"Yeah, I'm leaving the sight now, everything looks good. We're right on our target."
"Thank you" Ryan hung up the phone as he looked up from his Range Rover and saw a kid sitting on the curb next to the pay phones.
"Hey Kid, need any help?" I asked the kid. He turned and stared at me as I stared back at him. It was like looking a mirror that took me back to me seven years ago when I called Sandy for help. Was I really going to try to do what Sandy and Kirsten had done for me? That is what entered my brain when I asked the kid.
The Kid stood up, hesitated and then came over to me. "Need help?" I asked again after he didn't answer me. He stared at me still; he was a kid of few words.
"What's your name?" I asked, trying to get something. Right then I had a new appreciation for Sandy.
"Baze," He replied quietly as he looked down at his shoes.
"Well Baze, I'm Ryan. Do you need a ride somewhere or a place to stay tonight?" I asked leaning on the hood of the Rover. The kid, "Baze", looked up and then back at his shoes like they held the secrets to the universe.
"Sure," He replied as he looked up.
"Alright, let's grab your bike and go," I said as I nodded towards his bike.
He walked up to his bike as I went to open the back. I grabbed one of the sweat shirts I had in the back and laid it under his bike so it wouldn't scratch the paint any.
"Go ahead and get in, I have to stop at the grocery store and then we'll head to my house," I said to him as he just stared at me after we put his bike in the back. He turned and walked around to the passenger side as he walked away; I turned and walked to the driver's side.
We rode in silence as I again asked myself what I was doing. "You're doing what your parents did for you," I thought to myself as I drove. But could I do what Sandy and Kirsten did for me, could I really help this kid. Did I even need to do what they did? The kid hadn't even told me what happened, I never even asked.
"So what happened?" I asked finally, looking over at the kid who was staring out the window. He turned and looked at me as I turned back to the road. Even though I was pretty sure I knew what he was thinking, I still was wondering what he was thinking. He turned back to the window, silent.
"My dad threw me out," Baze said without turning from the window. "Literally," he added with a small smirk.
"What happened?" I asked, hoping I would get more. The kid looked at me again and then back out to the world outside the car. He looked at me like; "Why do you care?" I knew that look because I had given Sandy that look plenty of times.
"He was drunk, I screwed up, same old shit," Baze said as he continued to not look at me. "I got expelled from school for fighting one too many times, he was drunk and angry and threw me out after we went a few rounds." That was the most words he had said since I picked him up.
"Where's your mom?" I asked as I passed the grocery store, no way I was stopping and risking the conversation ending. Again the kid looked at me, I laughed a little inside. Was this what I put Sandy through? This kid was putting on a tough guy act and I wasn't buying it just like Sandy hadn't.
"She died when I was five," He said quietly looking at his hands that lie in his lap.
"Sorry, kid," I said sadly, maybe we weren't exactly the same.
"Me too, the day she died so did the man in my father," Baze replied looking up and out the window again. "After her death, that is when he started drinking and punching," he added looking back at his hands as he picked at his thumb nail.
"So do you think your dad will cool off by morning and let you go back?" I asked, I didn't know what to say to that.
"Yeah, he'll be his normal loveable self again in the morning," Baze replied with a sarcastic tone. "He'll be, ah, he'll be cooled off," he said again more serious and more disappointed.
I made the turn on the road to the grocery store again after I went around the block and pulled in.
"Are you coming in?" I asked as I turned off the ignition. He looked up, thought about it, and then unbuckled his seatbelt and got out.
"So, I don't have a lot of food in the house, I have Captain Crunch, milk, orange juice, and bagels. Maybe some frozen dinners and pizza, but other than that not much else. I'm busy and live by myself, so I'm not exactly home a lot to eat. If I'm not home I am usually at my parents' house or out with a client or friends," I explained as we walked in the store. The kid was going to be with me one night and I'm sure what I had was enough but I still felt like I should get something for him.
"So anything you want for tonight, we can get, I have just got to get some TP, tooth paste and bottled water, but other than that it is up to you," I added as I grabbed a cart. I looked back at Baze, who just shrugged.
I grabbed the things I needed and then walked around trying to get him to tell me something that he wanted. He finally said Mellow Yellow, Doritos, peanut butter, grape jelly, and a box of Chips Ahoy cookies. I wasn't sure if I even had bread at my apartment, so I went and grabbed a loaf of bread with Baze following behind me.
"That all?" I asked as we walked towards the cash registers. Baze shook his head and then we got in line.
"This is it," I said after I unlocked my door and walked in, Baze followed looking around, curious. "It's not much but it's enough for me, and like I said I'm not home a lot," I said as I shut the door.
"No, it's cool," Baze said quietly as we put the groceries on the counter.
"Thanks, well that's the kitchen as you can tell, over there is the living room, down the hall on the left is the bathroom, on the right my room and the office," I replied pointing in the direction of the rooms.
"Sorry but the couch will have to do, because I don't have spare bed, but I'm pretty sure the couch pulls out into a bed. Friends say it's comfortable but I don't know," I explained pointing the couch that Sandy and Kirsten had bought me as a house warming present. The couch was comfortable to sit on but I had never slept on the bed so I didn't know how that felt.
"Couch is fine," Baze replied staring at it. He set his back pack down on the couch and then himself.
"Go ahead and turn on the TV if you want, the PS3 is down there and some games too if you want to play. I'm going to throw a pizza in the oven and then make some work calls. Go ahead and watch whatever, if you're thirsty, help yourself," I said as I handed him the remote. Baze nodded and then I turned to the kitchen.
After I put the pizza in the oven, I put the groceries away and got a class of orange juice. After looking in on Baze, who was on the floor picking out a game to play, I went down the hall to my office to call some clients and Sandy.