Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2022 23:04:21 -0400 From: Eric Murphey Subject: Transitions Daily Life Chapter 2 Gay adult youth Prolific Writer It was so nice to hear from so many of you. I think everyone is like me. Its nice to visit with Eric and the boys after such a long time away from them. Zero is back and editing so you will see the difference in the story. I feel like this chapter is lacking something but cant put my finger on it. Anyway here is the next chapter of our family. Thanks for reading Peace Love and Good Happiness Eric Donate to Nifty They could use a few dollars in this time of uncertainty. Transitions Daily Life Chapter 2 From the odd mind of Eric Murphey Edited by Zero Moss Eric wakes up before the light of day, rolls out of bed, and slips on his house shoes. He stumbles to the bathroom where he lets the waterworks flow and sighs as it begins. When he is done, he heads to his closet to get dressed for the day. He grabs a blue Oxford and a pair of jeans. He rarely wears jeans, but just feels the desire to wear some today. He finds them uncomfortable after wearing slacks nearly his whole life for work. He grabs some undies, slips them on, and then gets dressed. He finishes off with a pair of tennis shoes the boys got him for his birthday. They told him the shoes are very, super, cool; with three adjectives to describe how great they are, Eric figures they must be pretty cool indeed. He hasn't worn them but twice and he knows the boys will like seeing that he is wearing them today. They keep trying to get him to dress more casually, but he feels he is dressed causally most of the time. He is most comfortable in slacks and a dress shirt, usually an Oxford because he likes the buttons on the collar. He thinks it looks neat and tidy. He sees that he has a few messages on his phone, which is nothing really unusual. He sees one is from Miss Julia. Eric loving the married life in Florida. You bes be taking good care of my babies. Eric smiles and thinks how she met the man,then they were in love, and finally married fast as fast can be. He retired and they moved to Florida. She still works, but as a cleaning crew supervisor at a five-star hotel. He texts back that he will and sends his and the boys' love. Rich moved to Florida with them and stays in the guest house out back with Julius. The second message is from Chris who one of his managers and arguably the most important one since he took over Eric's original store. Need to talk to you today if possible. Eric is really curious what it's about, so he texts back, I can stop by after the boys go to school, if that works for you. A moment later he gets a text back, PERFECT. I'll buy you breakfast. Eric sends a smiley emoji back. He notices that it's still pretty early and decides to surprise the boys. He heads to the garage, takes out the car and goes to the shop. He gets what he wants and is back before they know he is gone, only fifteen minutes total. He puts the boxes on the table and makes some coffee. He is on the half-caf stuff now; it's not bad and he really doesn't notice a difference in the taste. He pours himself a cup before he hears Tran coming down the stairs. "Cool, donuts!" Tran exclaims, smiling as he grabs one, puts it in his mouth, and walks to the fridge. He pours a glass of milk and has a seat at the table. He finishes the first donut in record time and grabs a second. "No pressure, but are you going to invite your friend over tonight?" "I think I will," he answers while chomping on his third donut. "Who's coming over? COOL! Donuts!!" Joey almost shouts as he walks into the room. "A friend of your brother's." "Can I have a friend over tonight too since it's Friday?" "How about tomorrow since we are getting the phones tonight?" "But Tran is getting to have a friend over, why can't I?" Joey pouts under the influence of a bit of sibling rivalry. "Because Tran and I want to have a serious talk with his friend and we don't want a lot of noise." "But dad..." Eric looks at him with his "you better stop now" expression. "Tomorrow's cool," Joey concedes. He takes a bite of donut, knowing he will never win this discussion and that he may lose the phone he hasn't even gotten yet. "What's cool tomorrow? Shoot yeah, DONUTS!!" Alejandro belts out as he walks in. "Tran is having a friend over tonight so we can talk to him about some things, and Joey is going to have a friend stay over tomorrow," Eric explains to catch him up on what has happened so far this morning. Alejandro, already seated, starts to eat his donut. Chocolate-covered is his favorite; Joey's is strawberry and Tran's is vanilla. Eric likes them all equally well. He got three of each flavor plus an extra one