Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 00:52:55 -0500
From: TgrPaw@gmail.com
Subject: Can-You-Spare-A-Quarter 10

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Can You Spare a Quarter?
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Dedicated to "D":

   We didn't meet this way, it probably wouldn't have been anything like
   this if we had met this way, but if we had, I hope it might have been
   something like this.   {{{{ hugs }}}}

Disclaimer:

   Names of people, places, companies, and so forth are completely
   fictional.  While this story draws inspiration from real events which
   involved real people, it is nonetheless a complete work of fiction.

Copyright:

   2002; All rights reserved.

Comments:

   Email can be sent to TgrPaw@gmail.com

   Flames, hate mail, and similar things will be ignored.

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10. Nightmare Run

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Graham held the bag of ice against his temple as he picked up the phone
and dialed.  This was getting to be too much of a habit, Graham thought
wearily as he listened to the phone ringing.  At least this time, it
didn't feel like his teeth had been shaken loose like they had earlier
in the week.

"Hello?" asked a voice on the other end of the line.

"Hi Frank, Graham here," answered Graham.  "How's it going with you?"

"Well, we're just getting ready to make breakfast here," replied Frank.
"You don't sound so good though, what's up?"

"Me?  Not so good," answered Graham.  "It happened again last night."

"Another nightmare?" said Frank with concern.

"Yeah," said Graham.  "I got a black eye this time too."

"You've got to learn to move faster," chuckled Frank sympathetically.

"Oh, believe me," said Graham, "I try to duck, but for a little guy he
really packs quite a wallop.  I really can't take much more of this -
I'm getting too old to be a punching bag."

"I know you've been hoping things would improve with time," said Frank.
"But I think you're going to have to do something before you really get
hurt bad.  You're not a youngster any more you know."

"Yeah you've got that right," replied Graham.  "The weird part about it
is that he doesn't even know he's doing it."

"It's for both your sakes," said Frank.  "Even if you don't want to get
mixed up with the legal thing yet, maybe you should talk to a psychologist
or someone like that about the situation.  They might be able to give
you some ideas."

"Yes, I'm going to have to," said Graham with resignation.  "I'm going to
make some phone calls today and see if I can't get something going to get
this mess settled once and for all.  That's why I called actually.  Do you
suppose you could ask Jason to come over and take Jamie out somewhere,
keep him busy for a few hours?  I don't like to presume like this, but
I don't think it'd be a good idea for him to overhear me talking on the
phone about him."

"I agree completely," replied Frank.  "I don't think it'll be a problem,
wait a minute while I ask Jason."

"Great, I'll hold," said Graham as he adjusted the bag of ice and looked
out the window.

"I just checked with Jason," said Frank.  "He's OK with it, and he'll
be over in a few minutes.  He'll bring Jamie back here for breakfast
and then take him out fishing.  Kathy's making waffles."

"Oh that's great," said Graham.  "You tell Jason I owe him one, and
thanks a lot for listening Frank.  If I don't get this resolved soon,
I'm going to end up needing false teeth."

"Well I don't think a boxing career is what you really want for Jamie,"
said Frank.  "It really will be best all around Graham.  I know you've
been trying to do the best you can, but I think getting some help now
will be better rather than waiting any longer."

"You're right," said Graham.  "I was just trying to put off the inevitable
I guess.  Anyway, I'd better get going here.  I think I hear things
happening upstairs.  Say 'hi' to Kathy for me."

Graham hung up the phone and a minute or two later, Cindy announced
Jamie's impending arrival at the breakfast table by rushing into the
kitchen.

"Hi there girl," said Graham as he knelt and gave the large white dog
a hug and petted her.

"Good morning Graham," said Jamie cheerfully as he came into the room
a minute later.

"Hi Jamie, how are you doing today?" said Graham as he stood back up.

"Pretty good.  What happened to you?" asked Jamie as he noticed the
swelling and darkness around Graham's eye.

"I knelt down to pick up a fork I dropped, and when I stood back up
I forgot I had the cupboard door open and ... well you can see what
happened," replied Graham.

"You've got to be more careful, " said Jamie with concern.  "That's been
happening a lot lately."

