The Boy Who Didn't Want To Die - Mary Armstrong

[Wild Canary]

The Boy Who Didn't Want To Die


A lone man walked along the dirt road bordering the estuary. The road was one he walked twice a day every weekday, since he had to use the bus for transportation. He had no car to get himself into the city.

On a particular early evening in April he stepped from the bus and was immediately reminded he had forgotten his umbrella. The sky was covered with dark, gray, threatening-looking clouds, and rain was imminent. The man, whose name was Jeffrey, pulled his collar up about his neck and hunkered down into his coat for warmth. Quickening his pace, he put his hands in his pockets.

As he always did, he glanced over at the estuary to see if the tide was in or out and if there was any kind of boating activity on the river. The mud flats revealed a couple of boats tied to mooring lines and listing like beached and helpless whales. In the dory sat a small boy bent over something on his lap. Jeffrey waved, but the child didn't see him, nor wave back. A rusty bicycle lay on the shore. Jeffrey hurried on to his home, wanting to beat the rain.

As he unlocked the door to his modest stone cottage, he shook off the first raindrops from his short, russet-colored hair. Wiping his horned-rimmed glasses with the tail of his shirt, he hurried to add firewood to the woodstove. As he sat before the open door of his stove, drinking tea to warm himself, he thought about the strange appearance of the boy. What could a child be doing alone, tending to some task and sitting in a boat, which would soon be afloat? He pictured the youngster having to scramble ashore ahead of an incoming tide, maybe being afraid and needing help. Jeffrey shuddered, but he did not return to the estuary to investigate the situation.

Over the next few weeks as spring came to life, the grasses became greener and early blooms appeared by the roadside, Jeffrey watched for the boy. Most of the time he was there in the dory but appeared completely absorbed in whatever it was he was doing. Jeffrey guessed he was doing his schoolwork. Perhaps, there were a lot of noisy children in the family, and the child could not concentrate on his lessons at home. Every time Jeffrey passed he waved, but the wave was not returned.


Usually, Jeffrey spent his evenings watching television. He found he was not concentrating on the programs but was thinking about the boy instead who presented such a lonely and poignant figure. He was really touched by this child he didn't even know. When he thought about it, he realized there was a connection to his own life.

*****

Fourteen years earlier Jeffrey had lost his only child, a son, who was born dead. The birth had been a difficult one and had taken its toll on his wife who lingered between life and death in the hospital for many weeks. When she finally did die, the hospital bills were enormous and nearly bankrupted Jeffrey who worked two jobs until the debt was finally paid. This took years to do, and in that period there was no time for any kind of social life. Consequently, Jeffrey had never met a woman who might have become his second wife. His life had become meaningless with no one with whom to share it. He was lonely.

