Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 06:07:07 -0700
From: fritz@nehalemtel.net
Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter Eighty-Three
Ah hah, you are once again lurking here and reading this silly
warning and disclaimer. Don't you have better things to do? I suppose it
is only fair to ask me the reverse of that question, and that is don't I
have better things to do than write one? Since I have no good answer, then
I shouldn't expect you to have one and so please just disregard the
question. It was silly and should never have been asked. But then, I am
frequently accused of being silly, so you will just have to bear with me.
Once again we come to the subject of any minors who might be
reading this story. The law protects you from reading stories like this,
and if you chose to read it you are throwing away all such protection. I
cannot save you from yourself, so the decision is yours. On the other
hand, if you don't feel you need to be saved go ahead and read.
On occasion I throw in some descriptions which some people might
consider pornographic. It is well known that some people become extremely
offended when encountering such descriptions, so if you feel you might be
one of those people who become offended, then I advise you to leave as it
will probably help your blood pressure. Should you choose not to do so, do
not try to hold me responsible for your lack of tolerance. It is your
decision to continue reading and you need to accept responsibility for it.
I have never understood why there are people who seem to feel that
they are better judges of what people should read and think than the people
doing the reading and thinking. That seems more than somewhat arrogant to
me. It is like they are saying you are far too stupid to make any
decisions for yourself, and therefore we will make them for you. Those
people are the ones who have made it against the law to read this story in
certain areas of the world. For people living in those areas, I recommend
either leaving this site, or being extremely careful so you are not
discovered reading this story.
The story is nothing more than a tale dreamed up by me. Should you
think it is based on actual happenings or real people, you would be wrong.
Feel free to read and hopefully enjoy the story. I would request
that you grant me the usual privileges of an author and attribute any
quotes properly and share any monies derived from the story. Should you
fail to do so, I promise to attempt to haunt you throughout eternity. Now
that is scary. I mean think about it. Do you really want me intruding in
your dreams and bothering you? I think not. In other words, the risk is
simply not worth the reward.
As usual I owe many thanks to Don. In fact I owe many thanks to
many people who have made a difference throughout my life. Don is one of
many and I have not the words to tell him or the others how much I truly
appreciate them and their efforts. All have made my life much better. I
am left with the simple words, Thank you. I just wish I had the words to
say it better.
As usual, feel free to send complaints, comments, questions, or
suggestions to the same old address of "fritz@nehalemtel.net" Although I
try to answer all of them, sometimes it takes me a while. Please be sure
to put "I Love Corey" in the subject line on at least the first email or I
will delete you. I would hate to do that by accident, but with the amount
of spam I find I don't have time to check each email and so I only check
those I think deserve it. So please help me by giving me a reason to read
your email by using the subject of "I Love Corey," or even "ILC". Fritz
******************************************************************
I Love Corey, Chapter Eighty-three
Yesterday afternoon had gone reasonably well, but that isn't the
way the morning went today. The news media grabbed me before I made it
into the hearing room. I had my hands full trying to keep from making a
fool of myself, and was actually looking forward to the hearing getting
under way so I could escape them. I shouldn't have felt that way since as
soon as the hearing started, things went downhill.
It started pretty simply when the subject of money for schools came
up. After everyone at the table had made their usual speeches on the
subject, I was asked to comment and I made few friends at the table when I
said that while more money would be helpful and there were some places that
schools were really short, but that mainly what was needed was some changes
in attitude and rules. I then proceeded to attempt to give a few examples
such as taking a better look at some of the demands of political
correctness and recognizing that many were foolish and gave one example
which was some of the current demands about the way the subject of slavery
is covered. I had others to give, but never got that far. From the
reaction that statement got you would have thought I had come out in favor
of Hitler and against the Flag. I spent the next hour trying to explain
that while I was more than willing to agree that we need to be conscious of
the feelings of others that does not mean that we need to rewrite history
and leave things out simply because some happenings in the past are
offensive to some people. I must have hit a hot button issue as the best I
can figure they would not even listen. All I was trying to say is while
there are many things that have happened throughout the history of the
human race which many disapprove of, it does no good to ignore them just
because we think they are wrong today. What we need to do is understand
why they were allowed to happen at the time so we will not make the same
mistakes and repeat them, and that it does no good to spin them to satisfy
the demands of a few. Yes there was slavery, and we finally abolished it.
Now the thing to do is study why it happened and make sure it doesn't
happen again. Blaming people today for what happened a hundred years ago
is silly and helps no one. Instead we need to work together and make sure
it never happens again. Only when we deal with such subjects honestly can
we truly understand them and be able to see the wrongs they did and stop
such things from happening again. It was wrong to make blacks slaves and
equally wrong to discriminate against them, but doing the same to whites
now and saying it is to repay blacks for the wrongs done to them is just as
wrong. Racial discrimination is wrong no matter what reason is given for
it.
