The Castaway Hotel - 2 - 30. Chapter 30 - Ripples In A Pond

I looked around and realized that Trey and Dion hadn’t come back down to join us after their shower, so I thought I’d walk upstairs to check on them. After all, it was Dion’s first night here. I heard them talking in Dion’s room, so I went down to see what they were up to. They were both walking around the room naked, arranging things and putting away Dion’s clothes. I was shocked when I looked at Dion, as he moved about. The little shit was hung. He must have been 5” soft and his circumcised pole swung back and forth under his small pubic patch as he moved about.

“Are you getting settled?” I asked, startling them. Dion looked up quickly, having not noticed me peeking into the room earlier.

“You scared me!” he exclaimed, before looking down at his unclothed body and then at Trey. “You aren’t mad because we don’t have any clothes on, are you?”

“No. Should I be?” I asked.

“I guess not,” he said dryly. “Trey told me the other boys usually did this after their showers. I just wasn’t sure, since I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Well, you’ve nothing to be afraid of,” I explained, “and there’s certainly no need to hide that great body of yours.” He looked down at the floor when I said that. I think I embarrassed him. “You sure are well endowed for a little dude.”

“I know. Some of the guys at my old school used to joke with me about how big my dick is, compared to theirs,” he admitted. “It kind of made me proud that I was bigger there than the rest of them.”

“Yes, I can understand that,” I agreed. “Well, you’ll fit in well here, if you’re not embarrassed about running around without your clothes on. I’m sure most of the boys will be dressed the same way as the two of you, as soon as they finish their showers.”

“I was hoping this place would be fun and it is,” Dion told me, while sporting a huge grin. “I was worried at first, when I didn’t see any other black boys, but this is cool. Everyone has been real nice to me.”

“And I’m sure they will continue to be,” I informed him, although there was still one doubt in my mind. “Welcome to the family, Dion.” He looked up at me and smiled again, and then he walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Thank you for asking me to live here. I think Trey and I are going to be really good friends and I like you a lot too. I’m so happy that I’m not alone any more.”

“In this house there isn’t a chance of your ever being alone,” I joked. “You might come to wish you had more time to be by yourself.”

“Never. I’ve had enough of that already,” he stated, defiantly. “Now I want to see what I can do with all of these guys to help me. I think it’s gonna be great.”

“Well, I hope you still feel that way a month from now and then a year from now,” I told him. “I’m sure your Aunt Sally will be happy to learn how you feel about this place.” He nodded and I left the two boys alone to finish getting Dion settled.

Trey and Dion spent the rest of their night upstairs and I think they even slept together in his single bed, although Trey told me later that nothing sexual happened. Trey didn’t want to push him too quickly. He thought he’d let him get used to running around the house naked first, before he questioned if he might like to experiment some. I told him I thought that was a very good idea.

Sally came back on Sunday and I think she was amazed at how well Dion had adjusted to living with us. He just rattled on and on, telling her about all the things he had done since he had been there. He also told her about Trey and all the things they had in common. When she asked him if he liked it here and wanted to stay, his eyes lit up and a grin spread from ear to ear, as he told her ‘yes’. She stayed for quite a while and watched him play and frolic about with the others and I think her guilt from abandoning him had now disappeared completely.

At one point during the day, she pulled me aside and asked me my take on how he was fitting in. I told her everything had gone smoothly and that he and Trey had bonded quickly, which made it even easier for him. I didn’t, however, tell her about the little outburst Pat had that first night. Sally seemed thrilled at how he was doing and thanked me numerous times for doing this for her. “Sally, although my allowing you to bring him here to meet us was done as a favor to you, my taking him in was done as a favor to he and I. I think I’m going to really enjoy having him around.”

When she was finally ready to leave, Sally hugged him good-bye and kissed him on the cheek, along with doing the same to all the other boys, before she left. She even gave the old timer a squeeze and a peck on the cheek too, which caused some giggling from the boys – Dion in particular. Dion waved at her as she drove away, but I saw no regrets concerning his decision to stay with us.

On Monday, I enrolled Dion in school and one of the guidance counselors gave him his schedule. Trey showed him around the place and filled him in on the gossip about his teachers. I checked up on him a couple of times that first day and he seemed to be doing just fine. He also seemed to always have a big smile for me, whenever he noticed me looking in his direction. Later that evening, he mentioned it was nice to know that I really cared about how he was doing.

The next few days were quite uneventful for Dion. He was bogged down with homework in the evening, because his old school was slightly behind the pace our school was setting in his studies. Trey offered to help him when he needed it, so he could catch up, and Dion gratefully accepted his offer. I was noticing this invisible bond forming between those two boys, but from what I could tell, it was strictly on a platonic level for now.

Thursday I got another surprise. When I picked up the boys from the high school, Pat was not in very good shape. His shirt was torn, he had scrapes and bruises on his face and he wasn’t in a particularly good mood. When I asked up what had happened, he merely responded he would tell me when we got home. I left it at that and decided I would give him time to come to me about whatever had happened. As soon as I got home, I started to fix dinner and was quite busy in the kitchen. About a half an hour later, Pat showed up and asked me if we could go into my bedroom to talk. After turning down the fire on the things I was preparing, he followed me into my room and we sat down on the bed beside each other. He looked up at me and took a deep breath, before he began his account.

