“No,” Austin muttered. “I didn’t really have any money or anywhere to go.”
“But,” Marcus continued, “you did make a good choice by calling Russ here.”
Russ smiled at them both.
“I’m still mad you sold me out to Marcus,” Austin said, glaring at him.
“I just wanted to do what was best for you, Austin,” he explained. “And we all know running away wasn’t the best.”
“Ugh. I just … I just don’t want to have to move again,” Austin said. His brown eyes were so sad, it tore at Russ’s heart. “It sucks. And I won’t have Kellie with me this time.”
“I know, man.” Marcus hugged him to his side. “And I wish we could find you a permanent place.”
“Me too.” Austin let out a noisy sigh.
“You ready to go back to the Nash’s place now?” Marcus filched a fry from Austin’s tray. He’d only eaten about half of them. He’d also ordered a shake and had given Russ a defiant look like he expected him to argue, but Russ had just pocketed the change and decided Austin was probably just trying to push his buttons.
Now, Austin gave Marcus an outraged look, who gave Russ a little wink as he chewed the fry. They playfully squabbled over Austin’s food for a minute and when Marcus made a move for his shake, Austin snatched the drink away and slurped it up.
“Fine, I’ll go back there,” he muttered around the straw. “Just stop stealin’ my food.”
Marcus gave Russ the Nashes’ address and apologized for not being able to go with them. He had another urgent case to deal with. Russ assured Marcus he’d get Austin home, then shook his hand, grateful for his help.
When Russ pulled up to the curb in front of the Nashes’ modest ranch-style home, a blonde woman darted out of the house. She reached the car and stood there, wringing her hands, as Austin slowly, reluctantly opened the passenger door and stepped out.
“Oh my God, I was so worried about you, Austin!” She hugged him and he went stiff, his hands at his side. “You scared me half to death.”
“I don’t know why you care,” he muttered. “You’re leaving me.”
Her face crumpled. “Oh, Austin. You know we wouldn’t leave you if we had a choice.”
“You could adopt me.”
A tear trickled down her face and she wiped it away. “I wish we could, sweetheart. But your dad still has rights, and we only have about a month before we have to move. It would take months to get everything in place and that’s assuming he’d sign off on it.”
“Whatever.” Austin pushed past her and ran into the house, leaving the door wide open. A man gave them a concerned frown before he closed it behind him. Presumably, he was Austin’s foster father. Brian, if Russ remembered right.
Amy let out an exhausted sigh as she turned to face Russ. “I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize,” he said. Truthfully, he wasn’t entirely sure what she was apologizing for.
She looked him up and down with a puzzled frown as if finally noticing him. “I don’t know you, do I?”
“No.” He held out a hand. “Russ Bishop. I volunteer at the Open Doors Center and I’m friends with Dan.”
“Ahh.” Her expression cleared as she held out her hand. “Amy Nash. Dan did mention that Austin had called someone from the center, but I guess I’d assumed it was Maria or Darius. That’s who usually drops him off at home after he visits with Kellie.”
“I’ve been with the center for a couple of years but working at the main office. My husband and I help out with some of the marketing and finance work they do.”
“Okay.”
“I only recently started volunteering at the drop-in center,” he explained.
Her brow furrowed again. “Could you explain a few things to me?” she asked.
“Of course,” Russ said. “I’m happy to answer anything I can.”
“Would you like to have a seat while we talk?” She indicated the swing on the porch.
“Sure, thanks.”
“May I ask why Austin called you?” she asked when they were seated.
Oh, shit. Yeah, it probably didn’t look great for a grown man to give a teenage boy his phone number. “He got in a fight with Kellie a while ago,” Russ explained, turning so he could look her in the eye. “And I gave him my business card on impulse. I don’t know, he—he doesn’t really interact with the other kids there, and I thought he might need someone to talk to. I honestly never expected him to contact me. I am glad he did, especially today, but …”
“Ahh okay.” She nodded, a little of the worry appearing to fade. “And can you tell me where he was today when he contacted you?”
Russ described the area and she frowned.
“I have no idea why he’d go there.”
“He told me he was looking for Kellie.”
“Ahh.” She let out a heavy sigh. She looked exhausted then. “Well, that explains it. She used to work over in that area. He must have gotten turned around or something.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Amy nodded. “Feel free to tell me if I’m crossing a line, but … what’s the story with Kellie exactly? I know it’s not really my business and I don’t want to pry, I just …” He felt helpless, trying to figure out how to be there for Austin without knowing most of the story. He’d ended up in the middle of this with no idea what was going on.
“No, I understand.” She gave him a small smile. “If Austin reached out to you, he clearly likes and trusts you, which is more than I can say for how he feels about Brian and myself right now.” Her expression turned sad.
Russ nodded, unsure of how to respond otherwise.
“So, Kellie.” She sighed. “Austin and Kellie came to me about three years ago. If you think Austin has a chip on his shoulder, it’s nothing compared to Kellie. She’s a wonderful young woman, but the situation with her family hit her very hard. She’s very resentful toward her father, understandably. And she’s angry at their mother.”