I can offer no explanation for how religion came into the
discussion as I certainly didn't bring it up, but my statement that
religion didn't belong in the curriculum except as something to be
addressed with regards to an explanation of what helped cause some events
in history was another place where some seemed to take it wrong. In fact
the only reason I said that was in response to a rather silly statement
concerning religion. Some of the questions and comments then directed at
me got pretty nasty and I finally resorted to asking them how they could
honestly say that religion played no part in history. They then accused me
of trying to teach religion. So I asked why people had come to this
country to start with if it wasn't in part for religious reasons, and how
about the Salem witch trials, or the celebration of Thanksgiving? I had
lots more points I could have brought up, but that was more than enough to
allow some to present a series of the most ludicrous arguments I've ever
heard. Listening to some of them you would have thought that the witch
trials were only an example of jealousy, and the Pilgrims came to educate
the Native Americans or something like that. I was having a hard time
following some of the arguments so I wasn't always sure just what it was
they were trying to say. I was left trying to get them to see how silly
some of their arguments were without making them angry.
My comments on vouchers were equally well received by some. All I
can say is they likely would have lynched me had they thought they could
get away with it. What I said was that I was not against vouchers in
principle, and that if public education could not compete against private
education in a level playing field, then maybe there was something wrong
with public education, but you would have thought I was advocating a
theocracy from some of the reactions that produced. I never did get a
chance to say what I considered a level playing field before I was almost
attacked.
Not all the problems stemmed from the others at the table; they had
plenty of help from some in the committee, especially on any subject that
could be in any way construed to touch upon religion. I was left wondering
how people can so willfully ignore facts and instead base arguments on
emotion. It seemed that no matter what I said, one side or the other was
against me and sometimes both. The thing that puzzled me the most was why
I was here. There were eleven other people setting at the table, yet I
seemed to be the one drawing all the attention from both the table and the
committee members, and I was only one teacher and a minor one at that while
the others at the table ranged from the State Department of Education to
high up in the Teacher's Union.
There were some on the committee who appeared to want to turn the
public schools into parochial schools teaching their own brand of religion
only, and there were some who appeared to refuse to recognize that many
events in history were trigged by religion or religious leaders. Yet no
matter how many times I told them that I was not in favor of teaching
religion, those unwilling to even allow history to be taught in a way that
acknowledged the role religion played in events seemed to think I was
trying to set up a state religion. The others were mad at me for not
wanting to do so. All I wanted was for history to be taught in a manner
that was willing to acknowledge facts like one of the reasons the Pilgrims
had come to this country was religious freedom. While there were still
texts that mentioned such a reason, more of them were starting to leave
such information out due to the sometimes-overreaching demands of political
correctness making it hard to understand why events took place. As I saw
it, we were headed towards a time when the mere mention of religion in
schools would be against the rules no matter that it was necessary to do so
in order to explain why something like the Crusades took place. I wasn't
advocating teaching religion, only that it be permissible to mention it
when it had a major impact on some of the events in history. I was even
more surprised that I was forced to try to talk about history which wasn't
the subject I taught. Yet everyone seemed to want me to comment on the
subject.
Instead of reasoned arguments I got statements like we shouldn't
mention religion because it might offend atheists or members of another
religion. Those making such statements were unwilling to explain how an
atheist would be offended by hearing such things. It seemed to make no
difference when I said that surely atheists recognize that some people
believe in some religions and that as long as there was no attempt made to
try to teach any religion there was no reason for them to be offended.
This part had all started over such a simple thing, that being the
thought that we could perhaps save a little money on textbooks and do a
better job of teaching if we quit worrying so much about political
correctness and worried more about doing a good job of teaching. It just
got so out of hand and so far away from what I said that I was left
wondering how anyone could think I meant some of the things they seemed to
feel I was saying.
After a little over two hours of that type of thing, several members
of the committee whispered back and forth a little and then Cm. Philson
thanked us all for attending and contributing to the committees
understanding of the problems. He then announced the hearing was
adjourned. I was more than happy with that announcement and was gathering
up my stuff so I could leave when members of the committee started coming
down from their seats and personally thanking all of us who had testified.
All I wanted to do was escape and get home and go back to worrying about
the boys and teaching. However, that was not to be, at least not as soon
as I had hoped. I won't say I was shanghaied, but pretty close. It was
once again necessary to attend a luncheon and what really surprised me was
that this time there were to be four of us who had testified in attendance
at the luncheon, along with three committee members from each political
side of the committee, making a total of ten. I was taken to
Rep. Philson's office for a few minutes before we left for the luncheon.
"Well, what'd you think of the hearing?" he asked as we walked into
his office, a big grin on his face.
I was sort of stuck. I really didn't wish to tell him what I
thought, so I tried to be somewhat diplomatic.
"It wasn't quite what I expected," I answered. When he just kept
looking at me with a grin I decided I needed to add a little more. "There
seemed to be some rather extreme views presented." I was really stuck. I
was trying to figure out a way to say the whole thing was a waste of time
and that I'd like to wring his neck for getting me involved in it without
actually wringing his neck.
"Sam, you don't understand the system."
He was certainly right on that. The whole thing appeared to be a
waste of time, both his and mine. For almost a day and a half I had only
encountered extreme views from people who appeared unwilling to listen and
only wanted to demagogue about their own views. I must have had a somewhat
surprised look on my face because he continued.
"Sam, you have to look at it right. All the committee members have
to get elected in order to be here. That means we have to attract voters,
and those voters have differing viewpoints. So that means we need to act
like we are trying to represent those viewpoints in public hearings or we
won't be elected next time. Then you have the union members. They face
the same thing from their membership. Most of the time we work together
fairly well, but in public hearings we have to act like we are trying to do
what each of our constituencies wants us to do. When we put together a
bill it has to have a bone or two for each viewpoint so each member can say
that he got something for his constituency.
