The contractor had finished the work on Pat’s bedroom, so all it needed was some furniture to make it habitable. Pat had decided he’d prefer a double bed, so I went out and purchased one, along with the appropriate matching pieces. Like before, I found a decent bedroom set at a garage sale and then bought a new mattress and box spring to use with it. Pat was ecstatic about his new room and Ricky had his own room back, although he still didn’t use it often.
Even though it might be hard to believe, the three mischievous imps were now even more inseparable than before. They were almost constantly in each other’s company and the other boys spent their time trying to figure out what they were up to. They had always been close, but not quite as close as they appeared now, so the rest of the family feared they were planning new horrors for us. Due to my small amount of eavesdropping at their bedroom door that one evening, I was the only one, beside those involved, who knew about or suspected the new connection between them, and I wasn’t about to share that secret with anyone else.
During that week, I also met with the representative from Mr. Kaufman’s law offices, signed the required paperwork and accepted the check. It came to $5,347,550. I put some into an account for easy access and then invested the rest. I calculated that even if it only earned 5% interest on the principal, we would have a quarter of a million dollars a year to spend without ever having to touch the base amount. There would be no way this family would lack for anything in the future and I could ensure the boys would be able to pursue many of their dreams. I would add to the account I had set up for each one of them to be used for college, starting their own business or buying a home and beginning life when they were ready leave. I could now provide them with everything I had ever dreamed of.
It was about two or three weeks after Pat moved into his own bedroom when he did something none of the rest of us ever expected. He even planned it alone and worked out every last detail, to make it go flawlessly. He did give me a hint about what he was planning, so I would be prepared for it and not panic when it happened.
We were all sleeping in one Saturday morning, after a fairly hectic week, when all hell seemed to break loose. At first most of us were oblivious to what was going on in one of the other rooms, but suddenly we began to hear very loud animal noises. At first, I thought I heard a growl of some sort, followed by the roars of several lions, but I knew that couldn’t be. Groggily, I figured some of the boys must be watching television and had set the volume way too high, so I got out of bed, to tell them to turn it down. However, that’s when I began to hear screams coming from the jungle room.
Frantically, I raced there and opened the door, only to see three young boys screaming and darting hysterically about the room. Then it all began to sink in. Pat had exacted his revenge on our little monsters, so now the rest of us gathered around to watch and enjoy the lesson he was teaching our three terrors.
I think it best if I back up a bit and explain how Pat had set this all up. While the rest of us were sleeping, he carried Kevin’s boom box, which he had borrowed previously, into the jungle room, attached it to an extension cord and set the volume full blast. That way, nothing would happen until he plugged it in. He also turned on a black-light lamp, which he had placed on the desk in the jungle room, to add a surreal glow. He then lay down on the floor at the foot of their bed, completely out of sight. The room was now nearly completely dark, lit only by the black-light lamp, when Pat reached out and pushed the plug end of the extension cord into one of the nearby sockets.
The tape immediately began to play the animal noises we soon heard, which Pat had previously recorded off of the animal network. That’s why I thought I heard the growls and roars of lions. It had been taken from a program showing individual lions establishing dominance within the pride, which was also vaguely what was happening here. Slowly, these sounds began to register in the psyches of the sleeping trio, when all of the sudden there was another mighty roar, much louder than any of the rest, as one lion announced his superiority and control to the others.
Three bodies suddenly jerked upright on the bed, only to be confronted by the wallpaper, which was lit up eerily by the black light and filled with the faces of jungle creatures. Just as the boys began to look around, a large stuffed lion (one that had been purchased for Graham at Christmas by my older son’s family) leapt onto the bed (it was actually tossed there by Pat), just as another mighty roar sounded from the speakers.
The trio began to scream hysterically and fought to get off the bed and away from their attacker. These shouts brought the other boys running down the hall toward the jungle room, to see what the commotion was all about. Just as they arrived, another roar sounded from the speakers and the older boys spotted the stuffed lion, which had been unceremoniously knocked onto the floor, just before Pat sprang up from the foot of the mattress to pounce on our little monsters himself. The three young boys started screaming again and frantically tried to break free of their attacker, which caused the older boys to roar themselves, only their roars were of laughter.
“All right,” Danny chuckled. “Somebody’s finally given those three a good dose of their own medicine.”
“Great job, Pat,” Kevin added, when he saw Pat heading out of the jungle room. “You’re going to fit in just fine here.”
“Yeah,” Dustin agreed. “I wish I’d thought that one up myself. That was awesome and it might make them think twice before they try their tricks on any of us again.”
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Graham argued. “When we do something like this, you all gang up on us. Why aren’t you ganging up on Pat, instead of telling him how great it was?”
“Because you three do it to innocent people,” Kevin answered, “but each of you are far from innocent.”
“Yes, you guys have deserved that for ages,” Danny continued, “so don’t come running to us for sympathy, because you aren’t going to find any.”
“You sure are lousy brothers,” Ricky spat out. “You won’t even protect the three youngest, most innocent and most defenseless members of this family.”
