The Castaway Hotel - 8 - 18. Chapter 18 - An Easter Surprise

Sunday morning I got everyone up and ready for church. Duck was informed about this in advance, so he could bring suitable clothing, and he seemed excited about going with us. He said it had been years since he’d attended a church service with his family, so he thought this would be fun. When we arrived at our normal place of worship, we noticed it looked a little different than usual. Since it was Easter, the altar was decked out in Easter lilies and there were swaths of purple cloth draped in several key locations. This service was about the hope of the resurrection – He Is Risen - so it was very joyous service. Duck sat beside me the whole time and happily participated, which included singing the hymns. I was very pleased he seemed comfortable and fit right in with the rest of my brood.

Afterward, we went out for our normal Sunday brunch, but I reminded the boys not to stuff themselves, because we’d be having our Easter meal around 4:00. Normally, we wouldn’t eat our Sunday meal until between 6:00 and 6:30, so today would be early for us and I wanted the boys to have plenty of room left for Easter dinner. The boys all assured me they understood about eating in moderation and did so by eliminating one or more of their normal side dishes.

I had told our extended family we’d be sitting down to eat at 4:00, so we’d be finished in time for them all to get home at a reasonable hour. This was especially important for Duck, since he had a fairly lengthy drive to endure in order to reach his place. I wished he could stay a little longer, so he wouldn’t have to rush back, but unfortunately he couldn’t afford to take off the extra time. However, I did tell him that I wanted him to call me when he got back, no matter how late it was.

Brunch was quite enjoyable and there was plenty of the typical joking around and playful banter. I could tell Duck was enjoying this, because he was eagerly participating, but I was pleased to see he was able to give, as well as he got. After we finished up, we drove home, knowing we still had things to do before our guests arrived.

As we were pulling in the driveway, Vinnie made an observation. “Pop, there’s someone here,” he informed me, as he pointed toward our front porch.

As I looked in that direction, I spotted what appeared to be a prepubescent boy sitting on the step. His head was bowed against his chest and his arms were folded underneath, like he was trying to pull inside himself. Right away I asked the boys to wait in the van, so I could approach this kid alone. The last thing I wanted to do was to scare him off, if he saw so many people heading in his direction at once. Reluctantly, they agreed, so I got out of the van and made my way toward him, while someone else jumped out and told Jake and the boys in the Suburban what was up.

As I slowly made my way toward this kid, I was smiling and trying not to spook him. As I drew closer, I immediately noticed he was dressed in clothes that were probably two-sizes too small for him. He wasn’t looking up yet and I didn’t want to surprise him, so I softly called out.

“Hi, my name is Josh Currie and this is my house. Is there something I can do for you?”

Hearing my voice, he looked up and I was immediately struck by the sad and dejected look on his face. However, what really caught my attention was when I looked into his eyes - those two, deep, icy-blue pools that made my heart melt. He was cute, in a scruffy sort of a way, because he was so unkempt and unwashed. He had brown hair, which also had lighter brown and dirty blond highlights streaking through it, and it was cut in a modified, tapered, bowl-shape. He didn’t respond to what I said, so I spoke to him again.

“Hey, I’m Josh. What’s your name?” I followed, to see if he would say something now, but once again nothing happened.

He was watching my every move, as I glided closer, but he made no move to run away. However, he still wasn’t replying to my queries. I wasn’t sure why, so I thought I’d try again.

“It’s a little cool out. Are you cold?” I asked, but still no response.

As I continued to move closer, I noticed a tattered suitcase sitting next to him and began to suspect he was a runaway. He was still making no move to get away from me, so I continued to approach, and that’s when I also noticed there was an envelope taped to the top of his suitcase. I was now standing beside him and could see the envelope was addressed to me. I reached down and pulled it off, ripped it open and read the handwritten letter inside.

Dear Mr. Currie,

His name is Jesse and he is 10-years old. I read about you and your foundation and figured you could help him out. I just can’t do any more for him. My new husband makes life extremely difficult for Jesse and I know my son would be better off without his stepfather in his life. I don’t have a very good job, so I can’t leave my husband. I could never make it on my own, let alone take care of Jesse too.

I also know I can’t leave Jesse around his stepfather for much longer. The older Jesse gets, the worse the abuse becomes. Don’t get me wrong, my husband never hits the boy, but he is verbally abusive to him. He is always referring to Jesse as the dummy, because he doesn’t speak, but he also calls him the retard. The thing is, Jesse isn’t dumb or retarded. When he was 4 1/2 years old, he saw his father killed in a drug deal gone bad and hasn’t spoken a word since that day. Up until that time, he was progressing like any normal boy and talked all the time. But after his father was murdered, Jesse has never said another word. If he stays with his stepfather much longer, I fear for his safety and mental health.

I’d heard you are a very religious person, so I knew it would be safe to leave Jesse while you were gone to attend the Easter service. Enclosed you will find a legal document giving you guardianship of my son, because I know you will love him and care for him like I wish I could. Please do all you can for him and I know he will grow up to be a fine man.

Thank you for doing this and all my love to both of you,

Alice Wells

‘Oh, Lord.’ I thought. ‘What am I going to do now?’

