The Castaway Hotel - 6 - 25. Chapter 25 - Cheers And Fears

Although I was still contemplating Cody’s prognosis, the next day brought a new distraction. It all began when my secretary buzzed me and explained one of my sons was on the phone and wanted to speak with me. I panicked and concluded it meant something was wrong, so I took the call immediately. To my surprised, I discovered a rather excited Trey on the other end of the receiver.

“Pop, you won’t believe this,” he began. “Do you remember that contest my teacher entered me in last year? The one where she submitted my script about the World War II soldiers.”

“Yes, Trey, I remember that quite well,” I told him.

“You’re gonna flip when you hear this,” he continued. “She got a letter today and it said I’ve won a state award for it. In fact, she said I got something called the Pinnacle Award for my category. She told me it meant my script was the very best, out of all of the ones they got. Then she told me it is going to be sent on to the regional competition.”

“That’s great, Trey. I’m very proud of you!” I exclaimed. That’s an extraordinary accomplishment and it will look great on your college resume, when you’re ready to apply. I am so proud of you. This is really outstanding.” I could almost see and hear him blush through the receiver.

“My teacher also said this would be announced over the school’s P.A. system tomorrow morning” he informed me. “I’m not so sure about that, though. I’m worried people will think I got chosen just because I’m your son.”

“First of all, they’ve all seen the film you put together and most realize it was an extraordinary effort on your part,” I explained. “Second, anyone with half a brain will realize this was a statewide competition, one in which I would have absolutely no influence. Don’t worry about what the simpletons might think, because you’ll be getting a lot of richly deserved praise from people who know better.”

“Okay, Pop, if you say so,” he replied. “You know I trust your judgment. I just got a little worried.”

“That’s okay and I understand your concern,” I admitted. “You may get a little flak from a few brain-dead individuals, but you’ll get more congratulations and support from the overall school community. Just do me a favor and make sure you get a copy of that letter from the teacher, so I can see it for myself. I want to be able to read all the details about what’s going on.”

“I will, Pop, and thanks,” he told me and I could tell he had much more confidence now.

“Anytime, Trey. I’m extremely proud and I love you,” I added. “I’ll see you at home later.”

“Okay, Pop, and I love you too,” he told me, before hanging up.

This temporarily kept me from thinking about which guy was Cody’s father, but I was glad to have the distraction. Just as I would have advised the boys experiencing a similar situation, ‘worrying about it will not change the outcome. Therefore, it’s best to wait, until we know what we actually have to deal with.’ Sometimes I even heed my own advice.

When Trey came home that evening, he had a copy of the letter, so I read it over, to see if there was anything specific I should be aware of. Trey’s teacher had kept the copy and sent me the original, which was quite impressive in its own right. It was written on deluxe stationary, with embossed letterhead, and I decided to read it to the boys after dinner. That would give them a heads-up concerning what they’d be hearing tomorrow at school.

“Boys, I want to read something to you. It’s about Trey,” I started. “The contents of this letter will be announced at school tomorrow, only the high school though, at least as far as I understand it. I thought it best if you knew about it in advance, since Trey is worried there might be some negative reactions to it. This way you’ll be prepared to deal with such things, if Trey’s concerns prove valid. I don’t think they will, but forewarned is forearmed.” Now, I picked up the piece of paper and began to read from it.

“The Scholastic Art & Writing Award committee for the State of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce Alexander Currie has been awarded the Pinnacle Award for his screenplay and film, entitled “Brothers Beneath the Flesh.” As recipient of the Pinnacle Award, his submission was judged to be the very best in the category. His work will now be forwarded to the regional award committee, to be judged at that level. The announcement of regional winners will be made in late March, with the best from each region being forwarded to the national award committee.

At this time, the award committee for the State of Pennsylvania would like to congratulate this young man for his outstanding effort. A plaque signifying his accomplishment will be awarded at a banquet, to be held in Harrisburg on March 1st. Details and directions to the banquet facility will be sent under separate cover.

The committee would like to extend our sincerest congratulations to all the winners, and want each of you to know the Pennsylvania Department of Education, as well as the entire state, is extremely proud of your accomplishments.

