Chapter 4: New Beginnings

A few hours and a few classes later, Cody Martin and his brother were walking through Boston in the direction of a centre called 'New Beginnings'. Cody was pretty enthusiast about this particular one: after an in-depth investigation the night before this one had come out looking like the best. Or at least as the one who matched all of his requirements.

"Really Cody, I have no idea what I'm doing here," Zack said, a little less enthusiast than his brother.

"Oh come on, don't be negative, bro. I specifically picked out one with a sports program: I thought you might like that."

"Well, maybe but... I just don't know. I mean, helping children out? That's in your league, not mine."

"Yes, it is, but it could be yours too," Cody said persuasively. "You might even have fun doing it; it's very similar to your job as night manager at the bowling alley. Didn't you love working with the kids there?"

"Okay, good point," Zack admitted. "I guess I could give it a try. You know, look around and check some things out."

Cody nodded. Even though his brother was reluctant to volunteer at New Beginnings now, Cody suspected he'd change his mind once he saw the centre's basketball court. He was sure his twin would love finally being able to do things together... even though they probably wouldn't work together that much.

While Cody was envisioning the notion of spending twin-time with Zack, they finally reached New Beginnings. As a contrast to most other centres Cody had researched, this one actually looked pretty new and big. It could easily have been an expensive villa if it had been located in some other part of Boston.

Yesterday, when exploring New Beginnings' website, this had been a surprise for Cody. He had expected that a centre for helping underprivileged children would be a house somewhere in Boston's more dangerous parts. He had thought that such a house would have been a more trusted environment for the children. More so than the mansion he saw now (despite the fact that the dangerous neighbourhood started right behind the centre). Cody was determined to ask Mr. Winters about this rather odd fact.

"So, they have a basketball court somewhere in there?" Zack asked.

"I guess so," Cody replied, walking over to the door of New Beginnings. "You should have seen the pictures on their site! The field looked amazing! I think you'll love it!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," his twin mumbled. "Let's go inside so I can check out this fantastic court with my own eyes."

And so both men entered New Beginnings and got welcomed by one of the volunteers who guided them straight to the office of Mr. Samuel Winters. The manager looked to be somewhere in his forties and was wearing a black suit - without a tie – as though he were the manager of some very important business company.

"Mr. Winters?" Cody asked as he and his twin brother entered the manager's office.

"That's me. How can I help you, gentlemen?"

"Well, my brother and I would like to volunteer at your centre," he explained. He and Zack sat down on the opposite side of Mr. Winters' desk. "My name is Cody Martin; we spoke to each other on the phone last night."

"Ah yes, Cody, I remember our conversation." He turned to Zack and said, "I guess this must be your brother?"

"My twin brother Zack, yes."

"I understood you both wanted to volunteer here? And one of you was interested in our sports program while the other one was drawn to the homework program?" Mr. Winters asked while skimming through his notes.

"That's right," Cody confirmed. "Zack's here for the sports and I want to help the children on a more academic level."

"Mmm, if I may interrupt?" Zack suddenly spoke up. "I don't know what my brother told you yesterday, but frankly I'm not so sure about volunteering here actually."

"Yes, he told me that," the manager nodded. "But I suggest first we discuss more general stuff and do some paperwork. After that, Zack, you might want to check out our basketball court, and Cody, you might want to see for yourself how our other volunteers are helping kids with homework."

"Sounds like a plan!"

"Good, but before that I should tell you that aside from all the paperwork we need to fill out, we have to check your criminal records. Usually this should be done the next day so you could still start tomorrow if you want. I guess this won't be a problem?"

"No, of course not," Cody answered.

"No, not a problem," his twin brother added with a precarious face. Cody could tell his brother was thinking about the one time he had ended up in mall jail with their friend from Ishkabar, Prince Sanjay. But he knew Zack shouldn't worry about that: he had been innocent, and their mother's friend Delilah had dropped all possible charges against them.

"Good. Very good. And now I'd like to know if you are both willing to work with kids all the time. I'm sure you both like kids; otherwise you wouldn't even be here, but you have to understand it takes more than just liking kids to work with them." All the time during Mr. Winters' exposé, Cody was nodding enthusiastically. "But let's not forget this is a volunteer job. We're not asking for college degrees here. We rather have enthusiastic and passionate volunteers here. So basically what we ask of you is to be passionate about working with kids and to take your job here seriously. We have a responsibility to the kids here who are less fortunate than we are."

"I don't think that would be a problem, sir," Cody replied, deeply impressed by the man's speech.

