Then Nick blasted into the complex and difficult opening passages of the Impromptu, inundating the assembly in a wall of sound. As always, Nick quickly captured the attention of the audience, and by the finish you could hear a pin drop, even in the echoing gym. And when Nick finished, the audience rose and gave him a standing ovation.
“That was Nick Feraducci,” Jason said when things had quieted down again. “This morning you have heard your fellow students discuss some very personal and turbulent times in their lives. You have heard them perform together in a great band that will be on tour this summer with the Biloxi Brothers. Most importantly, you have been given an opportunity to participate in a new program that will help to expose abusive behavior in our community and provide counseling services for individuals and families who are in need of assistance.
“The only way to truly begin to stamp this out is to have eyes and ears in every neighborhood in our community. That’s where Jason’s Network can play an important role. We need you to belong to the network so you have a way to report suspicious behavior. The network may ask you for more information if something is going down in your area. In most cases you will never need to use its resources. But the more eyes and ears we have out in the community, the more likely it is that suspicious behavior does get reported. Please join us in our quest to make your lives safer and better.
“Thank you for your attention this morning. We are going to end this assembly with one more number by the band. Daniel, tell us what you are going to perform.”
“Thank you, Jason,” Daniel replied. “This number we are about to play isn’t our usual closer, but since we are here at Merriam High and she is in the audience, we are delighted to close with the song ‘Diana’, written and dedicated to my love and steady girlfriend, Diana Miglione.”
The dedication brought an uproar from the audience. Diana turned blush red at the attention, but then settled into the groove of the song along with the crowd. At the end of the song, everyone cheered. The principal came on stage and the students were dismissed back into their classes.
Chapter 15
The Interview
(After the First Assembly)
Although most of the students had left, some girlfriends and students from the music program went to hang out by the stage and congratulate Daniel and the band. Jason’s steady girlfriend Laura came up to him, held hands, and gave him a kiss. “You were so self-possessed and cool during that assembly, Jason. I know I would be scared to stand up in front of the entire student body.”
Jason smiled his big smile and replied, “Thanks, Babe. It was a lot easier knowing that I had some friendly faces in the audience. Then you know me — once I get on my soapbox there is no stopping me!”
Rebecca, Eric’s longtime girlfriend, was doing the same thing. “Eric, I was so proud of you actually telling what you went through with your stepfather. I’ll never forget that day when we first met. You were so brave then, too, dealing with being kidnapped, rescued, leaving your home to stay in the Silicon Valley, and then finding out that your mother was dead. You have come a long way since that day.” The two embraced and Eric held Rebecca tightly in his arms.
“You are the reason I made it through that day and the tough ones that followed,” Eric told her in an emotional voice. “Ever since then you have always been there for me! I love you, Rebecca!”
Teresa Barnwell was with Tim. After they hugged and kissed, she said, “You blew everyone out with your speech, Tim. You were honest and frank about some of the things that happened to you and how you reacted to them. I could tell that a lot of students who have been having troubles with their parents were relating to what you said.”
“Like I said on stage, you were the one who started the process of saving my life, Teresa. I’ll always love you just for that!”
“You were one determined fighter for what you believed in,” Teresa continued. “You took all of that abuse and wouldn’t back down!”
“Yeah, and it almost resulted in Cody and I being tortured to death!”
Teresa put her finger on Tim’s lips. “Don’t talk about that! What those men at the camp did to you was horrible, I know, but you have moved on from that time in your life. Now my plan is to replace those memories with ones of us loving each other!”
“I still pinch myself sometimes to make sure that what my life is today is not a dream. I play in a band with a bunch of cool guys, including Daniel who put his life on the line to safe mine. I am reconciled with my parents and my dad built me a recording studio in our house. Best of all I have you, and we are counting down the days until you are free of the foster care system!”
Daniel and Diana were holding hands and talking. “I don’t know whether to boogie or bawl like a kid when you play our song, Daniel. When you announced it, I turned beet red at first. I felt like everyone in the audience was staring at me.”
“That’s the price of fame, Diana,” Daniel told her. “Get used to it.”
* * * * *
The second assembly was similar to the first, but this time the presentation was for students from several nearby middle schools. The reaction of the students was the same. They enjoyed hearing the music of Daniel’s band and were moved by the personal stories that each band member presented. Over the next few weeks, Jason and Daniel’s band presented many more of these assemblies, but none had the emotional impact on Jason and the band as that first assembly at Merriam High School.
On this first day of assemblies, Ruth Fiorre had arranged for some media coverage on the local news. Jaime Orlando brought out a cameraman for the second assembly, and after it was over, got Jason to talk about Jason’s Network.
JO: Jason, what is different about Jason’s Network from the other work you do with the Whatever Foundation?
JH: The main difference is that we are enlisting kids throughout our community to be more proactive about reporting suspected abuse. Now they have a way to do that. Our goal is to have at least one kid in every neighborhood join.
JO: Are you worried at all that this might become a witch hunt of sorts, with kids making reports for personal reasons because of a grudge?
