by JR Thompson
“Well… personally, I don’t think church ought to be seen as a consequence anyway.”
Mr. Bones cleared his throat. “Tamara, you’re making this very difficult. How can I help you with Billy if you keep interfering?”
“Me interfering? He’s my son! You’re the outsider here! Not me!”
“Okay, Tamara. Feel free to get in touch if you need me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind… but really, I think he’ll be fine.”
“I hope you’re right,” Mr. Bones said. “Enjoy your afternoon.”
“You too.”
Hanging up the phone, Philip slapped his desk. Bowing his head, he prayed, “Heavenly Father, I don’t know what it is about this day, but nothing is going as planned. I’m frustrated and need a breath of fresh air. Lord, please do something to loosen the tension. I know you don’t owe me anything—”
Rose tapped on the door.
“Yes,” Philip replied.
“I know you’re probably ready to kill me by now. I’m just having one of those days... Somehow this other envelope had gotten mixed up in a batch of papers on my desk.”
“Another one?... From Cassie?”
“Nope.”
“From who then?”
“Oh, just open it.”
Thinking about his prayer, Philip nervously opened the envelope. Inside was a letter and three quarters:
Dear Mr. Bones,
Thank you for giving me so many chances. I’m not very good at saying thank you in person, but I am thankful for everything you’ve done for me. I miss hanging out on the island with you, and I hope we can do that again soon.
Thanks,
Alden
P.S.
I hope this will cover the cost of that ice cream I wasted the first time you picked me up after school.
That was just what Philip needed! A smile blossomed on his face. Picking up the phone, he called Mrs. Wamboldt’s cell phone. “Hi, this is Philip Bones, Alden’s probation officer. Is he with you by any chance?”
“He sure is... Hold on a second.”
“Thank you.”
Philip waited patiently for a moment before hearing a cheerful, “Hi, Mr. Bones… Did your secretary give you my note?”
“She sure did. That made my day, Alden!”
“Awesome! I wish I could do more, but those three quarters were all the money I had to my name.”
“That’s okay, man. Always be willing to go the extra mile to show somebody you appreciate them. That will get you a long way in life. Hey… what are you doing this evening?”
“Homework. Why?”
“Do you want to go to church with me?”
“Hold on. Let me ask Grandma… Grandma, Mr. Bones wants to know if I can go to church with him in a little while!... Can I?...”
There was a brief pause before Alden got back to him. “She said I can. Does she need to bring me to your place or are you going to pick me up?”
“I’ll be by around 6:00. Will that work?”
“Sounds great. Thanks, Mr. Bones.”
“You’re welcome! And thank you again.”
23
Bright and early Saturday morning Mr. Bones knocked on Billy’s bedroom door, “Time to get up, man!”
The teen didn’t respond.
Mr. Bones knocked louder. “It’s 6:00, Billy. We have work to do, and your mother has breakfast on the table.”
Still no answer.
“How late did he stay up last night?” Mr. Bones hollered toward the kitchen.
“I don’t know. He was still up when I went to bed.”
“Wonderful,” the probation officer said. He let himself into the room, only to find it empty.
Mr. Bones was furious but he should have known. “He’s not here, Tamara! Any idea where he might be?”
She shook her head. “That boy, I don’t know what to do with him sometimes.”
“You should not have allowed him to bail on church Wednesday night. Now, he thinks you’re always going to get him out of any consequences he has coming to him.”
Tamara raised an eyebrow, “Oh, so now it’s my fault he’s a teenager? Come on, Mr. Bones! Teenagers do crazy things. We all know that. It ain’t nobody’s fault. He probably went out to a party or somethin’.”
“And that’s okay with you? It doesn’t bother you to think that your fourteen-year-old boy may have gotten drunk and got himself into who knows what kind of trouble last night?”
“As long as he ain’t stealin’, vandalizin’ nothing, hurtin’ people, or bringing drugs up in here, I ain’t got no problem with it. Boys will be boys.”
“Tamara, do you care about your son’s future?”
“Of course I do!”
“Than you can’t continue allowing him to do whatever he pleases. It’s illegal for a boy his age to be out drinking. Not to mention, he violated his probation by not abiding by his curfew.”
“Lock him up then!”
“People ought to be required to have a license before they can have children,” Mr. Bones mumbled.
“You know what? You have outstayed your welcome, Mr. Bones. Get out of my house!”
“Thanks for giving me permission,” Mr. Bones retorted before nearly stomping out and slamming the door. He couldn’t stand it when a negligent parent undermined his authority with their teenagers like Tamara had done. It made his job ten times more difficult than it needed to be.
As Mr. Bones started his car and headed for home, he tried to decide what steps to take next. Billy was showing little to no signs of improvement, and his mother was only adding to the boy’s problems. Approaching his driveway, he caught sight of Billy lounging on his doorstep. The young man got up and cautiously approached.
“Where have you been?” Mr. Bones demanded.
“Out.”
“Out where?”
“What’s it to you? Look, man. I’m keeping my end of the bargain. I’m here and ready to work. Ain’t that all that matters?”