I’d been left another boy, but this wasn’t some ordinary child. This kid had emotional and psychological problems, stemming from the trauma of watching his father murdered and then added to by his stepfather’s abuse. I wasn’t sure if I was up to such a tremendous challenge. However, I had to do something, so I reached my hand out toward the boy. I hoped he’d take it, so I could pull him to his feet.

“Jesse, I’m Josh and it appears that your mother wants you to stay here for now, so let me help you up. We’ll go inside and I’ll introduce you to all my other sons. He held out his arm toward me, but didn’t grasp my hand, so I wrapped my fingers around his and gently pulled him to his feet. Once he was standing, I picked up his suitcase, put my arm around his shoulder and started to guide him toward our front door.

When we were in sight of the vehicles, I gave my head a sharp jerk toward the house, to let the others know they could come up and join us. Immediately, they started piling out of both vehicles and heading in my direction. Everyone began to barrage us with questions, but they were basically asking the same thing, only using slightly different phrasing to get their point across. Primarily, they all wanted to know who the boy was and what he was doing here.

“Guys, this is Jesse. It looks as if he’ll be staying with us for a while,” I informed them.

I received an assortment of reactions in response, but they were mostly non-verbal replies. Jake raised his eyebrows at me and many of the boys gave a surprised or confused look. However, Andrew stepped forward and walked right up to the boy.

“Hi, I’m Andrew,” he stated boldly. “You can hang out with me if you want, cuz I’m closer to your age than they are,” he added, while pointing toward the others. “How old are you, anyway?”

“Uh, boys,” I interrupted, to draw their attention away from Jesse, “he won’t be answering any questions for now and I want to spend some time with him alone, if you don’t mind. Our company will be coming soon and I want to do this before they get here. I need to find out more about him and I think it will be best if I do it alone.”

Most of the boys seemed to understand this and began to walk away, but Andrew wasn’t about to give up so easily.

“May I come too?” he asked. His expression was pleading with me. “I think having someone close to his own age would make Jesse feel better. Wouldn’t it Jesse?” he asked the boy directly and got a nod in return.

I was worried that Andrew’s presence might make the questioning process more difficult, but I didn’t wish for Jesse to feel ill at-ease. Therefore, I relented.

“Okay, you can come in with us, but only if you promise to keep quiet and just listen,” I informed him.

Andrew rapidly agreed, so I told him to lead Jesse to the living room and I followed closely behind. The boys sat together on the sofa, so I moved over and sat on the other side of Jesse. This way, he’d still be close to Andrew and I felt it might make him a little more relaxed.

“Jesse,” I began, “I know the letter said you don’t talk, so I will try to ask you questions that you can answer by nodding your head yes or shaking it no. Would that be all right with you?” He looked at me and nodded.

“Why can’t he talk?” Andrew asked, and I flashed him one of my icy-cold stares.

“Andrew, you promised you wouldn’t interrupt,” I reminded him. “If you can’t do that, then I’ll have to ask you to leave us alone.” This comment caused Jesse to shake his head and grab on to Andrew’s arm in response.

“I think Jesse wants you to stay,” I advised him, “so if you will keep your promise, you may remain.” Andrew nodded and Jesse relaxed.

“Jesse, did your mother talk this over with you, before she brought you here?” I followed. Hesitantly, he nodded.

“Did she also tell you why she thought this was best?” Slowly, he nodded again.

“Do you feel bad because she left you here?” This time he took a little longer to respond, but finally he shook his head.

“Did she leave you here because you and your stepfather don’t get along?” This time there was no delay in his answer and his head bobbed up and down, quite emphatically.

“Do you want to be here?” I wanted to know, but once again there was a delay in his response. Before he answered, he turned and looked at Andrew first, and then turned back toward me. I could understand his reluctance to respond to this particular question, so I thought I’d let him off the hook.

“That’s all right,” I told him. “If you don’t want to answer that question, then we can go on to something else.” This caused Jesse to wave his hand back and forth in front of his body, while shaking his head vigorously at the same time.

“Do you want to answer that question?” I asked, somewhat confused, and got a nod in response.

“Okay, do you want to be here with us then?” This time he nodded.

“That’s good,” I told him. “Does your family live around here?” He shook his head.

“Do they live close by?” He continued to shake his head.

“All right, then you’re not from around here. I guess I have enough information for now, but we’ll have to find you a room,” I informed him. “Would you like Andrew to share it with you for now, until you get used to being with us?” He nodded his head energetically this time.

“Okay, we’ll arrange for that to happen, if it’s okay with Andrew,” I added. Andrew just beamed.

“Of course it is, daddy,” he confirmed, reverting back to his little boy persona again. Noting his response, I realized this would probably be good for both of them.

“You two can use the guest bedroom downstairs after Duck leaves,” I told Andrew, “and then we’ll figure out a more permanent arrangement later.” Both boys seemed pleased by this, but I continued. “Jesse, we’re going to be having family over for Easter dinner, so you’ll need to get cleaned up and changed. Let’s take a look at what you have in your suitcase, to see if we can find something suitable.” He just looked at me, but didn’t respond, so I opened his suitcase. I was disappointed in what I found there.

