The Protector Series

Terry and James graduated from the University with "Honors" and, as they walked from the presentation platform, they found Saint Michael, the Arch Angel, waiting for them, dressed only as "Old Michael". He wrapped his arms around the boys and said, "Now, it begins. Go you to the City of Angels and there you will find your calling." As they turned, their parents, Jacob and Naomi and Linda and Paul were waiting for them. They had graduation gifts for the pair, the keys to a brand new Ford F-150 pickup, new luggage and checks for $10,000 for each of them. Their mothers cried as their fathers told them that they were to go to Los Angeles and there, they would be guided to their final destination. Unseen by any of them, Michael said, "They are the best WARRIOR PROTECTORS yet!"

Terry and James departed from their home the next morning, leaving that sanctuary of safety they had been protected in and their parent's loving embrace. As much as they looked forward to the life of Service to Saint Michael, they were sad at their parent's distress. Both sets of parents were devastated at Terry and James' leaving. They had come to love the two young men whom Michael had given into their care, even as they knew the two were destined for great Service. Both Terry and James drove off with heavy hearts and tears on their faces, neither certain of their future, knowing only their absolute trust in their Benefactor. It was a trip that would consume several days.

They had cashed their graduation gift checks and opened bank accounts upon which they could draw. The bank had no questions of their desire for a joint account and issued them both credit cards and debit cards in each of their names. As they drove down the highway, both speculated upon what would meet them in Los Angeles, the City of Angels.

Across the Great Southwestern Desert, they drove, stopping only at night to rest. Their last night before Los Angeles, they spent in a motel in Barstow, California. They had supper in a small diner and then collapsed in their beds, exhausted by the long drive across the desert. Unknown to the other, each dreamed that night of Michael and their destination.

They awoke the next morning, fully rested and refreshed.

Terry started to say, "I dreamed of..."

James interrupted him, saying, "I, also dreamed!"

Terry smiled, "Yes, we dreamed together, we are to go to The St. Michael's Boy's Home in Anaheim!"

James grinned and nodded his head, "Yes, we dreamed together, my love."

They climbed into the truck and began the final leg of their journey, eager to begin their Service. They drove through the maze of freeways that is Greater Los Angeles, following the map and freeway signs, somehow, they seemed to know which off-ramps to take. As they dropped off the final freeway, there, before them stood a dilapidated, wreck of a building, fenced off, seemingly deserted and abandoned with a weathered sign, "ST. MICHAEL'S BOY'S HOME".

James said, "This must be what we are supposed to do."

They parked the truck and found an opening in the fence that they could squeeze through. They walked all around the building and finally found a broken door they could enter. As they climbed the stairs to the old main floor, they heard the scuffle of running feet. James and Terry stood in the ruined main rotunda of the building and called out, "Who is there, we mean you no harm."

A boy, about 15 years old, came out from a room and said, "Wh hu, Who are yo, you?" The boy was obviously terrified and incredibly dirty, dressed in clothing that was more hole than cloth. He continued, "Whooooo sent you?"

Terry knelt down before the frightened young teen and replied, "I am Terry and this is my partner, James. Michael has sent us to care for you."

The boy dissolved into tears and ran to Terry, hugging him for dear life, "We have dreamed of you both!"

Terry asked, "WE?"

The boy replied, "Yes, I have been keeping them safe for so long, but I am out of money and we are all so hungry. There is a big envelope in our room that has both of your names on it." At that, the boy whistled and screamed, "They are here! They are here!" Immediately, a dozen boys ran from the room and clung to Terry and James, all crying in their desperation and hunger.

James said, "Terry, you stay here and I will go buy food for the boys!" He then turned to the crowd of young boys and said, "Hang in there, guys, I will be back with food as soon as I can!" He then ran back to the truck and went in search of a grocery store, where he started to buy food in case lots!

