Chapter 3

The bedroom Annie had been using for storage was cleared out and they moved in a bed, a night stand, a chest of drawers, a desk and a chair they got from a second hand store. The next day, they took another trip into town and bought jeans, shirts, underwear, socks and a new pair of Keds hightop sneakers, size twelve. Caleb could hardly decide what to try on first.

As they drove back to the house, he looked over at Annie and asked, "Miss Jamison, um, ain't there some way you could make me livin' with you all legal? Like, maybe you could adopt me or somethin'. I'm just afraid Aunt Nag is gonna come up with some way to mess it all up. She can be awful hateful when she's mad. And she's always mad."

"That'd be hard to do, Caleb. Like it or not, your aunt is your next of kin and that has a lot of weight behind it legally. A lot of what I threatened her with might turn out to be nothing but a bluff. Now if there was some way we could get her to sign some kind of document saying she didn't want to take care of you or be responsible for you, then maybe I could be awarded custody as a foster parent. After that, well maybe we might think about adoption." She reached over to pat his knee and added, "I don't know, Caleb. I might have to talk to a lawyer about it."

"But don't I have anything to say about it?"

"Your opinion will definitely be considered, but since you're only fourteen, you don't have any legal say about the decision. The law can be very unfair about things like this. Right now, it's important you don't say anything to anybody about it. Do you understand that?"

He slumped in the passenger seat and mumbled, "Yes'm. Least ways, I think I understand."

Caleb came out of his bedroom wearing his new jeans, a sparkling white T-shirt and his new sneakers. And a big smile on his face.

"How do I look, Miss Jamison?"

Annie looked him up and down and nodded her approval. "I must say, Caleb, you look very handsome dressed in clean clothes that actually fit you. When you start back to school, the girls in your class are definitely going to take notice."

Pink crept into his cheeks and he said, "Um, I don't think so. They never paid no attention to me before. Anyhow, they all think I'm slow, if you get my meanin'."

Annie tried to squash that perception immediately. "If they think that, it's because they're not paying attention. You're not slow, but you are shy. Those things can be mistaken sometimes. You just need to learn to walk with your head up, knowing you're just as good as anybody else. I know your aunt never allowed you to believe that, but it's true."

He didn't look convinced. "If you say so, Miss Jamison."

"I know so, Caleb! Look, lets make some rules, OK? From now on, you start believing in yourself and I will too. And while we're at it, I want you to call me Annie. If we're going to live in the same house, there's no need to be so formal. Can you do that?"

He grinned and looked at the floor. "I guess I can do that ... Annie." He laughed at himself and said, "It don't sound right comin' outta my mouth, though."

"You'll get use to it. Now here's another thing; I'm going to start correcting your English. If you're going to make your way in the world, you need to speak properly. You're probably going to get upset with me because for a while, I'll be correcting about every sentence. Just be patient and before you know it, those bad habits will be gone."

"Oh, I couldn't get mad at you, Miss Jamison ... I mean, Annie."

"We'll see. Now, let's get off on the right foot, shall we? Come give me a big hug."

He blushed all over again, but he took a couple of little steps forward and held out his arms, not knowing quite where to put them. There were no hugs in Aunt Meg's house. Annie stepped into his arms and put hers around his thin waist, laid her head against his bony shoulder and squeezed. He responded the only way he could, but wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him. They held each other for a few seconds until she felt him tremble and heard him sniffing. She stood back and looked at his boyish face. He was crying.

"Oh, you poor child!" she moaned as she held him again, "Has no one ever hugged your before?"

He choked out, "No, Ma'am. Not that I recall."

"Well then you'll just have to get used to it, Caleb. From now on, hugs are going to be happening a lot around here."

As June rolled into July, Annie hadn't heard a peep from Meg or the Sheriff's Office. But that silence didn't give her any comfort. Finally, rather than wait for the shoe to drop, she went to see the attorney who represented her in her fight with the county and the school board.

Caleb waited outside in the hallway as she sat across Bill Simpson's desk and explained their predicament. "The problem is that Meg is Caleb's aunt and his only relative other than the mother he was taken from. I think that gives her the upper hand as far as the law is concerned, isn't that right?"

Simpson leaned back in his squeaky chair and thought about it before answering. "Well, in general you're right, Annie, but these sound like special circumstances to me. Do you have any proof that the aunt was mistreating the boy?"

"Mostly his say-so, but even Mr. and Mrs. Brennan who lived next to them think Caleb was being mistreated. Do you know that boy can't remember ever being hugged until he moved into my house? That's just terrible, Bill!"

"I agree. You don't have to convince me."

Then he laughed, "So here you are getting mixed up with another young boy. I know you're intentions are honest, Annie, but you sure have a talent for raising people's eyebrows. Why aren't you doing your good deeds with needy young girls? It'd sure be a lot less controversial."

"Because none of them have crossed my path. If you have someone in mind, just send her on over."

Simpson got serious again. "Look, Annie, I grew up an unwanted child. In fact, at the beginning of the Great Depression, I was put on a train and shipped off to a foster family. It turned out to be nothing but a workhouse, so I have nothing but sympathy for the boy. If we can put together a good case for you adopting him, hell, I'll do the case pro bono. But we need more than what you've offered so far. We need clear evidence of abuse, not hearsay."

Annie laid out her last and best shot. "What about this, Bill: Caleb has lived with me for less than a month now, and I'll bet you he's already put on over ten pounds. Before he moved in, I thought he was just a skinny kid in the middle of a growth spurt, but now I'm convinced he was on the verge of starvation. When he told me what he usually had for meals, why, a small dog couldn't live on that!"

Bill Simpson sat up in his chair and smiled. "Now that's something with teeth. Have you taken him to see a doctor?"

"Well no. Should I?"

"Of course you should! He might look OK on the outside, but I'm pretty sure a thorough exam and some X-rays will show evidence if there's been any long term dietary deficiencies." He wrote a name and number on a piece of paper and handed it across the desk. "Here. You make an appointment for Caleb with this doctor. He's helped me out on cases like this before and he'll know what to look for."

Annie felt some glimmer of hope. "Thanks, Bill. I'll do that today."

"Good! Now, I want you to wait outside while I talk to Caleb for a few minutes. It's not that I don't trust what you're saying, but he just might tell a man something he might have felt uncomfortable telling you. You know, like if there's been any kind of sexual abuse going on. I'll be calling you as soon as I hear back from Dr. Friedman."