The Castaway Hotel - 2 - 5. Chapter 5 - Patrick

We were several weeks into the school year, when my secretary announced I had an important call. I took it in my office, wondering if its nature was personal or professional.

“Hello, this is Josh Currie.”

“Hello, Mr. Currie. This is Judge Steven Shay. I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m the person who presided over family court when you adopted your sons.”

“Of course I remember you, Your Honor. It’s nice to hear from you again, but I suspect this is not a social call.”

“Quite right,” he admitted. “I have a favor to ask of you and your family. Earlier today, a young man appeared before me on a minor offense and I’m not convinced that his misdeed deserves confinement. I suspect this young man is primarily a product of his environment and would benefit greatly if he were simply removed from the temptations he is currently surrounded by. I suspect he would prosper under the right tutelage, but my only options are to place him in juvenile hall or foster care. I’ve talked to Ms. Swathhout from D.S.S. and she’s explained the spots she has available would not be particularly suitable for this young man.” Listening to his explanation, I felt like I was being set up for a sting and that Sally might also be involved in it.

“You have the best foster home I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing,” Judge Shay continued, “and if a boy can’t flourish with your guidance and the help of your new sons, then that would tell me this young man belongs in a more regimented and confined environment. I wish to give him this chance to prove himself, but I need your help to do it. If you would agree, I would like to place him in your custody, so I can see how he adjusts to the change. If that isn’t possible, then I will most likely be forced to have him locked up.”

I hesitated for a few seconds, as I thought it over. I just couldn’t condemn this boy to being locked up without at least considering taking him in. After thinking about the boy’s options, I was pretty sure I’d probably give in to the Judge’s suggestion, but I wanted to be certain first. “Before I give you my answer, is there more you could share with me about his situation?”

“Yes there is,” Judge Shay began, sounding please that I at least considering his request. “His name is Patrick Murray, he’s fourteen years old and in the ninth grade. Perhaps I should say that he has been placed in the ninth grade because of his age, but he is taking many remedial courses, even after he was forced to attend summer school. I must admit, most of his academic problems are probably due to the fact that he’s had a very chaotic and unstable childhood. Patrick’s parents divorced when he was three, so his maternal grandparents took him in and raised him. He lived with them until he was approximately ten, when they became too old and feeble to be able to cope with his needs.

“When that happened, he returned to live with his mother, but that was not a very stable household. His mother got kicked out of several places, mainly because she didn’t pay the rent or failed to take care of the place well, so they were constantly packing up and moving. Since his mother didn’t like to be without a man, multiple lovers wandered in and out of their lives. Most of these men even moved in with Pat and his mother, until she took up a new residence and moved on to another guy. At some point, Pat ended up going to live with his father, but his dad had too many of his own problems to deal with to be able to raise a young boy properly. Therefore, Patrick only ended up staying with him for a couple of months.

“After things didn’t work out there, an aunt and uncle took Patrick in. This was his father’s sister and her husband, but they moved around quite frequently, supposedly to follow various seasonal jobs. I suspect there was more to their nomadic wanderings than just employment opportunities and this may have compounded Patrick’s problems. Since leaving his grandparents home, he has never been in the same school for longer than three months and, therefore, his education has been a collage of unconnected pieces. His teachers find him to be a bright child and I believe he would blossom in a stable home.

“His family only moved into our county at the very end of the last school year, which was too late for Patrick to be enrolled in regular classes. That’s why he was forced to sign up for summer school, because he had missed so much of the previous academic year. While taking his summer courses, he also met and fell in with some of the less desirable members of our local society. What brought him to my attention was an incident that happened while in the company of these individuals. I believe he was most likely pressured into doing what he has been accused of and I’d like to give him a break. I believe that if he were removed from the care of his aunt and uncle, separated from the influence of his new friends and placed in a loving and caring home, we might discover a much different young man. That is where you and your boys come into the picture. Do you think you might be interested in taking him in?”

I had been anticipating this request, so I was prepared to answer him. “The boys and I have talked about the possibility of being asked to take in others who needed help, and with that in mind, they made me make them a promise. Before they let me adopt them, I had to swear that I would never refuse to help any other boy who needed our assistance. They have each expressed to me, in their own way, that we have to help as many of these young men as we can. They have more or less told me they feel that coming to live with me has been the best thing that has ever happened to them, so they want me to give every boy who needs our help the same chance I gave them.”

“Well, I see that they not only adopted your name,” Judge Shay commented, “but also your kind, loving and compassionate spirit as well. I knew when I first met your family in my courtroom that you were all very special individuals. I want you to express my gratitude and admiration to each of them, on my behalf. You are all very fortunate to have each other.”

“Thank you, Your Honor. That was very kind of you to say. I look forward to meeting this young man. When should we expect him?”