“I’m sorry, I have no idea what happened to either of them,” Russ said.
She glanced over her shoulder as if checking to make sure no one was around. “Their father was put in prison for meth possession and distribution, and a few years after that, their mother died. Her death was a tragic accident, but I’m sure you can understand why Kellie would feel like their parents both abandoned them.”
“Yeah. Absolutely.” It was different than what he’d dealt with when his mom had left, but he could see how it would have felt to lose both parents as a child. Or a teenager. No matter the reasons why, it would feel like a betrayal.
“After their mother died, DCFS took custody. The kids went through a few temporary placements and stayed in a group home on and off. Kellie did what she could to hold things together for them. She was very protective of him. But it sounds like one of the placements was a problem. I don’t know the whole situation, but it’s clear Kellie became his primary caregiver for a while. It was far too much for someone her age to take on. She was maybe fourteen then and really had to do more than she should have. It led to a lot of resentment toward the system in general. When they came to us, it was a huge power struggle. Kellie didn’t want the responsibility of caring for Austin, but she also refused to let someone else have it. We had so many battles.” She sighed heavily. “I wanted to make things easier on her and Austin, but she really wasn’t ready for that. We tried everything. Individual therapy. Family therapy. All of it.”
“That sounds tough.”
She gave him a wan smile. “It was. She ran away a few times. Austin was very upset every time she left, of course. He had a hard enough time trusting that there was any stability in his life and just as he was starting to relax, she’d run. I understand it, but I was so frustrated with her. This was before Open Doors had the residential facility. I think maybe if that had existed then, she could have run there when she needed the outlet, but unfortunately all she had was the street.”
Russ nodded.
“I thou
ght we were doing better for a while. We assured her she could stay with us until she was twenty-one, but she wanted to move in with her girlfriend. We told her we didn’t support that, and it blew up in our faces. She moved out the second she was legally able to and we couldn’t do a thing about it.”
Russ licked his lips, unsure of how to ask the question he was wondering. “Why didn’t you support it?”
A startled expression crossed Amy’s face. “Not because they’re a same-sex couple, I promise you. I’m actually bisexual, so believe me, I get what kind of issues LGBTQ kids face. I had no problem with Kellie’s sexuality whatsoever. We just felt that at eighteen, she was too young to be moving in with a twenty-six-year-old woman.”
Russ nodded. That seemed reasonable to him.
Kellie continued. “This woman wouldn’t meet us, and I overheard her make some disparaging comments about our family, and …” Amy spread her hands wide. “What was I supposed to do? I knew it was going to be a terrible situation for Kellie to be in. Maybe I shouldn’t have come down so hard on her, but I didn’t think she’d cut us out of her life this way. When they broke up, I made sure Austin told Kellie she was welcome to come back, but …”
“I think sometimes when you’re that age, you don’t want to admit when you were wrong,” Russ said softly.
“Exactly.” She wiped at her eyes. “And now that poor girl is sleeping in her car, and I can’t do a damn thing to fix it. And I hate that Austin seems to be going the same route. It’s all been very hard on Austin. And this move …” She covered her face with her hands. “It’s terrible. I wish we didn’t have to do this. But my husband has a very specialized job and he’s being transferred out of state. There’s nothing in this area for someone in his field. He’s the main breadwinner for the family so we don’t have a choice, but it kills me to tell these kids we’re leaving. I never meant for Austin to think we’re abandoning him, but …”
“It’s almost inevitable that he’d feel that way,” Russ said. “I mean, given his past and all.”
“Yes.” Her voice was raw. “I love him, I really do. If there was any way we could take him with us, I would. But that just isn’t in the cards right now, and I am hopeful it will work out. That his next family will be one who can give him a forever home.”
“How’s Austin?” Stephen asked the moment he was in the door.
“Okay-ish. At least for now.” Russ sagged against Stephen, grateful for the hug. It had been a very long, very exhausting day.
“Have you had dinner?” Stephen gave him a concerned frown as he drew back.
“Of sorts. An okay burger, fries, and shake with Austin a few hours ago.”
“You still hungry?”
Russ considered the idea. “Nah, not really. I’ll have a bite later if I feel like it.”
“What would you like?”
“A drink and to sit down and talk to you.”
Stephen pressed his lips to his temple. “Done.”
After they were seated on the couch with a glass of bourbon each, Russ caught Stephen up on everything that had transpired that evening. “He’s back with his foster family now,” he said. “I don’t know if he’ll stay there, but …”
“That poor kid.”
“I know. It breaks my heart.”
Stephen gave him a sad smile. “Mine too.”
Russ wet his lips, tasting the subtle caramel notes of the bourbon on his tongue. “I had a thought earlier.”
“What’s that?”
“What if we could be Austin’s foster parents?”
Stephen blinked at him. “I suppose we could discuss it.”
