Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 10, 1993 TAG: 9310130306
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: SU CLAUSON-WICKER CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
But those who watch Phyllis Albritton-Webb and Patrick Hudson share a banana split at Gillie's ice creamery and debate which books to check out at the town library, or visit her mother at Warm Hearth retirement community, see a rapport that transcends cultural, racial and age differences.
Since Patrick's arrival in early August, he has thought of Albritton-Webb as his mom, he says. She feels the same way.
``I think God brought us together. So many things have fallen into place - it just had to be the work of a higher power,'' says Albritton-Webb, now Patrick's legal guardian.
The story began when Patrick and 24 other inner-city youths visited Blacksburg in July after a camping trip. The group was entertained by the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, which holds an exchange program with the boys' Chicago neighborhood. Blacksburg teens go to work on housing projects; Patrick's group came to town for swimming, picnics and parades.
``This place is peaceful like heaven,'' Patrick announced. ``I wish I could stay.''
Patrick's four older brothers have all been in jail for drug-dealing, armed robbery and assault. A gang member since he was 11, Patrick routinely smoked marijuana and took part in ``beat-downs,'' wars against rival gangs. He knew only that he was headed for more trouble and wanted to make a change.
Albritton-Webb and her husband, Clark Webb, had decided to take Patrick into their home. Because Webb is on the road much of the time, Albritton-Webb became the guardian.
Albritton-Webb has always been active in human rights issues. With her two children from her first marriage grown, she has been opening up their home to foreign students and people in need for some time.
Patrick, however, required a bigger commitment of time and attention. Four other families from the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church volunteered to help as extended family: Fred and Lesha Dodson, Holly and Jack Lesko, Barbara and Don Michelson and Marion and Jock Schorger. Patrick also has a Blacksburg sister: 13-year-old Elizabeth Webb, Clark's daughter by his first marriage who spends weekends with her father.
``I said, `All right,''' Patrick says. ``But I couldn't go right away. I was in some trouble for strong-armed robbery, so I was put in jail.''
Patrick says that trouble was what he knew how to do best.
``You can't get by there without [running with a gang] and dealing,'' he says. ``You see, up there a lot of people ain't gonna let you be. You go into next neighborhood, and they'll beat you. So you roll with the [gang] crowd, which means you do what the crowd does. If you don't, they say you got a violation. They give you a major beat-down.''
Two weeks later, Patrick got out of jail. In 48 hours, he had said goodbye to his mother, brothers and sister, and was on a bus to Virginia.
``Mom's really getting behind this change,'' he says. ``My older brother isn't - he had his chance to go to college, but drug-running was the path he chose.''
Once in Virginia, Patrick's first summer job was in Floyd County, where he worked on a vineyard owned by Tony Equale and Mary Risacher.
``I think it was like a test,'' Patrick says, ``to see whether I could work. Tony says I did all right.''
What Tony said, in fact, was that Patrick was an exceptionally good worker who tirelessly repaired a porch, dug post holes, built steps, planted broccoli and fed the chickens. For recreation, he helped the volunteer fire department wash its trucks.
Floyd was a good time, Patrick says, but too quiet for him.
For the next two weeks, he accompanied Fred Dodson to Habitat for Humanity home-building projects, washed dishes for Capers Catering, did clerical work for the New River Management Services, and did office work for Albritton-Webb at Wheat First Securities.
As school reopened, it took a lot of string-pulling and networking with Chicago acquaintances for Albritton-Webb to get Patrick registered for his freshman year at Blacksburg High School, but she was able to complete all paperwork the morning school started, another sign to her that the situation was in divine order.
``I really believe he can make a change in his life,'' she says. ``My hope is that he can blossom and flourish here, but it's ultimately all up to him.''
Patrick is taking the standard college preparatory freshmen courses and wood technology and has joined the Black Awareness Club.
Patrick, who Albritton-Webb says ``has never met a stranger,'' has drawn a group who want to ``hang with him'' at lunch. His teachers, he says, are ``all just fine,'' and he was happy to report a 95 on a recent math test.
Patrick attends two classes with his sister, Elizabeth, although they don't socialize much at school. Clark Webb has already told the two they are expected to relate as brother and sister. The ``territory conflicts'' Elizabeth says they are experiencing seem in line with that role. The other rules of the house - no television on weekdays, 30 minutes maximum for phone calls, no weekday dates - also pose ``no problem'' for Patrick.
On a typical day he goes to Dodson's for studying after school. When Albritton-Webb picks him up, they go swimming or visit her mother, then out to eat (``Mexican food is great if you're anxious,'' he says) and home for reading and relaxation.
``We haven't been bored yet,'' Patrick remarks. ``This town is not dull if you have something to do, if you have a goal. I want to finish high school, go to college and be a coroner.''
For someone who has witnessed drive-by shootings and friends' deaths and who has wondered if his next beat-down will be his last, thoughts of death are familiar companions.
``I was 11 when I started fighting with pipes, bats and belts with large buckles,'' he says. ``I was a heavy weed smoker, and I'd get high before I had to fight. I didn't care if I hurt people; I didn't care if I died. When you [are] in the gang, you do what the gang does.''
Although Patrick has chosen the Black Awareness Club as a way to connect with the black students at school, he says he's not especially race-conscious. Living in a white family isn't new to him; his natural mother is white, and he had little contact with his father, now dead.
``I think of Phyllis and Clark not as a white, middle-class family, but as good people,'' he says. ``It's living with a nice family that I'm after. My life here seems like Oz, except I don't have to leave.''
by CNB