The little boy sat in the oversized chair in front of the large oak desk. The seat was so large that his swinging legs didn’t touch the ground. He glanced carefully around the walls of the small office, his eyes first landing on a yellowing diploma in a frame. Uninterested with that, his eyes continued around the room to an oil painting of a serene lake with a single sailboat drifting in the center. In the picture the sky was lit up with a brilliant sunset of purples, reds and oranges.
“Too bad there’s no place like that around here,” he thought to himself.
Bored with the simply decorated walls he shifted his attention to the desk in front of him. On the edge nearest him there was a silver nameplate that read Mary Thompson Director, Orlando Children’s Home. On the left side of the desk sat an older computer. The keys were spotted with coffee stains and the monitor edges were littered with post-it notes. A plate with some left over sandwich crumbs a few folders and some loose papers sat on the right side of the desk.
Behind him, the boy heard the door click open and softly close. A moment later a short woman walked around the desk and sat down facing the little boy. Her face broke into a smile. “Good morning Tyler,” she said brightly.
“Good morning Ms. Thompson,” was the mumbled reply she received.
Unfazed by the unenthusiastic response, she continued, “Well I suppose you are anxious to find out why I’ve called you to my office.” She sat expectantly waiting for a reply. Tyler just stared down at his hands in his lap. When it became apparent he wasn’t going to answer she continued. “Tomorrow we have a new volunteer coming.”
‘Oh great!’ Tyler thought. ‘Another screw up who was forced to choose between helping out the poor little orphans, or cleaning up the highways.’
Ms. Thompson continued, “The new volunteer will be your buddy. He’ll be visiting two times a week so you guys will be able to hang out and get to know each other.”
“That’s great,” Tyler replied with a fake smile plastered on his face. For a moment a look of concern flashed across Ms. Thompson’s face, but as soon as it was there it was replaced with her usual friendly smile.
“He’ll be here tomorrow morning at 10:30, so I want you to make sure that you’re up and ready.” When yet again she received no reply she added, “Well, you’re free to go. Have a nice aftern…” but before she could finish her sentence she saw a flash of light brown hair as Tyler raced out of her office and she was left sitting alone.
“Are you serious? But I didn’t do anything wrong!” Justin stared at his manager Johnny with a look of confusion and amazement.
“You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Johnny replied solemnly.
The two sat quietly in Johnny’s office for a moment. Justin abruptly stood up out of his seat, the chair scraping the floor as he pushed it back, and began to pace back and forth in the room. He stopped and turned back to his manager and ran his hands through his curly golden hair and gave it a sharp tug.
“Why did the judge give me such a long punishment?” Justin asked.
“He decided to make an example out of you. He was worried that the press would think that you would get special treatment like a lot of the other famous people that go to trial. He wanted to show the media that your fame didn’t influence his decision.”
“But from what you’re saying my fame is exactly what influenced his judgment!” Justin replied. He walked over to his black leather chair and flopped down into it and crossed his arms across his chest.
“Yep, I’m sorry kiddo, but you’re just going to have to make the best of it. Besides, it’s only for two months.”
“Exactly! And they couldn’t have chosen a worse two months to do this! We’re right in the middle of recording the new album, and next week we start rehearsals for our summer tour.”
Johnny wearily rubbed his eyes and looked up at his young friend. “Don’t worry, you’ll get through it.”
Justin sat on his sofa while he stared at the TV as it blared the soundtrack of Night at the Roxbury. His feet were carelessly propped up on the coffee table that was littered with pizza boxes and coke cans from the night before. One of his hands was gripping a soda can and the other cradling the remote. Just as a club scene was coming on the screen the ringing phone interrupted.
“Damn it,” he cursed as he hit the pause button on the remote and reached for the cordless phone sitting next to him.
“Hello?”
“Hey J, you gonna come clubbing with us tonight?” he heard JC reply.
“Nah man, I think I’m going to just chill here tonight,” Justin replied.
“Are you feeling ok?” asked JC, his voice filled with concern.
Justin chuckled and replied, ”Yeah I’m fine, it’s just that I’ve got to go to that orphanage place in the morning, and I’m kind of tired.” He stretched his arms above his head and let out a loud yawn.