"Hasn't it though," sighed Graham.

Over the past month Jamie and Graham had gradually grown used to each
other and were now enjoying each other's company quite a lot.  Graham
had kept the time over Christmas a low key affair, but had very much
enjoyed Jamie's smile and hug when he gave him a pair of hiking boots
and a compass.  There was also a baseball cap that Jamie had admired
when they went to the little village on the island for groceries one day
and now he wore it almost everywhere.

After that Jamie had been able to go off with his new friend Jason to all
kinds of different places on the island.  Cindy, Jamie's constant shadow,
coming along wherever he went.  Jamie's immediate worries about Graham
being like the other men he'd dealt with had receded and he was now
starting to feel comfortable around the man he'd met not that long ago.
It was a strange feeling - safety, but Jamie was slowly starting to
consider that perhaps this man wasn't going to attack him as so many
others had.

Jamie looked at Graham carefully and with concern.  He knew Graham
was getting older, close to retirement age, and he wondered if perhaps
something was wrong with him.  While he'd not actually seen it happen,
Graham had been having a lot of accidents lately and always seemed to
be getting banged up.  Jamie didn't want to invade Graham's privacy by
asking the question directly, but he felt like he wanted to help somehow.

As Jamie was wondering what he could do, or how he could raise the
subject, he looked up as a familiar smiling face appeared in the kitchen
window.  Jason was looking in at them and grinning.

"Hey Jay!" called out Jamie, and Jason disappeared only to show up coming
in the door a moment later.

"Hi there," said Jason as he came in and stood on the mat just inside
the sliding glass door.  Cindy came over to greet him, and he patted
the dog on the head.

"Want to have breakfast with us?" asked Graham.  "We were just about to
think about what to have."

"Well I was coming over to invite you both for waffles and sausages.
Mom has them cooking up right now," replied Jason.

Graham saw Jason looking him over and nod slightly, then said, "Well,
I've got a bit of a headache this morning.  Why don't you and Jamie go
and I can come another time."

"Oh, don't you want to come too?" said Jamie with concern and
disappointment.

Graham replied, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine in an hour or two.
You guys go and have fun.  Afterwards you can go fishing or something."

"OK if you're sure," said Jamie.  "Can Cindy come with us?"

"Of course she can.  We can't break up the Three Musketeers now can we,"
chuckled Graham.

"You sure you're going to be OK if I go?" asked Jamie a bit worried.

"Yes, I'll be just fine.  You'll see, everything is going to be OK,"
replied Graham.

"All right," said Jamie not entirely convinced.  Cindy followed along as
he headed out of the kitchen, heading upstairs to change.

"He got you really good this time," remarked Jason quietly.

"Yeah, I've been putting it off, hoping the nightmares would decrease.
But it looks like I'm going to have to take action now.  I can't keep
waiting and have this continue happening," said Graham.

"Yeah and you're not getting any better at ducking either," said Jason
with a wry grin.

"Muhammad Ali, I'm not.  Jamie may 'sting like a bee', but I definitely
can't 'float like a butterfly'," replied Graham.

Graham and Jason stopped talking as they heard Jamie and Cindy coming
back down the stairs.  Graham busied himself getting some orange juice
out of the fridge and offered a glass each to the boys who promptly
finished it off.

"We'd better get going Jamie - breakfast is going to get cold and we
don't want dad to eat all the sausages," said Jason.

"You think you'll be as big as your dad one day?" asked Jamie.

"Probably," replied Jason.  "But not for a while, I'm still growing."

"OK, so you guys have a good time and I'll see you later then," said
Graham waving as the boys and Cindy headed out the door.

Watching them run off along one of the paths Graham smiled, as he put a
couple of aspirins in his mouth and swallowed some water.  The headache
should go before long but the bruise next to his eye was going to
take longer.

                               *** *** *** ***

After washing off the dishes from breakfast, Graham walked into his
study and sat down heavily.  He had been trying to put off having to
take decisive action with regards to Jamie, but the nightmares Graham
had hoped would decrease seemed as bad as ever.  It was time to do
something about them, though Graham knew that this was likely to make
things much worse in the short term.  However, it was the longer term
that mattered the most, and Jamie couldn't be allowed to suffer like
this any longer.  Graham wondered how things would turn out - would he
be allowed to keep Jamie?  Everything was against it, he was single,
gay, and virtually retired.  The only things he could offer to bolster
his side of the ledger where that he was financially secure and perhaps
the environment that he could offer.

