Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2022 14:31:45 -0400
From: James Karvonen <jameskarvonen5@gmail.com>
Subject: Song of the Lonesome Steel Rails - 13.

13.

     It was close to 4:00 in the afternoon. The commuter rush hour out of
Washington D.C. was about to begin. Bobby sat on one of the waiting
benches on the stations platform. He was in a state of total despair. He
had no place to go, no money, no supplies. His bottom still felt a little
sore after being raped earlier that day. He had no idea what was he going
to do? He buried his face into his hands and started to cry softly to
himself. He was at the point of giving himself up. But who would he give
himself up to, the police? He had no earthly idea that riding the rails
would be so difficult. And it was really only the fifth day of his trip
since escaping from Pine Island. He continued to sob softly to himself.
The first northbound train out of Washington D.C. had arrived, and
commuters were getting off the train to go home. But he had no home to go
to. Even if he did manage to get back home, the porlice would eventually
pick him up and send him back to Pine Island.
    As he was sitting on the bench, he heard a newspaper boy shouting,
"Extra, extra read all about it. President Roosevelt will be introducing
his new deal bill to congress! Extra, extra read all about it!"
    Sure enough, Bobby noticed the commuters who had just gotten off the
train, buying the papers like hot cakes. From what he could see through
tearful eyes, the boy selling the papers looked young, about his age,
perhaps even younger. Maybe he could get a job selling newspapers, but
where would he live? At least if he got a job as a newspaper boy, he
would be able to earn a little money, perhaps even enough money to
continue his trip. Maybe he could stay in the abandoned freight station,
but no, that wouldn't' be a good idea. Another hobo like Jailbird could
rob and rape him. He just didn't know what to do. He started to cry again
oblivious to everything else that was going on around him.
    "Are you okay kid?" He heard a voice ask besides him. He felt a
supportive hand on his shoulder.
    He turned and saw the paper boy who had been selling newspapers
standing besides him. Only at a closer look, it wasn't a boy, it was a
girl. She was wearing a boy's cap. From what he could see the girl had
reddish brown hair, bobbed up under her cap, a slightly upturned nose and
a smooth facial complexion with just a hint of freckles over the bridge
of her nose. Suddenly Bobby was feeling embarrassed, crying in front of
this girl.
    "Are year okay? " The girl asked again. She then sat down besides
him. She still had a sack full of papers hanging from her shoulder to
sell when the next train full of commuters from Washington D.C. arrived.
    Choking back a sob, Bobby said, "No, not really."
    "I've never seen you around here before, and I know just about every
kid who lives here in Point of Rocks."
    "I'm from New York." Bobby said.
    "New York! No wonder I've never seen you around here before.Where's
your parents?"
    "I'm, I'm down here by myself." Bobby admitted.
    "By yourself, jeeze, what did you do, run away or something?"
    Bobby wasn't sure how much he should tell this girl about himself.
But at least for now he had someone to talk to. Perhaps she might even be
able help him. "I, I ran away from a industrial school up in New York."
He said, wiping his teary eyes with the side of his wrist.
    "And how did you get down here?" She asked.
    "I hoboed my way down here riding freight trains."
    "Wow, I mean you're an actual hobo?" The girl exclaimed. "Most hobos
I've seen passing through here were men".
    "I'm not a man quite yet." Bobby admitted.
    "How old are you?"
    "Twelve."
    "Twelve, you're that same age I am." The girl replied.
    Towards the south, Bobby heard the whistle of an approaching
northbound train and saw the smoke.
    "I got to go back to work and sell these newspapers. But don't go
away. I still want to talk to you. My name is Kim, Kim Davidson by the
way, what's your name?"
    Bobby, Bobby Rumph."
    By now the commuter train was slowing down as it approached the
station. It was pulled by a B & O, 4-6-2 light Pacific. Finally the train
screeched to a complete stop. A few seconds later commuters started
filing out from the twelve coaches that the locomotive was pulling.
    "I'll be right back!" Kim promised.
    Bobby watched as Kim mingled through the crowd of commuters selling
her newspapers. A few minutes later, the train lurched forwards admidst a
cloud of smoke, continuing it's northbound run. When Kim finished selling
her papers, she walked back to Bobby, sitting down on the bench besides
him.
