The Castaway Hotel - 7 - 39. Chapter 39 - New Approaches

Monday started off no better than the weekend had gone, as far as learning anything more about Vinnie was concerned. I truly couldn’t imagine what might have happened, since there hadn’t been a sign of him anywhere. If he were younger, I’d be even more worried than I was now, because the longer a child is missing the less chance there is of finding him. However, seeing Vinnie was older, there was a possibility he was doing this of his own volition and nothing more sinister was involved.

Throughout the entire day at work, I was totally distracted. Every time the phone rang, all I could think about was that it might be news concerning Vinnie and I would hold my breath until I discovered otherwise. That was the primary reason I wasn’t getting much accomplished. I think some of the boys were suffering a similar fate, because I got a call from a couple of their teachers, wanting to know why the boys seemed to be daydreaming and out of touch with what was going on in class.

Once I explained the situation to them, the teachers would respond they understood and apologized for calling. After that they’d offer their support and prayers for a happy resolution to our problem. After thanking them, I went back to hoping something positive would develop soon.

While looking at my calendar, I realized tomorrow was Trey’s birthday and was relieved we generally planned to hold the parties on the weekend, and not during the week. Due to the fact this past weekend had been Valentine’s Day, we had scheduled Trey’s party for the following weekend, so there wouldn’t be so many other distractions. This time that seemed to work out for the best, and hopefully we’ll have heard from Vinnie by then, so Trey’s gathering will be joyous and he won’t end up getting shortchanged.

Once I’d considered that, I focused on Vinnie again. As each hour passed, it caused me to become more and more concerned about where he was and what condition he might be in. I also tried to think of something else we might be able to do to help locate him. Finally, I came up with an idea.

I took a picture of Vinnie and another of his 4Runner and used them to make a ‘Missing’ poster on my computer. After composing it, I printed out a couple hundred copies. Later, I would talk to Jake about distributing it between Temple University and our home, hoping it might produce some leads as to Vinnie’s whereabouts. I had put the phrase ‘call collect’, followed by my cell number, on the flier, so I wouldn’t discourage anyone from calling to give us news, due to the expense. I also added a $1,000 reward for information leading to his safe return, as an additional incentive.

When I got home, I discussed this with Jake in detail and Jake decided he’d call in and take the next day off from his job, so he could help distribute them. He felt I should stay close to home, to remain available for any calls I might get from Vinnie or the State Police. Jake said it would also be best if I were able to go wherever I might be needed.

I didn’t argue with him, but did suggest he stop and see Kevin too. Jake could leave about thirty copies of the missing notice with him and Kevin could post them on and around the campus. That way, Jake could focus on distributing the leaflets at places just off each of the exits and at the various rest areas between Philly and home. We hoped someone would see one of them and be able to supply us with a new lead. Who knows? It’s also possible that Vinnie might even see one of these and then realize he needed to call home. I thanked Jake for doing this, to which I got this response.

“Am I not one of his parents too?” he challenged. “Why WOULDN’T I be willing to do this for him? I’m just as worried about him as you are.”

After apologizing for my seeming lack of understanding on this matter, I gave Jake a very passionate kiss. This caused him to drag me off to our bedroom, and for many wonderful minutes, he took my mind off worrying about Vinnie. However, once our lovemaking session ended, thoughts of our missing young man popped back into my head and I started to fret, yet again.

Before the boys went to bed, I reminded them that Trey’s big day was tomorrow, so they’d all remember to wish him a ‘Happy Birthday.’ Even though I understood most of our attention would still be focused on our ‘missing’ family member, I didn’t want Trey to feel neglected or less important. Birthdays are major social functions until you reach middle age, if that feeling ever ends, so I wanted to keep things as ‘normal’ as I could, under the circumstances.

The following morning, Jake took off early, but did manage to pass along his birthday wishes to Trey before he left. The rest of us all did the same and I let Trey open one of his gifts after we finished breakfast, to punctuate the significance of this day. He thanked us all, but said it would be better if Vinnie were here too, so again I hoped that our A.W.O.L. young man would turn up before Trey’s party was held this weekend.

The morning dragged on for me, but after lunch I received a phone call from Captain De Luca. “Mr. Currie, this is Charles De Luca. I have some news for you, but I’m not sure how you’re going to take it. We have found your missing 4Runner.”

“Great!” I told him, “but you didn’t mention Vinnie,” I pointed out. “What about him?”