Graham pulled the address book from his desk drawer and began to
thumb through it looking for his friend Scott's number.  As he did, he
remembered with amusement when they'd first spotted each other at a Pride
parade a number of years before.  Up until then, their interactions had
been strictly limited to bumping into each other at occasional business
meetings at the office.  When they caught sight of each other that day,
they both rather sheepishly smiled and waved.  Following that accidental
encounter, they'd become good friends, having lunch or dinner together
on occasion.  Scott was a lawyer in the legal department at CSI and
was just the person Graham needed to talk to now; he could also rely
on him to be completely discrete and keep the matter confidential.
Graham picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello, this is Scott Eldrich, may I help you?" said the voice on
the phone.

"Hi there Scott, it's Graham," replied Graham.

"Graham! Long time no see.  How's vacation treating you?" asked Scott.

"Well Scott that's why I called," said Graham.  "Remember how I said I
needed the time off to figure something out?"

"Yes," replied Scott with concern in his voice.

"Well it's a long story.  You see, I've managed to get mixed up into
something rather complicated.  You see, there's this boy, and ..." began
Graham.

"I remember you saying something to me about 'a nice quiet retirement'
last time we got together," chuckled Scott.  "Found yourself a sweet
young thing, have you?"

"Yeah, that's what I'd planned too, but things kind of took a left turn
on me.  Besides, it's not what you think.  This isn't a romantic or even
a sexual thing.  He's thirteen years old and ..." began Graham.

"Thirteen?" interjected Scott.  "Graham you can't be serious.  What'll his
parents say, to say nothing of the law, if it ever gets out?"

"Look, it's nothing like that," said Graham forcefully. "Just let me
tell you the whole thing before you say anything more, OK?"

"All right, I'll hold my tongue for now," apologized Scott.  "I know you
wouldn't do anything 'wrong', I was just concerned for you."

"OK.  Anyway, around the beginning of December, I was heading out of the
office to a meeting to close that last deal I was working on and halfway
along the walkway to the subway station I came across this boy sitting
there begging for money.  Sure, there's people all over the place,
trying to bum a quarter off of you, but this kid was really young.
He was dirty, banged up, and obviously not one of those bored rich kids
who think it's a fun way to spend the day.

"So I stopped.  I don't know why, but I stopped.  I mean you know me,
I never look twice at those types.  Anyway, I took him into the mall
and bought him something to eat, sat with him for a bit, and then
had to leave for my meeting.  I mean sure, under the dirt and such,
you could see he was cute, but that's not what I was thinking about.
You should have seen the way he attacked the burgers I bought.  I mean,
they were just burgers, but I don't think he'd eaten in ages.  There was
something about this little guy that just got to me, I just couldn't walk
off and forget about it.  Anyway, he was there again when I got back, and
after I got off work, I let him wash, took him out to eat again, bought
him some pants and a shirt, and then let him sleep in the apartment.

"Well to make a long story short, he's been living with me here on
the island for a little over a month now.  But I assure you, absolutely
nothing is going on between us.  I haven't touched him, or even expressed
the slightest bit of interest.  He's hinted pretty strongly more times
than I can count and a few times he's even come right out and suggested
it point blank.  I'm pretty sure that he thinks he owes me for letting
him stay here.  But you know me, even if I wanted to, I could never do
anything with him if that's the reason behind it.

"Scott if you could just see the poor little guy.  He's so sweet, gentle,
and polite, but in the middle of the night he has the worst nightmares
I've ever seen.  I've tried to comfort him, but more than once I've been
decked by him without his even realizing it.  In fact, I've got a beauty
of a shiner as we speak.  I was hoping that the nightmares would lessen
with a bit of quiet time, but they haven't.  It's as bad as ever.

