By Portia Bennett
Introduction: The year is 2076, not that is extremely important. The story takes place at the same time as Five Love Stories en Brochette; much of it at the same time as the last chapter of that story. It has been almost six years since that story was published here. In that story, Scott Adams is briefly mentioned in a couple of sentences near the beginning, and once again in the epilogue. Wren Phoenix thought it might be nice to know a bit more about Scotty Adams. I’m sorry, Wren, that it took so damn long to get around to it.
Scott meets Mr. Joe, and Joe Esterházy becomes very concerned very quickly. He knows who Scott’s parents are, and he doesn’t think much of Jake. There is a major family get together that weekend and they come up with a solution to put a stop to Scott’s hitchhiking. The oldest of his three sisters, Persi, suggests that Jake Adams probably killed Scott’s mother. He had a history of beating up prostitutes.
This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.
Chapter 5
First Day of School: well it was the first day of the summer session. His ride left him off at the far side of Myrtletown, and fifteen minutes later he was at his classroom. The door was still locked, so he plunked down with his back against a locker door and fished out his tablet. The school’s Wi-Fi was up and he opened up his browser. There was an email from Diane Wilkes. She and Jimmy were having a great time. They were near a town in Italy called Sienna. Scott had no idea where it was, but quickly found it on the internet.
What a beautiful place, he thought. Of course the posed pictures with the beautiful models both male, and especially female sent his mind into a ‘what if’ mode. He was certain he’d never get to Europe.
“Well, aren’t you the early bird?”
Startled out of his reverie, Scott jumped to his feet banging his head on the locker handle. “Ouch!”
“You okay?”
“Yes sir,” Scott said feeling the back of his head. There didn’t seem to be any blood.
He looked up at the giant who towered over him. It was ‘Mr. Joe’, and he had to be almost a foot and a half taller than Scott. He recognized him immediately.
“You taking geology?” Joe Esterházy asked.
“Yes sir.”
“Well, welcome to my class. I’m Mr. Esterházy, but you can call me Mr. Joe. Everyone does, and your name is?”
“Scott, Scott Adams. I’m a freshman.”
“Yes, I saw your name on the class roster. You’re taking biology in the afternoon class, too. That’s quite a hefty load. I had to take a look, and I noticed your grades are quite good. Not many students take both courses in the same semester.
“Let’s open up the classroom. You can help me set things up. We still have 30 minutes before class begins. Why so early?”
“I live past Kneeland, and the busses don’t run in the summer. I have to get a ride.”
“So you ride with a parent when they come to work.”
“No sir, I hitch a ride. My father doesn’t work. He’s disabled, and my mother left us. I don’t have any trouble getting a ride to Myrtletown, and it’s only a short walk over here.”
“Sounds like you’ve been doing this for a while,” Joe said with obvious concern as he looked at the frail and androgynous looking boy. His thoughts immediately flashed on the child being picked up by some predator. They certainly weren’t immune to that type in Humboldt County.
The realization hit Joe. Scott’s father was Jake Adams. There had been quite a trial a few years before that involved a rather large settlement. Some had thought that Jake was faking his disability; however, a sympathetic jury decided in his favor. He remembered seeing Jake and his wife being interviewed after the trial. Neither of them was attractive; however, he could sense something about Mrs. Adams. He felt sorry for her. He knew there was a child. If Scott’s mother had left his father, why hadn’t she taken him with her?
“Aren’t there any other friends up there who are taking summer school,” Joe asked.
“No sir, my best friends, Jimmy Kincaid and Diane Wilkes went to Europe with their parents. They probably wouldn’t be going to summer school, anyway.”
“I know the Kinkaids. They’re good folks. They have quite a house up there.
“So, do you live near them?”
“No sir, we live a couple of miles back towards Kneeland. We’re back on an old logging road that goes north about a mile and a half past where Fickle Hill Road comes in. Father bought almost a section of logged land back there before he and Mom got married. We live in a trailer back there. It’s not too bad.”
“Help me put out these materials. There are 22 students in the class, so we’ll use the first eleven tables.”
