Date: Sat, 11 May 2002 11:06:17 -0400
From: TgrPaw@gmail.com
Subject: Spare a Quarter - 4

========================
Can You Spare a Quarter?
========================

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.

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

4. Harsh Reality

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

Jamie emerged from the bathroom.  The accumulated grime and dirt was gone,
and the transformation from his previous state was something to behold.
In place of the grubby little guy that had entered the bathroom now
stood a boy that would catch the eye of many a girl, not to mention many
a boy or even some men.  There was, however, another unfortunate reason
that he would catch one's eye.  Now that the dirt had been washed away,
the marks on his face were much clearer and easier to see.

A couple of the bruises were fresh and dark, but others were clearly older
and rather faded.  If it weren't for the marks one might have called
Jamie beautiful, perhaps even stunning, but for now, he was simply a
boy who had been badly hurt.  Jamie took a tentative step towards the
living room of the man he'd just met.  He knew it was time to pay for
his lunch and the shower, and to earn his dinner he hoped.

Jamie could see the light at the end of the hallway where he supposed the
man, Graham, was waiting for him.  Jamie wondered what he would be like.
He seemed like a reasonable one, but it was hard to know sometimes.
In his experience, Jamie had learned that the most ordinary looking of
men could transform radically once he was alone with them.  Something in
their minds would snap and in seconds they could turn into a wild animal.
He wondered if this man would be one of those.  Often the better they
seemed to be, the worse it would end up.  Jamie began to walk towards
the living room, prepared to accept whatever was in store for him.

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

Sitting in the living room, Graham anxiously awaited the arrival
of Jamie.  He'd heard the water shut off, and the then the bathroom
door open and shut.  He knew that this would be Jamie retrieving the
clothes he'd laid out for him.  When the door opened the second time,
he knew that Jamie would be arriving shortly.

Graham was unsure what he was going to say when Jamie came into the
living room.  His mind was a whirling mass of emotions and thoughts.
He knew that the boy didn't have a home, that much was now painfully
obvious, but the question that needed to be answered was "why"?  As for
how Jamie had survived on his own, Graham had vague ideas that he
preferred not to visualize too well.  Graham suspected that the things
he had read about only scratched the surface of what it must be like,
and Jamie's appearance and demeanor only enhanced those fears.

Graham looked up as Jamie walked in.  Gone were the streaks of dirt on
Jamie's face, the now clean and combed highlighted brown hair shining in
the light, his blue eyes sparkling, his slightly dark complexion all
adding to the effect.  Jamie was indeed quite the attractive youngster,
if you ignored the bruises and scrapes that were evident in a number
of places.

"Why don't you come and sit down on the sofa?" Graham suggested to Jamie
as he motioned to the opposite end from where he himself was sitting.

As Jamie sat down, Graham noted that the clothes he had selected for the
boy seemed to fit not too badly.  Admittedly the short-sleeved t-shirt
tended to show a fair amount of Jamie, but this was due to the overly
large openings in the vicinity of the arms and neck.  At first Graham,
noted this merely from the point of view of the shirt's fit, but then
his eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed something.

The neckline of the t-shirt was such that some of the upper area of
Jamie's back was visible, and it appeared to Graham that perhaps the
boy hadn't been as diligent with the soap as he ought to have been.

"It looks like you missed a spot," Graham said jokingly while smiling,
and motioning towards Jamie's neck area.

"What do you mean?" asked Jamie.

"I can see there's a mark near your neck, you must have missed with the
soap there," Graham laughed.

"That's not dirt," said Jamie and his eyes suddenly dropped.

Graham's stomach began to feel very uneasy, and he asked Jamie "May I?",
as he reached for the neck line of the t-shirt.

Jamie nodded and turned his back partially towards Graham so he could
get a better look.

Graham moved a little closer to Jamie, and then reached up and pulled the
collar of the shirt out slightly to get a better look.  What he saw took
his breath away; there seemed to be lines in the flesh on Jamie's back.
Unbelieving, he closed his eyes for a moment and then looked again.
It was like something out of an old Cecil B. DeMille biblical epic.
The boy's back had on it what appeared to be whip marks, and they
weren't recent.  The scars were healed but still very visible.

"MY GOD!" exclaimed Graham. "How, who, what ... what happened?"

"My parents," said Jamie in a faint whisper.

