HIS FAVORITE TOY

Chapter 4

"Thank you sir," I said, and then he went through the door. I finished my food and then spent the rest of the night in my room reading. I just didn't feel like socializing or watching TV with the other boys. It had been a pretty stressful day and I was actually glad to be sleeping back in my old room at Monroe's. I turned the light out fairly early and as I drifted off to sleep, I actually felt happy that Mr. Jarvis had seemed concerned about me and was taking an interest in my welfare.

I woke bright and early the next day and hurried down to breakfast. There were some new boys there I didn't recognize along with some familiar faces. As usual, I kept to myself. Breakfast was served at 7:30 sharp, which was the same time as Mr. Jarvis started his daily shift. Just as I sat down, I saw him come in and nod to the other councilors before he disappeared down the hall towards his office. I was a little surprised and a little bit hurt that he never once looked in my direction. I wondered if he'd forgotten about asking me to come to his office after breakfast. Obviously, he hadn't forgotten, and that was how I came to have my first dose of medicine.

At Monroe, you were required to do about two hours of chores per day. Depending on the chore, it was usually one hour in the morning and then one hour in the afternoon. You usually did the same job for a week straight, and then they would get switched up. This week, my morning chore was to help out in the kitchen. Old Mrs. Nesbitt ran the kitchen with an iron fist and didn't take crap from anybody. Her food was good though, so nobody ever complained about her cranky attitude. Today, she set me about peeling potatoes for the evening meal. I sat down with a big basket of potatoes and an empty bucket for the peels and started in on my work. For the next half hour or so, I never looked up as over the last few days I had gotten used to manipulating the sharp peeler.

"Morning, Mrs. Nesbitt." I looked up excitedly when I heard Mr. Jarvis' deep voice. He came in and poured himself a cup of coffee as he chatted briefly with the old cook. I looked at him with a new level of admiration. I was already anxious to spend more time with and couldn't wait for one o'clock to come around. On his way out he stopped next to me and I looked up at him towering over me.

"So this is what they've got you doing this week?" he asked as he gestured to the half empty basket of potatoes and the growing bucket of scraps.

"Yes sir," I answered compliantly.

"Hhhhhmm," he said under his breath. Without a further word, he turned on his heel and went back to his office. I was left wondering what all that meant.

I finished up the job to Mrs. Nesbitt's satisfaction and she looked at the clock and with only a couple of minutes of my required hour left, she decided to let me go. Most of the other boys were outside playing a game of touch football but I just went back up to my room and lay on my bed reading. I actually felt safe and comfortable back in my old bed at Monroe. And with Mr. Jarvis giving me some extra attention I hadn't been expecting, I was actually looking forward to a nice relaxing summer.

I finally heard the other boys' voices as they came in and cleaned up for lunch. I made my way down to join them in the dining room and once again I chose to sit on my own away from the others as I ate. They seemed pretty happy as they chatted and laughed about their game they'd been playing. I sat quietly, looking forward to my one o'clock appointment with Mr. Jarvis. Eventually everyone finished up and left the room after taking their plates back into the kitchen. I did likewise and tentatively made my way towards Mr. Jarvis' office. Once again his door was closed and I took my spot on the bench across the hall. I checked the clock, 12:52. I was a few minutes early and waited anxiously for Mr. Jarvis to appear. I only had to wait a minute or two before he cracked open his door to see if I was there.

"Joey, you're a little early," he said as he opened the door wider and looked up and down the hallway. "That's good though. It didn't take me as long to get your medicine ready as I thought it might. You'd better come in and get it while it's still warm." He stepped sideways in the door opening for me to go past his big looming body. Once again, his face looked flushed and sweaty and he was wiping his hands with a towel as he ushered me into his office. I heard him lock the door again and as I sat down on the same chair I'd sat in this morning, I noticed his belt lying on top of his desk. Where his shirt was tucked into his pants, it looked a little disheveled again. Like I had thought earlier, he must have just finished using the washroom, especially since he was still wiping his hands off with the towel.

"So you haven't said anything to anybody about this morning, have you?" he asked as he stepped back behind his desk.

"Oh no, sir!" I said nervously, worried that he might be upset with me. "I did just as you said and didn't say a word to anyone." I paused for a second and then looked up at him shyly, "I know it's selfish of me, but ... but ... I don't want to share this with anybody else. Like you said, I want it to be our secret."

A big smile spread slowly across his face and he looked down at my frail little form sitting in front of him. "You're a good boy, Joey. I'm glad I can trust you to keep our secret." He dropped the towel on top of the desk and opened the same drawer that he had last time.

"Here you go," he said as he reached into the drawer and pulled out the clear plastic cup, "still nice and warm." He came around the desk quickly and passed it to me. "Drink up."

I took the cup from him and held it in my two hands in front of me. I looked down into the cloudy fluid and was pleased to see that there seemed to be even more than last time.

"So there's more here than last time?" I asked as I looked up at him questioningly.

"Yeah, I was able to work up a bigger load ... er ... I mean, I was able to work up a bigger dose for you this time," he said. "You did like it, didn't you, Joey?"

"Oh yes sir! I'm not complaining at all. I really liked it. I think I'm already feeling better after that dose you gave me earlier. I've been looking forward to this all morning," I said eagerly as I brought the medicine up beneath my nose and inhaled deeply of the warm musky scent. "I'm really glad there's even more than last time."