“That’s cool, but you’re missing out!”
“Don’t remind me!”
“Why isn’t J-Dawg coming with us tonight? Is he entertaining a lady friend?” Justin heard Joey ask JC in the background.
He heard JC laugh before telling Joey, “He wishes! It’s because he has that thing to do tomorrow.”
Justin could hear Joey chanting “Breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law!” After a couple seconds he heard Chris join in.
“Morons,” Justin mumbled as he rolled his eyes.
“Don’t I know it!” JC laughed. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night in the studio.”
“Yeah, have fun tonight.”
“Um, yeah, you too, later,” Justin heard the phone click and the silence was replaced with the dial tone. He turned off the phone and replaced it in the cradle. He picked up the remote and pushed play. Once again the movie began to blare through the speaker. Justin grabbed a pillow from the chair nearby and laid it against the arm of the couch. He laid down and stretched his long legs out. Soon his eyes began to flutter shut and he drifted to sleep as the movie credits began to roll across the screen.
Justin slammed his hand down on the steering wheel as he stared at the long line of traffic waiting at yet another tollbooth. ‘I’m gonna be late!’ he thought to himself as he glanced at the clock on the dashboard. The day was not starting off well.
First, since he fell asleep on the couch he didn’t have an alarm clock to wake him up. He didn’t get to take a shower because he woke up an hour later than he should have. To make matters worse, when he took his first bite of his Cap’n Crunch he found out his milk had expired and gone bad…really bad. He didn’t have enough time to fix anything else so he had to skip breakfast. When he pulled his favorite jeans out of the dryer he realized they had shrunk. His once perfect jeans, the ones that were the perfect shade of blue, worn just the right amount in just the right places, not too baggy, not to tight, and just the right length, had shrunk. Somehow the dryer had been set on hot and now they were ruined. When he looked at himself in the mirror he looked like a cowboy in tight high-water Wranglers. And now sitting in traffic was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff” came on the radio and Justin turned up the volume as far as the speakers would allow. The song fit his mood perfectly.
Several minutes later he finally pulled up the long driveway of the Children’s Home. Flower beds filled with pansies and petunias lined the driveway next to the expansive green lawn. Off to the left he could see a play ground where a little girl was sitting on the swings and a little boy soared down the slide.
He quickly parked his car in front of the large brick mansion and jogged up the steps and knocked gingerly on the white front door. Moments later the door flew open and Justin was greeted by a short woman in jeans and a white blouse. Her graying brown hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. She smiled and extended her hand and shook his firmly.
“Good morning, I’m Ms. Thompson the director here, but please call me Mary.”
Justin, now more reassured, returned her smile and introduced himself.
“Why don’t we go to my office so we can discuss everything and I’ll give you a tour before I introduce you to your buddy, Tyler.”
Justin followed her down the hallway into a small cluttered office and sat down in the seat that she offered him.
“Now then,” Mary spoke after she had settled herself behind the desk. “I am so glad you’ve decided to volunteer your time here.” She smiled warmly at Justin.
He shifted his eyes to his lap and his face flushed with embarrassment. “Um, you do know why I’m here don’t you?”
“I’m sure I know a lot more about you that you realize Mr. Timberlake,” she replied knowingly.
A quick look of astonishment crossed Justin’s face. “Really?” He thought about it for a moment and added, “I want you to know that I’m not a bad person.”
“Why, the thought never crossed my mind,” she replied. He examined her face and decided she was being sincere.
“I just don’t want you to think that I’m some spoiled little popstar.”
“Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Everyone I meet starts out at 100% in my book. I’m not here to judge you. As of now you have my trust, just don’t do anything to lose it and we’ll get along just fine.” She winked at Justin and patted his arm reassuringly. “Now, would you like me to give you the grand tour?” she asked as she pushed back her seat and stood up.
“Sure, sounds great,” he replied and followed her out of the room. She led him down the hall and first room they came to was the rec-room. There were several children playing in the room. They had an air hockey table, a couple of Ping-Pong tables, and several other games for the children to play.