Terry sat with the boys and found out the oldest boy was Paul. Paul brought the envelope to Terry, who was astounded at what he read. "Terry and James, you are the proud owners of this building, and custody papers for these children are in this envelope. Good Luck, Michael." As Terry looked in the envelope, there was also papers approving "St. Michael's Boy's Home" for occupancy, a bank record book showing a balance of $300,000 in their name and the name of a building maintenance company and their telephone number.

Paul told him that the water was turned on and there was electricity, but they had been afraid to turn on any lights at night for fear that they would be chased away. James returned with the truck filled with food, all the boys eagerly carried everything in and showed them where the kitchen was.

The first thing they did was to make sandwiches for all the boys, along with fresh fruit and glasses of milk. James had also purchased soap and towels in hope that they could get the boys cleaned up. After their hunger had been appeased, the boys showed Terry and James around the building. It was in much better repair than it looked from the outside. In the basement, they found a full laundry and hot water heaters. When Terry pushed the "ON" button of the hot water heaters, they came to life with a "WHOOSH." They continued their exploration, finding bedrooms and shower rooms on the upper floors. Terry tried the water in a washbasin and found hot water was already present! In a closet, they discovered more towels and wash clothes.

They gathered the boys together and sent them to the showers to get cleaned up. Terry gathered their clothing and carried it all down to the laundry, hoping that the rags would survive.

Since they had paperwork proving they owned the building, Terry and James started turning on the lights and found more supplies stored in closets. Bedding and pillows were discovered in a bunk room. There were even toys in the recreation room! Another storeroom yielded a treasure trove of boy's clothing all neatly folded and sealed in plastic bags!

For the first time that many of the boys could remember, their tummies were full and their bodies were clean. Terry and James got them dressed in new clothing, their old clothes had shredded in the laundry! Terry started making supper, thankful that his Mother, Naomi, had taught him how to cook. Dishes and cookware were found in cupboards and James helped the boys set the table.

As it began to get dark, the lights were on and they were just sitting down to their first home-cooked meal, baked chicken, rice, fresh corn on the cob and a cherry cobbler for dessert. One small boy, Carl, broke down into tears, Terry and James ran to him and cuddled him under their arms, asking what was wrong. Through his tears, Carl said, "I didn't think I would ever have nice things to wear again, have good food and be clean and warm." He sobbed in their arms and then whispered in both their ears, "Can I call you Poppa?"

As they were cleaning up from the meal, a knock was heard on the front door. James went to answer it and found a policeman standing there. "I am Police Sergeant Bobby Bonds, I am surely glad you men have gotten here!" Terry looked at the policeman in question, he just smiled and said, "Michael."

They invited the policeman in and offered him a cup of coffee. The children looked at him in fear, getting ready to run. Bobby sat in a chair and said, "Boys, you belong here, this is your place, your home!" He held out his arms and was deluged in boys, long deprived of a loving father, wanting a hug and cuddle. Bobby stayed and helped them put the boys to bed that night and then he sat with them to explain his presence. He began, "I was saved, long ago, by Michael. He stopped me from doing something incredibly foolish and unnecessary. I was going to off myself. You see, I am gay and was being abused by my family and schoolmates. I had stolen my father's gun and had the muzzle in my mouth when Michael convinced me to go with him. I have been protecting children ever since. I am the Juvenile Officer for this precinct and he told me you were coming." He continued, "Are you ready for more boys? I have another twenty boys stashed with friends, who are caring for them until you got here."

Terry and James looked at each other, Terry said, "Bobby, we will take any boy but it is just James and myself right now."

Bobby smiled, "No, there are at least four young men whom Michael has already told to come to you tomorrow."

James laughed, "Michael is always one step ahead of us. Bring the boys when your young men come tomorrow."

Bobby stood up and hugged them both, as he left, he nearly stumbled, there was a little red-haired boy sitting on the front steps crying. He stooped down and the boy looked at him, "Is this the place Mr. Michael told me to come to? Where I can have a meal and a safe place to sleep?"

