Date: Sat, 04 Sep 2004 03:17:26 +0100
From: Joey Tailor <joeytailor@hotmail.com>
Subject: John Hamilton School 1

The John Hamilton School is a wonderful school and my place of work

Characters	(introduced in this chapter)

	Main		32 - Sean Worthington

	Boy		07 - Cole Searing

	Teacher 	48 - Mr. Edwards

The John Hamilton School is a wonderful school and my place of work.
Situated in a remote area, we cater to the children from two very different
walks of life. Firstly we educate gifted children that are mainly of lower
income families on academic or private scholarships. This group
accommodates nearly 60% of the seats in our school. Following that, 35% of
the children are from military families. Of that 35%, only a small fraction
are from the local base. Our school has a contract with the military
offering full room, board and education. We can arrange virtually any
duration from two days to graduation. John Hamilton School is able to
handle well over 200 such students. Most of the military children are from
high ranking personnel on active duty. Recently we have received children
of some enlisted personnel and those called to serve in the Gulf. The
remaining student body are our beloved locals, counting less than 20 boys
and girls. As I mentioned, we are a very small community in an extremely
remote area. Our capacity of 300+ beds has yet to be met. Due to
contractual rights the military bought. Paid for services not yet rendered,
now that's business.

My name is Sean Worthington. I am the Finance and Contract Manager for the
John Hamilton School. In short, I look after all the moneys either
received, due or owed by our facility. This also includes contracts,
scholarships, transfers and deeds. I am both an accountant and a lawyer.
No, not the type that goes to court and battles to the death. Just a paper
pushing lawyer, but a darn good one I might add. I took this job based on
many grounds. The remuneration is above average, located amongst the most
inspiring scenery in the world. Not to mention some personal reasoning that
might become more evident later. In reality, it was a close and dear friend
that sent my resume to the school. Days after the Headmaster contacted me I
had arrived and started to settle into my new surroundings. That was almost
two years ago. I am still very happy with my position and give my
dedication to the job with every breath. I have a great knowledge of how to
control finances and let money work to make money. John Hamilton School has
enough resources to continue for many years without a single student
setting foot on the grounds. This allows us to give an outstanding quality
of education to our young scholars. At the same time paying the staff what
they are truly worth rather than the substandard income of an inner city
teacher. In return, we have some of the best and most dedicated staff.

Our teachers educate elementary, middle and high school classes. Our above
standard education covers grades 1 to 12. Situated on very large grounds
with over 50 acres, 22 buildings and many recreational facilities, John
Hamilton School is the perfect choice.

I had been going over some of the transfer papers received in reference to
a new group of students. It is part of my duties to ensure all transfers
are properly documented. Although the children's transcripts come to me
first, I rarely read them. I am not exceedingly interested in the
scholastic abilities or previous history of the children. Not that I am
cold, more to the point, I think they all deserve the same quality of
education regardless of past circumstances. John Hamilton school has been a
second chance for some. On this occasion that I am writing about, the birth
date did not match on the only two documents in the files that required
this data. One was 05/06 and the other was 06/05. I didn't think it a big
deal, a simple transverse typo. Month and day are a frequent problem when
being transcribed between two countries. The easiest means to correct this
conundrum? Ask the student.

Cross referencing the child's name on our database, I found Mr. Edwards to
be the assigned teacher. He is a nice, gentle person. Now in his late 40's,
Mr. Edwards has been teaching 2nd grade at the John Hamilton School for
longer than any other teacher. Only the janitor has a longer employment
history here. Just as I was clearing up from a culinary delight in the
teachers lounge, Mr. Edwards entered the room and made his way to the grand
buffet of offerings. As I approached Mr. Edwards, he called out to me,
"Sean, wont you join me?"

"I see we have a wonderful seafood spread."

I thanked him for the kind offer and asked if he instead had a few minutes
to spare me. Sat in a window seat with a picturesque view, I showed him the
file and explained about the different birth dates. Mr. Edwards confessed
he did not know the answer but offered to send the child to my office
during second recess. I expressed my thanks for both his time and
assistance. Most of the staff here at John Hamilton have come to learn my
need to ensure documentation is in order. Yes, we all have our little
quirks and fetishes.

Seconds after the 2:45 bell sang out, came a soft knock at my office door.
I called out "Come in," the handle twisted and the door slowly opened. I
thought to myself, gees its opening so slow, almost like a horror movie. I
had been deep in concentration on school related matters. When the door
reached halfway, a black hair clean complexion 7 year old boy walked into
the room and stood directly in front of my desk. The little boy dressed in
his school outfit looked very nervous as he peered straight at me. I asked
"...and you are?". My eyebrows raising in a suspecting manor. "Cole, Cole
Searing that is sir."

"Mr. Edwards said you sent for me." My mind recalled the purpose of this
meeting. "Ahh yes, that's right."

"I have a little problem with one of your files."

"Did Mr. Edwards explain why?" I questioned the child as I closed one set
of files, locating that of young Cole's' laying it open face on the
desk. "No Sir, he didn't but I think I know what you want. Does my teacher
know everything, please I don't want anyone else to know what happened. I
said I was sorry."

The now somewhat upset lad was in an obvious state of despair. Not
understanding a thing the boy was muttering about, I moved to the side of
the boy attempting to reassure him he was not in any kind of trouble. I sat
in one of the two hard back leather chairs and gestured for young Cole to
come toward me. The boy gazed to his feet taking the two forward steps.

Cole almost jumped into my arms tears already in his eyes. There I was with
a 7 year old boy cuddling into me sobbing his sorrows away. For almost five
minutes I was caressing the lad. My mind started to wonder as I felt an
emptiness growing deep inside my soul. I have never married and as far as I
know have no children. This boy had just placed a yearning in my heart for
the love of a child, one not unlike Cole. When the boy sobs relented and
his labored breathing eased, I spoke gently in his ear, "Cole, I need to
ask you a question, is it ok with you if we talk a little?" With a deep
inhale, this tender hearted boy spoke in a voice so soft you could hardly
imagine. "You want to know about sex?"

His words although gentle toned brought a chuckle to my voice, "No, I
already had that chat with my father years ago." I honestly thought the boy
was joking with his comment about a sex talk. "You had sex with your dad?"
Cole gasped air to his lungs his head twisted upward to look me in the eye
with that quizzical look that only a child can empower. "NO, Cole no, I
umm... I just wanted to ask your birth date, I need to correct some of
your records.

"I stumbled my words in disbelief this small child could suggest such a
thing. "OH.", The boy's young voice had a scorching tone of fear. "Ah ah ah
June 5th "he near shouted to me as jumped to his feet, legs flailing trying
with all his might to get him out of sight. Cole crashed his way out of my
office, the large wooden door slamming behind him.