“You violated your probation.”
“How?”
“By being out after curfew.”
“Ah, it ain’t no big thing, Mr. B. I didn’t break no laws or nothin’.”
“Were you drinking?”
Billy shook his head.
“Smoking pot?”
“No, man! I ain’t into that no more.”
“Where were you then?”
“Do you seriously expect me to tell you about my love life?”
Mr. Bones looked toward the sky. “Tell me you didn’t? Billy, you’re way too young for that. What if you set yourself up to be a daddy? You have no way to support a child. No way to put a roof over his head. No way to put food in his belly.”
“Mr. B, a girl don’t get pregnant just having sex with her one time.”
“Believe it or not, that can happen. But there’s more to it than that… You could get an incurable disease.”
“What is with you, man? Momma don’t care if I stay out late. She don’t care what I do with my personal life. What’s it to you?”
“I care about you, Billy.”
“And you’re saying Momma don’t?”
Mr. Bones shook his head, “No, I’m not saying that. I can’t speak for your mother. All I can speak for is myself. I don’t want to see you get hurt or strap yourself down financially for the rest of your life. Wait until you’re an adult and you have a career… get married… and then have children. That’s the way God intended it to be.”
“Yeah, well… I’ll think about it. Shouldn’t we get going now?”
Mr. Bones let out an annoyed sigh, turned, and got back in the car. Billy hopped in the passenger side, and they drove to the Ingall’s place without speaking another word.
When they entered the driveway, Mr. Bones smirked. “I guess you can see you’ve got your work cut out for you today, huh?”
Billy’s eyes widened as he looked at the disaster in front of him. The yard was full of soda cans, potato chip bags,
scraps of food, broken buckets, and every other kind of garbage one could imagine.
“The Ingall family just purchased this place and have generously agreed to pay you $100 to clean up the property.”
“$100? Mr. B., you know anybody else would charge at least $500 for this!”
“You’re not anybody else, are you?”
“Really? This ain’t fair, Mr. B! How you be findin’ these people?”
“Would you please stop calling me Mr. B?... I feel like I tell you about this at least once a week!”
24
Wednesday afternoon Mr. Bones stopped by Billy’s school to check in on him. On his way to the office, he ran into the teen in the hallway. “Afternoon, Mr. Bones,” Billy said.
“Good to see you, Billy. Hope I get a good report on you.”
“You will, sir. Hey… sorry for bailin’ on you last week at church. Do you want me to come tonight?”
“I’d love that, man.”
“Well, I’ve been givin’ it some thought. I believe you really do care about me and it wasn’t right to manipulate Momma into letting me skip last week. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, Mr. Bones and I apologize for that.” The bell rang. “Gotta get to class. Don’t want to be late,” Billy said.
“Good plan. Swing by my office after school, will you?”
“Yes, sir.”
For once, Philip received a positive report on Billy. Other than the recent incident of walking out over the theft allegation, his teachers had nothing negative to say about his behavior or attitude.
Philip knew the boy was far from being out of the woods, but it sounded like something was finally getting through his thick skull.
After stopping at two other schools to check on other students, Philip made his way back to the office. Rose smiled as he walked through the door. “What’s that look for?” Philip asked.
“What look?”
“You know what look.”
Giggling, Rose said, “I scheduled an appointment for you.”
“With who?”
“They’re waiting in your office. You showed up just when I thought you would.”
“You left a client in my office? Do you realize how much trouble we can get into if they snooped through any of my files?”
“I’m sure that’s not a problem. But you might want to head back there. I’m sure you don’t want to keep your appointment waiting.”
Philip didn’t know what to expect as he walked down the hall but he hoped it was a client and not Rose’s niece. The last thing he wanted to do was go on a blind date. He had already made that clear though. Surely, Rose wouldn’t start matchmaking again. Besides, Kelly should no longer be in town.
Entering his office, Philip locked eyes on a man he had never seen before. His visitor was dressed in a suit and tie and had taken a seat across from his desk. “Hello, sir,” Philip said.
“Mr. Bones?”
“Yes, sir… And who might you be?”
“My name’s Danny Michaels; I’m the head deacon at Freedom Baptist Church.”
“Nice to meet you, Brother Michaels. How can I help you?”
“Mr. Bones, our pastor passed away a couple of months ago. We’ve been making do the best we can without a leader, but we really need someone to fill the pulpit regularly. We’ve made a lot of phone calls, and it’s our understanding that you’ve recently been called to preach.”
Philip shook his head, “I’m not ready to be a pastor.”
Brother Michaels laughed, “Nor are you qualified to be one. You’re still a novice, and you’re not yet the husband of one wife.”
Philip didn’t know what to think of that response. It was obvious the man had done his research anyway. “Uh, okay,” he replied. “Why are you here then?”
“We were wondering if you would like some additional speaking opportunities?”
Philip chuckled nervously, “Sure... I guess I can handle that.”
“Every Sunday we have two morning services, and a preaching hour in the evenings; on Wednesday nights we come together for a prayer service… What can you commit to?”