JH: No, because everything reported is checked out before it is acted on. I believe that the vast majority of kids will take this quite seriously. It is better to error on the safe side. It is a lot easier to apologize before an abusive crime is committed than after a crime has occurred and people are wondering what could have been done to prevent it.
JO: From what I could see today, the audience seemed to be responding to your message.
JH: I think that our message resonates with kids because they are the ones who see abusive situations first. Now we are giving them a new tool to deal with abuse and a sense of empowerment over their own lives.
JO: Well said, Jason. Good luck with your efforts and let us know more about the program as it begins to develop. This is Jaime Orlando reporting for KTTH Eyewitness News.
Chapter 16
The Network Goes Viral
(The Next Week)
That evening Jason made sure to watch the channel eleven local news. He wanted to see how his interview with Jaime Orlando came out and what kind of reaction it received. The feature about Jason’s Network came on just before the end of the newscast. The story started out with some shots of Daniel’s band and the audience’s reaction to the music. Then it showed Jason and Eric speaking in brief clips, and ended with the interview Jaime did with Jason. Jaime’s report also contained information from the press release that he had received from Ruth Fiorre. During the shots of the actual assembly, Jaime reminded the viewers who Jason was, and how his foundation was formed to help teenaged crime victims.
“With the start of Jason’s Network, Jason is taking his fight against predators and those who would hurt or abuse kids directly to the community,” Jaime reported. The two news anchors added their favorable comments about the new network and its purpose in the local community.
The next day, Jason
called the Webmaster for the Whatever Foundation to see if there had been any response yet to the assembly. “Yes, I already have over 300 responses. I don’t know how many kids saw your program yesterday but I am guessing that this is a very good return for just one day.”
Over the next few weeks, as Jason and the others did more of the assemblies at other high school, other media outlets picked up on the story. There were two additional reports on local television stations, stories in the local press and on news radio. The foundation had purchased advertising time on several of the radio stations that were popular with teenagers to follow up on the assemblies and remind students how important it was for them to join Jason’s Network.
Within two weeks, there were several thousand signups for the network. Another very lucky thing happened to spur its growth. Two kids reported in separately about a friend of theirs who had not been his normal self lately. The kids had both noticed some serious bruises on their friend when they were swimming together in one of the kid’s swimming pool. A counselor was sent to the young friend’s school for an interview, and eventually the friend revealed that he was being fondled by an uncle, and had been touched inappropriately several times. When the young victim tried to resist, he was beaten by the uncle, hence the bruises. The young victim was warned in no uncertain terms to describe the bruises as a result of a bicycle crash.
Quickly the authorities were brought in to investigate and the uncle was arrested. Although no names were ever used, due to the young age of the victim, the fact that here was an example of how Jason’s Network could actually work made enrollment and interest in the program go viral. Signups for the network doubled overnight, and the story of its first successful intervention against a predator began to receive national attention.
The national affiliate of channel eleven would often use stories that were first run locally if they were good human interest stories and something different. As a result, Jason’s network made the national news. Jason found out about this one evening when his dad, Bill Hunter, was watching the national news. Jason was in a nearby room when his father yelled for him to come into the living room. Part of the newscast used a clip from Jaime Orlando’s interview with him.
“Look, Jason!” Bill Hunter exclaimed. “Your network has made the national news!”
“This must be Jaime Orlando’s doing,” Jason said after the story was over. “I wasn’t aware of any national interest. But some of the students at school who signed up told me that they have put links and postings on their social media personal sites about the network. I will ask Henry Foster if we should create a page for it.
Over the next couple of weeks, interest continued to build. There were inquiries to the foundation website about how to start similar networks in other parts of the country. Locally, signups continued to build, especially due to the favorable coverage in the media. The Whatever Foundation sent out flyers about the program to other local organizations devoted to activities for kids, youth groups, schools, and civic groups.
At the next board meeting of the Whatever Foundation, Jason congratulated his staff on the great job they were doing to implement Jason’s Network. Everyone was very pleased with the results so far.
Chapter 17
Life in the Neighborhood
(Late April)
The Blossom Ridge area was a typical sprawling neighborhood in the Silicon Valley. Comprised of mostly single family tract houses built in the early 1960s on winding streets near the start of the foothills, it was complemented by several shopping areas and condominium developments located near the light rail and other public transportation. At one time, there was light manufacturing on the edge of the housing, but as high tech companies required more advanced processes, equipment, and hazardous chemicals, these plants were now relocated northeast of the airport in newer business parks able to accommodate the needs of modern manufacturing.
The Francona, Gonzalez, Christoph, and Lee families were typical households with young children living in the area, who had all moved onto San Anselmo Avenue within the past ten years. The high cost of real estate was a factor in their everyday family life. Two incomes were normally required to afford the mortgage and cost of living for a house in the suburban areas of the Silicon Valley. With both parents often working long hours, day care was an important consideration for younger children until they were of high school age. In many households relatives were brought in for this purpose. Keeping their kids occupied with safe activities when they weren’t in school was an important issue. If a parent wasn’t working full time, they would become a soccer mom or dad, shuttling their offspring around to sports league practices and games, tutoring, or arts lessons. Often the older kids were given the responsibility of looking after their young siblings.