*****

In late spring, but before the school term ended, Jeffrey decided he must take some drastic action. What if the term ended and the boy went to stay with his grandparents for the summer? He would never see him again or learn about the mysterious circumstances surrounding him.
On a warm day near the end of May Jeffrey noticed the boy was looking up just as he passed by. Jeffrey gave a big, hearty wave. The child returned a hesitant gesture and immediately returned to his work. Jeffrey walked to where the bike lay on the grass and stood, just watching and trying to discern what the child's attitude would be, meeting a stranger in a lonely spot.
At last the boy closed his book and put it in his bookbag. Slinging the bag over one shoulder, he stepped over the gunwale of the tiny dory. He watched where he put down his feet, not wanting to misstep in the slippery mud. He didn't see Jeffrey until he stepped ashore. Jeffrey said in as friendly a voice as possible, "Well, hi there! My name is Jeffrey. I've been seeing you for weeks now on my way home from the bus stop. I thought I should stop by and say hello and see how you are doing with your studies."
When the boy looked up into Jeffrey's face he appeared older than his small size indicated. He didn't seem too surprised at the encounter, which probably meant he'd seen Jeffrey numerous times on the road. "Hello there," he said. "My name is Georgie. Sorry, but I gotta go. I have to get home in time to help my mom with dinner."
Quick to hold Georgie's attention before he left, Jeffrey asked, "Do you have a lot of noisy brothers and sisters at home and that's why you do your homework down here where it's quiet?"
Georgie said, "I'll see you tomorrow and tell you then. I can't be late or my mom will get mad at me. She's very sick and depends on my help, so I need to go. Bye." The attractive, auburn-haired boy took off on his bike. Jeffrey couldn't help thinking that if his own child had lived, he might be about the same age as Georgie. His heart gave a small surge and tears stung his eyes.
Jeffrey walked home more perplexed than ever. The mystery had just taken a serious turn, and he was really worried. If Georgie had to fix dinner for his mother and siblings, if he had any siblings, then the health problem had to be a serious one.
The next day Jeffrey took an extra apple and some trail mix to work with him, so he'd have something to offer Georgie when they met at 5 PM. Actually, the child was waiting by his bike when Jeffrey arrived. "Hi, again," he said. "You're not upset with me taking off so fast yesterday, are you? I must have seemed rude after you were just trying to be friendly."
"No, not at all. Here, I have leftovers from my lunch. Would you like an apple and some nuts?"
"Sure, and thanks!" answered Georgie, accepting the food and devouring it in minutes.
"You seem hungry. Do you not get enough to eat at home?"
"Well, my mom being so sick and all...she can only work part time. Sometimes we run out of money before she gets her next paycheck, and then we eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or porridge, sometimes for days. My mom is proud and will not accept any handouts."
"Do you have a father or brothers and sisters?" Jeffrey inquired, his heart starting to ache for this intelligent and outgoing child.
"I don't know my father. He left before I was born. I've only seen one picture of him, and, I am sorry to say, I do kinda resemble him...dark, auburn hair with granny glasses. I think he was a college professor. I'm an only child, so the responsibility of helping out falls all on my shoulders. I don't mind, but the housework takes time, and then I have to finish my homework. I must be a pretty smart kid as I've skipped one grade so far. Next fall I'll be entering middle school. My mom keeps pressing me to do well, so I can qualify for a grant and go to college.
"Georgie, why do you sit down here to do your school work? Can't you do it at home?"
"I guess I could, but we live in a very small apartment with only one bedroom I have to sleep on the living room sofa. My mom smokes a lot and even if she does it in her bedroom, it seeps out under the door and fills up the whole place. I've begged her to stop smoking ever since I can remember. I think she's been doing it since she was a teenager, and now she is forty years old. She has allergies, the beginnings of emphysema and other stuff. She's not going to live to be very old." Then, Georgie added with great emphasis,
"I DON"T WANT TO DIE OF SECOND-HAND SMOKE!"
"Hasn't she tried to quit, gone to a quitters' anonymous group or used a patch?" asked Jeffrey, getting more concerned about Georgie with so much on his small shoulders.
At this point the child began to cry, huge tears running down his cheeks and onto his sweater. He let go a couple of big sobs before trying to get things under control. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and started mopping up his face and clothing. Jeffrey's heart was breaking, and he immediately started thinking of ways he might help out. "Hey," he said, "why don't you ask your mom if you can come and visit me at my house sometime. It's only a short distance from here, and you have the bike."
Georgie answered immediately. "I'd like to come. Can we go there now?"
"But don't you have to get permission first?" asked Jeffrey.
"No, my mom doesn't ever know where I am. She's asleep on the sofa the minute she gets home from work. Then, after I fix dinner, she gets up to eat and goes right off to bed afterwards. We don't have much time together because she' so sick and her body needs rest. It's really lonely for me, and I kinda wish I had a brother or sister. Then, I'd have someone to play with."
Jeffrey said, "I wish I had someone to play with, also. I lost my family a few years ago when my wife gave birth to a stillborn baby boy. Then, she died soon after. It was really tough, and I've been alone ever since. Do you like baseball?"
Georgie answered with enthusiasm. "Yes, it's my favorite sport. I play a little on our team at school, but I'm mostly on the bench because of my small size."
Said Jeffrey, "Maybe you could come over now and play catch for a short time before it gets dark. Come on, let's go? Do you think your bicycle will hold two people?"
"Sure," answered Georgie. "You'll have to peddle though, and I can sit on the handlebars and rest my feet on the front forks." The two of them set off companionably, talking all the while until they reached Jeffrey's cottage.
"I like this place," said Georgie when he saw where Jeffrey lived. I've ridden my bike past here many times. I always wondered who lived here inside this cozy-looking house. I'm glad to know it's you."
The tall, lanky man with red-tinged hair, and the boy with dark auburn hair played catch on Jeffrey's lawn until near dark. Anyone passing would have taken the pair for father and son, for that's exactly how they looked, laughing and chasing the baseball when one or the other missed a catch. Finally, as the last rays of the waning sun cast themselves across the lawn, Georgie handed back Jeffrey's mitt to him, clasping briefly at the man's forearm in a show of affection and thanks. Jeffrey patted Georgie's shoulder and complimented him on his strong throwing arm.
As the boy started peddling hurriedly in the direction of his home, he waved over his shoulder. Then he was gone. Jeffrey felt a lurch in his heart, and it was very much like the lurch he had felt at the hospital the day he had lost his son.
The days of summer came and went much too fast for Jeffrey and Georgie. They saw each other two or three times each week, usually at Jeffrey's house which the boy began to think of as his second home. It was a place to relax, feel no pressures to cook or clean, and where he could breath fresh air without fear of endangering his health.