“Justin, this is the rec room of course. The kids come here when they have free time or just need to let out some stress or anything like that. I want all the kids to feel at home. For a lot of them this is the only home they have ever known. Some of them came from troubled families and have never felt like anyone loved them. I want them to know that I love them and that people really do care.”
“That is really sweet of you,” Justin said as he listened intently to what Mary was saying. He watched two children who were barely tall enough to reach the top of the air hockey table playing a game. There was a small little girl sitting on the floor coloring a picture acting like she didn’t have a care in the world.
“Come on Justin. There is more to see.” The next room they came to was the living room. There were several children gathered around the TV watching Saturday morning cartoons. There were two couches in the room that looked worn. The kids that had come and gone over the years had played, jumped, ate, slept, and done so many other activities on these couches. Ms. Thompson had thought several times that she should get some new couches, but these ones just held so many memories.
The tour continued on and Mary led Justin into the dining room, which held a large table that looked as if it would seat twenty people. “Wow, that thing’s huge!” Justin exclaimed as he pointed at the table.
“We all sit down and eat together each night. It helps to give the sense of family to the children. Also, no one gets left out this way. There’s plenty of room for everyone.”
The tour down stairs concluded in the kitchen. The large stainless steel appliances looked as if they belonged in a restaurant. The kitchen was very large. The stove had six burners on in and the fridge was extra wide. Mary explained, “We are feeding about 19 mouths in here each day. This is the one part of the house that couldn’t be like a normal home, there’s no way we could fit enough food in it if it was any smaller.” Justin just nodded his head in agreement.
As the two made their way back towards the main hallways Mary spoke, “Well let me take you upstairs. That is where all the bedrooms are.”
“Sounds good to me. Lead the way,” Justin replied.
“You know, that is also where Tyler is probably hiding,” she added as they began to ascend the stairs. “Let me warn you about something Justin. I don’t think Tyler is exactly looking forward to meeting you. He was one of the ones I was talking about that came from a troubled family. He’s gone through several foster homes and has always ended up back here. He hasn’t really tried to open up to anyone since he last got here. Which is one of the reasons that I think that you could be a great help to him.” Justin was not happy about having to do the whole community service thing and Ms. Thompson’s little speech was not helping things.
When they reached the top of the stairs Mary showed him a couple of the other children’s rooms before finally coming to a stop in front of a closed door. She reached out and knocked on the door. When they received no answer she carefully opened the door and peeked her head in. There sitting on one of the two twin beds was Tyler. The little boy had his legs pulled up to his chest with his arms wrapped tightly around them.
“Tyler, there’s someone here to see you,” Mary spoke gently.
Justin, who was standing next to her, was beginning to look very uncomfortable. He had no idea how he was supposed to act around this kid. What were they supposed to talk about anyway? ‘Besides, he doesn’t even want me here, it’s obvious,’ Justin thought to himself.
After Tyler had still not responded, or even acknowledged them Mary said, “Well I guess I’ll leave you two alone.” With that, she turned and gave Justin a reassuring smile before exiting the room and closing the door softly behind her.
Justin stood awkwardly by the door for a moment before walking tentatively towards the young boy on the bed.
“Hi, my name is Justin,” he said and extended his hand over the bed for the boy to shake.
Abruptly Tyler sprang from the bed and walked over to the window. He leaned on the windowsill and stared out towards the playground silently. Justin dropped his hand limply to his side in defeat.
After a moment Justin heard Tyler speak up, “I know you don’t want to be here. You should just leave.”
Justin stepped back and sat down on the bed next to Tyler’s. “What makes you think I don’t want to be here?”
“None of you ever want to be here. You stay until you’ve completed your sentence and then you leave. None of you have ever come back when you didn’t have to.”
Justin didn’t know what to say. ‘The kid’s right. I don’t want to be there. I have so many other things I need to do. This whole situation just sucks! I don’t want to be here and the kid doesn’t want me here…Augh!’ Justin shook his head sharply to bring himself back to reality. Negative thoughts were not going to help the situation. He’d just have to make the best of things.
