Corazon and Knox Polk, but not before he’d helped her prepare Teddy for bed. She’d stripped off the boy’s blue knit school shirt and wide-legged khakis altered to fit over his braces with Teddy helpfully raising himself up off the seat of the wheelchair to make the job easier. Then, she peeled him out of his supportive gear like removing a raw lobster from its shell. Both she and Adam noticed the bruises on the boy’s pale arms, the imprints of the fingers of a large man who’d gripped too hard. His pallid body bloomed with yellow-edged, purple blotches.
A little shy in front of a woman he barely knew and clad only in his tighty-whiteys, Teddy asked if Adam could take him into the prepared bath. The big cornerback hefted him with gentleness and ease and completed the process of getting the boy into the tub. Leaving the bathroom door cracked just a bit in case Teddy needed him, Adam took a chair and talked to Winnie of their upcoming Samoan feast, what foods he would prepare. The only things Doug Hopper ever brought to a meal were a knife and a fork and a complaint if the dinner was not to his liking.
When Teddy called to get out, Adam took the pajamas laid on the bed, helped the boy to dry and dress. He didn’t flinch when Winnie administered the shot through the navel to activate the boy’s bowels, just simply carried him back into the bathroom to wait for the results. But then, Adam Malala never flinched. Despite his size, he could cross a football field with amazing speed, send his body flying into a receiver, and pop the ball out of his opponent’s grasp almost as an afterthought.
They had the boy settled in bed when a knock sounded on the door. Stacy in a ruffled and beribboned muslin nightgown fit for royalty entered and asked if she could say goodnight to Teddy. Such a nice gesture coming from her astonished the adults, but not so much the words she had to say.
“Look, Teddy. We’re the outsiders here. We have to stick together no matter what.”
“They have to keep you. You’re family. They don’t have to let me stay if it turns out Mr. Joe is not my daddy. The guys hardly talked to me at dinner. I make a step, or maybe a wheel, in the wrong direction, and I’m outta here. I have to be on my best behavior.” The boy’s eyes blinked heavily as if this day had run over him with a pair of cleats and left him exhausted.
“Well, the girls only like me for my dog and my clothes. I just wanted to say I’ve got your back if you have mine. Deal?”
“Sure, I guess.”
She fingered his ratty paperback copy of a Harry Potter novel on the nightstand. “Can I borrow this? Of course, I had a whole set of the hardcovers at the palazzo, but I never read them and couldn’t bring them with me on the plane. Can you believe I don’t have a television set in my room? Yours neither, I see.”
“Just bring it back in the morning.”
“Goodnight, then.” Stacy marched across the hall to her own room, probably intending to plague Brinsley with her demands until she felt sleepy.
“Nervy brat,” Adam said. “Don’t let her get you in trouble, Teddy.”
“I’ll try to be good. I think I should say my prayers now.”
Adam dropped to his knees at the bedside and folded his hands. Caught off guard, Winnie simply bowed her head. Sure, Mintay had embraced the Rev’s AME church, but her parents could only be described as secular humanists. Neither approach bothered Teddy. He closed his eyes and made a steeple with his hands over his stomach.
“Dear God, thank you for bringing me to this pretty house with a big gate and alarm buttons. I feel safe here. Bless my new family and especially Stacy who really needs it. Also Nurse Winnie and Mr. Adam who are taking good care of me and my mom wherever she is, okay? Please, let me be Mr. Joe’s real son so’s I can stay here. Amen.”
Without whining for a glass of water or a story or a few more minutes before lights out, Teddy worked himself over on his side,
A little shy in front of a woman he barely knew and clad only in his tighty-whiteys, Teddy asked if Adam could take him into the prepared bath. The big cornerback hefted him with gentleness and ease and completed the process of getting the boy into the tub. Leaving the bathroom door cracked just a bit in case Teddy needed him, Adam took a chair and talked to Winnie of their upcoming Samoan feast, what foods he would prepare. The only things Doug Hopper ever brought to a meal were a knife and a fork and a complaint if the dinner was not to his liking.
When Teddy called to get out, Adam took the pajamas laid on the bed, helped the boy to dry and dress. He didn’t flinch when Winnie administered the shot through the navel to activate the boy’s bowels, just simply carried him back into the bathroom to wait for the results. But then, Adam Malala never flinched. Despite his size, he could cross a football field with amazing speed, send his body flying into a receiver, and pop the ball out of his opponent’s grasp almost as an afterthought.
They had the boy settled in bed when a knock sounded on the door. Stacy in a ruffled and beribboned muslin nightgown fit for royalty entered and asked if she could say goodnight to Teddy. Such a nice gesture coming from her astonished the adults, but not so much the words she had to say.
“Look, Teddy. We’re the outsiders here. We have to stick together no matter what.”
“They have to keep you. You’re family. They don’t have to let me stay if it turns out Mr. Joe is not my daddy. The guys hardly talked to me at dinner. I make a step, or maybe a wheel, in the wrong direction, and I’m outta here. I have to be on my best behavior.” The boy’s eyes blinked heavily as if this day had run over him with a pair of cleats and left him exhausted.
“Well, the girls only like me for my dog and my clothes. I just wanted to say I’ve got your back if you have mine. Deal?”
“Sure, I guess.”
She fingered his ratty paperback copy of a Harry Potter novel on the nightstand. “Can I borrow this? Of course, I had a whole set of the hardcovers at the palazzo, but I never read them and couldn’t bring them with me on the plane. Can you believe I don’t have a television set in my room? Yours neither, I see.”
“Just bring it back in the morning.”
“Goodnight, then.” Stacy marched across the hall to her own room, probably intending to plague Brinsley with her demands until she felt sleepy.
“Nervy brat,” Adam said. “Don’t let her get you in trouble, Teddy.”
“I’ll try to be good. I think I should say my prayers now.”
Adam dropped to his knees at the bedside and folded his hands. Caught off guard, Winnie simply bowed her head. Sure, Mintay had embraced the Rev’s AME church, but her parents could only be described as secular humanists. Neither approach bothered Teddy. He closed his eyes and made a steeple with his hands over his stomach.
“Dear God, thank you for bringing me to this pretty house with a big gate and alarm buttons. I feel safe here. Bless my new family and especially Stacy who really needs it. Also Nurse Winnie and Mr. Adam who are taking good care of me and my mom wherever she is, okay? Please, let me be Mr. Joe’s real son so’s I can stay here. Amen.”
Without whining for a glass of water or a story or a few more minutes before lights out, Teddy worked himself over on his side,
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