Philip chuckled again, “I don’t know. This is kind of sudden... What do you have in mind?”
“The more you can preach for us, the happier we’ll be.”
Philip pulled up the calendar on his phone and examined it for a moment. “I believe I can handle the evening services for a while but the mornings might be a too much right now.”
“That’s understandable,” Brother Michaels said. “Here, let me give you my phone number… Call me after work this evening, and I’ll give you directions to the church.”
“Sounds like a plan. Thank you for the opportunity, sir.”
After the deacon left his office, Philip whispered a prayer of thanksgiving and asked God for the wisdom to take on the task that had been placed before him.
As soon as he finished praying, Rose tapped on the door. “Andrea Fisher is here for a check in.”
“Thanks, Rose. Send her back.”
Philip got in his file cabinet and pulled out the girl’s folder. Just as he opened it up, Andrea walked in with a strange expression on her face. “Why were you talking to Danny?”
“Danny?”
“Yeah, the guy who just left your office.”
“You know him?”
“Yeah, he goes to my church.”
The probation officer laughed. “I didn’t know you go to church, Andrea.”
“Now you do... What was he doing here?”
“He asked if I could fill the pulpit for a while.”
Andrea gave him a dirty look. “You said no, right?”
Mr. Bones shook his head.
“So now I’m going to be seeing you here, at school, and at church? That’s slightly obsessive, don’t you think?”
Mr. Bones didn’t know what to make of the situation. It was obvious Andrea wasn’t too keen on the idea of having her probation officer preach to her. Regardless, it was going to happen. Mr. Bones changed the subject, “So… how have things been going since we met last?”
“Good.”
“Why do you kids always respond the same way?... Define good for me, Andrea. Have you been attending all of your classes? Staying away from drugs? Getting good grades?”
“I’ve been doing better, Mr. Bones. I’m not perfect, but I’m getting there.”
“Andrea, I’m not going to make any bones about this. Every time you step foot in my office, you tell me you’re doing better, but when I break it down and ask one question at a time, I find out nothing has changed. What’s improved since your last court date?”
The sly teen smirked, “I’ve got a boyfriend now.”
Mr. Bones had to admit, that was a cute answer. However, it wasn’t exactly what he was referring to. He smirked but didn’t utter a word.
Andrea got the point, “I haven’t tested positive for drugs for three weeks. Isn’t that an improvement?”
“It is,” Mr. Bones said. “So, I guess you have at least one thing going for you. Are you working on anything else?”
“I want to be a better person,” Andrea told him. “But it’s going to take time.”
“You’ve been on probation for nine months, Andrea. How much longer is it going to take?”
The teen shrugged. “I’ll get it together. Don’t worry about it.”
Unfortunately, the girl’s attitude was far from unique. Mr. Bones saw it day in and day out — young people with no willpower to improve their circumstances. Sadly, many times the parents of his clients were just as bad.
“I’m going to give you an assignment, Andrea. Between now and the time of our next meeting, I want you to write me a three-page report on the effects marijuana has on the teenage brain.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I expect it to be typed up neatly. Don’t plagiarize.”
Andrea gave him a smug look before mumbling, “Consider it done.”
“Thank you,” Mr. Bones said. �
�You’re free to go.” With that, Philip walked her out to the lobby just in time to see Billy coming in. “Come on back, Billy.”
Mr. Bones had asked him to drop by for a reason. “Bud, I’ve seen some improvement in you over the last few days. What’s going on?”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No, but I’m hoping you can tell me your secret. Something I can use with some other clients.”
Billy grinned at receiving such a warm compliment, “I really don’t know what’s going on, Mr. Bones. I just been spending a lot of time thinking.”
“About what?”
“Somethin’ you said — ‘bout how you care about me and that’s why you always be gettin’ up in my business all the time. I know this is gonna sound weird and all but I appreciate you carin’ enough to jump my case. Sometimes I feel like Momma’s so wrapped up in herself that she couldn’t care less what happens to me… I guess what I’m saying is I’ve been trying to do better cause I want you to be proud of me.”
Mr. Bones smiled. “I’m glad you realize I care but don’t be so quick to judge your mother. Everyone has their own ways of showing love. Just because she’s not as strict as I am doesn’t mean she doesn’t care.”
“Yeah, I know. I ain’t sayin’ she don’t care — that ain’t what I meant anyway. I’m just sayin’ I need somebody like you to lay down the law and hold me to it.”
“Billy, you’re right. At this point in your life it is what you need. But at the same time, you need to come to the place where you can develop your own sense of what’s right and wrong and not require a heavy hand to keep you on the straight and narrow.”
“I suppose you’re right, Mr. Bones. I’ll work on it.”
“Atta boy,” Mr. Bones said. “Do you have any homework?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Go home and get it done. I’ll pick you up on my way to church.”
Grinning from ear to ear, Billy said, “I’ll be ready, sir. You can count on me this time.”
“Bring your completed homework with you so I can look it over.”