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  At the end of the last bite, they threw the papers, wrappers and napkins into the now empty food bag, and the boy leaned back on the seat. He remained motionless, but his eyes were focused on the roof of the car. The boy appeared to have finally relaxed and he let out a quiet sigh.

  Hearing the sigh, Richard turned to him.

  “What’s your name?” he asked softly.

  “Cory. Cory Anderson,” the boy answered, still keeping his eyes fixed on the inside of the roof.

  “My name’s Richard.” Cory was silent. After a few moments, Richard asked, “How old are you Cory?”

  “15,” Cory turned toward Richard suddenly and said, “but I’ll be 16 in two months.” A small amount of pride had started to return to the boy.

  Richard assumed that the boy was starting to relax a little by his enthusiasm at turning 16, and maybe his reluctance at being in Richard’s car was waning.

  But the slight break in tensions was overshadowed as Richard turned forward with concern on his face. He knew that he was getting in deeper with this boy, but he had to find out. In a concerned but soft voice, he asked,

  “Can I ask you again what happened tonight?”

  Cory’s face filled with dread again as he faced forward.

  “Mister…uh…Richard. Thanks for the food, man. I really was pretty hungry after all.”

  The silence in the car foretold of the tension again building between Richard and Cory. The boy had obviously side stepped the question, but Richard was determined to finish what he had started. He turned to look directly at Cory.

  Suddenly, Cory turned toward him and, in a soft pleading voice with all of his defensiveness gone, admitted,

  “I don’t know what to do. My dad threw me out tonight and I just want to get as far away from here as fast as I can. I’m scared right now, okay? I just need to get my head together, you know, figure out what to do.”

  Richard continued to look at Cory, but his face reflected his doubt in the story.

  “It can’t be that bad Cory. What did you do that’s so terrible? I mean, your dad is probably out looking for you right now. I’m sure he’s sorry for whatever he did to you tonight.”

  “No. You don’t know him. I hate him. I fucking hate him! He’s beaten on me most of my life.”

  Richard’s rage began to return as he thought that there might be some truth in what Cory was saying. Cory was too emotional. This was no act, not some fantasy. But he had to know. He had to find out what was troubling Cory.

  “So, tell me what happened.”

  After a short pause, Cory turned toward the front of the car and slid down into the seat. The next few moments – an eternity to Richard – ended abruptly as Cory began to speak.

  “My dad had been drinking again today. He works from 3:00 in the morning till noon, and is off the rest of the day. He drinks just about every day after he gets off work. When I got home from school today, his red eyes were waiting for me. He wanted to know about this ‘letter’ that I had written to a friend of mine. Mike, that’s his name. Anyway, Mike’s been my best friend all through school, but he moved away last year. We talk online a lot still, and sometimes we write letters, you know, cause IMing isn’t always the best way to say what you mean. We’ve been able to talk to each other about anything. Anyway, my dad was holding this letter that I was going to send to Mike, but I hadn’t finished it yet.

  “Was there something in the letter that your dad didn’t like?”

  Cory lowered his head for a moment, then looked up and continued, “Yeah. I told you that Mike and I can talk to each other about anything. Well, I don’t know how to say this...”

  Cory turned to look for Richard’s reaction and saw the concerned furrows on Richard’s forehead.

  Richard then slowly said, “Cory. I’m not going to get mad at you,” although his stomach tightened.

  “Okay, okay.” Cory turned away from Richard and began again. “I told Mike that I…that I’m not what he thought I was.” Cory took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m different.”

  “What do you mean, different?”

  “Just…different. I’m not like everyone else. I like different things than Mike likes. Even though Mike knew what I liked, I hadn’t actually told him before, cuz I’d been trying to figure it out. Anyway, I was telling him in the letter.”

  Richard didn’t understand. This didn’t sound like it was about music or sports or which girls the boy liked. But within moments, his eyes brightened in surprise as the thought hit him of what Cory was maybe trying to tell him. Richard didn’t want to go there, but decided that he would approach it sideways, still getting to the point.

