ARROW - 77. Chapter 77

The boys were up very early. I expected that, sleeping out in the open, morning seems to come early. Dressed, Colin took them to the club kitchen. I joined them as soon as I had showered and dressed.

Walking into the kitchen, Marcel was busy making breakfast. “You’re early, Marcel.”

“Yes, someone last night requested pancakes for breakfast this morning. Some thing about welcoming a new brother.”

I knew who that someone was. In Italian, “Tommy, that was you.” I wanted Tommy and Colin to speak more in Italian considering we would be going to Italy in a few weeks. I would have liked to go sooner but there was a special court appearance that must be concluded first.

With breakfast over, the boys took their milk to the roof. I went to the third floor to paint, Colin went to his club office to begin preparing letters with charges for the members.

At 10 in the morning, the bunk beds were delivered. Colin, being in the office, let them in. I heard them coming up the steps. The man in front kept telling the man in the rear to be careful of the walls.

It didn’t take them long to set the beds up. While I went to get the boys, Colin took the men to the club for coffee.

“Dad, where are we going to sleep?”

“In your room.” I was confused why he asked he knew where his room was. Then it dawned on me. He was referring to the bunks.

“You three can decided what you preferred, top or bottom. Tommy, you chose last, okay.”

Ronny picked the top bunk, Richie picked the lower bunk, this left a top or lower for Tommy. I would have bet he would have picked the other top, he didn’t. “Dad, I pick this bottom bunk.”

“Okay, here are the sheets and blankets for all four beds. If you need help, let me know.” I didn’t go far, I waited to be asked to help.

The bottom sheets were fitted sheets. It was Ronny who called for help. Walking back into the room, all three were sitting on the floor. Ronny handed me a bottom sheet.

“These are called bottom sheets because they have a pockets on the corners. I’ll show you one, then you can do your own bed.”

I showed them on the unclaimed top bunk. I saw the smiles, they had the bottom sheets on their bed in a matter of a few minutes.

I took the second bottom sheet, folded it and put it in the drawer under the bed. I watched them folding the other bottom sheets and putting them into the drawer under their bed. I explained to them that one of the drawers is for the top bunk. As I proceeded to complete making up the idle top bunk, they copied on their bunk.

Now the question where to put the pillow. Ronny chose to put his head to looking out the window. Tommy and Richie followed so that all boys laid in the same direction. Later that evening, Colin asked why did they chose to lay like that. “Ronnie said he wanted to see the sun rise.”

Later when the boys were asleep, Colin brought coffees up to the roof. “The boys had fun sleeping here last night.”

“Yes, I liked sleeping here. The morning air smells differently.”

“I talked to the lawyer. He has all of the information on Ronald and Richard. I told him to arrange for meeting with the judge as soon as possible since we wanted to take the boys to Italy. He said he’ll call me in the next few days.”

That evening GG came, she smiled. I knew everything will go well.

Monday I took the boys for their photos. They wore the clothes they would wear to Italy. I hadn’t mentioned anything to Ronnie or Richie but evidently Tommy did. Tommy started to teach them how to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you ‘ in Italian.

As soon as our adoption becomes legal, I would be ready to get their passports. Arriving back home after taking the pictures, I was surprised seeing Colin home.

“Stay in the car. We have an appointment with the judge.” Colin got in the back, I could hear Tommy whispering to Colin.

We arrived at the court house and now Tommy had told them why we were there, Ronny smiled like the cat who ate the bird, Richie had tears in his eyes. He took my right hand, Ronnie had my left hand. Tommy had Colin’s hand and was asking him if they could have a hot dog before going home. I chuckled.

Arriving at the court room, we met our lawyer. “We need to wait a few minutes, Children Services have not arrived yet. Just as he finished sayin that, Children Services arrive. It was the same woman who brought Richard to the orphanage. She recognized Richard and came over to say hello. I’m not sure Richard remembered her, he was crying pretty hard when she brought him to the orphanage. Before he could say anything, we were called to chambers.

Standing for the judge, sitting after he sat, he looked at us. I saw the smile. “Thomas, it is nice to see you. Let’s have a chat.”

The judge got up,Tommy looked at me. I smiled,”Go with the Judge. Everything is okay.”

They must have chatted at least 30 minutes, it seemed longer.

The judge came back, Tommy had a grin as if he knew something.

The judge asked Children Services if they had any comments. They stood and said they have no adverse comments. She said this looking at Richard.

The judge asked to speak to each boy. Ronald went first. Tommy gave him a thumb up sign. Now I knew. I didn’t need a lawyer, Tommy was the best lawyer.

Ronny came back smiling, then Richard went with the judge. I expected him to stay a short period of time as Ronnie had. The judge came out and asked Children Services to join him. I looked at Colin. “It’ll be okay. Don’t panic.”

