by Al Lacy
Teddy nodded. “Yes, Uncle Henry.”
The heavyhearted ten-year-old mounted the stairs, walked down the hall, and entered his room. More tears were flowing. He closed the door and flung himself on the bed. “Mama! Mama! I need you! I need you!”
After a few minutes, Teddy dried his tears. He thought about the conversation that was going on in the parlor downstairs. He knew what his aunts and uncles were talking about: their orphaned nephew.
Teddy slipped out of his room and moved quietly down the hall. He descended the stairs, crept up close to the open parlor door, and flattened his back against the wall where he couldn’t be seen.
Uncle George and Uncle Henry were arguing, each giving the reason why the other couple should take their nephew.
“I can’t let this responsibility fall on Eva!” George said flatly. “The kid will just be more of a problem and a nuisance than he’s already been since Claire got sick.”
In the hall, Teddy swallowed hard and bit down on his lower lip.
Henry cleared his throat. “Well, I’m telling you right now, George, I’m not letting this responsibility fall on Lois, either! Having that kid around is just too much of a bother.”
“Right,” said Lois. “Henry and I didn’t bring him into the world, and there’s no reason for us to be stuck with raising him. And as far as I’m concerned, you and Eva shouldn’t have to put up with him, either. Let’s put him in an orphanage.”
Teddy couldn’t see Eva’s face, but he could hear the break in her voice as she said, “An orphanage? You know as well as I do that the orphanages in this city are already so overcrowded that they can’t take any more children. That’s why the streets are so full of them. They have nowhere else to go. And you also know that year round many starve to death; in the winter, great numbers of them freeze to death. We can’t put that poor child on the streets.”
There was silence for a moment, then Eva said, “George, I want us to keep Teddy and take care of him.”
“No!” snapped George. “Like I said, I can’t let this responsibility fall on you and for that matter, me, either. Why should we have to feed, house, and clothe him for the next ten years? We’re not going to do it.”
Eva was crying now. “But, George, we can’t just put him out on the streets. We must—”
“That’s the end of it, Eva!” George said. “That kid’s not living in our house!”
In the hall, Teddy’s hand went to his mouth. There was a sudden wave of anxiety that flowed across his mind like a cold wave. He wheeled, ran quietly to the stairs, and mounted them quickly. When he entered his room, he closed the door and leaned his back against it.
“Only Aunt Eva wants me,” he whispered, breathing hard, “but Uncle George won’t let her have me. I’ll go live on the streets with other kids who have no parents. At least they’ll understand my problem and show me how to make it.”
Quickly, Teddy put on his tattered coat, mittens, and knitted cap. He picked up the small cloth bag that contained some of his clothes and hurried to the stairs. He could hear his aunts and uncles still discussing him as he made his way down the stairs. So that no one would know he was leaving, he darted on tiptoe to the rear of the house and hurried out the back door. “Only Aunt Eva will miss me, but the rest of them won’t. Uncle George, Uncle Henry, and Aunt Lois will make sure nobody looks for me. They’ll just be glad I’m gone.”
It was still snowing and a bitter wind whipped the snow in circles around him as he trudged down the street toward downtown, where the street urchins lived. He had seen them many times, begging for money on the streets. The newspapers called the groups of children who lived in the alleys “colonies.” Teddy Hansen would find a colony who would take him in.
By the time Teddy reached the downtown area, it was late afternoon and the snow had stopped falling. The wind, however, was knifing along the streets in hard, hissing gusts, hurling clouds of snow and needle-sharp particles of ice against him.
As he drew up to the mouth of an alley, he spotted a group of boys about a hundred feet away, who were gathered around a fire they had built in a metal barrel. When he turned into the alley and headed toward them, one of the boys called the attention of the others to him, and all eleven of them set dubious eyes on him. He could see that they were all in their teens.
Teddy put a smile on his face as he drew up. “Hi. I’m Teddy Hansen. Could I warm myself by your fire?”
The largest of the boys scowled. He appeared to be about fifteen. “No, you can’t, twerp. On your way. Ain’t no room for you, here.”