A press release announcing your personal success has been prepared by our staff and forwarded to your hometown newspaper. A general article, listing all the state winners, has also been delivered to each news organization within this great state.

Sincerely,
The Pennsylvania Award Committee Chairperson”

I think the boys were quite impressed after hearing this and immediately began to congratulate Trey for having won this award. Of course, none of them could do it without intermixing their own brand of humor with their praise, so these are the types of responses Trey heard.

“Hey, Alexander, nice going,” Dion began, tongue in cheek, because he knew Trey didn’t like being referred to by his first name. Trey just glared at Dion for doing that.

“Does this mean I’m going to get paid for being in his film now?” Sammy wanted to know, smiling as he asked his question.

“This is primarily about the script,” Trey advised him, so Sammy pretended to pout.

“Hey, does this mean you’re going to be famous?” Ricky asked, his eyes bulging from their sockets. “Am I going to be related to the next Steven Spielberg or Stephen King?

“Could be,” I butted in, “especially if he keeps going like he is. Who knows what might happen, if he wins at the next levels. He could come under the attention of some top film school or get offered an assistantship to some famous director or screen writer.”

“Wow,” Andrew commented. “Can I be in one of your movies? I’m cute enough, aren’t I?” We all knew Andrew was being deadly serious about this, but we still had to smirk at his innocent enthusiasm and curiosity.

“Of course you’re cute enough, Andrew,” Trey told him, “and I’d love to have you in one of my movies, so don’t let me forget it.”

“I won’t,” Andrew told him, pleased with Trey’s response. “Damn, I’m so excited.”

All of our mouths fell open when Andrew said the word ‘damn,’ since I don’t believe any of us had ever heard him use a word such as that before. Andrew noticed our reaction and realized what he’d said, so now he tried to make up for that mistake. “Sorry, daddy. I just got excited.”

I merely smiled at him and winked, to let him know all was forgiven. He smiled back at me and then looked back at Trey and grinned, before he continued, “But, damn, this IS exciting.” This time all of the boys burst into hysterics.

The phone rang at that precise second, interrupting the moment, and one of the boys answered it. Soon I was being called to take the call.

“Hello?” I responded, as I put the receiver to my ear.

“Josh, this is John Stokes,” I heard. “I think I’ve located the other guy you were looking for. He’s married, has a couple of kids and lives in western Pennsylvania. New Castle, to be precise.”

“That’s great news!” I exclaimed. “I’ll drop your bonus money off at the office tomorrow. You did a great job.”

After I told him that, he gave me the exact address and phone number for this guy, and from what I could gather, he was a much better prospect as a possible parent/donor for Cody. However, this news also made me wonder if he might also try to claim custody, if Cody did turn out to be his son. Now, I began to have concerns of my own. After we hung up, I called Steve, to see if he could go with me on Saturday, when I planned to approach this guy.

“Hello, Steve, this is Josh,” I started, clumsily.

“Hi, Josh. What’s up?”

“I just got a call from the P.I. and he said he’s located the other guy,” I informed him. “Do you think you could go with me this Saturday, to talk to him? He lives almost on the Pennsylvania-Ohio border.”

“Give me a second to check my calendar.” There was a brief pause, as I heard Steve jostling through some papers. “Yes, I don’t see anything important scheduled. I’ll also check with Mary, but I’m sure she’ll be okay with it too. By the way, I heard the technician got the blood sample and it has been sent to the lab for DNA testing, along with Cody’s sample.”

“That’s fantastic!” I agreed. “I just hope the results of the DNA tests are just as pleasant for me to hear. I really pray the pimp isn’t Cody’s father.”

“I understand exactly and I’ll second your prayer request,” Steve confirmed. “If he is the father, it would be another rotten break for Cody and I think he has enough to deal with right now.”

“That’s precisely how I see it,” I concurred. “Thanks Steve, you truly are the best friend a guy could have.”

After I got off the phone with Steve, I told Jake about our plans. I also asked him to keep Cody busy that day, so he wouldn’t have time to think about any of this. Jake told me he’d take care of it and then wished me luck, because he knew how deeply I felt about protecting Cody from any more pain. I certainly was lucky to have found this terrific guy, or more precisely that the boys were smart enough to hook us up. He has been great for me and equally magnificent with the boys, and I thought it was a stroke of immense luck that such a patient, understanding and affectionate lover had wandered into my life. He also turned out to be a great second-dad to all the boys, while giving me another fantastic son in return.