"YOUR PARENTS?" thundered Graham, "How could ANYONE do something like
that to a person?  And to a boy?  It's absolutely horrific!"

Jamie began to sob and explain, "Sometimes I didn't do what they wanted
and ..."

Graham's face went white as a sheet as he heard Jamie explain through
his tears.

Jamie continued, "... it hurt so much, and sometimes I just couldn't take
it and if I said 'no' ... I mean I tried to do what they said mostly,
but ... the pain and then the blood sometimes and ... finally I just
had to run away."

Completely overwhelmed by the revelations, Graham hadn't been able to
say a word, but was suddenly shaken out of his speechlessness as Jamie
then continued, "But I'm better now, and stronger, so I can take it now,
anything, you won't be disappointed in me.  Honest!  I can handle whatever
you want.  Really!"

The full depth of what what Jamie was now saying to him, what he was
offering to him, broke through Graham's shock and he quickly moved over
on the sofa close to Jamie and reaching for the boy wrapped his arms
around him.  Jamie was trembling all over and Graham realized the boy
was afraid of him.

As he held the boy in his arms, Graham said gently, "No one will ever hurt
you like that again Jamie.  Those days are over and will never return."

Jamie was stiff in Graham's arms at first, but then he slowly began to
relax and let Graham comfort him.

"You will never have to 'take' anything like that ever again Jamie.
Never again will you have to endure that," Graham continued.

As Graham spoke he began to gently run his hand up and down over Jamie's
back while holding him, and the boy began to cry again.  Deep, wrenching
shudders ran though the boy as he sobbed and Graham held him and spoke
soothing words.

Jamie looked up through watery eyes and sobbed, "But if I don't, then
how will I get anything to eat, how will I ..."

Graham looked deep into Jamie's tear-filled eyes and found himself
promising, "No Jamie, you will never have to earn a meal again that way.
Never again," and he hugged Jamie tight.

The dam burst and Jamie wept uncontrollably, words tumbling out in between
the sobs, giving Graham glimpses into things better left unimagined.
He held the boy close comforting him, continuing with soothing words
until the sobs first lessened and then finally stopped.

Graham reached into his pocket for a handkerchief, and passed it to
Jamie who proceeded to wipe his eyes and face, and then blew his nose.
After he was done with it, Jamie started to hand it back to Graham.

"Ah, I think I'll let you keep that," Graham said with a grin.

"Oh, yeah, I guess you don't really want it now," Jamie said with a smile.

"Yes, I think it now belongs to you," Graham agreed and chuckled.

This definitely wasn't turning out quite as Jamie had expected.  Not only
had the man not made any advances towards him, he'd not seemed put
off by the tears, quite the opposite actually.  Jamie was also rather
surprised at himself.  He usually kept his emotions on a very short
leash, and it was not like him to turn on the waterworks like this.
What was it about this man that made him feel this way?  It was hard to
define exactly what it was that he was feeling, something he'd not felt
in untold months if not longer.  It was like a faint almost forgotten
memory, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Graham suddenly remembered Jamie's clothes were in the laundry room
and excused himself.  He quickly went and pulled them from the washing
machine and tossed them into the dryer.  He inserted some more coins and
the dryer began spinning.  Graham looked at his watch and mentally made
a note to come back when the drying cycle would be completed.

Returning to the apartment he found the bathroom door closed and sounds
of nose blowing coming from within.  Jamie shortly emerged looking rather
better than he had only a few minutes ago.

"Sorry about that, I'm ok now," Jamie announced to Graham.

"And your clothes are now drying," added Graham.

"I guess I should take these off now, right?" Jamie asked, reaching for
the bottom of the t-shirt he had on.

"No, you just wait until yours are ready," replied Graham realizing that
Jamie was testing him a little.

"It's ok, really, I don't mind," pressed Jamie while he looked into
Graham's eyes.

"No," said Graham with finality while indicating that Jamie should sit
on the sofa next to him.

Jamie inwardly relaxed and sat down.  Things were definitely not happening
the way they were supposed to.  Jamie had no complaints about that,
but it did mean he was unsure what going to occur since none of the
predictable patterns were evident.

"I don't know about you," said Graham, "but I'm starving and it's long
past dinnertime.  How would you like to have dinner with me and we
can talk?  Also this sofa pulls out into a bed and you could sleep here
tonight.  There's snow in the forecast and it's not very warm outside."