“Would today be too soon?” he asked, apprehensively.

“Not if 5:30 will meet with your approval. Some of the boys have sports practices and other activities and it will take me that long to round them all up, brief them about this new arrival and get them home so we can welcome him.”

“Good thinking. I suppose that’s why you’re such a successful parent. You look at all aspects of the situation before you make your decision. I will bring Patrick around myself, because I’d like to see the boys again too. I would like to congratulate them for turning their lives around and for making the most of their present situation. I would also like to express my gratitude for their most mature attitude about helping others in similar situations.”

“I’m sure they will all appreciate seeing you at that time. I look forward to your visit around 5:30 then, judge. Good-bye.”

Once school let out, I went around and collected all of the boys. During the ride, I informed them about Patrick and explained he would be joining us shortly after we got to the house. Suddenly there was a steady hum behind me, as the boys started to discuss various things amongst themselves. However, there were so many overlapping conversations going on, and most of them were being conducted in whispers, that I couldn’t make out what anyone in particular was saying. I wasn’t sure if this was a good sign or not.

When we arrived at the house and I pulled into the driveway, all the various conversations came to an abrupt halt. As soon as the van stopped, every door flew open and the boys raced toward the house, so they could clean up and change before Patrick got here. I wasn’t in quite as big of a hurry and merely strolled up the sidewalk behind them. I was only about halfway to the front door, when Ricky came bolting back out of the house and approached me. He quickly asked if he could speak with me privately, so we moved onto the front porch. It was then that Ricky made a suggestion.

“Dad, since there is only one open bedroom left, Patrick won’t have a choice of where he wants to be, like the rest of us had. I want you to show him the open bedroom and my room, so he can choose the one he wants. I can move in with Cole and Graham if I need to, since I’m there most of the time anyway, and they’ve already agreed to it as well.” No matter how many times they do things like this, these boys never cease to amaze me.

“I’m sure they did, but I’m not sure if it would be wise of me to allow such a move,” I began, and my words elicited an immediate confused and worried look from Ricky. “I believe it might be to my detriment if I allowed my ‘three stooges of pranks’ to share a bedroom, thus giving them even more opportunity to make plans on how to best torture the rest of us.”

After hearing the rest of my comment, Ricky grinned and then flashed me his fake injured expression. “Ohhhh. That hurts, Dad. Do you really think we’d do something like that?”

I didn’t answer with words. Instead, I looked him in the eyes and raised my eyebrows as high as they would go. “Okay, so don’t answer that,” Ricky shot back. “Maybe we have done some things that were a little wild, but I’m still your favorite son, aren’t I?”

“A little wild?” I mocked. “Let’s put it this way, Ricky. Would I be your favorite anything, if I did those same things to you?”

Ricky flashed me another pained look. “That’s low, Dad. That hitting below the belt and it really hurts. I’m beginning to think you don’t love me any more.” He flashed a half-grin as he said this.

“Of course I love you, Ricky. Not because of your little pranks and instigative abilities, but because of your thoughtfulness, like offering Patrick a chance to select your room. I also love you because of the compassionate and patient help you bestow on Cole and Graham, but most of all because you were my first new son. That alone will always make you special to me, but it’s all those special, wonderful qualities you seem to exhibit at times like this that make me love you the most.”

Ricky wrapped his arms around me in a powerful bear hug and I quickly did the same to him. When we broke our embrace, I scooped him up, threw him over my shoulder like a large sack of potatoes and carried him into the foyer. The other boys wanted to know what that was all about, and Ricky and I just smiled at each other and giggled.

“It was caused by a thoughtful little suggestion your brother made to help the new boy,” was all I told them, trying to be honest, without divulging all of the nuances of our discussion. After I set Ricky down again, the boys quickly went about their business. Those who had homework went off to do it, which meant there was a boy on each of the computers. Seeing they were occupied, Kevin offered to help me with dinner. He went to set the table, while I set about fixing the food, and I reminded him to include two extra settings for our guests. I wasn’t sure Judge Shay would join us, but I wanted it to appear as if he were truly invited to stay, if he wished.

When he was finished with that task, Kevin came out to see if he could assist me with anything else. I was just finishing preparing the chicken and was about ready to put it into the oven, so I informed him he could either help me fix a salad or make some stuffing to go along with the chicken. He opted to do the salad and was getting everything out, when the doorbell rang.

The sound of the door chime served the same purpose as the starter’s pistol at a track meet. It caused the boys to come racing in from all directions, so they could check out the new kid. Graham was at the door first, since he was walking through the foyer at the time the chime sounded, so he opened it and welcomed our visitors inside. I hastily wiped my hands and came out of the kitchen, so I could also greet both of our guests. I offered to shake each of their hands and then led them into the living room to chat. All of the boys crowded in behind us, and once our guests were seated, they flopped down in various places, so they could be privy as to what was being said. Graham squeezed onto my lap and Ricky took a seat on the arm of my chair, which brought a gleam into Judge Shay’s eyes.

