“P” Is For the Peeping Pat
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2010 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 10  

The Wicked Brat

On Monday, the only person who had to go to work was Sheriff Kincaid.  I managed to get my body moving when the alarm went off, “Patrick me boy, I don’t think I will be getting much writing done today.   I need to call Mrs. Hood and see what to do with Tommy.  I also need to take Don and Mike to their house and see what’s in the safe in their house like Bill Webster recommended.”

I threw up my hands, “I have so much that I need to do that I’ll probably forget something.”

Pat hugged me, “Just do them one at a time.  I think the first thing you should do is to get Tommy squared away.  Everything else will fall into place.  We can’t do much about Travis until his uncles get here.  The arrangements for Don and Mike’s parents funeral can’t be finalized until the bodies arrive.  You are going to have a busy week on your hands.”

I walked Pat to his car and watched as he drove off.  I was surprised when there was a young set of hands around me, “Dad, you aren’t going to tell anyone I’m here, are you?  I want to stay here.”

I knelt down, “Tommy, if I don’t let the authorities know you’re here, they could put me in jail and then there would be no one to take care of Nathan, Ethan, Don and Mike.”

“But Dad, the police will take me back to the big house, again.  Don’t you like me?  No one else does.”

“Tommy, what makes you think that no one likes you?”

“People take me home with them, but when I throw a fit, they send me back to the big house.  I’ve lived in four homes where the people took me to live with them because they were getting paid money to take care of me.  When I would get upset and start being bad, they would send me back to the big house.”

“Tommy, I don’t understand what would upset you so much that you would be bad.  How were you being bad that the people would send you back to the big house?”

“If I get really mad, I start hitting people and throwing things.  I get really upset when I think people don’t like me and are being mean to me.”

I decided to change the subject, “Tommy, we need to take you to town and get you some more clothes.  You can’t keep wearing the same clothes all the time.”

“Why can’t you buy them without me?  I don’t want to go to town.  You just want to take me back to the big house.”

“Tommy, I’m not going to take you back to the big house, but we need to talk to Mrs. Hood and see what we can do about having you stay with us.  I need to call Mrs. Hood, now.  Why don’t you stay and listen to what I’m saying?”

I dialed the number for the Children’s Protection Agency.  A receptionist answered.

“This is Steve Sloane.  I would like to speak to Norma Hood.”

There was a short delay, “This is Norma Hood.”

“Norma, this is Steve Sloane.  I have two things to discuss with you.  First Travis’ two uncles are going to be arriving tomorrow night.  Second, we have another stray that has landed on our doorstep.  His name is Tommy and he ran away from the big house.”

“Steve, what is the young man’s last name and where is the big house?”

“I don’t know the answer to either question.  Could we stop by your office after lunch?  I have to come to town on another matter dealing with the Madsen boys’ parents' death.”

“Steve, I'll be here.  In the meantime, I’ll see what I can find about the mysterious Tommy.  See you at one o’clock.”

“Thanks.”

I turned to Tommy and I could tell he was tense.  Tommy, go out on the patio and count to ten and scream as loud as you can until you aren’t feeling so angry.  You need to get dressed because we will be leaving in about thirty minutes.”

I was in my bathroom shaving when Shane came in, “Dad Steve, why is Tommy standing on the balcony screaming, ’Everyone hates me?’”

“Shane, Tommy is a very angry young man.  I’m guessing he has some emotional problems.  We need to be careful how we treat him.  I’ll see what I can find out when I’m in town.”

“Better yet, why don’t you go to town with us?  You can keep Tommy occupied while we take care of Don and Mike’s business.  Whatever you do, don’t mention Tommy’s yelling.  Just pretend that there was nothing out of the ordinary happening.”

When Tommy returned from screaming, Shane was waiting for him.  “Come on, Dude.  We need to get dressed to go to town.  Where do you want to eat lunch?  I’m sorta hungry for a Big Mac.  I haven’t had one for a while.   How about you?”

Tommy giggled, “I only ever had one Big Mac and I made such a mess that the people I was living with scolded me.  So I never had another one.”

“That’s silly.  You can’t eat a Big Mac without getting messed up.  Of course Dad Steve will probably order his on a plate with a fork and knife and pretend like he is eating a steak.  He’ll probably even use ten napkins to make sure he doesn't get his clothes dirty, since he hates to have to do the laundry.  He only has two sets of clothes he wears.”

“What is this?  Pick on Steve Sloane week.  Maybe I’ll change my mind and make you stay here and I’ll eat your Big Macs for you.  I certainly wouldn’t want you to get all messy.  Go get your butts dressed and make sure that Mike and Don are getting dressed, or we’re going to be late.”