"I've been reluctant to question him very much, but it's pretty obvious
to me what the situation is, especially hearing some of the stuff that
he's shouted out in the middle of one of his nightmares.  Sure, it's not
proof from a legal point of view, but it's enough for me.  His father's
raped him over and over, beaten him, and a lot of other stuff I'd rather
not think about.  Finally he took to the streets to get away, and you
know what that means he's had to do to survive.

"But I can't delay it any longer and I need to know what to do?
What can I do, what am I allowed to do?  What will the system do to him?
I mean, he's really grown on me, surprisingly so.  I'd love to have him
stay here, but I can just imagine the looks on the faces of the Social
Services types.  Single, gay, older man wants to have a young boy stay
with him - I can just hear the laughter now."

Scott paused for a moment before replying heavily, "Well you certainly
don't pick easy problems, do you?"

Graham replied, "It just kills me to know what's happened to him.
He's such a good kid, how can people do things like this to a boy?
I mean, this guy that's his father, he just doesn't deserve a nice
kid like this, but he's got one and he abuses him so terribly.  And the
nightmares, it's getting to much for me to handle.  I mean I'm not getting
any younger you know, and he's throwing all his strength into it when
he thrashes around.  I've been telling him I've smacked myself with the
cupboards to explain the bruises on my head.  I think he's starting to
believe I'm turning into a a senile old man who's hurting himself."

"Well you always were a bit 'touched'," joked Scott.

"Perhaps I am, but this is serious stuff Scott, and I want to help him
if I can," replied Graham.  "I just don't know what I can do, or even
if they would even let me."

"I know you do, and I know what you're like.  You're not going to take
'no' for an answer on this," began Scott.  "I can help a bit, but this
isn't my specialty as you know, I'm more the contract law type.  However,
I know someone who works for the Ministry of Social Services in the Child
Protection Branch.  I'll call and sketch out the situation, and then
get Matty to call you.  You going to be home for the next little bit?"

"Yes, I'll be here," said Graham.  "I sent Jamie off with Jason next
door to get him out of earshot while I talked to you on the phone.
That's his name, by the way, Jamie."

"All right, give me your number there, I've only got the one at the cave,"
said Scott using their shared humourous description for the little
apartment.

"It's 555-4905," replied Graham.

"OK, I've got it," said Scott.  "OK, so wait by the phone and I'll get
Matty to give you a shout.  It won't be long, and don't worry about
anything, you can trust Matty one hundred percent and say anything
without worrying.  Matty's not your average silly servant."

"Thanks a lot Scott," said Graham.  "He's really worth it you know.
One look in those eyes of his and I just go to pieces."

"Graham you're the world's biggest softy, you always have been," said
Scott.  "But that's what we love about you.  Don't you worry, we'll figure
out something for you and that boy of yours.  I won't let you down."

                               *** *** *** ***

Jason and Jamie emerged from the forest alongside a small stream that
they had visited a couple of times before.  Ever since Graham had given
Jamie the present of a pair of hiking boots, Jason had been taking him
all over the island to show him this or that sight.  Cindy had become
Jamie's constant and faithful companion never leaving his side, and the
two boys had become very close friends as well.

Jason put down the tackle box he was carrying, and proceeded to slide
the two sections of a fishing rod out of the long carrying case that he
had also been carrying over his shoulder.  Jason carefully aligned the
two sections and then pressed them together firmly.  Taking a second
fishing rod out of the rod case that he had handed to Jamie to hold,
Jason repeated the assembly procedure.  Handing the two rods to Jamie,
Jason then knelt down and opened the tackle box.  Retrieving two reels
from the box, Jason attached them to the handles of each of the fishing
rods in turn, as Jamie passed them to him.  Jason then strung the rods
with fly line from the reels and added a tippet to the end of each line,
showing Jamie how to tie the nail knot used to join the uneven sizes
of line together.  Lastly, Jason looked through the selection of flies
sitting in a tray in the tackle box in addition to looking around at the
stream and the surrounding ground.  Seeing small Mayfly nymphs in the
water in a small eddy pool, Jason selected two light-brown coloured wet
flies that looked remarkably like the nymphs in the water.  Jason showed
Jamie how to tie a blood knot as he attached first one, and then the
other fly to the tippets at the ends of the line on the fishing rods.