Once we were comfortable, I proceeded to introduce all of the boys to Patrick and then each boy took a few seconds to give him the short version about how they came to live with me. After they had finished, some of the boys also began to tell him what it was like to live in our household and about some of the things we had done together.

Patrick seemed to listen intently to everything they said, but he never uttered a word in response. Instead, he sat stone-faced and rigid, occasionally looking toward Judge Shay or me, to see what we were up to. After the last of the boys had finished speaking, Judge Shay congratulated all of them on their successes, both academically and athletically, before complimenting them on their concern for the welfare of others. He briefly mentioned our conversation earlier and teased them about requiring me to make an oath, before agreeing to the adoption.

“I want to tell each of you that the day I participated in making this a true family will always stand out as one of my most cherished highlights in my career as a jurist. I was impressed with you then, but I’m even more impressed with you now. This family will always hold a very special place in my heart.”

After the judge finished speaking, I sent the boys off to show Patrick around the house. However, before he left, he informed all of us that he preferred to be called ‘Pat’. We quickly assured him we would honor his wishes, and the boys went off as a pack, while I invited the judge into the dining room for coffee. We had just finished our second cup when the boys came back in.

“Well, Pat,” I began, “I take it that the boys have shown you around the house by now”

“Yes, sir. They’ve shown me the house and we walked around outside for a while too. This is a pretty big place.”

“Yes, it is,” I agreed. “So, you’ve seen your choices of bedrooms?”

“Yes, sir. I have,” he answered, briskly.

“Well, I just want to let you know, before you make up your mind, that if you choose the spare bedroom, I will have it remodeled to suit your needs. That is the only bedroom that hasn’t been redone since our new family started forming. Some of the other boys have had the opportunity to select their own wallpaper and other items before they moved into their rooms, and you would be given the same opportunity.”

“I was going to choose that bedroom anyway, sir,” Pat told me quickly. “I wouldn’t feel right chasing Ricky out of his room.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. He doesn’t spend much time in there at all,” I teased. “You will soon discover that Ricky, Cole and Graham are attached at the hip and spend most of their time dreaming up diabolical pranks to pull on the rest of us. You may not understand this now, but I’m sure you’ll come to fear this as much as the rest of us, once you’ve lived here for a week or two. I’m certain they will show you little mercy, just because you’re new to our home.”

“Oh, Dad,” Ricky complained, “you’re going to have him thinking we’re rotten and he won’t trust us at all.”

“Exactly,” Danny shot back. “If he learns that early, he might even survive the exploits of Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Frankenstein and Igor.”

“Yeah, and he’ll learn to sleep with his door locked,” Dustin added, “if he doesn’t want any unwelcome surprises during the night or in the early morning hours. We’re not all like them, Pat, but you’ve really got to watch out for those three. They have a knack for waking people up by scaring the crap out of them.”

Pat was laughing, as Ricky looked pained. Cole had his hands on his hips, feigning disgust, and little Graham began pouting. The judge was doing all he could to contain his laughter.

“Dad, they’re going to have Pat think we’re evil or something,” Cole complained.

“Well, would they be wrong?” I asked in return.

“Dad!” the three of them yelled in unison.

“Well, you boys have pulled various pranks on each of us, multiple times. I think your reputation is well deserved and we should give Pat the benefit of our knowledge.”

“Some family this is,” Ricky huffed.

“We still love you,” Kevin added. “It’s just that none of us trust you any more.”

That did it. Judge Shay and Pat couldn’t contain their mirth any longer and both burst out laughing, loudly.

“I’m sorry,” Judge Shay apologized, “but you boys really act like brothers who have spent their entire lives together. Don’t worry, we can see that all of these little pranks were done with the utmost love and weren’t malicious in any way. It’s just comical to see how you all feed off of one another and how you each have your own endearing qualities. Patrick, excuse me… Pat, I hope you will learn to appreciate their good natured ribbing and let yourself become part of the fun.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll try,” Pat responded, trying to look as serious as possible.

“Then you think you’ll be all right here?” Judge Shay pressed.

“Yes, sir. I think this might even be fun,” Pat assured him.

Hearing that, Judge Shay excused himself, explaining that he had to get home, as his wife would be holding dinner for him. We let him know that he was welcome to stay and eat with us, if he wished, but he politely declined, saying his wife would kill him if he ate somewhere else, without warning her in advance. He thanked us for our hospitality and for the evening’s entertainment, before advising Pat to make the best of this opportunity. Everyone said good-bye to the judge, individually, and he was soon backing his car out into the street.