    "The next train won't get here for another twenty minutes or so. So
tell me Bobby, where are you heading to?" Kim asked.
    "California, that's where my dad lives. My mom, little brother and
sister still live in Middletown, New York. That's where I'm from. If I go
back to Middletown, the police more then likely will find me and send me
back to Pine Island to complete my sentence. They might even give me a
couple of more years to do for escaping from Pine Island. So I can't go
back home. I have to get to California so I could live with my father.
Eventually dad said that once he found a good job, he would send for my
mother, brother and sister so that we could be reunited and become a
family again."
    "And you said, you ran away from an industrial school? That's like a
reform school, isn't it?"
    "Uh huh, I guess." Bobby replied.
    "What did you get sent to an industrial school for. You didn't do
anything terribly bad, did you?"
    "No, my family was hungry so I tried to steal some food from an A&P
supermarket and got caught. The judge gave me three years at Pine
Island."
    "That's terrible. Kim pouted. "So what are you doing here?"
    The train that I was on from New York set the box car that I was in
off on that siding over there while I was asleep.I had a knapsack with
food, supplies and some extra clothes in the knapsack. I, was also
carrying a little money for my trip but was robbed only a couple of hours
ago by another hobo named Jailbird who was much older then me and was an
ex-con. Now I have nothing but this extra set of clothes that a friend of
mine gave me." Bobby explained, tears once again welling up in his eyes.
He had deliberately left out the fact that Jailbird had raped him also
for obvious reasons.
    "God, that's sad. What are you going to do?" Kim asked.
    "I don't know. There is really nothing that I can do. I have no place
to stay tonight, no food, no money." He started to cry again.
    Kim slid a little closer to Bobby putting a supportive arm around his
heaving shoulders. "Maybe I can help you." Kim said, giving Bobby some
hope.
    "How?" Bobby sniffed.
    "My mom runs a boarding house about ten blocks away from here. I
could talk to her and maybe she will let you stay for a couple of days
until you can get back on your feet."
    "I'm going to need a job or something so I can earn a little money to
get to California with when I start riding the rails again."
    "She might have something for you. Let me talk to her when we get to
my house." Kim said.
    "Thanks. We don't even know each other that well and already you're
helping me."
    "Don't worry. If mom agrees to letting you stay for a while, we'll
definitely get to know each other a little better." Kim smiled.
    "What about your dad. Do you think that he might have something to
say about that?"
    "My father died five years ago from consumption. It's only me and my
mother my mothers boy friend, Antonio who comes over to the house every
now and then." Kim stated
    "I'm sorry to hear that your dad died." Bobby frowned.
    "That's okay, I never really knew him all that well. He was always
sick or in the hospital." Kim explained.
    The next commuter train arrived fifteen minutes later. Kim sold out
the rest of her newspapers. Having completed her afternoon job she was
ready to take Bobby to her house to meet her mother.
    Bobby and Kim walked through a quiet neighborhood made up of mostly
white Victorian style homes built around the turn of the century and tree
lined cobblestone streets. It was a beautiful neighborhood that Bobby
wished his family could live in. Most of the residents who lived in this
neighborhood were composed of upper middle income families despite the
depression going on around them. It took about ten minutes for Kim to
reach her house. The house that Kim lived in was a large Victorian style
home with about eight bedrooms in it, plus an attic. There was a large
nicely mowed front yard shaded by two ancient oaktrees. Outside the home
besides a sidewalk leading to the front porch, there was a sign that
read, OAK GROVE BOARDING HOUSE, in big bold black letters.
    "This is where I live, come on, I'll introduce you to my mother." Kim
said excitedly.
    Bobby followed Kim up a couple of stairs to a porch, with about three
wickered rocking chairs upon it. Kim opened the front door and led Bobby
into a large living room with with red carpet and Victorian style
furniture There was a piano in the middle of the living room and a Philco
radio against the far wall of the living room. On the other corner of the
living room was a staircase that led up to the second and third floor of
the house. There was an elderly man sitting on a sofa smoking a pipe.
    "Hello Mr. Johnson, this is my friend Bobby." Kim piped.
    "Greetings young man, nice to meet you." Mr. Johnson nodded.
    "Nice to meet you." Bobby said. This was a whole new environment for
Bobby. The interior of the living room was beautiful.