of each for himself. "I suppose you would like a friend to stay over as well?" Eric asks. "Rather have some milk right now," Alejandro grins through the icing on his lips and teeth. Eric laughs, "Joey, I bet you want some too?" Joey nods as he chews. "Shows you Ba that I think ahead. I already got my milk." Eric smiles at Tran and runs his hand over his hair as he gets the boys some milk. He refills his cup as well. "Chris wants to talk to me about something, guys. If you want I can drop you at school." They all agree that would be a very fine idea and the boys go to get dressed. It's a little chilly this morning, so Eric makes the boys go grab a jacket. He gets one for himself and slips into that monster of an SUV, an Escalade. With gas as high as it is, he feels bad for everyone around the country who were already struggling to get by. Then gas prices nearly triple, and now it's even harder on them. He is going to have to think about giving his employees a raise because of gas prices and inflation generally. Eric doesn't want to raise his McDonald's prices, but he knows he will have no choice very soon. He actually kept the McDouble at one dollar for a whole year after everyone else raised it. He just knows a lot of people can't afford a lot and that it's a treat when they can get a cheeseburger. If he raises its price then some of them won't be able to, and he doesn't want to take that away from someone. The boys finally appear and climb in. "I will pick you boys up after school and we will go get your phones then." They agree where they want to be picked up and he drops them off, then heads to his store. He walks in and doesn't recognize the lady at the front counter. "I'll have a large coffee with 4 cream and 4 sugars please." "$1.84, please." She races off to get his coffee and Eric is just standing there like "Huh, really?" She is back in a jiffy, which does make him happy. He hands her two singles and she starts to hand back his change. "Put it in the slot for Ronald McDonald house." "That's real nice of you, sir. I understand the owner has a real soft spot for that place. It's a really nice facility. I stayed there when my son was sick. They didn't charge me anything either. They even had food and things too. I don't know why I thought they would have Big Macs or something, but it was regular at-home food. I signed up for the automatic payroll donation. It's only $5 a week but it adds up. Just takes a while." Eric smiles at her. "It doesn't take that long. You think how many people donate weekly like you do. Say a thousand people that's $5,000 a week. That can sure help a lot of people. And only $5 a week." She grins at his thought. "Never thought about it like that, just about what I'm giving. I think its important to help people when you can." "I think you are right about that. Now can you help me out?" "If I can?" "I need to talk to the manager. Can you let him know I'm here?" "He is real busy this morning. I doubt he will have time, but I will ask," she says, looking doubtful. "I'll just be over there," Eric says and points to a table with a smile. She races back and asks Chris. "Um, Mr Chris, sorry to bother you but a man is here and he wants to talk to you. I told him you're super busy." "Is he kind of tall and thin with hair that's kinda brown and gray mixed?" She tilts her head. "Yeah?" "Good, Mr Eric said he would stop by this morning." Fear comes across her face. "Oh my God, I charged him for his coffee. He is probably going to fire me now, and I need this job." "No, he isn't like that at all." "I feel so stupid. I told him I donate $5 a week to Ronald McDonald house. He probably thinks I'm so lame." "What did he say when you said it?" Chis asks her. "That if a thousand people do that every week it adds up fast." "I assure you he doesn't think you are lame. He admires you. He knows that $5 is a lot of money to people and that you donate it every week with the thought of just helping people. Trust me he admires you. He is a really good man." "I'm so sorry, Chris. I'm going to go apologize to him." "You don't need to, but if it makes you feel better then by all means do it. Let him know I will be there in like two minutes." "Yes sir," she says and takes off. She walks up to Eric's table. "Um, Mr Murphey, I'm sorry I didn't know who you were. I mean I should have but, well, sorry," she says looking down at her feet, feeling stupid and ashamed. "There is no reason you should know me. You're new; it's no big deal. How is your son doing?" She looks up and smiles. "He is really good now. He had leukemia but thankfully he is in remission." Eric smiles a huge grin at that news. "I'm so glad to hear that. How long?" "Three years. Fingers crossed," she