  “I didn’t think that was much of an issue anymore. Your dad had a problem with it?” Richard asked.

  Richard saw Cory relax after he heard the question, and it appeared that what he had just asked, seemed to fit with what Cory was saying.

  Cory continued his story.

  “My dad was put in jail once for attacking a man who he thought was, you know, different. He used such hateful words too, over and over again. I knew. I just knew that I could never talk to him about me.”

  Richard finally understood what was battling inside of Cory. There, in the seat next to him, was a young man who he had read about in the newspapers or had seen and heard about on the television news – one of the thrown away kids. His mind screamed as he realized the horror of what these kids have to face and he knew he was a part of it too. That thought terrified him as he knew that he had turned his mind away from those kids before. His own years of uncaring, the years of being isolated from the real world and the years of not seeing the hate that existed all around him, melted his soul. He sat back in the car seat and said nothing as these feelings overwhelmed him.

  After a short pause, he sat up and asked Cory, “Do you have any place to go tonight?”

  “I don’t have any family here, but I do have an aunt living in Florida. I was going to go stay with her for a while.”

  Richard didn’t know what he was thinking and didn’t know what he was going to try to do. But then he did know that he had to do something that he probably hadn’t done since his wife died. He felt that he had an obligation to himself to do what he thought was right. He was going to take a chance.

  “That’s out of the question tonight.” Richard’s strength took over as the voice in his head screamed at him to stop. That voice would not be listened to tonight.

  “It’ll take you days to hitchhike there, so you’ll stay at my place tonight, and then we can get this mess figured out in the morning. I can’t just leave you in the rain at this hour.”

  Cory began to plead, “Look Mister, Richard, you don’t have to do this. You’ve already helped me out of the rain for a little while and thank you for the dinner, but...”

  “Cory, don’t say anything more. Trying to hitchhike to Florida at this hour in the rain is just plain stupid. You’re not old enough to be doing this anyway. And I’m not going to just leave you on the road. You have a place to stay tonight, okay?”

  Cory couldn’t respond right away; this development was new to him. He didn’t know Richard, and he didn’t know if he could trust him. He was starting to like him, but he was still a stranger. ‘But what other choice did he have?’ he asked himself. Richard hadn’t tried to take advantage of him. He had only seemed to want to help.

  “Do you live far from here?” Cory asked.

  “It’s not far. I live in Belleville.”

  “Okay. But just for tonight, okay?”

  “Cory, don’t worry. We’ll get this all straightened out in the morning. Tonight you just need a good night’s sleep. Things will look a lot better in the morning.”

  Cory looked directly at Richard. His eyes were misting and a slight curl of a smile formed on his lips. A whispered, “Thank you,” could be heard as he sat back in the seat and rested his head. His eyes were open, looking up, but he wasn’t seeing anything. Cory was deep in thought for
a moment, but slowly closed his eyes. For the first time in years, a comforting calm had formed within him. He didn’t recognize that feeling, it had been too long. He just knew that it felt good. And it started with this stranger.

  Two

  * * *

  The Realization

  Richard’s garage was clean and orderly. It’s the way he’d ordered his life, no risks. Now here he was with a runaway boy in his midteens sitting next to him as he guided the car into his designated space within the garage. The garage was lit with a single bare overhead bulb casting dark shadows on the floor around the things in the garage. In contrast to the harsh lighting in the garage, Cory had the feeling that the lights inside the house would be warm, inviting and accepting. This is what Cory had wanted for the last three years.

  As they entered through the door connecting the garage to the house, Cory looked around the family room that they had just entered, and he saw a sectional couch facing a wide screen TV that he estimated to be at least 42”. He also noticed that the room was very contemporary with no flowered prints anywhere. Cory felt that this was a man’s room. Well, maybe Richard’s room, because Cory thought his own room wouldn’t have been so neat and orderly.

