by C. E. Wilson
“No, Charlie, I’m taking you home with Carson and me. There are a lot of boys there for you to play with. I promise you’ll never get hit ever again.”
Justin picked him up the pillow and all and carried him out to the bus. Carson sat in first seat and Justin laid Charlie down across Carson’s lap on the pillow. Carson got an arm under him and over the top of him. Carson frowned, “Justin, he doesn’t weigh anything at all.”
“I know Carson, we’ll get that fixed soon. I want him to see John before we feed him and see what his little body will tolerate.”
Carson looked down in Charlie’s smiling face. Carson said, “Hi, Charlie. I’m Carson. I’m going to see if my dad will let you stay in my room. I have an extra bed and you can have it.”
“Hi, Carson. I wish I could play with you but right now, I hurt too bad to play but the judge said my dad will make sure I’m all better. The judge said a doctor was going to come to give me medicine so I’ll get better fast.”
“Who is your dad?”
“That man that’s driving the car. The judge said that my new dad was coming to get me, and he would take care of me. He promised he would.”
Justin’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. He sat and thought about the papers he signed and finally realized that they were adoption papers like he had signed for Simon and Jordan. He chuckled. That slick old judge got him to sign them, and Justin just thought he was taking custody of him, but now he knew what the papers were.
That was fine with Justin. He wanted to help Charlie. He seemed like nothing bothered him. He wasn’t sad or crying like you would think he would. He was laughing and talking with Carson, and he should be crying and yelling. He had to have a good personality. He wondered what Jordan and Simon would think of their new brother. He just hoped that John could help him. He would love to meet his old dad in a dark alley for about thirty minutes.
Justin pulled into the driveway, and his pickup was sitting near the garage. The boys were still carrying bags of groceries into the house. Justin went and got Charlie off Carson. “Go help your dad get the groceries in and put away. I’ll take Charlie in and see where Hunter wants him.”
“Tell Dad that I have an extra bed in my room now, and I want Charlie in there with me so I can help take care of him.”
Justin picked up Charlie, pillow and all and carried him into the house. He called for Hunter, and he ran out of the kitchen and up to Justin. He looked at Charlie. “Judge Stone sent him here? We don’t take babies. They have to be in school to be here. We have too many boys here to take someone that young.”
“Hunter, how old do you think he is?”
“I don’t know, maybe four or five? That’s his size.”
“Charlie is seven years old. He’s now my son, but we’ll talk about that later. Carson wants him in the extra bed in his room so he can help look after him. John should be here in a little while to check him out. He’s so weak he can’t even stand up. He only weighs about forty pounds, the judge said. He’s very light.”
Hunter brushed his hair out of his face. “Charlie, do you want something to eat?”
“What kind of dog do you have?”
“We don’t have a dog, sweetie. We just have lots of boys.”
“What kind of dog food do you have if you don’t have a dog?”
“We don’t have any dog food. Why are you asking about dog food? I asked you if you wanted something to eat.”
“That’s all I get to eat is dog food. We have a big dog, and I don’t like his food, so I don’t eat much. He had that canned stuff and it’s nasty. Do you have dry dog food?”
Hunter looked up at Justin with tears in his eyes. Justin said, “I was going to wait and see what John says he can have. If he hasn’t been eating anything but dog food, it’s no wonder that the child is sick and small.”
Charlie looked up and smiled. “I’m not sick, my old dad hurt my back with the belt. It is bleeding, so the judge gave me this pillow I can lay on. The lady that got me said she was going to send me to Hunter. Is that you?”
“No, son. I’m Justin, your new dad. This is Hunter and this is his house. We all stay here. I’m like a doctor but not for sick people. I’m a doctor that takes care of your mind.”
Hunter wiped his eyes. “Yes, you can put him in with Carson. He’ll take care of him. I can’t see how this could happen. Did no one think to check on this boy? Charlie, where is your mother?”
“She’s dead. She died when I was born. My dad said I made her die, and he was going to do the same to me. I didn’t mean to kill my momma. I didn’t even know her.”