He scooped the child up and came back to James and Terry, "Here is a down payment, I will bring the rest in the morning."

Terry stood there, holding the child in his arms and the little boy said, "Are you Mr. Michael's sons?"

James and Terry looked at each other and said, "We are all the Sons of Michael!"

They got the new boy, who said his name was Jerry, a warm bath and some clean night clothes before fixing him a light supper. Paul heard them talking, so he came downstairs to see what was going on. He saw Jerry sitting in Terry's lap, eating a sandwich and drinking milk. He giggled and said, "Looks like that spare bed is gonna be used tonight." He hugged Jerry and said, "I got a clean bed all ready for you."

Jerry began to cry, "Clean, dry, warm? I haven't slept in a bed since Mama ran off with that sailor man! Even my brother, Joey has disappeared."

By the time Paul had convinced Jerry to go upstairs and get some sleep in a real bed, Terry and James were struggling to keep from crying themselves. It had been an emotional day, James and Terry were ready for bed themselves. They went around and locked all the doors and turned out the lights before they went to their own beds, just down the hall from the bunk room. They left their door open so they could hear if any of the boys needed them. Their heads had hardly hit the pillows before they were both asleep from exhaustion.

It seemed like only minutes, when Paul was shaking their pillows, "Mr. Terry, Mr. James, its morning and Mr. Bobby will be bringing new boys soon."

Terry and James clambered up out of the clouds of sleep and blinked in the bright sunlight streaming in through the window. They both jumped up, out of bed, there was a hallway full of hungry boys waiting for them! Terry ran all the boys through the bathroom, making sure everyone had brushed their teeth and washed their hands.

By the time they came down the stairs, smells of frying bacon assaulted their noses and, like hunting dogs, they went racing to the source, all standing around James like starving puppies! Each boy trying to out-plead the others for a handout. Terry started filling glasses with orange juice and James began loading platters with bacon, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes. He stirred a large pot of oatmeal and set it in the middle of the table. By the time that hungry horde of locusts had filled their tummies, not a scrap of breakfast remained. The boys dutifully loaded their dirty dishes in an industrial-sized dishwasher and then ran back upstairs to get dressed.

As boys began to trickle back downstairs, there was a knock on the front door. Terry opened the door and there stood four late teen boys and a herd of younger boys all crowded around them. Bobby was with them and made the introductions. As he got to a red-haired teen, there came another red-haired streak racing across the room screaming, "Joey, Joey!" Little Jerry had found his missing older brother. The two clung to each other, crying and kissing.

Joe looked at Terry, "We were separated and I looked everywhere for Jerry. I had a dream, a man named Michael told me to go to Mr. Bobby and I would find my little Brother!"

Jerry looked at all the other new boys, "You are gonna like it here, the Sons of Michael will take good care of ya."

James looked at Terry, "Sons of Michael?"

Terry grinned, "Well, it does kinda fit?"

From that day on, Terry and James were called "The Sons of Michael" by all their boys.

Several times a week, Bobby would bring homeless boys to St. Michael's. He always saw to it that the proper paperwork was taken care of as he knew neither Terry nor James had ever been confronted with the demands of California Laws. By the end of the month, there were forty boys in residence at St. Michael's!

Bobby was sitting in their kitchen, enjoying a peaceful cup of coffee. Terry walked in and sat down, "Bobby, if you bring us any more boys, we are going to need more help."

Bobby asked him, "What do you need?"

Terry replied, "We need a cook, someone to help doing laundry and some more mentors. Even a clerk, I spend all day writing reports to some state agencies."

Bobby said, "My part.. no, MY MATE is an accountant and I know where we can get some more mentors. Our Department clerk was forced to retire, but she didn't go willingly!"

Terry said, "She?"

Bobby smiled, "Yeah, Granny Thomas, she is everybody's Grandma. I will have to think about the laundry."

