Chapter Twenty-Four #2
everything gets way more complicated than it needs to be. You
understand what I’m saying?”
“I should play nice?” Alex asked with the
beginnings of a sneer. “So Daddy will give me money?”
Cain’s shoulder-nudge was sharper this time.
“You should play smart,” he said firmly. “You want to be a vet,
right? You need good grades for that, and it’ll be hard to get
grades if you’re working full time to pay your rent.”
Mark let the words sink in, then added,
“You’re a good kid, Alex, and you’re doing well at school, not
getting in trouble—all the easily measurable aspects of a
successful childhood, you’ve got covered so far. If those external
indicators go down, it’s going to be pretty hard to convince anyone
that you’re better off on your own.”
“So I go to school tomorrow.”
“Ideally, yes. For tonight, I’m thinking of
taking you down to The Core—it’s a youth center down by the
highway. They don’t usually take overnighters, but I know they have
in the past, short term. They’ll encourage you to call your father
to let him know you’re okay. And I’m going to ask you to call the
police and let them know what’s going on as well. Just so they have
the background if your dad calls them for any reason. Tomorrow,
we’ll try to get you connected with a social worker, but with their
caseload it’ll take a while. If we can have a plan figured out
before they get involved, they’d be happiest to just rubber stamp
it and move on.”
“Okay, yeah. A plan.” Alex looked at Mark
earnestly. “And do we have one of those?”
“Nope. Not yet. Look, you’ve had a rough day.
You need a shower and a bed. We can brainstorm some options in the
car, if you want me to drive you down to the shelter. They’ll have
toothbrushes and basic stuff down there, if you’re okay wearing
today’s clothes to school tomorrow.”
“Better that than going home to pick up
something else to wear.”
“Sooner or later you’re probably going to
want a face-to-face meeting. But, no, I don’t think it needs to be
tonight.”
“Can I still go to the farm tomorrow? After
school?”
Mark bit his lip. It was such a natural
request. Even before the crush on Cain, Alex had loved being out
there working with the animals. “Probably not a good idea. It seems
to be one of the things that’s setting your dad off.”
“I can explain it to Elise,” Cain said
quickly. “And I can pick up the slack. It’ll be fine.” He paused
only a moment before adding, “It’s not like you do much work out
there anyway.”
“I don’t get much work done?” Alex’s mock
outrage was a welcome glimmer of his usual personality. “I’m just
worried about how you’ll get along without me there to tell you
what to do. I need to get you a cell phone so I can provide
leadership from a distance.”
“Yeah, okay Mr. Moneybags, get me a cell
phone. Right after you figure out how you’re going to pay for your
breakfast.”
Alex actually laughed a little at that. “It’s
not like you’re rolling in cash either, you know.”
Cain extended his hands to his sides in a
mockingly tough pose, like a Jersey Shore guido. “Hey. I got a roof
over my head. More than some people can say.”
It wasn’t especially sophisticated or witty,
but the exchange left both of them smiling, and when Alex nudged
his shoulder into Cain’s and Cain nudged back a little stronger,
the warmth was clear. Cain might not be able to look Mark in the
eyes, but he was looking out for his friend. He’d been so nervous
when he’d called Mark, so clearly violating a boundary that he’d
wanted to respect, but he’d done it because his friend needed him
to.
“You have a cell phone, right Alex?”
Alex looked almost startled, as if he’d
forgotten Mark was there, but he recovered quickly and nodded.
“Until my dad deactivates it.”
“Let’s not go looking for trouble. Lucas, you
have phone privileges at the house, right?” Mark waited for his
prompts to pay off.
“Yeah. It’s only one line so we’re not
supposed to go crazy, but I could call you tomorrow, Alex. Not
looking for leadership. Just…you know. To check in and make sure
you’re okay. Maybe after dinner?”
Alex nodded slowly. “Yeah. Okay. I don’t know
where I’ll be, but wherever it is, I bet I’ll want a phone
call.”
“All right, then.” Mark rose to his feet, and
after a moment’s hesitation, the other two followed suit. “We’ll
get it figured out.” He wished he had a chance to get Cain alone
for the next part but he didn’t think Alex was going to willingly
go out to the car alone. So he said, “Lucas, what’s happened in the
past…we need to leave that in the past. Alex needs you now, and I
think you were right to call me, because I think he needs me as
well. He needs both of us. So I need to forgive you. And, Lucas, I
think you need to forgive yourself. It’s not a question of
forgetting what happened, but if we can think of it as God’s will,
some inexplicable part of His plan, then maybe it’s easier to start
trying to figure out what the next step is in His plan for
you.”
Cain finally looked at Mark, but even in the
dim glow from the porch light Mark could see the doubt in his green
eyes. “When I was inside…in prison…they kind of told us the
opposite. They said we had to take responsibility for our actions.
It…it made sense to me.”
Well, that was a good point. The old free
will versus omnipotent God argument. “I don’t think anyone would
accuse you of not taking responsibility for this. So, yes, do that.
But also let yourself move on.” Mark stopped. He hadn’t meant to
take the conversation this far. He’d just thought it would be
easier for Alex if Cain stopped prostrating himself whenever he saw
Mark. Anything beyond that was none of Mark’s business. “Anyway,
please do call me again, if you think Alex needs me and I’m not
around. Thank you for doing it tonight.”
“Thank you for coming.” Now that Cain was
looking at Mark, there was something compelling in his gaze. “Thank
you for helping him.”
“Okay, okay,” Alex interjected. “I thank both
of you. Everyone thanks everyone. Now, let’s get going, okay? The
mosquitos are coming out.”
“You’re such a softy,” Cain said as he
reached out and roughly mussed the boy’s hair. “I hope they have
sheets with the right thread count at the shelter.”
“If they don’t I’ll ask the concierge to find
me some,” Alex replied haughtily. He walked beside Mark as they
headed for the gate, but paused when they reached it as if it were
one threshold too many for him that day.
Mark didn’t let himself think about it, he
just reached out and wrapped an arm loosely around the kid’s
shoulders, then shook him gently. “You’re going to be okay,” he
said, and he felt at least some of the tension drain from the thin
body.
“Yeah,” Alex said, and he pulled away from
Mark, pushing himself ahead through the gate.
As Mark followed, he heard a quiet skittering
noise coming from beside him. He looked over to see a fat grey
squirrel running along the top of the wooden fence that enclosed
the yard. It stopped when he stopped and sat up on its haunches. It
stared at him for a moment, then chittered something unintelligible
before flipping its tail and turning to scamper away into the
darkness.
“Are squirrels nocturnal?” Mark asked out
loud, but the night gave him no answers, so he gave up and followed
Alex to the car.
He’d broken one of his vows that evening.
He’d stretched the trust of a friend and advisor possibly beyond
the breaking point, opened his church up to more hostility from an
angry member of the community, and possibly betrayed the memory of
his own brother. He slid behind the wheel and looked over at Alex’s
strained, puffy face, and he couldn’t make himself believe that he
had done the wrong thing.