"I didn't doubt you for a moment, young man," the manager said while he turned to Zack. "But I'm not sure about you, Zack. Your brother has told me you recently had a job at a bowling alley that required you to work with kids too. Yet you're not sure you want to do something similar here?"

"No sir, I meant I wasn't sure if I could volunteer here right now. You see, my brother has been excited about New Beginnings all day, while I wanted to check out the place first, before I made my decision," Zack explained.

Cody was looking at his brother in shock when he heard him talking to Mr. Winters. When they had been discussing this issue before, his twin had never sounded like that: Zack had given him the impression that he was doing this only as a brotherly favour to him. But now it seemed like Zack was really into it. At least by coming up with this explanation his twin had left all options open for the future.

"Ah yes, I can understand that; we'll make sure you like it here." Mr. Winters winked at Zack. "Anyway, Zack, you do realize that for the sports program you'll be spending almost all your Saturdays with the team, plus a few evenings during the week? Will that be any problem with you or your family or girlfriend?"

"Not a problem, sir. I'm single right now."

"Good. And for you, Cody?" he asked, turning himself to Cody now. "Helping with homework requires quite some evenings too. Especially when you succeed in building up a bond with these kids."

"That's no problem for me either. I discussed this with my boyfriend before I called you and he completely supports me, even if it would consume a lot of time," Cody said.

"Oh, I didn't know you were gay, Cody," the manager said and took a deep breath. "Look, I know I may be asking a lot of you, but would you please not tell this to the kids you are working with? Many kids or parents who frequently come to our centre might still have issues with gay people. We cannot risk losing kids or a good volunteer because parents complain about such a trivial thing. I hope you understand?"

"No, it's alright, sir. I wasn't planning on telling everyone anyway; I knew this kind of thing might be an issue when working with different people," he replied.

Mr. Winters seemed to be relieved. "That's good, very good. But please understand, it's not an issue at all for me. After all, we also get teens here who have problems with their sexual orientation."

"That's OK. But Mr. Winters, may I ask you a question, please?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"It's about this centre: I've been wondering if this wouldn't be better if it was a normal house in the neighbourhood? I mean I would think a mansion like this might scare possible kids away." Cody felt relieved at having asked the question he'd wanted to ask for some time now.

"Good question, young man. I can see you're a smart guy," the manager complimented him. "Five years ago, before I got appointed manager here, New Beginnings was indeed located in there. We had built up a great reputation there, bonded with many kids. Lots of people trusted us, but then one night the whole building burnt down. After the fire, City Hall relocated us to this spot where we're still close to our old neighbourhood and got this amazing building. I have to admit I miss the old one, but this one has, as you will soon see for yourself, many advantages too. But the best thing is that we kept our name and got our kids to continue coming here."

"Ah, that explains a lot. You see, I was surfing the net last night and…" he started until he got interrupted by a teenage boy storming into the office.

"Hey Dad, I'm home," the boy yelled in Mr. Winters' direction, throwing his backpack in a corner of the office.

As soon as Cody heard the boy talk, he looked up and recognized him. This was Liam, the very same boy he had seen playing soccer with his friends in the park yesterday. What a coincidence to see him again here! And apparently he was the son of Mr. Winters: it's a small world…

Just like the last time he met Liam, fatherly feelings roused up inside of him. He couldn't help it, but seeing the teen interacting with his dad made him wish that he could have a kid of his own: a great son like Liam, who loved spending time with his father.

It was ridiculous really. Cody very well knew Max wasn't ready to be a dad, yet he kept having a paternal longing. Yesterday he had considered talking about this with Max, but after some thinking, he'd decided against it. He didn't want to force his partner into something he wasn't ready for.

"Hmm...yeah, guys, meet my son, Liam. He sometimes helps out with Coach Michael, our basketball coach," Mr. Winters introduced his son to Cody and his brother. "Liam, this is Mr. Zack Martin and Mr. Cody Martin."

Upon hearing Cody's name, Liam looked in his direction and winked at him. Clearly he had recognized him too.

"Son, maybe you can show Zack here our basketball court and take him to coach Michael? Might be more useful to him than standing here discussing all these details. Meanwhile, I'll personally introduce Cody to our academic program. That OK with you?"

Cody, Zack and Liam all quickly agreed with Mr. Winters' plan. Cody had a really long list of questions he still wanted to pose to the manager, but he knew they would bore his twin to death. And that could possibly have a bad influence on Zack's decision. So his twin brother and Liam quickly walked out of the office to make way to New Beginnings' sports arena.

"And Liam? Be sure to return as soon as possible; you have homework to do, young man!"