Justin looked around the room silently. He looked at the simple bookshelf that held a few books. On a couple of the shelves were some model cars. Next to the bookshelf sat a basketball. Other than that, the furnishings of the room were pretty sparse. There were a couple posters on the walls, but even so the room had a very bland feel to it. Justin pushed himself up off the bed and walked over to the model cars.
“Hey these are pretty good, did you make these?” He asked as he picked up a miniature version of a Dodge Viper. The little boy looked over his shoulder to see what Justin was referring to. When he saw his model in Justin’s hands he ran over to him.
“DON’T TOUCH THEM!” Tyler yelled as he snatched it out of Justin’s hands and placed it carefully back on the shelf.
Justin’s eyes widened and he took a step back. He totally wasn’t expecting that angry outburst. “Sorry man, I wasn’t going to break it.”
The little boy didn’t respond as he walked back over to the window.
‘Ok, this is going to be harder than I thought,’ Justin thought to himself. His eyes shifted down and fell once again on the basketball sitting on the floor.
“Do you play ball?” Justin asked.
A minute later the boy finally replied. “Yeah, but my ball’s got a hole in it.”
“Maybe we could shoot some hoops sometime,” Justin said cautiously. “I could bring a ball from home.”
“Uh, maybe,” Tyler replied.
‘Well at least that’s a start,’ Justin thought.
The next two hours seemed to drag on. Their conversation was minimal and forced. As Justin finally left the house he let out a sigh. He had no idea how he was going to make it through the next two months.
“So how’d it go?” JC asked as Justin walked into the studio later than night.
“Uugh,” Justin groaned. “You don’t want to know! The kid they want me to work with doesn’t even want me there.”
“What’d you guys do today?” Lance asked as he walked over and took a seat next to Justin.
“Nothing. He would barely talk to me. We just ended up sitting in his room. Next time I’m going to bring my basketball, at least then we’ll have something to do.”
Their conversation was interrupted as their producer walked into the studio.
“Ok, enough chit-chat guys, we’ve got to lay down two tracks tonight so we’d better get busy.”
The guys all groaned in response.
“Don’t give me that! You know you love this!” Their producer replied.
Six exhausting hours later the guys had finished their tracks. As they were making their way toward the parking lot Joey turned to Justin. “So when do you have to go back?”
“Um, Tuesday afternoon I think,” Justin replied.
The weekend flew by and before he knew it Justin was standing once again on the porch of the big white house, his basketball propped between his arm and his hip.
A few seconds later a little girl with blond curls pulled the door open. Her big blue eyes stared up at him in awe.
“Hello,” Justin said as he stared back at the little girl, waiting to be invited in. A moment later Mary stepped behind the girl and opened the door wider for Justin.
“Justin come on in. I see you’ve met Jane, she’s not much of a talker.”
Before Justin had a chance to greet the little girl she took off towards the rec room. He walked into the entry and followed Mary down to her office. She shut the door after him and offered him a seat.
“So how did your first meeting with Tyler go?” She asked.
“Well, I’m not sure, not very well I guess. He wouldn’t really talk to me and he freaked out when I picked up one of his model cars.”
“Aah, I should’ve warned you, Tyler is very protective of those little cars,” she looked apologetically at Justin.
“That’s ok, I think I’ve learned my lesson,” he replied with a smile.
“So, I see that you’ve brought a basketball. Are you two going to play ball?”
“Yeah, I noticed his ball was flat so I brought mine. Do you guys have a hoop?” Justin asked.
“No, we haven’t gotten the funding for that yet, but there’s a park a couple blocks down the road that has one you could use. Well, I suppose I’ll let you go see Tyler,” she said as she stood up and extended her hand towards Justin. He reached out and shook it before leaving the office and heading upstairs toward Tyler’s room.
When he reached the little boy’s room the door was cracked open. Justin knocked on the door, and in the process pushed it open a bit. Tyler was sitting on his bed surrounded by his cars. He looked up at Justin and motioned him in.
“Hey Tyler,” Justin said as he sat down on the bed next to Tyler’s.
“Hey,” Tyler replied as he examined the engine on the corvette in his hands.
“I brought my basketball,” Justin said as he raised it to show the boy. He spun the ball on his finger. “I thought maybe we could go to the park and shoot some hoops. Is that cool with you?”
