Julio – The Growing Years

 by: Miguel Sanchez

© 2006-2008 by the author

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

I finally started calming down. “Alright Guillermo, that jerk is going to get the boy taken care of. If for any reason he doesn’t make it, you call me and I’ll be down there. Also, if there are any more problems, I want you to call.”

“Alright Miguel,” Guillermo said softly. “But as soon as I know how he’s doing, I’ll let you know.”

Chapter 21

I hung up the phone then started calming down. “What was that all about Daddy,” Angel asked as she came into the kitchen and sat down.

“It seems the boys found another street boy outside the gate and when Guillermo took him to the hospital, the administrator tried to give him a hard time about treating him.”

“I heard you telling someone off,” Angel said. “Is he going to be alright Dad?”

“Guillermo thinks so. He said he’d call me and let me know how he was doing after the doctor saw him.”

Angel got up and helped Ronnie finish fixing dinner and I filled Jay in on the orphanage. After dinner we were just sitting down for coffee when the phone rang. Ronnie had answered it then handed it to me saying, “It’s Guillermo Dad.”

“Hi Guillermo, how’s the boy doing?”

“He’s doing pretty good all things considered,” Guillermo said. “The doctor here said he wants to keep him over night for observation. I was brought back after they’d examined him and he is covered in bruises. There were no signs of sexual assault but they’re doing some blood work, just to be certain he is healthy. I found out his name is Miguel but he prefers to be called Mikey. He’s 11 years old and his mother is a local hooker. I contacted Danny Vasquez and he took a report. He assured me he would do everything he could to find the people who did this.”

“Did you have any more problems from the administrator?” I asked sipping my coffee?

“No Miguel, not even when Mikey was being admitted. I called the home and let the boys know how he was doing and Chico has said he wants to room with him as soon as he gets there. I got one of the retailers here to donate clothes and things for the children. I turned one of the rooms into a make shift clothes closet. One of the new social workers I hired is with the boys, so they are being looked after.”

I listened to his report, “That sounds good my friend. I knew we hired the right person for the job. Call me if there are any other problems.”

I hung the phone up then had eyes staring at me waiting for me to tell them how the newest resident was doing. I sipped my coffee for a minute and I could see them getting antsy. “The boy is going to be fine. He will be staying over night for observation.”

“What’s his name Dad?” Angel asked.

I swallowed my coffee then smiled. “His name is Miguel but he likes to be called Mikey. He’s 11 years old and Chico has already volunteered to room with him when he comes out of the hospital. Danny was called and he’s taken a report and will do all he can to find and punish those who did this.”

“Are you sure having a locked gate is such a good idea Dad?” Jay asked refilling our cups.

He had a point. If Mikey had been chased there, the people could have followed him to the compound. “I’ll call Guillermo and have him hire security so the kids coming there can get in.”

“You don’t want them in uniforms, do you Pop?” Marco asked.

“No, they will be dressed like the other workers but will be trained. I might have Danny look into finding a few people.”

“Sounds good Dad,” Ronnie said. “Hopefully word will get out that if people try to bother the kids there, they will go to jail.”

“Yeah,” Steven added. “And the kids will know they have a place they can come to and be safe off the streets.”

The next day Guillermo called and said Mikey was now at the home. He was sore but the doctors there gave Guillermo medication for the pain to help keep him comfortable. That night after dinner while having coffee, I broke our two loaves of bread and three large bowls. “What’s this for Dad?” Steven asked as I set the things on the coffee table.

“Years ago before the invention of stuffing mixes, we picked bread the day before and let get a little stale. Ronnie wanted to make totally homemade stuffing so we’re going to do some of the work.”

We sat, talked and picked the bread then watched a movie before retiring for the evening.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and I made arrangements for the boys to have a traditional American Thanksgiving. I had two large turkeys sent to the home along with all the fixings.

Ronnie was up early roasting the turkey then started making the pumpkin pies. I would never understand why he wouldn’t bake them the night before. Ronnie would just say they tasted better made fresh that day.

I got up and went into the kitchen just as the pies were going into the oven. I walked over and kissed his cheek. “Morning son, anything I can do to help?”

“You can take this out for me,” he said handing me the trashcan.

I took the garbage out to the big bin then fixed myself a cup of coffee. I took a couple of sips then helped Ronnie load the dishwasher and get that going. I fixed him a cup then had him sit down and take a break. Jay came in and kissed Ronnie then poured a cup of coffee. “Something smells good baby.”

“Yes and don’t even think of trying to sample things before dinner,” Ronnie said admonishing his lover.