“Pat, let’s move your things upstairs,” I suggested. “For the time being, you can sleep in Ricky’s room and he can temporarily bunk in with his partners in crime. You can go with me to the home improvement store tomorrow, after school, and help me pick out supplies for the renovation. I’ll call my contractor in the morning to set up a date for the work to be done. In the meantime, you’ll stay in Ricky’s room, while Curly, Larry and Moe share the jungle room. I strongly advise the rest of you to be on guard against attack.”

That comment brought another round of chuckles from most of the boys and another round of protestations from my trio of pranksters. I ignored the boys and went into the kitchen to check on dinner and then advised them we would be eating in approximately fifteen more minutes. I suggested they all go wash up and then meet me in the dining room, if they planned to eat. Kevin was kind enough to take Pat with him, to show him where he could clean up.

As we ate, Pat began to open up a bit about himself. He told the boys about growing up with his grandparents, his time with each of his divorced parents and then a little about his stay with his Aunt and Uncle. He didn’t give us any real details about any of these situations, but merely gave us an impression of what he liked and disliked about each of the places he lived.

“My grandma and grandpa were old, but they were nice,” he admitted. “It’s just that they woke up early and went to bed early and I hated that, because they made me go to bed early too. Luckily, I was still pretty little then, so it wasn’t as bad as it would be if I lived with them now. The problem was, I was just more than they could handle any more, so they sent me back to live with my mother.” All of us were listening intently, as he told us this, but no one interrupted his story.

“My mom was okay too, but I know she really didn’t like having me around,” he continued. “She was barely making enough to keep herself going and generally had a guy living with us to help out. The other problem was, having me there with her meant she couldn’t do much else, except come home to be with me. I stayed with her until my father said I could come live with him, but I later found out he just wanted me with him because he thought it would hurt my mom.” I think each of the boys understood that remark quite well.

“I agreed to go live with him before I knew that, but I decided to go with my dad mostly because I thought it would make it easier for my mother. When I realized he didn’t really want me there either, I didn’t know what to do. I was hurt to think he didn’t want me around. I guess I thought he offered because he really loved me and then I found out it was mostly just to get back at my mom.

“My dad would leave me by myself most of the time, and that’s what got him into trouble. When the welfare people told him he had to have someone with me at all times, he called his sister and asked her to take me. She agreed, but I think she did it mostly so I wouldn’t end up in a foster home. I don’t think she really wanted me either.

“I like my aunt and uncle, but they didn’t have any children and I really don’t think they ever wanted any. I think this caused some fights between them and I didn’t want them to get divorced too, just because of me.

“I moved around a lot when I lived with them. They said it was because my uncle did seasonal work, but I think there might have been another reason for it. I wasn’t sure what, but things just didn’t add up. We never stayed in one place more than a few weeks and sometimes they didn’t even bother to put me in school, because we weren’t going to be there for very long. Actually, after I left my father’s house, I hardly ever went to school any longer.” We all listened intently and looked at each other as he revealed more and more details about his life. I now understood why he needed remedial help. Not only was his schooling inconsistent and sporadic, but there were also periods when he didn’t attend at all.

Once Pat finished his story and dinner had been completed, Dustin and Danny volunteered to help me clean up the dining room and kitchen. Pat stayed in the dining room and watched what everyone did, but he did not offer to lend a hand, which was all right. I didn’t need to put him to work his first night with us.

When we were finished, we moved into the living room, where I continued to observe Pat and started to make mental notes of his appearance. He stood about 5’ 3” tall and had a solid, but not overly muscular build. He had a handsome, but not pretty face, dirty blond hair, blue eyes and a distinct cleft in his chin. He carried his body as if he was always prepared to ward off an attack and never seemed to let himself fully relax. This may just be the result of being the new kid on the block and not feeling comfortable with his situation, but I suspected there might be additional reasons for his posturing stance.

After all of the boys had made sure that their homework was completed and their chores were done, they joined Pat and me, to watch some television before going to bed. Some of them decided to also shower and prepare for bed before joining us, and before long there was a parade of naked bodies roaming into the living room. Pat saw the boys entering and a look of horror came over his face.

“Are you guys a bunch of homos?” Pat screamed out, surprised by the seemingly nonchalant attitude the boys had about being nude. “I’m not living with a bunch of f**king queers!” he shouted, which caused the rest of the boys to react to his outburst.

Too late, I remembered I had forgotten to forewarn the boys not to do this until Pat had a chance to get comfortable with us. Not only that, but I also failed to prepare Pat about this nightly ritual, after having forgotten to tell the boys to hold back on this activity. Now, I wasn’t sure how I was going to correct the problem, which resulted from those oversights.