I thought, GG what is happening. I got no response. I started to get concerned, he couldn’t go back to the orphanage. I had all kind of weird thoughts in my head. I’ll move to Europe, I can paint anywhere. I was thinking all sort of weird thoughts when GG said ‘stop’.

Colin gave me his handkerchief, “Dry your eyes. Relax, everything will be okay.”

Another 15 minutes passed by, the judge came out and asked me to join them.

Walking into his office, I sat in an empty chair, Richie came and sat on my lap. I kissed his head.

“Mr. Rowe, we have a concern. Richard has inherited a small fortune. Since he is underage, you would be the executor of his inheritance if he became your son. There is a concern about the state of your financial position.”

“Is the concern that I would take advantage of Richard wealth?” By the looks on their faces, I knew I was right.

“May I use your phone?” The judge nodded ‘yes’. I called my bank, “May I speak to Mr. Belson. Your Honor, do you have a way so you could listen in on this call?”

He put the call on the speaker. “Your Honor, may Richard join his brothers.” The judge nodded yes. Richie hugged me and left.

“Hello, this is Mr. Belson. How may I help you?”

“Mr. Belson, this is Armand Rowe.”

“How are you Armand?”

“Mr. Belson, I am fine. The reason I’m calling you is to verify my accounts and their current value. I am in the process of adopting a child and there is a monetary concern.”

I listen as Mr. Belson asked his secretary to get my records. While we waited, “Mr. Rowe, I think this call may be unnecessary.” I smiled.

Then Mr. Belson spoke, “As of the market closing, your net worth, including investments, savings account and cash on hand, is 1.3 million of which your cash on hand is 300,000. That doesn’t include your trust fund for Thomas Roberts.”

“Thank you, Mr. Belson.” Turning to the judge, “Does that answer your concern, your honor.”

“Do you have any questions?” He said that addressing Childs Services. She shook her head no.

He called Richie back, all the boys came with Colin and our lawyer. The boys took their parents last name as their middle name. Ronnie took Rowe-Roberts as his last name similar to Tommy. Richie took Roberts-Rowe as his last name.

The judge told us when we could pick up the birth certificates. As soon as I have those, we can walk it through to obtain their passports.

Walking out of the court house, Tommy led Colin to the hot dog stand. I asked for more napkins, I didn’t want mustard or catsup on their clothes. I bought 5 more for dinner tonight.

Now we had to celebrate tonight in the club. Colin told one of the Board members, that was all it took. Marcel took the hotdogs, he said they would eat them. Jimmy made special drinks for the boys, they had pineapple spears and maraschino cherries in them. Marcel made a special appetizer for them. It contained all the foods they liked. I think I even saw a thin slice of a hotdog in it.

That evening, the boys and I sat on the roof. Ronnie kept calling Tommy and Ritchie brother. When Colin came up on the roof after the club closed, all I heard was ‘hi pop’. The look on Colin’s face was something else. I think he finally understood, he was the father of three boys. With Tommy it was different. He called us ‘pop’ and ‘dad’ before he was legally adopted. The five of us sat on the glider. Tommy sat in the middle, Ronny sat on Colin’s lap and Richie sat on my lap.

Mrs. Anderson called to let me know a maid arrived with several suitcases and boxes belonging to Richard. She called children services and they told her to call us. I told her we would be over tomorrow afternoon. “Don’t eat lunch. I’ll bring it.”

There was a man who had a grill on wheels. He owned the restaurant but in the summer he grilled outside, hamburgers and hot dogs. Tommy and I have stopped there before on the way to the gallery from school.

Early the next morning, I took the boys to a bulk grocery outlet. I bought cases of potato chips. I soon realize not to take them food shopping. I ended up with a case of popcorn, now I need to buy a corn popper, cases of chocolate chip cookies. We did buy a bushel of apples. I thought I should have bought a small pick-up truck.

Then we drove to the man who had the grill to make sure he was prepared. I had also picked up a case of hotdogs and hamburgers. Those can go to the kitchen if the man doesn’t run out.

I took the the ice cream and the pop corn to the club. The cookies, hotdogs and hamburgers would go to the orphanage.

On the way to the orphanage, “How did you boys like sleeping in your new bed.”

“It was great.” Then the jokes, I didn’t get kicked anymore, his arm hit me in the face when he turned over, he pushed me out of bed, he passed gas. I laughed, it was all made up. I did believe about the passing of gas.

“Dad, I’ll bet the kids would rather have the bunk beds to sleep in. They now sleep on cots and the rooms are crowded.”

“How many boys slept in your room?”

“There were 6 boys in my room.”

“How many in your room, Ronnie?”