Since the main meal was going to be around 2, Ronnie fixed a light breakfast of sliced fruit and toast with juice. Jay and Marco cleaned the breakfast dishes while Angel, Ronnie and I worked on the dressing. Ronnie diced the boiled giblets, added sausage and other spices and mixed everything together. He added chicken broth to make it moist then stuffed some into the turkey. The remainder of the stuffing was put into a baking dish to cook later.

We relaxed for about an hour then it was time to make the yams. Ronnie has precooked 6 large yams then peeled and sliced them into a baking dish. He coated them with brown sugar, added some cinnamon and water then put them into the oven to bake. For a vegetable, we decided on a fresh green bean casserole. That didn’t take as long to cook so it went on last.

Ronnie took the turkey out of the oven and made sure it and the stuffing was completely cooked. The turkey was carved, dressing, yams and veggies brought in then it was time to eat. I said a prayer and everyone took their turns telling us what they were thankful for then we started to eat.

Ronnie out did himself as everything was perfect. The meat was tasty and juicy. I watched four grown men argue over the drumsticks. Ronnie stood up and said, “Jay and I had them last time. I think Marco and Steven should get them this time. I can pick up some more drumsticks at the store and cook them for the next meal.”

We polished off almost everything just leaving left over turkey. We put the leftovers away then made quick work to clean up the kitchen. Angel made some fresh coffee then we went into the living room to let our meal digest.

We were sitting talking and the phone rang. I was taking call and hoped there wasn’t an emergency because my stomach was still on over full. I answered the phone then I heard a chipper voice on the other end say, “Hi Miguel, this is Chico. Thanks for the great food.”

“You’re quite welcome Chico. Did you just finish eating?”

“Yes we did Miguel,” Chico said in his bubbly voice. “We even have nice pie for later. Here’s Alex. Bye and thanks again.”

I spoke with each boy for about five minutes then Guillermo came on. “Hi Miguel, I too want to extend my thanks for this wonderful meal. Mikey ate very well and is resting now. He’s still sore and I am seeing improvement. He ate well. Oh hang on; he wants to talk to you.”

“Hello,” a little voice said.

“Hi there, is this Mikey?” I said back.

“Yes,” Mikey said. “Did you send us the food?”

“Yes Mikey, I sent you the food. Did you like it?”

“Yes Sir,” Mikey said softly. “We’re going to have pie for desert too.”

“I bet you’ll like it. Tell Guillermo I said you can have an extra piece for being such a good boy.”

I heard Mikey pass on my message. He then said, “Thank you for everything. Here is Guillermo. Bye.”

“Hi Miguel,” I heard Guillermo say along with giggling boys in the background. “He is the sweetest child. The doctor called and his blood work came back clean. I hope you get a chance to meet him soon. Thanks for everything.”

“I’m pleased he is doing well. I plan on being down there right after the first of the year. The renovations on my Dad’s house should be done. I can’t wait to meet my little name sake. Call me anytime.”

Everyone napped for a few hours then Ronnie broke out the pumpkin pie. He adorned it with fresh whipped cream and I could feel my waist line growing with all this fine food.

Friday I had to make rounds at the hospital. The office was closed for the long Thanksgiving holiday but since my children were grown, I remained on call for emergencies. On my way out I was paged to the ER where a child over indulged on pumpkin pie. After a brief consultation with the resident, there wasn’t much we could do except to let this run its course.

When I got home, I got the mail and there was a big envelope from Chico Ramirez addressed to Angel. I went inside and found the kids watching television. I walked over to Angel and said, “This is for you. It’s from the designer in Receife.”

I went and sat in my recliner to look at the rest of the mail when Angel let out a scream. “Daddy look, Chico sent me some drawings. There is also a letter from Pablo and a contractor.”

Angel came over and set everything in my lap. I read the letter from Pablo first. It said, “Dear Angel and Miguel, I’ve carefully looked at several contractors and chose the one who did the work on the children’s wing of the hospital. He does quality work at a fair price. I think you will be pleased with his work. He is looking to break ground before Christmas.  Take care, Pablo.”

I read the letter from the contractor and he thanked us for allowing him to put up another building for us. He was looking at a two year time frame at a cost of just over 2 million dollars. “Well dear, your other project is about to take off. How do you feel?”

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Angel said. “I hope wanting it to be a 5 star hotel won’t be too much.”

Ronnie looked up and said, “If you give them a quality product at a reasonable price, people will buy it.”

“Business 101 son,” I asked looking at him.

“No Dad,” Ronnie replied. “Menu planning for a gourmet restaurant. If you give them good quality food at a decent price, they’ll buy it and come back.”

A couple of weeks later, Marco headed to Brazil so he could spend the holidays with Paulo. I had done some early shopping and bought the boys some special Christmas presents and Marco was going to play Santa.