“Andrew, do you think you could dig through your closet and locate some of the things you’ve outgrown? Maybe you could find something that would fit Jesse and would be appropriate for today.” Andrew just glowed, because I was willing to assign him this responsibility.

“Yes, I could do that, daddy.” He confirmed, looking very proud.

“Jesse, would you like Andrew or me to help you clean up then?” I asked, and Jesse immediately pointed to Andrew. This caused Andrew to radiate even more.

“Do you think you could help Jesse take a bath or shower?” I asked Andrew, and this caused him to nod energetically. “Jesse can have the choice of what he wants to do, but I suggest you find the clothes for him first. If you can’t find any underwear his size, then he can use what he has in his suitcase, but they aren’t in very good condition. Tomorrow, we can take him shopping and get him the things he needs.”

Jesse mouth dropped open when he heard me say this and I could tell by what he brought with him that no one had spent much money on him recently. In fact, because all of his clothes were extremely small for him, I concluded that possibly nothing new had been purchased for him since his mother married his stepfather. To answer Jesse’s unspoken question, I addressed him.

“Jesse, it’s not a big deal. You’ll need some decent clothes for school and other times, so we’ll take you shopping tomorrow. It’s a good thing tomorrow is another teachers’ workday and none of you have school. That way we won’t have to hurry. I noticed some papers in your suitcase and they look as if they might be report cards and other records, so I’ll look them over, to see what we might have to set up for you. If everything works out, then we’ll register you on Tuesday.”

I hesitated after telling him this, because I knew I had to ask him a sensitive question now, but I wasn’t sure how to do it tactfully. Realizing there was probably no easy way to proceed, I just blundered ahead.

“Jesse, I’m not trying to imply anything here, but can you read and write?” He nodded his head, to let me know he could.

“Great,” I told him. “If you need anything and we don’t understand what you want, you can always write us a note. That way, there won’t be any chance we’ll misunderstand. Is that okay with you?” He nodded again.

“Fantastic! Now that’s settled, Andrew, why don’t you two head to your room and then the bathroom, so he can get cleaned up and changed. That way, he’ll be ready by the time everyone gets here.”

“Okay, Daddy,” Andrew replied, before taking Jesse’s hand and dragging him from the room. After the boys left, I went to fill Jake in about our new arrival.

I began by handing him the letter and letting him read it for himself. Once he finished going over it, I told him the other things I’d learned about Jesse, when I questioned him in the living room. After Jake was brought up to speed, I began to share my doubts with him.

“Jake, I’m not sure we can handle this kid. He has some serious problems and will need a great deal of specialized help. Besides, he’s so young, and that means more years of commitment just to get him through school. I’m not sure I’m ready for this. What do you think?”

“Josh, you opened up your home to help young boys and I agreed to help you continue doing it when I moved in with you. This boy definitely could use our help, but this will have to be your decision.”

“Why not OUR decision?” I asked, which made him think about what he had just said.

“Josh, I didn’t mean it to sound as if I didn’t want to help here, only that I’d support whatever you decided to do. Jesse is young, so we would have to take care of him for several years, if you decided to let him stay. The thing is, he does need someone to look after him and I don’t know anyone better to do that than you.”

“What about the farm?” I asked. “Don’t you think he could do just as well if we put him in the group home at the farm?”

“Josh, I think this boy needs personal attention,” Jake advised me. “I’m not sure he’d do as well lumped into a large group setting.”

“But wouldn’t that be almost the same problem if he stayed here?” Jake gave me a strange look.

“Do you really think that’s all you do?” he challenged. “Do you think you’re in the same class as the foster parents at the farm-homes? Josh, you give these boys so much more than that. Each and every one of them has bonded with you, and not all in the same way. That not only goes for these boys, but guys like Carlos, Mark, Duck and Ted too. I really think this would be a better option for Jesse, but I won’t pressure you into keeping him. If he stays, it will have to be because you’ve decided to keep him, but I will support whatever you choose to do.”

“We’ll need to spend more time discussing this,” I informed him, “but we have other things to attend to first, so let’s get ready for our company.”

Jake agreed and we went back to work preparing the meal. We were having a traditional Easter ham, covered with pineapple rings and cherries, candied yams, mashed potatoes (for those who don’t like yams), a broccoli and cheese casserole, baked beans, a green salad and a Jell-o salad. We also had a choice of several desserts, to make sure everyone was able to find something he liked.

While we were working on the food, Andrew and Jesse returned and it was a complete transformation for Jesse. Now that he was cleaned up, Jesse looked truly adorable. Andrew’s old clothes fit him fairly well and Jesse actually looked quite good in them. Jesse had a big smile on his face and I knew he felt good about himself too.

“Wow, looking good,” I told him, which elicited a cute grin. “Do you feel better now?” I asked. In response, his head bobbed up and down enthusiastically.

“I take it you and Andrew hit it off then?” I followed.

Once again, I got another energetic nod of agreement. I just smiled and sent them off to have some fun, until they were called for dinner.