So, that was Scott’s introduction to Mr. Joe. As far as Scott was concerned, it went very well. Scott thought class went very well, too. He made his way to the cafeteria for lunch. He had two hours until the next class. So he could do his homework have lunch and get ready for the next class.
“Mind if I join you?”
Scott recognized the voice. He didn’t have to look up to see who it was, but he did. It was Mr. Joe.
“No sir, please have a seat.”
Joe had been sitting with some of the faculty when he noticed Scott by himself near the far wall. What caught his attention was the fact that Scott went back to the serving line and paid for a second helping of the main course, lasagna.
“You said your father is disabled; that he’s not working. What does he do?”
Scott’s expression told Joe that maybe he was getting a bit too personal. “He doesn’t do anything. He gets his disability check and goes to the supermarket in Myrtletown to get food and beer.”
Joe could see tears starting to form. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
“That’s okay. Things were a lot better when Mom was there. She didn’t smoke, and wouldn’t let Father smoke inside. She didn’t drink much either. I just try to avoid him. That’s why I’m coming to summer school. Well, it’s not the only reason. I want to go to college, but father doesn’t care. I don’t think he’ll pay anything for me to go to college. I need to keep my grades good enough so I have a chance at a scholarship. I’m not an athlete like you are.”
“Would you like to go to Humboldt?”
“I guess; I’d just like to go somewhere so I didn’t have to see my father every day.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Hang in there.”
“Your call is important to us. Please leave your name and phone number and we will get back to you as soon as possible.”
“Bull shit,” Joe muttered to himself. It was his third call to Child Protective Services. He’d made it very clear in his first two calls what the issue was. They should have called him back.
He was very uneasy about Scott hitch hiking; so he next called the police. The police refused to do anything. Scott was not a truant, he wasn’t loitering, and he wasn’t hitchhiking in Eureka. If anyone, his parents should be taking care of the problem.
By the time he got to Child Protective Services they were closed. There was a note behind the glass of the door stating that the counselors would be on the road for the remainder of the week. There was a cell phone number to call in the event of an emergency. That number went immediately to voice mail. He left a message; however, he was beginning to have doubts that it would be returned.
Scott Adams showed up bright and early every morning the next three days. CPS continued to not return his calls. Joe was about ready to take measures that could potentially get him into trouble. He told Amy that he was concerned about a student, but hadn’t had time to get into much detail with her. Thursday things started going in directions that no one had anticipated.
Joe’s middle sister, Demeter, and her husband Arturo Vocelli plus their son had arrived to spend a few days at his parents place before they went off to an opera performance somewhere. Demi and her husband were probably the most sought after opera singers in the world. They lived near Vicenza, Italy, but always stopped at Demi’s parent’s ranch overlooking the Mad River and Butler Valley when they were in the US. To make things even better his oldest sister and her wife had brought their brood up from San Francisco to spend the weekend. His youngest sister and her husband would be arriving later that weekend. They were very lucky that they were able to get together at least once or twice a year in spite of the world travelling Demi and Helen, his youngest sister.
Helen had won the Van Cliburn Piano Competition three years before, and had married a year later. Her husband, Jimmy Levine, was Demi and Helen’s agent. They were definitely carrying on the music tradition that their grandmother and aunt had started many years before. His Aunt Fanny was going strong; however, his grandparents were deceased. Fanny would be there on the weekend.
Joe had a little brother who at the moment was wandering in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He was going through some soul searching, as his mother had said. Apparently, he’d screwed up a relationship with a young woman he’d met in Santa Barbara. His parents had met her and thought the world of her. He’d seen her picture taken when she and Pat had received their Masters’ Degrees the month before. His little brother was very intelligent, except when it came to women.
He had given his biology class a research assignment at the end of class on Wednesday, told them that he’d see them Friday afternoon. Scott Adams waved at him as he headed for the parking lot after geology. Amy had already picked up the children at the daycare, and was waiting at home for him. Their two oldest were away from home. Michael was in Europe with his church group as was his girlfriend. Frances, their second, was doing an internship with the National Park Service in Yellowstone. They had waited a while before having Musetta, named after her great, great-grandmother. Then Stephan and Anne followed. And now Amy was expecting their sixth. They’d been married 20 years and were still only in their late thirties.