“Well, why not?” Russ asked. “I mean, doesn’t it make sense? We’re nearly through getting things set up. We’ve been through all the initial vetting stuff with DCFS. We’re just finishing up some of the classes and the home visit. We have a stable home; we’re looking for a teenager …”
“No, that’s true.” His words came out slow and measured, like he was working them over in his brain.
“Is it that talking about a specific kid makes it more real?” Russ hazarded a guess.
“I suppose so,” Stephen said slowly. “I thought we had a few months to go before things were finalized, and it sounds like he needs a home now.”
“Well, not today or tomorrow, I don’t think,” Russ said. “Amy said they were moving in a month or so.”
“Still, a month is a considerably shorter time frame than we talked about.”
Russ opened his mouth to protest and Stephen held up a hand. “I’m not saying we can’t do it. Or that we shouldn’t. Let’s sleep on it. If we’re in agreement in the morning, we can talk to Marcus and Dan and see what they think about the plausibility of the idea.”
“That sounds reasonable. I’m going off half-cocked again, aren’t I?”
Stephen chuckled and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close. “You know I love your enthusiasm.”
“I know you also think I can be a little rash.” Russ smoothed a hand over Stephen’s chest.
“I think you’re perfect,” Stephen said. “Because on my own, I’d hesitate and miss out on incredible opportunities in my personal life. But you balance me out and vice versa.”
Russ sighed and settled into Stephen’s embrace. “I like the sound of that.”
As he leaned in to kiss Stephen, he knew there were big changes ahead for both of them. It was scary but exciting as well.
EIGHT
“Okay, what we’re going to do today is talk a little more about Austin’s history, then you can spend a little time with him,” Marcus explained.
“I hope this was okay,” Stephen said, a little apologetically. “It’s just that I don’t know Austin at all, and it seems like we should both get to know him better before we make a decision.”
“You’re good, man,” Marcus said. “It’s a very common part of the process. We want to set families up for success. Making sure all of you click is a big part of that.”
“Good,” Stephen said, relieved. They were at the residential facility, mostly because it was a neutral space for them to meet. Stephen hadn’t quite grasped what Marcus’s role was at Open Doors, but he knew he was the social worker overseeing Austin’s case and worked closely with the facility on finding kids homes, permanent or otherwise.
“What can you tell us about Austin’s history?” Stephen asked.
“It’s rough.” Marcus rubbed his chin. “I mean, that’s to be expected right? None of these kids have it easy.”
“Okay. What kind of trauma are we talking about?” Stephen said seriously. Now that they were officially in the system as prospective foster parents, everyone could speak more freely.
“The early years were actually quite good,” Marcus said. “Two-parent home, stability, what even sounds like some decent parenting. They weren’t well-off, but they had enough to feed and clothe their kids. They clearly loved them. Austin did well in school; teachers said he was always clean and well-cared for. When he was about six though, his world went sideways. “His father was …” Marcus hesitated. “He went off the rails after he got laid off from a job. Got involved in the meth business.”
Stephen winced.
Marcus gave him a pointed look. “Yeah. He wasn’t cooking at home, so thankfully Austin was never exposed to it directly. But it did create a lot of instability in the household. A possession charge for the father, some disturbing the peace calls that came from neighbors’ complaints about loud arguments both in the home and people coming there to buy. At first, it appeared he was just involved in cooking and distributing but it led to usage. When Austin was seven, his father was arrested.”
Russ let out a heavy sigh, and Stephen settled his hand on Russ’s thigh, knowing how much this must be affecting him.
Marcus continued. “After his father was arrested and sent to prison, that’s when any stability began to disintegrate. His mother did her best—the woman tried, there’s no denying that—but her e
mployment was spotty at best and she took whatever positions she could to put food on the table. With no stable career, she didn’t have insurance, of course, and had a history of chronic asthma. At some point, there was a storm that damaged the roof of their house and she was dealing with a leaky roof on top of everything else.” Marcus’s expression grew grim. “From the best anyone can tell, they had a mold problem that developed in the house, which triggered a severe asthma attack. She’d been rationing her inhalers and unfortunately ran out at the worst possible time. Austin found her passed out on the bedroom floor, struggling to breathe. Kellie wasn’t home but he knew to call 911. They made it there pretty quickly, but they weren’t able to revive her. He watched his mother die.”
“Oh, Jesus,” Russ said, and Stephen reached out blindly for his hand.
“Tell me about it. I wish I could tell you a story like that was rare, but I’d be lying.” Marcus gave them a tight smile. “Austin has been in foster care since.”
“So, five years?”
He nodded.
“That’s a long time.”
“It is,” Marcus agreed. “Though not nearly as long as some. And I wish I could tell you every home was ideal, but they’re not. We do our best, but …”
“No, we understand,” Stephen said. There was no question that people like Marcus loved these kids and wanted to do their best but he knew there were large scale problems with lack of funding and overloaded social workers and caseworkers who simply didn’t have the resources or support to do more.
“What about his father? He’s still in prison?”
“Yes. He’ll be eligible for parole in two years, which is why parental custody hasn’t been officially terminated.”
“But it could be?”
“Yes. There are some things you should know though,” Marcus said.
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