    "Come on." Kim said encouragingly. She led Bobby through the living
room, into a small dining room, then finally to the kitchen.
    "Mom, I want you to meet a friend of mine. His name is Bobby." Kim
shouted.
    Kim's mother appeared. She was a handsome robust women in her
forties. She had the same reddish brown hair as her daughter Kim had. She
had an apron tied around her waist which told Bobby that she had been
cooking. There was the smell of spaghetti sauce in the air.
    "Hello dear." Kim's mother smiled. She gave her daughter an
inquisitive look as if she was asking, what's he doing here this timie at
night.
    "Mom, can he stay with us for a while. We have the room, and Bobby is
kinda down on his luck."
    "Well I don't know about that. Have you eaten yet Bobby?"
    "No ma'am." Bobby replied.
    "Please, call me Dot."
    "Let him stay with us for a little while, please?" Kim asked.
    "Why don't we talk about this after dinner."
    "Alright mom. Is Antonio coming over here tonight?"
    "No, I don't think so hon. He's tied up with some type of business
deal."
    "So the only one who will be eating with us tonight is Mr. Johnson."
    "That's about it, you know how business has been around here, really
slow. If it wasn't for Antonio we could be going bankrupt."
    "Antonio kind of helps us out when business is slow." Kim told Bobby.
    "Kim, why don't you take Bobby to the bathroom so that he could wash
up, okay hon. We won't be eating for another forty five minutes or so he
has some time."
    "Sure mom." Kim said. She walked over to give her mother a hug.
Turning back to Bobby she said, "Come on."
    Once again Bobby found himself following Kim through the house. She
took him back through the living room then upstairs to the second floor
where the one of the bathrooms were.
    "When was the last time you bathed?" Kim asked.
    "About five days ago."
    "Are those clothes in your hands clean?" Kim asked.
    "I haven't worn them yet." Bobby said.
   "Why don't you go ahead and take a shower first. You need one, you are
pretty dirty you know, and you kinda smell a little. That way my mother
won't complain about you. She was hinting that you needed to take a
shower anyway. After you take your shower put those clean clothes and
give me your dirty clothes. I'll get them washed for you. I don't think
mom is will put you out tonight.
    "Sounds good." Bobby sighed.
    "Here, let me go get you a towel and a washcloth. I'll be right
back."
    Bobby watched Kim leave. He liked her, and he felt that Kim was
actually trying to help him. Right now in the situation that he was
currently in, Bobby needed all the help he could get. But the last thing
he wanted was to be a burden on this family. If Kim's mother allowed him
to stay for a while, his main goal would be to earn as much money as he
could. He was thinking seriously about sending some money home to his
mother because with his brother and sister, he felt sure that she was
struggling, especially since he wasn't there with him to help out. Polo
was right, his trip to California wouldn't take only a couple of weeks.
It could take a couple of months if not longer to make it to California.
And now he finally realized that he would have to work some on his way to
California, not only to earn some money for himself, but to help his
mother out also who was barely making ends meet.
    Kim returned a few minutes later with a towel and a washcloth. Hand
in the towel and washcloth to Bobby, she said, "Just leave your dirty
clothes on top of the dirty clothes hamper. I'll see you downstairs in
the dining room when you finish."
    "Alright, thanks." Bobby smiled. He watched as Kim left the
bathroom.  then went on ahead and closed the bathroom door. The bathroom
was  large smelling good, of lilac and roses. There was a bathtub
complete with a showerhead and shower curtain in front of the bathtub.
There was a large sink with a mirror above the sink against the wall.
    Bobby took off his shirt and looked at his reflection in the mirror.
He looked tired and worn out. His face was dirty and his blond hair
matted. After putting his extra set of clothes down on the commode, Bobby
toook off his shoes and socks, then pulled off his pants. He drew back
the shower curtain, reached in and turned the shower spray on adjusting
the water temperature to his liking. Stepping out of his pants he stepped
into the bathtub then drew the shower curtain close so he wouldn't get
any water on the tiled floor. The shower felt good, a lot better then the
showers he had taken back at Pine Island. Not only did he lathered
himself up with a bar of sweet smelling soap, but there was a bottle of
shampoo to wash his hair with. Bobby couldn't remember the last time that
he had actually used shampoo. He spent a good fifteen minutes in the
shower. When he finished, he felt a whole lot better. He was still a
little sore after having been raped. After drying off, he put his dirty
clothes on top of the clothing hamper, then dressed into his clean
clothes.
