By the Creek (20 page)

“Are you okay?” David asked as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. The room was stiflingly hot, and David walked to the window and opened it, letting in the cooler night air. “Is that better?” David asked, and Benjamin nodded. David was about to leave when he shook his head. Benjamin wasn’t going to sleep well in a strange place. Hell, this was probably one of the few times he’d ever spent the night away from home. David walked over to the edge of the bed, sat down, and soothed Benjamin back onto the mattress before lying down himself and hugging Benjamin to him. “It’s okay. Close your eyes and go to sleep. I’m here, and no one is going to hurt you. You’re safe and loved.”

It took a while, but eventually David felt Benjamin relax, and soon he heard soft snores. Closing his own eyes, he drifted off to sleep and didn’t wake until the sun blazed in the open bedroom window. Benjamin didn’t move, his rich scent filling David’s nose, and David snuggled closer in the morning coolness and closed his eyes once again. He woke again a while later when Benjamin stirred and then gasped.

“It’s okay,” David said, and Benjamin turned to him, looking like he might bolt any second. “You’re okay and safe. Just relax.” Benjamin nodded and lay back down.

“I didn’t know where I was,” Benjamin admitted softly. “I was in a strange place and thought I was dreaming, and that my father was going to come get me and….”

“You’re okay, it’s just me,” David said, lightly stroking Benjamin’s arm. The bedroom door opened, and David saw his mother stick her head in, nod, and then close the door again. “What happened after your father dragged you away? What did he do to you to make so you afraid?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Benjamin looked out the window. “It’s not easy to talk about.”

“Okay. I can’t make you tell me, but when you’re ready, I’ll listen.” David very much wanted to press. He hated the thought of anyone hurting Benjamin, and someone obviously had. “Are you still tired?”

Benjamin nodded but started getting up anyway. “I need to….” He stopped and looked a little lost. “Every morning I get up and take care of the horses and other animals. I’ve done that for as long as I can remember. What do I do now?”

“Rest, if you need to. Mom will make breakfast in a while, and then you can help me clean the boxes out of your room. You look like you haven’t slept well in days.” David got Benjamin settled back on the bed, and in a few minutes Benjamin had fallen asleep again. David got out of bed and left the room, wandering through the house until he found his mother in the kitchen.

“How is he?” she asked.

David sighed. “Confused and exhausted—he’s asleep again.” David poured a mug of coffee. “Don’t you have to work today?”

“I called in. We need to get him settled into his own room so he feels like he has a place. So get dressed, because we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

David left the kitchen carrying his mug and heard his phone ringing. Returning, he picked it up off the counter. “Morning, Lynn,” David said with a yawn.

“How’s he doing? I got a bedframe from my mom and a dresser. It’s old, but usable. You’ll need to get a mattress, but that should get him started. Dad said he’ll help me load the stuff later this morning, and we can bring it over after lunch—does that work?” Sometimes Lynn never seemed to stop to take a breath.

“Perfect, thank you,” David said.

“No problem. I still have a few calls to make, so who knows what else we’ll come up with. I’ll call before we come over,” Lynn said, and David thanked her before hanging up.

David told his mother what Lynn had said before setting his phone on the counter. Instead of going to his room, he went to the laundry area and found a pair of clean shorts and a T-shirt. He didn’t want to wake Benjamin. Once he was dressed, he quietly opened the door to the extra room and began tugging out boxes. His mother began opening them, looking through the contents. “This is the extra bedding. I was going to donate it, but Benjamin may need it, so let’s put it in the corner.”

David nodded and placed the box in the corner of the room before getting out the next one. He spent an hour hauling boxes, some with things they could sell were hauled to the garage while he moved others into the storage building out back. Some were simply thrown away.

“Do we need this?” his mother asked. “It was your grandmother’s.” She pulled out a painted lamp in the shape of a sea captain.

“That’s cool. Maybe Benjamin will like it. If not, he can have my desk lamp and I’ll use it.” David set it aside and began breaking down the box.

They worked quietly for a while. Benjamin got up a few hours later, as they were finishing up. David had finished breaking down the boxes and was taking them to the garage when he saw Benjamin walk into the hall, rubbing his eyes. “You should have woken me up. I would have helped.”

“It’s okay. We’re all done and the room is cleared out.” David moved carefully through the house so he wouldn’t scrape the walls as he carried the cardboard to the garage. When he returned, he found Benjamin standing in the middle of the empty bedroom.

“I never had my own room before,” Benjamin said as he looked at David.

“Mom said we can paint the walls any color you want,” David told him as he joined him.

“I like this yellow. It’s happy and pretty,” Benjamin said with a smile. “It looks like the flowers that bloom in the spring by the creek.” Benjamin continued looking around the room, first feeling the plain curtains on the windows and then opening the closet door. “This is really for me?”

“Yes,” David answered, leaning in for a kiss.

“David, your phone,” his mother called, and he stepped out of the room, hurrying into the kitchen. “It’s Lynn.”

David talked to her as he walked back toward Benjamin’s room. “Thanks, I’ll see you in a few minutes.” David hung up. “Lynn and Carol are on their way over with Lynn’s dad. They have some things for your room.”

“For me?”

“Yes. Remember we talked about the community? Well, I told my friends that you needed some things, and they’re coming with a truck to drop them off.” David smirked as he moved closer. “You probably should get dressed. They’ll be here anytime.”

Benjamin blushed and then hurried out of the room. David followed and loaned Benjamin some of his clothes then left him to get dressed. While he waited for Benjamin, David saw a loaded truck pull in the drive, and he hurried outside to help.

