Chapter 21
They drove back to the city after breakfast the next day, Kai cradling the box of treats, committed to giving it to the kid, but they’d run from one dead end to another.
They’d driven in a grid all around the area they’d been in last night, and when that hadn’t worked, they’d taken to their feet.
Kai had taken Nolan to some of his old spots.
He’d run into a few people that he knew, but no one was able to identify the kid from last night.
Everyone they’d met was from Kai’s days on the streets, most of them still experiencing homelessness.
Kai stopped to talk, but Nolan’s eyes were on the people that walked past, eyes averted.
It fired every protective instinct he had, thinking of Kai, sitting on a corner, needing help, while people walked past him, pretending, sometimes wishing, he didn’t exist. How many times had Nolan been that person?
How many times had he failed to notice? When Kai was finished talking, Nolan opened his wallet, offering what cash he had, knowing he’d never make that mistake again.
“It was always a long shot anyway,” Kai said morosely. They’d stopped in Chinatown for something to eat. Kai slouched in his chair, twisting his noodles in his bowl, looking glum.
“I’m sorry, baby. What do you want to do?”
Kai sighed and shoved a hand restlessly through his hair.
“Nothing. It is what it is. I’m sure he’s fine.
I just hate that, if it wasn’t for me, he wouldn’t have been in that situation.
He would have gotten what he could and been out of there.
The only reason he stayed was because he was making sure I was okay. ”
“What? You didn’t tell me that.” Nolan’s guilt from last night resurfaced, thinking about the cascading chain of events that he’d started.
“Yeah. He stopped to ask if I needed help. Asked me, like, three times. It’s such bullshit. He told me they lock the dumpsters.” Kai shook his head bitterly.
“Have you ever had to do that?”
“Yeah, like, last week.” Kai laughed sarcastically. “Do you know how much food people throw out for no reason?”
Nolan jolted with surprise. He had expected Kai to say yes, but as a thing of the past, not as a thing he did now.
“I don’t want you doing that anymore,” he said automatically.
“Why? Because you can’t have a boyfriend who dumpster dives?” Kai asked defensively, a hard edge in his voice.
“Because I have a boyfriend who doesn’t have to. You could get hurt or you could get sick. This isn’t like buying Lego or fancy clothes. If you need groceries, I will buy you fucking groceries.”
Kai stared him down, but Nolan didn’t flinch. He leaned back in his chair and waited him out, ready to die on this hill.
Kai’s mouth curved into a wicked smile. “Okay, fine. You want to do something that’ll make me feel better?”
“Name it, baby.” Nolan grinned, daring him to bring it on.
“Alright. Let’s get out of here.”
Kai dragged him to a grocery store, seemingly committed to testing how much Nolan was willing to buy.
He didn’t know the limit did not exist, but he was willing to let Kai find that out for himself.
He loaded the cart with canned soup, canned beans, boxes and boxes of Kraft dinner, and a shit ton of packaged soup.
“Sweetheart, that stuff is poison. You should not be eating that much processed food.”
Kai looked at him askance. “I didn’t realize you were such a snob. Just trust me. Damn, we forgot to hit the cereal aisle. We need another cart.”
“I’m not a snob,” Nolan said, mildly affronted. “Fine, but we’re hitting the produce section after that.”
“Fine, but we have to hit the ice cream aisle after that.” Nolan chuckled but agreed.
Eight bunches of bananas, a flat of berries and ten boxes of Chapman’s ice cream, in all of the flavours, later, Nolan started suspecting this wasn’t for Kai, but he didn’t say anything because Kai’s face was lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
He’d never seen him so energetic. He could practically see the wheels turning in his brain as he dumped ice cream scoops, cones and chocolate syrup into the cart.
It wasn’t until they got to the cash register that he saw Kai falter, for a second, looking unsure of himself, so Nolan planted a hard kiss on his mouth.
“I don’t know what you’re up to but I’m here for it.”
