A Safe Haven

Two

Reluctantly, Ace put his clothing in drawers and what little else he had away in his room. The room was better and bigger than any he had in the past. There was even a tv, not that he was was all that big on watching shows. Most of the time, he'd rather be doing something rather than sitting behind a desk or sitting around staring at a tv set. After he finished putting his stuff away which took very little time, he sat on his bed thinking and staring out the window. The beach was visible from here and he had to admit it was a beautiful view and very calming to his soul. The sand was practically white and glistening from the sun and he could feel the warmth through the window.

It occurred to him that he didn't know this man, Mark Wilds. He was a complete stranger to him and he couldn't even remember if his mother had made a reference to him at all.  He began to explore the house which was pretty massive in his opinion. Many of the rooms were fairly empty or had very little furniture. It was obvious noone was staying in them and they weren't being used. One small room was a small chapel with a large cross with a figure nailed to it. There were also several bibles, cushioned pews and kneeling pillows near the altar.  

It kind of reminded him of a catholic church, not that he had ever been in one or knew diddly squat about churches or religion other than what he had seen on TV.  Ace gazed up at the man on the cross cringing at the thought of the pain and agony, he would have to have endured with this kind of death. He knew his name was Jesus and there were many freaks that worshipped him as God. Sometimes these people would be trying to get people to listen to them preach on the streets or those types that were knocking on your door wanting your attention. He remembered one time as a child when one came to their door. His mother and her pimp answered and she was barely wearing anything. Ace was trying to get a peek at who these people were from behind his Mom. Their faces paled as they gazed at his moms sexy lingerie and the way Roger, the pimp had his hand on her breast, and made their eyes bulge and they were hurrying to leave.

Strangely, this room gave him a comforting feeling especially as he gazed into the eyes of Jesus on the cross. As he turned to leave, there was a boy not more than 12 years old gazing at him with a half smile. "Whatcha doing?"

Who was this boy? Marks son? He did kind of look like him. "Nothing. Who are you?"

The boy fidgeted as if he had ants in his pants. "I'm Spencer. Who are you?"

"Ace. I just got here. Mark is like my second cousin or something. Are you Marks son?"

Spencer grinned moving his hands around as he talked. "Yeah I wish. Isn't Mark great? But no, the state placed me here."

Ace frowned as he watched Spencer walk in and climbed the mini steps to the altar area walking about, sometimes jumping or kicking his legs and he wondered what it would take to stop the kid from moving. "Mark didn't say nothing to me about any foster kids."

"Well there's just me and now you." He jumped down then as if the small stairway didn't exist. "I'm hungry. Wanna go see whats for dinner?"

"I'm not in the foster system. Mark is my guardian now," Ace said although it might not make any difference to the boy. The foster system sucked and most of the kids he knew in the hood had been hurt mentally and physically by the foster parents they had. "Sure."

"Okay come on." Spencer had taken his hand as if they were running from the cops and pulled him along to the dining room where there was a plump mexican lady setting the table. "Hi Ms. Tony. This is Ace. He's eating with us."

The woman smiled and nodding saying something in mexican . Back in the hood, whites tended to hang with other whites, blacks with blacks and Mexicans with Mexicans and whenever they met up their was fighting. He had nothing personally against other races, but one had to play the game or end up dead because the gangs were all about controlling their turfs. "No speak spanish."

"Just say Si Ms. Tony," Spencer advised sitting at the table. "It means yes. I don't either."

Ace gave Spencer a small smile sitting beside him. "Is she his wife?"

Spencer erupted in giggles and shook his head. "No. She just runs the kitchen. Marks not married."

Mark entered then sitting at the table and smiling at them. He bowed his head for just a moment as Ms. Tony began to serve them. "I see you two met each other."

Ace nodded as he took his plate. "You didn't tell me you took foster kids?"

Marks cheeks flushed just a bit and he wrung his hands. "Spencer is the only one."

Spencer grinned as he sat up on his knee's and started to eat. He almost fell out of his chair trying to reach the butter.

"Just ask," Mark said passing it to him.

Ace watched the two of them interact as he ate his food being quiet now. Observance, was often the best way to know people and if Spencer was just some foster kid, he was a monkey's Uncle. After a bit, he asked, "So how long has Spencer been with you?"

"Not to long. a few weeks." Mark said shrugging and went back to doting on the boy and listening to Spencer talk about various things with interest.

They were close, way too close for Spencer only to have been here a couple of weeks and Ace decided quickly that Mark was telling a bullshit story although he didn't say so.

Thank you for reading. Please vote if you liked this and I always enjoy comments.