“There were seven in my room. They pushed two cots together and used a regular mattress on it. If you slept in the middle, you had to sleep on the crack.”

On the rest of the drive to the orphanage, I thought about the bunk beds. I needed to talk to Colin.

Arriving at the Orphanage, I met with Mrs. Anderson. I told her about lunch. I asked if I could see one of the bedrooms. She wanted to know why. I told her about the bunk beds and what the boys said about crowded bedrooms and the cots. “What they say is true. But we have a limited budget.”

“I’ll get the money to supply you with bunk beds. This Sunday, Colin’s club serves lunch from 12 to 6. I’ll come and pick you up. You can have lunch with us and I’ll show you the boys bunk beds. If you like them, I’ll see that you get them.”

The man with the grill walked down to ask if he could have some help. I told him I’d help.

I drove up, we attached the grill to the rear of the car. I slowly drove back to the orphanage as he walked behind keeping an eye on the grill.

He started the grill and soon the smell of grilled hamburgers began to drift into the orphanage. As the smell drifted in, kids drifted out.

I took a folding chair and sat outside, watching the kids.

Then the cooks came out, they had buns. I saw they would need more. I detached the grill from the car, headed to a store and bought several packs of hamburger and hot dog buns. I asked the man at the register if he had a bushel of apples. He said he only had what was in the vegetable bin. There weren’t many and maybe the bushel might be enough.

I returned to the orphanage. I took the buns to the kitchen. Then I sat and watch the kids. I wasn’t sitting alone, my friend from the trip to the zoo came over. I picked her up and sat her on my lap. She had her doll with her and I had to say hello to the doll. She snuggled in, I put my arm around her to hold her on my lap. I found out little girls are squirmy.

Between the cooks and the grill man, the food was being placed on platters and taken to the dining room. One of the older boys asked if he could help. Now we had two working the grill.

“Mrs. Anderson, who is that boy?”

“That’s James. He will be aging out in a little under a year.”

I knew that when these children reached the age of 18 they had to leave the orphanage. “He seems to like grilling. Has he any training to work in a kitchen?”

“He helps the cooks. I think they are going to miss him when he leaves.”

“Sunday, you’ll see the kitchen at the club. Could he have a leave of absence to work in my kitchen? Our chef is an excellent chef and could teach him.”

“He currently attends a junior college. Let’s discuss this on Sunday.”

I was watching James as we were talking. He was listening, I could tell. He was smiling which he wasn’t before. His demeanor changed from serious to a relaxed mode as he listened to us.

The cooks came out and said the food was ready. Our grill man stayed at the grill finishing off the hot dogs.

I carried my lap buddy and her doll into the dining room. Sitting her at the table, I went to the kitchen. “What is for desert?” I started to laugh.

“I have a bushel of apples and chocolate chip cookies.”

“You have provided a picnic lunch, now you need to provide a picnic dessert.”

Now I had to think what is a picnic dessert. Growing up, we didn’t go on picnics. I must of had a dumb look on my face. “I thought the apples and cookies were the dessert.”

They laughed, “We will make apple pie with those apples.That will be their supper dessert.”

I knew of an ice cream store not to far away. I quickly went there and returned with tubs of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. I had two tubs of each.

Walking into the kitchen with the ice cream, they laughed. The kitchen was equipped with a freezer. I placed the tubs of ice cream in their freezer. One of the cooks patted me on the back, as to say ‘good boy’.

I went back into the dining room, Richie gave me a hot dog. Walking outside, I told them we had enough grilled hot dogs and hamburger. The uncooked will be given to the kitchen for later use.

When the grill was cool and cleaned, we attached it to the car and as we brought it, we returned it. I paid the man for his time and gas he used. He was happy and offered to do it again.

Returning to the orphanage, I walked into the dining room. They were still eating. I sat down at the table, Richie came over and sat on my lap. “Are you finished eating?”

He nodded yes. “Have you had dessert?”

He looked at me, smiled and returned to his seat. I saw Tommy ask him something, then I heard ice cream. Now all of the kids, “Ice cream”.

Mrs Anderson stood and told them there will be no ice cream until everyone had finished eating. I didn’t think that was a good idea. Those kids would binge eat and that will cause problems later.

“Take your time eating, there is plenty of ice cream.” They slowed down. Looking at the kids around the table, I could see the younger kids had only one hot dog or hamburger. The older kids had one of each.

When my boys had finished eating they came and sat next to me. “Dad, are we going home soon?”

“Yes, as soon as I say good bye to Mrs. Anderson. You can go and sit in the car.” I went and shook hands with the older children and hugged the younger children. I reminded Mrs. Anderson of Sunday’s lunch.

Leaving, I kept thinking, what else can I do for these kids. I decided we would do this activity again.