The Summer Job - 67. Hang in There

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Richard dropped off Phillip, David and Randy at his home and said, “You guys have some shopping to do, and I’ve got a chore to take care of. I’ll be tangled up for a couple of hours.”

David said, “Are you sure? Shopping for cute boys is going to be fun.”

“I’ll have to skip it this time”, Richard sighed. “You guys have fun, and I’ll text you when I’m done.”

With a wink and a wave Richard took off on his mysterious mission.

Phillip said, “This gives us the opportunity to get organized and call up reinforcements.”

For such a tantalizing mission, Phillip did indeed have some volunteers. Shopping is one of the gay superpowers and, shopping for cute boys is irresistible. After making several lists and reinforced by Stevie, Seth, Billy, Bryan, Owen, Adam and his minivan, the group headed for the mall.

Richard saw the small group of familiar cars and trucks gathered in the parking lot of the Catholic Church that hosted their Alateen meetings. He parked beside a familiar Nissan truck and got out to see who had arrived.

Pops had taken him to his very first Alateen meeting here. Memories flooded back to Richard of the many meetings he had attended here and, the lessons, principals and people he had encountered.

Pete Swanson appeared from around the truck, engulfed Richard in a big hug and said, “Ritchie! How are you doing?”

It was hard not to smile at Pete Swanson. Nicer people were few and far between. When Pops had first brought Richard to Alateen, Pete had taken the younger boy under his wing, and they had been friends ever since.

Richard swallowed the lump he had in his throat and said, “Petey. It sure is good to see you. Sorry it has to be under these circumstances.”

Pete said, “Pops taught us sometimes you have to embrace the suck to get through it to something better.”

Richard looked down at his feet, kicking at some loose gravel and said, “It is hard to imagine Pops is gone. He has always been there for us.”

Pete put his big arm around Richard’s shoulder, a lot like he had five years ago when Pops had introduced them. Pete had been a seventeen-year-old junior at the time but, saw the pain and hurt in the younger boy as he seemed to hide behind Pops. He had told Richard his story. How he and Pops had met, how Pops had gradually tamed him and taught him to trust again. To a very injured Richard, meeting someone who had been where he was, survived and thrived gave him new hope.

Pete said, “Pops will always be with us. That is what we’re about to do is all about: accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can…”

“I know. I know”, Richard said peevishly. “It is going to take me a while to get used to the idea of Pops not being here. Where are the others?”

Pete said, “They’re in the coffee shop across from the paper. Come on. It’s time.”

They walked the block and Pete asked, “I understand your Dad is handling the funeral arrangements?”

Richard didn’t really want to think about it but answered, “Yeah. He’s Executor of Pops estate. It’s a little complicated because when Pops blew his salerooms in the basement, he set a Thermite fire that’ll probably burn a week.”

Pete’s head snapped toward Richard with a raised eyebrow, “So… there is no body. That’s interesting.”

“Yeah, I thought so too. Probably best that we don’t spread around a lot of speculation about that.”

Pete asked, “Do you know what will be done with his property? If he sells that farm, I’d sure like a shot at it.”

Richard said, “Pops set up a Trust to take care of his boys that are still in trouble. They are going to meet this week for a strategy session. I’m not sure what they’re going to do yet but, this isn’t like an ordinary will with the cousins squabbling over the silver. I’m sure Pops has a plan, and I’m sure my Dad will stick with it.”

They came to the coffee shop that they had always patronized after meetings and went inside. The gang was all here: including eight young men who Chuck Farmer had been an emergency foster parent and had guided through the system into stable homes. Richard was unsure about the ninth guy. He had met Chase Anderson on several occasions. They all stood, greeted Pete and Richard warmly, and then they crossed the street to the Tribune Building which had been home to the local paper since Reconstruction.

Phillip’s second mass shopping expedition was a lot better organized than the first. He had broken down the list into parts that made it easier to digest for his crew. Even Seth, who viewed the Lost Boys with some lingering resentment, got into the act.

Everyone focused on one item and got eight in the sizes required. The shoppers fanned out over several stores and got to work. Seth had jeans, Billy had socks, Randy had khaki pants, Phillip had sports shirts, Bryan had gym shorts, David had t-shirts, Adam had overnight bags, Stevie had shoes and Owen had belts.

One of the managers at Target noticed their efforts. When he learned that they were putting together packages for kids that needed help, he offered to let them use one of their workrooms to get the packages sorted.

After everything for the major list was gathered, they found eight small shaving kits and packed them with toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush and other personal care items.

To get around the ban on shoelaces, Stevie found some sneakers that attached with Velcro. That left only a small kit for nails in the bag not allowed in the jail.

As they were putting the finishing touches on things, David said, “Crap. We forgot the underwear.”

