Chapt. 22 Plans

         Jess watched Joey get on the school bus, then went back to the kitchen. Trina was aware that something was on his mind. "Two cups of coffee left. Want some?"

         He nodded and sat at his chair. "I have to talk to you."

         She filled his cup and sat down. She waited for him to begin.

         He tried to think of a way to start this. "You know a lot of the families around here have county kids living with them," Yes she knew that. Farmers often fostered children from the county. At best it was a chance for a homeless child to have a home and family and go to school, a chance at life. At worst it amounted to slave labor. Trina and her husband had fostered boys when they had their farm. That was back in Depression times when poverty shattered families. Trina and John Cate had taken into their home three brothers and their cousin and made them their own. Jesse knew these men who still called her Ma. The Cates weren't rich but they shared what they had and through hard work and determination had raised these four along with their own four and educated them and launched them into the world to become successful and Godly men.

         Trina waited for him to go on and then she said, "You want to foster a child?"

         "I want to talk to you about fostering the Dorney boy."

         She had thought something like this was on his mind. He had been lost in thought through most of the past two days. as if he were struggling with something. He told her about the boy he had met, seemingly by chance, on Tuesday morning. She knew his heart had been touched by the condition of this child.

         "You want to bring him here?"

         "Is that a crazy idea? I think ~~ I think God is telling me to do this. I need to know whether it's something I worked up in my own mind or it's really something I'm supposed to do."

         He was intense about this, she could see that. And she knew that he took nothing lightly. She asked, "You've prayed about this?"

         "Almost all the time for two days. Can I do this? I couldn't even have custody of Joey by myself. How am I going to get them to give me another boy? A teenager?"

         "If God is in this there will be a way. We could do it the same way we did with Joey, with me as primary custodian if they still think you're not old enough for it. "

         He was surprised to hear her talking seriously about doing it. He relied on her judgment and actually he'd expected her to be telling him why this whole thing was impossible and to forget it. She was talking about it as if it were a plan to be made and carried out. He said, "You didn't see him. He looked like a wild animal. Paul told me, 'this one scares me.' "

         "Are you trying to talk yourself out of it?"

         "No, but I want you to know exactly what I'm talking about. I don't know anything about him, about what he's been through. He cringed from me, so I know he's been mistreated."

         "He has a lot of needs."

         "I want to help him and I don't know that I can."

         "Jesse, listen to me. Ever since you told me about this boy I have been praying for him. Do you think God would lay this boy on your heart and not on mine? I think this is something we should do. Are you looking for confirmation? Well, there it is.":

"What do we do now?"

         "We have to go to the courthouse at Lisbon and do some paper work and then in time they'll call us to family court to present our case. This home has been inspected and approved and we're already certified as guardians so that's half the battle. It would be good if you got letters of recommendation."

         "Letters?"

         "From Pastor and Paul. People who know you ."

         "That's something else I wondered about. What are my neighbors going to think about this when they find out I'm bringing a seasoned street kid to live in my house and go to school with their kids? Can I ask the Nevilles to give me a letter of recommendation to bring this boy to live across the street from them?"

         "There will be problems. But if God is in this it will work out."

         "What will Paul say? He already warned me not to get drawn into this."

         "I remember a while back Paul took on a wild kid other people were afraid of."

         "That was different."

         "Yes, it was. But he did a lot for you. He became a second father to you."

         "Can we go to Lisbon today and get this started?"

         "I think we should. I'll call Cora Neville and ask her to look after Joey if we aren't back in time for the schoolbus."

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         Jess sat on the arm chair beside Joey's bed. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

Indent}"Okay."

         "Do you remember I told you about a boy I met at Mr Treaher's office last Tuesday?"

         "The boy you said went to the children's shelter?"

         "Yes. HIs name is Timothy Dorney and he's thirteen years old. His father is going to prison probably for a long time and he doesn't have any other family."

         "I know. That's what you said."

         "Well here's the thing, Joey, he's really in a bad spot. He's sick and he's been going hungry. He needs a home and people to take care of him. Do you know what juvenile detention is?"

         "No."

         "Well when a kid is in a lot of trouble with the law and he's too young for the prison system; it's kind of a punishment place for kids. Unless he has a better place to go, he might be going there and he would have a bad time there. If somebody gives him a home and promises to take care of him right; he might not have to go there. He could get probation and a chance to have a good life."

         "What's probation?"

         "It's something that can happen to a kid in trouble instead of being locked up. Some people would take care of him and help him do right. Then if he stays out of trouble he wouldn't have any record when he turns eighteen and he can have a good life."

         "Well, could he come live with us?"

         "I was kind of hoping he could. What do you think about it?"

         Joey wasn't sure how to answer that. He had always been the only kid around there. He was thinking about having to share his space. Fimally he said "I think it's probably a good idea."

         "It will mean a lot of changes around here. He isn't well and he needs a lot of help to get better. It might seem to you like he's getting all the attention."

         Joey answered that with a solemn nod. He had been told that Tim had often gone without food and could not imagine that. Joey had a healthy appetite and always had enough to eat. He asked "Why wouldn't his father give him enough to eat? If we got poor and didn't have enough you would give me your share,"

         "Well all fathers aren't like that. His father is -- " he hesitated not knowing how to talk to this child about the hard facts of abuse and neglect. There were things in this world a cherished child like Joey knew nothing about. Jess said, "His father has a lot wrong with him. He didn't take care of him. He taught him to steal. He beat him."

         "Beat him?" Joay recoiled from the idea.

         "People hurt children. Tim's father drinks too much and sometimes he doesn't know what he is doing. And I guess he's just pain mean."

         "Then i'm glad he's getting locked up!"

         "Yeah. so am I, Little One! If Tim comes here he won't be hurt any more."

         "Then he better come here."

         "You're okay with that?"

         Joey was always honest with Jess. "Not all the way, but I think you'd be a good person to take care of him. You're good at taking care of people."


         As Jesse had expected, Treacher wasn't even as sure as Joey. He warned Jesse this might be a dangerous undertaking, "I never thought you'd do anything to put Joey at risk."

         "I thought about that. But Trina and I agree on it, this is something God is telling us to do. I might work that up in my own mind, but she's -- she's a lot wiser than I am, and she's going ahead with it. We're seeking probation for him in our custody."

"Don't say that like a foregone conclusion. He has a lot of charges against him. He will do well if he doesn't spend some time in Joovey for it."

"We're going to try. So, do I get a letter of recommendation from you?"

         "You get a letter. And I intend to help you all I can with it. Who knows what will come out of this in the end?"

         Jesse was thinking about that as he drove home. What would come out of this? 'I'm doing this on blind faith. But maybe that's the best kind of faith there is.'