They took the same road to the Esterházy ranch that Scott took every morning to school. The curves and steep grade occupied much of Joe’s attention; however, he was pretty sure when they passed one road that it was the one leading to Scott Adam’s home. Joe was very conflicted. He’d already tried to go through official channels, and had no response. There were no overt signs of physical abuse; however, there were hints. Scott’s left hand was weak, and Joe had noticed on several occasions that Scott favored it a bit. He had winced once when shouldering his book bag. One of the main things that bothered him was that Scott had been coming to Eureka for two weeks prior to the start of the summer session. Scott was avoiding as much contact with his home life as possible.
Summer has definitely arrived in Butler Valley. The temperature had to be close to 90F. His dad was working in the garden. Although native plants abounded, some were not endemic to the sometime warmer inland valley. They’d had a particularly dry winter, and even some of the local species were suffering. The Ranch, as everyone called it was very fortunate in that they had a perpetual source of water. A large concrete tank was constantly filled by water diverted from a spring located on the property. It allowed them to avoid any water shortages.
Shortly after Joe’s birth, the Esterházys had installed a rooftop sprinkler system for firefighting purposes. The original owners of the house had installed a heavy shake roof. The problem was that although the roof was very aesthetically pleasing, it was a potential disaster if there was a nearby brush fire. Thousands of homes in California had been destroyed due to embers falling on a shake roof, even though the main fire hadn’t reached them. The Esterházys had had to implement the system only one time in the last nearly forty years. When it came time to replace the roof, they replaced it with the same cedar shakes.
The Mercedes sedan let them know that Demi and Arturo had already arrived. They had driven up from San Francisco where they had starred in Tosca a few days before. Persi and Clara’s car was parked next to the Mercedes. Pat’s car was nowhere to be seen. Then Joe remembered that Pat was off in the Sierras somewhere. It would be a day or two before Helen and Jimmy showed up.
Musetta and Stephan were off and running practically before the car stopped. They wouldn’t have any problem keeping entertained. Stephan would probably eventually head for the piano so he could show off his developing talent. He wanted to impress his aunt and great aunt.
There were hugs and kisses all around. Music was playing on the fabulous sound system as it had for years, and the windows were opened to the warm outside breezes. The usual formalities prevailed for a while: how was the trip, how do you like this weather, etc. Joe, his father and Arturo ventured outside to let the women talk among themselves for a while. Joe loved and admired Arturo. He was the first man who was willing to take on his wild sister. At six feet two inches she was the image of his mother, but unlike his mother, ran through men with great regularity. Arturo had a similar reputation with the women; however, when he and Demi met that was the end of their previous lives. He tamed her and she tamed him. They had finally found each other. Little Andres was their first child. He wouldn’t be their last.
Persi and Clara had been married for a number of years, had two children, another on the way, and wanted more. Persi, just as striking as Demi, and an inch taller, was a psychiatrist specializing in gender issues. Her wife, Clara, was an MD specializing in endocrinology. They were part of a group who operated a clinic specializing in gender identification issues. Joe knew he’d have to talk to Persi and Clara about some suspicions he’d had about Scott. He’d bring it up in private.
They had finally returned to the spacious family room to just relax bit. His mother and father were working on the dinner preparations. Clara had gone back out to check on the children. A knock at the door, actually a heavy three raps from the old iron knocker, got their attention.
“I’ll get it,” Demi said. She had just come back from changing Andres’ diapers.
Whoever was at the door couldn’t be heard; however, Demi brought the young woman into the house almost immediately.
“Mom, Dad, we have a visitor.”
The girl waved at his mother and father and they returned the wave. Joe suddenly realized it was the girl that Pat had gone to school with in Santa Barbara. He’d seen her picture taken at their graduation.
“Okay everyone, this is Karen Markley. I’ll start with that big handsome Italian. He’s Arturo and he’s mine, so keep your hands away. Next to him is my sister Persephone and that’s her daughter Penny. She and Clara also have a son Michael and Clara’s outside watching him and a bunch of the other kids. You’ll meet all of them soon enough. There won’t be a test: at least not yet. That other handsome hunk is my oldest brother, Joseph and that cute little thing with the boobs is Amelia.”