"From what I've been told, before the days of all the coverage and
open hearings it was better, but now we all have to play to our
constituencies all the time. For an outsider, like you, that makes it hard
to understand. Sometimes we're forced to make some statements that may
seem pretty extreme, even stupid to others, but that's what gets us
elected. The political fringes are where the money is, and it takes money
to get elected. So we hold these hearings and then get together and talk
about what came up. We then try to put together something that offers a
little for both sides, and yet does some good. This luncheon is one of the
places we get together and try to work things out. I think you might be
surprised at how it goes."
"But why was I asked to be here?" I blurted out. "I don't know
anything about most of what was talked about. All I am is a teacher, and
I'm not even all that experienced."
Rep. Philson started chuckling. "I wanted you here. You're the
first person I've met that didn't seem to have a political axe to grind
when it comes to schools. You went after the union, the Education Dept,
the Legislature, everyone, and it was all because you wanted things to be
better, never for yourself, always for the students. I liked a lot of what
you said at that dinner, and when I had you checked out I discovered you
were towards the top of your class and that you don't have to teach because
you inherited some money. You didn't know who I was, but you were willing
to discuss education without appearing to have any viewpoint other than
doing the best job you could for the students." He paused before
continuing.
"All the people I normally talk with have reasons they want certain
things, and most of the time those things benefit the person asking or the
group he represents. You don't appear to be after anything for yourself,
only for improving education. That makes you a very rare person, at least
from my perspective. I'm chairman of this committee and I have many people
lobbying for bills covering everything from more money for teachers through
buying different textbooks. You don't seem to give a damn about that and
only want the system to do its best for every student. There are probably
lots of people like you, but you're pretty articulate and are willing to
take on most any subject where most people seem to be unwilling to say
things people don't want to hear. Even when you learned who I was, you
kept right on with what you were saying and didn't try to change just
because I was listening."
About that time he looked at his watch and said it was time to go to
lunch. By the time we got to his car he had gathered up the other two
members of his party and we were soon headed for lunch. This time the
restaurant selected had set aside a section somewhat out of sight of the
rest of the diners and soon everyone had arrived who was supposed to be
there. Two tables had been pushed together so we could all be seated at
the same table and everyone was talking. This time there were none of the
outrageous statements that had been so prevalent in the hearing. Instead
there were some pretty frank discussions about some of the problems and
what might be done about them in light of political reality. I wasn't
called on nearly as often, but when I was, they listened and if they had
objection, those were more reasoned objections, and they pointed out a few
places where some things couldn't be done owing to politics.
I was very surprised that in some cases an individual member seemed
to support ideas his party was frequently against. The same held true of
the Teacher's Union representative, and those from the Department of
Education. I was privileged to see how the government really worked and it
was far different than I had thought it did. While there were a few
positions that neither side would bend on, for most they seemed to disagree
only slightly and with a little give and take they were soon agreeing on
much of what they would present to the whole legislature. Yet I was left
wondering how they were going to solve those differences which seemed to be
main stumbling blocks to complete agreement.
We even had a rational discussion on vouchers and I got to explain
what I meant by level playing field. Basically I told them that meant that
private schools and public schools would have to be equal in their ability
to expel unruly students; that a private school could not pick and choose
students any more than public one could; and all would have to meet any
standards and be punished alike in any failing of their students to meet
norms. When we kicked that around a little, I explained that as it now
was, a private school could expel a student without many problems, but that
it was almost impossible to expel certain kinds of students from public
schools. That gave private schools an unfair advantage in that they could
get rid of their problem students rather than deal with them, where public
schools could not. The discussion would have gone on longer but one of the
committee members said his staff was preparing a paper on that very subject
and that what I was saying was confirmed in some studies and those studies
said the rules, as they now were, did put an unfair burden on public
schools just as I was pointing out. He promised to get copies to all the
committee members and that was the end of that discussion.
It was amazing how much was covered and how much agreement there was
in the slightly over two hours that the luncheon lasted. On the way back
Cm. Philson asked me to come to his office for a few more minutes so I did.
When we got to his office he once again thanked me and I still couldn't
understand why. It looked like I had only managed to bring out all the
disagreements between the parties and had helped nothing, and I said so.
That was when I got an explanation that made sense, in a twisted sort
of way.
"Well Sam, I don't know if I can explain it. What you did was
convince everyone that all you wanted is what is best for the schools and
the kids. You don't seem to care about yourself or anyone else, and that
comes through loud and clear. When you argued for your beliefs, you forced
everyone to listen because of that, and you gave everyone a chance to voice
their views, and in many cases proceeded to shred those views. Political
reality is that we can only move so far, but you pointed out some of the
directions we should be heading, and you reminded us of what the goal is,
that of doing right by the students. I know all the members on the
committee and know their views well, and I can promise you that some of the
things you saw at lunch would not have been possible if you had not
convinced them of it. Hell, you even forced me to change my mind on a
couple of things. You seem to be able to cut through all the rhetoric and
make people see what the real issue is. I was against vouchers, but the
way you explained them made me less against them, but also more cautious
about implementing them because of the level playing ground you talked
about. We made more progress today than we have in two months because you
were not on one side or the other, only for the schools and the students.
