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Authors: Danielle Steel

Blue (19 page)

BOOK: Blue
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“OhmyGod, ohmyGod, they accepted me!” he shouted. Several heads on the terrace turned, and he didn't care.
“They accepted me!”
He stood up and jumped and threw his arms around her. “I go to LaGuardia Arts high school now!”

“I guess you do.” She sat beaming at him with tears in her eyes. It was a huge accomplishment for him that she hoped would change his life, which had been her intent when she got the application for him and made him apply. He could hardly speak for the rest of lunch. They walked around the Village for a while, then hopped into a cab and went to Central Park. They both ate ice cream, took a long walk, and lay on the grass. He looked happier than she'd ever seen him, and justifiably proud of himself. And she was very, very proud of him. He had texted Lizzie in L.A. on his new phone right after lunch, and she was thrilled for him. She had gotten into her first-choice high school, too, in Pasadena. And they wanted to see each other again. He kept hounding Ginny to invite Lizzie to New York.

This time when she left him at Houston Street, he didn't look upset. He was too excited about being accepted at LaGuardia Arts. He told Julio Fernandez about it as soon as he walked in the front door.

“I guess we'd better enjoy your company before you get too famous to hang out with us anymore,” Julio teased him, with a grin at Ginny. “I hope you're intending to play our piano while you're here. We could use some decent music,” he said to Blue, who was ecstatic.

Blue was still smiling when he hugged Ginny, and she kissed him goodbye. “Be good. If you run away this time, I'll kill you,” she warned him, but she was smiling, and he knew she didn't mean it. “I'll call you whenever I can.” But she had told him again that it wouldn't be often, because of where the camp was situated. As usual, she'd be out of touch most of the time.

“Take care of yourself,” he said with a tender look. “I love you, Ginny.”

“I love you, too, Blue. Remember that. I'll be back,” she said, to remind him that he was no longer alone, that she loved him and cared about him. Blue was on his way to the amazing life she had promised. It made her aware, more than ever, that she wanted to come home safely from her next trip. She had to be there for Blue.

Chapter 14

Ginny didn't call Becky before she left New York the next day, and didn't want to talk to her, after everything she'd said about Blue, and their sexual abuse case against the priest. She had sent her a text that she was leaving, with her contact numbers for the next eight weeks so Becky would have them, in case something happened with their father. Becky didn't respond, but she had all the information she needed.

It was another endless journey to get to the camp near Homs, and when she arrived, conditions were even worse than she'd been told. Children in heartbreaking condition lay glassy-eyed on cots, barely clinging to life. There were young boys who had been raped, others with severed limbs, a beautiful young girl with her eyes gouged out by her father, whose family had abandoned her on the road rather than take care of her. Torture was being committed on children. It made Blue's experience with Father Teddy look minor in comparison. She spent her time with injured young people in shocking situations, with inadequate provisions, under relentless tension. And each day more children were brought in. The Red Cross and medical volunteers did a heroic job and Ginny and the others did whatever they could to help. And because of the volatile political climate, all the workers were exceptionally careful, stayed in the camp, and went everywhere in pairs, or larger groups, whenever possible. Ginny concentrated on the injured children, and not the risks. The assignment broke everyone's heart. And the rare times she was somewhere that she could get Internet access, she checked for e-mails from Andrew O'Connor and Blue. There were none from her sister on this trip. But at least it meant that their father was still alive. Ginny had never felt so physically and emotionally drained in her life. She was relieved it was only for eight weeks.

Blue sounded all right in his e-mails to her. He complained about Houston Street, but less acutely than before. He seemed to have made his peace with it, and said he was composing music on their piano, which made her smile. If he was involved in music, she knew he'd be okay. His graduation had gone well, after she left, and he was doing odd jobs at the shelter to help out. He said it was hot in New York, and she was startled and pleased to read that Andrew O'Connor had come to visit him and Blue thought he was a great guy.

Andrew's e-mails to her were particularly interesting and hopeful. He told her that the police investigators had turned up several other instances of abuse committed by Father Teddy at St. Francis's. Five other boys had come forward, and two at St. Anne's in Chicago, and Andrew was sure there would be more. They had opened a Pandora's box that had been tightly closed and sealed for years about the wayward priest, and the police suspected now that the archdiocese had been aware of some of the cases, and had moved him to Chicago so he could start with a clean slate. And once there, he had done it again. She could hardly wait to get home and learn more about what was going on, and be back with Blue again. For the first time on one of her assignments, she was anxious to get home. Andrew and the police had not shared any of the reports with him in her absence, and didn't intend to until she got back. Andrew thought it best to wait until she returned, and so did she. There was nothing she could do from where she was.