Justin looked down at Charlie. “You did not kill your mother, Charlie. That sometimes happens when a woman has a baby. She probably didn’t take care of herself while you were in her tummy. She should have taken better care of herself and you too.”
“If you’re my new dad, can I call you dad instead of Justin?”
“You sure can. Let’s get you upstairs and into bed. I want to see what I can do for your back before the doctor gets here. You’ll like John. He’s a nice man.”
Justin and Carson took him up to Carson’s room, and Justin laid him down on the bed. He asked Charlie to roll over so he could look at his back. Justin pulled his blood-stained shirt up and gasped when he saw Charlie’s back.
Chapter 21
After Justin looked at Charlie’s back, he pulled his shirt back down. He told Carson to stay with Charlie while he went and got some water and cotton balls. He didn’t have any clothes with him, so Justin went and got a pair of pajamas for Charlie from Jordan’s clothes. He got him several of his shirts and a few pairs of shorts. He got a small bowl of water and some cotton balls from the medical supplies. He wasn’t going to bandage him just yet. He wanted John to see his back and see if there was anything special he could do for him.
John got there a little while later, and Hunter took him upstairs to Carson’s room. John sat on the side of the bed and checks his back and bottom. He had been beaten horribly. John put some strong antibiotic ointment on his open places and then put some gauze on it. John didn’t want to put tape on his back because of all the bruises. He used some elastic wrap and wound it around his body to hold the gauze.
“How old is this child?”
“The judge said he was seven.”
Charlie grinned. “I am seven and ten days. I have been counting them.”
John smiled at him. “Well, Charlie, we need to get some food in you. How does some scrambled eggs sound? Maybe even a couple of pieces of toast?”
Charlie shook his head. “That was my old dad’s food, and I’m not allowed to eat that. I have to eat dog food but they don’t have a dog here so I don’t know what I can eat.”
“Well, Charlie, you have a new dad and you can eat what he says. “Justin, can Charlie have some soft scrambled eggs and some lightly buttered toast?”
“He sure can. Carson go tell Hunter exactly what Dr. Willis said that Charlie can have. Soft scrambled eggs and lightly buttered toast. Then bring it here, and you can help him with eating it.”
Carson grinned and ran out of the room and down the stairs to Hunter in the kitchen. It wasn’t long until he was back with the eggs and toast. Justin sat Charlie up in the corner where his bed set, and Carson sat down with Charlie and started feeding him the eggs. Charlie kept cutting his eyes up to John and Justin.
Finally, Charlie frowned. Justin asked, “Is there something wrong with the eggs, Charlie?”
“No, they taste good. I was just waiting for you to start yelling at me because I’m eating your food.”
“That isn’t my food Charlie. That’s your food. You eat until your full.”
John shook his head. “Justin, can you come out in the hallway so we can talk while Charlie eats his food?”
“Sure, John, Carson, if you need me, I’ll be right out in the hall.”
“We’ll be fine, Justin. Go ahead and talk with the doctor. I got Charlie.”
Justin
stepped into the hallway, and John motioned for him to walk down the hall a little way so the boys couldn’t hear him talk. “Justin, I’m not worried about his back. Yes, it’s bad but it will heal just fine. What I am worried about is him being so malnourished. He’s in bad shape. You’re going to have to feed him mostly protein. Give him a little fat but not a lot. He’ll be fine, but it’s going to take a long time for him to get his strength back. I hope that Judge Stone throws the book at his parents. There was no excuse for feeding this child dog food.”
“Is there anything else I can do to get him, back right?”
“Yes, get him something like boost or ensure. Something high in protein and give that to him instead of milk, although he could use the milk for calcium. Don’t try and get him to eat a lot but get him to eat often. He’s going to need constant care. I suggest getting some large pull-ups for him. It won’t be easy for him to get up at night and go to the bathroom by himself.”
