Date: Thu, 01 May 2003 17:44:19 -0400 From: Tom Cup <tom_cup@hotmail.com> Subject: David's Fortunes - Chapter 4 Copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 by the Paratwa Partnership: A Colorado Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, except in the case of reviews, without written permission from the Paratwa Partnership, Inc, 354 Plateau Drive, Florissant, CO 80816 This is a fictional story involving alternative sexual relationships. If this type of material offends you, please do not read any further. This material is intended for mature adult audiences. Names, characters, locations and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. ************************************************************************ Author's Note: These chapters were written some time ago and are based on "David's Christmas Present" which can be found here on Nifty. The original author was unable to finish the story and asked for others to do so. For reasons that I won't go into here, these chapters have been only available to the members of TomCup.com. We are releasing them now for the enjoyment of Nifty readers. Because "David's Fortunes" begins where the original ended, at chapter 11 of "David's Christmas Present", the reader may wish to read the original eleven chapters before proceeding here. If you are familiar with the original story, we hope that you will enjoy the alternative ending in the following chapters. ************************************************************************ What's New at TomCup.com? The Innocents Part 4: Paulo and Beto By Richard Dean Chapter 4 Added 5/01 Of Our Teenage Years Chapter 11 Added 4/28 KOA Boy Chapter 6 Added 04/23 Stephen Miller's Journal Chapter 12 Added 4/13 Mentoring Brandon Chapter 8 Added 4/13 Raptors By Richard Dean Chapter 7 Added 4/13 Age Before Beauty Chapter 4 Added 4/08 Calvin: Identity Crisis Chapter 12 Added 4/02 Private Lessons Chapter 5 Added 3/06 In Memory of Steve: Chapter 9 Added 2/13 Short Story: Ambrosius Added 1/29 Short Story: Blair Manor Added 1/29 Sexfiles File 10 Added 11/30 Short Story: Can I Stay With You Added 11/30 Terms of Living Chapter 11 Added 11/16 ************************************************************************ David's Fortunes By Tom Cup Chapter 4 Grandparents "Grandfather! Grandfather," shouted John, "It's Adam! Adam's here!" Gerald Lee watched John excitedly leave the window and run to the door. The elderly man was graceful in his moments as he moved to the window. His expression was stoic. He watched as Adam waved to the black van driven by Howard Dobson -- a carpenter on the reservation who traveled frequently to town -- Adam turned to see John running from the house to greet him. Those that seek the ways of the Great Spirit, listen to the voices of the animals, and commune with the changes of the seasons. They see the world in hues different from the concrete grays and pavement blacks of city dwellers. Some may have described the greeting as a happy moment: the reunion of two brothers. Gerald Lee did not. He saw a frightened bear cub seeking a hideaway den. "I am so glad to see you," John said hugging Adam. Adam held onto John painfully. His trembling, which John took for excitement, nearly led him to the path of tears but he refrained. The smile he gave John genuinely said how happy he was to be in the other boy's presence once again. Adam looked toward the house and saw his Grandfather standing in the doorway. Their eyes met only briefly before Adam looked away, feeling the patriarch's eyes searching his soul. Adam walked deliberately to the stoic figure standing in the door and hugged him saying, "I'm happy to see you Grandfather." Gerald smiled and rubbed the boy's back to comfort him. They would speak later when they were alone but for now Grandfather was concerned about how the boy flinched when he was hugged. "Come inside," he said to Adam and then turned, spoke in Cherokee to John, telling him to gather a list of specific herbs. John became alarmed, looked briefly at Adam and then ran off. "What has happened," Gerald asked as he helped Adam to the couch, laying him down. "What do you mean?" "You are hurt." "I fell." "Hmmm...I can see that perhaps I was wrong to think it was good for you to live among the whites." "What? I don't understand." "You have developed their habit of speaking what is not true." Adam began to cry. As the tears fell he told his Grandfather the truth of what had happened. The synopsis of the story Gerald Lee knew. Adam was running. But the details he studied as though he were hunting in the deep forest and had come upon the tracks of the prey he stalked. Adam had stolen David's vehicle, ran off the road