Jason passed one of the fishing rods back to Jamie and took his place
at the edge of the stream.  Once again in slow motions he showed Jamie
the proper way to cast the fly.

"You go from ten 'til two then make sure you snap it slightly so the fly
stays in the air, and watch the line for a figure-eight shape.  That way
you know you've got the right rhythm.  Slowly strip line from the reel,
and then let it slip through your fingers a bit," explained Jason,
and as he did this the small fly landed deftly on the water right in
the middle of the eddy pool he was aiming for.

"I still can't figure out how you do that without catching yourself on
the hook," said Jamie as he watched Jason repeat the procedure with the
second fishing rod.

"My Indian friend is a good teacher.  Of course I did catch myself in
the ear once and that taught me even faster," said Jason with a grin.

"Oh man, that must have hurt a lot," said Jamie.

"You better believe it," continued Jason.  "It was dug in really good,
and the barb didn't want to come out.  Getting my ear pierced would have
been way less painful."

Jamie winced as he heard Jason describe the gruesome details of the
incident.  Jamie admired the skill with which Jason spun out the second
fishing line and settled it too down onto the water's surface.

As the two boys fished, Jason could tell that Jamie didn't have his
mind fully on what they were doing.  Jason had learned to spot the signs
early on.  Jamie tended to get a strange look on his face, like he was
gazing into blank space, and not seeing anything.  It worried Jason
at first, but gradually he realized this was because of what Jamie had
been through.  Jason had told his father and Graham about it, and agreed
with them, that quiet time fishing was probably the best thing for Jamie.
Lots of time to think, peace and quiet, and no one disturbing him.

"Jay, do you think that maybe there is something wrong with Graham?" Jamie
said finally.

"What do you mean?" asked Jason not understanding.

"I've noticed lately, he seems to be getting banged up a lot, and I think
maybe something is wrong with him, like he's getting old or something,"
replied Jamie.

"He is getting older, but I don't think there's anything wrong with
Graham," said Jason carefully.

"He gets these bad bruises around and on his head sometimes," continued
Jamie.  "I asked him and he always says things like 'I bumped into the
cupboard' and stuff like that.  But I don't think that's it."

"I'm sure if something is wrong with him he'll tell you," Jason
temporized.

Despite knowing full well what was causing the it, Jason didn't feel
that it was his place to reveal the full explanation behind the injuries.
He knew that Graham was trying to help Jamie, and that he had been hoping
the calmness of the island lifestyle would help Jamie's nightmares
to decrease.  After seeing Graham this morning though, Jason had seen
once again that things hadn't improved much if at all over the past month.

Suddenly Jamie shouted as his line jerked, "I think I've got one!"

                               *** *** *** ***

Graham was leaning back in his chair in the study looking out the window
when the phone rang.

"Mr. Holt?" asked a woman's voice.

"Yes, this is Graham Holt."

"Hi, this is Madeline Thompson.  Scott Eldrich asked me to call you."

"Oh, so you're 'Matty' then."

"Yes, that's me.  I understand you've gotten yourself mixed up into a
bit of a situation."

"Ah, well, you see ... I ah ..." explained Graham.

"Don't worry, Scott explained everything," interrupted Madeline.
"You have nothing to worry about, in fact I should be thanking you.
This 'Jamie' we're talking about, would he be about twelve, kind of
scruffy but cleans up really nicely, dark hair, amazing blue eyes ..."

"You know him," said Graham.

"Yes, I do," sighed Madeline.

"He's been abused badly," offered Graham.

"Yes I know, and we can't prove a thing right now," responded Madeline
sadly.

"What do you mean you can't prove a thing?" exclaimed Graham.  "He has
nightmares almost every night.  Last night I got a black eye trying to
calm him down.  It's not the first time that's happened, nor the second."

"It's a really lousy story," began Madeline.  "I just pulled the file
on him before calling you.  Jamie's had two case workers so far and I
know them both.  Neither of them really cares about the kids they see
and it's almost certain they just took the father's word and ignored
anything that pointed to the contrary.  It's easier that way and then
they didn't have to dig hard to prove something was going on.  It's the
old story of too many cases, not enough workers, not enough time, and
the kids are the ones who fall through the cracks and end up suffering."