*****

A few weeks into the fall term Georgie's mother's health took a turn for the worst. She had to be hospitalized. Although Georgie was a mature kid for his age and could have remained at the apartment on his own, he accepted Jeffrey's invitation to stay at the stone cottage. The man and boy were on familiar terms and talked together easily about 'most any subject. Naturally, the predicament of Georgie's possibly losing his mom came up frequently. Georgie kept saying things like, "If only we could lock my mother in a padded room for a week, maybe she could overcome her addiction. Then, she might be able to get over all the things that are the matter with her and become a normal mom again."
Jeffrey asked, "Did she ever try signing herself into a rehab center where they could control her behavior?
"Yup, and I had to stay with the neighbors 'cause I was younger then. My mom lasted only three days off cigarettes. She slept or cried all the time, and she was horribly depressed. She finally signed herself out and went right back to smoking again. It's hopeless, and I can't help her. Nobody can help her, and she's going to die! Then I'll be all alone."
Jeffrey said, " As long as I'm alive, you'll never be alone. You can count on that."
Georgie, who had dissolved into tears, began to sob loudly. It appeared as though he might never stop crying. Jeffrey, who'd been sitting next to him on the sofa, pulled the boy onto his lap and began soothing him by stroking his hair and occasionally patting him gently on the shoulder. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to comfort Georgie.
When the deluge finally began to subside, Jeffrey's own eyes were moist, and his heart felt as though it had broken clean in two. The front of his shirt was sodden with Georgie's tears.
*****
Around the first of November hospital testing results were complete, and it was learned that cancer had been found in one of the two lobes in Georgie's mother's left lung. The recommendation was for immediate surgery to remove the malignant tumor to be followed by chemotherapy for several weeks thereafter.
Georgie and Jeffrey visited the hospital sick room daily. At one point Georgie's mother, who was too sick to talk much, said to Jeffrey, "You'll look after my boy, won't you? That's in case I don't make it throught the surgery."
Jeffrey answered, "You bet I will. I have grown to love your son during the weeks we've gotten to know one another. He is a smart and wonderful boy. You've done a great job in raising him all by yourself."
The mother struggled to speak through her coughing. "Except for one thing! I could never give up smoking. I've done it since I was in my mid-teens. I hope Georgie can forgive me for exposing him to all that horrible second-hand smoke." Here she began to cry and turned her face to the wall. Georgie immediately took his mom's hand and held onto it until she cried herself to sleep.
The surgery was scheduled for Nov. 14th. Jeffrey didn't go to work that day, so he could stay by Georgies' side at the hospital. Naturally, Georgie was very nervous and afraid he would lose his mom. She was the only close family member he had ever known.
At 4:15 PM, while Georgie was asleep on the waiting room sofa, a hospital administrator came to the door and motioned to Jeffrey to step outside. The news was grave indeed, as Georgie's mother had not survived the surgery. The administrator said, "In the past few days we initiated a search for Georgie's natural father. We didn't think there was much hope for his mother as she had an advanced case of lung cancer. The biological father, whose name is Oliver Brown, is flying in soon, and he is in a position to care for his son."
Jeffrey returned to the waiting room and gathered the sleeping child into his arms. When Georgie awoke and opened his eyes and looked into Jeffrey's face, he knew he no longer had a mother. He cried, he kicked and pounded on Jeffrey's chest, and when he couldn't go on any longer, he fell asleep again, this time in Jeffrey's embrace. Jeffrey carried him out to the taxi, which took them home to the stone cottage.
Later that evening, Jeffrey had to break the news to Georgie about the imminent arrival of Oliver Brown. "I won't go with him. " Georgie screamed. "I hate him! He was never there for us when we needed him. Now he wants me 'cause I'm older and turned out OK. Well, forget it! I want to stay with you, Jeffrey. You've been like a father to me when I needed one the most. I don't want to be away from you for a single moment. Please, don't let this Oliver Brown guy take me away from you!"
*****
Jeffrey hired an attorney who convinced the judge that Oliver Brown didn't ever deserve to have custody of his biological son. Jeffrey was given temporary custody of Georgie until adoption papers could be written up and finalized. Then, on that special day Jeffrey and Georgie walked down the courthouse steps hand-in-hand as father and son. It was the happiest day in both of their lives. Georgie looked up into his adopted father's smiling face. "I love you, Dad," he said.