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 lifted his chin up and looked him in the eyes. “You won’t ever hear those words from her again. You’re not going back to her. Now, you just relax while Mrs. Miller and I talk with your mother. I’ll tell you now, she is going to be arrested and charged for what she did to you.”

Matt’s expression didn’t change when I told him that. “Good, she deserves it.”

Chapter 40

I ruffled his hair then Barbara and I went to talk with his mother. As we were heading to the conference room, I saw two uniformed police officers getting off the elevator. I want up to them and introduced Barbara and me. “We’re going in to talk with her. Please stay out for now. I want to know why she did what she did and if you’re there, she might not talk. There are two security officers in there so we will be alright.”

The officers agreed to stay out then Barbara and I went into the conference room. I had seen her many moods so I was wondering which mood she’d be in. “Sorry to keep you waiting Ms. Davis.”

Barbara and I sat down then I waited for Ms. Davis to sound off and I didn’t have to wait long. “Well Doctor Know-it-all, what did that perverted child of mine tell you?”

I went from calm to pissed off in 2 seconds flat. “What makes you think your son is perverted?”

She rolled her eyes then slammed her hand on the table. “Any person who touches that nasty thing is perverted. It’s filthy and disgusting.”

I was about to score one for the home team. “Excuse me but you did have a child. I’m a Doctor and I know how children are conceived.”

She scowled at me. “I’d never let something like that touch me. I had him in a totally sterile environment.”

So much for that idea and now I knew why there was no father around. “So why did you hurt him? He’s your child.”

This woman was really beginning to scare me. “He’s perverted that’s why. For several years now he’s been touching that thing and it’s sickening. I tried telling him it’s dirty and not to be touching it but did he ever listen to me? No he didn’t so it was time to teach him Momma knows best. He hated getting cleaned out but he got used to it so I fixed that too.”

Every once in a while I would look over at Barbara to see how she was taking this in. This time when I looked at her, she looked like she wanted to punch Ms. Davis into the middle of next week. “How did you fix that?”

She gave me a sick grin. “That was easy. I filled him up so full he thought he’d bust and I made him hold it until I was good and ready to let him use the toilet.”

This woman was a real piece of work. “What was it he was allergic to that constipated him?”

She laughed at that. “He’s not allergic to a thing. He just believes he is, but he’s not. I just got prescriptions for Imodium. It was easy to ground it up into a fine powder and mix it with water. It would dissolve and I’d inject it into the fruit or add it to his drinking water.”

I was confused.  Imodium was a prescription medicine.  “How did you keep getting enough of a prescription drug to keep him constipated that long.  No doctor would prescribe that much for a patient without doing a thorough work up.”

“For a doctor you really are stupid”, she sneered.  But then you are a man so I shouldn’t be that surprised.”

I guess she could tell by the confused look on my face that I was still in the dark about how she could manage to get that much Imodium.

“You really have no idea, do you?” She shot back in a condescending tone.  “You, Mr. high and mighty know it all pediatrician, have obviously never heard of a ‘Doc in a box’have you? It’s all of those quick care centers that have opened in the Tidewater area.  There must be 15 of them.  All I had to do was wait till the little faggot left for school then head over to one.  They’ll believe anything you tell them.  I just had to make sure that I moaned appropriately, held my abdomen and ran to the bathroom a few times before they called me back.  Within an hour I was walking out with a prescription for 30 tablets.  Most of them even gave me at least one refill.  All they were interested was getting my money and getting me out the door.

“It didn’t take but about 4 or 5 pills a day and within a few days the little pervert was bound up tight again.  Then I’d get to make him all better again, just like mothers are supposed to do.

“You even treated him a few weeks ago and didn’t even catch on to what was going on so you can’t be that good of a doctor.”  With that she folded her arms across her chest and leaned back with a smirk on her face.   

I’d thought I’d seen everything, but this was something I’d never seen. “You told me how but there is still one big unanswered question and that’s why. Why did you do this to him? What did he ever do that was so terrible?”

She sneered at me when I asked that question. I didn’t know what she was going to say but I hoped I could resist the urge to lunge over the table and slap her silly. “He’s useless. He never does a thing to help around the house. He always wants something. He wants me to take him here or there but never does a thing to help out. Men are useless. They think they know everything but they really know nothing at all. When he gets older, I don’t think he’ll have the drive to make me a grandmother.”

Barbara and I just shook out heads. “Matt’s not quite 12 years old. Why are you worried about being a grandmother at this point in time? By the way, I’d like you to meet Barbara Miller. She’s the Assistant Director of Child Services.”