“I wouldn’t take up much space. I’m really cold. Couldn’t I just get warm?”
Another boy took a step toward him. “What is it, kid? You deaf? Rocky just told you there ain’t no room for you. If you don’t disappear real quick, I’m gonna beat you to a pulp.”
“You won’t have to, Chip,” said Rocky. “If he ain’t outta sight in thirty seconds, I’ll pound him myself.”
Teddy started backtracking, eyes wide, then pivoted and ran. He could hear the boys laughing fiendishly. When he reached the sidewalk, he headed on down the street, cold and discouraged. Soon he approached another alley and saw a colony comprised of both boys and girls about halfway down the block. They too had a fire going in a barrel.
He moved down the alley, and when he drew up, every eye in the group was on him. A husky boy of about sixteen glared at him. “Whattya want, kid?”
Teddy swallowed hard. “I—I’m an orphan. My name is Teddy Hansen. Could I get warm by your fire?”
“No, you can’t. Get outta here.”
One of the girls said, “Aw, c’mon, Slug. He’s just a little guy. He isn’t going to soak up much heat.”
Teddy smiled at her.
“You shut up, Sally!” yelled another husky teenage boy. “We ain’t got no room for nobody else. Next thing, he’ll want to eat some of our food. On your way, kid.”
Sally glared at him. “What’s your problem, Garth? You were his age once. Somebody was kind to you, weren’t they?”
Garth shook his shoulders. “Not always.” He turned to Teddy. “What you got in that bag, kid?”
“Just some socks and underwear and a couple of shirts.”
“Well, take your socks, underwear, and shirts somewhere else before you get hurt.”
Tears moistened Teddy’s eyes. “I’m really cold. Please? Just a few minutes by the fire?”
Garth leaped up and smashed Teddy on the jaw. Teddy staggered back, and as he gained his balance without falling, Slug hastened past Garth, anger flaming in his eyes. “What is it, punk? You don’t understand English?”
The cold in Teddy’s bones was greater than his fear. “Please, Slug. As the girl said, I won’t soak up much heat.”
Teddy noticed the big ring on Slug’s right hand just before it lashed out and cracked him on the left cheek. He felt himself sail through the air, and the ground rose up and hit him on the back. There was fierce pain in his cheek and the alley seemed to be swirling around him. Slug and Garth were out of focus as they stood over him.
“Get outta here, kid,” said Slug, “or you’ll get more of the same.”
Teddy shook his head in an attempt to clear it and rolled onto his knees, still clutching the cloth bag. There was something wet on his left cheek. When he put a hand to it, he felt the warmth of the blood and looked at it on his mitten. The ring had cut his cheek, and the cut was burning like fire. He worked his way to his feet, put the mitten to the bleeding cut, and staggered toward the end of the alley. He could hear Sally reprimanding the bullies for what they had done.
When he reached the sidewalk, Teddy made his way slowly past door after door, tears bubbling from his eyes. People he met along the way looked at him, but passed on by. Soon he came upon a dark, recessed doorway of a building that was closed up. He sat down on the step, scooting as close to the door as he could. This took him out of the path of the cold wind.
He opened the cloth bag and pulled out one of his soc
ks. Folding it a couple of times, he pressed it to the cut on his cheek. “Oh, Mama, I need you! I need you!”
Teddy pulled his bony knees up close to his chest, leaned his head against them, and wept. He held the sock tight against the cut. Tears of frustration and pain streamed down his face.
He stayed in this position for several minutes, eyes closed. Then suddenly, he was aware of a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, little fella, what are you doing out here in this freezing weather?”
Teddy lifted his head and looked up at the tall man in dark blue with a badge on his chest.
The policeman saw the blood on the sock. “You’re hurt, son. Where do you live?”
Teddy sniffed. “I don’t have a home, sir. I’m an orphan. My mother died a few days ago, and I just came downtown to find a colony of street urchins to live with. In one of the alleys, I got punched. The big boy who hit me was wearing a ring. It was the ring that cut me.”
