Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 00:52:55 -0500
From: TgrPaw@gmail.com
Subject: Can-You-Spare-A-Quarter 8

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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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8. New Friends

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Jamie followed Jason out the back door from Graham's house.  They headed
to the left and went along one of the pathways that led into the tall
trees that surrounded the house on three sides.  As they walked along,
Jamie once again looked out and down the slope towards the water and
marveled at the surroundings.  Aside from their footsteps, it was quiet;
so quiet in fact that Jamie almost fancied he could hear his own heart
beating.  Jamie had never experienced such peaceful surroundings as
these and he wondered how long they would last.

Jamie asked Jason, "Where are we going, Jason?"

"Come on, I want you to meet Tails," said Jason.  "And by the way call
me Jay."

"Tails?  Who's Tails?" asked Jamie.

"You'll see.  You'll like Tails," replied Jason with a big smile.

The cobblestones ended at the edge of the grassy area and a thin bare
pathway took them straight into the middle of the forest.  Fallen branches
crunched under their feet as they walked along and Jamie looked around
with wide eyes as they went.  The forest floor was covered by large
bright green ferns everywhere Jamie looked and dark green moss hung from
the branches of the trees as well as the fallen limbs laying nearby.
Here and there Jamie heard birds calling out, in various tones, from the
branches overhead.  It was a completely different world from the city.
Jamie had never been in a real forest before and this was quite different
from the small cultivated patches that he had encountered in the city
parks.  Of course, the reason for going into the trees was different this
time as well.  For a change Jamie wasn't feeling scared like he usually
did in a setting like this and he was enjoying the sensation immensely.

After they had been walking steadily for about five minutes, Jason
stopped next to a large fallen tree and sat down on it.  Then, much to
Jamie's surprise, Jason began to look around and started making funny
noises with his mouth.

"What are you doing, Jay?" asked Jamie.

"Shhhhh.  Be quiet and watch," said Jason.

Then as Jamie watched with amazement a small black squirrel came
down a nearby tree and ran up onto the log that Jason was sitting on.
Jason continued to make the noises and the squirrel stopped about two feet
away from him, sat up on its hind legs and began to twitch its bushy tail.

"Oh wow," whispered Jamie.

"This is Tails," said Jason with a grin.  "I named him after the character
in the Sonic the Hedgehog game because of the way he spins his tail."

Jamie watched open-mouthed, as Jason reached into his coat pocket and
pulled out some peanuts and began to feed them to Tails.  As Jason
offered each peanut to the squirrel, Tails took it in his front paws
and carefully ate it.

Jason moved slowly and sat on the log cross-legged, putting a peanut on
the top of one of his knees, which Tails promptly came over and took.
Then Jason put another peanut a bit further up his leg and Tails then
climbed up on top of Jason's leg, took it, and sat there while eating it.

Jason grinned at Jamie who was was absolutely amazed by what he was
seeing.  He'd seen the odd squirrel before, but they were very skittish
creatures in his experience and always ran away if you ever got near
to them.  He'd never seen one up close like this before, let alone one
that would climb up on you and sit there.

"Want to try feeding him?" asked Jason while holding out some peanuts
to Jamie.

"Can I?  Really?" said Jamie.

"Sure, just hold one out to him, and don't make any sudden moves,"
replied Jason.

Jamie took the peanuts from Jason's outstretched hand and held one
out to Tails.  The squirrel moved over on Jason's leg and plucked the
peanut right out of Jamie's hand and began to eat it.  As soon as Tails
finished it, Jamie held out another, and the squirrel took that as well.
When Jamie finally ran out of peanuts, the squirrel sat up and sniffed
in Jamie's direction looking at him expectantly.  Then Tails jumped down
off of Jason's leg and ran over towards Jamie's foot, placed his front
paws on his pant leg and looked up at him.

"Here's a couple more," said Jason handing Jamie the few remaining
peanuts from his pocket.

"Thanks," said Jamie.

Jamie took them and kneeling down, began to feed them once again to Tails.
As the squirrel waited for each peanut he would rest his front paws on
Jamie's pants and then reach up to take the next peanut from Jamie's hand.

After the last few peanuts were exhausted Tails sniffed around Jamie's
hands to check if there were any more.  Realizing that was the end of
the treat, Tails went over to the tree he had come down and ran up it.

"So, what do you think of Tails?" asked Jason with a smile.