"So while you might not think you did much, by getting some of those
topics out in the open you forced everyone to really look at them. For the
most part you shredded arguments without making people angry. Instead you
did it with reasoned logic. That made it more acceptable for people to
compromise.
"Government is a compromise. On most issues there are two or more
viewpoints, and frequently those viewpoints are so at odds with each other
that it is hard to compromise. Take this morning. You made us look at the
whole picture instead of focusing on each little point. Where someone
might make a good argument for having a textbook changed for a small
reason, you put it in a different light and suddenly those small reasons no
longer look as important when weighed against the whole picture.
He sighed before continuing, "Frequently we get hung up on the
details, fighting over the little things that each of our constituencies
want. Since there isn't a clear consensus in the state about many of those
items, they become important to each side in its battle for control. While
my party has the majority right now, we don't have enough votes to force
our will on the whole system, and that's a good thing. Government does
best when there's a balance of ideas and each side needs to convince the
other that their idea is better.
"When you think about it, some of us have been here for a number of
years and we've heard the same arguments many times. The Teacher's Union
always wants more for the teachers, the Board of Education is a bureaucracy
and they are interested in protecting their turf, and of course there are
the two political sides, each trying to gain the upper hand. You fit none
of those categories and brought a fresh perspective to the hearing and
forced everyone to think rather than react in the usual manner. That's why
you attracted so much attention from everyone.
"Some of those things we covered and decided at lunch were things
we've been battling over since the session started, but after listening to
you enough people had enough movement to solve them. There's still a long
way to go, but we solved some of it, and hopefully the rest will go a
little better. It's easier to compromise after the first few details are
worked out with each side getting part of what they wanted. That's what
happened at lunch today and I think it will continue because you forced us
to see it differently."
All the time we had been talking, staff members had been coming in
and handing Cm. Philson notes and folders. Every time the door was opened
I could hear the phones in the background ringing and I suddenly realized I
was taking up his time. Besides, I wanted to get home and check on the
boys, so with that we said our goodbyes and I left. I found his
explanations on how things worked fascinating, but didn't feel he should
give up any more time for me. Cm. Philson had already given me a lot to
think about.
I was lucky enough to beat rush hour traffic, so I was soon headed up
I-5 and thinking about what I'd learned. At least a lot of things now made
more sense. Many times I had wondered why some politicians made statements
that sounded really strange. Now at least I had some idea of why they did
so, but still it seemed like a silly way to run a government. Yet one
thing said during the luncheon kept ringing in my ears, and that was if I
wanted things done a certain way, I needed to convince enough voters that
my idea was right and then the politicians would respond to those voters
and pass what those voters wanted. After all, politicians want to be
re-elected and when voters want something, those elected will attempt to
give it to them in order to get their votes. As long as there wasn't a
clear consensus among the voters, there would be give and take on issues
with neither side controlling what happened, but only managing to keep
things going in much the present direction.
Still that seemed wrong somehow. Our country is not a democracy, but
rather a republic, and that meant that we elected people to represent us,
and those people were supposed to do their best to run the country, state,
city, or county government for the benefit of all and not just because of
political whim. In a true democracy the political whims of the electorate
rule, but in a republic those elected are supposed to use their best
judgment based on information they have, some of which may not be available
to the people. Even when the information is available it sometimes gets
twisted to where one side might make it appear to say something it never
did. Then there was the problem of people adopting viewpoints based not on
logic or honest information, but instead on ideologies and then being
unwilling to acknowledge anything that might conflict with their own
viewpoint no matter how accurate or well proven it might be. Yet it
appeared that many decisions were being based on political whim rather than
on what might be best for the people those making the decisions were
responsible for. As the miles rolled on I just kept kicking the problem
around and kept coming up with no good answers. Somehow things weren't
working like I thought the founding fathers had had in mind, but I wasn't
sure what had gone wrong.
Just north of Williams the coffee I'd consumed at lunch caught up
with me and I pulled into the rest area. The stop for the pause that
refreshes improved my outlook, and when once again on the highway heading
north I decided I wasn't going to solve the problem on the way home.
Instead I started thinking about how things had gone at practice and would
the team be ready for our next game. Of course there was also JJ's
birthday to think about and I was glad I'd found time to pick up a few
gifts for him. In addition to the iPod I'd picked up a couple of shirts
and hoped he would be pleased with them. I knew about the bracelet LT was
getting for him, and had heard about a few video games and CD's the other
boys were going to give him. I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to
order a cake and that I wasn't going to have time to make one. I needed to
remember to ask Kath if she could do something about that oversight on my
part. Hopefully she could find a cake which would be acceptable, even if
it wasn't a birthday cake. Fifteen candles would make any cake into a
birthday cake even if it hadn't been made specifically for birthdays.
Glancing at my watch made me reconsider. I might have time to bake a cake
tonight after all. JJ liked chocolate cakes and I had a good recipe for
one and it was quick and easy. Some chocolate whipped-cream frosting would
go well on it, particularly if I used some pie cherries for the filling
between layers. I'd made it before and all the boys seemed to like it and
it was so easy, being a one-bowl cake out of Mom's old "Joy of Cooking"
cookbook. The cookbook had actually been my grandmother's cookbook and Mom
had inherited it when Grandma died, and both had made that same cake for
many years. You just put things in the mixer and mixed it up and then
baked it. Well you did have to add the ingredients in the proper order,
but still it was really easy. I could prepare the pans and mix the cake up
in the time it took the oven to heat. The more I thought about that, the
better it sounded.