     Fifteen minutes later he was downstairs sitting with Kim, her
mother, and Mr. Johnson who was the only guest at the boarding house that
night. When they finished eating the spaghetti dinner that Dot had
prepared for them, Mr. Johnson left leaving Bobby alone with Kim and her
mother Dot.
    "Alright, Kim why don't you tell me what's going on?" Dot said
    Kim looked across the dining room table at Bobby. She told her mother
about meeting Bobby at the train station earlier that evening then told
her mother exactly what Bobby told her. "He really needs a place where he
could stay for a little while. He's willing to work for his room and
board, aren't you Bobby?"
    "Uh huh, I'll do anything you want me to do." Bobby said, tears
welling up in his eyes again.
    "And you were arrested and sent to that industrial school for
stealing some food so that your family could have something to ear?" Dot
asked.
    "Yes, I really had no other choice. My mother,  and brother were
hungry." Bobby answered.
    "I don't blame you for doing something like that. If I was in your
situation I probably would have done the same thing. But you didn't try
to look for some work to help your family out?" Dot asked.
    '"I've tried looking for work many times, but with all the men out of
work during this depression, who would hire an eleven year old boy. If
only my dad didn't go to California after he lost his job, maybe things
would have been different. He could have looked for another job in
Middletown, but no, he told mom that all the jobs were in California, and
as soon as he found work, he would send for us and move us out there to
be with him. But that was three years ago. It had been a while since he
had last wrote to us."
    "It sounds like your father might be having other ideas rather then
becoming a family again, anyway, I tell you what. I'll let you stay here
for a while. You can work for your room a nd board. A boy your age
shouldn't even attempt to make a cross country trip like you're trying to
do. You seen what happened to you and you're not even a week into your
cross country trek. Now I know you're going to need some money, and that
I can't help you with, but I'll talk to Antonio the next time I see him.
He might have something for you where you would be able to earn a little
money to send to your mother and maybe eventually get to California to be
with your father without having to hobo your way there."
    "Thanks mom." Kim smiled. She stood up, walked over to her mother
then gave her a kiss on her forehead.
    "We'll let you stay in the small room up in the attic. I would put
you up in one of the other rooms, but you never know when we will have
boarders. Three weeks ago we had eight boarders here, this week we only
have one." Dot said.
    "The attic sounds good, and I really appreciate it." Bobby replied,
relieved now that he did have a place to stay, even though it might only
be temporary
    "Kim, why don't you take Bobby upstairs to the room in the attic and
help him get situated. I don't believe there are sheets and blankets on
the bed, so you can go too the linen closet to get them for him."
    "Okay mom." Kim chimed. "I told Bobby that I would wash his dirty
clothes for him. I can do that for him after I get him situated."
    "That will be fine." Dot said.
    "Come on Bobby, I'll take you upstairs."
    "Thank you again Dot, whatever work you want me to do, I'll do it for
you."
    "There's plenty of work around this place to be done. There is a
front yard to be mowed, bushes and tree limbs to be trimmed so don't
worry, I'm going to keep you busy."
    "Come on Bobby. I'll take you to your room." Kim said.
    Bobby followed Kim out of the dining room back into the living room.
She took him upstairs to the small bedroom in the attic. The bedroom
looked comfortable, complete with a desk and chair that he could write
on. There was a nice window view of the neighborhood. The bed looked
comfortable, a lot more comfortable then the narrow beds that Bobby had
to sleep on back at Pine Island.
    "I'll be right back with you're blanket and sheets." Kim said. She
darted out of the room. .
    Kim returned to the attic bedroom a few minutes later carrying two
sheets and a blanket. Together they went ahead and made his bed. After
his bed was made, Kim said. "You look pretty tired. You need to get some
sleep. I'll see you in the morning, okay."
    "Okay." Bobby answered. He watched as Kim left the room. Pulling off
his clothes Bobby slid under the clean sheets and blanket. He felt much
better now having bathed and eatened a good meal. As tired as he was, as
soon as he closed his eyes he drifted right off to sleep....