Kai grinned at him, reassured, and by the time they’d loaded everything into the SUV, taking down the seats to make room, Kai was vibrating with excitement again.
When they pulled up to the address that Kai had punched into his GPS, they were greeted by a massive, two-storey house that looked like it had been originally built in the sixties but appeared to have been recently converted into something else.
The front yard was lined with raised garden beds that were well on their way to summer growth, greens spilling from tomato cages and vines winding up long ropes to tall trellises.
There were a few adults working in the yard and about ten kids, all looking like they were either teens or in double digits at least. Nolan automatically spotted Matteo in the group where he was standing talking with a tall black man, both of them wearing heavy duty gardening gloves.
Matteo’s attention automatically caught on them as they reversed into the double wide driveway that ran alongside the house.
“Jay’s here! Come on, come on, come on.” Nolan’s attention caught on that name, knowing he was one of Kai’s roommates, pleasuring flaring at that chance to see more of Kai’s world.
Kai hurried and Nolan laughed. Kai leapt from the car, running around to greet Matteo as Nolan opened the door and popped the trunk.
“Hey, man, what’s up? You okay?” he heard Matteo ask.
“Yeah. We got a surprise,” Kai told him. Kai embraced the man that Matteo had been speaking with, dragging both of them over.
“Jay, this is Nolan. Nolan, this is Jason.” Jason pulled off his glove to shake his hand, warm brown eyes meeting his, his smile friendly. Matteo reached out and shook Nolan’s hand with a grin, and, together, they circled to the back of the car.
“Casey and Callum here?” Kai asked.
“Yeah. They’re inside playing video games,” Jason answered.
“What is this?” Matteo laughed, shocked as he faced the load of groceries. “Listen man, if you’re trying to win me over, you did that last week.”
“Hey, this is all Kai. He didn’t tell me anything,” Nolan admitted.
“He paid for it,” Kai inserted, as Matteo wrapped an arm around Kai’s neck and dragged his knuckles through his hair affectionately.
“Thank you! Thank you! This is amazing!” Matteo looked incredulous, like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. “Let’s get it all unpacked.” He whistled at the crew, and everyone looked up, setting down what they were doing as Matteo waved them over.
Matteo led them through a side door directly into a large kitchen that looked like it had been upgraded from a family-style set up to something a little more industrial.
“What is this place?” Nolan asked Kai.
Matteo chuckled. “He really roped you into this, huh? We’re a youth resource centre.
We work with a lot of at-risk young people experiencing homelessness, poverty and food insecurity.
That’s why this is incredible. Beyond generous.
” He paused, watching in amazement as bags upon bags started getting unpacked.
“Why don’t I show you around while these guys take care of this? Kai, Jay knows where everything goes.”
Matteo led him through the space. The kitchen opened into a large dining room.
Five round tables, each with eight chairs, peppered the room.
One side had a wall length-buffet with bins of groceries, a coffee maker and a small merchandiser fridge.
In front of it ran a long island with bar stools as additional seating.
A couple of kids were sitting around doing what looked like homework, and another was paired with a teenager, their heads close together as they reviewed a notebook in front of them.
“We primarily strive to be a safe space for kids just to hang out and feel safe. A lot of the kids drop in. We have tutoring services. We offer counselling services. We actually have group sessions going on right now down in the basement. We also operate as an emergency shelter in a limited capacity. In Ontario, at any time, about a couple thousand youth are homeless, and those are just the ones we know about. We help find housing and help them navigate their way through accessing resources.”
“Do you run this as well as your other business?” Nolan asked.
“No, this is my mother’s brainchild. She started it in the nineties and all of my family volunteers when they can.
Three of my siblings also work here. My eldest sister is our accountant, and I have both a brother and a sister who are social workers.
My father worked in construction until he retired a few years ago. ”
“Were they disappointed when you chose landscaping?”
“Not at all. My parents believed that anything we did with our whole hearts could serve the community and that’s how they guided our paths.”
