Fifteen Years (14 page)

Josiah looked at the man and slowly shook his head. “I don’t remember. I guess it’s been too long.”

Joanne’s giggle made Josiah feel silly. It was apparent that he should have known the man. Instead of either of them revealing the mystery, Joanne walked toward the young man and pointed at Josiah.

“Do you remember him?” she asked.

Like Josiah, the young man shook his head. His eyes darted to the floor, and he suddenly appeared a lot less threatening than when he first approached.

The proverbial timer went off, and since neither man was able to answer the question, Thomas let them off the hook.

“JT, this is Sam. You remember Sam … Sammy, don’t you?”

Stunned, Josiah stared. The last time he saw the man, he must
have been four or five years old. Now the two of them were virtually the same height. “Sammy? My brother Sammy?”

“One and the same,” Joanne sang. “Sam, this is JT.” She spoke slowly like he was hard of hearing. “You haven’t seen him since you were little, but this is your big brother.”

Grinning, Sammy said, “Hey, my big brudda,” and then flung himself at Josiah without further warning. Josiah laughed as he embraced him.

“We found out he’s autistic.” Thomas whispered the words in Josiah’s ear as he helped peel Sammy away.

The inside lights flickered, and they all knew that it was a sign that the security was ready to lock up the church. Together, they walked out. Joanne had her arm secure around Josiah’s back, and Thomas held on to Sammy’s arm.

“You’re coming to the house for dinner, right?” Thomas’s voice asked a question, but his eyes made a statement.

“Oh definitely,” Joanne said.

“I’d love to,” Josiah replied. “I haven’t had cooking like Ma’s since I left.”

When they made it to Josiah’s car, Thomas let out a long whistle. “Either you robbed a bank or God’s been good to you.”

“He’s been very good,” Josiah confirmed with a laugh.

“You certainly have to catch us up on what you’ve been up to,” Joanne said as she walked around the car. “I’m scared to even touch this thing. Step back, Sam.” She added the warning when he got too close for comfort.

“He’s okay, Mama,” Josiah said.

“We’re in the Cadillac over there.” Thomas pointed at one of the few cars still parked in the distance. “Follow us to the house. I’m sure you won’t have any problems keeping up. Not in that rocket.”

Josiah laughed out loud as he climbed into his Audi and secured himself in the seatbelt. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this happy. This trip to Atlanta was just what the doctor ordered, and everything was turning out even better than he expected. He’d found both his foster parents—alive and well, and he had reconnected with one of the foster brothers who’d also shared their home. Now he was on his way to have Sunday dinner with his family.

His family.

Josiah felt like a new man as he merged his car onto Candler Road behind the grey Cadillac that his father drove. He turned on his radio, found 102.5 on the dial, and cranked up the music as loud as he could stand it. For the first time in fifteen years, all was right with the world. There was nothing that could happen from this point on that he couldn’t handle.

Or so it seemed.

“SO IS THIS where you all moved to right after I was shipped off to Chicago?” Josiah spoke to Thomas and, at the same time, watched Joanne rush up the steps of the front porch of the home.

A black-and-tan Yorkshire terrier darted out of the house as soon as Joanne opened the front door. The dog was in the process of making a beeline for Thomas, but it stopped in its tracks when it saw the stranger standing beside him. Immediately the small dog began yelping fiercely while jumping up and down and spinning in circles.

“Should I be afraid?” Josiah whispered out the side of his mouth.

“I’m sure he’d be delighted if you at least pretended you were, but believe me when I tell you that there’s no need. Blaze is not what most would call a watch dog. He’ll let you know when somebody is approaching, but that’s about it.” Thomas laughed. “If
anything actually went down and you needed his help, not only would you have to find him, but you’d probably have to wait until he stopped trembling before asking him to do anything on your behalf.”

Josiah watched the dog growl, snarl, and then bark some more. “Well, he’s having a fit right now.”

“Call his name and pat your knee, and you’ll become his best friend. He loves to be held, and that’s all it takes to win him over.”

Josiah laughed at Thomas, but when he saw the serious look on his father’s face, he put it to the test. Squatting near the ground, he patted his knee, whistled, and then said, “Come here, Blaze. Come here, boy.”

Sure enough, the dog ceased his barking and ran full force toward Josiah, wagging his tail the entire way. Josiah squirmed when the dog came to a stop between his knees. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this close to a dog. Animals had never been his cup of tea. They came with germs and reeked of whatever stench it was that animals reeked of. Blaze was different though. He didn’t smell like other animals. His hair smelled like something straight out of Bath & Body Works. Josiah patted the dog’s head, but passed on holding him. Blaze was left to run around Josiah’s legs until he finally became bored with it and wandered off into the distance, sniffing around the hedges for a good spot to take a bathroom break.

Josiah gestured toward the house and rephrased his earlier question. “You all have lived here awhile, huh?”

The house wasn’t grand, but it was a castle compared to the wood frame domicile they all lived in when he was in their custodial care. Thomas stood beside Josiah with one arm draped around his shoulder. This was the kind of love for which Josiah’s heart had ached for years. He responded by placing an arm around Thomas’s back.

“Oh no.” Thomas smiled at the house as though it was a person who he was proud of. “We just moved here a year ago, after I stopped working. When I retired from corporate America last year, your mother also discontinued keeping the foster kids.”

Your mother.
Josiah liked the way they’d so easily erased all of the fifteen years that had kept them separated. He blinked back the onset of unexpected tears.

“Joanne always wanted a split-level home, but she didn’t feel comfortable having one with small children in the house. She always saw it as a hazard. So after all those years of dedicating our lives to the ministry of giving love and security to wounded children, we finally reached a point where we felt like God was releasing us to spend our twilight years as most retired couples do.”

