Lean on Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

the
whole way back. We have a big day and we’re going into town
tonight, remember?”
    “ For our surprise
engagement party?” Dahlia asked.
    “ Exactly,” Troy said. “And
to get ready for the marathon.”
    He went to the closet where he found his
clean green T-shirt with “ARMY” on the front.
    “ It’s cool out,” Dahlia
said. “Take a sweatshirt.”
    “ We won’t be out that
long,” Troy said.
    “ Daddy?” Hector James
pounded on the door. “Daddy?”
    “ I’ll take my cell phone,”
Troy said. He stuffed the phone and wireless headset in his pocket.
He was almost to the door when he said, “Sleep.”
    “ Is that an order?” Dahlia
asked.
    “ You’re a free woman, my
love,” Troy said. “I only suggest.”
    She beamed at him and gave him a slight
wave. Troy opened the door to his boys. Tucking one child under
each arm, he carried them away from their bedroom. They squealed
with laugher. He set them down at the bathroom. At his insistence,
the boys used the toilet and washed their hands.
    For as posh as their lives had been, the
children knew little about usual daily rituals like using the
toilet when they got up so they didn’t have accidents later,
brushing their teeth twice a day, eating with their mouths closed,
using forks, or any other normal thing. Dahlia had been so
overwhelmed trying to survive Hector’s needs that she couldn’t
teach them. Having had a very similar upbringing, Troy had a deep
understanding of what was missing. Summers at adventure camp and
the Army had straightened him out. It was his turn to straighten
out his own boys.
    The boys. His boys.
    Dahlia had been the love of his high school
life. But when he joined the US Army instead of going to Harvard,
she felt betrayed. She cheated. He cheated. They fought. They got
engaged. She married his gay brother, Hector, when he was at
Special Forces training. When Hector wanted children, she arrived
on his doorstep again. It wasn’t until he was truly able to say no
to her – and whatever Alex said to her at that party – that she
took the first steps to return to him.
    He smiled at his good fortune and herded his
boys into their bedroom where they got dressed.
    “ Daddy?” Hermes asked.
“Will you help?”
    Troy zipped Hermes’s jeans. He checked his
shoes to see if they were tied. They were.
    “ Hector James?” Troy
asked.
    Troy gave him the once over.
    “ Hands?” Troy
asked.
    The boys showed him their clean hands.
    “ Good job!” He
said.
    “ We’ve been practicing,”
Hector James smiled. “Mom said we could go to regular school when
we get to Colorado.”
    “ And have friends!” Hermes
said.
    “ Is that true?” Hector
James asked.
    “ You bet,” Troy gave them a
sad smile.
    Hector was too controlling to let the boys
go to school or play with other children. Grinning from ear to ear,
the boys looked at each other and then at him. They held out their
arms. They were slight enough that Troy easily picked them up. He
carried the boys into the kitchen where he set them on the
counter.
    “ We have a surprise,”
Hector James said.
    “ You do?” Troy
asked.
    “ Are you marrying us?”
Hermes asked. “Mommy said you might ask her last night and then
we’d be a real family.”
    “ What would you think of
that?” Troy asked.
    The boys gave a little cheer. Troy
chuckled.
    “ We’re getting married,”
Troy said.
    “ Today?” Hector James
asked. “When we’re in town?”
    “ After we get settled in
Colorado,” Troy said.
    “ Can we move today?” Hermes
asked.
    Troy laughed. He kissed the boys’ heads.
    “ Breakfast?” Troy
asked.
    “ We have a surprise!”
Hermes said.
    “ I heard that,” Troy said.
“What’s the surprise?”
    “ We found more blackberries,”
Hector James said.
    “ Mommy says it’s because
it’s been so warm,” Hermes said.
    “ Blackberries!” Troy
mimicked their excited tone. “Let’s get some for Mommy.”
    “ Mommy loves blackberries!”
Hermes said.
    “