Two days later, Bobby showed up with three older teens, a heavy-set man with tattoos on his arms and a gray-haired lady. He introduced Hazel Thomas and her husband, Joel. Hazel had been a Police Department Clerk and Joel had just retired from the Navy as a Ship's Cook. The Teens were looking to work with homeless boys, as they had been only months before. Hazel spotted little Carl, their youngest boy, sitting on a chair and looking at the table hoping that some food might magically appear, she went over to him and picked him up.

He looked at her Grandmotherly face and hugged her tight, "Will you be my Grandma?"

She gave up trying to hold back her tears at the little boy's request, "Yes, I will be your Grandma."

James showed Joel the kitchen and said, "Let's fix lunch."

Joel replied, "Let's ME fix lunch, you get the kids washed up to eat it!" He proceeded to put together a meal of toasted cheese and ham sandwiches, french fries, cream of tomato soup and strawberry ice cream for dessert.

One young teen came back and asked, "Please, Mr. Cook, may I have another sandwich?" Joel fixed him another sandwich and loaded his plate with more boy food - french fries!

One of the older teens, who had just come with Bobby, sat on the floor in tears, "I dreamed about a place like this when I was in that county home, a man named Michael told me it would get better. THIS is what he meant!"

Daniel, Bobby's mate, arrived and took over the bookkeeping. He had retired from the bank due to an injury, but he was perfectly capable of maintaining the Home's financial affairs. He kept all the bills paid on time and St. Michaels had an A+ credit rating!

By the end of the third month, there were one hundred boys in residence and a lawyer stopped by with papers for them, a wealthy businessman had died and left $3 million for St. Michael's in his will! That would take the financial pressure for a while.

Terry called the building maintenance firm and told them that they needed the outside painted and repaired and that the two upper floors needed to be rehabilitated so that boys could live in them. They said they would be out the next day. It took several weeks, but finally, there was enough space for another hundred boys. They added another hot water heater to supply the showers and another washing machine was installed. Joel called on some of his old Navy buddies to come help, one in the kitchen and another to do the laundry. Young boys can get more clothes dirty faster than any machine can clean them!

There were now almost 150 boys living at St. Michael's. They voted to wear shirts and sweaters that said "SONS OF MICHAEL" across the front, they were proud of who they were. In school, after the first couple of tussles, the bullies learned to leave the "SONS" alone! Every boy was encouraged to do his best, the Honor Roll was loaded with "SONS" and they were a major force in team sports.

The name, "Sons of Michael" stuck, whenever one of the staff identified themselves, it was always, "I am a Son of Michael" and Hazel would call herself "From the Sons of Michael".

Bobby was becoming overloaded, there were more and ever more homeless boys to be cared for. Terry came up with the idea of painting a sign on the van, "SONS OF MICHAEL" and cruising the streets where homeless boys were known to gather. Terry or James would take some of the older boys with them and park the van in an area where homeless boys would see it. The older St. Michael's residents would then take a younger boy and hold his hand while they walked down the street. Every boy they saw, they would tell them of St. Michael's Boy's Home and that they were St. Michael's Boys. It was not uncommon for them to come back to the van leading and, in some cases, carrying boys in need!

On one such trip, Terry took Paul and Carl with him. He sat in the van to observe, he looked down the sidewalk and saw Carl wildly waving his arms. Terry jumped out of the van and raced to where Carl was waving. Carl pointed into a filthy, junk-filled alley where he saw Paul kneeling down on the dirty pavement. Terry ran to Paul, and there, he found a small boy who had been beaten. Blood was flowing from one of his ears and one leg was bent in an unnatural way. Terry handed Paul his cell phone and told him to call 911. Bobby had gotten Police Auxiliary Badges for him and James, so he pulled that out and held it ready for the police and ambulance response. The boy was severely hurt, Terry did what he could to stem the bleeding, but it didn't seem enough and he could not hear any responding sirens.