He mentioned seeing Blue, too; he had thought that Blue might be lonely without her, so he dropped by as a friend. He asked her permission to take him to a baseball game. She was touched that Andrew had asked her and e-mailed him back immediately to thank him and said Blue would be thrilled to go to a game with him, since he was a passionate Yankees fan. Andrew responded that he happened to know the owner of the team, and might be able to introduce Blue to some of the players. And the next time she heard from Blue, he raved about the fun he'd had and the players he'd met. He'd gotten two signed balls, a bat, and a glove, and he had Julio lock them up so they didn't disappear. And he'd written a piece of music for Andrew to thank him. He wrote that Andrew played the piano, too, and had liked his composition. She was grateful for the time that Andrew was spending with him in her absence. It made her feel less out of touch halfway around the world, and she thought it was good for Blue to have a positive male influence in his life.

She thanked Andrew herself by e-mail, and he responded and inquired about her work in Syria. It was hard to describe in an e-mail the daily tragedies she was encountering, which were routine there, and the injustices that were commonplace, mostly against women and children. He responded thoughtfully, with compassion, and he sent her a joke and a
New Yorker
cartoon at the end of it, which made her laugh before she went back to work. It made civilization seem a little less remote. He sounded like a nice person, deeply committed to his work and clients, which she had suspected when they met.

Conditions in the camp remained tense while she was there, and everyone was busy. The Red Cross had sent additional workers, as had other international groups. It would be hard to relate to ordinary life after an experience like this. New York seemed like another planet, compared to what she was doing and seeing every day. The sheer human misery of such severely injured children who had no hope of a better life was overwhelming. It made her want to take them all home with her.

Her living situation in the camp was the worst she'd been in. The time in Syria seemed longer and harder to her than her previous assignments, and the eight weeks she spent there felt like an eternity, and she was relieved when her replacement arrived, only two days before she was due to leave. Several of the workers were starting to get seriously sick, and were being sent home. Ginny had had dysentery for weeks, and had lost ten pounds since she'd arrived. It had been one of her toughest assignments yet, many of the less experienced workers were severely disheartened, and the more seasoned ones were exhausted. There was still so much left to do when she left, but she was ready to go home, and excited to see Blue again. She slept without stirring on the first leg of the trip, from Homs to Damascus.

It felt surreal to see civilization again when she got to Damascus, and she walked around the airport literally feeling dazed, not sure what to do, overwhelmed by people, crowds, and airport shops, after what she'd seen and lived for two months. And on the second flight from Amman, Jordan, she slowly returned to the land of the living as she ate a light meal and watched a movie. She wondered if her stomach would ever be the same again. And all she wanted to do was forget what she'd seen in the camp.

It had been a depressing trip, she had never cared for so many people, all of them children and young people, for whom she could do so little to help. She knew the memory of it would be with her forever. Everything had been ten times, sometimes a hundred times, worse than they'd said it would be. But she was still glad she'd gone, even to do the little she had. She felt as though she'd been gone for a year, not a mere eight weeks. It was the first week in August and she was hoping to go away with Blue for a few days somewhere before he started school, and she had to leave again.

When the plane landed in New York, she wanted to kiss the ground. As she walked through the airport, she looked like a refugee from some terrible place. She couldn't wait to get home and sit in the bathtub and soak, but she had promised Blue she would pick him up on her way in from the airport. She had been traveling by ground and air for more than twenty hours by then. She gave the cabdriver the address of Houston Street, and told him there would be a second stop after she picked someone up.

Blue knew what time she was due in, and she texted him when she left the airport. He was waiting with packed bags when she arrived at the shelter. She looked exhausted as she came through the door and beamed when she saw him. Blue was shocked, but happy to see her, too. She was deathly pale, rail thin, and had dark circles under her eyes. Her two months at the camp had taken a heavy toll, more than she realized.

“Holy shit! You look awful. Didn't you eat while you were there?” He was visibly thrilled to see her, but it looked like she had starved.

“Not much.” She smiled through the grime of the trip, her hair loose down her back, and gave him a fierce, tight hug. She was so happy that he was healthy, whole, and uninjured, and would never know the hardships of the young lives she had just seen. Whatever happened to him, it could never be as bad as that. The young people she'd worked to help had no way out, but he had a whole life ahead of him, with great opportunities, particularly now going to a high school where his talent would be nurtured and he'd learn new things every day.

