ARROW - 79. Chapter 79

Tuesday, after Colin went to work, the boys and I headed to the gallery. Mom said the student working on his master degree wanted to talk about renting an apartment. She said he has some questions. I also wanted to go to the store where we bought our bunk beds. The morning was shaping up to be a busy morning.

Arriving at the gallery I met with the student in Mom’s office. He seemed like a nice guy, his questioned concerned how many students could occupy an apartment, I asked him if he has seen the apartments. He hadn’t so taking a key, we headed to the model apartment.

“There are three of us now living on campus studying the same subjects. Could we rent an apartment for the three of us ?”

“Do you mean each have a separate apartment or one apartment for the three of you?”

“One apartment for the three of us.”

“The bedroom is big enough for two twin beds. I don’t think you can put three beds in that room.”

“If we could, could we rent an apartment?”

“Yes, but no parties. There will be other renters and I don’t think it will be fair to the other tenets if you disturb them with a loud party.”

“What do we have to do?”

“If you want to rent an apartment, you can make arrangements with Mrs. Roberts in the gallery’s office.”

I walked to the gallery with him. I told Mom I’ll stop back. Now to the store where we bought the boys’ bunk beds.

Riding to the store, “Ronnie, do you remember how many bedrooms there are in the orphanage?”

“No, Dad. I know there are bedrooms on the second and third floors. But how may rooms I don’t know.”

Arriving at the store, I went to see the salesman who sold us the boys’ bunkbeds .

“Good afternoon. I don’t know if you remember me, but I bought two bunk beds for my sons.”

“Yes, the delivery man said he deliver them to a place that had a stone entrance. Do you own a club?”

“Yes, it’s a young adult club. The stone entrance represent an arch my husband saw in Italy. What I came here to do is to discuss equipping an orphanage with bunk beds.”

“An orphanage?”

“Yes, they now have cots and after seeing the bunk beds, my boys said they would be nice to have at the orphanage. We’ll be gone for the next three weeks, while I am away, I would like someone from your organization to visit the orphanage and determine how many bunk beds would be needed. Some of the children are very young and will require an extra railing on the top bed. When I return, I’ll review your results with the head of the orphanage. If she agrees, I’ll pay for the beds.”

I don’t know whether his smile was because we were doing something for the orphanage or the profit on the bed sales.

I gave him the address of the orphanage. “When you go there, ask for Mrs. Anderson. She is the Supervisor of the orphanage.” I said good-by, shook hands, and left.

Now I had to go to the orphanage and let Mrs. Anderson know what I have done.

Being close to lunch time, we stopped at our favorite place for hot dogs and fries. The man we used for the picnic at the orphanage wanted to know when we were going to have another party at the orphanage. I told him we will be gone for a while and when I return we can discuss this with Mrs. Anderson.

Finished eating, I headed to the orphanage. I had two objectives, one, to inform Mrs. Anderson of the bunk beds and two, pick up James. I wanted to start his training as soon as possible.

Walking into the orphanage, I heard, “Hello, Uncle.” That brought a smile to my face. My boys laughed.

There was a young girl with her doll, “Sweetheart, where is Mrs. Anderson?”

“I am here.”

“Hello Pat, have a minute?”

“Yes. Come into the office.”

“I wanted to bring you up to date on what I did this morning. I have arranged for a salesman from the furniture store, where I bought the boys bunk beds, to come and make a survey of your bedrooms. When they are finished, I’ll buy the beds and have them delivered and installed. I would like you to identify the bed rooms where an extra bed rail will be needed on the top bed for the younger children. It’ll be my Christmas present to the children.”

“Armand, that’s going to be very expensive.”

“They need to be spoiled a little. Oh, our hotdog man wants to know when we are going to have another picnic. Is James here, I like to see him.”

“I’ll send someone to see if he is here.” She called one of the boys and asked him to go and see if James is in his room.

“You are going to Italy for two weeks?”

“Yes, but before we leave, I want to take the children to a ball game. Colin is working on that now.” As I said that, James arrived.

“You wanted to see me, Mrs. Anderson?”

“No, but Mr. Rowe wanted to see you.?

“Hello James, I have a question for you. When can you start working in the club’s kitchen?”

“I don’t know. I’m not 18 so I must stay here.”

“Mrs. Anderson, can I sign him out.”

“For how long?”

“Until he turns 18. I want to start his training with our chef.”

“Legally, he can’t permanently leave until he is 18. However, he can leave for short time periods.”