When we arrived at the church, I handed Shane and Tommy each five dollars, “Go across the street to get something to eat to hold you until lunch.  We will probably spend about a half hour with Dr. Flanagan.”

Mike, Don and I were ushered into Dr. Flanagan’s office immediately.  We made plans to have a Celebration of Life service, since that’s what Don and Mike wanted.  The boys requested that the service be held at ten o’clock, because they didn’t want to have a meal served.  The boys knew that their parents wanted to be cremated, so they wanted the service to be simple.

Dr. Flanagan recommended, “I suggest that you go to the funeral home next and let them know what the plans for the service are.  I think the boys parents have already prepaid for the funeral and for the burial.  The funeral home can take care of the paperwork such as the obituary and the opening and closing of the graves.  They can give you advice on what else you need to do.  I’ll take care of arranging for an organist and a soloist.  You will need to let me know of any special songs that you want to be in the service.  The sooner the better.”

After we made the arrangements at the mortuary, we went to the Madsens’ house.  Don and Mike not only knew where the safe was, but they knew the combination.  I looked at the documents that we took from the safe, “Guys, let’s take these and go through them at the lake.  We also need to stop by the bank and also have all your mail forwarded to the house at the lake.”

Don asked, “Shouldn’t we stop by the bank and find out what’s in the safe deposit box.  Both Mike’s and my name are on the card and I know where the key is to get into the box.”

Tommy started to whine, “If we do all that we won’t have time to eat before we have to see Mrs. Hood.  I’m starving and I want to see Dad Steve eat a Big Mac without making a mess.”

I started to laugh.  “Okay, we’ll eat and then go take care of the rest of Don and Mike’s business, after we have talked to Mrs. Hood.”

Lunch was a stitch.  Tommy was trying as hard as he could to not let any of his Big Mac make a mess.  At the rate he was nibbling we would never get out of the restaurant.  Shane reminded Tommy, it’s okay to make a mess.  That’s why they gave us extra napkins.”

“I’m going slow because I don’t want to go see Mrs. Horn.”

Don, not knowing the significance of Tommy’s comment, remarked, “Tommy, Mrs. Hood is really a nice lady.  You’ll like her.”

Tommy put down his Big Mac, “I already know Mrs. Hood, She might be nice, but she’ll probably make me go back to the big house as soon as she sees me.”

I patted Tommy on the shoulder, “Tommy, eat your lunch.  We told Mrs. Hood that we would be coming, so we need to be there on time.  Mrs. Hood didn’t say anything about sending you to the big house.  Let’s see what she has to say.”

As we were nearing Mrs. Hood’s office, Tommy was holding my hand and I could sense that he was becoming very tense, “Dad Steve, please don’t make me go see Mrs. Hood.  I don’t want to live in the big house.”

Shane spoke before I had a chance to say anything, “Tommy, let’s see what Mrs. Hood has to say, now that we’re here.  Mike, Don and I will be here for you.”

We were immediately admitted to Mrs. Hood’s office.  There was no need for introductions since she had been to our house when she was there investigating Travis’ case.  She had met Tommy previously, as well. 

When we walked in, she looked up, “”So this is the mysterious Tommy?  Tommy, how did you get away from the Homeless Home for Children and how did you get to Mr. Sloane’s house?  Why hasn’t the home reported that you’re missing?”

“Mrs. Hood, I climbed out a window and climbed into Teddy’s car and wound up at Dad Steve’s house.  The people at the home are probably glad that I ran away.  They all hate me there.  They keep telling me that I’m a wicked brat.”

I didn’t like what I was hearing, “Shane, Don and Mike, why don’t you take Tommy to the ice cream parlor on the first floor.  I need to talk to Mrs. Hood about what I should do when Travis’ two uncles arrive.”

“Dad Steve, why didn’t you say what you meant?  We all know you are going to talk about me.”

Shane put his arm around Tommy, “If they’re talking about you, they can’t do anything bad to you.  What kind of ice cream do you like?  I like butter pecan.”

Tommy giggled, “I like chocolate; it’s messier when it drips.

After the four guys had departed, I looked at Mrs. Hood, “Okay Norma, you’ve obviously had dealings with Tommy, before.  First, what is his last name?  He’s avoiding telling it to us.”

“Tommy’s last name is Campbell.  His parents and two brothers died in a car accident.  Tommy was in the car when it happened at Christmas time a year and a half ago.  Tommy blames himself for the accident.”

