The Castaway Hotel: Book 4

Although my boys had hoped to get an additional day or two off from their studies, the tutors showed up at the house the next day and began giving instruction. They helped the boys in the subjects they were certified in and made certain each of my sons understood the material being covered in their classrooms while they were out. Even though my sons weren’t overly enthusiastic about this arrangement, they managed to pay attention and did their required homework, which I took in to the high school the following morning. I felt everyone was making a legitimate effort and no one was falling behind, so I determined I could separate myself from further involvement with this situation.

The remainder of the week passed without incident and Saturday evening our guests arrived at almost precisely 6 p.m. They looked as happy to be with us, as we were to host them, and I, for one, was looking forward to an enjoyable evening and getting to know both of them better. After I introduced them to the boys they hadn’t met yet, the older boys and I took Jake and Shannon into the living room to chat for a while first. We figured they could get to know the younger boys better after we finished discussing the more sensitive topics in private, so I sent my younger sons off to play.

I wasn’t sure if Jake and Shannon were ready to bare their souls in front of everyone, so I asked them if they’d like to limit those present, but they said they would be fine with all of us there. Feeling more confident, we sat down and exchanged the customary pleasantries, before Shannon’s father got down to the nitty gritty.

“I’m really glad you and your boys are okay with Shannon’s being gay,” he announced. “It’s nice to know there are still a few open-minded people in this world.”

“It’s not only that,” Danny responded, while looking at Brandon for support. “Some of us are gay too. Brandon and I both are and we’re boyfriends.”

“I’m gay too,” Trey added, not at all hesitant about making that fact known.

“And I’m bi,” Dustin chimed in. “I went with a boy for quite a while, but I’m going with a girl right now – not that it makes any difference.”

“Hey, I’m gay,” Nick interjected, with a twinkle in his eye, and then he winked at Shannon. “In case you’re interested,” he added, which caused Kevin to roll his eyes. A couple of the other boys reached over and punched Nick in the arm after his comment, as a way of letting him know they thought it was inappropriate and tactless.

“And I think I’m gay too,” Brent said shyly. I think that was the first time I had heard him admit it in front of the others.

“I’m not,” Ricky said laughing, “but I’m still willing to mess around with my brothers on occasion.”

“And I’m gay too,” Kevin told them. Now they looked at Frankie, who was the only one who hadn’t spoken.

“I’m not,” he said meekly, “and gays used to bother me before I came here to live, but I know better now. These guys have taught me that gays are just normal guys with different tastes. I don’t judge people like I used to, especially seeing I’ve got things in my past that I don’t want them to judge me on.” I just looked over at Frankie, and I think some of the others did too, and once again considered how much he had changed and grown since that first day Judge Shay brought him to our home and asked me to take him in on a trial basis. I was still thinking about it when Shannon’s father began to speak again.

“I wouldn’t doubt that most people have things in their past they’d like to hide,” he told Frankie. “I know Shannon and I both do. You see, Shannon came here to live with me after he started getting harassed at his old school, after one of the boys he’d been experimenting with told some of his friends about Shannon. At the time, Shannon wasn’t even sure he was gay, but his mother was suspicious of him, especially since she was aware of my background.”

After hearing his comment, we all just stared at him, and I guess our confusion was obvious in our expressions. Noting this, Jake began to explain. “My wife divorced me after she discovered I was actually gay too. I tried to hide it and pretended to be straight, but I guess our limited sex life was her first clue. I really wanted a son and that’s the main reason I got married in the first place, so it’s needless to say I was thrilled when Shannon was born.” He paused a moment and turned toward Shannon, beaming like the proud father he was.

“I thought I’d successfully pulled off my deception for the first couple of years,” he eventually continued, “but it became much more difficult to keep the ruse up. I found it harder and harder to get myself aroused so I could make love to her and neither of us was enjoying it. I even ended up messing around with a guy for a while too, and that’s how my wife found out.” He paused again, swallowed hard and reached out to touch his son’s knee before he continued.

“It happened like this. My wife had gone out of town to visit her mother, and took Shannon with her. He was only three or four at the time. Anyway, while she was gone, I invited my friend over to our house, so we could have some fun. Unfortunately and unknown to me, her mother and she had a fight, so my wife decided to come home a day early. When she came through the door, she caught this guy and me sitting in the living room and watching television in just our boxers.”

“But that’s not enough to prove you’re gay,” Trey observed. I don’t think he meant to make his comment aloud, but now that he had, Jake responded to it.

“I know and I tried to play it down and make some stupid excuse for our behavior, but she figured it out anyway. She did that when she went through the rest of the house and discovered only one bed was messed up and unmade and all of our clothes were in our bedroom. She kicked me out of the house a few days later, after she went to see a lawyer and started the divorce proceedings. We have managed to remain friendly, although not friends, and she did continue to let me see Shannon.”

“I’m glad she did,” Shannon interrupted, “because I don’t know what I’d have done if she hadn’t. You were the only one who understood what I was going through and it was obvious she didn’t want a fag of a son living with her.”

“I know and I feel really bad about that,” Jake agreed, “but at least it worked out in the end.” Shannon nodded in agreement, so Jake went back to telling his story.