The officer hunkered down to Teddy’s level. He took hold of the hand that held the sock and turned it so he could see the cut. “You mean you don’t have any relatives to live with?”
“I have an aunt and two uncles who don’t want me.”
The officer looked at him compassionately. “What’s your name, son?”
“Teddy Hansen. Well, really, it’s Theodore Hansen.”
“My name is Officer Justin Smith, Teddy,” the policeman said, rising to his feet and taking hold of the boy’s arm. “Come along with me.”
The boy frowned and stiffened his body, still pressing the sock to his cut. “Where are you taking me? I won’t go back to my aunt and uncles who don’t want me. I certainly sure won’t!”
Smith smiled. “It’s all right, laddy, I’m not taking you to them. I’m going to take you to Park West Hospital, just down the street a couple of blocks. That cut needs a doctor’s attention. You’re losing a lot of blood. Come along. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
Smith laid his hand on Teddy’s shoulder again, and Teddy could feel the warmth of it through his shabby coat. “Well-l-l-l …”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“Uh … yes, sir. It’s just that—”
“Someone you have trusted in the past let you down. Is that it?”
Teddy nodded and rose to his feet, clutching the cloth bag in his free hand.
“Here, let me carry that. You keep the sock pressed to the cut.”
They left the protective doorway, and while they walked the two blocks to the hospital, Teddy told Officer Smith his whole story at Smith’s request. The officer’s heart went out to the boy, realizing that Teddy had already suffered severely in his young life. His father had deserted him two years before, and today, he had seen his mother buried.
When they reached the hospital, Justin Smith led Teddy into the brightly lit lobby. He took him to a small waiting room just off the lobby. Teddy had never been in a hospital before and quickly noticed the strange odors in the air—not all of them pleasant.
Seeing the fear in Teddy’s eyes, Smith sat him on a wooden chair and laid a hand on his thin shoulder. “You stay right here. I’ll go find a doctor. Promise me you won’t move from this chair.”
“I will stay right here, sir.”
Smith smiled and patted the top of Teddy’s head. “Good boy. I’ll be right back.”
Teddy watched the officer take his long strides as he left the room and headed down the hall.
Ten minutes had passed when the policeman and a silver-haired man in a white frock entered the waiting room. True to his word, the boy was still on the chair. He looked up at both men, still pressing the sock to his cheek.
“Teddy,” said Officer Smith, “this is Dr. Randall Martin. He is going to take care of your cut.”
The doctor smiled and bent down. “May I see the cut, son?”
Teddy relaxed his hand as the doctor took hold of it and moved it so he could get a look at the bleeding gash. He studied it a moment, then placed the small hand and sock over the cut. “Officer Smith told me your story, Teddy. Come with me, now. We’ll get you fixed up.”
Teddy looked up at the officer.
Smith laid a hand on his head again. “Dr. Martin and the nurses will take good care of you, Teddy. I have to get back on my beat. How long has it been since you had something to eat?”
“I had a little bit of breakfast this morning, sir. I … I really didn’t feel like eating, since I was going to Mama’s funeral.”
“Are you hungry now?”
“Yes, sir.”
Dr. Martin looked at the policeman. “We’ll take good care of him, Officer Smith. When I’ve stitched him up, we’ll give him a good supper and a warm bed for the night. You can pick him up in the morning if that’s convenient for you.”
The thought of a meal and a warm bed sounded heavenly to Teddy.
“I’ll be here about nine o’clock in the morning, Doctor,” said Smith.
Martin nodded, then extended his hand to Teddy. “Let’s go, son.”
Teddy slipped off the chair, bent down, picked up his cloth bag, and took hold of the doctor’s hand. He looked up at the policeman with his sad little eyes. “Thank you, Officer Smith, for taking care of me.”
Smith touched the boy’s shoulder. “My pleasure, Teddy. See you tomorrow morning.”
The tall man in blue watched as the silver-haired doctor led the boy down the hall. When they stopped at a door and Dr. Martin opened it, Teddy looked back and smiled at him. Smith smiled back, and doctor and patient disappeared through the door.