With that out of the way my mind drifted back to politics. The more
I thought about the subject, the more I realized I was like so many others
and simply didn't pay enough attention to the subject. Every election
cycle I read up on the candidates and tried to vote for the ones that
sounded the best, and I also checked to see those in office had voted the
way they said they were going to vote. I'd never paid any attention to
party simply because Mom and Dad had been so divided on the issue.
Listening to them debate the issues had soon convinced me that neither side
was always right and so I had tried not to take sides. Instead I looked
for people who reflected my views and voted for them. I'd been simply
amazed that in the last election I had voted for just as many Republicans
as Democrats, or vice-versa because I'd thought I was more liberal leaning
than that. The election before that I had favored the Democrats by only
one. Politically I was about as middle of the road as possible although I
tended to favor most of the Democrat's policies on social issues, and the
Republican's on governmental issues, and I found the fringes of both
parties offensive, yet Cm. Philson had said those fringes were necessary.
No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't agree with him on that. To me
they seemed to cloud the issues by issuing outrageous statements. Add to
that the fact that so many people seemed unwilling to think for themselves
and instead ran around parroting those same silly statements. The news
media were no help because they rarely did more than report what was said
unless they were mad at one side and then would make sure and challenge
anything that side said. I wished that the news media would challenge
everyone making stupid statements so the people might have a better idea of
what the actual facts were. The media claimed that was not their job, and
that really baffled me. In some press conferences I'd seen on television,
I had heard them challenging remarks, and in others not. In some stories
they made it a point to present dissenting views, but in others not. They
even allowed statements to continue to be presented even after they had
long been proven wrong and never challenged them.
Somehow I had thought the job of the media was to report accurately
and honestly on events, and if they didn't feel that their readers or
viewers would be able to understand the story without it, to supply an
explanation for why the story was important and perhaps some background
knowledge to give the reader a better understanding of the subject. In
some cases there had been stories in the paper and on the TV that almost
seemed as if the reporters were trying to advance an agenda rather than
just report the news. In fact, I almost never saw fair coverage on
anything relating to firearms, and rarely was it fair on environmental
issues, but rather such stories were normally distorted to where they
didn't come close be being true or accurate. I knew that reporters
frequently worked under deadlines so that might account for some of it, but
some stories were not under such deadlines and were still wrong. There
were times I was forced to wonder if it was simply a matter of having made
a mistake or if it was a deliberate attempt to influence opinion. Those in
the news media always said no, that there was no agenda, but in the case of
firearms the mistakes always were against firearms so it made me think
there very well could be an agenda against them by at least the majority of
those in the media. If there was no agenda, the mistakes should balance
out over time, and so far that had not come close to happening. One of the
really sad things was that even when a story had been proven wrong, those
who favored the position such a story had supported went around still
parroting it as if it were fact. I finally got tired of the whole subject
and dug out a CD and leaned back and continued driving. It was kind of
nice not to have the boys with me as I doubt they would have liked
listening to Rachmaninoff's Second. Such problems would not be solved by
worrying about them and for now I just needed to relax and get home. I had
plenty of things I needed to do when I got there, like bake a cake.
Home sure looked nice when I got there. I had finally forced the
boys to park their bikes in the shop, thereby giving me room to park the
pickup in the garage, so I punched the button for the garage door and was
surprised to see the Gator missing. I debated about calling Corey on my
cell phone but decided to go inside and see if there was a note or
something. What I discovered was JJ and Dog. The rest had driven to
Redding to pick up a few last minute gifts for JJ's birthday. I got a hug
from JJ and a few tongue swipes from Dog. What more could I want in the
line of a welcome? That still didn't solve the problem of the birthday
cake so out came the cell phone and a few minutes later I was busy mixing
up a cake.
While I was heating the oven up and mixing the cake, JJ was
chattering on a mile a minute, filling me in on what had happened for the
last two days. When he got to the point of telling about seeing me on the
TV news, he started to giggle, and then told me that the boys had all
agreed I looked somewhat like a cornered rat. God I hoped not, but he
could very well be right because that was much like I'd felt. I'd tried to
be as non-committal as possible but you never know how it will look on the
news. He assured me they had taped it so I'd be able to see it, and even
wanted me to stop mixing the cake so he could show me. I managed to
convince him there would be plenty of time to see the tape when the cake
was in the oven. From his description I really doubted that I wanted to
see it.
When the layers were in the oven I had a hard time convincing him
that I was getting hungry and the only reason he just didn't drag me in to
see the tape was that I agreed to fix him a sandwich while I fixed myself
one. Soon I had some salami and ham slices, some various cheeses, along
with some lettuce, tomato slices, and a few pickle slices between some
French bread and he then dragged me in to see the tape.
Well, it could have been worse. I wouldn't have used the term
cornered rat; maybe uncomfortable would have been better. However the
shirt and tie I'd bought looked nice. The editing could have been better,
but at least I didn't sound like a total idiot. All in all it didn't
present a distorted picture of what I had said so I guess I couldn't
complain. I do wish I'd had a little more time to think of answers, but
the reporters had been firing questions so fast I had only gotten part of
them answered anyway. At least I didn't think there would be any lynch
parties over my comments.
