Cabin Boys - 2. Chapter 2

I woke in the morning to a smiling face. “Joey, how long have you been awake? You need to go and put your robe on.”

He giggled as he left. On my mental list, I needed pajamas for the boys. I got up, took a quick shower, dressed, as I do when I’m home. Heading for the kitchen, Pete was coming in from the garage.

“No eggs this morning?”

“No, but”

“What’s wrong,”

“There’s chicken poop all over the place.”

“Okay, I expected that. As soon as we have breakfast, will go and see what we can do about making a chicken coop.” He smiled. Pete was an interesting boy, I liked him. He took charge and within his ability provided a home for Joey. That was initiative and the acceptance of responsibility.

“Pete, let’s start the washer and while your clothes are washing, we can have breakfast.” When he opened the suitcases, the clothes would have been better left back at their shack. They were rags, there was no way they would have lasted the winter. “Pete, do these clothes fit you?”

“These pants do and this shirt, the rest I was saving for Joey.”

I took the pants and shirt, noting the sizes, placed them in the washer. Then we opened Joey’s suitcase. They were all rags. I picked through them till I could find pants that were the best of the total and a shirt as well. I put them in the washer, Pete wanted to know why I wasn’t washing them all.

“Pete, I think you need new clothes, so as your new father, I’m going to treat you and Joey to new clothes. Now while they are washing, let’s go and fix breakfast.”

It didn’t take long to fix pancakes and sausage. They were frozen and all I needed to do was to pop them in the microwave. They were my emergency food, all they would need is to be heated. Mornings when I was running late, they were my breakfast. The boys sat at the kitchen table, I checked the wash, it would only take a few more minutes before they would be ready for the dryer. I had the washer set on a rinse cycle instead of a wash cycle. We didn’t have much time, as I had a lot to do today.

I fixed another cup of hot chocolate for the boys, had my second cup of coffee. The clothes washer shut off, I put the wet clothes in the dryer and set it for thirty minutes.

When the boys were finished eating, I told them to go wash and brush their teeth. I could hear the shower as I walked past their bathroom, and a few giggles as well. I got my wallet, keys to my car and went to check the garage. Pete was right, chicken shit was all over. I figured that would happen, I had placed a tarp over my car. And it was a good thing I did. The tarp was black and now it had white spots all over it. I had several cardboard containers which I had used when I moved into this house. For some reason, I never got rid of them. I put one chicken in each of two containers, went and got some bread, put that in as well. That would keep them contained until I had something for them in the backyard.

The boys were dressed, we were ready to go. The first stop was a pet store. I bought a doghouse, next stop was a lumber yard where I bought four, two by fours. Last stop was a hardware store where I bought wire mesh, brads to attach the wire mesh to the two-by-fours. We headed home, I wasn’t finished but I wanted the chickens out of the garage.

I explained what I was going to do. The boys were ready to pitch in. The first thing I did was convert the dog house to a chicken coop. That wasn’t hard, I removed a lot of the front, so they could go in and we could and get any eggs. Although without a rooster, I doubted we’d get any. Then I dug a hole, placing the two by fours in the holes, temping the earth down to hold them. Tacked the wire mesh to the posts, we had a chicken run. Pete went and brought the chickens and placed them in the run. We watched as they scratched and pecked. I’m not sure what the chickens saw, but Pete said they were happy.

We had lunch and then we were off again. The first stop was a clothing store for the boys. I told them we needed eight days of clothes. I watched Pete take charge. He told Joey to push the cart. As Pete put the clothes in the cart, I’d check for sizes, a few times they were too big or too small. Every time I’d give them back, I showed Pete why. Pete was very conservative in picking the clothes, with no bright colors or shirts displaying pictures or slogans. Clothes all finished, we needed shoes. Pete saw the tennis shoes, that was what he wanted. They had their feet measured and two pairs of tennis shoes went into the cart. We needed one more item, coats. The weather was cool but before long they would need heavier coats. For now, I selected a lightweight coat, I let Pete pick them out.

Clothes shopping was done, we had a hotdog at the food court, then we had to go grocery shopping. Pete took charge of the cart, Joey walked with me. I’d point to an item on a low shelf, Joey would put it into the cart. We were in the aisle where the boxes of cereal are stacked. Pete asked if they had oatmeal, he said his grandmother always made that for breakfast. I showed him where they were, he picked the one his grandmother had. I added a chocolate-flavored one. Next were the vegetables and fruit. Pete knew what vegetables he wanted and the only fruit was apples. I thought that must have been what was on the farm. I added oranges, grapes, and bananas. I looked at the cart, something wasn’t there, bread. “Pete, did your grandmother make her own bread?”

“Yes, and it smelled real good when she was baking it.”