“As soon as Hunter is free to watch over him, I’ll run to the store and get those things. Feed him mostly bland food?”
“Yes, not even salt on his food. His stomach can’t take any kind of spices. Not until he’s better.”
“I’ll tell Hunter what to feed him. He oversees the cooking. I can’t cook anything at all.”
John chuckled. “You sound like my husband. He can’t even boil water. I’ll call Mom when I get home and tell her to go shopping for him. She loves that stuff.”
“Please tell her not to shop the way she did for Jordan. She got him things that he can’t even use. We gave some of it to the other boys in the house. She even got him a laptop.”
John rolled his eyes. “Yep, that’s my mom. Just take what she brings and then do like you did with Jordan and distribute it among the other kids here. I’m sure they have never had much, so it’s good for them to get some presents.”
“All right, that’s what I’ll do then. Thanks so much for coming by. I guess I adopted Charlie, I thought I had to sign because I was taking him from the judge. It seems that I adopted him and didn’t even know it. That’s fine though I love kids.”
John laughed. “Sounds like the judge pulled one over on you. He knew you would be best fitted for Charlie. He’s going to need a lot of sessions to get him better.”
“Yes, he is. He’s going to need to get out of the mindset that he has to eat only dog food. That still gets to me. How could anyone make their child eat dog food while they ate good food? I’m glad he’s mine now. Between Hunter and me, we will make sure he is taken care of.”
“Something going on between you and Hunter?”
Justin grinned. “Yeah, we are boyfriends right now, but I’m going to talk him into marrying me and we’ll run this house together.”
“I think that is a great idea. Hunter is one of the good guys, and so are you. Thanks for what you did so we can now adopt again. Clayton and I were talking about wanting to adopt another boy. We are just in the talking stages right now, but he wants it, so you know I’m going to give it to him.”
They started walking back to the room to see if Charlie was eating the eggs and toast. Justin said, “Now, between Hunter and I, we now have five boys, so I think that’s enough until we get these guys in college.”
“That’s going to cost you a fortune putting five boys through college. I wish you all the best luck, and if you have any problems, you call me. I’ll help you and I know my dad will be more than happy to help too.”
“Thanks, John, that means a lot coming from you.”
They went into the room, and Charlie took his last bite of eggs. He started nibbling on the last piece of toast. Justin asked, “Charlie, did you get enough to eat?”
“Yes, Dad, I’m really full. Do I have to eat this last piece of toast?”
“No, Charlie, you’re full; that’s good enough for me. You don’t have to eat anymore.”
John said, “Try to feed him again in a couple of hours. As much as he can eat until he’s strong enough to sit up, then cut back just a little until he’s strong enough to stand. You might work his muscles while he’s not able to use them. It will help when he gets strong enough to stand and walk.”
“I’ll get on that today for sure. I want Charlie to run and play with the other boys. We’ll work on everything you said. Are you going to call Judge Stone?”
“Yes, as soon as I get back home. I want his father put away for a long time. Not just a slap on the wrist.”
“The judge wasn’t happy when he called me to come and get him. I’m sure after you get your call in, he’ll be even angrier. As he should be.”
John slapped Justin on the back and left. He asked Carson if he could stay with Charlie while he went down and talked to Hunter. Carson smiled. “Sure, I like being around him. He’s a good kid. He’s my little buddy.”
Justin kissed Charlie on the head and told him he would be right back. He went downstairs to see Hunter in the kitchen. Justin told Hunter what John said, so he said he would pick them up when he went to get the kids at school. Steve and Jordan were in their room playing the game and Justin stopped by and told them to pause the game. “Jordan, would you like to meet your new brother?”
“I know him, Dad. He’s my brother Simon, but I thought he was at school. He said when he got home today, he would come to play a game with Steve and me.”
“Not Simon. You also have a brother named Charlie as of today. He’s in with Carson. He has been mistreated too and can’t walk yet, but we’ll keep feeding him and make sure he can get up and walk around and play with you guys too.”