“That’s the thing,” he acknowledged. “The 4Runner was pulled over by one of our patrol cars, but Judge Shay’s son wasn’t in it. Another young man was driving, and after a lengthy interrogation, he admitted to stealing the vehicle from a rest area on I-76. At first, he claimed Judge Shay’s son had loaned him the vehicle, but when he couldn’t give the interrogators a description of the boy, they knew he was lying.

“The young man finally admitted he found the keys in the ignition, after he and his friend checked it out. Feeling lucky, he just hopped in, drove it away and followed his friend home. Your son’s cell phone and luggage were recovered too, but we have no idea what happened to him. We are charging that young man with grand larceny, but more charges may be added later.”

“So, this guy couldn’t give you any information about Vinnie?” I followed.

“I’m afraid not,” he admitted. “He said it was late and the car was parked with no one around, but the keys were in the ignition. Since he wasn’t able to give us a description of the missing young man, I’m sure he never even saw him. He said he didn’t wait around to see whom it belonged to and just jumped in it and took off. He figured the owner was probably in one of the rest rooms, using the toilet or something.”

“But that must have been one of the rest areas we stopped at, but we didn’t find him there either,” I remarked, shocked. “Where in the hell has Vinnie disappeared?”

“I don’t know, but we are focusing in on that rest stop and surrounding areas,” he acknowledged. “We’ll have search teams go over every inch of ground there and I’ll let you know if we discover anything more.”

I didn’t like the sounds of this. Did it mean he thought they’d find Vinnie’s body somewhere around that area or what?

“Do you suspect this guy and his friend might have done something to Vinnie?” I asked directly.

“No, not at all,” he stated. “We just want to be thorough when looking for clues. Don’t read more into this than what is there. We’re just doing our job and that’s all there is to it.”

“Okay, I hope so. By the way, thank you for all you’re doing,” I told him, but now I was even more confused.

I now understood why Vinnie hadn’t called any of us from his cell phone or responded to my messages, but where had he gone and how had he gotten there? Damn, that could have been his 4Runner I saw that first time we went looking for him! I just didn’t think it was, when he didn’t answer my call. Did something else happen to him or did he try to walk or hitchhike home? Had he been picked up by a Good Samaritan or grabbed by some unscrupulous scoundrel? He knows he can always call home collect, if he needs to use a pay phone, so why haven’t we heard from him? The only reason I could think of to answer this quandary was that he was UNABLE to call, and that was not a pleasant thought to have.

The news I had just received troubled me for the rest of the day and that evening I discussed all the ramifications of what I had learned with the boys. I talked it over with them during dinner and they came up with various suggestions as to what they thought might have happened. Jake didn’t get back until much later that evening, so we discussed the situation in bed.

“What do you think has happened to him?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, Josh,” Jake responded, “but maybe Steve was right. Maybe Vinnie just couldn’t stand the thought of facing us all right now, because he’s embarrassed and angry about what happened.”

“That may be, but Vinnie should understand he can come to us about anything,” I stated, “regardless of the situation. I still can’t imagine where he could be.”

“Do you think he might have gone back to his old neighborhood?” Jake asked. “You know, to stay with an old friend or something?”

This gave me an idea, because Jake might be right about Vinnie doing something like that. It was indeed a possibility the rest of us hadn’t thought about. I quickly got out of bed and jumped online, immediately going to www.switchboard.com. Once there, I began to look up a couple of names I remembered. I had heard them when I went with Vinnie to his old neighborhood, shortly after he first came to live with us. I jotted down a few phone numbers, but I knew I couldn’t call these people until tomorrow. It was too late to disturb them now, but it did provide me with a ray of hope. I went back to bed, thanked Jake for the wonderful idea and then we made out a little, before we snuggled together for the night.

The next evening, after work, I called all of the people I’d thought of, but none of them had seen or heard from Vinnie recently. They did tell me they would check with some of Vinnie’s other friends in their area and get back to me, if they discovered anything. After having them take down my phone number, I thanked them and said good-bye, but I had no better understanding of what had happened to my boy than I had before. The only consolation was, we now had a few more people looking for him.

We didn’t hear anything new the next day either, but now I realized I had other concerns I should be addressing. Little Ricky was still dealing with problems of his own and this lull would give me a chance to spend some time with him. I needed to help him deal with his own issues, such as coming to grips with his father’s untimely death. He was still having difficulty dealing with that, as well as with his mother’s condition.

