“You can’t send him away. He did nothing wrong. Please.”

“You need to rest. I’ll worry about what I can or cannot do.”

Buck struggled to sit. “NO! You need to listen to me; those boys in town were lying. Ike didn’t hurt me. He was trying to help.”

“By beating you?”

“That wasn’t him,” Buck said as he lay back on the mattress. “There were four or five of them. They were angry because I didn’t move out of the way fast enough so they dragged me into the alley and started to hit me. At first it was just me against them, and then suddenly there was someone else beside me trying to help.”

“But those boys insisted Ike was the one hurting you; it certainly looked that way when I arrived.”

“That’s because they heard you coming,” Buck said. “They decided to make it look like it was just the two of us fighting.” He paused and looked at the nun sitting beside him. “I think they knew you’d send him away if he got into any more trouble. Please, don’t punish him from trying to help me.”

Sister Ann entered the room. “Ike’s ready to go,” she said.

The older nun sitting next to Buck’s bed rose. “I’ll be back shortly. You rest.”

Buck once more struggled to a sitting position. When he realized that the Mother Superior wasn’t going to stop this atrocity from taking place, he pulled himself to his feet and started to follow her. “If you’re sending him away, then you need to send me also. I am as much to blame as he is.”

She turned and stared at the boy barely able to stay on his feet. “Get back in that bed,” she said.

“No,” Buck replied. “I won’t let you do this.” He summoned up a strength he didn’t know he had and somehow made his way past her to where Ike was sitting quietly. He stood in front of the silent boy. “You need to let them know you understand what’s going on. They’re going to send you away to some sort of asylum if you don’t.”

Ike just shrugged.

Buck sighed. “Tell them that you weren’t trying to hurt me. You need to let them know what really happened.”

Ike just shrugged again.

As Sister Ann and the Mother Superior caught up to them, the older nun said, “Exactly what are you trying to prove?”

“He didn’t hurt me,” Buck repeated. “I won’t let you send him away without a fight.” He looked past her to Sister Ann. “You know I’m telling the truth. I’ve never lied to you; why would I start now? Why should I want him to stay here if what you are all saying is true? Please, don’t send him away.”

Sister Ann looked at Ike. She moved next to him and asked. “Did you want to hurt Buck?”

Ike shook his head.

“Were you trying to save him from someone else?”

Ike nodded and held up 4 fingers.

“There were four others?”

Ike once more nodded. He acted like he was hitting something and then tried to show how he jumped in to stop it.

Sister Ann turned to her superior. “Please, I think we should grant Buck this request. We can always make arrangements later if things don’t improve here.”

The older nun looked at the two boys and the younger lady before her. “Fine,” she said. “I’m making him your responsibility. If he does anything wrong, he’s gone and you’re looking at leaving along with him.” With that she turned and left.

*****

A few weeks later, Buck was called into the Mother Superior’s office. As he settled into the chair across from her desk, he once more looked at the vest that hung on the wall behind her. As he waited, he recalled the story he’d been told on his first visit to the office…

“The vest belonged to my father,” the lady explained. “It was the custom in my family to present a vest to each boy upon his thirteenth birthday; this showed that he was no longer a boy, but now a man. The vest was a symbol of honor and pride; it meant he was now to work with the men and begin planning for his future.

“I was given this one when my father died because there was no son. The last thing my father told me was to find someone worthy of wearing it. I’ve yet to find anyone I feel has that right. Every year I watch the young men who enter the place hoping to find one worthy, but they all let me down. Maybe you’ll be different.

As the older lady took her place behind the desk, Buck brought his thoughts back to the present. “I’m…”

The lady held up her hand. “Don’t speak,” she said. “I have something to say first, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to complete my task if I allow anything to distract me.”

Buck nodded.

“I’ve been watching you and Mr. McSwain closely this past few weeks. It has occurred to me that you were correct in stopping me from sending him away; his behavior has changed greatly since you’ve given him a means of communicating with others. I’m only sorry we didn’t realize this much earlier.”

Buck sat very still. He wasn’t sure if he was in trouble or not. The ways of the white man still confused him.

As she finished speaking, the nun looked at him and smiled. She stood and removed the vest from the wall behind her. “I think I’ve finally found the person worthy of this. Please except it with my sincere thanks for reminding me that there are still honest people in this world.”

As Buck accepted the vest, she added, “Promise me to wear it with honor, and not to bring shame to my father.”

Buck nodded. “I promise,” he said.