A Child's Haven - 32. Chapter 32

The next question floored me, “Are you gay?”

At first, my face showed some anger, “I have here almost 200 boys who have been hurt by gay men, humiliated by gay men, used for money by gay men, even if I were gay, I’d be so far in the closet that Jesus would have a hard time finding me. I have no love life because of the priority I place on these kids. If I were married, my partner would come second to these kids, and for that reason, I’m single. No is your answer.”

I must have shown my anger at that question because Emily’s face became red at my response. I looked at Tony, and I had tears in my eyes. I liked Tony and inadvertently just told him something that affected him personally. I knew Tony had feelings for me, and truth being, under any other circumstances, I would reciprocate those feelings but not before the kids. They come first.

Breakfast got very quiet. I called Jeff, “Jeff, please come to the dining hall. I’d like for you to give our guests a tour of the facility, and I’ll meet you in the infirmary.” Jeff will show you around the building. The second floors are the sleeping floors; the third floors are the school, the apartments, and sleeping quarters for staff. The office building is above the infirmary, and you’ll see the cook shack as you move from this building to the infirmary. If you have any questions, Jeff can answer them for you. He was one of the first three that became a member of Sanctuary. Here’s Jeff now, Jeff, this is Mr. Burton and Miss Sandoz. If you follow Jeff, he’ll give you the grand tour.”

When they left, I laid my head down on my arms to try and cool down. I knew that the first comment or thought that I was exploiting these boys would come from someone who thought like that group my dad sent to jail. People are quick to judge. I guess I’ll continue to look for my nurse. The more I thought about what happened, the angrier I became until Tony put his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Brad, that she put you through that. It wasn’t fair. She should know that kids who are abused don’t act like normal kids. They’d be scared and frightened of any adult; our kids don’t act like that because they know they are loved. They aren’t scared of you or any adult here. She was out of line, and for the record, I don’t mind playing second fiddle to these kids.”

I looked at Tony with my mouth open, “What did you say?” He just nodded his head. I pulled him into a hug and kissed him on his cheek.

“We need to get over to the infirmary and see how the tour went.”

As we walked to the infirmary, I put my arm around Tony and pulled him towards me. Whispering, “Tony, I’m not gay, but for you, I’d consider it.” He jabbed me in the rib and ran for the infirmary.

When we entered, Amir was sitting up, and Pat was reading a story to him. “Amir, can’t you read?”

“Yes, but not English. English isn’t my first language; we learn to speak it but not to read it.”

“So you understand what Pat says, but if he showed you the word, you wouldn’t know how to say it or what it means.” He shook his head, yes.

“Tony, on your rounds, if you run across books with the title, ‘English for Non-speaking People,’ pick it up. I’ll get Jeff and Pat to teach him.”

Tony pulled a small tablet from his back pocket. “What’s that?”

“I need this to keep track of all the ‘Tony when’ or ‘Tony could you’ or Tony I need.’”

“You’re really funny. You enjoy doing this as much as I do.” I noticed Pat and Amir listening to us.

“Tell him, Pat, he loves us, doesn’t he and likes to do stuff for us.”

Pat looked at him, “Uncle Tony, we love you, and when you do nice things for us, we love you more.”

The face that Pat made when he said this made me laugh. Tony went after him, but the little imp ducked under the bed and ran out of the infirmary laughing.

“You know these kids love you.”

As I helped Amir lay back in bed, he was sitting next to Pat when he was reading. I was pulling the sheet up to cover him when the tour group came in. I watched their expressions; Aaron had smiled and appeared to be impressed. Emily, I think, was still smarting a little. If I had to guess right there, Aaron would sign-on, and Emily would go back to school with weird tales.

“I had the NP at the clinic help design this room and equipped it. It has, according to her, the latest equipment and is designed for pediatrics and young teens. Adults could be treated, but we didn’t design it with that in mind. Do you have any questions about this or the tour that Jeff couldn’t answer?”

“If I wanted to include an instrument that you don’t already have, how difficult would that be.”

“We are limited on space; I intended that this area would be either the first step to hospitalization or the last step after hospitalization. This room was designed for emergency care, and rehab such as Amir is getting. If you had a request for equipment or supplies that fit those parameters, we’d only be delayed by delivery time.”

“What about drugs, pain killers, or mood adjusters?”

“Drugs will be prescribed by a doctor and administer according to his instructions. Mild sedatives and other OTC’s would be here for the nurse to administer. Any drug, OTC included, are to be entered into the child’s medical file which will be confidential and only released according to the law.”

“What are the hours and pay?”

