Boy Doesn’t Let Anyone into His Room Until Cop Arrives and Steps Inside — Story of the Day

One man’s kindness transforms a poor neglected boy’s life after a caring neighbor calls the police for a wellness check.

Mrs. Doyle noticed that the boy next door was out at all hours of the day or night, riding his skateboard, or talking with the other boys on the sidewalks about whatever boys their age talked about.

The thing was that when all the other boys went in after their mammas hollered it was time for dinner, that boy stayed on that empty street, riding back and forth all on his own, with his hat on backward. Something wasn’t right, and Mrs. Doyle decided to do something about it.

She put on her coat and her hat and went down for a walk to the local police precinct. She walked up to the desk sergeant. “Good morning officer!” she said brightly.

The officer who was used to people coming into the police station with less cheerful expressions was astounded but he smiled right back. “Good morning to you, Ma’am! And how may I help you?”

Mrs. Doyle shook her head. “I don’t rightly know, officer. Back in my day, you went to the police if something wasn’t right — and something isn’t right — but that doesn’t mean something is going wrong, or criminal or anything…”

The officer thought about it, and he called one of his colleagues, Officer Tony Murray. Officer Murray sat down with Mrs. Doyle and asked to tell him everything.

“Well, there’s not really much to tell. There’s this boy Jack Rollins — a good boy, mind you — and he goes to school every day and everything… But when it’s time to go in for dinner, he stays on the street all on his lonesome.

“And I’m thinking, maybe something bad is waiting for him at home and he doesn’t want to go, or there’s no one at home at all, and he’s not old enough to be on his own!”

Officer Murray thought about what Mrs. Doyle had told him. “There’s definitely something off here, Mrs. Doyle,” he said. “But don’t worry, I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Officer Murray visited the boy’s school first and learned that Jack Rollins never missed a class, always handed in his homework on time, and was an excellent student, even if he was a little quiet.

The other kids said Jack was cool, and good at games, but he never...