“Yes, I want to meet him. Steve, do you want to come to meet my new brother?”
Steve said, “Justin, are you sure that’s a good idea putting him in with Carson. I mean I like Carson and he’s my best friend along with Jordan, but he can be mean sometimes.”
“He has been actually very good with Charlie. He’s only seven years old and his old father only fed him dog food so he needs real food so he can get stronger. You’ll see. He’s tiny for his age. He looks to be four or five instead of his age. He was beaten beside starved. We’ll all work together to get him healthy once more.”
Jordan and Steve followed Justin down to Carson and Charlie’s room. Carson was sitting on the bed behind Charlie and had him lying back against his chest. Charlie’s eyes lit up when he saw Justin. His face fell when he saw the other two boys with him. “Dad, who are they?”
“This one is Steve. He’s Carson’s brother, and this one is Jordan, he’s your brother. You’ll meet your other brother when he gets home from school. His name is Simon. He’s sixteen and big brother to you and Jordan.”
Charlie looked at Jordan. “Hi, my name is Charlie. I’m seven. How old are you?”
“Hi, Charlie. I’m ten and my friend Steve is twelve. Welcome to the house and our family.”
Charlie blushed a little and said, “Thank you, Jordan. What do you do to play?”
“Mrs. Willis brought me an X-Box, and Steve usually plays games with me on it. Mrs. Willis said she’s our grandma, but I don’t know her. Maybe she’ll bring you an X-Box and Carson will play with you in here.”
Charlie frowned. “You won’t let me play with you?”
“Well, usually, it’s just Steve and me. Maybe sometime if Steve is busy, then you can play.”
Justin glanced down at Jordan. “That wasn’t very nice, Jordan. I think you owe Charlie an apology.”
Jordan looked up at Justin and then down to the floor. “I’m sorry, Charlie. You can play with us. Carson too.”
Carson looked down at Charlie. “Do you think you could eat a peanut butter sandwich?”
Charlie looked up at him and smiled. “I think I can. Is it good?”
Carson smiled. “It’s the best food in the world. Justin, can you stay with Charlie and I’ll go down and have Dad make him one? If Dad is gone, I can make it myself.”
“Yes, I’ll stay with him. Charlie, I’ll get you into your pajamas. They are Jor
dan’s so they’ll probably be big on you for now. Mrs. Willis should be here with you some new clothes tomorrow afternoon, then we’ll wash Jordan’s pajamas and give them back to him.”
Jordan said, “He can keep them, Daddy. I have enough for a long time.”
“Well, thank you, Jordan. He’ll have clothes of his own tomorrow.”
Justin got the pajamas he was going to put on Charlie but happened to think that Hunter was getting him some pullups. He might as well wait and put all that on him at once. Carson came into the room with a small paper plate with a cut-up peanut butter sandwich on it. Justin looked at Carson and nodded. Peanut butter was a great source of protein.
Chapter 22
When Carson came into his room, he said, “Justin, Dad said to tell you he was going by the store then pick up the others from school. He said he would get what you needed for Charlie.”
“Thank you, Carson. Do you want to help me with some exercises on Charlie, so when he gets the strength to stand, he can walk too?”
“I sure can. Just show me what to do, and I’ll do it all the time for him.”
Justin picked up one of Charlie’s legs and bent it then straightened it out. Carson watched him and did the same with the other leg. They worked together and had ten reps in before he even got the first bite of his sandwich down. When Charlie finished his sandwich, they did his arms as well. Charlie giggled. He thought this was great fun to have them do his arms and legs.
Hunter came into the bedroom and handed Justin the pullups. He said, “These were the largest they had so I hope they fit him. I also got him a bunch of the boost. I had Simon put it in the refrigerator, so it’ll be cold. Simon will be up in a few minutes. He’s anxious to meet his little brother.”
“Did he seem upset because he has another brother?”
“No, he’s thrilled to have another younger brother. He takes being a big brother seriously.”
“Good. I hope they all get along. I don’t want any drama.”