There was always this banter among the younger women about breast size, and it could be embarrassing at times.
It seemed that the young woman had dropped in to see Pat. She had wanted to see if he could go on a pack trip with her and some friends in Olympic National Park. Of course, Pat wasn’t there. When Clara returned from outside, Joe realized there was a striking resemblance between the two women. That was something not missed by anyone. The new arrival distracted Joe from talking with his sister and mother about his suspicions about Scott. He’d have to talk with them about it the next day, and too much time had already passed. They were coming come back after classes were over the next day.
Amy had spent a lot of time talking to Karen before they headed back to Eureka. And as they headed back down to the fork with Butler Valley Road the discussion centered on the young woman. Joe felt like she was very sincere. She hadn’t said it out in the open; however, he was pretty sure she’d told his mother that she loved Pat. There had been some tears when she and his mother had talked in private. He wasn’t that concerned about the relationship between his brother and the young woman. There was a more urgent problem, and his mind was brought back to that as he had to almost climb the side of the hill when a car came around the corner in the fog taking its half out of the middle.
“That was close,” Amy said.
“Remember that kid I told you I was worried about? That was his father, Jake Adams. Based on what we saw and what I can infer from the discussions I’ve had, Jake is probably drunk. He’ll go home, drink more, and probably pass out. Scott is undernourished. He’s eating two meals at the cafeteria. I told the staff not to charge him for the second helpings.
“I wanted to talk to Persi and Clara about him, but when Karen showed up, I never got a chance. I’m certainly not an expert about these things; however, I think he may be gay or transgender, and my inclination is that he’s the latter. I’ve had several gay students over the years, probably some I never knew about, and he doesn’t strike me as gay.
“We’ve got to get him out of that environment.”
“We have room for him,” Amy said.
“I know we do, but we can’t kidnap him. We have no legal grounds to take him away from his father. If at some point we do have legal grounds, I just hope it’s not too late. Scott’s hitchhiking scares the hell out of me, and the cops won’t do anything about it.”
Chapter 6
“Scott, would mind staying after class? We need to talk about some things.”
“No sir.”
Scott helped Mr. Joe put away some of the lab supplies. They were studying pond life: one celled organisms like amoeba and paramecia. They would be studying algae the next week.
“Amy and the kids and I are going up to have dinner with our family up in Butler Valley. I was wondering if you’d mind if we gave you a ride. That’d be easier than hitching a ride.”
“Okay.”
“I’d like to say hello to your dad; if you don’t mind.”
“Er, okay. Mr. Joe …”
“Yes.”
“Please don’t tell my father I’m hitchhiking. He thinks I’m taking the bus. I told him school started three weeks ago.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I went to the Library. I studied things. If I’m not around him. He won’t get mad at me. This way I’m only around him at night and on weekends. The only time we get out is when he gets his disability check so we can buy food. He buys a lot of beer.”
“Okay, I won’t tell him, but what are you going to do when the summer school session ends?”
“I was going to go to the library. There’s not much to do at home other than fix dinner, clean up things and do the laundry. Dad watches all those reality TV shows. I don’t get to watch anything. We have internet access, but it isn’t much use. I have some friends, and we talk on social media. They’re in Europe right now. If Father isn’t around, I listen to music. I like classical music.”
“Right, the Kincaids, you told me about them.
“You’re going to have to meet my family someday. My little sister won the Van Cliburn Piano Competition, and one of my other sisters is an opera singer. Shoot, there’s a whole bunch of us. One of my aunts is a composer, another is a pianist, and another is a cellist and conductor. My grandmother was a pianist, too.”
“I know all about your family. I read about them. There are pages and pages in Wikipedia. All of you are so famous.”
“Being famous doesn’t mean much if you’re not happy. We are very lucky.”
It wasn’t far to the Esterházy home. Scott marveled at the restored Victorian structure. He couldn’t believe how pretty it was. Mr. Joe’s wife was placing her youngest child in the minivan.
“Amy, I’d like you to meet Scott Adams. We’re going to take him home on our way to Mom and Pop’s.