I went to the freezer section and placed two frozen loaves of bread in the cart. I also took out a frozen apple pie, I figured if his grandmother made pies, it would have been an apple. At the meat counter, I got lunch meat, cheese, bacon, and meat I would cook for dinner. I had a supply of frozen dinners in the freezer I could use if I didn’t have time to cook. I picked up a gallon of milk as we headed to the check-out counter. On the way home, I stopped at the hardware store and picked up some chicken feed, I also needed a water trough, so I was told by Pete.

When we arrived home, the boys helped to unload the car. Pete and Joey went to feed and water the chickens. I was glad they did that, it would give them some responsibility. I knew Pete had already shown he was a capable young man, While the boys took care of the chickens, I called Lenny and told him about the boys. He said for me to get their last name and he’d do a search. “For now Jim, introduce them as your nephews.”

At dinner that night, we had hamburgers to Joey’s delight, I told the boys I wanted them to call me Uncle Jim. Joey had no problem with that. Watching Pete, I knew to expect questions. After supper, I took the new clothes to rinse the sizing out. Pete asked me why, I told him that the manufacturers add something to make the clothes look nice when they are folded, we’ll rinse them. “Here feel this shirt.” He did. “Remember that and you’ll know why I rinse them.” I took the clothes and placed them in the dryer. I turned on the tv for the boys and selected a movie.

Going to my office, I check my email. Jeff had sent me a text concerning the boys. I brought him up to date, then check my messages on my computer. There were a few questions concerning investments I had made for a client. I was very much into answering my messages when Pete spoke, I jumped. He laughed, “I wanted to see what you were doing, what are investments.”

I laughed, pulled him onto my lap, I began to tell him what I did for a living and that people gave me money to buy stocks, as I was explaining I realized that Pete was more confused. I thought okay Basic A Investment.

“Pete, if you had a bicycle which you paid ten dollars for. You’ll let other boys ride it for one hour if they paid you a quarter. Now you’re doing good business on the weekend, making about two dollars each weekend. Joey sees that you are making money and he tells you he wants to be part of your business. You tell him if he gives you fifty cents, you will give him half of what you make. Joey is investing in your business with the understanding he’ll get the money you agreed to pay him. He’s an investor in your business. Now, what happens if you make less than what Joey is expecting, Joey loses interest and wants to sell you his share. You made fifty cents on that share, but the money you are making now is less than it was when you sold half of your business to Joey. So you only pay Joey forty cents. That is what we call an investment loss for Joey, but you now own your business and you don’t have to share. Suppose you have other friends who want a part of your business. So you make a deal with them as you did with Joey, only they don’t have fifty cents. They have ten cents and they want twenty cents or ten percent of what you earn from your business. Now you have what is called shareholders. Suppose instead of the ten percent, you can only give them eight percent. One of them wants to sell his share. He offered it for ten cents to his friends. His friend said he’ll buy it but he’ll only pay him eight cents. He agrees, now that is called a loss on his investment. The friend buys it and you are back making your two dollars each weekend. The friend who bought the share for eight cents makes a profit because you are paying him based on a ten-cent share. For you he doesn’t have to be making money, for him he has a lot more money which cost him less, he paid eight cents for a share with a value of ten cents. What I do, is look at businesses, if I think they are going to make money, I advise the people who hire me to buy or sell if I think the business will or will not meet my client’s expectations. Does that help or did I make it more confusing?” I took a look at him, he was more confused.

“So a client can make more or lose money on how much I make with my bike.”

“Exactly, that was a very simple explanation. I have a book here, ah here it is, Investment for Beginners. You can read it and if you have any questions, just ask me.”

“I’ll have problems.”

“Why?”

“I can’t read so good. I only went to third grade, then my grandmother taught me some but I had to help grandfather.”

“Okay, then how do you feel about learning online?”

“What’s online?”

“I can download a study program for you that will teach you. It’s like school only you’ll do it at home.”

He smiled, “Can Joey learn as well?”

“You bet” He left to tell Joey.

“Pete, do you remember what that shirt felt like before we rinse it?” He nodded yes. “Come and feel it now.”

He did and smiled, “It’s softer.”

I smiled, “Now you and Joey can come and help me fold these clothes and carry them to your room.” The boys did a good job. I figured they must have helped their grandmother quite a lot.

Over the next few weeks, everything settles into a routine. I had explained to Pete that I would have to go to my office on some days and he’d have to be in charge. I spent two days with the boys making sure they understood what they had to do. On the last day, I was home, I bought a pocket alarm for Pete. I told him if he was frightened or if someone tried to break in, to push this button and a police officer would be here. I also instructed him to not open the door for anyone. My friends knew I worked in the city and wouldn’t come calling.

I was glad when I got home, everything was fine. I decided I’d work three days in the city and the rest of the time at home. That would allow me time to help the boys with their studies. I did buy them each a computer so they could work online, I made room for them in my office, Pete started to call it our office.