Mrs. Hood continued, “Tommy can be the sweetest boy but when something upsets him, he is almost uncontrollable.  He has been in four foster homes with other children.  The families have returned him to the Children’s Home because he becomes unmanageable when he’s upset.  Tommy intensely dislikes the home and has gotten to be known by the attendants as a trouble maker so he is constantly in time out which means he is isolated from the other children.”

“That’s rather inhuman treatment, wouldn’t you say?  Has he ever tried to hurt anyone else?”

 

“Not intentionally, but several people have been hit by flying objects that he has thrown.”

“Mrs. Hood, is there any way that we could try having Tommy live with us for several weeks.  We don’t have any young children around whom he could hurt.  The youngest person whom he would be in contact with is Shane.  Personally, I think Shane might be just the person who might be able to help Tommy.”

“I have another question.  Has Tommy ever had psychological counseling?”

“Yes, but unfortunately, Tommy realized what was happening and became totally uncooperative.  Are you sure that you really want Tommy to live with you?  I hope you’re serious, because I’m afraid that he might wind up in the home for the rest of his childhood, because of his past history.” 

“I think that once the barrier is broken down for good, he’ll turn out to be okay.  You have an idea; a starting point in that Mike and Don have also lost their parents as has Travis.  Their cases are all different but the end result is that none of the boys have any natural parents.”

“I’d like to give it a try. If you give me the go ahead, I’ll make is seem as if it is permanent by buying Tommy some clothes, since all he has are the ones he arrived in.”

“I’ll get you the papers, but don’t expect miracles.  You are going to have some difficult times because Tommy will learn to manipulate you if you don’t maintain the upper hand.  If he needs to be punished then be consistent to show him that you’re in control.  I’ll have the paperwork ready for you tomorrow after lunch.  Why don’t you stop by about two o’clock?  That will be give me time to collect the documents that you will need and his files from the home.”

I stood, “Thanks for your help.  I’ll keep you advised as to what is happening with Travis as well.  I hope there aren’t any more strangers who pop in on us unexpectedly this summer.  Some of us might have to sleep in the boat house.”

When I left Mrs. Hood’s office, I made some decisions.  The first thing would be to buy Tommy some clothes so he would relax and not think about being put back in the home, 

I met up with the guys in the ice cream shop “Okay, men, first stop is the store to buy Tommy some decent clothes so he doesn’t have to do laundry every night, since he is going to be living with us temporarily.”

Tommy picked up on the temporarily, “Why am I only going to live with you temporarily?  If you don’t want me, then don’t take me home at all.”

“Tommy, it’s not that we don’t want you.  You may decide that you don’t want to live with us.  We have to see if we can all get along together.  We have to make sure that we can all live together in harmony, before we make any final decisions.”

After the shopping trip, we went to the bank to get the contents that were in the safe deposit box so we could take the items home and go through the things from the safe at the house.  We made a stop at the post office and arranged to have the guys’ mail shipped to the house on the lake.

Tommy had obviously been thinking, “Is there any way that I can stay with you forever?”

“Tommy, that’s entirely up to you.  You need to prove that you want to be part of the family.”

“But what if I’m bad and start throwing things?”

Shane answered, “We’ll just have to find some other way for you to get rid of your anger.  More importantly, we are going to need to find a place for you to sleep.  Dad Steve, do you have any cots or sleeping bags?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, we have both.  We haven’t had much reason to use them, lately.  We’ll pull them out when we get home.”

“Where will Travis’ uncles be sleeping?”

“We’ll wait until they get here to see what kind of sleeping arrangements we need to make.  We need to make sure their needs are taken care of.  We need to spend this evening going through Don and Mike’s parents’ paperwork to see what it is that we need to do for them.  They may have to make some big decisions.”

As I was pulling up to the house, I thought to myself, I need to spend some time with Nathan and Ethan.  They’ve sorta gotten left out with all the excitement. 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: I think that Tommy will soon find out that he is not going to be thrown to the wolves, so to speak, just because he has a tantrum.  Steve is going to have to be somewhat careful how he handles Tommy.  Tommy has been through a lot of trauma, and he definitely needs to know that he is loved.  It is not easy for him to believe that he is worth being loved and cared about.  Obviously, he is not the only one who has lost a parent or two.  The boys are all lucky to have two people as loving as Steve and Pat, to look after them. I don't foresee any of the boys being thrown out. Of course there will be challenges, that can't be completely be avoided. 

Everyone just needs to know that they are in a loving family, and somehow, things will eventually settle in and they will all be part of a happy and loving Family.  

As is the case with all of E Walk's people, we have formed a strong bond with all the boys. I can hardly wait for the Next chapter.

Darryl The Radio Rancher.

Posted: 12/10/10