“Anyway, when Shannon started having problems and my ex began hearing the accusations being made about him, she concluded Shannon was also gay and didn’t really want him around. That’s when she asked if I’d let him come live with me and I jumped at the chance to get him back. That was last summer and Shannon and I were hoping we’d be able to make a fresh start for him here.”

“So, how did the scoutmaster and his son find out about him then?” I asked, because I was still unable to piece together the final part of his story.

“I guess he found out from Shannon’s old scoutmaster, at some kind of meeting they both attended,” Jake announced. “It’s my understanding that when Shannon’s old scoutmaster found out where this other guy was from, he asked him if he knew Shannon. When he said he did, the old scoutmaster told him all about what happened at the other school. The scoutmaster never came to us, to ask us to confirm or deny what he’d heard. Instead, I learned he was working on having Shannon kicked out of Scouts, without saying a word to us about it. I found out from another guy I knew, but I didn’t say anything to Shannon, because I didn’t want him to get all worried about what might happen. However, now I’m sorry I didn’t give him a warning about it. If I had, he might not have accepted the scoutmaster’s jerk kid’s offer for a ride and then got caught up in that situation.”

“You can’t blame yourself,” I told him. “If it hadn’t happened like that, he might have found a worse way to confront Shannon about it. He might have also been able to carry his plan out it in a more private setting, where there wouldn’t have been anyone around to come to Shannon’s rescue. In the long run, I think you’re both fortunate it played out as it did.”

“Yes, you’re probably right about that,” Jake admitted. “It did end up turning out fairly well, but only because your boys were there to come to his aid and weren’t shy about protecting him. I don’t even want to think about what may have happened if your sons had not been around, because I’m fairly certain Shannon would have suffered greatly at the hands of those cowards. I can’t believe it took a whole group of them to confront one boy.”

“Isn’t that the way it generally goes?” I asked. “Quite often, those with the biggest mouths, least brains and warped ideas are also generally cowards and only attack when they have the numbers in their favor or some other advantage.”

“Yes, unfortunately that’s true,” Jake agreed. “That’s why I’m so glad you’re sons are as brave as they are.”

I think his last comment both pleased and embarrassed my sons, but I know we all agreed we were glad they had been in the vicinity when it went down. I don’t think they’ll get any medals of valor or citations for bravery, but in their hearts I know they are proud of what they accomplished.

We continued chatting until dinner was ready, and then we talked some more while we ate. We all got along really well and discovered we also had quite a bit in common. Not only were the boys and I becoming fond of Shannon, but I found Jake’s company very enjoyable too. Although he wasn’t someone I’d have met through the normal course of my life, except if Shannon had attended school in the district when he would have been in Middle School, but I was glad we got this chance to know each other. I think we might even become friends, if given time.

After dinner, the boys took Shannon and showed him around, while Jake and I sat down and talked some more, alone. It was during this time that I learned he worked for UPS and had transferred to our local branch after his divorce. It was about 20 miles away, but he decided to settle in our community, because he thought it was more to his liking and offered more of what he was looking for.

Once he’d finished telling me about himself, I started filling him in on my own background and how the boys came to live with me. I explained briefly about my life before the boys arrived and the death of my wife, before giving him a sketch of the rest of my family. He seemed sincerely interested and listened intently, even asking questions when he wasn’t quite sure about what I was trying to say.

Our time together seemed to fly by quickly and we soon realized it was getting quite late. He thanked me for the wonderful evening and then called for Shannon, so they could head home. We told them both that they were welcome to come back anytime and I followed that with an invitation for another dinner with us. The boys also told Shannon they’d like to get together on weekends, whenever it was possible, so they could do other things together and get to know each other better. I think both Jake and Shannon were pleased by everything they’d heard.

As they were leaving, I saw each of them look back several times, with broad smiles plastered across their faces, which made me feel we’d be seeing more of them in the future. After they drove off, I chased the boys upstairs to clean up and get ready for bed, as we were still going to attend church in the morning. That’s when it came to me that I wished I’d thought about that sooner, so I could have invited Jake and Shannon to join us. I’m not sure what faith they belong to, if any, but they might have been happy to join us and felt more secure in being part of a much larger crowd.

Sunday we went to church and then out to brunch, but it was a very laid back day. Other than having a few people at church come up to me and tell me they supported what I was doing and then going home to find a couple of messages on the answering machine threatening us for the same reasons, nothing else happened. I did report those messages, just in case something developed from it, but in the age of caller ID, people tend to be more careful about making such traceable threats. In fact, the police discovered both calls had been made from pay phones, on opposite sides of town, so they couldn’t be tied back to the callers. I was actually surprised to discover that such people were bright enough to think of such trivial details.

On Monday, the last day of April, we got another surprise. Dustin and Frankie both got their final acceptances to college on the same day. These were both very late in coming, since most students received their notices at the end of their junior year or beginning of their senior year, but both of these boys had been very late in applying, but for different reasons. Frankie had returned to our family too late to do anything sooner, and his change in attitude and sudden rise in his maturity level had sent him pursuing interests that none of us would have expected from him the first time he was here. Believe it or not, Frankie wanted to study criminal justice, so he could seek out a career in law enforcement.

