All for Acceptance II

By: Rod
(© 2010-2011 by the author)

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

Chapter 7 

Paul had indeed become quite revered by the other students.  Those   younger wished he were their brother, any older wanted him to associate with them.  His popularity could only rise a little more each day.  The teachers respected him and were constantly learning something new as to how to approach a subject in such a way as to make it more interesting or understandable to the students.  Paul’s tutors were soon scratching their head, just wondering whether in the next session with him they would actually be able to present new ideas or would he instead show them something about the subject they had not realized before.  Even if the material was yet uncharted, he seemed to always have a knack of asking just the right question that would stand the tutor on end.  Each tutor would spend a certain amount of time just researching the answer to the questions posed in order to prepare for their next session.

The ease at which Paul handled things and the respect he always showed everyone else gained him a certain degree of latitude with all.  There wasn’t a staff member who would refuse his request, even when it sounded a bit outlandish.  In the end, whether the final result was a joke on someone or a brilliant way of getting an idea across, it was always accepted with a grain of humor.  Paul’s practical jokes were never mean towards anyone; he only assisted people in learning to laugh at themselves.  Usually, once the laughter died away, the intended victim realized the caring way that Paul had brought them around to a better way of thinking.  In the end it was always a lesson that needed learning, and Paul seemed to be the perfect teacher.

Kelly couldn’t be any prouder and occasionally when he seemed to get just a little too swell-headed, Paul would lovingly find a way to rein him in.  Kelly could never be mad; he accepted the lesson and became a better person for it.  His love for his adopted big brother could only grow.  He soon learned that Paul could still provide him with all the love he could handle, while he still provided a certain degree of love and caring to all the others in the home. He was however, even more proud when he was allowed to conspire with Paul and they, of course, successfully pulled off another joke on someone.

Occasionally Tony or Phillip IV would be involved as well.  A few of the staff were beginning to wonder just what was going to happen when Jeffrey arrived.  They had all heard of his intelligence, and when combined with the shenanigans of the others they could only fear what was to occur in the near future.

“Officer Ted! Nice to see you!  Who have you brought to us today?” asked Paul, as the three, Jeffrey, Officer Burke and Ms. Fairbanks entered the kitchen as Paul was dusting a cookie with a little surprise before placing it on the tray he was about to take to a classroom.

“Paul.  This is Jeffrey, and I believe you may know Ms. Fairbanks from DCFS?” replied Officer Burke.

“Glad to meet you, Jeffrey!  Officer Ted, can Jeffrey come with me to meet some classmates?  There may be a laugh or two involved as well,” said Paul.

“I think that might be OK, but he needs to come back soon so we can meet with Mr. Townsend,” replied Officer Burke.

“Oh, he’ll meet Mr. Townsend, he’s in the classroom where these sn.. powdered cookies are going.  Come on, Jeffrey, I’ll introduce you to a bunch of other fellows here.”

“Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that he is up to something?” asked Officer Burke.

“Well he is, James Townsend is about to start a bit of a sneezing spell in a few minutes due to a little sneezing powder just placed on a cookie intended for him.  Just how Paul is going to get him I don’t know, but you can bet  everyone will get a laugh out of it and we will all hear the story of what happened until the next prank is pulled,” commented Mammy.

“I hope that will lift Jeffrey’s spirits.  He has been subjected to too much seriousness for a boy his age recently.  He needs a good laugh,” said Ms. Fairbanks.

“Oh, that he will get, and a lot more around here.  If what I hear is true, he will soon be among the conspirators,” added Officer Burke.

“You know that much about what goes on around here?” asked Ms. Fairbanks.

“Melanie, this place and the stories of what goes on keeps many of the juvenile department in stitches quite often.  We like to come by as often as we can, and if a kid comes into our care, we try to bring them here,” answered Officer Burke.

“It is always appreciated when any of your staff comes by.  I know the boys all get a kick out of spending time with any of the officers.  The activities leave the boys with a good number of pleasant memories,” stated Mammy.

“I wasn’t aware that the juvenile department had a budget to spend time with the boys here?” asked Ms. Fairbanks.