replies, holding up two crossed fingers. "How old is he?" "Ten, the little trooper." Eric smiles. "I got two ten year olds, and a fourteen year old." "I know. That's why I feel stupid not recognizing you." "It's because when the boys aren't with me, no one knows who I am," he says, laughing a genuine laugh. "Oh you," she replies, and touches his shoulder. "My son is a real fan of yours." "Well, Joey is pretty famous." "No, I mean you." "What? I don't understand," Eric muses and looks at her curiously, trying to make sense of what she is saying. "When I told him I was getting laid off, he said I should work at the McDonald's in town because you owned it. He went on to tell me that you started out just a normal, regular guy who worked his way up. He said you got one McDonald's given to you and you built a massive empire from that. But what he really likes is you pay people a fair wage, and he really likes your sons. He says that they are like that because of your influence." "No, they are like they are because of how they are. I had nothing to do with that." "He said if he could have a dad, it would be one like you," whereupon she turns beat red. "Oh, I mean um I don't, um..." He laughs, "It's okay, I know what you meant." "Oh my God, wait till I tell Tyler what I did. He will think it's hilarious. Eric sees Chris walking up through the kitchen. He glances quickly at her name tag and says, "It was really nice to meet you, Joan. I see Chris is coming." He holds out his hand and she takes it. "It was nice to meet you, Mr Murphey." "Just Eric." She blushes again and heads back to her work area. Chris sits down and takes a drink of his coffee. "So what's up, Chris?" "I'm in a bind and I need your advice." Eric reaches out and puts his hand on Chris arm. "Anything I can do to help." "I am going on vacation to Hawaii with the wife in three days." "Sounds fun." "I can't go." "Why not?" "My first was in a car wreck and was banged up pretty good. She is going to be out of work at least a few weeks. I called and it seems no one in the area can help out. So who can I call to fill in for me that I know will do a good job?" "I got nothing going on. I can fill in for you. The boys are in school. You leave Monday so that will work out perfectly. Where is the problem?" "But you can't work anymore." Eric sighs. "I can work, I just can't overdo it. Now that I have the boys, I'm going to want to go home on time and be there for them. Before, I didn't have anything or anyone to go home for. so I stayed here and I don't regret it. But I assure you I will not be working 80 hours a week. I will work 45 just like I require from you." "I can't ask you to do that." "You didn't. I'm telling you this is what is going to happen. I do own the place, remember?" Eric reminds him with a smile. "Okay, you start Monday at 7. Is that good?" "Sounds great to me." "I don't have any manager shirts. I will order some for you." "I can wear a t shirt until they come in. It's fine." "I can't imagine you in a t-shirt." "Maybe someone will take a picture," he says, smiling. "That didn't take long. I better get back to work." "Enjoy your vacation. You deserve it." Chris smiles as he gets up. Eric thinks that, indeed, it didn't take any time at all. He decides to go the animal shelter and see what goes into raising a dog. He never wanted one, really. It's not that he dislikes them, it just that he always worked. But now that the boys want one, it doesn't hurt to ask questions. He wants a couple of hash browns, though; he hasn't had one in ages. He walks over to the counter. "Joan, can I get a few hash browns please?" "Sure." She rushes over and starts to put them in a bag. "I will just slip them in my pocket,"he tells her with a smile. He pulls out $5 to pay and holds it out to her. She just shakes her head. He puts it in the slot for the Ronald McDonald house and she smiles at him. "Have a beautiful day, Joan." "You too, sir." Eric puts two hash browns in his pocket and starts to nibble on the other. He gets into the Escalade and drives to the shelter. Once he arrives he looks at the place and sees a typical animal shelter: a building with a fence around it, and dogs barking. He walks in and sees a lady behind the counter. "Good morning. I am thinking of adopting a dog. My boys want one and I just know nothing about it. Could you help me out a bit?" She looks up from the computer. He recognizes her but can't place her name. She smiles when she sees him. "Of course, Mr Eric. What do you want to know?" He is studying her face, still trying to figure out where is knows her from. She is about five years or so younger than himself, so he knows it's not from school. She called him Mr Eric, so she must be a former