“What?” she screamed. “Social Services? Why is she here?”

Ms. Davis started to lunge out of her chair but security quickly restrained her. I opened the door to the conference room and motioned to the two police officers. As soon as she saw the men in blue, she quickly changed her tune. Barbara pulled out one of the forms she filled out and set it in front of Ms. Davis. “Your son is going into foster care Ms. Davis. What you’ve done to your son is something the likes I’ve never seen in all my years as a Social Worker. This form is just an acknowledgement that you’re aware of this. Also, does he have more clothes and personal items at home?”

Ms. Davis turned back into Mr. Hyde again. “I ain’t signing shit bitch. What ever he has at MY house stays there.”

She tried to stand again but this time the two police officers grabbed her and quickly had her in handcuffs. One of the officers sat her back in her seat then set her purse on the table. “Lady, you can do it one of two ways, the easy way or the hard way. It makes no difference to us. The easy way is you let us get the keys to the house and we get the boy’s belongings. The hard way is we get a locksmith to go out with us and he’ll make us a key. Either way, the boy WILL get his things.”

She tried to stand up again. “Well he can get his shit without me. Males ain’t worth the sperm it takes to make them.”

The police grabbed her arms and led her out the door. Barbara shook her head as we went back to Matt’s room. “Until we can get Matt’s clothes, I think Steven might have some old things he can wear for the time being. Since it’s summer time, he’ll probably be in shorts most of the time.”

We were about to go in then Barbara put her hand on my shoulder. “I’ll go through some of my Matt’s stuff and see if he has anything too.”

When we walked in, Matt sat up. “Did she go ballistic Doc?”

I sat down on his bed and looked at him. “Yeah a little. I thought I would understand why she did what she did but I didn’t. I’m sorry you had to endure what you went though son.”

Matt patted me on the shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault Dr. Sanchez. You found out what happened and got me better. I’m feeling whole lots better too. Do you think I can get out of here?”

I looked at Barbara because I’d always dealt with Social Services after the fact. “I don’t see why not Doctor. Since Matt wants to stay with you, I don’t see why he has to stay here any longer.”

Matt jumped into my arms then wrapped an arm around Barbara. “Yippee. Do you still have children at home Dr. Dad?”

I turned a little red at what Matt called me. “I have my son and daughter-in-law home right now. Jay and Ronnie are in Durham. Ronnie just opened a restaurant there and Jay is helping him. He will be a senior at Duke University next year.”

I sat Matt back on his bed then went to write his discharge orders. Barbara stood beside me while I was doing this. “I’ll notify you when the police have the key to Matt’s house so he can get his things. I’ll need him to show me where his Aunt and Uncle’s address and phone number is.”

I handed her one of my cards and wrote my home number on the back. “Here you go. That’s my private home number. The police will probably be at his house later this afternoon or tomorrow morning.”

I finished up my paperwork and went to see if Matt was ready to go. I went into his room and the nurse had his IV out and he was dressed. “Can we go home now?”

Before I could answer the door opened and a nurse came in pushing a wheelchair. “Yeah, we can go home now son. Your chariot has arrived.”

I was about to tell them I’d be right back so I could get the Blazer when I heard my name paged over the loud speaker. I answered my page and it was the police telling me they were at Matt’s house. The officer told me they’d gotten a court order for a locksmith to come out and open the house. I told him I was just leaving the hospital and I would be there in about 30 minutes or so with Matt. Barbara was standing beside Matt when I came back. “The police called and they’re at Matt’s house now. They got a court order and a locksmith opened the house.”

I got the Blazer and picked Matt up then Barbara followed us to his house. We pulled up and met two officers standing there. Matt was looking a little apprehensive getting out of the truck so I patted him on the shoulder. “Are you alright son?

He nodded his head then got out. “Yeah, Dr. Dad I’m OK, I just have to remember she’s not here.”

We went inside and got Matt’s things packed making sure he took everything that belonged to him. On the way out, he stopped and looked up his Aunt and Uncle’s address and phone number and gave that to Barbara. When we got home, Angel was just getting back from the store. “Daddy, is this the boy you were talking about?”

Matt ran over to my side and held on for dear life. “Relax son, this is my daughter Angel. Yes Angel, this is Matt.”

Angel fussed over him like a mother hen. “Come on dear, let him breathe.”

Matt got his things while I helped carry in the groceries. Steven came to the door and helped Matt carry his things to the guest room. While Matt was in there, Steven even helped him put them away. Angel and I fixed some burgers for lunch and Matt put away two along with a large plate of fries.