Angel and I were getting things ready for Christmas while Ronnie planned a menu and was busy with his studies. The day after Jay and Steven returned home from college, we decorated the house.

We went out that morning and the air was crisp and cold. We went to several tree lots before we found the tree we wanted. After bringing it home, Jay put the stand on it then he and Steven set it in place. It took a couple of hours to get the tree and the house decorated and while this was going on, Ronnie was in the kitchen doing dinner. As soon as we finished the decorating, Ronnie came in with steaming mugs of hot chocolate while Steven and Jay put the ornament boxes back into the attic.

That night we had a wonderful prime rib of beef for dinner. Ronnie’s meals just seem to get better and better and we all pushed ourselves away from the table quite stuffed. After dinner we helped clean the kitchen then settled down to watch some holiday movies.

I managed to get my shopping for the kids done while I bought gifts for the boys in Brazil. As the kids grew, finding something for them was getting difficult and this year was no different. I decided to get them all gift certificates and take them on a nice vacation.

Jay was trying to sneak out one morning when Steven asked, “Where you off to so early.”

Jay pushed his little brother in his room and said, “Man, I want to go shopping for Ronnie. Do you want the whole house to know I’m going out?”

“Not if you take me with you.” Steven said with an evil grin.

Both boys took off and did their shopping for their respective partners. I had the day off so I took advantage to sleep in. I got up and went into the kitchen to find it empty. Ronnie had a note under my coffee cup. “Dad, gone shopping with Angel, be back soon.”

I was able to read the paper and have my coffee in peace and quiet. I was about to start on my third cup when the phone rang. “Hello.”

“Hi Miguel, Paul here, I’m glad I caught you home. I have to do an emergency appendectomy. Can you make rounds? There are four and they are all ready to go home.”

“Sure Paul,” I said. “Do you have any patients to be seen at the office?”

“Nope and I will just have this guy to follow but he should be well by Christmas. Who do you want to take call Christmas?”

“We just brought a single guy on board, let him have it,” I said sipping my coffee. “I don’t foresee anything happening but just in case, I’ll back him up. I know you’ll be busy with the grandkids so you just enjoy the holiday. I’ll be there in about an hour or so.”

“Thanks Miguel. If I don’t see you, have a Merry Christmas.”

I flipped the paper over that Ronnie wrote on and proceeded to write my own. “Kids, I had to go to the hospital. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Call me if you need me.”

I went into the hospital and saw Paul’s patients. It took several hours to see the patients and get their discharge orders written. It was after 2 by the time I got home and I was surprised the house was still quiet. I went into the kitchen to see if my note was there and now there was a new one from all the kids. “Dad, we went out. Dinner is in the fridge. Just heat it in the microwave. We’ll be home early.”

I had a rare evening to myself. I went and found a couple of movies I’ve wanted to see for some time, fixed myself a Bailey’s on the rocks and put the first one in. After the first one ended, I was hungry so I heated the dinner Ronnie made me. I had some left over prime rib and he made me a baked sweet potato. Even warmed up, Ronnie's meals were as good as they were the first time around.

I washed up my dishes and put in the other movie. I was really wrapped up in it and all too soon it was over. The clock on the VCR said it was 8:30 and I was ready for my kids to be home. I flipped through the channels and found a show I was somewhat interested in.

I don’t know what time I did it but I dozed off. I was vibrated awake a little as the garage door opened. I heard the door start to close then I heard the voices of the kids as they came in chattering away. “Hi Daddy,” Angel said as she went into the bedroom.

“What did you do tonight Dad?” Jay asked as he came and sat down on the sofa.

“I had a nice evening. I watched a couple of movies and just relaxed. Did you have a good time?”

“Yes we did,” Jay replied. “We had dinner together and did some shopping.”

I wasn’t about to ask questions because that would be useless. I just hoped they didn’t get me something extravagant. Ronnie came into the living room with a coffee and we sat and talked until time for bed.

Christmas Day was a special day for us but since the kids were older I wasn’t being awakened at the crack of dawn. I got up and did my morning routine then went out to start the day. As soon as I opened the bedroom door Ronnie's cooking greeted me. I made my way into the kitchen and was greeted by all four of my children. “Merry Christmas Dad,” Steven said as he hugged me.

“Merry Christmas kids,” I replied as I gave each of them hugs and kisses.

Angel set a cup of coffee in front of me and I had my first sip when the phone rang. I remembered I was backing up on call and hoped he wasn’t in trouble. “Hello, Dr. Sanchez here.”