employee. It's not like him to forget a name. "Well, it's just....I don't know where to begin. I've never owned a dog. I mean, I know they eat, but what kind of food should I get? How often do they need to exercise? You know, basically what do I do to make a dog's life happy?" "Just like with people, you just love them. As for food, there are many options." She goes on and explains for about five minutes what to do and how to treat and feed a dog. She is obviously very good at her job and loves animals. When she finishes she looks at him and asks, "So you want to look at the puppies, then?" Eric, feeling overwhelmed a bit from all the information, just nods. They walk through a gate and he starts looking in the cages at the puppies as they walk along. "If you see one you like just let me know and I will tell you all I know about it, which to be honest might not be much. Most of our furry friends are just dropped off here." Eric keeps walking and comes to a cage with a dog laying in the back corner, not paying any mind to anything going on. The other dogs are all at their gates, barking and trying to gain his attention. But this one wants nothing to do with anything, it seems. "What's the deal with this one?" Eric asks, stopping and looking into the cage at the little guy. She glances at Eric and looks at the dog in the back of the kennel. "That's Buddy. He is a Jack Russell and well you wouldn't want him. He has been severely abused. He has been here a good while and I hate to say it, but today is his last day." "I thought this was a no-kill shelter." "We do our best, but sometimes a dog just can't be adopted. Sadly our funding is so minimal that we just can't afford to keep all of them that will never find a family," she explains with a tear forming in her eye. Eric opens the gate and walks in the eight feet or so to the dog who lifts his head and growls at him. "He isn't friendly at all. As I said he was severely abused by his former owner, so much so that the owner is now in jail for it. Buddy won't connect with anyone. I have tried for weeks now to bring him out of his shell. He won't have anything to do with anyone. He is not the dog for you and your family. I have one I think you would be interested in. It's a puppy and he is so playful and fun; your boys will love him." Eric takes a few steps back and starts to walk out of the kennel and he looks back and stops when he sees the dog trembling. He has a flash of Alejandro lying in the hospital bed, covered in bruises and not talking to anyone. He was so severely abused too. A tear slips from Eric's eye. "Would it be alright if I just sit in here for a while?" "I don't think it will do any good, and I still think he is not a good choice. He has been so abused there is no hope of him ever being a normal dog." Eric is kind of pissed that she said this. Sometimes abuse destroys a person or an animal, but no person or animal is beyond help to try to regain a normal life. Eric shuts the gate and sits down on the hard pavement next to it, with the dog still at the other end of the cage, eight feet away, eyeing him suspiciously. "I will let you know what I decide in a while," he informs the lady. "I think you are wasting your time, but it's yours to waste," she curtly replies as she walks away. With the dog still eyeing him, Eric just sits there for as few minutes, acting like he is looking at his phone and ignoring the dog. After five minutes of this, Eric starts softly talking to the dog. "Buddy, I got three boys who I know would just love you. First let me tell you about Alejandro..." Eric talks softly to the dog for a good hour about the boys and life in general, and how he wishes it would be better for everyone. How when he hears or sees abuse, it hurts him. He tells the dog it's like a thousand little pins pricking his soul each time. His tummy rumbles and he remembers the hash browns in his pocket. He pulls one out, breaks a piece off and pops it in his mouth. Buddy looks at the hash brown and Eric can see he is interested. So he breaks off a little piece and tosses it softly towards him, which causes the dog to jump. "I'm so sorry Buddy, I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to share is all." The dog sniffs the hash brown, then sticks out his tongue, picks up the piece, and eats it. He looks at Eric with hope of another piece. "You like that do you? I tell you what, I can get you tons of hash browns if you like." He tosses a piece but not as close this time. He doesn't want to startle the dog again. It lands a couple feet away from the laying down dog. He gets up and walks eyeing Eric as he does. The poor little thing is trembling and his tail is between his legs. "Oh Buddy, don't be scared. It's