“Where is he?” Lynn and Carol asked in near unison as they met him in the driveway.

“Getting dressed. Now, please go easy on him. He’s been through a lot,” David cautioned before helping Lynn’s dad pull things off the truck. They carried in a dresser and the headboard before Benjamin joined them. David made introductions, and the two girls swarmed Benjamin. Poor Benjamin didn’t quite know what to do, and David came to his rescue. “Please let him breathe.” David took Benjamin’s hand. “Carol and Lynn are my best friends.”

“You did all this for me?” Benjamin asked the girls, and they nodded. “Why?” He genuinely seemed perplexed, like non-Amish people never helped each other.

“David said you needed help. We helped,” Lynn explained before climbing into the bed of the truck and handing down parts of the bed.

Everyone spent the next twenty minutes hauling bed parts, a desk, a chair, and even a few pictures of horses into the bedroom. They even had a nearly new mattress that Carol’s mother no longer needed. By the time they were done, Benjamin’s room was all set up. The bed was made, the pictures hung, the desk had been set up, and since Benjamin had liked the sea-captain lamp, it now sat on the desk. The furniture was a little mismatched, but it was clean, and by the time everyone left, Benjamin was a bit overwhelmed. “They did this for me,” he kept saying as he looked around the room. Benjamin followed everyone out and thanked them all, waving as the truck backed down the drive. “I don’t understand why they would do that. They don’t know me at all,” Benjamin said as he watched the truck speed down the road.

“Did you know everyone in the community?” David asked, resisting the urge to look across the street.

“To a degree.” Benjamin looked across the street, and David swore under his breath. There was no getting around their physical location, but he needed to stop reminding Benjamin and let him have some mental distance.

“The Amish aren’t the only ones with a community.” David touched Benjamin’s shoulder. “Lynn and Carol’s families helped because they’re good people. My mom helped because she’s the greatest, and I helped because I love you.” David turned and led Benjamin inside and down the hall to his room. “I know this will be hard, but you’ll meet people and make friends. Carol told me her father is looking for someone to help with the horses on their farm. In a few days, I’ll take you down and you can see if you’d like to work there.”

“You mean I’ll have a job of my own?” Benjamin’s mouth hung open.

“Yes, with your own money that you can use to buy the things you need. Think of it this way: yes, you left the community, but you’ll be able to build your own life and make your own decisions.” David felt nervous, but he had things he needed to say. “That means you get to make decisions about the people in your life. I know I’m the only person you know really well, and I don’t want you to think you need to be with me if you don’t want to.”

Benjamin moved closer to David. “I love you too, Davey, and I want you to be my boyfriend forever.” Benjamin kissed him. “I did say that right, didn’t I?” Benjamin was so cute when he acted mischievous.

“It was wonderful,” David said, pulling Benjamin close. “More than wonderful—it was perfect.”

Epilogue

Two years later

D
AVID
picked up the large envelope from the counter where his mother had placed it. He read the return address and smiled. “Benny,” David called, but he got no answer.

“I think he’s outside,” his mother said from the living room. “I could have just yelled—go on and find him.”

David left the house and hurried outside. The heat barreled into him like a wall, and he instantly broke into a sweat. He didn’t let that stop him as he searched the backyard and field before going back through the garage to the front. He should have known. Benjamin stood in the shade of the single tree in front, looking across the street.

“This came for you,” David told him, and Benjamin turned, but otherwise didn’t move. David moved next to him, putting an arm around Benjamin’s waist. “They’re so near and yet very far away.” Living across the street from his family had at times been a kind of torture for Benjamin. He could see them, but at the same time, they might as well have been halfway across the country.

“Yes,” Benjamin said, finally looking down at the large manila envelope. “What is this?”

“Guess,” David told him, and Benjamin carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the certificate and letter. “It’s your diploma. This says you’re a high school graduate.” Benjamin stared at it. “Tomorrow we’ll go down to the college and register you for classes, if you want.” Benjamin continued staring at the embossed page as he nodded slowly.

David knew that diploma had come at a great deal of work and cost to Benjamin. Shortly after coming to live with them, Benjamin had started asking David about school. His mother had arranged to have him tested, and Benjamin had registered at about the tenth-grade level, which surprised them all, including the tester, who’d explained that most Amish kids only had the equivalent of an eighth-grade education. David and his mother had explored options and found a program that helped adults get their GEDs. But when they went to enroll him, they found a number of problems.

Benjamin’s birth had never been recorded, so he had no birth certificate or any other records. The registrar gave them a process to follow to acquire the information and proof needed for him to get one, but that involved information from Benjamin’s mother and father, who refused to acknowledge his existence, let alone speak to him. The minister also refused, and it had taken a visit from a sheriff’s deputy, who apparently applied a bit of pressure and intimidation, to get them to cooperate. In the end they had, but the process had driven an even deeper wedge between Benjamin and his family, one that David was convinced would never be overcome. But that didn’t stop Benjamin from hoping, hence him standing in the front yard, watching the community.

“I didn’t think I could do it,” Benjamin whispered, looking away from the cluster of small buildings.

“But I knew you could. I always said you were really smart. What you did takes most people almost two years,” David whispered. “And now you can go to college with me.”

“But I don’t know what I want to do,” Benjamin said.

“Most people don’t, and that’s okay. The important thing is that you’ll meet new people and see new things,” David responded. “We’ll figure it out together.” David had discovered that Benjamin excelled as a collaborative thinker. He rarely made decisions on his own, instead preferring to work with David, his mother, or both of them to arrive at decisions. “What do you think?” was one of his most common phrases. “Let’s go inside,” David prompted, and Benjamin nodded before turning toward the house.