Rating: FRM, GP, GV for language and descriptions of child abuse.
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Ezra ... but alas NONE of them belong to me. They belong to someone else.
WARNING: This story deals with the issue of child abandonment and physical violence. Some scenes contain descriptions of unhealthy living conditions and physical harm to a child.
Dedications: To all those children on the news and those I have met. I look at my nieces and nephew and can’t comprehend the things others do to such innocent lives.
Part 0ne
Friday Night, 6:02 pm
Another quiet night descends on a small town in Pennsylvania. The mid November air is crisp with the cold air that blows from the north. The sky is heavy with gray clouds, so thick with the promise of rain or snow that not a single bit of the setting sun can break through.
Its amazing how sometimes mother nature can emulate what is going through the minds, thoughts and lives of the people she willingly strikes upon. Its amazing how the coming of a storm can manifest itself is so many ways...
*
‘He’s quiet tonight. Pushing his food around his plate. I can tell that he has placed the weight of the world on his shoulders and is now trying to figure out a way to ask for help. Its been a long time since he has come home from school so quiet and so scared. I asked him what is wrong and all he could do was look back at me with eyes so full of fear and worry. His words tried to assure me that nothing was wrong. But I could see it in his eyes, the storm was going to break, whether it be from the sky or my little boys heart.
For a couple of weeks now, Vin has not been the same, hell neither has my nephew Buck. Never have I seen two boys that could get into so much mischief. There is a spirit about those two that is fiercer than any force of nature and their hearts are larger than any ocean can span. Both have been through some tough times in their short lives. Both of them lost their mothers at a young age.
Buck was lucky enough that my brother, JD, was there to take care of him after his mother was killed in the car accident. But poor Vin was lost in child services for two years before he came to me.
I know enough about his life to know that it was lonely and devoid of love after his mother died. That is why it amazes me how a child passed from one abusive and neglectful home to another can still hold such empathy for others.
I guess it IS because he knows only too well what it is like to be alone and have no one to turn to that he takes on the responsibility of fixing everyone’s problems. I just wish I knew what problem he has adopted this time.
Something has been happening at school. Something that seems to have taken the soul from these two kids.
I know that these two are not directly involved in this, this ... what do I call it... a problem? I know because JD and myself have spent the last two and half weeks after school, almost everyday, trying to find out what is wrong.
Yet we still have no answers.
Hmm... maybe after dinner he will talk to me. He knows that he can tell me anything. I’m just not sure that after this storm breaks, what the damage will be or how to help him fix it.’
*
One Month Earlier
“Class, I would like to introduce you to Ezra Standish.”
Vin turned his attention to the front of his third grade classroom, where Mrs. Thomas stood with a small boy on her right side.
Ezra, as the teacher had called him, was about three to four inches shorter than Vin and thin. His hair , a dark auburn color with barely controlled curls fighting to run amuck the small boys head, was combed and clean. He was dressed in a pair of nicely pressed black slacks and a clean and crisp white, buttoned down dress shirt. The shoes upon his feet glistened in the light, not a speck of dirt on them. But the thing that captured Vin’s attention the most were Ezra’s eyes.
It wasn’t the fact that his eyes were the greenest eyes Vin had ever seen. No... what held Vin’s attention were the deep emotions that ran through his bright green eyes.
Fear seemed to rage with worry and underlining it all was a deep sadness... and loneliness?
Yes, yes, that is exactly what was present in those eyes.
Vin should know.
He had seen those same emotions flash through his own eyes for those two years that he floated through existence. Never really being a part of one reality or another. Nothing existed for him after Mama died. Nothing until Chris had found him.
He knew those emotions too well to ignore them in someone else.
After all... someone cared enough to notice those emotions in him and chase them away.
Now it was his turn.
*
Part Two
Earlier that morning.
‘Everything will be fine. Just relax. You can do this.’ Those were a few of the thoughts running through nine year old Ezra Standish’s head.
Here he was sitting in the Principals Office, of a small Pennsylvanian elementary school, about to start one of several new chapters in his life.
‘True... everything over the last few weeks has happened so quickly. It is not as if you are unaccustomed to changes.’ The logical side of Ezra’s brain told him.