While walking through New Beginnings with Liam, Zack Martin was able to check out the building a bit better; he had to admit, his brother was right. This did look amazing. But frankly he didn't really care about that. If he volunteered here, the place where he would spend most of his time was the basketball court.

Before finally reaching the sports area he passed a room where he saw some of the volunteers helping children with their schoolwork. This was probably where Cody would be spending a lot of his time after college. If he was honest with himself, he still couldn't see him doing the same. Okay, he wouldn't have to bother with academic stuff like Cody, but still, the main reason he was here was because Cody had begged him to come... so they could do something together. And because he liked kids.

That was also one of the reasons why he had loved that night manager-job at the bowling alley. He had really liked interacting with the kids and assisting them with bowling. This had reminded him a bit of the carefree childhood he and his twin brother had had at the Tipton. But, of course, being around bowling had been a main attraction for him too; even though the job itself entailed some responsibility. He had actually liked being in charge there because it had been like being the boss without having too much responsibility.

"Okay, Mr. Zack, this is our sports area, with the basketball court right here," Liam said once they had reached their destination. "Mike's over there; he's the best! He lets me help him all the time."

When he looked in the direction Liam was pointing, Zack saw the coach giving instructions to his team. The coach seemed to be somewhere in his sixties, or possibly even seventy. He was slim built, had grey hair, was wearing glasses and had a sad look on his face. Zack was surprised the guy was even allowed to coach at his age. Shouldn't a good coach be able to show his players some moves, or even play with them at trainings? This guy looked like he could barely run. Never mind play b-ball with kids.

"Um, Mr. Zack, would you mind if I leave you here alone?" Liam suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "I have a lot of homework to do."

"No, not at all. Go ahead, I'll find my way here," he replied. "Oh and Liam, would you call me Zack please?"

"Sure, Zack." The teen grinned. "You could just walk over to Mike there and ask him everything you want to know."

"Thanks, I will!"

But before he walked over to the coach, Zack took some time to observe the old man from a distance. For there were some things about this man that were bothering him: first of all his age, but also his whole person. He'd had some remarkable coaches in the past, but never had he seen one like this one. Compared to him, Coach Little – who did succeed in improving Zack's skills a lot after all – and Arwin were normal. Well, okay, maybe Arwin wasn't… But this man? He just sat on the bench the whole time, not doing anything at all. He never interacted with the kids once.

Suddenly, the object of Zack's thoughts got up from the bench and walked over to where he was standing.

"So, what you think of our team, young man?" he asked.

"I-um-I don't know. They seem decent but I haven't seen them playing long enough, sir."

"Good answer. But please, don't call me 'sir'. It makes me feel even older than I already am." The old man smirked. "My name is Michael, but many here call me Mike. And who might you be?"

"I'm Zack Martin. I'm here with my twin brother, Cody, who's volunteering to help tutor here," he explained.

"Well Zack, would you like to help me coach our team today?"

"Me?" Coach Mike's only answer was a simple nod. "Um…okay, sure. What you want me to do?"

In all honesty, Zack was stunned: this man's question had come totally out of the blue, without any knowledge of his b-ball skills, of the game itself, or of his enthusiasm. While this had made him even more curious to this coach Michael, he decided to go and help him anyway. After all, basketball was still his favourite sport. And how could he say no to that?

He had been right to accept Coach Mike's offer; this hour of playing basketball with the kids had been the most fun he'd had in days. In fact, the most fun ever since Bailey had left him on that fateful Wednesday in September. It turned out Mike was letting him do most of the coaching while he sat on the bench again, just looking around and occasionally taking notes. Not once did he take over for Zack. First, Zack thought this as pretty weird; but after a while he decided this was just Coach Mike's personality. He was a remarkable man indeed. Very friendly, and remarkable.

After training, while he and Coach Mike were clearing the court of basketballs left there by the team, the old coach asked him something that once again took him by surprise. "You enjoyed this, didn't you?"

Zack nodded to show his appreciation.

"You want to do this permanently? Because I need a replacement soon since I'll be quitting here shortly after my seventieth birthday in two weeks."

Zack really didn't know what to answer. He knew that if his brother were here right now he would be urging, or even forcing, him to accept the old man's offer. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. There was still something that stopped him from saying yes right away. Okay, he had told Mr. Winters before that he wanted to volunteer but wasn't sure of the place yet. But that had been no more than a fallacy: he liked this place. Really liked it. The real reason he couldn't say yes straight away, however, was that committing to such a thing freaked him out.

