“What the fuck am I supposed to do? Nobody gives a shit about me. And tell me how I’m supposed to live, huh?” He folded his arms across his skinny chest and continued to glare at Tash.
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen,” he spat out. “Why?”
Tash turned to Connor. “Can we get him in a home and back in school?”
“Shit, man. I can’t go back to school. It’s been more than a year since I left home.”
There was a knock at the door, and Johnny fell silent but continued shooting daggers at Tash, his animosity a visible presence in the room.
“Come in,” Drew called out.
The door opened, and Steve North came in with an armful of files. “Oh, I’m sorry, Dr. Drew. I thought you were by yourself. These are the files for tomorrow’s patients.”
Drew smiled at the young man with affection. “Thanks.”
He smiled back. “No problem.” He looked around, obviously curious, Tash surmised, but too polite to ask any questions. “Well, I’ll be going.”
Drew held up his hand. “Wait a minute. You know, Connor, Steve lives with a foster family. Maybe he can talk to Johnny and tell him how the experience has been.” He looked over at Johnny, who was gazing at Steve with a mixture of mistrust and a little bit of envy.
“What do you think, Johnny? Steve had it really rough the last few years until my partner, Ash, and the rest of us got him the help he needed, right, Steve?”
The young man nodded vigorously, his long brown bangs flopping over his eyes. “Yeah, honest. They were all amazing. I’m doing really well in school, and I’ll be going to college next year.” He straightened up, tall and proud. “I’m going to study to be a medical technician so I can help the doctors here at the clinic.”
Tash watched the myriad of expressions play out across Johnny’s face—disbelief, wonder, and a dawning realization that maybe he too could break out of the cycle of despair. “Steve,” Tash said to the young man, “why don’t you take Johnny here around with you and show him what he’ll be working on with you. He’s going to do some community service work here for the next six months or so.”
“Sure.” Steve beckoned to Johnny, who gave them a cautious smile—no more than a flicker across his lips, but Tash saw it and inwardly cheered. “Come with me; I’ll show you the computer system and the files.”
Without a backward look, Johnny followed Steve out of the door and down the hallway. Tash could hear Steve chattering to him, and Johnny answered back, at first hesitant, then with increasing confidence.
“Steve will have him sold on this place by the end of the day.” Drew leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile on his face. “He’s our number-one champion.”
“He’s a great young man,” Tash agreed. “You did a great job helping him.”
Drew leaned forward on his desk, his face bright with excitement. “You and this mentoring program are going to help so many like him; I can’t even begin to imagine. It’s a great thing you’re doing. So many lives are going to be changed by this.” He glanced over his shoulder to look out the window. “Even the rain cooperated and has stopped.”
What Drew didn’t know was how badly Tash needed this program. It was a way to give back, pay it forward for those who’d been left behind. In the end, he’d be helped as much by the kids as he’d be helping them.
Chapter Three
A bit apprehensive, Brandon waited for Gage on the corner of Van Brunt Street in Red Hook. He was familiar with the area, having been to the Ikea to buy furniture for his apartment and Fairway to buy food. It had seen a resurgence in the past few years with young people, driven out of Manhattan and other areas of Brooklyn like Williamsburg by high rents, coming to live and work in Red Hook. Still, the overall fog of poverty hung over this corner of the city like a dark shroud.
The nerves had nothing to do with the area; he’d lived on the streets long enough to remember how to take care of himself in most situations. It was putting himself in a new environment, meeting new people. Exposing himself. The potential for discovery was enormous.
Yet he couldn’t refuse Gage. In the back of Brandon’s mind he wondered if he and his brothers had had a place like this when they were growing up, perhaps his family would be intact today.
He drew his resolve around him like a shield of armor and promised to do for these kids what society had failed to do for him.
Protect and save them.
Darkness spread rapidly, and the streetlights glowed on, beaming out mellow golden pools of light down the block. Brandon idly watched a man exit the deli across the street, hefting a bag. He stood under the streetlight, and like a beacon, it shone on his waving brown hair and glinted off his tortoiseshell glasses. He must be close to forty, Brandon mused, taking in the man’s long legs, pausing at his handsome face. Unaccustomed heat flooded through him.
It had been months since Brandon had thought about sex or had a physical reaction to any man. Even when he’d been with Zach, his emotions remained muted, the gropings and mutual handjobs between them merely a means to an end. The times he’d been with Zach had always left him unsettled, edgy, and a bit depressed, as if some glorious secret, the one everyone became all dreamy-eyed about when they spoke of their lovers, remained tantalizingly out of his reach. Brandon yearned for an intimacy he knew was out there yet had never experienced.
Averting his gaze so the man wouldn’t think he was staring, Brandon nevertheless tracked his progress as he crossed the street and entered the clinic. Perhaps he’d be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of him when the meeting was over. He was extremely good-looking.
“I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”