“Kids, this is Scott. We’re going to take him home on the way to Gramma and Grampa’s.
“Scott, this is Musetta, and this is Stephan. The one in the chair is Annie.
“Hi, Scott,” Musetta said, “You’re cute. I thought you were a girl.”
Joe shuddered at that proclamation. Musetta was never one to hold back on anything.
“That’s alright. I don’t mind,” Scott replied.
Amy looked at Joe, and raised her eyebrow a bit. Joe nodded in return.
Scott pointed out the turn to his home, it was the one Joe had thought it was, and Joe turned down the narrow track. It was a bit further than he thought it would be back to the trailer.
What a mess, Joe thought as they pulled up. The trailer was old, probably older than Joe. A single car was parked under a rickety shelter to one side. A rusty barrel was behind it. It had obviously been used to burn trash; something that had been illegal in California for years. Several bags of crushed aluminum cans were lying next to the shelter. At least they recycled something, Joe thought. Then he realized that the trash pickup truck would never come back this far.
Joe followed Scott up the concrete block stairs. As Scott opened the door, he was greeted with, “Where in the hell have you been you little shit? Did you miss the bus again?”
Ignoring the comment, he pulled Joe into the shabby interior. “Dad, someone wants to meet you. Mr. Esterházy gave me a ride home. They were coming out this way and Mr. Joe said he’d give me a ride. Mr. Joe is my teacher.”
“How do you do, Mr. Adams.”
Jake struggled to his feet; his protruding belly hardly covered by a soiled T-shirt. He wobbled a bit as his eyes focused upwards at the man who towered over him. “The little sh… Er, he isn’t causing any trouble, is he?”
“Not at all,” Joe said as he took in the burned carpet, the empty beer cans, and the overpowering smell of stale tobacco smoke. “Scott is one of my best students. I just wanted to tell you how proud you should be of him.
“Scott, we’ll see you Monday morning. Don’t miss your bus.
“Mr. Adams, it was nice meeting you.”
Amy didn’t have to say anything as Joe returned to the car. Joe had a scowl etched into his face.
Musetta, wise beyond her years, said, “Pretty bad, huh?”
“We’ll talk about it later.”
Next few miles were driven pretty much in silence.
“Mom, when we get a chance, Amy and I want to talk with you, Persi and Clara about something. We need to do it in private.”
“That serious, huh.”
“Yes, it’s about one of my students. I think, no, I know, there is a serious problem.”
Thirty minutes later they were in the crowded study. Joe didn’t sit; there wasn’t room, anyway. He discussed what he knew for sure and what he suspected about Scott. He knew that stature and gender preference were not necessarily linked; however, he felt Scott’s eschewing any overt attempt at masculinity supported his suspicions.
“I was wondering if Persi and Clara could talk to him.”
“I certainly understand your concern,” Persi said, “however, we have no authority to do anything at this point. His father would have to allow it, and from what you’ve said, even if we offered to do any interviews or counseling pro bono, he wouldn’t allow it. What about the school psychologist?”
“He’s on vacation at the moment. He won’t be back for three weeks. I thought about that.”
“What about Child Protective Services?” Clara asked.
“They’re like trying to raise the dead. Half their staff is on vacation, and the rest won’t return my messages,” the frustrated Joe replied.
“Other than the abusive environment, Joe and I are very concerned about his hitchhiking,” Amy said. “He’s been lucky so far, but you can never tell about who might be driving.”
“I have an idea,” Sylvia said. “I’m going into Eureka on Monday morning. I’ll time my arrival at his road and take him into Eureka. I might even take him to the IHOP. I know who he is. I’ve seen him getting off the school bus several times. He waved at me a few weeks ago. I agree with Joe and Amy. The child is definitely androgynous. I thought he was a girl, especially with the hair.
“We have several friends who live in this area who go into Eureka to work. I’ll call them and see if we can put together a pick up schedule. Phil and I go to Humboldt frequently this time of year, even though we’re not teaching. It would be no big deal for us to take the longer trip.”
“Why take chances in picking him up?” Persi asked. “Mom, we need to gain his trust regardless of where this goes. There is absolutely no reason for a fourteen year old child to be hitchhiking anywhere.