‘I know, it’s just different this time.’ The emotional nine year old thought.
‘Come now Ezra... it is not as if Maude has never left you with someone else before. You have been passed on to others many times in your life. This is not the first time you have been in this position in your life...’
‘I KNOW!!! But now...’
‘But now what, Ezra? Now you are in familiar territory. You are about to start at another school, in another town, in a new life. Make Maude proud. Do not let them see what you are really feeling.’
‘I won’t... but why can’t I “see” what I’m feeling?’
‘Sweet Ezra... if you can “see” what you are feeling, so can others. If that occurs then they hold all of the power over you. You have already let it happen once and look at the results.’ He reminded himself, unconsciously rubbing at his left wrist, which was covered by the long sleeves of his crisp, white dress shirt.
‘Now chin up.’ It continued.
‘Smile that sweet smile of yours.
Show this small rural school that you are a Standish... you are your mother’s son.’
With an imperceptible nod of his head, Ezra readied himself for this new beginning.
*
“Good morning Ezra! I am Mr. Sanchez, school principal. How are you this fine and sunny morning?” Josiah Sanchez, 39 year old public school administrator and former District Psychologist greeted the small nine year old with visible cheer written across his face.
Josiah entered the field of education seventeen years ago, fresh out of college. He was lucky to land a job in the small town of Dayton, Pennsylvania as Dayton High School’s newest Wood Shop teacher (now of days referred to as Tech Ed.).
He succeeded in his job, loving the work he did with his hands and his heart to change the lives of his students one lesson at a time. He went back to school three years after starting his job to earn his Masters and to finish the psychology degree he started back in undergraduate school.
He continued his work for two more years before realizing that he liked to talk with the students instead of to them, so he applied for the job opening of District Psychologist.
In this job he was able to help several students and their families. But after nine years of working in such a large area, being that the school district consisted of five high schools, one middle school and eight elementary schools. Josiah yearned for the chance to have that one on one contact with the students.
Since over the years he had continued with schooling, eventually earning his Principal Papers six years prior. he decided to put them to use and applied to the opening of School Principal at West Hills Elementary School.
For that last three years he has greeted each student he passes in his hall ways, each day, with a smile and a cheerful hello. His door is always opened to them when they need to talk and he listens with an open mind.
Now here he was greeting a new student, a new member of his largely extended family, to his small quiet school.
He looked down upon Ezra Standish and expected to see some warmth and hope in his smiling face. His own smile almost faltered as he caught the glint of hopeless despair in those large green eyes. But in a blink that look was gone, replaced with an emotion that Josiah could only describe as determination and was left wondering if that look of despair was really there a moment ago?
Ezra looked up and... up. ‘Whoa, I hope corporal punishment is not an accepted form of discipline in this school. I fear I would not survive.’ This was the immediate thought that jumped to the forefront of his mind. But on closer inspection, Ezra could read the kindness in Mr. Sanchez’s eyes.
He blinked away all the thoughts that had plagued his mind before Mr. Sanchez’s arrival and stood up before the man.
“It is in deed a lovely morning Mr. Sanchez. I am well, thank you. I hope this morning finds you in good health?” Ezra responded while offering his hand in greeting.
Josiah had to hold back the burst of laughter that wanted to come forth. Returning the now at ease smile and taking the proffered hand in his own, Josiah commented, “That is good to hear Ezra. I am well this morning, thank you for asking.”
‘Such good manners and well spoken. Just where did you come from Ezra Standish?’
Still clutching the small delicate hand in his own work roughened, huge paw, Josiah felt a shiver run through his muscular frame. ‘My God, he seems so small and fragile... why do I fear for him. What is it about this innocent boy that makes me worry?’
Mentally shaking those thoughts away as unfounded and most likely a reaction to the fact that Ezra was smaller than other children his age, Josiah caught his once again faltering smile and grasped the hand slightly tighter before letting go and continuing.
“Are you ready to meet Mrs. Thomas, your third grade teacher and some of your classmates?”
“Yes sir. That would be most delightful.”
“Very good then. Follow me and I will show you the way.”