The Boy by The Lake - 4. Chapter 4

I went and took some money from my safe in my bedroom. I could hear the boys talking and laughing when I went to ask them if they wanted to go grocery shopping with me. Knocking on the bedroom door, Toby opened it. “Toby, I’m going grocery shopping, do you boys want to come along? If not that’s okay, I’ll just buy what I think you might like.” I’m not sure exactly what I said, but they both agreed to come with me.

Shopping with teenagers is a new experience for me. I thought of how Clair would love to do this. Two shopping carts, we headed off to the various isles. Toby would see something, hold it up, a nod from me it went into the shopping cart, a no nod resulted in an expression of ‘please’. I’d give in and nod yes.

I made sure we got food that I considered wholesome for a teenager as well as chips and what has been characterized as junk food. I stocked up on breakfast food and frozen food for dinners. Just looking at the carts, I realized I may need a new freezer or plan on shopping more often. When it was all done, I realized except for the chips, cookies and ice cream, we had mostly healthy food.

Arriving home, they helped to unload the car and put the groceries away. I made a mistake, I asked them what they wanted for dinner, answer pizza. I guess the pizza delivery person and I will become good friends. I ordered a large pizza with what the boys wanted to be delivered at 6. I’d fix myself some soup and the roast beef left over from lunch.

I went back to my office to finish sending out letters to old clients that hadn’t transfer their accounts. I was getting a little excited about getting back in business. I miss Clair and I was hoping that by doing this I wouldn’t miss her as much. Of course, having Toby around was helping a lot.

I drove Ron and Toby to Ron's home after finishing the pizza. Toby showed me where he lived as we drove by. Stopping at Ron’s, I met his mother and dad. They invited me in for a cup of coffee, which I accepted. They had questions about why Toby was with me. I told them the truth, except I didn’t tell them about the boy at the lake. Toby, referring to me as Uncle Jeff, left the impression I was family. I’m sure Ron will bring them up to date.

Toby was smiling as we drove home. “You and Ron seem very close, so he’s your boyfriend?”

“Yes, we haven’t dated or anything except kiss. I like him very much.”

I smiled at him when he told me this. I tried to remember that song about young love, I must be getting old.

Friday rolled around fairly fast. I met with James at the court house, Toby’s mom and dad were there as well, no doubt to object to the monthly support payment.

The judge asked who was representing Tobias MacDougal, James stood and identified himself. The judge asked who the other people were. Toby’s dad stood and told them they were Toby’s parents. The judge looked at them, probably wondered why they were here.

“I would like to speak to Tobias in my chambers.” James told Toby to go ahead and be honest. Now the wait, thirty minutes later, Toby returned with a smile.

“In the matter of appointing Jeffery Madison as guardian for Tobias MacDougal, the court rules in favor of the guardianship. In the matter of child support, the court approves the sum of $750 dollars per month.”

“Your Honor, we disagree with the support. Seven hundred and fifty dollars per month is more than we paid for his maintenance when he was living at home.”

“Then you should have kept him at home instead of throwing him away like he was garbage. Sexual preference has no legal position in our laws. Your reason for throwing him out of his home because you disagree with his personal beliefs, does not influence this court.” Court adjoined, as the judge rapped his gavel, stood up and left the court room.

But Toby’s dad wasn’t finished, or so he thought, “I may have to pay until he’s 18 but he’ll not get any money once he’s 18. No college fund, so he better think about a job.” I looked at Toby and winked. He wouldn’t need his dad’s money, his grandfather took care of that.

“Toby, we need to go to school and change your home address. You need to get all the homework you missed so you can get caught up. James, when you have time we need to talk about a special program. How about I call you sometime next week?”

“That’ll be fine. You also need to set up a bank account for Toby.”

“He already has one. His grandfather set it up for him. I’ll forward the bank address and account number to you when we get home. Thanks for doing this.”

“Toby, you need to tell me your school address. Do you still want to attend that school or change schools?”

“If it’s possible I’d still like to attend my school.”

“Do they have drivers ed?”

“Yes, but I won’t be eligible till next year.”

As I drove to the school, it was close to his parents home. He probably walked to school. I parked in the visitor lot, I let Toby show me to the school’s office. The school secretary asked if she could help me then she saw Toby. “Toby, where have you been?”

“That’s one of the reasons we’re here. Toby, no longer lives at his old address and we need to update his address.”

“And who are you?”

“I’m his guardian. These papers authorize me to act in his best interest. His new address is also on these forms as well as my name.”

She took the papers and made a copy. “You’ll need to see Mrs. Barreca, she’s our principal. I’ll see if she has time to see you now. Why don’t you sit there and I’ll check.”

“Are you okay Toby?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Classes will let out soon so I guess I’ll see Ron. He’s coming home with us.”

“You may have to see the guidance consular concerning any homework you missed.”

“That’s Mr. Anders, he’s a nice guy.”

We waited about 20 minutes before the secretary told us that Mrs. Barreca would see us. Walking into her office, I saw she had the copy of the court papers which she evidently read while we were waiting. She greeted Toby, I introduced myself, although she knew my name from reading the report.

“We were worried about you Tobias. We tried to contact your parents, but they weren’t answering our phone calls and now I understand why. I’m sorry you had to endure that. But from these papers, you seem to be in a better place. Am I correct that you’ll continue to attend school here?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“We’ll update your files and you should go and see Mr. Anders to get your assignments, which you missed. We’ll see you Monday morning.”

“I’ll take you to Mr. Anders’ office.” I followed Toby to a small office at the end of the hall. A very young looking man was sitting behind a desk. Toby knocked on the door, Mr. Anders waved him in.

“It’s nice to see you Toby, and you are?”

Before I could answer, “He’s my Uncle Jeff, Mr. Anders. I’ll be living with him from now on. I came to get my assignments that I missed while I was gone.”

“I’ll need to contact your teachers to get them. Can you wait, it won’t take long?”

We sat in his office and chatted. “Were you surprise to see your mom and dad at the hearing?”

“I thought they were going to ask me to come back home, but they didn’t say anything. They only complained about the money.”

“I thought with that money, you could have an allowance and we would bank the rest. If you had gone through child welfare offices, that money would go in support of your food, clothing and incidentals. Because I don’t need that money, we’ll add it to your bank account. Once you get your driving license, we can use that money to get you a car.”

He seemed far away, looking at him I could see his eyes becoming moist. I knew what he was thinking. I grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. “Have faith, everything happens for a reason.” He smiled.

It wasn’t long before Mr. Anders came back. “Tobias, it seems you missed one test, which you can make up on Monday during your free period. You have an English and History report that was due and there were several chapters in Literature that you missed. I suggest you read them over the week-end and write a paper summarizing what you have read. This is your English and History assignments which you missed. Any questions?”

“No sir. Thank you.”

“It’s good meeting you Mr. Madison. It seems I have heard your name before in connection with the estate of my grandfather, Earnest Anders.”

“I knew that your name was familiar. Yes, I was his investment advisor. I was sorry to hear that he had died.”

“Are you still in the investment business? My grandfather said you were the best.”

“Your grandfather was a shrewd investor. I learned as much from him as he learned from me. And to answer your question, yes I am still in the business.”

“I don’t have much to invest. Most firms want 10,000 minimum. I don’t have that kind of money.”

“Why don’t you drop by my home and let’s look at some options. Here is my card, I gave up my office and now work from home. Anytime, just call and let me know when you’ll be stopping by.”

Leaving his office, “Why won’t other investment firms take his money?”

“Most investment firms believe they need a lot of upfront capital, money, to be sure an investor is serious. It’s a mistake they make that allows people like me to make a lot of money.”