Matt saw the swimming pool after he ate. “Hey Dr. Dad, can I go swimming?”

I was about to speak when Mommy Angel beat me to it. “Let your food digest for a little while then you can.”

Steven and I looked at each other then broke out laughing. Angel looked at us like we lost our minds. Steven finally said, “You look like a funny Dr. Dad.”

Even Matt started laughing at that point. Angel looked at me and turned a few shades of red. “Sorry Daddy.”

“Not to worry sweet heart,” I replied kissing her on the cheek. “You’ll make a fine mother some day.”

That afternoon we all played and frolicked in the pool. Even with the sun screen I’d put on Matt, he was starting to get a little red on his shoulders so I decided to call it for the afternoon. I decided to take the crew out for a nice dinner then have a quiet evening at home. I was sitting in my recliner watching TV and Steven and Angel were cuddling together on the love seat. Matt was on the sofa but he would look at me every once in a while. I had a hunch I knew what was wrong. “Matt, would you like to come over here?”

I held my arms out to him and sure enough, he made himself comfortable on my lap. “I hope you don’t think I’m a baby or something Dr. Dad.”

He had his head against my chest. I ran my fingers through his hair and held him and I could see he really enjoyed being held. “Not at all son, I still hold my children on my lap from time to time.”

We were watching a movie and it got over at 10. “Matt, I think you should get a shower to remove the chlorine.”

We got up and I showed him where the bathroom was then set out some clean towels for him. I want back to watch television then a few minutes later, I heard a voice. “Dr. Dad, can you come here.”

I went into the bathroom and there was Matt standing there with tears running down his face. “What’s wrong son?”

He just stood there frozen. I could see the soap rolling down his body. “I don’t know what I should do. I can’t get those damn words out of my head.”

I was watching him as he spoke to me. He was moving from looking at me to looking down at his crotch. I walked over to him and he fell into my arms. “It’s alright son. Washing your penis is something every boy and man has to do. It’s part of proper body hygiene.”

I held him as he cried. “Would you please wash it Dr. Dad?”

In this particular case, I thought it best because I didn’t think there was any way he’d wash it himself. “Alright son, I’ll wash it for you.”

This was going to be a one time thing, I hoped. I hoped this would give him the confidence to be able to do it himself next time. I got the washcloth and gently washed his tool. I slid the foreskin back and removed the smegma and built up urine then gave it a good rinsing. He watched me the whole time I was washing him. “Thanks, Dr. Dad. I know it’s OK to touch it but I just couldn’t get her words out of my head.”

Matt rinsed himself then cut the water off. He stepped out into a waiting fluffy towel. As he was drying himself, he started falling asleep so I finished the job for him. I helped him into his undies then led him down to his room. He quickly got into bed and he was almost asleep when his head hit the pillow. I leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. “Sleep well son, I’ll see you in the morning.”

I turned off the light then gently started closing the door. “Good night Dr. Dad. I love you.’

“I love you too son. I’ll see you in the morning. My room is 2 doors down if you should need anything.”

The next couple of days were hectic. I had rounds to make at the hospital and Matt at first didn’t want me to leave the house without him. While I was gone, Steven became his best friend. Matt was an active boy and Steven enjoyed the time being a big brother.

Friday night after dinner we were watching television when there was a knock on the door. Steven was closest so he answered it. “Dad, there are some people here to see you.”

I got up and went to see who was calling on us. I saw 3 people standing there and if Barbara hadn’t been standing there I wouldn’t have recognized Matt and Joey. “Come in, come in. Barbara, I can’t believe how much these boys have grown.”

Matt came over to see who was there. “Hi Mrs. Miller, are these your sons?”

Big Matt came in and put his hand out. “Hi Matt, I’m Matt too and this is my boyfriend Joey.”

Little Matt was in awe as he shook the two teens’ hands. “Wow, this is so neat. My mom would have a fit if she knew my friend and I fooled around.”

“Matt, why don’t you take Matt and Joey back to your room and you boys can talk.”

Steven and Angel went back to watching TV while Barbara and I went into kitchen to talk. “Did you contact Matt’s Aunt and Uncle?”

I set the coffee cups on the table then sat down. “I tried calling them but never got an answer. I wrote a letter to them and sent it certified that way I would know they had actually received it. My supervisor isn’t happy though.”

I dropped the spoon on the table. “She isn’t happy? What the hell isn’t she happy about?”

Barbara took a sip of her coffee before speaking. “She doesn’t like the fact his only family is out of state. She wants him to be fostered locally so the mother can get her child back.”

