Salvation - 6. Chapter 6

The boys smiled and began to eat. Maria set a fresh cup of coffee in front of me.

As the boys ate, the noise level rose. Then the question I had been expecting for several months, “Dad, can we get a dog?”

“What kind of dog?” That set off another set of discussions. I just smiled, finished my breakfast, and with my coffee, I headed for my office.

I was in my office for about 30 minutes when Maria brought me a fresh cup of coffee. “You set off a very active discussion. I told them they couldn’t have a dog and a cat, one or the other. Your new son wants a horse.”

I looked at Maria, “Chris wants a horse?”

“Yes, he said he had one before.”

I need to find out more about Chris. I had his fingerprints. I’ll get Alex to do a background check. “Maria, in doing the housework, have you run across any blueprints or pictures of this house.”

“No, but you should be able to get one at the tax office. If you are thinking about a horse, you will also need a plot plan. Have you ever walked the grounds?”

“No”

“That might be a good idea for you and the boys to take a walk. Some of the men you had working here told me that the grounds are quite extensive.”

“That might be a good activity for this afternoon.” I just wondered how big the grounds were. I bought this site for the house and not the grounds. A horse, what other secrets does Chris have. I called Alex and set those wheels in action. I could never accomplish what I have without Alex and his group. If one wonders why it was easy to bring young boys into the US without legal repercussions, it’s because of Alex and his organization.

It took five years after I met Alex before he approached me. I met with him for coffee, which we had been doing for several years before he told me about Anthony, “Do you ever wonder why such a young boy, like that kid over there, have to work the streets to live?” That remark hit me right between the eyes as I remember my young friend sleeping in a graveyard.

“They are the forgotten.”

“Yes, but I have a feeling you know about the forgotten. Would you help if you could?”

“Of course, but I don’t think I could get one of these forgotten boys into the US.”

Alex waved the boy over. “Would you like something to eat?”

The boy looked like he hadn’t eaten for several days. You could count his ribs through the ripped shirt he had on. “Go and wash your hands, and I’ll order something for you to eat.”

As the boy left to go and wash, I panicked. I would not go through that again. I jumped up and began to follow the boy when Alex grabbed me. “He’ll be alright.”

“No, Alex, I must make sure.”

As I was about to head into the cafe, the boy came out and smiled. I sat down. I was sweating. Alex looked at me. From that moment on, Anthony became one of my boys. The boys living at my home before Anthony were on the streets of New York City. Now I had two boys from Europe. I wondered if Anthony had any pets before he was on the streets.

I finally got through to Alex, “Alex, I have something I’d like you to do for me. My boys were talking about pets. Chris said he’d like a horse since he had one before. I wondered if Anthony had a pet. I want to get a little background on these boys.”

“I’m sorry, Carleton, but there isn’t a dossier on those boys. If they had pets or any other background information, you’d have to get it from the boys.”

“Alex, are these boys truly street boys? Did you or someone else arrange for them to meet me with the idea of getting them out of Europe?”

“Carleton, there was no ulterior motive. The next time you’re in Europe, we’ll talk more. Right now, you know as much about these boys as I do. By the way, do you remember that man that was with Chris? The Russian mafia killed him. The police caught the killer, try and get a European newspaper. There’s a rather long article that might help you to understand where some of these boys come from.”

“Thanks, Alex. I’ll let you know when I’ll be back in Europe. I have a pending court date in Brussels.”

I called Judy and asked her to get several foreign newspapers.