Tyler looked up and nodded. “Sure just let me put my cars away.” A couple minutes the models were carefully back on the shelf and Justin and Tyler were walking down the long driveway of the Children’s home.
When they got to the court, Justin began to bounce the ball up and down. He took a shot at the hoop and missed it. Catching the rebound, Justin handed the ball to Tyler who bounced it a few times before looking blankly at Justin.
“What am I suppose to do with this?” the little boy asked while looking up at Justin like he was stupid.
“Well, you’re suppose to try and get it in the hoop,” Justin explained, a little confused about the question. The boy had said that he had played ball before.
Tyler rolled his eyes and sighed as he glared at the older man in front of him. “I’m not stupid,” he snapped slightly. “I know what I’m suppose to do with it. I just don’t see the point of throwing the dumb ball at the dumb hoop if we’re not gonna play a game.”
“Oh,” Justin said as he laughed nervously and rubbed his hands together while trying to decide what to play. ‘Am I suppose to let him win now or something?’ he thought while continuing to rack his brain for a suitable game. “What about horse?” the young man finally offered.
“Fine with me,” Tyler shrugged as he picked up the ball and made a shot from where he was standing at the three point line. Justin watched in awe as it swooshed through the hoop, hitting nothing but the white net hanging on the rim. “Your shot,” Tyler said, making no attempt to run after the ball that was now bouncing off the court.
Justin jogged toward the ball. Picking it up, he dribbled over to where Tyler had taken his shot. The young man bounced the ball a few times and looked up at the rim nervously. He took a deep breath and bounced the ball again as he gazed at the hoop with that same anxiousness in his eyes.
“Are you gonna shoot it?” Tyler asked impatiently. Justin raked his teeth over his lip and looked over at the little boy watching him intently. He bounced the ball again and took his shot. The orange ball landed on the top of the rim, and Justin watched in slow motion as it bounced away from the center of the hoop and onto the floor. “That’s H,” Tyler said as he picked up the ball.
About an hour and several shots later, Tyler was one shot away from beating Justin at basketball; and Justin wasn’t even trying to let him win. In fact, the young man was trying his hardest to beat him. ‘Stupid three-point line,’ Justin groaned in his head. The boy had discovered his weakness and made several shots from that same three-point line, occasionally taking a shot from a different spot so Justin didn’t lose to badly.
“That’s game,” Tyler said with a sigh as he watched Justin’s last shot bounce off the rim of the basketball goal. “Can I go home now?” the little boy asked in an irritated tone as he watched Justin chase after the ball for the last and final time.
“If you didn’t want to play, all you had to was say so,” Justin said as he balanced the ball against his arm and his hip.
“Fine. I don’t want to play,” Tyler said. “Can we go home now?”
“Yeah,” Justin replied as he began to walk down the same path that they had taken from the house.
The two continued their walk in silence. Every few steps Justin bounced the ball, passing it back and forth between his hands.
A few blocks down the road Tyler suddenly turned toward Justin and grabbed the ball out of his hands. “Could you not do that please?”
“What?!” Justin asked.
“You’re bouncing was bugging me.”
“Oh, sorry,” Justin replied. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets and continued to walk back to the house.
When they finally reached the long driveway a wave of relief floated over Justin. ‘Thank gosh this day is almost over!’ He thought to himself as he walked up the porch steps and pulled the large front door open.
The two stepped into the foyer to be greeted by Mary.
“Hi you two! Did you have a good time playing Basketball?” She looked between the two and smiled.
“Yeah, it was great,” Tyler said without enthusiasm.
Her smile faded as she looked to Justin. All he could do was shrug, he had no clue what went wrong.
“Well,” she said, “Justin would you like to join us for dinner? We’re having roast beef and mashed potatoes.”
Justin looked at Mary and then turned his gaze to Tyler. Tyler didn’t look at him, he just stared into the living room, watching two little girls play a game of checkers. Justin looked back to Mary. “Um, sure. Thanks.”
“Tyler why don’t you go change for dinner.” The little boy didn’t reply as he turned and raced up the stairs to his room. “Justin, why don’t you come help me in the kitchen.”