"But can't you use what the children tell you as evidence?" asked Graham.
"Surely that would give you grounds to at least investigate."

"They often won't tell us anything," said Madeline sadly.  "Despite
everything that happens to them, they often still feel they have to
be loyal to their parents.  Either that or they've been terrorized
into being quiet, often by threats against their siblings or a pet for
example.  Not to mention the fact that the system is stacked in favour
of the parents not the children.  Of course even if they do swear out
a complaint, where they often end up isn't exactly paradise most of
the time."

"You mean Jamie hasn't got any chance at a normal life then?" sighed
Graham.

"No, I just wanted to be honest with you and let you know the score and
what you and Jamie will be up against," said Madeline.  "But he's got
two big things in his favour this time."

"And what are those?" asked Graham with a sense of hopelessness.

"You and me," Madeline replied with conviction.

"How is that going to help?" said Graham.  "You have to follow the system,
and I'm not exactly what you'd call a poster child for the traditional
family."

"Well, Jamie's been staying with you now for about a month.  During that
time, he's probably come to know what you're like, and that could help
a lot because now he might be willing to tell us what's been going on.
Next, Scott's told me the kind of person you are, and if that bore up
under some checking, we might be able to get Jamie assigned to you
as a foster child, if you were willing of course.  Or it could just
be temporary until we found him another home.  Finally, there's me.
I'm interested in what's best for the kids not anyone else, and I'll
do whatever it takes to get them safe.  Jamie's not had me for a case
worker before, if he had it would never have gone on this long."

"What would happen if I said 'yes'?" asked Graham.

"First you'd have to give me a lot of personal information about
yourself and your background," said Madeline.  "Then I'd have to get a
description of where you live, where you work, financial information,
and personal references.  In other words basically everything about you,
including where you got your laundry done last week and what you had
for breakfast this morning.  Sounds invasive, and it is, but the idea
is to protect the kids."

"But that's the easy part," continued Madeline.  "Jamie has to come in
and give us a statement that we can use, and I can tell you right now,
that's going to be the hard part.  Most kids clam up tight when we try
to talk to them.  I'm hoping that if we can approve you, and if he knows
he might be able to stay with you at least for a little while, he might
be willing to talk.  Without something from Jamie, he'd be returned to
his father and we both know what that means."

"If it comes to that, I won't let you have him," said Graham defiantly.
"How about if I talk to Jamie then depending on how that goes we can
decide what to do.  In the meantime I'll send my lawyer a note and get
him to contact you and provide you with whatever you need in the way of
personal information about me."

"That's a good start," said Madeline.  "Just remember, things can't stay
the way they are right now.  I know you're a decent fellow Graham and
mean the best for Jamie, but you could get into a heap of trouble if
this came out the wrong way.  I mean what with him being a minor, and
despite what's been going on, his father remains Jamie's legal guardian
unless and until we can prove he's been an unfit parent."

"Yeah, I know," replied Graham.  "I was just hoping Jamie might be able
to settle down a bit and relax before anything like this had to be done."

"It's a wonderful thing you're trying to do Graham, but Jamie needs
professional help in addition to love and caring," said Madeline.
"You may not know it, but the government has funding programs to help pay
for these kinds of things, and even offers a subsidy for people who'll
take on a child like Jamie.  But before we can do anything for Jamie,
we've got to do something about his father.  If what you and I suspect
is what's been happening, he needs to be locked up and the sooner the
better."

"I'm not looking to get any money for helping Jamie," replied Graham.
"But you are right, the situation has to be solved permanently.  I just
don't have to like it and I doubt Jamie will either.  He's out fishing
right now with the boy from down the road, but I'll talk to him when he
gets home."

"OK," said Madeline.  "Give me a call after you've talked to him and
then we'll set up a time so that you can come in and I can meet with
you and Jamie."

                               *** *** *** ***

Graham was puttering about making lunch when suddenly Jamie, Jason,
and Cindy came bursting through the door into the kitchen.

"Look what we caught," said Jamie excitedly showing Graham a large
water-filled bucket.