“Joe, we have to get him away from that environment, but we have to make absolutely sure that we are not doing anything illegal. I just realized I know who Jake Adams is. I’ve heard stories over the years about him. He is an abusive drunk who frequented the waterfront area looking for prostitutes. That summer I did part of my internship up here, I dealt with some of the transgendered prostitutes. Jake was/is an alcoholic, transphobic, homophobic SOB. He beat up more than one of the ‘girls’ when he found out who they were.
“He’d stopped visiting the red light area when he got married to Scott’s mother. They were glad to see him go.
“So, what happened to Scott’s mother?” Persi asked.
“According to Scott,” Joe said, “she ran away with someone about two years ago. He keeps hoping that she’ll return.”
“The hell she ran away.” Persi exclaimed. “I’ll bet that son of a bitch killed her. Where did she work? Did anyone file a missing persons’ report? What about her parents?”
“Scott can probably give us that information. We’ll have to be careful how we approach him though,” Clara added.
“I don’t think I’ll have any problem finding out,” Joe said. “I think we have excellent rapport. The poor kid is looking for someone to love him. He has some good friends, but they’re out of the country right at the moment. The Kincaid’s son is a friend. They live just across the river.”
“I’ll start calling my friends tomorrow to see if we can work out a schedule to pick him up,” Sylvia said. “If need be, I’ll pick him up at school. I think they’ll understand how important this is.”
“What the hell’s the idea bringing your teacher around here? That’s all I need: someone nosin’ around here where it’s none of their business.”
Scott thought his father was going to hit him; however, he didn’t.
“Mr. Esterházy asked me to help him after class. His family was going to visit his parents back in Butler Valley, and he said he could give me a ride so I wouldn’t have to worry about catching the bus.”
“Don’t do it again. I don’t want those high falootin’ assholes around here where they ain’t got no business.
“Get me a beer.”
“Yes sir.”
The fog was blowing over the ridge as he made his way down the dirt road. The effect of the sun rising over the ridge to the east and shining on the fog was very interesting. As he came out to Butler Valley Road he was surprised to see a car parked on the side of the road. He recognized the car as belonging to the lady he’d seen and waved to a few weeks before. She was behind the wheel.
“Are you having car trouble, Ma’am?”
“No, I was waiting to give you a lift.”
“You were?”
“Scott, I’m Sylvia Esterházy. Joe is my son. Would you mind if I gave you a ride?”
“Er, no Ma’am,” Scott said as he got in the front seat.
“You know, you’re a bit too trusting. I know you’ve seen me before, but you didn’t know who I was.”
“I knew you were a professor at Humboldt. Some friends told me. You have that big place on the other side of the valley.”
“We have a deal for you. My friends and I will give you a ride to and from school. When school’s over this summer, either I or my husband will take you with us to Humboldt where you can study or help us out during the day.
“We’re worried about you, and I’m pretty sure you know why. Would you mind if we were able to get you away from this environment to a place where you’d feel safe?”
Scott started crying.
Sylvia pulled off the road at Kneeland. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Scott took the tissue Sylvia offered him and blew his nose. It took two more tissues to get him cleaned up.
“I don’t know what to do,” he sniffed. “I tried to do what he wants, but nothing seems to matter. I can’t do anything right but bring him his beer. He drinks every night until he passes out, except for the nights when he looks for whores. I don’t want to live there. I know why my mother left. I just wish she’d taken me with her.”
“Where did your mother work?” Sylvia asked.
“She worked at the plywood mill, the same place where Father worked before he got hurt.”
“We’re going to find out where she is, and we’re going to get you away from here, but we have to do it the right way. This may take a while. Please be patient.
“Tomorrow, a lady who has given you a ride twice before will be waiting to pick you up. She’s Martha Spencer. She has a red Ford, and she will also pick you up after school. I’m going to give you a list and pictures of everyone who is doing this. Promise me that you won’t hitchhike anymore.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
The Esterházys have come up with a partial solution to Scott’s problems, but they are not going to stop there. Joe is going to take charge of what he realizes is an untenable situation.