  Cory looked to his left through the sliding glass doors and saw a wooden deck ending in what looked like a swimming pool. It was dark outside, but he could see the moon’s reflection on the shimmering water.

  Richard plodded along without a word as he led Cory through the living room and up the staircase to the second floor. Cory noticed that the living room was just as nicely decorated as the family room, very contemporary with a bronze sculpture of a horse with rider on the coffee table. It was definitely a man’s home without a feminine touch, Cory thought. As he and Richard reached the second floor, Richard paused at a bedroom doorway and turned to Cory.

  “This was my daughter’s bedroom, but she has an apartment up at Michigan State in Lansing. She’s engaged to be married when she graduates in a couple of months, so she won’t be coming back here. You can sleep in here tonight.”

  Cory sheepishly peered through the doorway and grinned as he saw an orderly room fashioned with the trappings of a high school girl. This is definitely a “girl’s” room, he thought. Posters of rock bands adorned the walls. The colors of the room were bright and warm and looked so inviting to Cory that he continued inside. A smile crept over his lips.

  Cory was broken from his trance by Richard’s voice.

  “The bathroom is right over there across the hallway. Sorry to say this, but you look awful. Would you like to clean up or take a shower before you go to bed? There’s a new toothbrush in there for guests, and you qualify as a guest. It’s in the top drawer of the cabinet.”

  “Yeah, I think I need one.” Cory chuckled, but paused, not knowing what to do next.

  Seeing Cory’s hesitance, Richard retrieved a towel from the linen closet and handed it to Cory.

  “Go on inside and get yourself cleaned up. I’ll be back in a minute. You can throw your dirty clothes out in the hall, because I need to wash them. I don’t have anything your size for you to wear, so you’ll need these cleaned.”

  Moments later, Richard retrieved the sports bag from Cory’s room and the clothes piled on the hall floor and went downstairs to the laundry room. As he started to put the wet and dirty clothes in the washer, he felt something inside of Cory’s jeans pocket. It was Cory’s wallet. He knew that this was private and should not be opened, but he also knew that he had to eventually contact someone about him. He would need some information that was probably contained in the wallet.

  Reluctantly, Richard put the wallet on a shelf above the washing machine and continued to pull out Cory’s clothes from the sports bag, tossing them in the washer, added the soap, closed the washing machine door and turned the knob. The water started rushing in.

  Just then he looked up as he heard the other sound of running water stop.

  Cory stepped out of the bathroom wearing only a towel wrapped around him as Richard reached the top of the stairs.

  Richard looked at Cory for a moment. He was slim with a swimmer’s build, had broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Cory appeared to have just come out of one his adolescent growth spurts. He looked to be about 5’-10” tall, but only about 130 lbs. His brownish strawberry blond hair was not cut too short.

  Seeing the embarrassment on Cory’s face as Cory looked down at the floor, Richard retrieved a dark blue terry cloth robe from his bedroom and handed it to Cory.

  “This will have to do tonight, because your clothes are still in the washer.”

  Cory slowly put the robe on and pulled the terry cloth belt tight around his waist. Letting the towel fall to the floor, Cory walked toward the bedroom that would be his for tonight. As Richard walked into the room behind him, Cory stopped and looked around at the room, turning slowly. Cory’s eyes, normally a dark blue, began to take on a gray hue as he continued his turn and eventually stared back at Richard.

  Richard noticed the change in color and saw the pain return, thinking it was probably the uncertainty of his life. Richard put his arm over Cory’s shoulder and led him toward the bed, saying softly but with reassurance,

  “Cory. Everything will be alright. You’re going to be fine.”

  Cory sat on the side of the bed, and Richard sat himself next to him. Still wearing the uncertainty, Cory looked over at Richard and mumbled,

  “I don’t know why you’re doing this, why you’re being so nice to someone who you don’t even know. But all I can say is thank you.”