At first, some of the boys thought Frankie was joking, when he initially disclosed this information to them. Some of them even scoffed and laughed at the idea and Frankie was slightly hurt by their antics. Although he told them he understood why they had reacted as they did to the idea of his being a cop, he told them he was very serious about it. He then went on to explain his decision and fill them in about his reasons for wanting to do this.

“You know, I kind of have two reasons for wanting to go into law enforcement,” he explained. “One is obvious, to get the bad guys off the street and stop them from doing rotten things to good people, like all of you. I’m well aware how bad some people can be and how important it is to get to them and remove them from society, before they have an opportunity to do serious harm. At different times when I was in trouble, I met guys who were really evil and did all sorts of bad things. They liked doing this stuff to other people because they got something for nothing, got even with people they didn’t like or because it wasn’t as hard as working at a job. Heck, I even met some guys who did it just because they got their jollies acting inhuman and inflicting pain.” He hesitated after he said that, while he silently acknowledged those were the worst types.

“Most criminals enjoy what they do, and a lot of that has to do with getting something for nothing or because it makes them feel important and tough. To me, it really only shows what creeps and low-lifes they actually are. Some of these hardcore criminals just seem destined to remain that way forever and there’s not much that can be done to change them. It doesn’t matter how many times they get caught, how many chances they get or what you do to try to change their behavior – they just never change. They’re the ones you’ve got to lock up, the longer the better, so you can protect everyone else from them.

“Regardless of how many guys are like that, there are other types too, those who can actually change and turn their lives around. Those are the guys who get into trouble for various reasons, maybe because of a tough break or a bad home life, but would reform if given the chance or if someone taught them other ways to survive. Those are the ones I hope to help and they’re the reason I want to go into law enforcement. I want to be able to help them change their lives around and become better people, like Dad did for me. If I had someone like Dad to teach me these things earlier, someone who really cared about me and not what they could get from me or what I could do for them, then I might never have got into trouble in the first place and wouldn’t have a juvenile record that will always be there for people to find out about. I hope it doesn’t stop me from doing this, because it’s something I really want to do.”

“I don’t think it will,” I told him, “as juvenile records are supposed to be sealed and unable to be used against you, without a special court order. Personally, I think you’ll make a very fine and caring officer, and I’m very proud of you.”

“Thanks, Dad, but I just hope I can do even half as much as you’ve done for us,” he replied. “I didn’t realize how special you were until I was sent away. That’s when I met a lot of different boys, some who will always be in trouble, but there were also a bunch of other ones who just needed someone to pay attention to them, tell them ‘no’ once in a while or who would show them it’s okay to be different and convince them they could do something positive with their lives. I think if they’d had someone who believed in them and was willing to work with them, they would never have gotten into trouble in the first place and the taxpayers wouldn’t have had to pay for their trials and time at the detention center. That’s when I came to the conclusion that I’d blown it big time and never thought I’d get another chance like this. It also helped me to decide I wanted to do this, so I could help other kids turn their lives around too. I’ll probably be asking you for a lot of advice when I get into it, Dad, because I’m really going to try to make a difference.”

We all agreed his intentions were honorable and he had made a fine decision. Although I was probably the only one he told when he began applying to colleges with decent criminal justice departments, I was happy to encourage him in this undertaking. Now, we were all thrilled he’d been accepted into his first choice and everyone was being extremely supportive of his goals.

Dustin, on the other hand, was a slightly different story. Dustin was an above average student, but only because he worked so hard for his grades. He was much happier working with his hands, instead of hitting the books, so he really didn’t intend on continuing his education. He just wanted to enroll in a heating, air conditioning and refrigeration program, because he knew he could make enough money to live quite well and would be happy doing it too. After some lengthy discussions, I convinced him to change his plans slightly and get a degree in business administration as well, so he would some day be able to start his own business doing what he enjoyed. He finally agreed with me and applied to a few colleges, although it was already quite late in the game. If accepted, he would study business administration during the school year and take HVAC courses at a trade school during the summer. He knew it would be more work that way, but he also saw the benefits of being his own boss, after he learned the basics by working for someone else.

Now, both boys were accepted and going off to different colleges. They would be the first of my new brood to set off on their own and I was proud of each of them and told them so. However, now we had other things to iron out, like when they were expected to begin, how we would get them there and what things they would need to take with them. We knew they both had enough money in their accounts to finance this endeavor, but there were many smaller details we still had to work on before August.

I was bursting with pride, knowing how much they had already accomplished and imagining how much more they could still achieve. It’s really a pity their parents can’t see how far they’ve come and discover what wonderful young men they’ve turned out to be.

The following evening I received another phone call, but this one from the school board president. He called to tell me that when the suspensions were up, the scoutmaster’s son and the boys who joined him in their attempt to attack Shannon were being expelled. They were sending out letters to notify them and their parents, so they wouldn’t be returning to school. I thanked him for the information and told him I was glad they had decided to give those that provoked the incident a harsher punishment.