Justin nodded and followed her down the hall. They walked over to the huge stove and Mary handed him a spoon. “Why don’t you stir the gravy.”
He picked up the spoon and slowly began to stir the pot. A couple minutes later Mary broke the silence.
“So, what happened today?
“I have no idea! We went to the park and played a game of HORSE. He won and then as soon as we’d finished he wanted to come back here.”
“Hmm…”
“I have no clue what to do! I thought we were having an ok time, but then all of a sudden he builds up this wall.”
Before Mary had a chance to reply Tyler walked into the kitchen dressed in fresh clothes.
“Justin would you like to help Tyler set the table?” Mary asked as she pulled a stack of plates out of the cupboard.
“No problem,” the Justin replied. He started to walk over to the stack of plates but Tyler beat him to it. The little boy grabbed the plates off the counter. As he was leaving the kitchen he yelled over his shoulder, “Come on!” Dumb struck, Justin grabbed the silverware and hurried after him.
Before long the table was set and all of the children including Mary and Justin were seated around the large table. Mary was sitting at the head of the table and Justin was seated next to Tyler towards the opposite end.
“Before we begin our meal I’d like to say grace,” Mary said. Everyone around the table bowed their heads and clasped their hands in their laps.
Mary began, “Dear Lord, thank you for this food we are about to receive. Thank you for all the blessings in our lives and wonderful day you have given us. Also, thank you for our guest this evening. Amen.”
An echo of amens could be heard around the table and the meal began. Bowls full of mashed potatoes and green beans were passed around the table while each child filled their plate.
“Could you please pass the gravy?” Justin asked Tyler who was sitting closest to the container. Without a word Tyler reached over and handed the gravy to him.
‘Well at least he didn’t ignore me,’ Justin thought to himself.
“So how was everyone’s day?” Mary asked them all once they were all served. Each child took its turn responding to her. Justin sat back in silence and listened to everyone talk animatedly about his or her day.
A couple minutes later Mary excused herself from the table to go get some more food from the kitchen.
‘Wow, this is really like a family,’ Justin thought as he watched her disappear into the kitchen. He was surprised by how much this dinner resembled the dinners he had at home with his family.
He was still lost in his thoughts when he heard some one shout, “Hey!” He jerked his head up to see a glop of mashed potatoes sliding down the side of a little girl’s head. Before anyone could say anything she had jammed her spoon into her gravy and shot it across the table at the little boy who had hit her with potatoes.
A second later a couple green beans went soaring passed Justin’s head, narrowly missing his ears. Within a moment a full on food fight was taking place. The entire dining room was in chaos.
Justin quickly ducked down under the table. He looked around and realized that Tyler was crouched down next to him with his plate in his hands. He gave Justin an evil grin as he scooped up some potatoes and popped up over the table and shot it at someone.
Following his lead, Justin grabbed his plate from the table and picked up a slice of roast beef. He flung it at a little girl with short brown hair. It smacked her square in the nose. A brief look of astonishment crossed her face before she retaliated and grabbed the gravy boat from the center of the table. Justin’s eyes grew wide when he realized what was about to happen. He quickly covered his head with his plate with one hand and shoved Tyler under the table with the other.
Tyler turned and grinned at Justin, “Thanks!”
A moment later the chaos was interrupted by a stern voice sounding through the room. “STOP THIS NOW!” Mary rushed into the room carrying some food. She set it down on the table before placing her hands on her hips. She looked around the food-covered dining room glaring at each guilty face she came across.
When her eyes fell on Justin he quickly looked down into his lap. The realization of what he had done came crashing down on him. He couldn’t believe that he had just participated in the food fight. He was the adult! He was supposed to set an example for the kids, not lead them into battle!
“I think dinner is over,” she said firmly. “You will all help clean this up and then you will return to your rooms. No games or TV tonight.” With that she spun around and marched back into the kitchen to gather some towels.
Justin looked up from his lap and turned to Tyler. He gave him a weak smile. Tyler looked at him before jerking his head in the opposite direction.
“That was some food fight!” Justin said to the little boy. He received no reply as Tyler stood up and walked away.