“Dad, I got in a fight at school today,” he announced.

“I suspected as much from your appearance,” I commented. “What was it about?”

“Remember when we talked the other day?” he asked.

“Do you mean our chat about our newest family members?” I countered, trying to clarify what he meant.

“Yeah, that one,” he agreed. “Well, Monday a couple of the guys made a remark at lunch about Sammy and Andrew and I told them I didn’t want to hear any more comments like that. I told them they were my brothers and if anyone said anything bad or mean about them, I’d punch their lights out. They looked shocked, but accepted what I told them and no one said anything more… until today.” Pat paused briefly and glanced toward the door, even though it was closed. I guess he was a little nervous about what he was going to tell me next. After a few seconds, he began again,

“I guess word got around about Dion and one of the guys started asking me what I thought of my nigger brother. I told him the same thing I had said the other day, but this time he didn’t listen. He kept making nasty comments about Dion and I warned him two more times. Then he made a comment that Dion and all the other niggers should be shipped back to Africa, so I belted him.” I was a little shocked Pat had stuck up for them like that, but I wasn’t going to chastise him for defending his brothers in that manner… just yet.

“Two of our friends came after me next and there were a lot of punches being thrown,” he continued. “Then, the first guy joined back in, after the effects of my punch wore off, and I was kind of outnumbered. One of my other friends stuck up for me and started to help me fight the other three. We held our own for most of the time, maybe even better than that. I think two of them are going to have nice shiners and the other one had a gash on his cheek, where my friend Tommy’s ring cut into him, when Tommy punched him.”

“Did you get into any trouble over this fight?” I asked, wondering why I hadn’t received a call about it.

“No. It happened during lunch and took place outside,” he informed. “None of the teachers were around at the time and I think those guys were afraid they’d get in trouble over what they said, so they didn’t tell anyone either. The guy with the cut was telling people he got it from a piece of chain link fence that was sticking out. What bull crap. The asshole just didn’t want to admit that he got his ass whipped for having such a big mouth.”

“Do any of your brothers know about this?” I asked, concerned that word might filter down to Dion, Sammy and Andrew about this incident. I was willing to ignore a little of what Pat said and did at this point, because I was more concerned at how the other three were handling what happened.

“Yeah, Danny, Dustin and Ricky know,” he informed me. “Some of their friends told them they thought I had been in a fight, so they asked me about it. I told them what happened, but I told them not to let Dion, Sammy or Andrew find out about it. I don’t want them to feel bad because of my stupid ex-friends.”

“That’s quite a turn-around from the other day,” I stated, “and I’m very proud of you. I’m not proud of you for fighting, but as I told Danny the time he got in his fight, there are always other options. However, I am pleased that you defended your brothers and then were wise enough to try to protect them further by not letting them know what happened.”

“I’m sorry it happened that way, but I didn’t know what else to do,” he admitted. “He just wouldn’t shut up, even after I warned him. You really got to me the other day and I spent a whole bunch of time thinking about what you said. I even made sure I spent some time with all three of them over the weekend, so I could do like you asked and get to know who they were. You know something, they’re all pretty cool and I found out a lot more about them. You were right. Except for the color of their skin being different, they’re pretty much just like the rest of us.” Pat looked me directly in the eyes, before he made his final comment. “You know, I feel really stupid now. That’s two dumb things that I’ve done since I’ve been here.”

“Pat, there’s no way any of us can keep from doing silly things from time to time,” I consoled. “The important thing is that you have grown considerably after each of those incidents. I can forgive your outbursts, because we were able to talk about what bothered you, and both times you’ve grown as a human being. Actually, I’m quite proud of you and I imagine Danny, Dustin and Ricky are too, especially since you did it to defend your brothers. I’m sure they would have made you a hero today and told how you and your other friend beat those guys up, if they weren’t worried it would let the cat out of the bag for the three who were the focal point of that incident.”

“You really think so?” he asked, not realizing that possibly his older brother admired what he’d done more than he thought.

“I’m positive!” I exclaimed, in order to leave no doubt in his mind. As his grin broadened, I wrapped my arms around his upper body and drew him tightly against me. I thought about what I was going to do next for a minute, as I evaluated Pat’s age and possible reaction to what I had planned, but then I went ahead and did it anyway. I kissed him on his forehead. His reaction wasn’t what I expected. I expected him to pull away and tell me he was too old for that, but he merely looked up at me, grinning from ear-to-ear, and then he spoke.

“Thanks, I needed that,” he informed me, which was more than a little surprising to me. “I knew you’d like it that I stood up for my brothers,” he continued, “but I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about my getting into a fight at school. That just let me know that everything’s cool. It means a lot to me that you’d kiss me like that, especially after some of the dumb things I’ve said and done.”