“Youngest, maybe,” Dustin countered, “but you three are far from being innocent or defenseless. We kept telling you the day would come when someone would get you back, but we had to wait for Pat to do it.”
“So we’re even now,” Pat concluded, “so no more pranks. Right?” But he didn’t wait for them to answer, before he continued. “If you do anything of this nature to any of us again, I’ll get the others to help me get you back even worse next time.”
“Dad,” Cole pleaded, “won’t YOU help us?”
“Hey, you brought this upon yourselves,” I said with a chuckle, “but I fear this probably isn’t going to be the last of it. I suspect that from now on, however, it won’t be quite as one-sided.”
“But Daddy,” Graham said in his best, innocent, little boy voice, “aren’t you going to protect your babies?”
“I don’t see any diapers on you and there’s the matter of those horns sticking out of your heads,” I teased. “Admit it, you three little devils just can’t take what you so happily dish out, so if you don’t want something like this to happen to you again, then I’d suggest you start mending your ways.”
“Oh, we can take it all right,” Ricky spat back, defiantly. “I just hope the rest of you can, because this means war!” The three little ones were all laughing now and glaring at their brothers, as they started to chant “War, war, war…”
I decided to put an end to this little sideshow, but quickly realized my best effort probably wouldn’t be enough to stop the escalation of pranks. We all hoped the three villains would learn from what had just happened to them, but I think, down deep, they enjoyed the sudden attention this brought them. Not only that, but I think they were also impressed by Pat’s creativity in planning his revenge, at least once their little hearts stopped racing. However, I now believed this was only going to unleash a new round of attacks in the near future.
To my surprise, things did actually die down for a while and we made it to the middle of October until the next surprise. I was nearly finished with another long day at school, when I heard an unexpected visitor at my office door.
“Josh, do you have a few minutes?” I thought I recognized the voice, but it didn’t quite register in the school environment. I didn’t realize who it was, until I turned around and actually spied my visitor.
“Well, Sally, hello. For you, I have all the time in the world. Come in and sit down.” It was Sally Swarthout, my friend from D.S.S., who had brought me all my sons, except for Pat. “What brings you here?”
“I wish I could tell you this was a social call, but I desperately need your help again,” she admitted. “Before I begin, though, how are you and the boys?”
“We’re all fine, Sally, and you should drop around more often to see them,” I suggested. “I know they would all like that. By the way, I have a new boy whom you haven’t met yet. If you want to come over, I’ll introduce you.”
“Oh, dear. You have a new boy?” she repeated, as a surprised expression flashed over her face. “Where did he come from?”
“Yes, I have a new boy,” I repeated. “His name is Patrick Murray, but he prefers to be called Pat. Judge Shay called me a few weeks back and asked me to take him in. After a slightly rough start, he now seems to have become a fine addition to my clan.”
“Now that you mention it, I do remember Judge Shay asking me about a placement for a young man,” she responded, “but I didn’t know he talked you into taking the boy.”
“He did, but that’s not the only surprise I’ve had, either,” I continued. “I recently received a great deal of money from a gentleman who read about our blended family in one of the magazine articles. He included me in his will and we are now financially set.”
“Oh Josh, that’s wonderful,” Sally gush, while eyeing me suspiciously. “Maybe I can still impose upon you then,” she blurted out, without meaning to sound so insensitive. “I have another young man who could also use your help. He is an orphan and we have found no relatives who are willing or able to take him in. He has been temporarily living in another foster home, in a different part of the county, and his case was just brought to my attention by a fellow colleague from that area. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to bring him around to meet you and the boys, and that way I could visit with them as well.”
“That would be fine, Sally, but what about the other foster home?”
“They only took him in on an emergency basis. They already have two permanent foster children, in addition to their own children, so they didn’t feel they’d be able to take on the additional responsibility. Maybe I should have told them about your place and the number of boys you have, but I must admit I’ve heard they also have very limited space, compared to your massive home.”
“I must admit what I’ve done, by taking in so many, is not for everyone,” I conceded. “I’ve been fortunate, thus far, and can only pray my luck holds out in the future. You can bring this boy to our place around 5:30 and that way you can also plan to stay and have dinner with us. I’ll pick up some steaks, throw them on the grill and maybe even add some baked potatoes and a salad. I think the boys will like that. What do you say?”
“I say it sounds lovely,” Sally replied, “and we’ll be there. I know you’re going to like him. He’s a sweet boy, but very shy.”
“If you like him, then I’m sure we will too,” I told her. “I guess it’s settled then and we’ll see you later at the house.”
I spent the rest of the day thinking about this new boy and prayed I wasn’t taking on too much. Sure, there were no money worries any longer, but I did just take in another boy, and there were Cole and Graham’s learning problems we still had to deal with (and we’ve only just began there, with Ricky’s help, of course), and it’s nearly time for Kevin’s next check-up (to make sure no growths have reappeared since he found the cyst on his testicle). I know the rest of the boys would most likely encourage me to take this new boy in and I do want to give the kid a chance; it’s just that I don’t want to end up ignoring or neglecting the others, merely because I tried to do too much for too many. I hope the answer to this dilemma becomes evident, when I finally get to meet him.