I almost sprayed Barbra with coffee. “She wants mother and child to be reunited? Has she lost her mind? Has she been formally charged?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know but I can find out. Matt will be 12 next month. The minimum sentence I’ve seen given for child abuse is 5 years which would make Matt 17. I’m sure she’ll have some time on supervised probation. Matt will be more than able to say weather or not he would want to go back to his mother.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “I think she’s acting prematurely. When I tell the DA all she did, I’m sure he will move to terminate her parental rights.”

We finished our coffee then Barbara had to get home as her boys had something to do on Saturday. I was surprised as Matt and Joey each gave me a hug. “Tell Jay and Ronnie thanks for everything. I’m so glad we met them and came back home.”

On Monday, I was finishing my rounds when I had a page. There was an ADA there to take a statement from me as to what Matt’s mother had done to him. The gentleman was all business. After I gave my statement I was curious. “What will you charge her with?”

He put his things away then looked at me. “I do have a long list we can charge her with but right now I’m more concerned that she never gets custody of this child again. We will probably be charging her with child endangerment and child abuse. They carry a maximum total of 15 years in prison.”

He closed his briefcase then stood. I shook his hand then walked towards the front door of the hospital. “I don’t care how much time she gets. Her son deserves a chance at a decent life with parents who love him. There are video tapes of her when he was in the hospital that will show she’s really an unfit parent. By the way, do you know the Director of Social Services is looking for them to be reunited?”

The ADA stopped when I told him that. “Doctor, I’d like to get them now if I could.”

I took him to the second floor and went into the CCTV room. I talked with the nurse and she removed them from the locked cabinet. I put the first tape in to confirm it was of Matt and then did the same with the second. A few minutes into the tape was when Ms. Davis was screaming at him because he’d rubbed his penis. The ADA was standing there with him mouth open. “My God Doctor, is this how she is?”

I nodded my head. “She’s a regular Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The funny thing is she knows exactly what she’s doing. She’ll be yelling and screaming one minute then sweet as honey the next.”

The ADA signed a receipt for the tapes then I headed home. “I’ll make sure they aren’t reunited Doctor. This is one individual who doesn’t deserve to have children.”

When I arrived home I thought I’d be mugged by Matt but the house was quiet. I looked in the garage and Steven and Angel’s car was gone. I went into the kitchen and there was a note from Steven. “Dad went to the store. Be back soon.”

I decided that since I a little time to myself I would grab a shower then fix self some lunch. I went into my room and set out some clean clothes and started the water running. I stepped in and got clean then shut the water off. I stuck my hand out and grabbed my towel and started drying off. I stepped out of the shower and started drying my hair and when I pulled the towel down I was shocked at who was standing there. I’d forgotten to close the bedroom door and there stood Matt. “Hi Dr. Dad.”

I’d never gotten mad when any of the boys had seen me naked so I wasn’t about to start now. I quickly dried off and slipped my underwear on. “Hi son, did you have fun with Steven and Angel?”

He shook his head no and I was suddenly very confused. “Who were you with then?”

Just then I heard a very familiar. “Hi Pop.”

I’d been so busy at the hospital I’d forgotten about Marco coming home. “Hey son, how are you?”

I pulled my shorts on and he came in giving me a big hug. “I’m doing fine. Dad’s out here waiting for you. Matt here filled me in on what’s been going on. Ronnie told me to tell you the restaurant is going great. He misses you but he’s so happy doing what he loves.”

I looked at Matt and he smiled at me. “It’s OK now Dr. Dad, I know it wasn’t my fault Mom did what she did.”

We went out into the living room and greeted Paulo. “How are you my friend?”

He greeted me with a big hug. “I see nothing has changed Miguel. You’re still helping children.”

I smiled as I felt Matt wrap his arms around me. “I could never refuse a child in need. Matt here has some family in New York and soon he’ll be with them having a life a child should have.”

Just then Steven and Angel came in. “Hi Daddy. Marco got here just as we were leaving. He and Matt hit it off so he went with him to the airport.”

Marco got Paulo settled then we relaxed and chatted catching up on things. Matt was soaking up being in a big family even though he was still a boy. As Paulo and I were talking, Matt and Marco were quietly rough housing on the sofa.

Paulo and I stopped talking and watched the playtime. Matt was trying to tickle Marco and Marco was playing along. Matt finally succeeded in finding a ticklish spot on him and then Marco turned the tables. It was like old times with the laughter. After a few minutes Marco stopped tickling Matt and the two of them sat together getting their breath back. I took everyone out to dinner then came home and relaxed before going to bed.

To be continued...

Posted: 07/04/08