rubbed his stomach. There was a small bump. Amman said something to him, and he just laughed.
Adel and Amman took over the care of Ahmed. He had just become one of the kids.
I went to the roof to check the trees. They were doing much better, the leaves were coming back on the branches, and the blight seemed to be in control. The plants were healthy and soon would be bearing vegetables. The flowers had been blooming and were used in the dining hall. The produce from the gardens were gifts from the children to Sanctuary. Of course, each gift was announced by me thanking the donor. The same with the crafts, when they were put on display, I announced the maker or painter thanking them as well. Some of the kids took their finished model and put them on the shelf in their cocoon. That was fine with me; they were theirs to do as they pleased. Some of the kids who were stuck asked for help. There were always plenty of kids offering to help.
It was after breakfast before lunch that Murray showed up with a kid. Tony forgot to tell me we’d be receiving a new kid this morning. Murray introduced me to him. When I asked him his name, the British accent was very pronounced. I wondered if he had something to eat. He hadn’t, so I took him to the cook shack, along with Murray and O’Shea, “Mario, this young man hasn’t had any breakfast. Could you please fix him something, and I’ll have a cup of coffee.”
I saw Murray and O’Shea’s hand go up as well. Mario brought us coffee while Janet prepared his breakfast. I asked Janet to fry some tomatoes along with baked beans. She brought over two plates with scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast for Murray and O’Shea. Then she brought over a plate with two fried eggs, two slices of grilled tomato, a couple of spoons of baked beans, and two sausages. On a side dish, she had two pieces of toast buttered to the edge. I smiled because, minus the black pudding, this was an English breakfast. I watched Nick’s eyes about to pop out when he saw the breakfast. He looked at me, and I winked. He dug right in. The way he ate it must have been several days he had gone hungry. When he finished, I took him to my office, with a coffee for me and a cup of tea for him. Passing Beth’s office, I knocked and indicated to come into my office.
We sat at the conference table. Beth did the enrollment and gave him his cocoon key. I thanked Beth and told her I’d show him to his cocoon. I know he must have thought I was crazy when we kept talking about cocoons. “Nick, when did you arrive from England?”
“This morning, I was put on a flight last night. When I landed this morning, I was met by Officers Murray and O’Shea. I thought I was being taken to jail. They took me through customs and drove me here.”
“Do you know why you were sent here to the States?”
“No, when the police picked me up on the streets, they took me to the jail. I was locked up, and then that evening, I was put on a plane for here.”
“You were given no papers or information as to why you were sent here?”
“Right. Are you going to send me back?”
“No, but we are going to find out why you were sent here. Tell me a little about how you got to be on the street.”
“I lived with my mom in a flat just outside of London. One day I went home, and Mom wasn’t there. A neighbor told me some man came and she went away with him. I stayed there until the rent was due. I didn’t have any money, so I started begging on the street for food. I wasn’t there long before I was picked up, and here I am.”
I knew there was more to this story. I’ll check with Murray and O’Shea and see what they know. I put my arm around Nick, “Ok, let me give you the tour.”
We ended up in the annex, where I showed Nick his cocoon. He laughed when he saw it. I had equipped all the empty cocoons with a bank, so I took that opportunity to explain the allowances and the bank. “I’m sure the boys will bring you up to date on Sanctuary. Were you enrolled in school?”
“Yes, I was about to do my A levels.” I made a mental note to determine what A levels meant.
“You’ll continue to go to school here, and you also are expected to pitch in and do chores. We have no janitors or cleaners or any other help. We do have teachers who help the kids perform their chores. Think of it as a big family with 300 brothers and sisters. Now I’m going to turn you over to our NP, who will do a medical file on you. Then when you have finished, I’ll send some boys who’ll take you under their wing until you are comfortable. I’m always available. The kids here are my number one priority.”
I walked Nick to the infirmary. Introducing him to Aaron and Diane, I left. Walking back to my office, I looked at the water tower. Abe had the logo painted on it. Then I remember I needed lifeguards and swimming instructors. Most of the kids that went to the island learned how to swim, but I’m not sure about the new kids.
I saw Tony coming from the dining hall, “Brad, Murray said we have a new kid.”
“Yes, is Murray still here? The new kid is with Aaron. Stop in and introduce yourself. I want to catch Murray before he leaves.”
Leaving Tony, I rushed to the dining hall. I entered just as Murray and O’Shea were getting up to go. “Murray, O’Shea hang on for a minute.”
They stopped and sat back down. “What can you tell me about Nick?”
“There isn’t much. He didn’t have any papers, so we assumed that your reputation has gone international.”
“No, there is something that we don’t know. The only reason I can think of is that one of his parents must’ve been a US citizen. Can you contact the London police that picked him up and ask why he was sent here? If they say one of his parents were American, then we need a copy of his birth certificate or some form of legal statement stating that. Let me know what you find out.”
As soon as school was out, the kids started to come to the dining hall for lunch. I looked for Nick and didn’t find him. “Have any of you seen the new kid that arrived this morning? His name is Nick?”
No one said they saw him. I headed to the infirmary and asked what happened with Nick. They said he left with Tony. I went to Tony’s office and asked him what happened to Nick. “I don’t know. I explained the allowance system and told him that his allowance would depend on his age.” I checked his cubicle, and he wasn’t there. I called Murray and told him Nick was missing. About 2 hours later, Murray came into the dining hall with Nick.
“Nick, where did you go?”
“I wanted to take a walk and see what the area was all about.”
“Why didn’t you tell someone?”
“I didn’t know I should. I can handle myself.”
“I see. Sit here a moment.” I went and found Pat. I told him what I wanted, and he took off.
Soon several boys came into the dining hall. “Nick, I want you to listen to these boys. Some of them are younger than you, and some are older than you.”
The first boy was Curly. He told Nick his age and how long he was on the street, and what he had to do to eat. Then Amir, close to Nick’s age, told about being a slave boy and almost killed when he tried to run away. This went on until all the boys told their story. “Nick, you don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to, but listen to what these boys have said. That’s the world out there. No matter how strong you think you are or how smart, they’ll be smarter and stronger. You could end up in a slave auction or a barrel. That’s your choice, but if you want to stay here you have to abide by our rules, they are for your benefit and safety. The decision is yours, if you want to live on the street, just hand over your cocoon key now, and you can leave.”
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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