Blue carried his bags downstairs after they thanked Julio Fernandez, who grinned at Blue. He was carrying the autographed bat and glove he'd gotten when Andrew took him to the Yankees game. He had shown Ginny immediately and said he wanted to put them on a shelf in his room.

“Something tells me we won't be seeing you again, champ.” Julio glanced at Ginny as he said it. She was his way off the streets, and although she wasn't his legal guardian, he wasn't really homeless anymore. He had her. They looked like a family as they left the shelter. “Don't be a stranger, come to visit. I'll miss you,” Julio said to Blue sincerely. Blue hugged him, then raced down the stairs to the cab and followed Ginny in. She had come back, just as she had said. That had registered strongly with him. He knew he could trust her, as long as nothing happened to her. And she had e-mailed him from Syria as often as she could, to reassure him.

She gave the driver her address, and they headed home. It was a steaming-hot day in early August, as she peeled off the layers she'd been wearing on the trip, and they chatted in the cab. She wanted to throw away everything she was wearing when she got home. She felt even dirtier than she looked, but they were smiling at each other, and Blue was talking a mile a minute.

“So what have you been up to that you didn't tell me in your e-mails?” she asked as they rode uptown.

“Andrew invited us to a Yankees game on my birthday.” Blue looked excited about it—he was turning fourteen, and she was thrilled to have made it home in time. “Can we go?” She had no plans except to be with him for the next four to six weeks. She'd had an e-mail from Ellen, saying they might send her to India. But all she could think of now was Blue, spending time with him, and getting him into school after Labor Day.

“Of course we can go.” She grinned at him.

“Andrew is a cool guy—he knows all the big Yankees players. It's hard to believe he used to be a priest.” It was high praise from him, as he chattered on about the two Yankees games he'd been to with him. Andrew had taken him to a Mets game, too. And Jane Sanders, in charge of the police investigation, had dropped by to see him at the shelter. He said he'd played the piano for her. But Blue made no mention of the investigation, and Ginny didn't ask. She was going to call Jane Sanders herself to catch up on the news.

Her apartment looked like heaven to both of them when they got home. She sent Blue out to buy groceries while she headed for the bathroom. She could hardly wait to take a real bath. And when she emerged, clean and scrubbed in a pink terry cloth robe, she ate a sandwich with him, told him she loved him, and went to bed. She could barely stay awake. Blue settled in to play video games and watch movies, ecstatic to be home with her, and sleep in his own room again, and his own bed.

She slept until the next day and woke up feeling full of energy and ready to get busy with Blue. She called Jane Sanders for news about the case, and Andrew O'Connor to thank him for his kindness to Blue and to accept his birthday invitation to the Yankees game.

“Your e-mails described a rugged life,” Andrew commented when she called him. He sounded impressed.

“It was pretty bad,” she admitted. “It feels good to get home. Blue looks great. Thanks for taking him out and visiting him.” She had a life to come home to now. It made a huge difference to her, as well as Blue.

“He's a fantastic kid,” Andrew said easily, “and unbelievably talented. He played for me a couple of times when I visited him.”

“He says you're pretty good, too,” Ginny said pleasantly, enjoying the exchange.

“I'm a pathetic amateur compared to him. He composed a piece of original music for me.”

“LaGuardia is going to be great for him,” Ginny said happily.


You're
great for him. He couldn't wait for you to get home,” Andrew said honestly.

“Me, too. It was a rough trip, shorter than usual, but a lot harder.” It had been eight weeks in hell, which he had guessed, even from the little she said.

“Where to next? Do you know yet?” he asked her with interest.

“I'm not sure. Maybe India, in September. I hate leaving Blue again so soon.”

Andrew didn't want to tell her how much Blue had missed her. He had talked about her constantly and had been worried about her. She was the hub of his existence and the only adult he'd ever known whom he could trust and rely on and who had never let him down.

“Maybe they'll let you spend a little more time at home between trips,” Andrew said hopefully. She had been thinking about that, too, although she didn't know how Ellen would react to it. The nature of her job was to be gone at least nine months of the year, which was her agreement with SOS. And she had told them she had no attachments, and was unencumbered and free.

“We'll see,” Ginny said vaguely, and Andrew said he'd call her in a few days to check in.

She and Blue made lunch after that. He looked as if he'd grown two inches in two months. She was sure it wasn't that much, but he looked taller to her. And healthy. They had fed him well at Houston Street, and the portions had been generous, since most of the residents were teenage boys.

She was happy to be home. She had worried about him, but this time he had stuck it out at the shelter. She was proud of him for that and said so, as they finished lunch and put their dishes in the dishwasher, before going to a concert in the park.

BOOK: Blue
5.47Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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