okay; I won't hurt you. I just want to be your friend." The dog quickly laps up the hash brown and goes back to his corner, sits, and resumes staring at Eric, not really knowing what to make of him. Eric tosses a piece towards the center of the floor. The dog looks at Eric and waits a moment before he goes and quickly snatches the piece and races back to his corner. "You know Buddy, I like you. I want you to come live with me and my sons. I think you will really like them. But we need to make a connection somehow before it's too late," Eric says softly. He tosses another piece to the dog a bit closer to himself. The dog looks at it, eyes Eric, and races over to get it. Eric notices that this time, his tail is down but not tucked under him. "There you go Buddy, nothing to be scared of here. Just a guy with three boys who will all want to love you is all." This time Buddy doesn't race back to his corner. He just stares at Eric hoping for another piece. Eric tosses the last bit to him and the dog snaps it up quickly. Eric crumples the paper it came in and the dog rushes back to the corner. "I'm sorry again; I didn't mean to scare you. I do have another one if you want," Eric tells him, reaching in his pocket to pull out the second hash brown. "I tell you what Buddy, my ass is getting sore from sitting on this concrete. I bet you would be lots more comfortable sleeping on carpet or a doggie bed at my house. I know three boys who would gladly share their beds with you too," Eric calmly tells him, and tosses a bit toward the center of the room. Buddy races to get it and stops and stares again, ready to flee as far as he can if needed. He can't go far and it wouldn't give him any protection anyway. But he is scared. He has right to be when all he has known is abuse from people. Eric keeps tossing a piece every so often a bit closer to him each time. When its almost gone he holds out the last piece in his hand and Buddy very slowly walks toward him. He looks around for a way to escape if it's a trick, and then gets as close as he can without getting too close. He stretches out his neck and takes the piece from Eric's outstretched hand. "There ya go. That's a good boy. Good boy," Eric assures him. "What a good puppy you are, Buddy," Eric repeats in a soothing voice. Buddy sits close enough that Eric can reach out and pet him, but so close that he can't retreat. Eric talks to him softly for a good five minutes. "Now Buddy, I'm going to pet you. I'm going to move reaaaaaaal slow so hopefully it doesn't frighten you. Now here we go, okay?" Eric lifts his hand and moves it very slowly towards to dog who is watching him very closely. It takes him a good minute before he reaches the top of the dogs head and gently pets it. "Now that's a good boy. You're a good puppy, aren't you?" The dog isn't sure what to think of the man. He isn't sure what he feels, either, but he isn't so scared now. He is still scared enough that he is trembling a bit, though. "It's okay to be scared, Buddy. You don't know me yet. But I think you will." Eric gently scratches the top of his head and he can see the dog is liking it. He slowly moves his hand down onto his back and gently pets him. As he is petting him Buddy is inching towards Eric a little at a time. "Yes, you are a good puppy, aren't you? You just need some love like everything and everyone else in the world. Now who wouldn't want that? I know I like being loved." It takes a good ten minutes of softly talking and gently stroking before the dog is next to him. It takes another fifteen before Buddy is on his lap being petted and seeming to enjoy every single stroke from Eric. "Now I will be honest with you, Buddy. My boys are noisy and I'm sure they will frighten you a lot. But they are good boys and will never hurt you. They are going to love you soooo very much. It will take you a while to get used to them being noisy, but during the day it will just be us in the house. So what do you think, Buddy? You want to come home with me?" As he says this, the dog gently licks Eric's hand once. "I will take that as a yes." Eric sits and pets the dog another half an hour before the lady comes around. "I never thought I would see it. I've tried to get him to come to me. I couldn't ever get him to do it." "Yeah I will take him. Do you have a crate I can buy or borrow. I don't want him to get hurt in the truck." "Sure, we sell them." So Eric gets up holding Buddy in his arms. He follows her to the front and pays for the dog. He gets a collar, a name tag, a crate, food, toys, chew toys, and just about anything else they had, too. He smiles as he slips the dog into the crate in the back of the truck. "We got to go get the boys and then go home. It will