“Budget, what budget?  We come when we have the time, when we are off duty.  Some of the men who have their own children bring them along.  They may pick up a boy or a few boys and take them somewhere; the zoo, a movie, to a park, to a playground, anywhere a father or older brother might take a son or younger brother.  Sometimes they just stay here and interact with a larger group of the boys.  In the summer we have baseball teams.  Different age groups coached by the officers, then the oldest here play against the officers.  The kids love it.  Even some of the officers boys’ participate and all enjoy the activity.  When we have the last game of the season and give awards to the boys after the last boys vs. officers game, Travis and Allan cater a big picnic for everyone.  At that affair even the officer’s wives, daughters or girlfriends attend,” stated Officer Burke.

“No wonder this place does so well.  I can’t think of any better situation for the boys here.  It’s a wonder any of them would ever want to leave,” commented Ms. Fairbanks.

“Well, that seems to be the problem and the opportunity for us.  You see, a few of the boys are approaching the age to go out on their own.  They have come to us to ask how they could continue to be involved and be able to stay.  We are in the process of setting up a means for them to continue their education with college and prepare to join our staff once they have their respective degrees. I expect many will want to stay here, but I know a few have expressed the desire to just stay in the field and continue to be involved in some way off campus from here.  I expect within a few years there will be a few applications at DCFS from some of our boys,” added Mammy.

“When that happens I will, if I’m still with DCFS, do whatever I can to assist them," stated Ms. Fairbanks.

“Mr. Townsend, this is Jeffrey.  Jeffrey this is Mr. Townsend, the head monkey keeper in this zoo!” stated Paul as he and Jeffrey entered the classroom.

“Paul! Jeffrey it is nice to meet you.  Don’t believe everything Paul says.  This place is not a zoo, at least not all the time,” stated James Townsend emphatically, but with a hint of laughter.

“Would you care for a cookie, Mr. Townsend?” asked Paul, as he turned towards Mr. Townsend with the tray of cookies just as a fan seemed to blow across them.  A slight cloud of apparently powdered sugar flew through the air.

The sounds of sneezing were drowned out only by the sounds of laughter as Mr. Townsend began to sneeze repeatedly.  Even Jeffrey couldn’t contain himself and was holding his sides as he laughed almost to tears.  As Mr. Townsend finally stopped sneezing, he, too, started to laugh as he caught on to what had happened.  It seemed that his fondness for snowball cookies was well known, each covered in a layer of powdered sugar.  He had unfortunately made a comment the other day about being able to control sneezing when one of the boys had a fit of sneezing.  It was payback.

The tray of cookies soon disappeared and Jeffrey accompanied Mr. Townsend to his office.  Paul returned the empty tray to the kitchen and informed Officer Burke and Ms. Fairbanks that Jeffrey and Mr. Townsend could be found in Mr. Townsend’s office.

“Jeffrey, things are not always like what you just saw.  Paul was trying to get a message across again and chose a humorous way of doing so,” stated Mr. Townsend.

“Got you again did he?” asked Officer Burke.

“Yes! Enough of that for now.  I want to welcome you to Phillips Second Chance Home, Jeffrey.  I hope you will enjoy the life and opportunities available to you here,” said Mr. Townsend, now directing his comments to Jeffrey.

“Thank you, sir.  With what I have seen so far and my brief conversation with Paul, I think I will love things here.  I can’t believe Paul and I think so much alike.  As we were talking on our way to the classroom and here, it was like we could finish each other’s sentences. I look forward to spending more time with him.”

“Considering the intellectual levels the two of you are at, I expect you probably will be spending a lot of time together.  I must let you know we will be doing some testing to determine just where you rank so that we can offer the best opportunities for you.  The tests will be nothing like what I have heard you have had to endure before and, if you wish, you can certainly consult with Paul to find out all about them as he has finished them already.”

“Thank you for the assurances, but believe it or not, Paul and I have already broached that subject and I am not concerned with what you are proposing.  I look forward to them.”

