Chapter 11 Steven

They made their way along the path to a small white cape with green shutters. Steven was sitting on a porch swing waiting as they approached, he was thin, with light brown hair and glasses. Several freckles were scattered across his nose and cheeks. Rachel introduced them and explained that Jeff's father was in the hospital recovering from an illness, then went inside.

Jeffrey enjoyed the meal and played several games of Parchesi with Steven while Rachel straightened up the kitchen and did some paperwork. Steven was friendly and Jeff enjoyed the game, but he kept glancing up at the clock on the mantle throughout the evening, wondering if Bogg was still okay. Finally, at 10 PM it was time for bed and he couldn't stand it any longer. He went to the kitchen and asked Rachel if there was any way she could contact the Medical Unit to check on Bogg's condition.

She quickly glanced around to be sure Steven wasn't around, and motioned Jeff into her bedroom. She pulled out her omni and pushed on several keys. "This has a direct link into the communication system at headquarters. Just watch," and Jeff watched letters appear on a screen that Bogg didn't have on his omni. When she was connected to the medical unit, she typed in a question and Jeff watched the answer appear. "V Bogg condition guarded, no change."

"I wish they wouldn't say "guarded", it makes it sound like he's in danger," Jeff confided to her.

"Just think of it like they're guarding him, keeping an extra close eye on him, that's all," Rachel said as she put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.

Jeff looked at her and felt better. He decided he would force himself to think of it that way. He put his arms around her and gave her a quick hug, "thanks for everything today," he said.

"No problem, now you should get to bed, I'll wake you up at 7 and you'll be visiting him by 8."

A few minutes later, Jeff was lying on a roll-away bed in Steven's room.

"So where are you from?" Steven asked him as he settled under the covers.

Jeff paused and thought about what answer would be best. For normal things like this, probably the truth was okay, so he answered, "New York."

"How long are you gonna visit? Don't you have to go to school?" Steven asked again.

"We're kind of on vacation," Jeff answered.

There was silence before Steven spoke again, "what's it like to have a Dad?"

Jeff froze, unsure what to say, "it's great," he whispered, picturing himself sending a fastball dead center into his father's baseball glove and his father returning it very quickly. After a short paused to savor the thought, he added, "but you must have lots of friends who have fathers, you must've seen them."

"I don't really have a lot of friends," Steven said.

Jeff thought of Bogg and suddenly missed him, "all you really need is one."

"I don't have any friends," Steven said quietly.

Jeff paused awkwardly, not knowing what to say, "sorry."

"It's okay, it's just..." Steven stopped and Jeff waited but he didn't continue.

"What?" Jeff asked.

"The other kids gang up on me, beat me up." He shrugged as if this was just an average conversation. "I'd just like to talk to a man sometimes, like a father," Steven said finally.

Jeff paused, his jaw hung open. He didn't know what to say. Finally he spoke "I can understand that. Maybe when Bogg feels better we can both visit and I can introduce you. He's easy to talk to, I bet you'd like him."

"Does he know anything about electricity?" Steven asked hopefully.

"I don't think so, not really."

"How about math?"

Jeff shook his head, "no." He didn't understand why Steven would be asking these things.

"Then he probably couldn't help me," Steven said dismissively.

"Bogg's pretty smart," Jeff continued, trying to defend him, "I mean, about people."

"I bet you played baseball with your dad."

"Course, all the time, why?"

"Everyone's obsessed with baseball here. It's such as stupid game."

Jeff wanted to tell him it was a great game, but wisely held his tongue. "Why do you say that?" he asked instead.

"It's all everyone does, and talks about," he answered in an angry tone. "The base hits, the balls and strikes, who pitches the best, who caught the high fly ball, the broken loudspeaker so they can't hear their names blaring all over the neighborhood, and it's not just the kids, the parents too," he paused, "oh forget it."

Jeff was in shock. To him, baseball had been so special. He had so many happy memories associated with baseball. It was hard to believe someone could hate the game.

"Maybe I could teach you how to play?" he asked tentatively.

Steven laughed, "they'd never pick me for the team anyway." After a short silence, he changed the subject, "you wouldn't happen to play chess, would you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Will you play with me tomorrow?"

"If I have time, after I visit Bogg," Jeff answered.

"Why don't you call him Dad?"

"We were friends first, then he adopted me, and I was so used to calling him Bogg that it just comes out."

"He's not your father then, not really?"

Jeff paused, "he is now, but I was born with another mom and dad."

Steven leaned up on one elbow, "so you're an orphan too?" he was clearly interested.

"I was before Bogg adopted me," Jeff answered.

There was silence after that and Jeff put his hands behind his head as he lay back on the pillow. He stared up at the moon through a nearby window, and thought about playing baseball in the backyard with his father. It had been fun and he wouldn't trade the memory for anything, but he couldn't think of a way it had really helped him. Then he thought about the game he and Bogg had been playing lately. That was definitely a game that would help him. He supposed that father's were always trying to teach their sons something. He felt sorry for Steven, who'd never known his dad.

As he lay there, his thoughts strayed to the most recent game he'd been playing with Bogg. If he were to imagine a worst case situation, what would it be and what would he do? What if something happened to Bogg? What could Jeff do about it? Bogg usually had the omni, so if he needed to, he could get himself out of a bad situation, but he didn't always have it. Sometimes he gave it to Jeff. What if something happened to Bogg while Jeff had the omni and wasn't close enough to touch him and omni out? He shuddered as an image of the waterfall they had seen earlier popped into his mind. What if Bogg had fallen off that cliff and Jeff had the omni.

Jeff shook his head, he didn't want to think about it. Maybe this wasn't such a good game after all, but once the thought entered his mind, he couldn't seem to get rid of it. He tried to think, but couldn't think of any way he could save Bogg if something like that happened.