Arlene seemed to be getting worse as every week passed. She would go long stretches of time without recognizing any of us, not even John or Margaret Spence, even though she was living with them now and they were with her all day long. Little Ricky continued to go see her every day, without fail, but on the vast majority of those visits Arlene didn’t seem to have any idea who he was. I could see this hurt Little Ricky deeply, both when I went with him to visit her or when he’d come home after stopping at the Spences after school. I did all I could to console him, but it never seemed to be enough.

Little Ricky would tell me his mother would end up spending most of her time talking about her parents or something from her childhood. She even thought he was one of her elementary classmates from time to time. It was as if her memory was slowly being erased, from her most recent recollections and then working backward. This appeared to be more than he could deal with.

“I can tell this isn’t easy for you,” I began, while pulling him onto my lap one afternoon, shortly after he got back from visiting her.

“Pop, it’s just that she doesn’t even know who I am any more,” he responded. “She doesn’t even seem to know she has a son, let alone recognize me.”

His eyes told me how much pain he felt and how deeply this hurt him. I could feel his body trembling as he fought to hold back the flood of tears that were building inside. No matter how hard he fought it, his emotions finally got the best of him and he broke down completely. He was now bawling hysterically into my chest.

I did my best to comfort him, but there is little you can say to someone whose whole world has crumbled so completely and in such a relatively short period of time. Even though we were all there for him, he had built his hopes and dreams on being a part of the Becker family, with his father and mother. Now, he had to redefine his expectations, with a whole different group of people. I let him cry himself out, since I felt the release would be good for him, and once he began to calm down again, I tried to talk the problem over with him.

“I don’t have any answers for you nor a magic wand I can wave to make everything better,” I began, “but I and your brothers will be here for you, to help in any way we can.” He looked up at me, from his tear-streaked face.

“I know and I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I wasn’t able to come live here,” he told me. “I was scared when all this happened. Hell, I’m still scared, but I’d be terrified if you weren’t here to help me when I needed you most. I know things will work out and I’ll get through this, even though it may not be easy or go like I want it to. The good thing is, I know I don’t have to worry about what will happen to me and you’ll make sure I’m taken care of.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued, “and please don’t think I’m unappreciative of what you’re doing for me, but I really love my mom and dad too. Now, I don’t have either of them and that’s hard for me to accept. Yes, Mom’s still around in body, but I can’t even stand to go visit her any longer. It hurts to see how she is now and that makes me feel even worse – like I’m letting her down or something.” He began to cry again, so I gave him some time to release this new wave of guilt and pain. Once he started to calm down again, I spoke.

“We all understand how hard this must be for you, although I won’t say I know exactly how it feels,” I explained. “All I can tell you is that you’ve done as much, or more, than your parents, or anyone else, could ever expect of you. You’ve been a terrific son to both of them, and if you’d like for me to go with you to visit your mother from now on, I will. If that will make it a little easier for you to deal with things, then I’ll be right by your side every time you go see her. If you’d prefer not to go at all, I’ll support that choice too, and no one will fault you for it. However, only you can make that decision.”

“I won’t stop seeing her,” he countered, adamantly. “I can’t do that, but I think it might help if you went with me. Would you really do that for me?” He looked hopeful, yet I could still see he doubted I would be able to go with him on a daily basis.

“Absolutely,” I assured him. “We may have to change the times of your visits though, to fit in with my schedule, but I will go with you each and every day, for as long as you wish.”

Little Ricky hugged my neck and kissed me on the cheek in response, and then I just sat there and held him, until HE decided he was ready to move on. It was several minutes before his grip on me began to ease up and he finally spoke.

“I’ve already gone to see her today,” he told me, “so can we start this tomorrow?”

“Certainly,” I agreed. “As soon as I get home, we’ll decide if we should go then or wait until after dinner, but we will go together.” He gave me a weak smile.

“Thanks, Pop. I think that will make it a little easier,” he conceded.

The next night, Little Ricky chose to go after dinner, but I think he did that more for my benefit, than for his own. I believe he felt I was tired and worn out after working all day, so he wanted to give me a chance to relax and eat first, before we fulfilled his daily obligation. I thought that was very considerate of him, seeing his previous schedule had him going after he got home from school, so I let him know how much I appreciated his thoughtfulness.

“It is very kind of you to change your schedule to suit me,” I told him, “but you don’t have to do it this late every night, if earlier is better for you.”

“We’ll see,” he responded, succinctly, while giving me one of his special little grins.