The next day was very interesting. Even though I wasn’t at the high school when the announcement was made, I received an inundation of responses concerning it, after the fact. From what I heard, the announcement went something like this.

“I am pleased to make the following announcement,” the principal began. “As most of you already know, last year one of our students, Trey Currie, wrote a screenplay and made a film. We were all fortunate enough to be able to view the film, but the efforts to bring him recognition for his work did not stop there.

“Realizing how truly remarkable Trey’s talent is, one of his teachers submitted his screenplay to the Scholastic Art & Writing Award program. I am now pleased to announce that Trey’s work has been singled out for special recognition and his script was named the Pennsylvania State Pinnacle Award winner for the category. This means his work was judged to be the very best of all those entered and his script will be forwarded to the regional competition. I would encourage all of you to congratulate Trey on his achievement and wish him well at the next level.”

I heard Trey’s homeroom went wild, once the announcement ended. The students whooped it up and hollered congratulations to Trey. He said many of his classmates shook his hand, slapped him on the back or gave him a high-five to emphasize their approval.

Dion reported a similar, but more subdued response in his homeroom, as everyone told him how pleased they were for his brother. The other high school boys reported similar responses in each of their homerooms too, so for the most part this went quite well.

Trey did tell me in private that he also received a couple of less than enthusiastic responses too. He showed me a note that read simply, ‘The faggot can write. Big deal.’ The other was a verbal comment, where someone behind him said, “How much did that cost daddy?” Trey did report the vast majority of the student body was very positive and encouraged him, telling him things like, “You earned this honor,” or “You did a great job.”

Once Trey finished, I informed him that after the announcement was made my office was deluged with congratulatory phone calls, from administrators, faculty and staff. Most stated they just wanted to let me know how pleased they were over Trey’s success, but many also mentioned how important such an honor was for the entire school district. They felt this would gain our educational system statewide recognition and alert institutions of higher learning that we were more than just a backwoods, country school district.

In addition to their praise, the callers also expressed their hopes that Trey would fare well at the next level of competition. Many stated their belief his script was good enough for him to go all the way to the nationals. I told Trey many of those messages came from his former teachers and they expressed a sincere and deep faith in his ability, before also letting me know this ability has been lying dormant all along. Most mentioned they had seen flashes of this brilliance when they had him in class, but were never able to come up with a challenge adequate to draw the ability out. They also voiced their confidence that Trey would continue to shine academically, as well as in this competition.

Later, I received a call from a staff writer with the local newspaper. He was requesting permission to interview both Trey and I personally, for a special interest article he wanted to do for the Sunday supplement. I agreed to have him come to the office the next afternoon, after classes had ended for the day, and assured him Trey would be there as well. He thanked me for our cooperation, and reiterated he’d see us the following afternoon.

I also had a phone call from the local cable company. If you’d forgotten, they had helped Trey produce the film in the first place and now they offered to broadcast it on their public access channel again. They also wanted to do a video interview featuring the two of us and indicated they would air it right before they reran Trey’s film, if that would meet with our approval. I replied that I would have to check with Trey first, but I suspected he wouldn’t mind either the interview or their rerunning his film.

The person calling thanked me for our cooperation and then passed along the station’s congratulations as well. Before we hung up, I tentatively set the interview to begin a half hour after I suspected the newspaper interview would end, but I would call them back to confirm the appointment later. The interview would be conducted at their studio, to make it easier for them to tape.

Once again, the entire family was impressed and overwhelmed by the support of the entire community. We were even being stopped on the street, in stores and at public events, as people told us how exciting it was that one of our own was doing so well. They told us Trey’s success helped put our small community on the map, so to speak, and gave us all a modicum of special recognition.

They were also impressed by the fact that our small school district had helped to produce a talent of this significance, one that ranked among the best in the entire state. They said they loved it when friends or relatives living in other areas got in touch to tell them how they had heard someone from our area had been mentioned in their own local newspaper. It was a thrilling time for us all.