Some Things Don’t Change

Hutch is waiting for a visitor. Older guys and a familiar face. Set round about now-ish.

Hutch looked out of the window for the third time and peered up and down the street. He was just about to turn away when he saw a familiar car coming from the right.

“They’re here!” he called.

Starsky lifted his head from his vintage graphic novel and smiled at Hutch’s excitement.

“Well, good. Thought you were going to wear a hole in that carpet!”

If Hutch heard him, he gave no sign of it as he hurried out of the room to open the front door.

“Kiko! So good to see you!”

Kiko grinned and waved as he herded his twin grandsons out of the car. “Hutch!”

The two four year olds held Kiko’s hands as they walked up the path. They looked nervously up at Hutch, who smiled reassuringly.

“Come on in. Let’s have drinks and then you can see what toys we have to play with.”

The two boys’ faces instantly looked interested. Hutch led his visitors through to the kitchen, where Starsky was waiting.

“Hey, Kiko. How are ya? Been a few years since I saw ya.”

“I’m doing great. How are you?”

“Good, thanks. Who are these two?”

Kiko introduced Matias and Carlos, who looked at Starsky with big eyes. Hutch made drinks for everyone and then led them outside to his pride and joy, his backyard.

“This looks even better than when I came to visit three years ago,” Kiko said.

“Thank you,” Hutch said, with a little buzz of pride.

Although the garden was full of flowers and interesting features, there was still space for kids to play and the twins’ faces lit up when they saw the boxes of vehicles, pieces of track and ramps. Almost before they could react, Starsky was sitting on the ground next to the box of track pieces, pulling sections out.

“Who’s going to help me set this up?” he asked.

The boys immediately hurried over and started helping. With grins on their faces, Hutch and Kiko went and sat on the garden chairs, where they could observe and talk.

“He doesn’t change,” Kiko said.

“No, thank goodness,” replied Hutch. Then he turned to look at Kiko and asked, “How’s your son, Alejandro, doing?”

“Better. The treatment seems to be working. The doctor is optimistic.”

Hutch reached over and squeezed Kiko’s shoulder. “I’m so glad to hear that.”

Kiko let out a huge sigh of relief before saying, “Thank you and thank you for everything you’ve done.”

Hutch shook his head sadly, “Wish I could have helped but living so far away makes it difficult to do much.”

Kiko looked at him, his eyes filled with serious gratitude. “You have no idea what it’s meant just having you on the end of the phone when I needed someone to talk to. You’ve been a source of hope on some pretty dark days. I know I’ve thanked you before but I wanted to come today to say thank you again for being a constant presence in my life. I am so grateful.”

Hutch squeezed Kiko’s shoulder again and pulled out a handkerchief with his free hand and blew his nose. Starsky looked up and saw the emotional response on his friend’s face and nodded in agreement at Kiko’s gratitude and Hutch receiving the acknowledgement he deserved. Too often Hutch failed to realise just how much he helped by being a reliable, consistent presence in the world. They locked eyes for a moment and Hutch nodded.

Hutch and Kiko started reminiscing and chatted for a while. Then, using the name his own kids had adopted for her, Kiko asked, “Where’s Abuela Laura?”

Hutch looked at his watch. “She should be back any minute. She just ran to the store for some treats for lunch.”

Starsky brightened, “Treats?”

Kiko laughed as he shook his head and said, “Starsky, you haven’t changed one bit!”

Starsky grinned but shook his head. “One thing has changed. Someone’s going to have to haul me up from here when the treats arrive. Getting down is easy. Getting up not so much.”

Just then they heard the front door and Laura calling, “I’m back!”

Kiko and Hutch stood up and walked over to Starsky, each offering him a hand. With only a little effort, they got him on his feet.

“Come on kids, lunch time!” Starsky said and led the way inside.

Behind him, Hutch and Kiko chuckled as they followed all of the three kids into the house.