The Son I Never Had

Heading up the bridge I saw a bicyclist riding toward me. Ugh, I thought, this is going to be a tight fit. But the young rider stopped as we met, and asked me a question.

Markus's bike in the foyer of Lombard
Middle School. The big arrow points to
the entry buzzer.

"Do you know how to get to Lombard?"

"I'm sorry, what?" I replied plucking the Bose buds from my ears. He had to repeat it twice more because of wind and traffic noise.

"Yeah, you go on up to Seminary and cross carefully," I directed. "Turn left and go to Knox Street. Turn right and just keep going  and you'll get there."

"I won't remember that," he said, bewildered.

I paused, thinking of my next move. I was running for the first time in six days. I was short on time, having a lunch date in Macomb with a dear friend I haven't seen in months. I was ... making excused.

"Come on, I'll show you. I'll take you there."

"Were you going someplace important?" he asked.

Nope, just out for a run.

He sped off down the hill as I jogged after him. I halted him at my house to get my bike. We'd ride together. Since he was on his bike I didn't really consider driving, and in hindsight I figure it was best not to ask a child who doesn't know me into my car. Maybe in more extreme circumstances, but this situation seemed doable by bike.

He complimented me on my house, and as I headed for the back door to get my bike, asked if I had anything that I could use to tighten the sagging chain on his bike.

"It keeps coming off," he said glumly.

I went inside and grabbed a couple of wrenches, flipped his bike upside down and we tightened the chain. Laying the wrenches on the cabinet inside the back porch door I went straight back to the driveway without shutting the inside back door. D'oh. No worries, though; foot traffic is light in my 'hood and the folks trustworthy.

We headed out and I immediately realized my directions, while workable, weren't the safest route for a kid on a bike, so we stayed on Fourth Street to Day, then headed north to Knox and on east from there to Lombard Middle School.

I'll throw in here that I tried to instill in him some safe riding tips, mostly keeping to the right out of the middle of the road. And to slow down when approaching an intersection in case of cross-traffic - especially important for a boy on a bike with no brakes! His little freestyle bike with a freewheel in back should have been equipped with at least a front hand brake. But the bike was bare. He skidded his left foot on the pavement to slow his forward momentum, Fred Flintstone-style.

I began asking questions as we rode. Young Markus, 9, of Holton Street was looking for a friend. He'd missed the bus to Steele School and his mom and older brother were nowhere to be found when he awoke. The friend at Lombard would know how to reach his mom.

What the hell? Who leaves a 9-year-old home alone without notice? I've heard stories from my ex-wife when she was kindergarten aide. It's a messed up world when this is how we treat our children.

We arrived at Lombard and stopped at the bike rack, where I locked our bikes together.

"Wow, nobody could get through that," he said in awe of my Kryptonite U-lock.

Ah, my boy, you don't know the skills of a big city bike thief. We're lucky in that way here in little ol' Galesburg.

I took him inside, buzzed the security button for admission to the office and explained the situation to the secretaries. They called his home number but nobody answered. They called Steele and explained the situation. Somebody would be over to get him.

"My mom has a ride for me," he protested.

But the secretaries assured him it would be OK.

They thanked me several times for bringing him in. Wouldn't anybody do the same, though? I feel some shame in my hesitation, but I rose to the occasion. I don't think that's special. And I don't tell this story for it to be about me. It's about the world we live in. And the fact that sometimes it really does take a village.

I unlocked our bikes and took his into the foyer of the school. There I left the son I never had. My friend Jane coined the phrase when I told her the story after my lunch with Kristyne. She said I was Markus's surrogate dad. I guess for a few minutes today I was.

Today's Stats (Monday, Nov. 19, 2013)

Temp: 31 degrees F

Distance: 2.65 miles (by bike)

Weekly Total: 2.65 miles

Treasure: 1 lost boy.

iPod Playlist (Shuffle)
 

Excitable Boy - Warren Zevon