be a little while so try to relax," he tells Buddy as he puts him in the truck. He goes to get Tran first as high school lets out before the elementary school does. When he arrives, he gets out and waits for Tran. He hears the bell and five minutes later, Tran appears. "Hi Ba you have a good day?" he says as he hugs Eric. "I had a great day. Is your friend coming over this evening?" "He said he can be there at 6 since he has piano lessons first." "On a Friday?" "That's what I said. But he said he doesn't care. He loves learning the piano." "That's good then. I want you to know I got a dog today." Trans face lights up with a smile. "Where is he? Can I see him?" he asks excitedly. "He is in the truck. He has been badly abused and he is a very skittish little guy. It may take a while before he takes to us. It took me about four hours to get him to even come to me, and I bribed him with hash browns. So don't get your hopes up that you're going to be playing Frisbee in the yard with him later tonight. It may never happen. I just couldn't let them kill the little guy." "We will get him to be a happy puppy," Tran declares confidently, still grinning. "We will sure try anyway, right?" "We sure will." They get in the truck and go to get Joey and Alejandro. Eric does the same thing and waits outside the truck for them, warning them not to be loud and frighten Buddy. Eric had to tell Alejandro that he was most assuredly not going to ride in the back with the dog that he would be safely buckled in. When they get home, they help Eric unload all the dog stuff and carry it into the house. They put the dog in the garage still in his crate, and quickly go and get the cell phones. Eric doesn't really want to leave the dog and the boys don't either, but he promised them, and they do want their phones. When they get back an hour later, Eric picks up the crate with Buddy in it and carries him to the living room. He opens the crate, figuring the dog would race out. Buddy stays in the back of the crate and peers out at the boys and Eric. "Why don't you boys go knock out your homework and maybe he will have come out by then." He gets the usual, "But dad, it's Friday," from Joey. Eric reminds him that it's better to get homework out of the way so they can enjoy their weekend. Alejandro gets his homework, lays in front of the dog crate, and proceeds to softly read his homework to the dog. Eric's phone rings and he goes into his office to answer it so he doesn't interrupt Alejandro doing his homework. It's someone with business plans, and Eric sits down at his computer to look them over. They are pretty detailed and he knows it will take him a few hours to go over it. He wants to put it off, but as the boys would no doubt remind him if they knew, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. So he starts in on the work. In the other room Alejandro is finishing up his work. He closes his book and looks up at the dog who is staring at him from inside the cage. "I'm gonna get a cookie. I bet you want one too," Alejandro tells Buddy. He hops up, races to the kitchen, and comes back with a handful of cookies. He sits in front of the crate with his legs crossed and puts a cookie in the cage. Buddy looks at him, sniffs the cookie, and eats it. Alejandro sits and eats his cookies silently. When he is done he lays down in front of the cage. He starts talking to the dog softly. "I know what it's like to get beat up all the time. It makes you real scared to be around anyone. Makes you want to just find a spot and hide forever. Its' not good, that's for sure. But you are safe now. Just like me. You will learn that Poppi is great and you will love him lots. My brothers are real nice too. So you take your time and get used to us and pretty soon you will be happy like me. I'm not saying you won't have bad thoughts and memories; I still do. Sometimes I dream that I wake up and all of this is a dream. That's a real scary dream. But then I go and sleep with Poppi, it's all better when he wraps his arms around me and holds me. I always feel so safe that way because I know he loves me so much. I love him too," Alejandro says, and then can't stifle a yawn. "I really want to pet you, but I don't want to scare you. So I will wait until you are ready." Alejandro continues talking to the dog for a good fifteen minutes more and dozes off in front of the crate. When he dozes off Buddy lifts his head and peers around. He walks to the edge of the crate and looks around again and he slowly climbs out and lays next to the boy. He starts to fall asleep as he feels Alejandro wrap his arm around him and hold him close. The little dog's tail wags briefly before he falls asleep after a long hard day of adjustments.