Anthony: A Novel

By Lou DeCaro

This is an emotionally charged story about a boy that survived terrible abuse only to be forgotten by those he loved .and supported. Poignant and thought provoking, Anthony will capture the readers attention from the very first page.

This inspirational novel will provide the reader with a rare and special opportunity to look into the heart and soul of the main character. This is an absolute must read..- Ray Buurma

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493164288

Lou DeCaro

Lou DeCaro is the author of In The Dim Light Of The Day (Xlibris, November 2012), Marshmallow Dreams And Bitter Tangerines (Xlibris, October 2013), Anthony (Xlibris. January 2014), The Blind Eye of Love (Xlibris, October 2014), Once A Widow, Ever A Wife (Xlibris, January 2015), The Champion of Love (Xlibris, April 2015), Forever and a Day (Xlibris, August 2015), The Rose of Cuba (Xlibris, November 2015), The Writer of Lies (Xlibris}, January 2016), The Lonely and the Disabled (Xlibris, March 2016), Like Father, Like Son (Xlibris, July 2016), Maria (Xlibris, October 2016), The Pharaoh Club (Xlibris, January 2017), The Love Armada (Xlibris, May2017), Infirmed (Xlibris, October 2017), The Anger of Love (Xlibris, January 2018), A Moment in Time (Xlibris, March 2018), Johnny Reb's (Xlibris, May 2018), Jar of Broken Hearts (Xlibris, September 2018),Tears from the River of Love (Xlibris, September 2018),and False Love (Xlibris, June 2019).

Book preview

Chapter 1

S ometimes it’s safer to live in a fantasy world rather than the real world. This is certainly true when you consider where Anthony came from. The brutality he endured as a child caused him to often retreat into a world of make believe. His sole objective in life was to survive from one day to the next. Anthony wished many times he was never born. That’s how bad it was at his home.

While Anthony was never one to make excuses, I now realize his failures in life were a direct result of what happened to him as a child.The constant verbal torment and physical abuse scarred him so badly; it took him years to develop enough confidence in himself so he could function from day to day. Everything he did up to that point was achieved out of fear. He wasn’t motivated by any positive force. Anthony was motivated by the fear of failure and the inevitable repercussions he would undoubtedly have to face.

And when he did succeed at something, he was told it wasn’t a result of his hard work. He was told it was a result of luck. He was never given the proper credit he deserved. Sadly, he spent his entire life seeking everyone’s approval, especially his father’s. That would prove to be a tragic mistake. Yet, the desire to succeed was greater than the obstacles he faced in life. Determination saw him through time after time. There was never any calm in Anthony’s life. Anthony was like a defenseless animal that was thrust into a cage of wild beasts that were just waiting to take a bite out of his heart and soul. Anthony was a puzzle that never seemed complete. Because so many pieces of his puzzle were missing from years of neglect, he had a hard time ever feeling satisfied or whole. It was during these times that he retreated into his world to avoid reality. Normalcy for Anthony was achieved by using his imagination. In fact, his imagination was the only thing he had control of. Fortunately, Anthony had an iron will. He always seemed to take the high road despite the problems he faced.

When I found out Anthony was really sick, I got on the first plane to New York. When I arrived at his house, Anthony told me he was spending most of his time in bed wondering what his life would have been like had some things been different. I told him only God knew the answer to that question. In fact, I didn’t think Anthony’s life turned out all that bad. He had a heart of gold, and spent most of his life helping others before he ever did anything for himself. In my opinion, that was the sign of a truly great person. Yet, Anthony was always very hard on himself. I knew this from the very first day we met. We were five years old. My family had just moved into a new home. Two days later, his family moved into the house across the street. It didn’t take long for us to become best friends.

Chapter 2

A nthony came from an Italian family. On the surface, they appeared normal enough. But, behind the scenes there were severe problems. For starters, his family was forever yelling at each other. Even though they lived in a brick house, it was as if the walls were made of paper. You could hear everything they said. Most of the time, Anthony’s parents spoke Italian. That would bother Anthony because he didn’t know what they were saying about him. It caused him to develop an inferiority complex that stuck with him throughout his life.

Anthony moved into his new home two days after Christmas in 1961. One of the first things I did was invite him inside my house to see my Christmas tree. I remember the look on his face. His mouth remained wide-open for at least two minutes. He couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. When I showed him some of my presents, he actually began to cry. That year, his family didn’t have a Christmas tree because they were moving. As he held my new baseball mitt, he told me all he received was a pair of pajamas. It wasn’t exactly the kind of gift kids our age had it mind.

As he put my baseball mitt back under the tree, my mother came out of the kitchen with two cups of hot chocolate and a plate of sugar cookies. I never saw anyone devour sugar cookies like he did that day. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. Before I finished my first cookie, he had practically eaten the entire plate. I didn’t say anything to him. But, the next time my mother served us cookies, I told him he could have one or two. There were a lot of things I taught Anthony over the years. He wasn’t well versed when it came to social graces when we first met.

Anthony was the type of kid that stuck to you like glue. Sometimes that was a problem. He just wouldn’t leave you alone. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that he was an extremely lonely child. When we went back to school in January, we wound up in the same class. Of course, he sat right next to me. Unfortunately, that arrangement didn’t last too long. The teacher used a seating chart. All of the students were seated in alphabetical order. I wound up in the first seat in the middle row. Anthony was seated in the last seat in the row next to mine. I will never forget for the rest of my life the look of sadness on Anthony’s face when I turned around to see where he was. He looked like he was on the verge of crying, and sat there all morning long without saying a word. The only time he sprang to life was when the class was escorted to the lunchroom. He never kept his mouth shut from the moment we walked into the lunchroom until the time we were escorted back to the classroom. He ate his lunch while we walked home that day. His mother would have beaten him if he didn’t eat it.

Chapter 3

A nthony and I came from the same neighborhood in the city. We both took a city bus to school, and were unaccustomed to walking such a long distance to get there. It was actually twice the allowable distance compared to today’s regulations. We had to cross two main roads and walk through the heart of town. By the time we got to our block, we were exhausted.

Something peculiar happened that day as we turned the corner. All of a sudden I found myself walking alone. When I turned around to see where Anthony was, I saw him standing over a fire hydrant. He began to cry as he looked at the fire hydrant. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me a very sad story that took place a couple of years ago at his previous home. One day while waiting for his father to come home, Anthony decided to play catch on the front lawn. He had a very strong arm, and wound up throwing the ball through his neighbor’s window. Shortly after the neighbor came out to see what had happened, his mother came out of the house, apologized to the neighbor, then began to beat Anthony. At one point, his mother grabbed him by his hair and threw him into the fire hydrant in front of his house. His forehead hit the nob on top of the fire hydrant, and blood began to flow down his face. His mother told him she would kill him if he said anything to his father. When his father came home, she told her husband Anthony broke the neighbor’s window and tripped into the fire hydrant while running home. His father beat him for breaking the