I finally got home and began my usual after work routine. Or at least I tried to. Normally I get home, kick my boots off and put them neatly by the door and then take my tool belt off and hang it on the hook. Then I call the social worker, listen to the phone ring a million times while hoping against hope that she might pick up this time, and then I hang up the phone and take a shower to try to wash the sadness that the phone call leaves. But after I kicked my boots off, I realized I wasn't wearing my tool belt. I rack my brain, trying to remember why on earth I would have taken my tool belt off and then remember I had been drinking water out of my thermos when someone bumped into me, sloshing water all over myself. I had taken off my belt to dry off and had left it and my thermos at construction site. I run a hand through my hair, a nervous habit of mine. The sun is already down and I don't want to head back to the work site forty minutes away. Tomorrow is the start of the weekend though so we won't back on the site for another two days. Maybe I'll just swing by the site in the morning to grab my tool belt. I worry about it getting stolen since it's one of the last things I have of Tom, my old foster father. Shaking away thoughts of Tom, I hop in the shower, realizing I didn't call the social worker because I was so wrapped up in thoughts of my missing tool belt. I sigh, not like she ever answers when I call. And on the rare occasion she does, she never gives the information that I need. I think about skipping my nightly phone call, since it's most likely hopeless any way. But I can't let them down and not calling her feels like I would be. It's been too long since I've seen him, or even heard how he's doing, and the pain of missing him feels like my heart is missing from my chest. So as soon as I'm done with my shower, I get out and call the number that I have memorized like it's tattooed on my brain. And I listen as the phone rings and rings.
As expected, I got no answer. It hurt as always but I went on with my night like I usually do. I was just settling into bed when I noticed the light sound of rain through my open window. I groaned. Now I really needed to get my tool belt before the rain ruined it and the tools that it held. I slipped on my jeans and a sweatshirt and stomped my feet into my boots on my way out the door. Since it was late and there was no traffic, I made the forty minute drive in a half hour, parking my truck on the curb next to the house that we are slowly but surely building. Throwing on my hood I hustle to where I know I left my tool belt. I came to a fast stop when I see the kid pressed into the corner, pale and soaking wet, looking up at me in fear with big green eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the kid said as he shot up from the floor. He was still pressed into the corner, his arms crossed tightly in front of him.
"It's okay kid. I'm just grabbing some stuff I left behind" I said slowly, like the kid might spook. He glanced up at me quickly and then went back to staring at the ground by my feet. He looked young, much too young to be out by himself this late at night.
"Are you okay? " I asked him
"Yeah. I'm good. I'm sorry, I'll leave right now" the kid spoke quickly and started to move when the sound of a car engine echoed through the neighborhood. The kid went stiff and even in the dark I could see the blood drain from his face. I don't know if I've ever seen someone look that scared before. My heart broke for this kid and I wanted to help him. Surely he must be in some kind of trouble to be hiding out this late at night and whether that car engine was after him or not, I didn't want him staying out here where anything could happen. I was no stranger to trouble.
"Do you want a ride somewhere? It ain't safe to be walking around this late at night. Especially in the rain" I said while running a hand through my hair.
His eyes pierced into mine, like he was trying to read my mind. He gave a brief a nod. "Please" he said in a small, soft voice.
"Okay" I said as I grabbed for my toolbelt and themos that were lying on the ground. The kid flinched as I reached for them, thinking I was going for him. I put my hands up in a surrender position.
"Hey it's okay. I'm just grabbing my stuff. I won't hurt you"
"I'm sorry"
"It's okay, let's go kid" I said as we started toward the truck. Once we were out from the cover of the house, I saw the kid hesitate and scan the surrounding area. Golly he sure was scared of something. Apparently he didn't see what had him spooked though because he caught up to me at my truck and climbed carefully into the passenger side. He sat practically leaning on the door, as far from me as he could possibly get. I could feel the tension coming off of him as he sat there clutching his hands together. I started the car and pulled out of the neighborhood.
"Where do you live kid?" I asked.
His head snapped to me "No I can't go back there" he said in a pleading voice.
"Okay, okay kid. You in some kind of trouble?"
He shrugged. "N-no. I just.. I just ran away. I didn't wanna be there anymore"
I understood running away. I'd run away from a few places myself. But looking at this kid, I knew there was more going on. As we passed under a street light, I had seen a bruise sitting high on his cheekbone and blood in his blonde hair. His t-shirt, while wet and dirty, also had blood on the collar. He reminded me of my neighbor, little Johnny Cade. He had a rough home life and was scared of his own shadow. I always left my front door unlocked in case he needed a safe place to spend the night. Not just him, but for all the boys I ran around with in our neighborhood. And the boy who was missing from me, I always dreamed he would come in through that unlocked door. Thinking of him, I decided to offer the couch to this kid. I hoped by doing a good deed by this kid, maybe someone out there would do a good deed to my missing brother.
"Listen kid. I don't feel right about dropping you off in the middle of nowhere, especially on a cold, rainy night. I got a couch or an extra bedroom you can crash in tonight. Just for tonight though."
The kid looked at me again with piercing eyes. I felt like he could see into my soul with those green eyes.
"No thank you. You can drop me off wherever. I'll be fine"
"It's really no problem. My foster father used to leave our front door unlocked in case any of the kids in the neighborhood needed a place to sleep. You won't be the first to crash on the couch and you for sure won't be the last."
The boy shifted in his seat a little. The rain was coming down harder and a strong wind was starting to howl.
"I don't want to put you out. You don't even know me" he said in that soft voice again.
"You won't be putting me out. And sure I don't know you, but I got brothers somewhere out there and I would hope someone would help them in they were in the situation you were in" I answered him lightly, glad that he seemed to be considering taking the offer to sleep on the couch instead of the street tonight.
"And as far as not knowing each other, that's an easy fix. I'm Darry, Darry Curtis"