"That's the most amazing thing I ever saw!" exclaimed Jamie.

"Come on, let's get going over to my place and I'll show you my PS2,"
said Jason.

The two boys got up and continued heading along the path they had taken.
After about another five minutes of walking through the forest, they
came to a cleared and grassy area with a slightly smaller and somewhat
differently style log cabin-style house.  Like Graham's house, the rear
of the place looked out towards the ocean, and there were flower beds
scattered about.

"This is my house," announced Jason.

"Does everyone have a log cabin house?" asked Jamie.

"No, but my folks had one, and after Mr. H bought the piece of land next
to ours and saw our place, he had one built too," replied Jason.

Suddenly Jamie pointed and said, "Look over there, I don't believe it."

Jason looked where Jamie was pointing and smiled, "Oh, that's
Kushe-suksi."

"What does that mean?" asked Jamie.

"It's an Indian name, it means 'Great Deer'," replied Jason.  "He comes
here to eat the grass and sometimes the flowers too.  Dad tries to stop
him, but he just keeps coming back."

The large white-tailed deer was busily nibbling away at the grass as
Jason slowly led Jamie towards him.  As they approached, the deer looked
up but didn't run.

"Watch this," said Jason as he slowly reached out and ran his hand
gently over the deer's side.  As he did this the deer lowered his head
and resumed nibbling at the grass, clearly unconcerned about Jason being
close to him/

"That's incredible, how do you get them to not run away," said Jamie
quietly but with intensity.

"Animals have a special sense of who is dangerous and who isn't,"
replied Jason.  "They know I would never hurt them, and they're used to
seeing me around.  That's why they aren't afraid of me.  A wise Indian
man taught me how to talk to the animals, and if you do it right, they
aren't scared of you."

"Talk to animals?" said Jamie incredulously.  "That's crazy, no one can
talk to animals."

"Oh yes they can - if you know how.  My friend's an old medicine man
and he taught me how people don't pay attention to nature any more.
How if you listen to the sounds of the forest and what the animals are
saying to each other, you can tell what the weather is that's coming,
who else is in the forest, and all kinds of things."

"But it's quiet out here, you can't hear anything," said Jamie.

Jason replied, "You're still using your city ears, you need to unlearn
those ways, and then you can learn to hear the sounds of nature.  The
forest is never quiet if you know how to watch and listen.  Once you open
yourself to nature, you can hear it inside you and communicate with it."

As Jason explained, Jamie looked on and was deeply impressed with the
wisdom of a boy who was no older than himself.  Jamie wondered if he might
be around long enough to learn some of the things Jason was describing.
Jamie instinctively understood that what Jason was telling him made sense.
Surviving on the streets, Jamie had learned to read the 'signs', hear the
sounds that made the difference between surviving and being a victim.
The language and signals here were going to be very different, but
the concept was the same.  Jamie knew it was a matter of being taught,
getting to know the environment, and not being oblivious as most people
usually were to their surroundings.

Leaving the deer behind, Jamie followed Jason into the house, where
they both took off their shoes, putting them on a mat before heading
further into the house.  Following Jason's lead, Jamie took off his
coat and hung it on a hook that was beside the door to the kitchen.
Jason then led Jamie through the door and into the kitchen where his
mother was busy stirring something in a large bowl.

"Hi Mom," said Jason.  "This is Jamie, he's a friend of Graham's."

"Hello, Jamie," said Jason's mother as she looked up from her cooking
with a smile.

"Hello, ma'am," replied Jamie a bit quietly and looking slightly
downwards.

"Hello Jamie," replied Jason's mother.  "My name's Kathy Freeland,
you don't have to call me 'ma'am'.  And since you're a friend now,
just call me Kathy."

"Um, yes ma'am, Mrs. ... I mean Kathy," stammered Jamie feeling very
uncomfortable.

"I'm going to show Jamie my PS2," announced Jason as he took Jamie by
the hand and headed out of the kitchen.

Heading for his bedroom Jason said, "You're going to love this game I've
got, it's awesome."

"Are you sure your Mom won't mind me being here?" asked Jamie hesitantly.

"No way, she'll think it's great I've got a new friend," replied Jason.

Jamie smiled as he heard Jason refer to him as a 'friend'.  It was hard
to have friends while living on the streets, and the few he had made
tended to disappear from time to time.  Jamie often wondered what had
become of those boys that had vanished, but he tried not to think too
much along those lines.  The answers he knew all too well, were not
especially pleasant.