The timer dinged and so I checked the cake and decided it needed a
couple more minutes in the oven. It was almost done, but not quite. Sure
enough, two more minutes and the toothpick I stuck in the middle came out
almost clean and the center slightly springy. Setting the two pans aside
to cool, I finished packing my suitcase into my room and put things away.
So far things seemed pretty well under control.
I was sitting in my chair checking JJ's homework, with Dog's head
resting on my foot, when the rest of the crew got back. It sounded like a
stampede as boys poured into the house. In just two days I'd forgotten how
noisy they were. I must admit that the hugs felt really good, and even
Danny shyly gave me one. He acted like he wasn't sure he should be doing
it, but when I squeezed him back he really tightened his grasp. His hug
was much stronger than all the others except for one, and that was the one
I really wanted to feel. I wasn't disappointed. Corey didn't say
anything, but his eyes were sparkling and he had a silly little grin on his
face.
In just an instant all that changed and suddenly I felt like the last
guardian of the gate as I was in the kitchen bravely defending the cake
from a mob of boys who seemed determined to pillage any food supplies.
From what JJ had said, it had been well over two hours since they had eaten
and it was showing. I wondered if I would last until they got a little
older and no longer ate everything in sight.
As long as I had to be in the kitchen I started the cherry filling
for the cake. It was really simple, only a fifteen ounce can of sour or
pie cherries, 3/4 cup of sugar, a generous ¼ teaspoon of almond extract,
the juice of half a lemon, and three tablespoons of cornstarch, all of
which I gave a quick trip through the food processor and then put in a
sauce pan and started heating. That was quite a bit of cornstarch for one
can, but I needed it a little thicker than it would be for a pie filling.
For a cherry pie I used two cans of pie cherries, discarded the juice from
one can, and didn't bother with the food processor. I didn't process the
cherries to mush, only pulsed until they were what would be termed a medium
chop. I had to stay close and stir the mixture frequently to keep it from
scorching. Soon it was hot enough for the cornstarch to thicken and I set
it aside to cool.
Poor JJ. The rest of the boys were in Corey's room giggling and
wrapping packages and he was locked out. I dipped out a little of the
cherry filling and gave it to him and that brightened him up. One can made
way more than I needed for the filling, but the cherries came in a
fifteen-ounce can. I wasn't too worried though as the boys would use the
rest on toast or something. I no longer had the leftover problems I once
had. Now it was just the opposite as the boys devoured any and everything
edible. All of them were shooting up like dandelions in the spring except
for Kyle, and he seemed to have hit a pause in his growth. Still, if he
finished growing to fit his hands and feet he was going to be a good-sized
man. The information Judy had furnished said his father was almost six
foot three and I saw no reason to think Kyle would not be as big when he
finished growing. It was likely that all the boys would be taller than my
five foot nine when they were grown. Kyle was about as tall as I was right
now.
Kath and I did manage to discuss tomorrow's dinner a little. Of all
things, JJ wanted hamburgers and potato salad. Well, it was his birthday
so he could have it if that's what he wanted. Kath volunteered to make the
potato salad, and while that made me a little nervous, I agreed. I filled
her in on asking for the proper patties at Downie's and to make sure and
get lots of buns and garden for them. She looked a little surprised at the
term garden, but soon understood what I was talking about. She even agreed
to get some baked beans and we could add a little barbecue sauce to them.
Boys came trooping out and I guess you can say the packages were
wrapped. I mean they had wrapping paper around them, and there were some
stick-on bows on the packages, but really, the boys could have been just a
little neater in their efforts and the packages would have looked much
better. The seams in the paper were not centered well, and the folds in
the paper not very crisp, but they were well wrapped if you counted the
tape. I suppose you could say they looked like a bunch of teenaged boys
wrapped them and that would cover it. The way they looked made me wish I
had not just handed my purchases to them and asked them to wrap them for me
as I would have done a much neater job, but their hearts were in the right
place so I thanked them for the help and they just beamed.
It was now time for bed, and soon boys were headed that way. Even
Dog was following JJ and LT towards their room and I was really happy to be
in my own house and have Corey with me. Mainly I was happy to have Corey
with me and probably would have been happy no matter where we were, but who
cares, I was grinning as we headed for bed.
We spent some time really enjoying each other and I guess the two
days apart helped as when we finished we were both still grinning. A short
time after our little fun and games he curled up in his usual place and we
just relaxed and talked a little.
I now had a chance to tell him how much I had missed him and how hard
it had been to sleep without him, and he told me much the same. He also
filled me in on some of the details of how the practices had gone and
things that had happened at school during the two days I'd been away. The
conversation drifted around covering many things and finally got to Andrea
and what might happen to her. The boys still thought that Kath should
foster her and were wondering if there might be a house somewhere that
might be acceptable even if it wasn't very close to ours. I was still
somewhat surprised at their concern for her, but I suppose that all abused
kids feel a sense of kinship with others who have suffered the same thing.
After all, people consider themselves parts of groups for far less
important reasons.
Somewhere along in the conversation Corey fell asleep. It felt so
good to have him tucked up against me that it took me a little longer and
instead I just enjoyed the scent of his hair and the feel of his gentle
breath on my chest. I still didn't understand how he found it comfortable
to stick his shoulder in my armpit and sort of roll on me and then sleep,
but I enjoyed it far too much to complain. I'm sure I was still smiling
when I to joined him in sleep.
