The Lost Boy

to prod me awake as I snored in their classes. I resented the kids who laughed at me. Some of these same kids acted high and mighty whenever they saw me labor at the restaurants, strutting in to show off their dates or flashy clothes, knowing they would never have to work like I did in order to survive.
    Sometimes during my free period, I’d stroll over to visit my English teacher, Mr Tapley. Since he didn’t have class that period, Mr Tapley used his time to correct papers. I’d plant my elbows on his desk and bug him with an endless stream of questions about my future. He knew how hard I struggled, but I was too embarrassed to tell him why I would always fall asleep. Mr Tapley would look up from his pile of work, run a hand through his thinning hair and feed me just enough advice to get me through the weekend – to bury myself in my homework assignments.
    As much as I labored through the week, I tried to schedule every other weekend off, on the off chance of visiting Father in San Francisco. Over the years, I had left hundreds of messages to all the fire stations throughout the city. Father never called back. One afternoon I lost it when a hesitant fireman tried to put me off. “Is this the right station?” I pleaded. “Just tell me, what shift does he work?” I begged, raising my voice.
    “Uhh … Stephen works at different stations at different times. We’ll get the message to him, ” the fireman said before the line went dead.
    I knew something was horribly wrong. Alice tried to stop me from fleeing her home. “My dad’s in trouble, ” I shouted, my chest heaving.
    “David, you don’t know that!” Alice blasted back.
    “That’s exactly what I mean, ” I said, pointing a finger at her. “I’m tired of living in the dark … of hiding secrets … of living a lie. What can be so bad? If my dad’s in trouble …” I stopped for a moment as my imagination began to take hold. “I just have to know, ” I said, kissing Alice on the forehead.
    I hopped on my motorcycle and sped off to the heart of San Francisco. On the freeway I dodged and swerved through the traffic, and I didn’t slow down until my motorcycle rumbled into the alley next to 1067 Post Street – the same fire station Father had been assigned to since I was a baby.
    I parked my motorcycle by the back entrance of the station. As I walked up the steep incline, I noticed an old familiar face. At first I thought the face belonged to Father, but I knew it wasn’t him when the face smiled. Father never smiled. “My Lord, son! How long has it been? I haven’t seen you boys in … I don’t know how long.”
    I shook hands with Uncle Lee, my father’s long-time partner and best friend. “Where’s Dad?” I asked in a stern voice.
    Uncle Lee turned away. “Well … he just left. He just went off shift.”
    “No, sir!” I demanded. I knew Uncle Lee was lying -firemen changed shifts in the morning, not in the middle of the afternoon. I lowered my defenses. “Uncle Lee, I haven’t seen Dad in years. I have to know.”
    Lee seemed choked up. He rubbed a tear from the corner of his eye. “Your father and I started out together, ya know. I got to tell ya, your old man was one hell of a fireman … There were times when I thought we wouldn’t make it …”
    I could feel it coming. My insides became unglued. My eyes searched for something to grab onto, to keep me from falling. I bit my lip. I nodded my head as if telling Uncle Lee to just let it out and tell me.
    Lee’s eyes blinked, showing that he understood. “Your father … doesn’t work for the department anymore. Stephen – your father – was … asked to retire early.”
    I let out a sigh of relief as I fought to control my feelings. “So he’s alive! He’s okay! Where is he?” I shrieked.
    Uncle Lee laid it all down, telling me that Father had not had work for over a year. So when his money ran out, he moved from place to place, and at times Lee feared that Father slept on the street. “David, it’s the booze. It’s killing him, ” he said in a soft but firm tone.
    “So where is he now?” I begged.
    “I don’t know, son. I only see him when he needs a few bucks.” Uncle Lee stopped for a moment to clear his throat. He looked at me in a way he never had before. “David, don’t be too hard on your old man. He never really had a family. He was a young man when he first came here to the city. He loved you kids, but the marriage destroyed him. His job