"You've got a TV in your room?" exclaimed Jamie as they entered Jason's
room.

"Yeah, it's an old one, but it's mine," replied Jason.

"Wow," said Jamie taking in the other things in the room, then adding
slowly, "But ... don't you gotta, like, do 'other stuff' too?"

"I've got chores to do sometimes," said Jason a bit puzzled by Jamie's
question.

"Just chores?" asked Jamie clearly emphasizing the word 'just'.

"Yeah, what else would I have to do?" asked Jason not understanding.

"Oh nothing." replied Jamie quickly, not completely believing the answers
Jason was giving him.

Jason switched on the TV, and then turned on the PS2 that was sitting next
to it.  Then grabbing the controllers that were sitting on top of the TV,
jumped up on the bed and handed one to Jamie.  Jamie sat next to him,
and watched closely as Jason showed him how to play the game.

Before very long, Jamie was picking up on how to play the game, and Jason
then switched the game to play in dual-player mode.  At first Jason was
beating Jamie easily, but in short order, Jamie was beginning to pick
up on the subtle tricks and began to give Jason serious competition.

Totally absorbed in the game, neither boy noticed right away, when
Jason's mother entered the bedroom.  However, within a few seconds, the
smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies collected their attention
away from the game.

"Here you go boys, I thought you could use a little treat," said Kathy
as she passed over the plate of cookies she had balancing on top of two
glasses of juice.

"Thanks a lot Mom," said Jason.

"Thank you, ma'am ... I mean Kathy," replied Jamie quietly still not
quite looking her in the eyes. "You didn't need to do this."

"Oh it's no trouble, I like cooking," Kathy replied as she headed out
of the bedroom to return to the kitchen.

The game continued and the cookies on the plate gradually evaporated
along with the juice.  Eventually Jamie completely caught up to Jason,
and was just about to overtake him, when out of the corner of Jamie's
eye he saw a shadow at the door.

"Hi there boys, how's it going?" boomed a deep voice.

"Hey, Dad!" said Jason.

As the tall broad-shouldered man entered the bedroom, Jamie's eyes widened
and in a flash he dropped the game controller and was moving fast off
of the bed.  In an instant, Jamie had leapt from the bed and now had his
back against the wall and was facing the man with his eyes locked on him.

Jason's father walked fully into the room and extended a large hand
towards Jamie and said pleasantly, "Hello Jamie, I'm Frank Freeland,
Jason's father."

The abject terror in Jamie's eyes was plain to see, but nevertheless the
terrified boy slowly put his hand out and let the large man shake it.
As soon as Frank let go of Jamie's hand, Jamie pulled it back while
staying flat to the wall.  Jason saw that Jamie's eyes were remained
trained on his father, watching his every move.

"Is everything OK, Jamie?" asked Frank with concern.

"Yes sir.  I'm OK," stammered Jamie his body visibly trembling.
"I didn't do nothing, honest I didn't.  I was just sitting quiet and
not doing anything."

Jason and his father glanced at each other and weren't quite sure what to
make of Jamie's reaction.  Frank backed away a couple of steps from Jamie,
and knelt down so that he didn't stand so tall as compared to Jamie.
Jamie remained against the wall and watched the man's every move like
a cornered animal.

"It's OK, Jamie, I just wanted to say hello," said Frank gently.

"Yes Sir," replied Jamie formally.  The blood had drained from Jamie's
face, and its whiteness clearly attesting to his continued deep fear.
Frank could also tell Jamie didn't believe his good intentions for
a split-second.

Finally, Frank stood up and headed out of the bedroom, and as he did
a visibly relieved Jamie breathed a sigh of relief.  Jason looked at
Jamie with concern and patted the bed next to him to indicate to Jamie
that he should come back and sit next to him.

"Was it really bad at home?" said Jason quietly.

"Bad enough I ran away a year ago," replied Jamie.

"Where do you live now?" asked Jason.

"The corner of Johnson Avenue and Herald Street," whispered Jamie with
his head lowered.

Jason's eyes opened wide and an enhanced understanding of Jamie's
full situation came to him.  Hearing the well known pickup-spot being
offered as a home address wasn't quite what Jason had been expecting.
He'd suspected things at Jamie's home weren't great, but he hadn't been
expecting this.  It explained a lot, but opened up an equal number of
new questions.

