A Child's Haven - 36. Chapter 36

“You don’t look too good. Bad night?”

“I can’t shake this feeling. I’ll be ok if we go and come back without a problem. Maybe a hot shower will help. Have I showed you how to adjust the temperature?”

“No, I didn’t think you could. Here I’ll show you. Do you see the knob on the backside of the heater? If you turn it to the right, the temperature will increase; the temperature will decrease to the left. The temperature is read on this small gauge. I have them all set at 130 degrees. If you change it, be sure you change it back.”

After Tony left, I increase the temperature to 145 degrees and let the hot water wash away my aches, then I turned it to 100 degrees and let the cold water wake me up. Adjusting the temperature back to 130, I left the shower. I’ll shave before I get dressed for the trip.

After a quick breakfast, I went to pick up the savings banks and pick up Corky to go shopping. The banks were in two cartoons, which I put into the trunk of the car. Driving to pick up Corky, Tony called and asked me to stop at Sanctuary before going grocery shopping. I didn’t know if there was a problem or not. The feeling of something bad going to happen was still a nagging headache. When I pulled up at Sanctuary, Tony met me, “One of the boys got a cut from falling. He was in such a hurry to get his shower, he fell. He said it was a cut, but it looks like a scrape.”

“If it isn’t too bad, take him to see Janine. You can take Jeff with you. I’ll try and be back within the hour, and I’ll stop at the clinic.”

Leaving Sanctuary, I drove to pick up Corky. As soon as I pulled up to the curb, he was waiting for me, and when he saw me, he jumped into the car. I had seen a supermarket when I was driving around looking for the banks, furniture and on the way to the University. As I pulled into the parking lot, it was apparent that this was not the market Corky and his mother used.

We left the car, and Corky got a shopping cart. We went up one aisle and down another, loading the cart. I pushed as Corky selected the items. He went shopping with his mom and knew what items they usually bought. When the cart was half full, “This is all.”

“But the cart is only half full. Let’s go around again.”

This time I added more vegetables, more fruit, an extra box of cereal. I wanted to make sure they had more than enough. Taking into account, Corky would be cooking; I picked up several simple dinners he could make. “Now that the cart is full, we can check out.” Corky unloaded the cart from the front, and I helped from the back. While he wasn’t looking, I took a few candy bars and held them. He had his back to me as he was loading the cart to take to the car. I handed the cashier the candy bars. She took them and put them into the bottom of a bag. Everything paid and packed; I drove through a MacDonald’s and bought three egg and sausage sandwiches. I gave the bag to Corky, “Go ahead and eat. Save one for your mother.” I didn’t have to say that twice.

After helping Corky take the bags up to their apartment, saying hello to Corky’s mother, I headed for Sanctuary. I called Tony to find out about the boy. He was back at Sanctuary.

When I entered the dining hall, it looked like a madhouse. I saw Tony and waved him over. “What’s going on?”

“Your mother.”

“Where is she?”

“In the middle of that group of kids.”

“Where’s the kid that got hurt?” He pointed to a boy who was sitting alone. I went over and sat beside him. “What’s the matter, Danny? Does your leg still hurt? He shook his head no. “Will you tell me why you are sitting here all alone?”

He raised his head to look at me, and he had tears in his eyes. I picked him up and sat him on my lap. “Are you afraid because you hurt your leg, and I’m going to punish you?”

He looked down at the floor and nodded his head yes. “I’m not going to punish you. If I had a nickel for every time I skinned my leg or my knee, I’d be the wealthiest man in town. I’m just worried that you’re still hurting. Is your leg ok?”

He nodded yes, “Then I’m glad. Go and join your friends. After lunch, we’ll have to get dressed for the show.” He looked at me; I brushed a tear from his cheek and gave him a hug and a kiss on the head. I helped him down from my lap, and he went and joined his friends.

“I think you have the magic touched. I tried to console him, but it didn’t work.”

“It would if you were my partner, Uncle Tony.”

I finally made my way to mom. “Mom, are you the center of this madhouse?” as I stooped to kiss her.

“I brought the clothes and was handing them out. They wanted to know where to put them until it was time to dress.”

“Tell them to hang them in their cocoons. I’ll tell them when it is time to dress. Can you ask them if they took a shower this morning? If not, ask them to take it now before lunch. Thanks, Mom.”

“Tony, what’s bothering my son?”

“He has a feeling that something is going to happen today, and I think he feels it’s going to be bad. This is the first time the kids have been away from Sanctuary as a group. I wouldn’t be concerned, except he has had this feeling before, and something has happened. Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on him. I hope nothing happens to one of the kids.”

“Thank you for telling me. You have feelings for my son; I can see it in your eyes when you talk about him.”

“Yes, I do, but he doesn’t share his feelings with me. He told one of the applicants for the PA job that the kids come first, and if he had a partner, they’d be second. I’d accept that even as a friend.”

“Don’t give up, Tony; you are his best and only best friend. Give it time.”

“We’re going to have a light lunch today, chicken salad with vegetable soup. I don’t want the kids to eat too much. With all of the excitement, they’ll be sick. We’ll have a good dinner tonight, roast beef, mashed potatoes, a green vegetable, and a surprise dessert. That’s if they could eat after the show.”

“Son, make sure you have enough money so you can buy them a souvenir.”

“Thanks, Mom, I forgot whenever we went anyplace, you and dad always bought me a souvenir. Tony, my friend.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll have enough cash on me to handle the souvenirs.”

“See, Mom, that’s why I love Tony so much.”