“The hours will depend on the staff, some prefer five days 8 hours, some prefer a shorter number of days but more hours, and it also will depend on the number of staff. For example, if this area is open 24/7, I’ll need four employees. If I have only 3, then there will need a system when it isn’t monitored. My first objective is to get an NP on board; as you both come highly recommended by Dr. Donnelly, you’ll have the first opportunity to work with my children. If you need time to think it over, take it. If you are interested, we can discuss salary and work hours. Do you have any more questions?”

“I have one. How did you come up with the idea for the cocoons, and why call them cocoons?

“I was looking for a bed design that could utilize the space by providing maximum numbers of beds with the greatest security. I took the concept from the Japanese. Those cubicles were made in Japan. The idea of calling them cocoons came from the butterfly. The kids go into the cocoons with questions and fears. They come out whole. One of the girls asked me the same question; I told her they go in ugly and come out beautiful. She thought that was a good analogy.”

“If you have no further questions, I’ll walk you to the front door.” We quietly walked to the door, I opened it to let them out, and I took a step outside for just a second, when a kid came running and when he saw me, “Save me mister”. I pulled him into the dining hall and slammed the door shut. I called Murray, and it’s now at the point as soon as he sees my phone number, he comes. “Will you tell me why you were running?”

“That man was chasing me.”

“Why?”

“I stole a piece of fruit.”

“And why did you do that?”

“I was hungry, I hadn’t eaten, and my stomach hurt.”

“Ok, I’ll take care of the man, you sit here, and I’ll be back. Go get a carton of milk while you wait.”

I went back out on the street, and the man was arguing with Murray. “He stole a piece of fruit.”

“Because he was hungry; how much was the cost of the fruit?”

The man realized how ridiculous this was. He mumbled, 25 cents. I gave him a quarter and told Murray to let him go. I watched as he walked about halfway down the street and went into a corner store. Murray shook his head as if to say unbelievable.

I went back inside and found Pat talking to the kid. “He said his mum is home, sick, and they don’t have any food.”

“Why don’t you take him down to the shower, and I’ll see about putting together a bag of food for them.”

While Pat did that, I went to the cook shack, and only Adam was there. “Adam, there appears to be a woman with a child down the street who is very sick and needs something to eat. See what you can pull together, maybe soup or any of that pizza. If we can give them enough food to last through the weekend, I’ll go shopping Monday morning and load them up on groceries.”

I took a cup of coffee while I waited. Pat came out to the cook shack and saw Adam with the pizza. “Adam, can we have a piece of pizza?” I nodded, yes.

Adam put three pieces in the oven, and while we waited, I took a banana and gave it to the boy. “What’s your name?”

“My friends call me Corky.”

“Ok, Corky, after you eat, I’ll go home with you with some groceries, ok?”

I watched as the kids ate their pizza. Adam had the box packed, “Brad, this container has soup in it. Mario brought several of these containers from the pizzeria so we could store leftovers in the fridge and freezer.”

When the kids had finished eating, Pat, Corky, and I walked past the fruit stand to Corky’s apartment. It was a small one-bedroom apartment, but it was clean. I set the food on the table and went to meet Corky’s mother. Meanwhile, Pat and Corky were heating the soup and putting the other stuff in the refrigerator.

When the soup was hot, Corky brought a bowl into his mother with some bread. “Corky, you eat this. You haven’t eaten anything except that box of cereal yesterday.”

“No, Ma, I had two pieces of pizza and a banana. You eat this so you can get better.”

I watched as she took the first spoonful of the soap. “This is homemade and not from a can. Where did you get this, Corky, and who is your friend?”

“I got this at the place down the street where that old warehouse was. This man saved me when the grocer on the corner chased me for taking an apple. He paid the man and allowed me to take a shower. I even have clean underwear on, and then they fed me. While I ate, one of the cooks packed a box, and they came home with me.”

“I don’t know how I can pay you for this food, and watching out for Corky.”

“There’s no need to pay me. Monday morning, I’ll go shopping and bring enough food for the week. Corky said you were too ill to work but didn’t say what you did.”

“I work in a laundry a few streets down.”

“I think I know who you work for, a gruff speaking man who watches every penny he makes.”

“Well, he provides me with a job. I have no education, so I have to take what I can get.”

“How much does he pay?”

“He pays 5.50 an hour, and we only work 30 hours a week. He classifies us as part-time.”

I knew that game. “Corky, when you took a shower, did you see the laundry area?” he nodded yes, “Do you think your mother could supervise that area?” another nod. “You can come to work for me, 8 hours a day, five days a week. I need someone to supervise the area. I have 189 boys in Sanctuary. When you are feeling better, come and see me.”