Jamie saw the look on Jason's face and said quietly, "I better go now,"
and started to get up.  "You don't want me around, now that you know
what I am."

"No no, don't go," said Jason, putting his arms around Jamie.  "You're my
friend, and I don't care about none of that stuff."

"Yeah, but what about your parents, they're going to freak when you tell
them," said Jamie.

"No they won't, and besides I'm allowed to have whoever I want for
a friend.  And I want you," said Jason.  Getting up off the bed, Jason
handed the controllers back to Jamie and said, "Here you play some more,
I gotta go to the bathroom for a minute."

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

"I can't believe what just happened up there," Frank said to his wife.
"That boy was absolutely terrified of me, Kathy.  I walked in the room,
and you wouldn't believe how he reacted.  You'd have thought I was
about to cut his heart out or something.  He couldn't have been any
more scared of me than if I'd walked in carrying a knife dripping blood.
It was unbelievable - like he'd just seen the devil himself walk in."

Just then Jason slipped quietly into the kitchen, and said, "Mom, Dad,
I need to talk to you for a second."

Frank and Kathy looked on with pain as Jason told what he knew of Jamie,
though leaving out the mention of what Jamie had been doing to survive,
and added, "Graham was wondering if maybe he could borrow some of my
clothes for Jamie."

Kathy said, "Oh of course he can.  Oh my goodness, the poor little dear.
It's no wonder he reacted that way, whatever happened at home it must
have been dreadful for him to run away.  He seemed a bit shy with me,
but given how he reacted to your father, whatever it was must have
involved his own father.  Frank, maybe you resemble him a little and
that's why he acted that way."

"Well, I don't know what went on, but I think I definitely want to meet
this father of his," said Frank ominously.  "If Jamie's reaction to
me is any indication of what he's like, it's going to be a very short
conversation."

"I gotta get back," said Jason adding with a grin, "I'm 'going to the
bathroom'."

Running quietly back to the bedroom, and remembering to flush the toilet
on the way to make sure that Jamie didn't suspect from not hearing it,
Jason walked back in and sat down next to Jamie.  Jason saw that Jamie
had clearly learned quickly and was really racking up the points.

"You learn fast," said Jason, "It took me like a month to get this good."

"Well, sometimes playing video games, is all there is to do," said Jamie.

Jason nodded and picking up the other controller started a new game so
that both of them could play.  After ending up virtually tied to Jason,
Jamie was once again smiling and happy.  Jason looked out the window
and saw it was starting to get dark.

"I should probably show you the way back to your place, before it's
totally dark out," said Jason.

"Oh yeah.  I hope Graham won't be mad at me.  He didn't say how long I
could stay away," said Jamie.

"Oh don't worry about Mr. H," said Jason, "He's the world's biggest
pussy cat."

Jamie looked at Jason with a questioning look.  Nevertheless everything
Jamie had seen to this point, supported Jason's assertion.  Still the
fact that Graham hadn't gotten mad thus far, didn't prove anything.
Jamie knew what men were like.

Getting up off the bed and turning off the TV and game machine, the two
boys headed downstairs.  Soon they were in the small room next to the
kitchen and were putting on their coats and shoes.

The door to the room opened, and Kathy stood at the door holding a package
wrapped in brown paper, saying, "Could you take this over to Graham for
me, Jamie?"

Jamie walked over and took it from her, saying "Yes Ma'am, I mean Kathy.
Thank you for the cookies, they were super."

"I'm glad you liked them," Kathy replied, and taking a smaller package
from her husband who was standing behind her, she added pleasantly,
"And here's a little something just for you."

Jamie looked puzzled, but then he smiled as he detected the aroma of
fresh chocolate chip cookies coming from the slightly warm package.

"Oh thank you, this is awesome," said Jamie with enthusiasm.

"Goodbye, Jamie, I really hope you'll come over again soon," said Frank
cheerfully while standing at the far back behind Kathy.

"Yes Sir," said Jamie quietly while backing up towards the back door,
the smile on his face vanishing instantly.

As Jason's parents watched with concern, Jason led Jamie out the door, and
they headed back towards the forest for the walk back to Graham's house.

"I think you should call Graham," said Kathy after the door closed behind
the boys.

"Yeah, I'm not sure what we can do, but that boy needs help," Frank
replied.

[to be continued]