"You guys are going to empty that stream if you're not careful," said
Graham as he looked into the bucket and saw at least half a dozen
beautiful brook trout in it.  Not one of them was under ten inches in
length.

"How about you and Jamie come over to our house for dinner.  Mom will
cook these up for all of us," suggested Jason.

"Can we, please?" asked Jamie hopefully.

"Sure, we'd love to," replied Graham.  "Jamie and I can come over a
little later this afternoon."

"That'll be great," said Jason.  "I'll take these home with me now and
clean them, and we'll expect you guys after."

As Jason headed out the door with the fish the boys had caught, Graham
said to Jamie, "Let's go into the living room for a few minutes, there's
something I want to talk to you about."  They moved into the living room
and sat on the sofa, Cindy sitting down pressed up against Jamie's feet
as usual.

Graham began, "Jamie, we need to talk a little bit about you and me and
... us."

Jamie moved to the edge of the seat and said carefully, "What did I
do wrong?"

"Oh no, you've not done anything wrong," replied Graham.  "You've been
wonderful and I just love having you here.  I think we're getting along
great, and I'm really happy you and Jason and Cindy are such good friends
now too.  So don't worry, you haven't done anything - I think you're a
wonderful boy."

"It's because you're sick, isn't it?" said Jamie.

"Sick?  What makes you think I'm sick?" asked Graham with surprise.

"You've been getting hurt a lot lately," said Jamie reluctantly.
"I mean, I couldn't help noticing."

"Oh, well ... yes, it's got something to do with that," said Graham.
"But it's not that I'm sick, the explanation is a little bit more
complicated than that."

Graham looked out the window towards the tree-framed view of the bay
for a moment before continuing, "Jamie, I know things were really bad
for you at home and that's why you ran away."

"Yes," said Jamie cautiously.

"And, sometimes you have some bad memories about those times," continued
Graham.

"Yeah, kinda sometimes," admitted Jamie.

"And, sometimes you aren't sleeping very well," added Graham.

"Maybe," said Jamie now starting to get concerned.

"Even though you've been here and safe for a while, sometimes your sleep
still isn't that good," said Graham.

"I have some bad dreams sometimes," admitted Jamie.

"I could talk to someone and maybe get you some help for that,"
suggested Graham.

"How can you do that?" said Jamie.  "I'm a street kid, no one is going
to want to help me."

"I'd like to help you if I can," replied Graham evenly.  "If you'll let
me that is.  I could try and get people to help you."

"It won't work anyway," said Jamie sadly.  "They'll just send me back
home like the other times, and then it'll start all over again.  I won't
let them do that to me again."

"But what if there was a way, to make it so that it couldn't happen
again?" asked Graham.

"It always means going back there, and I'd rather be dead," said Jamie
with finality.

"Jamie, I know you've had more bad breaks than anyone deserves in a
lifetime, but what would you say to maybe staying here with me?" asked
Graham.

"But I can't," complained Jamie.  "I know they'll send me back.  You know
they'll send me back.  Why can't we just leave things the way they are
and not tell anyone?"

"Well, things can't really stay like this," said Graham.  "You know how
you have nightmares, and you know these bruises and such that I've been
getting lately?"

"Uh-huh," said Jamie fearing the worst.

"When you get the really bad ones, did you know you pack quite a punch,"
said Graham with a grin.

"I did that?" exclaimed Jamie with fear written all over his face.

"Yes," replied Graham gently.  "Whenever you are having a bad nightmare,
Cindy comes and finds me, and then I come and try to calm you down.
But it doesn't always work out too well for me as you can see.  I really
think we need to do something so you can get some help, I'm getting too
old to keep ducking flying fists."

"I'm sorry!  I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to!  Honest!" exclaimed Jamie as
he leapt to his feet and began running for the door.

"Jamie!  Stop!  Don't run!  I'm not going to hurt you!" shouted Graham,
but it was too late.  Despite just being in his shirt sleeves and stocking
feet, Jamie hit the door at a run and in a moment had passed from sight
into the trees.

Graham continued to call after Jamie to no effect, and finally turned
to Cindy and said, "Go after him Cindy, go find Jamie."

[to be continued]