while tears of grief obscured his vision, hitchhiked to the reservation, and was picked up by Howard Dobson walking towards his Grandfather's house. Now he was sobbing in fear that David Saunders would not forgive him for wrecking the truck. Gerald Lee began to laugh. "Love was not wasted on the young," Gerald thought, "but it was impossible for the young to fully grasp the depth, width and breadth of true love. David Saunders was more likely sick with despair, afraid that something had happened to Adam while Adam was worrying about the truck. Maybe he will be angry about the vehicle but only after he is sure that Adam is all right." As Gerald tried to explain these things to Adam, John arrived with the herbs and Joseph Risen Cloud -- the local medicine man. John shrugged. Joseph had seen John gathering the herbs and insisted on coming with him. Grandfather nodded. Joseph began speaking to Adam in his native Cherokee tongue. Adam looked blankly from the man to his Grandfather. "He was raised in the white man's world. He does not understand Cherokee." Joseph grunted. "Where does it hurt?" he asked. "It's OK," Adam asserted, but the hands of the medicine man poked at his ribs causing the boy to squeal. The man grunted again, turned and spoke in Cherokee to Gerald. Gerald nodded and turned to Adam. "Risen Cloud wishes for you to speak the truth from now on. He is very busy and does not have time for the games of the white man." "I'm sorry, " Adam cried, "I'm just ashamed." "There is no shame in telling the truth," Gerald answered. "I'm sorry," Adam said. He turned to Risen Cloud and said, "I'm sorry. My ribs hurt and my knee and my head." He showed Risen Cloud each of the spots on the left side of his body. Joseph nodded after examining each of the bruises. He again turned to John instructing him to retrieve a few other herbs and native tree bark. "I will make tea for your head and ointment for your bruises. There is nothing I can do for your heart." "My heart?" "Hmmm..." said the medicine man, "Perhaps I should make a salve for your eyes." Risen Cloud looked at Gerald Lee and laughed. The pain in Adam's chest became noticeable. Adam feared for an instant that that the medicine man had divined other problems and that he was having a heart attack. Then he realized that the pain was something else, an emptiness and grief. He began to sob uncontrollably. He would miss the twins, he would miss his home, and he would miss David. ***** What David didn't need was to waste time receiving a speeding ticket. He had been speeding. The cop behind him had every right to pull him over. In other circumstances he would have waited patiently, smiled and hoped for the best. But he was in a hurry. "Good morning sir. Do you know why I pulled you over?" "Yes officer. I was speeding." "You in a hurry?" "As a matter of fact I am. My truck was stolen. I got a call from the highway patrol. It didn't appear anyone was injured but my fourteen-year-old son is missing. I believe he may have been driving. I need to get to the accident site. I just have to know." There were many things on a shift that officer Samuels expected, such candor was not one of them. He stared in disbelief at the disheveled man seated in the Corvette. He had been traveling 32 miles above the speed limit. There would be a hefty fine. The man didn't seem to care. Officer Samuels thought about the crazy time he had stolen his dad's car. He had been sixteen. He knew it was wrong but the temptation grew too much for him. His father had hugged him and cried when he picked him up from the police station. When they returned home, the officer's father had whipped him. Officer Samuel remembered the whipping but what broke his heart was seeing his father cry. It had set him on the straight and narrow. He smiled. "I'll give you an escort. Try not to pass me." ***** Betty eyed the two boys sitting at the breakfast table. They didn't say much. They didn't eat much. Two black boys, she thought to herself, why in the world would David want to adopt two black boys? Surely there were white boys that need to be adopted. The boys were shy and reserved. Looking into each other's eyes and then bashfully at Betty before turning to stare, once again, into one another's eyes. Betty felt at odds with her feelings and all the developments of the past twenty-four hours. She sighed and wished that she hadn't been left alone with the boys. I should have gone and helped pick up the truck, she agreed with herself, Gwen would do better in this situation. The boys seemed to like Gwen. Eric and Jody begged Arnie to let them come along but he and Gwen reminded them that David had said they were to remain at the house. The waiting