Wednesday was one of those days. Unfortunately I didn't wake up
before the alarm and so that put me on a tight schedule since I still had a
cake to finish. So it was hurry through my shower and dash to the kitchen
and start in on the cake while the coffee was still perking. I put the
first layer on a plate and then put a nice layer of the now cool filling on
it, and then placed the top layer on top. Then it was time to make the
frosting. Since the coffee had just finished perking, I took time to pour
myself a cup just as Kath showed up.
You know about how it goes when you are only half awake and in a
hurry. I poured a cup and a half of heavy cream in the mixer; added one
and a quarter cups of powdered sugar, a third cup baking cocoa, a little
vanilla, and whipped it up. It whipped right up and that wasn't the
problem. The problem was that I forgotten that it made enough frosting to
not only frost the cake, but also fill it. Needless to say, I had plenty.
I could have cut the recipe by a third and still had plenty. Kath
snickered at me as I was muttering to myself about not using my head. She
went ahead and started breakfast while I finished up by shaving a little
chocolate on the cake and then put it in the refrigerator. I wasn't very
far behind schedule when I left for school.
Jeez, being gone two days meant my inbox was stuffed. We could save
many forests if only there was not so much useless paperwork in life.
While I got a good start at weeding it out, other colleagues started coming
in and of course they had to ask how the hearing had gone. Then Jerry
showed up and I had to go over the whole thing again. What a morning.
At least the students were much like normal, that is if you can ever
call students normal. I only had to spend part of each period telling them
all about my trip to Sacramento and the hearing and listen to them giggle
about seeing me on the news. I got the impression that they considered my
appearance on the news funny, but when asked they wouldn't say why. I
finally threatened the class with extra homework and one of them came up
with the cornered rat explanation. I should have quit while I was ahead
and not insisted on knowing why they were giggling.
Things were getting nicely smoothed out when suddenly JJ was asking
me if he could invite a few friends to dinner. That took me by surprise,
but I told him sure, go ahead. When he said eight, I could see I needed to
check and make sure that would work so I told him to wait while I called
Kath and told her of the change in plans, and warned her to get plenty
because the plans might change again. She told me not to worry and I think
she snickered at me, but the hallway was noisy and so I couldn't be sure of
that. I gave JJ the go-ahead and away he went with a big grin on his face.
The situation had pretty well calmed down by the time practice rolled
around. The guests were now up to twelve, and I was simply amazed that so
many parents were willing to allow changes in plans that quickly. At
almost every break there had been a line of kids at the phones, and I could
see JJ handing his cell phone to some. Still the willingness might have
had something to do with the saving in food costs. At least with such late
invitations there would be no gifts to furnish. I was somewhat puzzled
since when I'd asked him, he hadn't wanted any guests. I was left
wondering why he'd suddenly changed his mind. In the mean time he looked
so happy I just let things continue.
Practice went well. In fact it was the best practice we'd had all
year. If tomorrow's game went as well we would be off and running. Who
knows, maybe we would make the playoffs for the state titles. Now that
would really be something to be proud of. After practice we rushed though
getting things picked up and in the washer and then dashed for home.
Bless Kath's heart. She not only had made the salad, she had also
picked up gobs of such things as nuts and chips and all kinds of goodies.
She had also put the candles on the cake and it looked pretty nice. I went
out and fired up the big barbecue because the little gas one just wouldn't
turn out enough patties at a time to satisfy the mob of kids. Most of a
ten-pound bag of briquettes later the fire was started and in about a half
hour I should be able to start cooking. Since I had a couple of free
minutes, I decided to spice some nuts. While I was doing that, the first
of the guests started showing up.
What a mess. Only two adults to look after twenty-one kids and all
the clutter they make put the adults at a real disadvantage. I never did
figure out where the extra three kids came from, and I'm not even sure JJ
knew, but things went pretty well. The kids consumed what can only be
described as mass quantities of food. The only real problem was the slices
of cake were very thin and it was a good thing there was lots of ice cream
to go with it. I would have made another cake had I known how many I was
going to feed, but the rest went well. I thought Kath had made enough
potato salad for an army, but it was gone by the time kids were full. It
was pretty good although somewhat different from mine. While Kath had
picked up a ten-pound bag of three to the pound patties for the hamburgers,
it was a good thing that I had most of a bag in the freezer because the mob
of kids simply inhaled the burgers. Silly me, I'd thought when I got them
out of the freezer and put them in the fridge to thaw that they would be
plenty, and here I was looking at only a few left in the new bag. I could
only get sixteen patties on the big barbecue at one time and I'd had to
cook three rounds to fill everyone up although there were a few burgers
left.
JJ was thrilled with his iPod and the rest of the boys were jealous.
You could just see them almost turn green with envy. The party was a
success and I was really happy to see JJ finally coming clear out of the
somewhat depressed state he had been in since his problems with his family
started. When I thought about it, this was the first time I had seen him
interact with other kids in the same manner he had before that time. Yes,
he had opened up with all of us, but tonight he was acting like I used to
see him in the halls and before classes. It had been a long slow struggle
for him and I was so happy that he was starting to once again regain his
normal attitude around other people.