  Richard looked away from Cory seeing a part of his own life that had been missing. He had been missing the ability to care.

  “I guess there’s more to life than just moving through the days, watching life’s games go on around you as if you were in the bleachers looking down at life. It’s about being a part of this world, being on the court playing the game, making a difference instead of being just an observer.”

  After a moment and while still looking at Richard, Cory mumbled, “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s about taking a chance, Cory. You may not understand right now, but you will one day. One day you will.”

  Cory looked at Richard silently for a moment.

  “You’re taking a chance with me, aren’t you?”

  “I have this feeling, Cory, about you. And yes, I am taking a chance with you. And I’m taking a chance with myself, too.”

  Just then the tears welled within Cory and his arms shot out and around Richard’s neck. Cory was crying openly and couldn’t stop. They embraced for a few moments without words between them.

  Cory finally lessened his grip on Richard and he slowly pulled back.

  “I’m sorry, Richard. I didn’t mean to do that. I guess, I don’t know, I guess I’m really tired. I don’t know why I did that.”

  Richard stared at Cory for a few moments, knowing what that emotional outburst was all about. Cory was so wrapped in his fears, his thoughts of escape and his unknown future that he couldn’t put his mind around what was actually happening to him. Someone helping him seemed so foreign to Cory.

  “Get some sleep, Cory. We’ll talk more in the morning when you’re feeling better, okay?”

  Cory laid back, putting his head on the pillow as Richard got up from the bed. He put a blanket over Cory, drawing it up to his shoulders. Richard stared at Cory for a moment as his own emotions were running at full throttle. He was looking at pain that he had not experienced before and wasn’t sure what to do about it. Richard knew that he needed to face his own uncaring past if he was going to help Cory.

  Richard turned to leave, but turned back toward Cory as he reached the door. Cory raised his head to nod good night and Richard saw the blue eyes again. There was a slight sparkle that he hadn’t seen before. The eyes appeared to be filled with contentment.

  Richard spoke softly, “Good night, Cory” and left the room closing the door behind him.

  Downstairs in the
laundry room, Richard retrieved Cory’s wallet from the shelf, moved into the kitchen and sat at the kitchen table. He stared at the wallet, moving it around in his hands for a few moments and then tossed it on the table as he stood again. He walked around the kitchen table several times, his eyes still fixed on the wallet.

  After a minute of staring, he grabbed the wallet again, but this time he opened it. Inside he found Cory’s school ID and another ID card. There was no money or driver’s license. The other card had Cory’s name, address and telephone number, neatly typed. Richard’s mind continued to wrestle with the question of what was the right thing to do. Just then, Richard saw the basketball court in his mind again. He was seated in the bleachers, watching the action on the court below. But just then his image in the bleachers moved, stood up straight and paraded down the aisle toward the game.

  Richard knew that Cory’s father had to know what had happened to him. Cory was not 18 yet and that man was still responsible for him. Richard had moved onto the court.

  Richard swung around and pulled a pad of paper and a pen from the hutch behind him and wrote down Cory’s address and telephone number. As he returned the card to Cory’s wallet, he noticed another scrap of paper tucked deep in the paper money pocket. He removed and unfolded it and stared at the name written on it, “Mickey.” His resolve was now certain as he put ‘Mickey’ back inside and flung the wallet onto the table.

  Richard sat back and covered his face with his hands, rubbing his eyes. He quickly glanced to the picture of his daughter for a moment and then looked toward the ceiling to where Cory was sleeping above. He knew what his daughter would do. He knew that she’d do exactly what h was about to do.

  Richard moved across the room and grabbed the telephone and dialed. After a few moments of waiting, the other end of the line was picked up.

  “Yeah,” was all that he heard.

  “Hello. Is this Mr. Anderson?”

  “Yeah, what do you want?”

  Richard was taken aback by the roughness coming from the telephone.