hurt; that and the way the woman sitting across from them was looking at them. They had been looked over by so many people in their lives, foster parents, perspective adoptive parents, social workers and the like. They couldn't help but to develop an instinct for when people didn't like them or at the very least were leery of them. Betty Saunders was leery; maybe didn't like them. The thought that David's mother didn't accept them hurt deeply but the pain was mild compared to the pain they felt at thinking that Adam had abandoned them. They trusted Adam like no one else either had ever known. He was their savior long before he had brought them to live with David. Adam protected them in the foster home. He taught them about their growing bodies. He talked to them like they were kids, not black kids but regular kids. When they were with Adam they forgot that they were different. They forgot that they were black and would most likely never be placed in a loving home, that statistically they would never be adopted. But Adam had worked a miracle. He had done what all the social workers could not do. Adam had found a home where they could be loved and accepted -- not as two black boys but as beloved sons. And now Adam was gone and they were left sitting with a women that would prefer if they weren't there. "Um, excuse me?" Jody said. Betty was surprised by the boy's voice. Her eyes focused on his wide, bashfully bright smile. "Yes," she answered. "May we go swimming?" "Swimming?" "Yes, Dad... I mean David always let us go swimming in the morning." Betty noticed how the boy bowed his head when he said David's name. She realized that he corrected himself for her benefit. She felt uncomfortable about David being their father and so they felt uncomfortable mentioning that fact to her. A pang of guilt swept over her. She was doing it again, making these boys feel as unwanted as she had made David feel. She shook her head, not meaning no the boys couldn't go swimming but that she would not continue on this course. If David loved these boys then somehow, someway, she too would grow to love them. She looked up to see both boys staring down at the uneaten food in front of them. "I'll tell you what," she said clearing her throat, "You finish your breakfast, and after you show me around this place, you can go for your swim. Is it a deal?" Jody and Eric looked excitedly at one another. Perhaps they had been wrong. Perhaps the woman didn't hate them. They never answered, simply began shoveling the remains of the meal into their mouths while looking longingly at Betty, their eyes huge with expectation, seeking her approval. Betty began to laugh at the sight. A tear rolled down her face. She saw how much Eric and Jody wanted her to like them. She acknowledged their love for her son. They would be crushed if they caused any problems for David. She understood how David could have fallen in love with these two needy boys. She would not stand in the way of David receiving the love that he was denied for so many years of his life and she, after all, by default, was the boys' adoptive grandmother. She smiled as the boys made quick work of the breakfast and rose quickly to clear the table. "No, no," Betty said, "You go get your swim suits on and I'll take care of the kitchen. Then you can show me around, OK?" "But we..." Jody started and got a quick poke in the side from Eric, "Awww..." "There will be none of that," Betty scolded. "Sorry,' Eric said, "But David said..." "Wait a minute," Betty interrupted, "Do you usually call my son by his first name?" "No ma'am," came the chorused response. "You're doing it now because you think it bothers me if you call him Dad. Am I Right?" Both twins nodded. Betty took a deep breath. "OK. I admit it. It did bother me but it doesn't anymore. OK? This is all going to take a little getting use to. Can you understand that? I mean, this house, David, Adam, you, it's a bit much for an old lady to digest." "You're not old," Eric said. Betty laughed and said, "Well, old enough to need a little time to get used to this all. So why don't we start over. Everyone else is going to be out for a while so we can spend the time getting to know one another. What do you say?" Both boys agreed eagerly and Betty wondered if it wasn't providence at work in all of their lives. ************************************************************************ Send comments to: comments@tomcup.com To support this and other stories by the author, join at http://www.tomcup.com. If you like this story, check out Tom Cup's "Calvin: A Coming of Age Story." Available at Barnes and Nobles Bookstores, Amazon.com, your local independent bookseller, or from Tom Cup.com.