Joey and Milo Francona, aged 12 and 14, were looked after by their grandmother, while Jorge, Anita, and Francisco Gonzalez, aged 15, 13, and 10 respectively, were fortunate that their mother worked an early shift at her food services job, and was there for them in the afternoons. Ariel and Kendal Christoph, aged 14 and 9 didn’t have formal day care, but Ariel was often given the task of watching after young Kendal when she wasn’t in school. Nick Lee, 12, and his younger brother Mark, 10, had their mom at home, but she was occupied with caring for their baby sister, Isabelle.
While many children living in Silicon Valley households would occupy a lot of their free time with computers, video games, or watching television, this was not the case with most of these kids. Their parents could not afford separate computers or other devices for their kids, and limited their time on what they did have. The block of San Anselmo Avenue that they lived on was at the end of the tract house area, and spilled out into the start of an abandoned manufacturing area. The kids, especially the boys, were encouraged to play outside, and were involved with sports, so it was not uncommon for groups of them to be seen kicking around a soccer ball, playing street baseball, or shooting hoops at an old basketball hoop on the garage of the Gonzales home.
Since Anita and Ariel were the only girls around and close in age they would regularly get together and discuss things important to young teenagers. Often they were given meal preparation responsibilities. The boys were usually involved in some sort of sports activity outside when they weren’t at a practice. Joey, Frankie (as Francisco liked to be called), Jorge, Milo, Nick, and Mark were of an age where they could keep up with each other in street play. Jorge and Nick also were into skateboarding, although not as seriously as some other kids who devoted much of their free time to it. This left Kendal as the odd man out, since he was younger than the others, and although he might tag along when they were playing sports, was not often allowed to participate in them.
For some kids this would be very upsetting, but young Kendal would deal with it by living in his own fantasy world of action figures and imaginary wars of conquest. He also liked to climb trees, which turned out to be a very useful trait when the older boys picked on him. Up on a branch of one of the many large and mature oak or manzanita trees in the neighborhood, he could watch what was going on with the other boys, or indulge himself in his own imaginary world. Kendal had a difficult time communicating his interests and imaginary fantasy world to others. His older sister Ariel was totally uninterested, and when he tried to tell the other older boys in the neighborhood about his secret world, they usually made fun of him or would just ignore him. They did have a mutual interest in video games, comics, and movies geared to kids, but Kendal always seemed to go overboard in his enthusiasm that left the older boys shaking their heads at him.
The high school where Ariel and Jorge attended was one of the schools chosen for a Jason’s Network assembly. Ariel, Jorge, and Milo all saw the first assembly while Joey, Frankie, Nick, Mark and Anita saw the second, brought over by bus from their middle school. Later that afternoon, most of the boys were playing outside, kicking around a soccer ball. When they took a break, the assembly that day came up in their conversation.
“
What did you think of that assembly today?” Joey asked. “I must say that I enjoyed the musical part of it. That band was good!”
“Our class went to the computer lab after the assembly, so I did check out the website for Jason’s Network. It was real easy to navigate around, and easy to sign up, so I did,” Nick answered. “I couldn’t see any harm in it.”
“Do you think our neighborhood is filled with bad guys that want to harm kids?” Frankie asked.
“What my dad told me once is that you never know who is out there,” Jorge said. “Dad said that there are lists of offenders who have preyed on kids. In a city like where we live, there are probably dozens of them! You even see that on TV shows all the time. The person who looks the most innocent is often the killer or criminal.”
“So are you going to sign up?” Frankie pressed.
“Probably,” Jorge replied. “If what Nick says is true, it will be easy to do. I think it is good to be connected when our safety is the issue.”
The other kids agreed that what Jorge made sense. Since he was their natural leader and what he said held weight with the other boys, most of the other kids did sign up when they had a chance. San Anselmo Avenue was now part of Jason’s Network.
Chapter 18
Not Everyone Is a Fan
(Late April)
Not everyone was happy about the formation of Jason’s Network. Roland Thomason, the former head of Camp Chinquapin, and Walter Gaither, his former head of security, and the operator of a secret abusive prison designed to bring defiant kids at the camp in line, were now serving thirty-year sentences at a state prison. Their lives of power and ultimate control over the kids sent to the camp were now over.
Although the two men, like the other prisoners, were isolated from the outside world, they did have access to television and the Internet. For months after Camp Chinquapin was shut down by the authorities, there were very unfavorable stories about how they ran the camp, treated the camp inmates, and how they were especially cruel and abusive toward anyone who tried to defy their system. The incredible operation that Jason and Daniel were able to pull off to expose these abuses and rescue two teenagers who were being tortured in their so-called anger management program still rankled them. They still could not get over the fact that they were brought down by a couple of kids. (The complete story of how this happened is contained in the third Hunter & Holmes novel When The Chips Are Down.)
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