“Pat, I might not always like the things you say and do, but I will always love you, in spite of everything else,” I assured him. “You’re my son and that will become official in a couple of months. That means no matter how many disagreements we might have, I will love you until the day I die. Even if you get too old for an occasional kiss or hug, it won’t mean that I love you any less than I do right now.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’ll make sure that I do the same for you and my brothers… ALL OF THEM,” he emphasized. “Even if the next one has three arms and two heads, I will still love him and protect him from people outside the family who would try to do anything to hurt him.”

“I’d say you just took a giant step toward becoming a man, and I’m proud of you for it,” I announced, joyously.

After Pat and I finished our discussion, I thought about an old saying. They say that wars are won by winning little battles. I can only relate to the two victories Pat had won, over his homophobia and his racial bias, and I know he is on his way to winning his struggle to become a fine man and a valuable member of our family and the community.

Nothing more was said about Pat’s encounter, but I did notice he was spending much more time with his three newest brothers. It may have been due to a partial attack of conscience, but whatever caused it, Pat seemed to be making up for lost time and the others seemed to appreciate his attention, as well. None of them had many, if any, playmates before they came to live here and Pat was keeping them busy and teaching them many new things. He taught them board games, card games and patiently showed them how to use the collection of electronic games I had purchased for all the boys to use this past Christmas. I was still amazed, but totally pleased by his 180-degree turnabout.

Nothing further happened at school on Friday. I spent the whole day expecting some sort of phone call from the high school, either telling me Pat had been in another fight or informing me about his punishment for the previous one. However, that phone call never came. Pat did tell me later that evening that three of his former friends now hated him, but that some of the others had apologized to him for what they had done. They said they never thought much about it, before Pat stood up to them. They just thought that protecting their own race was something they should do.

“In a way, your right,” Pat agreed, “but it’s not the white race or black race you should be protecting. You should be doing it for the human race – all of it.” I think he got that from something I had said to him when we first discussed his reaction to his new brothers, but he said it more eloquently than I had.

After hearing what Pat had to say, the other boys announced they’d learned that, if anything, they were just embarrassing their own race by pushing a narrow-minded, hateful attitude. They thought about it Thursday night and realized that if blacks, oriental or other minority groups acted the same way, all there would be was hatred and fighting. They asked Pat to forgive them and to apologize to his brothers for them, and Pat said he’d forgive them, but informed them he’d never told his brothers about their hurtful comments. After hearing that, the boys told Pat that maybe they could include his brothers in on some of their activities in the future, as a gesture of reconciliation. Pat quickly accepted their offer and thanked them for remaining his friends.

I think Pat had learned another lesson from this incident, which was that people CAN change. He was willing to accept the fact they had come to realize their previous stance and actions had been misguided and he was happy to keep them as his friends. I thought his acceptance of their remorse showed as much growth and maturity on his part, as accepting his brothers for who they were.

Things were fairly uneventful from that point on. During the week, the boys invited Brandon and Jay to come to the house on Saturday and spend the night, in order to give them a chance to get to know our newest additions better. Once both boys arrived, they decided to have a big kickball game in the side yard. They chose to play kickball, over their other options, because they knew Dion, Sammy and Andrew weren’t very athletic. None of those boys had ever had a chance to play sports or other such games, and therefore never developed an interest.

Even since they had been with us, none of them had given us any indication that they might like to try something along that line, so the other boys felt this might be a good opportunity to judge if they might be interested in athletic endeavors. The others also figured this would be the ideal game for our three newbies to get some exercise and do things with the rest of them. Not only that, but it didn’t take a whole lot of coordination to play the game, it was easy to learn and you used a decent sized rubber ball, which was easy to handle and didn’t hurt badly if you got hit with it.

Sammy, Andrew and Dion were a little nervous about playing, since they were afraid they’d mess up, but you could tell they were very pleased they had been asked to join in, especially since this whole thing had been orchestrated on their behalf. There were six boys on one team and seven on the other, Andrew being the additional boy on the second team.

Due to the time of year, the boys were all dressed warmly, and that extra padding would also take any sting out of getting hit with the ball. It was a little cold out, but there was no snow, since it seldom snowed in the southern part of our state. Bundled up as they were, they started their game.

The boys played for well over an hour and a half, as I did some chores inside, while still trying to keep tabs on the game. During that time, I could hear their yells of excitement, as well as the arguments over the close calls. I could also hear the encouragement they were offering those who were new to this game and the suggestions they were giving them about what to do to improve. When it eventually ended, the boys came back in, laughing and talking about things that happened while they were playing, and I starting whipping up some hot chocolate to warm them up.

Some of the boys made it a point to tell me about all the highlights of the game, as they downed their drinks. Andrew was bursting as he told me about his ‘homerun,’ although I was later informed it was the result of some rather inaccurate and poorly timed throws by some of the other boys. Sammy then told me about the great catch he made in the outfield and the boys quickly verified it was a rather impressive and difficult catch at that.

Dion was just thrilled he had others to play with, after confiding the only other time he could play games like that was at school, but he was seldom selected for a team, because of his lack of athleticism. He said it was nice to be able to play just for fun and not have to worry about being really good at it. We told him his skills would improve over time, especially if he continued playing against his brothers, but Dion said that didn’t really matter to him, as long as they still let him join in the fun.

I was pleased to see that everyone had accepted the activity for what it was – a good time.