They passed down a long corridor, into a large rec room with two large sofas in the centre.
The room also had a large air hockey table and several large bean bag chairs in a corner with a tall bookshelf, and another corner with what looked like toys for younger kids.
Three boys had controllers in their hands in front of a TV.
Whatever game they were playing seemed to be getting pretty intense because they jostled each other roughly, trying to get into each other’s way.
“You’re cheating, bro!” the one said to his twin, his face bright with laughter.
“I’m not cheating! You just can’t handle it.”
“You’re both cheating! Matteo, tell them they’re cheating!” the third, who seemed a couple of years younger, yelled as they walked into the room.
“Oh, I’m definitely not getting involved. Casey, Callum, this is Nolan. He’s Kai’s friend.” Identical pairs of wide green eyes turned to Nolan in unison. The boys dropped their controllers as they leaned across the couch.
“Are you his boyfriend?”
“Liam said you’re really rich.”
“Do you have a mansion?”
“Do you have a pool?”
“Guys!” Matteo interrupted but there was humour in his voice. Nolan just laughed.
“Yes, to all three.”
“Can we come?” they chorused, instantly vibrating with excitement. Nolan glanced Matteo’s way, but he shook his head to let Nolan know he was on his own.
“It’s okay with me. Let’s ask Kai what he thinks.”
Kai called out to Matteo just then, and they turned to see him jogging towards them, his face still bright.
“Can we give the kids ice cream?” he asked when they were within distance.
“Yeah, of course!” Matteo grinned. Casey and Callum jumped off the couch, wrapping themselves around Kai in a tight hug.
“Nolan said we could ask you if we can go to his pool!” Callum rushed the words out, looking up at him. Kai looked at Nolan, the question in his eyes.
“If their folks are okay with it?” Nolan asked.
“Yeah, Riley’s cool,” Kai answered. The boys cheered.
“You three.” Matteo summoned the boys as Kai doubled back the way he’d come.
“Run outside and tell Jenny and Sarah to bring the kids in for a treat and you guys come down to the dining room as well.” All three boys raced for the giant patio door at the back of the rec room that opened into an enormous backyard.
In the far back, Nolan could see a play structure with a small group of kids sitting in a circle, playing a game led by two adults.
The boys shoved each other out of the way as they tried to get out first.
“Everything’s a competition with those three.” Matteo shook his head as they started back towards the front.
“That seems pretty standard. My brothers and my cousins and I were almost constantly trying to outdo each other, but wherever you found one of us, there were at least five more nearby.”
“Yep. Sounds like those three.” When they entered the dining room again, Jason and Kai had all of the ice cream containers lined up across the island, prying off lids, while the kids handed each other cones and formed a sort of haphazard line while they waited their turn.
“Oh my God, it looks like Baskin-Robbins over here!” Matteo shook his head again. “Seriously, you have no idea what this means to these kids. It breaks my heart, the way some of them have never experienced kindness.”
“But you’re here changing that.”
Matteo quirked a half smile at Nolan. “And you too. Don’t think I haven’t noticed what you’ve done for Kai. He’s a good kid. I have wished more than once that we’d had a chance with him when he was younger. He really struggles with confidence. I think that’s why—”
He broke off, shaking himself like he thought better about what he was about to say. “Never mind. Sorry.”
“No, please. I want to help Kai in any way that I can. Kai respects you. I don’t think he would mind if there was something you thought I should know.”
Matteo’s mouth firmed, like whatever he was going to say irritated him. “Have you met Liam?”
“Yeah. Briefly.”
“I’m not so sure if Kai would mind me saying it, but the truth is, I think his issues with confidence are why he’s relied so heavily on Liam.”
“What I know about Liam isn’t great,” Nolan said quietly.
“Those two are bonded for life so, for your sake, I hope that changes.” Kai looked up just then, saw the two of them by the door, and beckoned them over eagerly.
They looked at each other, grinning, and then headed into the trenches.