Although it seemed to take forever, my school day finally ended, so I rounded up the troops, made a quick stop at the grocery store and hurried home. Dustin fired up the grill for me, while Kevin washed and wrapped potatoes in aluminum foil for baking and then made a tossed salad to go along with everything else. Then Danny and Pat volunteered to take the baked potatoes out to the grill to get them started for me, while Ricky, Cole and Graham offered to set the table. I had just come in the back door from checking on how my chefs were doing, after explaining when and how to start the steaks, when the doorbell rang. I went to open it, and as I anticipated, there was Sally and the new boy. I greeted them and invited them inside, as the other boys began to filter in. I think they were eager to say hello to their ‘Aunt Sally’ again. I gave them plenty of time to all exchange hugs and kisses with her, while I looked the new boy over.
He was definitely in his early teens, fairly tall (about 5’ 8”), yet slender for his age. He didn’t look thin, but he also wasn’t what I’d call muscular. I couldn’t see his face, because he spent most of his time looking down at the floor, while shuffling his feet. Sally was right. This kid was shy.
Once Sally and my boys finished their greetings, they introduced her to Pat. Once she said hello to him, she was ready to introduce the new boy to us.
“Josh, boys,” Sally began, “this is Alexander Michael Daniels III.” The boy finally looked up and I must admit I thought he was gorgeous. He had brown hair and brown eyes, but his face was absolutely angelic. That’s why it was so odd to see the sad, frightened expression that radiated from it.
“What would you like us to call you?” I asked. “Alexander or Alex?”
“My friends call me Trey,” he responded dryly, after which he tried to look away from us.
“Trey? Where did that come from?” I pressed, confused by this association. I hoped it wasn’t some kind of a gang tag.
“You know, as in three,” he stated with quite a bit of force, almost as if he were exasperated that we weren’t able to figure it out for ourselves. “I’m Alexander Michael Daniels… THE THIRD.”
“Oh, I get it now. Sorry I’m so thick,” I apologized, while trying to lighten the moment. “Well it’s nice to meet you, Trey, and welcome to our home.”
I then proceeded to introduce all of the boys to him, before letting him go off with them, so they could show him the house. Ricky had already moved all of his things out of his old room (with the help of his two shadows) and they put them into his new abode, the jungle room. While the boys were out and about, Sally and I went out to the grill to watch over dinner and talked about life in general, while we did so. During our conversation, I explained a little bit more about my recent inheritance and she was totally shocked when I advised her of the actual amount of the check I had received. After she got over her surprise and regained her composure, she told me, “It couldn’t have happened to a better family.”
After checking to see how well each of them wanted their steaks cooked, I started taking them off the grill, with the medium rare coming off first and working our way up to the well done. After placing the steaks on the platters according to how they were cooked, Sally helped me carry them inside. The boys had already begun to clean up to eat, so they were filtering into the dinning room as we entered. Trey was bringing up the rear, but he did have sort of a smile on his face now.
I quickly threw some oil and vinegar on to the salad Kevin had prepared and took it in and placed it on the table, along with the rest of the food. As I passed out the steaks, the rest of the dishes were passed around the table, for everyone to take a share. As we ate, we chatted about a variety of topics, mostly throwing ideas out to see which ones seemed to also interest Trey. I thought that might be one way I could learn more about him, without having to interrogate him.
During our meal, Sally also got an earful about what the boys had been up to, and Pat was briefed as to how Sally had become such a valued member of our extended family. I think Trey eagerly gobbled up all of this information and evaluated his prospects here, by listening to all of these various tales. Near the end of dinner, he also began to interject a comment or two every so often, and I was glad to see he was loosening up and trying to fit in.
Once the main course was completed, I knew the boys would be looking for some dessert to top it off with. We had some ice cream in the freezer, and Dustin, Kevin and Danny were kind enough to offer to dish it out and serve it to us. It wasn’t anything fancy, but I think everyone enjoyed what he got.
Now that we were finished with our meal, the entire family moved to the living room. After talking it over with Trey, he agreed he’d like to stay with us and see what it would be like living there. That made Sally happy and removed another problem for her. It also made my worries moot, since Trey had decided for himself that he’d like to stay.
We talked for a while longer, but after another half hour or so, Sally announced she had to leave. We all bid her farewell, with the boys each giving her a hug and a kiss before she left. We all followed her out to her car to see her off, but also so we could help Trey get his things and carry everything up to his room. As Sally drove away, the rest of us went back inside.
When the boys came back, after lugging Trey’s things upstairs, they went into the family room to watch television. However, Trey stayed up in his room to unpack and get settled. I decided this might be a good time to go up and have a private talk with him, so I made my way to his room and knocked on his open bedroom door.