Chapter Two
The next morning at 8:40, Dr. Randall Martin was at his desk in his office at Park West Hospital, studying a medical report on an elderly patient, when there was a tap on his door.
He looked up. “Yes?”
The door opened, and one of the nurses said, “Dr. Martin, Officer Justin Smith is here. He says you are expecting him.”
“Yes. Please show him in.”
Seconds later, Officer Justin Smith’s tall frame filled the door. Dr. Martin smiled and waved him in. “Come sit down, please.”
Smith eased his lanky frame onto a chair in front of the desk. “How is Teddy doing, Doctor?”
“Teddy’s fine. I had to put four stitches in his cheek. He’s got quite a black and blue mark around the cut, all the way to his eye. The bandage doesn’t hide it all. I’ll need to see him in a week to make sure he’s healing all right. If everything’s okay in ten or eleven days, I’ll take the stitches out.”
Smith eased back in the chair and sighed. “I’m glad he’s all right. Such a special little fella.”
“That he is. So what are you planning to do with him?”
“Well, I was going to investigate the situation with his aunts and uncles that I told you about when I related Teddy’s story to you.”
“Uh-huh?”
“When my shift was over and I reported in at precinct headquarters yesterday, I talked to Chief Masterson and told him Teddy’s story. The chief agreed that we should make contact with the Pittses and the Eadeses, and see if they really didn’t want Teddy as he told me.”
Martin nodded.
“The chief told me he would send a couple of night shift officers to talk to the aunts and uncles. When I arrived at the precinct this morning, Chief Masterson gave me the report. The officers said that Henry and Lois Eades flat said they were in no position to take Teddy in and raise him. At the Pitts home, Mrs. Pitts wept and said she really wanted to take Teddy in, but Mr. Pitts vehemently objected, saying he was not going to let it happen. Teddy cannot look to his only relatives to give him a home. I’m sure you know, Doctor, that there is no law to force them to take Teddy in, even though he is their nephew.”
“Yes. We hear all the time that the orphanages in all five boroughs are more than full, so what are you going to do?”
“I have a close friend who is on the staff at the Thirty-second Street Orphanage. His name is Bill Waters. Bill has told me many times that the
orphanage’s superintendent, Wayne Stanfill, is a very compassionate man. I’m going to take Teddy over there and see if I can talk Mr. Stanfill into adding one more little orphan boy to his overflow.”
Dr. Martin smiled. “Well, it can’t hurt to try.”
“That’s the way I look at it. And if Mr. Stanfill has the compassion Bill says he does, I believe when he takes a look at Teddy and hears his story, he’ll make a place for him in the orphanage.”
“Well, if you’re right, they have a doctor at the orphanage. He can look after Teddy’s cut and take the stitches out when it’s time.”
Smith rose from the chair. “I’ll see that he does, Doctor. I know you’re busy, so I’ll get out of here and let you go back to what you were doing.”
Dr. Martin stood up and smiled. “Let me know what happens to the little guy, won’t you?”
“Sure will. And thank you for what you’ve done for him.”
“That’s what I’m in this business for.”
The sun was shining brightly on the dazzling snow outside as Teddy Hansen sat on the edge of the bed in his room, gazing at its beauty with squinted eyes. He was dressed and ready to go, with his cap, coat, and the cloth bag lying next to him on the bed.
The fear he was feeling was a cold ball in his stomach. He put fingertips to his bandage and scratched at the adhesive tape that held it. “I wonder what will happen to me today. What will Officer Smith do with me?”
Suddenly the door swung open, and Officer Justin Smith stepped in, a broad grin on his face. “Good morning, Teddy.”
The boy tried to smile back. “Good morning, sir.”
“Dr. Martin told me about the stitches and the black-and-blue mark. But you look better than I expected. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, sir. I slept real good, and just finished a big breakfast. They have been very nice to me here.”
“Good.” Smith chuckled. “I hope your face doesn’t hurt as bad as it looks.”
“No, sir. I know it’s there, but it really doesn’t hurt at all.”
“I’m glad,” said Smith, pulling up a wooden chair. “Before we go, I need to explain some things to you.”