He looked up, "Please, St. Michael, help me save this child!" he begged. Suddenly, he felt a presence of peace, he looked at the child and the bleeding had stopped. Just then, the EMS arrived with Bobby right behind them, sirens wailing.

As the paramedics were working on the child, Bobby took Terry aside and said, "He said he will be ok!" Terry did not need to ask who "he" was, he KNEW!

The newspapers, the next day, were headlined, "SONS OF MICHAEL SAVE ABUSED BOY."

The boy, Billy, came back to them from the hospital a few days later. As he was being carried into the Home, he asked to be put down for a moment. He then said, "Which of you is Mr. Terry?"

Terry replied, "I am."

Billy then said, "Mr. Michael said to tell you thank you!" Terry held the boy and then carried him up to his waiting room himself. As he was laying Billy down on his bed, Billy asked, "Who is Mr. Michael?"

Terry smiled and replied, "Nobody really knows for sure, but I'll bet he is YOUR Guardian Angel!"

The boy was already asleep, the painkillers the hospital had given him had knocked him out.

St. Michael's Boy's Home continued to grow, adjacent land was purchased and another building was begun, the old one was nearing capacity. The recent financial troubles seemed to increase the number of homeless boys on the streets. The older boys and young men were beginning to take a management roll in their Home. The rooms of the addition began filling almost before the paint had dried on the walls! The two hundred boys mark was reached and almost immediately surpassed!

Bobby decided to retire from the police force and he came to work as an administrator. Terry and James loved to walk through the halls of St. Michael's, listening to the happy chatter of boys who felt safe and protected. The new Board of Governors voted to purchase three more vans and staff them with a driver and a medic. They found that there was a steady supply of Navy Corpsmen available by contacting the Naval Reserve Center. They hired several to staff a First Aid Room and also the Rescue Vans, as they were now being called - the sign on the sides of the van read, "SONS OF MICHAEL RESCUE VAN". No more would they be satisfied waiting for an ambulance to rescue a hurt boy.

Billy became a leading advocate of the Rescue Vans, he was out every weekend helping find boys in need. He would walk into an alley, absolutely without fear and emerge with hurt, hungry and frightened boys. He was asked one time, why he did that, his only reply was, "Michael told me where to look!" Donations were pouring in and the finances were, at last, on a steady foundation.

One evening, Terry and James had wandered through the buildings, greeting and hugging their boys, looking at homework that was being done, art projects and even the work of a boy developing a computer program for his class work. They turned a corner in the hall and found themselves face to face with Saint Michael the Arch Angel! Both went to their knees, honoring he who had done so much for them, had saved both of them and had set them on the road to creating St. Michael's Boy's Home. He reached out, touched each of their foreheads and said, "It is time, be ready." At that, he faded from their sight. Both knew, St. Michael had more work for them. They quietly went to their rooms and packed their bags.

As they were finishing, Bobby burst into their rooms, his face covered in tears, "I know, but I am going to miss you both so much, what do I tell the boys?"

Terry replied, "Tell them that we are needed to help other boys, other boys who need saving as they did." Bobby hugged both of them, but when they tried to leave their rooms, the hallways were packed with crying boys.

James held up his hand, asking for quiet, "Boys, we cannot stay here when there are boys in need as you were, boys that are hungry, boys that have no roof over their heads, boys who have no place safe to sleep tonight! We must go and help those boys now. Pray for us that we can help them as we have helped you, continue your rescues, continue your schooling, and continue to care for those who are uncared for. WE ARE ALL THE SONS OF MICHAEL! TERRY AND I ARE MORE, WE ARE THE PROTECTORS!"

AFTERWORD:

Terry and James loaded into their truck and headed out of town, not knowing where St. Michael wanted them to go. They chose to drive north, knowing they would be guided.

Their story will be continued in BOOK 3 - "THE WARRIORS OF ST. MICHAEL"