“Ministry?” Josiah looked at Thomas. “You see your foster care as ministry?”

“Most definitely. God called us to plant positive seeds in your life and in all the lives of those who were sent to us. We brought as many of you to Christ as we could, and when your time with us was up, we always kept a prayer on our lips for you that God would keep you on the straight and narrow. And if you strayed, our prayer was that the Lord didn’t allow you to stray so far away that you couldn’t find your way back.” Thomas loosed his grip on Josiah and turned to face him. “Looks like you’ve done well for yourself, son. I think the prayers worked.”

He didn’t know the half of it. Josiah thought about the mistakes he had made in his life and how God never forsook him. A way of escape was always provided, and now he knew why. Even when he wasn’t praying for himself, prayers were being sent up.

“I think Sam is intrigued by your car.” Thomas’s eyes darted around Josiah toward the Audi that had been parked under a tree for shade.

Josiah turned and saw Sammy walking around his car again. He wore shoes, but walked on his toes, smiling the whole time. “I’ve heard of autism,” Josiah admitted, “but I don’t know a whole lot about it.”

“When you all were little, you remember him being delayed, right?”

Josiah nodded. He recalled having to defend Sammy around the time he turned three. That’s when neighborhood kids began picking on him and calling him names like stupid and retarded because instead of speaking, all Sammy did was make gurgling noises like he was still an infant. Back then, Josiah’s main self-appointed assignment in the Smith household seemed to be to serve as the defender of the tribe of children who found refuge there.

“Of course you remember,” Thomas said with a chuckle. “You got in a fight or two because of it.”

Josiah remembered the fights all too well. Those were the good old days when fights among rivals were fair. The only weapons used were hands … and sometimes feet. The winner was the one who was the strongest and/or fastest. Pure and simple.

“Well, after he started school and still didn’t talk like the other kids, the state finally had him tested. Of course, they only did that after the school board pressed them. But that’s when we learned that his developmental delay is due to autism.”

“How old is he now? Nineteen?” Josiah guessed aloud.

“Just turned twenty a few weeks ago.”

“Does he talk much now?” Josiah just realized that he’d only heard his brother speak once, and that was when he hugged him earlier at church.

“Yes, he speaks,” Thomas said. He smiled in Sammy’s direction. “He struggles to get his words out sometimes, and that frustrates him and makes it even worse. He’s getting some speech
lessons now, and we’ve all been working with him, trying to get him to be a little more patient with himself. When he gets frustrated, he stutters really badly. He has a hard time sitting or standing still too, but he’s doing much better than he used to.” Thomas cupped his hands around his mouth and raised his voice. “Sam … let’s go inside, son. Your mama will be ready for us to eat in just a little bit.”

It was all the coaxing that Sammy needed. He abandoned the Audi and jogged toward the house. When he neared the place where the two men stood, Sammy grinned at Josiah and waved.

“Hey, big brudda!”

Tears glossed Josiah’s eyes. “Hey, Sammy.” He waved back. “Save me some food, man.”

Sammy laughed like it was the best joke he’d heard in a while. Then he charged up the steps and disappeared behind the closed door.

Thomas must have seen Josiah’s emerging emotions because he placed his hand on his shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. Then he walked in front of Josiah and pulled him in for a long, firm hug. “It’s so good to have you home, JT,” he said in Josiah’s ear.

One tear filtered from Josiah’s right eye. “It’s good to be home, Dad.”

When Thomas released him, there was water in his eyes too, but he managed to keep it from discharging. “Let’s go eat. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. The only reason I haven’t nailed you with a lot of questions is because I know that Joanne wants to hear the answers too.” He turned toward the house and started walking. “No sense in having you repeat the answers, right?”

Josiah followed Thomas up the steps, and Blaze was right on his heels. He could smell the home cooking before they opened the door. Once inside, Blaze darted up a flight of nearby stairs.”

“He lives on the top floor,” Thomas joked.

Josiah nodded like he understood, and then paused to absorb the decor. Gone were the toy boxes, dark carpet, and sofa covers that used to accent the house they lived in when he was a child. The floors of the new home were covered with cream colored carpet, and the living room set was cream with peach colored stripes. The stripes in the couch and sofa were brought to life by the peach walls. The house was bright and contemporary.

“Come look at this,” Thomas said, pulling Josiah’s attention to a shelf in the corner.

The sounds of glasses clinking together in the kitchen could be heard as Josiah obeyed.

“Remember these?” Thomas held up two four-by-six frames.

Josiah got goose bumps when he saw the photos. He had forgotten all about them, but immediately recalled the days that they were taken. One was a family shot. It was taken a day or two after Sammy had been added to the clan. He was only a few months old, and Joanne held him in her arms. Josiah recognized the faces of some of the six children gathered around Joanne and Thomas, but the only names he remembered were Sammy and Patrice. The second picture was one that he didn’t know Thomas was taking until the camera flashed that day. His father had sneaked up on them on a day that Josiah and Patrice were playing on the computer in Thomas’s office.

“You used to love your computer,” Josiah heard Joanne say. He hadn’t even seen her join them, but when he looked up, she was standing by her husband’s side. “Every day, you would come home from school and beg to get on that computer,” she continued with a laugh. “I told your daddy that we were gonna get rid of that thing. I thought you were catching some kind of computer demon or something.”

Josiah smiled. He’d fill them in later on just how significant
computers had become in his life. “Where’s Peaches these days?” he asked, focusing in on her image on the photo. She was typing on the computer, and he was hanging over her shoulder watching. “Do you all ever see her?”

Joanne laughed and Thomas’s wide beam was just a step away from joining her. Josiah wondered what was so funny.