About the only one that didn't appear to have a good time was LT. I
kept thinking about that and suddenly it came to me what the problem was.
LT hadn't wanted any guests because he knew his father wouldn't let his
sisters attend, so seeing JJ have fun with everyone reminded him of that.
At least I thought that was the problem, but I would have to wait until we
could talk about it a little before I was sure. Mark's eyes were sparkling
and I could see Kyle sort of watching him and grinning. The boys were all
starting to fit together pretty well and all look out for each other, but
Kyle still seemed to feel it was his responsibility to watch over Mark.
I wasn't worried about Mark because he was fitting in at school like
he had always attended it. He had an infectious smile and made friends
easily. Kyle was another matter. He never talked about friends and I
hadn't heard of him making friends through any of the high school teachers.
Maybe he would do better next year when JJ and LT joined him in high
school, but still he worried me. Yet Kyle didn't appear unhappy. I really
wished I had known him before so that I would have had some idea of what he
was like before things got so bad for him.
Kath looked tired and her leg was bothering her so Corey and I
started trying to clean up the mess when most of the guests had left.
Bless his heart; Kyle soon joined us, dragging Mark along with him. It was
JJ's day so he got out of it, and LT sort of snuck off to be with him.
Then Danny joined us and it really didn't take all that long to get the
mess cleaned up. Another thing I had to be thankful for was Kath had
thought to buy paper plates and that really helped.
The big hug and grin I got from JJ made the whole thing worth it. He
was almost glowing he looked so happy, and he told us it was the best
birthday party he had ever had.
I was glad to finally collapse in my chair. Dog just raised he head,
and then dropped it. He must have cadged a couple of burgers worth the
bites from everyone and he looked stuffed. He wasn't interested in belly
rubs tonight; he just continued to lie close to his door. Had he wanted
those rubs, tonight there was lots of it to rub. In fact, looking around
all of us appeared to be in that condition, way too much belly to rub.
When I mentioned homework, the whining was somewhat muted. I think
everyone was just too bushed to complain much, but I didn't get much
action. A little more nagging and boys started moving, but they moved
slowly. I staggered off to my office/computer room to catch up on grading
papers and lesson plans, and had even caught up when I started getting
homework to check.
I was surprised when boys started wandering off to bed without any
nagging from me. In fact, I didn't even have to mention it. Corey got his
homework done first so he headed for bed while I was looking at Kyle's
homework. Mark was already in bed since he didn't have any homework, and
the next thing I knew I had Danny, JJ, and LT standing there waiting to
have theirs' checked. By the time I finished with LT's, he and I were the
only ones still up. That condition didn't last long. Boy bed felt good to
me. Twenty-one kids were more than I could handle. I have no idea if
Corey squirmed into his usual position because I was asleep about the time
my head hit the pillow.
Sometimes I wonder about the way things work. Why I was wanted in
court is beyond me because they spent the day trying to select a jury,
during which time I got to sit around and twiddle my thumbs. I finally got
a member of the DA's staff aside early in the afternoon and he agreed I
could go coach the team since it was very apparent that there was no chance
of any testimony taking place today. Even so I just barely made it in time
to leave with the team. This would be our first road game and I hoped we
were ready.
Well we weren't. Oh the game started well with the team scoring two
runs in the top of the first, but that was the last bright spot. This was
a rematch of last week's game, and they were out to get even, and they did.
We were down by three at the end of the first and it just got worse. No
matter whom I put in to pitch, I should have tried someone else. We did
last five innings before the mercy rule kicked in, but only barely. I was
left stunned because the team had looked so good in practice yesterday. I
mean the pitchers had been throwing strikes and the fielders catching
balls. They must have used up their quota for the week because that wasn't
the way the game went. The bottom of the second started out with four
straight walks, and it only got worse. Had we not scored a bunch of runs
we would not have made it into the fifth. I got dizzy watching kids run
the bases and not nearly enough of them were ours. Sixteen to seven is not
a nice score when you're on the seven end of it.
The team was almost in shock. I spent the time they were getting
cleaned up trying to cheer them up, and I think I succeeded somewhat. Kids
are pretty resilient and I hoped a couple of practices would take their
minds off the loss. This was one of our longest trips so the school had
made arrangements with a restaurant where the team could eat. It was a
pretty quiet dinner considering that there were twenty-six boys all in one
place. Then it was head home. I had my boys in the Gator and we followed
the bus and helped unload all the gear. Boy it was nice to get home and
just collapse.
I hadn't been in my chair long enough to even take a breath when Mark
and Danny showed up with their homework for me to check. Having Kath had
made it possible for Mark to come home rather than have to go with me to
the game. His homework was pretty simple and I only spotted a couple of
spelling errors and sent him off to correct them.
Danny's was different. It was apparent that he didn't understand
part of his math assignment and so I spent some time explaining it to him.
Suddenly, he got a surprised look on his face and grabbed his homework and
dashed off to work on it some more. When he brought it back he was
blushing but his homework was now correct. I gave him a hug and he went
off grinning.
Poor Dog hadn't gotten his belly rub owing to Mark and Danny, but he
now made up for it and by the time the rest of the boys showed up with
their homework, he was rubbed out and dozing with his chin on my foot.
There wasn't really much homework so it didn't take long to look it over
and then we were then off to bed.
To be continued...