Nevertheless he had really liked coaching the kids, and from the looks of it they had liked him too. He didn't want to close this option already, so he said, "I don't know yet, coach. Can I think about it for a while and say, get back to you in a few days?"

"Sure, no problem, Zack," Coach Mike said. Grinning he added, "Just take your time. I know you'll be back soon and we'll be coaching our next game together."

"Um, okay… See you around!"

He thought that was once again an odd reaction from the old coach, but he shrugged it off because he had just spotted his twin on the other side of the basketball court. It seemed like his conversation and tour with Mr. Winters was over so they could head to Cody's house for dinner soon. Before he reached him, Zack decided not to mention anything about Coach Mike's job offer. If he knew Cody, he'd make a big deal out of it and he didn't want that right now.

After almost an hour full of interesting discussions with Mr. Winters followed by an extensive tour through New Beginnings, Cody Martin was walking toward the sports area, using the instructions Liam had left him with. He hoped he would be able to see some of the kids there and get to know them already before he would start working here tomorrow.

When he arrived at the basketball court he saw his brother on the field interacting with the kids. It actually looked like he was coaching them. Could it be that his twin had finally seen the attraction of volunteering here at New Beginnings? His answer to Mr. Winters' question had indicated that he would.

Suddenly he noticed on the other side of the court, a little boy who was sitting on the bench all by himself, holding a book. Intrigued by him, Cody walked over to the little brown-haired boy whose legs were dangling because they were too short to reach the floor.

"Hey little one, can I sit here?" he asked.

The small boy didn't answer but gave a small nod which was enough for Cody to sit himself down next to him. Now that he had a better view of the boy, he saw that he had a very sad look on his face, with red eyes from crying while he was holding an old edition from Mark Twain's famous novel 'Tom Sawyer'.

"That's a nice book you're holding there. Is it yours?"

"No, it's Dad's," the boy mumbled before he started to cry.

Cody immediately sensed something was wrong with this boy's father. Clearly the dad was nowhere in his life anymore; maybe even dead.

"What's wrong? You don't have to cry," Cody said comfortingly, putting his arm around the child.

"Daddy's gone," he muttered. "Mommy said he's in heaven now."

"Oh, poor boy! And he gave you that book?" The boy nodded. "That was very nice of him…what's your name, by the way?"

"Ryan. Ryan Mitchell. Dad used to read it for me when I went to bed," Ryan replied. "I wanna read it myself now, but I can't read."

Cody was feeling very sad for Ryan, losing his father on such a young age. His own dad had left when he was young as well, but that had been different. His dad could still visit every now and then. Ryan's couldn't. Having to grow up without him would be very hard for little Ryan.

"Want me to read you a part of it?" he asked. "My name's Cody."

"Okay…"

So he spent the next half hour reading 'Tom Sawyer' to sad little Ryan. During this little reading session, Cody got the feeling Ryan was feeling better than when he first spotted him. Of course, the boy wouldn't forget about his father, but at least he could try to cheer him up a bit.

"Um Ryan, I have to go now," Cody declared as he saw that Zack was clearing up the basketballs. "But I'll be back tomorrow, and I can read you some more if you like?"

"Yeah, I'd love that, Cody," Ryan said with a smile.

He smiled back at the little boy who was slowly stealing his heart. And not because he had awoken his fatherly feelings again, just like Liam had done, but because he felt Ryan needed him, or at least someone he could trust in since it looked as though he didn't have any friends here at New Beginnings. And during this difficult period, Ryan could use any friend he could get. He appeared to be a loner, yet he had opened to Cody. So Cody decided he would help the young boy and try to be that needed friend.

But right now he had to get back home so he could fix dinner for him, his brother and Max. He beckoned Zack over and told him they should head out to the car. During the whole walk and drive to Cody's house, Cody and Zack discussed their experiences at New Beginnings.

Author's Notes: Yes, we've finally seen New Beginnings, the centre our characters have been talking about for some time. Immediately we meet some new characters here: Mr. Winters who looks like a decent manager for a place like that, Liam from chapter 1 who happens to be Mr. Winters' son, Coach Mike who is acting very strange and sad little Ryan. This should make the twins' first day at New Beginnings at least memorable.

Looks like the twins are heading to Cody's place for dinner, maybe this would be the ideal opportunity for Zack to talk to Max, maybe the young wizard has some advice for his brother-in-law? Or will Zack be too impressed from Mr. Winters or Coach Mike?

I also want to thank Elianna22 (betareader) and the-lovely-anomaly (editor) for their amazing work with this chapter. Of course I also thank you reader for taking your time to read and review this chapter.