Jamie considered this, and decided that perhaps this was how it would
happen.  Still food, a warm place to stay, and a bed were on offer and
that would make it worth it.

"Thank you, that'd be great," Jamie replied.

"Ok.  Well you've washed, but I haven't, so how about you watch some
TV while I go scrape off the barnacles?  By then your clothes should be
ready too and we can figure out something to eat," said Graham.

Graham left the TV remote with Jamie and headed to the bathroom.  Partly
to wash off, but also partly to contemplate the situation.  He wasn't
really sure what he was getting himself into, but he did know that he
meant it when he'd told Jamie 'never again'.  Graham shook his head as he
climbed into the shower.  What could he do?  He had no experience with
kids, knew next to nothing about their needs or requirements, maybe he
should notify the authorities?  After all weren't they the experts in
this kind of thing?

Graham felt a cold draft of air in the shower and reached to turn up
the hot water a little when he heard a voice.

"Do you want me to help you?" he heard Jamie ask.

Graham quickly spun and grabbed for the washcloth while water flew into
his eyes, and he spluttered, "No, no, I'm fine - you just go back and
look at the TV."

The door closed and Graham shook his head and smiled.  Jamie was
definitely persistent he thought, but he knew also that he was being
tested once again.  Graham didn't know a lot about psychology, but
he suspected that this was something that was rather to be expected.
It was also something that if he was ever to help Jamie, he knew he
could never fail on, not even for a split second.

Graham finished up in the shower without further interruptions,
climbed out and dried off.  While it was usually his habit to do this
with the door open and then walk about looking for something to put on,
he realized that today he would have to change that routine.  He put on
the clothes he had previously, went out, grabbed a few new things, then
went back into the bathroom, and changed into them.  He noted mentally
that if this setup was going to continue for any length of time, he was
going to have to change his habits.

Emerging from the bathroom Graham dropped his dirty clothes into a
laundry basket and went out of the apartment and down the hall to check on
Jamie's things.  The dryer was just completing its cycle and he stopped
it and pulled out the now washed and dried clothes.  Graham looked at
them and he realized that frankly, they weren't really worth putting
on again.  They were threadbare in many places, torn, several holes,
and while he'd put in a double dose of soap powder, they were still not
what one would really term 'clean'.

Graham quickly folded them up and returned to the apartment and passed
them to Jamie.

"Oh gee, thanks a lot mister!" he exclaimed and then when he saw the
look on Graham's face, he added "I mean ... Graham."

Graham smiled and plainly felt embarrassed by Jamie's gratitude.
He motioned towards the bathroom and Jamie ran to it holding his things,
which were still warm from the dryer, close to his chest, Emerging a
couple of minutes later, Jamie looked significantly better than he had
when Graham first saw him, even if the clothes clearly needed something
done about them.  Despite this however, Jamie seemed very pleased with
the situation and was smiling as he came out.

"So how does some dinner sound to you?" he asked Jamie.

"Sure, I'd like that a lot, but I don't have any money to pay," replied
Jamie.

"Don't worry about that - it'll be my treat.  Let's get our coats on
and see what we can find out there," Graham said while reaching for
his overcoat.

Jamie put on his jacket and Graham saw it wasn't terribly thick and
knowing how cold it was out, he went and looked in the closet.  With the
apartment just being a place that Graham stayed in during the week,
it wasn't overly stocked with clothes.  Nonetheless he thought perhaps
he might have something that might do, and quickly spotting it Graham
pulled out an older but still warm jacket of his.

"Here, why don't you give this a try," he said while offering it to Jamie.

"Can I?" asked Jamie as he tried it on.

Zipping it up Jamie found it was much warmer than the one he had, and
once again he puzzled at Graham's generous nature.  Jamie had offered
himself to Graham several times and had been turned down each time.
Very strange, but Jamie reasoned it was best not to complain or ask too
many questions.  The time would come soon enough, and it was best to
enjoy things while he could, he decided.

"That looks warmer on you," Graham said.

"Oh yeah, way better.  Thanks a lot ... Graham," Jamie replied,
remembering this time not to call him 'mister'.

"Ok, so let's get going," said Graham.

They went out the apartment door and Graham locked it securely.
Both Jamie and Graham were unsure what was ahead of them.  Neither was
finding this day turning out quite as they had expected, but at the same
time neither was regretting the days events.  As they headed out towards
Graham's car, they looked at each other and smiled.