After dinner, I drove him down to the Spences, because I was too tired to walk and it was also quite dark out. John and Margaret greeted us warmly when they answered the door, but things cooled down from there. Arlene was in her room and didn’t recognize either of us as we entered. Hell, she even thought John and Margaret were her parents and began asking them questions about some of her childhood friends and pets from years gone by. I could feel Little Ricky tense up, as she continued to carry on that way, so I just hugged him against my chest, to will some of my strength into his body.

He did try to start a conversation with his mother, although she responded like a small child to a playmate, rather than like a mother to her son. Little Ricky didn’t let this get him down or deter his efforts though, and I was very proud of how he continued to handle himself. He always put his mother first, no matter how much it tore him up inside.

While he was talking to Arlene, John and Margaret left the room and I took a seat in the lone chair. Eventually I pulled Little Ricky onto my lap, thinking physical contact would help him keep his spirits up, no matter how unbearable the other circumstances were. We stayed with Arlene for nearly an hour, before I suggested it was time for us to go home, so he said good-bye to her. Although she merely bid him a good night, with no kiss or hug, he didn’t let it depress him further. As we drove home, he made sure he thanked me for my support.

His visits went about the same for the rest of the week, with some days being better for Arlene than others, but none of them were ever very good. It was during this time that Graham decided to talk to Little Ricky too, because he had some issues he wanted to discuss with him. I wasn’t sure what was up, but Graham asked me to sit with them as well.

“Little Ricky,” he began, “I’ve been waiting a long time to talk to you about this, because I was never sure what to say.”

“About what?” Little Ricky asked him.

“About your father dying,” Graham told him, but that only brought a confused look to Little Ricky’s face.

“I don’t understand,” he responded simply, which caused Graham to eye him carefully.

“Well, you know about my special gift, don’t you?” Graham wondered.

“You mean that you can tell when people are sick or something is going to happen to them?” Little Ricky responded.

“Yes, that’s part of it,” Graham confirmed.

“So, what about it?” Little Ricky wanted to know.

“Didn’t you ever wonder why I never said anything about your father, before he died?” Graham asked him.

“I guess, but I never really thought much about it,” he admitted. “I just figured it was probably because you never saw us very often.”

“That was part of it,” Graham admitted, “but I kept hearing everyone talking about how tired and worn down he was getting taking care of your mother, so when I saw the gray haze starting to form around him, I thought it was just because of that. It really never got black, like it did with Cody or Brent, so I didn’t think it was anything serious. I guess I never noticed it getting darker, because I didn’t see him when he was getting worse. I’m sorry for not saying anything, because maybe he could have gone to the doctor and got some help or medicine, so he’d still be alive now.” Graham broke down in tears after saying this, because he felt guilty. He thought he had let Little Ricky and Albert down.

“But there was nothing you could have done,” Little Ricky advised him, and then I broke in before Graham could disagree.

“Graham, he’s right,” I agreed. “Even if you had said something, Albert was a very stubborn man and I doubt he would have gone to see a doctor just because you told him you saw a gray shadow around him. I actually think Albert would have laughed it off and still done nothing. Don’t blame yourself, Graham. You had nothing to do with what happened to him.”

“Pop’s right,” Little Ricky confirmed. “I never thought anything about your gift, because I knew you weren’t responsible and probably couldn’t have helped anyway. Like Pop says, my dad wouldn’t have believed you. He didn’t believe in psycho things.”

“I think you mean psychic things, Little Ricky,” I corrected, hoping I didn’t embarrass him. He seemed to brush it off.

“Yeah, that’s what I meant,” he agreed. “My dad didn’t believe in that stuff, so it wouldn’t have helped if you told him, Graham. I really don’t blame you. I actually kind of blame him. He cancelled the night help Pop got for Mom and I think that’s really what killed him. If anyone is to blame, it’s just him. I tried to tell him that myself, but he didn’t listen to me either, so I don’t think there’s any way he’d have listened to you.”

Hearing this made Graham feel better and helped to clear his guilty conscience. It also gave me a little better insight into why Graham had asked Little Ricky to be his date for Valentine’s Day. His guilty conscience might have prodded him to make that invitation, although I felt he still had an attraction for our newest family member.

Now that this issue had been addressed, we could all move on. I think confronting this topic had been good for Little Ricky too, since he finally was able to admit he blamed his father for what happened. That was a major step for him and at least now I knew he wasn’t blaming himself for his father’s death. That thought had been bothering me since his father passed, but I didn’t know how to confront him to find out for certain. Inadvertently, Graham had helped me with this problem, so he had done us all a big service.