“Is there anything else you two have discussed that I should be aware of before I attempt to do my job, one which Paul seems to have taken over,” laughed Mr. Townsend.

“Afraid you are going to lose your job, James?” asked Officer Burke.

“Lose my job.  The way Paul handles things I might just retire and give it to him.  I’ll just stay around to put the official OK on things.  He seems to handle things quicker than I can.”

“I don’t think we want the inmates to run the asylum yet, Mr. Townsend,” commented Ms. Fairbanks.

“Ms. Fairbanks, I understand and respect your comment, but I think upon examination here you will find that between Paul, Troy and Phillip IV, though they may be only teens or preteens, there is an understanding and ability that surpasses that existing in most of our institutions today.  It may seem like a joke but honestly, those are three so-called inmates who have all the abilities needed to successfully run a place like this.  I have never needed to disregard a suggestion made by them, and have found they usually have a better understanding and way of doing things than I could imagine.  However, that being said, Jeffrey, if you ever repeat a word of that to them, I will deny I ever said it.  I do, however, expect that I will soon have a fourth party to contend with.  That person being you, Jeffrey, as I suspect you will soon find your footing and join the other three.”

“I hope I can live up to your expectations, sir.  If you don’t mind me asking, I understand there is another younger boy by the name of Bobby who is a good friend of Kelley.  I understand he was heartbroken when Kelly became the roommate of Paul, and he is not the happiest right now.  If you would agree, I would like to become his roommate.  Perhaps I can help him as Paul as has helped Kelley.  I know Paul has tried to help Bobby, but Bobby is hindered in the fact that what he really wants is a roommate who can be his older adopted brother.  I can only hope I could fulfill that need.”

“Jeffrey, I think that would be an excellent idea; I haven’t spoken with the staff yet for recommendations.  Let’s call in Bobby and see what he thinks. Why don’t you go to the kitchen, I believe you know you way and I’ll have him meet you there.  Over a cup of hot cocoa and some cookies I think you could ask him, once you talk to him a little to get to know him better.  The choice in any case is yours.  I trust you will handle it well.”

Once Jeffrey had left, the three remaining adults began their discussion.

“How did you know to handle things that way?” asked Ms. Fairbanks.

“Once you have been around boys as long as I have, you begin to develop a sense.  Along with the reports Judge Hamilton forwarded to me, I have the feeling that Jeffrey is at just as high a level as Paul.  Between the two of them and the older boys Troy and Phillip IV, there is a possibility I wouldn’t need any counselors.  I will, of course, have at least a counselor or two on staff, but I am moving towards them only being qualified if they are full fledge psychiatrists and even then I think our boys will be able to teach them a thing or two. Have you noticed the physical similarities between Jeffrey and Paul?  They are so much alike under any other circumstances I would suspect them to be brothers.  Is there any chance?”

“I’m not aware of any, but since I have everything on file for both of the boys I will do some checking if you like,” said Ms. Fairbanks.

“You know, I wondered that as well.  When we first met Jeffrey, I couldn’t believe how much he reminded me of Paul.  As we talked in the car the resemblance became even stronger,” added Officer Burke.

“For now we have signed custody over to your facility.  It will be the final decision of Judge Hamilton as to the disposition.  Of course, I can’t see him changing things as he instructed me to be sure Jeffrey was brought here anyway,” said Ms. Fairbanks.

“There are some problems we are going to have to discuss, however.  The story Jeffrey told us about how he was treated when he was under the care of Professor Saunders and how he escaped to where we picked him up is rather startling.  I do believe we will have to schedule first, a conversation with Judge Hamilton and then one with the three of us, Judge Hamilton, Jeffrey and whoever else the Judge may feel should be involved,” said Officer Burke.  “I think some heads will eventually roll over what has happened with Jeffrey.”

“I agree, and the sooner the better,” added Ms. Fairbanks.

“I agree as well,” stated Mr. Townsend. “The sooner we put this to bed the better so Jeffrey can get on with his life and Professor Saunders can be removed as threat to any one else.

To be continued...

A special thanks to Jesse Mercer for editing.

Posted: 01/21/11