“Merry Christmas Miguel, it’s Chico,” a little voice said. “Thank you for the presents.”

“You’re welcome Chico,” I replied. “What did you get?”

I was waiting for an answer when another voice came on. “Merry Christmas Miguel, it’s Mikey. Thanks for the neat bike.”

I don’t remember sending the bikes but I have an idea who did. “You’re welcome Mikey,” I said looking at my kids as they fixed breakfast.

I talked with the other boys then Guillermo came on. “Merry Christmas Miguel and thanks so much for the gifts. You didn’t need to get me anything. I have the best gift ever just being able to work here.”

“You deserve something too my friend. Next year I’ll make sure the kids have some money so they can get their friends a few gifts.”

I could hear the boys playing in the background. Guillermo said, “I better go Miguel. I promised the boys they could ride their bikes, Merry Christmas.”

I hung up the phone then said, “Thank you guys for sending the bikes. The boys really love them.”

“We didn’t send them Dad,” Angel said as she set my plate in front of me. “We all just gave Marco some money. He bought them and had them delivered.”

“Thanks for what you did do. You’ve made four boys, very happy.”

We sat and ate breakfast then went into the living room to open our gifts. The kids passed out the gifts amongst themselves first. Steven got Angel a gold bracelet with a heart on it. He also got her some clothes she’d had her eye on for some time. Angel got Steven a lovely gent’s diamond ring and some nice casual clothes. There was also a small box and Angel saved that for last. “What’s this love?”

Steven opened it and inside was a piece of paper. He carefully opened it and there was just 1 sentence written on it. Steven smiled then read it out loud. “I’m spending the next semester with you.”

Now this was going to be interesting. Angel was now going to be in Blacksburg thus meaning Ronnie would be here alone when I went to Brazil. I would sit and talk with him about this in a couple of days. Ronnie and Jay exchanged gifts and they got each other mostly clothes.

Once that was done, I handed them each their envelopes. They opened them and thanked me then Jay asked, “What’s this paper Dad?”

Steven pulled out his piece then opened it. “This entitles the bearer to a cruise this summer.”

“You’re sending us on another cruise Dad?” Angel asked surprised.

“I don’t think so,” Ronnie said reading his note.

“I didn’t know what to get you all this year. As you get older, it gets harder for me to know what it is you want. I thought this summer I’d take you all on a family cruise.”

“Great Dad,” Jay said. “Maybe we can get you a boyfriend.”

“Let’s not go there son,” I said turning a few shades of red. “I have enough in my life right now.”

“You deserve to be happy too Dad,” Angel said as she came over and kissed me on the cheek.

I hugged all the kids then got myself a cup of coffee. Ronnie fixed a great Christmas dinner. He baked a Smithfield ham, sweet potatoes, fresh corn and home made biscuits. We had a wonderful dinner then afterwards, relaxed just spending some much deserved quiet time together.

As it got closer to the New Year, I was torn on what I wanted to do with the family. I had debated on going to Receife but the kids would only get s spend a few days there before having to come back to the states for school.

On the 30^th plans got made for us. I had just come in from the hospital when I saw Marco in the living room with the others. “Hi Pop, Merry Christmas.”

I walked over and gave him a hug. “Merry Christmas Son, when did you get in?”

Marco returned my hug and kissed me on the cheek. “I got in a couple of hours ago. The cab took forever to get here.”

With Marco here now, I had my problem solved as to Ronnie not being alone in the house and bored out of his mind. “Ronnie, if I know you, you’re probably planning on something wonderful for New Years Day dinner. I’m going to take everyone out so you can have a break.”

“Dad, you know I don’t mind cooking. That’s why I want to be a chef. I know there isn’t any talking you out of this, so thanks for taking us out.”

New Years Eve came and I had a surprise for everyone. I got some nice Maine Lobsters on sale and brought them home for dinner instead of going out. I didn’t think Ronnie would mind cooking and he didn’t. Cooking lobster isn’t all that hard. Just bring water to a boil and in the go. Ronnie helped me get the potatoes baking and I made some frozen veggies to make a nice dinner.

Ronnie gave us a lesson on how to properly get the meat out of the lobster. Personally I don’t like working for my food but the way Ronnie showed us, it was easy. After you take the claws off, you detach the tail from the body. You take a sharp knife and split the tail open then use your fingers to finish opening it and there is a great piece of meat. The claws are easy too but you need a nut cracker. Break the thumb joint off then crack the shell. You’ll be able to get the meat out in one piece.

After we got the meat out, dinner was fabulous. After dinner, we watched the ball fall and had a quiet champagne toast. We watched a little more of the celebration on television, then we called it a day.

To be continued...

Posted: 06/27/08