“So if he leaves on Tuesday night and returns on Sunday night, that’s possible.”

“Yes”

“Do I need to sign him out each week or can I give you a blanket agreement for these days.”

“I’ll need a separate signature each week”

“Could I have my chef sign him out?”

“Yes”

“Can I sign him out now and take him with me?”

“James, would you like to go with him now?”

I thought what a question. His smile said it all. “I’d like him to stay and I’ll bring him back Sunday after lunch. Are you planning on coming to lunch on Sunday?”

“I hadn’t planned on it. Maybe James can come back with me.”

“That’s a possibility. James, be sure to take enough clothed for 5 days. You’ll get to try out the bunk bed.”

“Are you going to adopt him?”

“If he was younger, yes. But in a few months he will be 18. Then I’ll adopt him as our brother. We have several brothers which is funny since we are both the only child of our parents.”

He must have heard the last part. He had a big smile on his face. “Ready to go?”

“Yes, brother.” I started to laugh and so did Mrs. Anderson.

Saying good-by, we headed home. I wanted to be there to get James settled, and be ready to open at 3:30.

A few more odds and ends, then we will be ready for Europe.

Arriving back at the club, we entered through the kitchen’s back door. Marcel was in the kitchen with his two helpers. When he saw James, he had a big smile.

“As soon as I get James set up, we’ll be back down. You boys go see Jimmy.” I saw their smiles, they knew Jimmy would have a treat for them.

“James, come with me and I’ll show you where you can sleep. Marcel, do you have an uniform for James?” Marcel went to the green room and returned with a white uniform.

“I’ll have an apron for him when he comes back down.”

We headed to the apartment. Passing the boys, they held up their drink. “James, did that look like chocolate ice cream in those glasses.”

“If that circle around their mouth is any indication of what they are drinking, I’d say it is chocolate.”

I watched the boys as they tilted the glasses, the ice cream slid down the glass kissing their lips. I laughed.

“James, while you are here, you can sleep with the boys.” Walking to the bedroom, “This will be your bunk. The bathroom is there. Here’s your working clothes. Get dressed then I’ll go down to the club with you.” If he doesn’t stop smiling his face will freeze that way.

I went to the kitchen, reheated a cup of breakfast coffee while I waited for James.

“Ready?”

“Yes”

“Let’s go. Wait.” I went and got one of my small drawing pads. “Here, use this for your notes. Tomorrow, I’ll get you several note pads.” I thought if he didn’t stop smiling his face will hurt tomorrow.

At 3:30 I went down to open the club. The band was warming up, I saw one of them teaching Tommy and Ronny the drums. Richie was sitting at the bar until he saw me. I took one of the stools and set it at the lectern where the sign in book was located. While I stood there, he would lean into me. I think Richie will be the closest to me. Tommy and Ronnie somehow understood Richie’s dependency on me. They were in the orphanage a lot longer before I met them. When I think of Richie’s first day, I could only imagine the thoughts and feelings Tommy and Ronny had.

Our police came in, got their thermos of coffee and a few snacks. They ruffled Richies hair as they left.

Watching Richie, I wondered if I was straight and married a woman, would my child be like Richie or Tommy or Ronnie. Sometimes I think GG senses what I need in my life, and provides it.

As the members started to arrive, they had to ruffle Richie’s hair. The girls kissed him on his cheeks. I was beginning to think he came to sit there for the attention the members gave him. I ruffled his hair, he leaned into me and held my hand. Then Tommy and Ronny came and got him. Marcel had made a snack for them. Smiling he left. I didn’t see him the rest of the evening.

Colin came in, went for coffee and headed to our apartment. Paul came and relieved me.

I went in the kitchen to wait for Colin to change his clothes. Soon he was sitting at the table, with an empty cup. Over dinner, I brought him up to date on my day and he brought me up on his day. I told him about the bunk beds for the orphanage. He saw James and asked about him.

“Mrs. Anderson agreed he could stay here while he worked. He will have to go back when he isn’t working. Do you think our friendly judge would let him stay here all of the time?”

“You don’t want to adopt him?”

“No, if he was younger like Tommy or Ronny, then I would serious consider it. I wonder if we could adopt him as our nephew.”

Laughing, “I’ll ask our lawyer.”

“What have you arranged on a ball game?”

“I have someone working on it. I checked their schedule and their next home game is the Saturday before we leave for Italy.”

“Our flight is overnight so that will work. We won’t have to be at the airport until evening.”