“No, we’re getting that at another store”, Phillip said.

When they left Target they had eight overnight bags, with a luggage tag for the recipient, packed for the eight boys in the city jail. Phillip changed shopping centers and went to a sporting goods place he knew. He got all eight of the boys a four-pack of boxer briefs in the appropriate sizes and color preferences.

Mission almost complete, Phillip asked, “How well do you know these guys?”

He looked around his group and saw some shrugs. Randy said, “I know Kevin and Cade pretty well.”

Phillip asked, “Do you know anything small we can give these guys that will be special to them?”

Randy grinned and said, “Kevin and Cade like to wear jocks.”

David added helpfully, “And Jeremy sure needs one.”

Eight jocks were selected, a blue and a red one for Cade and Kevin respectively, and two silver hair clasps for Miguel and Cade.

The packages were done, but there was one last touch.

Phillip went by the Hallmark store with Seth. They walked up and down the aisles but had difficulty finding a ‘sorry you are in jail’ card.

It was Seth that found just the right one. The card had an orange tabby kitten hanging from a rope with the caption- hang in there. Inside it said, tough times don’t last but tough people do.

Phillip purchased eight of them and went by the house, so the whole crowd could sign the cards. Their mercy mission had eaten up most of the afternoon but, Phillip saw it as hopeful.

Several of the boys who had been bullied the worst were the most enthusiastic participants. That spoke eloquently for them and, was a big step towards healing.

Stacy Scott was sitting at her desk fuming. She had been sitting still for twenty minutes while she wasn’t chasing stories. What was Murray up to?

There was a knock on the door and Murray entered and said, “OK. We’re about ready. Before you get started, I’ve got to prep you. What do you know about Twelve-Step programs?”

Stacy blinked at the apparent non-sequitur. She said, “I’ve heard of Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous. Many people get their lives together there after drinking and drugging.”

Murray nodded and said, “There are other types of Twelve Step programs besides for AA and NA. The one I’m briefing you about is Al-Anon and Alateen. Al-Anon is for adults who were in relationships with alcoholics. The one we’re interested in today is Alateen. It’s for the children of alcoholics.”

Stacy asked, “Why are we interested in Alateen?”

Murray sat back in his chair and said, “You’re about to learn more about me than you want to know. I got clean and sober shortly after college and a bad bout of coke and booze. I’ve been clean and sober for going on eighteen years now. My sponsor suggested that I check out some Al-Anon meetings because I had some lingering issues rooted in my Dad’s drinking. I met Chuck Farmer there about eight years ago in Al-Anon meetings.”

“Alateen is for kids dealing with the emotional scars of having alcoholic and addicted parents. Those meetings are supposed to be anonymous, understand?”

Stacy looked skeptical and said, “If we can’t use it…”

Murray said, “We can use it. We have anonymous sources all the time, and it will give you the background we need on the current mess that we know nothing about. Most of the kids you’re about to talk to, Chuck Farmer was their emergency foster parent until a permanent foster family could be arranged for them.”

Stacy’s eyes narrowed and said, “This could get really ugly.”

Murry grinned and said, “Do you want the story?”

Stacy said, “Of course.”

Murray stood and said, “Come on. I promise this will be one of the most interesting interviews you’ve ever conducted, and one hell of a story.”

Jeremy Aubrey and the rest of the boys were watching something stupid on TV in the commons room when the door opened. Mike Lee and several other cops entered carrying Big Swiss Gear overnight bags and said, “Guys, you’ve got some friends out there. Jeremy, Kevin: these are for you.”

The other guards handed all eight of the boys a bag and went back to work.

The boys took the bags, opened them and gawked. Phillip hadn’t been kidding around. Everything he had promised was in the bag. Inside he found an envelope and opened it.

Jeremy smiled at the orange tabby kitten and the caption, hang in there. He opened the card and read the inscription; tough times don’t last but tough people do. Much to his amazement, the card was signed by over a dozen kids. He recognized the names and was shocked. Those kids should hate them, but apparently, they did not.

His eyes watered, and he had trouble reading the names: Seth Garner, David Woods, Billy Jackson, Mikie Hendrix, Randy Carlson, Johnny Gray, Owen Jamison, Brice Turnipseed, Jeffry Cummins, Stevie and Patrick McGraw, Tanner Hudson, Bryan Larkin and more. He looked up and saw the rest of the Lost Boys were just as touched as he was.

The younger Benardi brother, Angelo said, “I recognize most of these names but, who is Brice Turnipseed?”

Cade Brock said, “He’s the starting tailback on the high school football team. What does this mean?”

Jeremy grinned at Cade and said, “It means we’ve got friends we didn’t know we had.”