Free Night Light by Terri Blackstock Page A

I have four kids. Why do you think I don’t know?”
    “Because I told you, you won’t find my mama. If she wanted to come home, she would. And we haven’t seen our grandma and pop since before Sarah was born. Mama kept moving us so they couldn’t find us.”
    “Why?” Jeff asked. “Were they mean?”
    “No, they were real nice,” Joey piped in.
    Aaron shot his brother a withering look. “Mama said they were trying to get her arrested, and if they did, we’d be split up.”
    So their mother had put that idea in their heads, making them fear it worse than being alone. “Why would they have wanted your mother in jail?”
    Aaron kept his eyes fixed on his feet. “She mighta stole from them or something. I don’t really know.”
    “Do you know where they live?”
    “They used to live here, but they moved before I was born. They used to come visit us, but they’d fight so bad with Mama that they quit coming. And she never took us to visit them after that.”
    Doug hoped he could find an address in their apartment tomorrow. “I’ll bet they’ve missed you and wanted to see you.”
    “Bet they haven’t,” Aaron said. “And if you don’t find them, you won’t be able to keep that promise you made.”
    This kid might not be afraid to break into homes at the risk of getting shot, but he was terrified of losing his family. Doug respected that. “I know you’re worried about your family, and I admire you for that, Aaron. You’ve had a hard row to hoe these last few months. Despite your methods, you’ve done a good job of keeping your brothers and sister fed, but I’m going to ask you to do something that doesn’t come naturally for you. I’m going to ask you to trust me.”
    The boy looked up at him, studying his eyes.
    “Just hang around here for a few days, and if you don’t see that life is better for you, then you’re free to go.”
    “Besides,” Jeff said. “The sheriff knows where you live now. If you go home, he’ll put you into foster care for sure.”
    Aaron clearly hadn’t thought of that. His ears reddened. “You shouldn’t have brought him. We’d have given the food back, what was left of it.”
    “Don’t you get it?” Jeff asked. “You just can’t go around breaking into people’s houses! And four little kids shouldn’t be living alone!”
    Doug quieted Jeff with a raised hand. He was tired, so tired. But these children needed him, like it or not. “Look, I believe this was all a God thing. I think he was looking out for you when he led you to our house this morning.”
    “God didn’t lead us nowhere,” Aaron said. “We came here ourselves because we knew it was a rich neighborhood and most of the people would be at the meeting.”
    Doug smiled. “That’s what you think, but I believe God’s involved in everything in our lives, and this happened so we would find you and take you in. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. Nothing’s easy these days. You’ll be expected to work in the garden and help us do our chores to keep things going. I’ll expect obedience from you like I do from my own children. But in return, I’ll give you food, water, and a nice safe place to live. You won’t have to worry about people taking things from you or hurting you. And where you were living was not a very safe place.”
    “Tell me about it.”
    “For the sake of your brothers and sister, just try to settle in. I can see that your family is the most important thing to you. Can I trust you to stay?”
    Aaron just stared at him.
    “Just for a few days,” Doug said. “Give me a chance to try to find your family. I’ll treat you like my own kids if you’ll treat me with the same respect they do. And you’ll always have the option of running away later if you decide to. Can I trust you to do that, Aaron?”
    Joey and Luke looked up at the boy, their eyes full of hope. He looked from one to the other. Finally, grudgingly, he shrugged. “Don’t see a choice. We’ll give it