Picking Up The Pieces: Tommy Quincy- Boyz Attack And Beyond
Chapter 6- Problem Child, Part 2
(Author's Note: Since you all asked, here's part 2 ! This post is also in honor of Petra's birthday, Tim Rozon's birthday, and my birthday- all in the same week! Need I say I'd love some reviews as a birthday present...)
Chapter 6- Problem Child, Part 2
Inside her small, but immaculately tidy office, the school nurse quickly assessed the situation, first treating Chester, by giving him an ice pack to hold over his now black and swollen eye. She then focused on Tommy, applying antiseptic to his face.
Tommy squeezed his eyes shut, wincing at the stinging pain.
"Ouch!"
However, he remained stoic, not crying or complaining as the nurse treated him. He looked at himself in the mirror, seeing the three thick scratches on his forehead and cheek.
"Damn" he thought. "The audition..."
"All fixed up! Now shoo!" the nurse instructed, giving Tommy his cue to leave. With Chester still lying on the nurse's couch, he headed upstairs to the principal's office.
The secretary showed him right in.
"Ok, Mr. Quincy." Mr. Anderson began. "Care to explain?"
"He started it. He was picking on Katie! Tried to take her money!"
"So, you felt it was your responsibility to take care of her. And you punched him in the face to accomplish that?"
"Yes." Tommy answered.
The principal looked thoughtfully into the young boy's eyes; his manner softened just a bit.
"I realize you were sticking up for someone else. I did speak to Katie and she said that's what happened."
"Yes! Thank you! It's gonna be okay! I'm not in trouble!"
Mr. Anderson then continued speaking.
"However, this is not the way to solve these problems. You could have told a teacher or come to me. You know we do not tolerate any bullying or fighting here! No matter what the cause! The punishment for that is- an automatic suspension."
"OMG!" Tommy began panicking.
"Your mother is on her way over here. She has already been told what happened. Since it is the first day of school, and you have never been in this type of trouble before, the suspension will only be for one day. You may return to school tomorrow. But let this be a lesson to you. No more fights. Next one and the punishment will be much more severe! Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. I don't expect to have to see you in here again, then."
A buzzer sounded.
"Yes?" Mr. Anderson said, speaking into a box on his desk.
"Mrs. Quincy is here."
"Send her in..."
Fifteen minutes later, the principal had finished talking with Tommy and his mother. Mixed emotions consumed Sarah Quincy as she ushered her son from school and into her car.
Inside the vehicle, Tommy sat down and fastened his seatbelt.
"I'm sorry, ma mere." he apologized.
"I know you are, bebe..." she replied.
"I didn't know I'd get s'pended... I just wanted to help her..."
"I know. And that's good." Sarah gave her compassionate son a small smile.
"But, like Mr. Anderson said, this is not the way."
"I know that. Now." Tommy replied somberly.
"Just look at your face..." his mother commented, placing a gentle hand on his wounded cheek.
"It doesn't hurt!" he said bravely.
"Yes... but it's not good for you..." she replied. "Especially not today."
"Will the talent lady not want me now?" Tommy asked fearfully.
"I don't know..." his mother replied honestly.
"It's too late now to cancel the audition... it won't look good..."
"Let's just wait and see." she said practically.
"Ok"
For the remainder of the day, Tommy studied at home, under his mother's supervision. At 3:00, they put his books away and went to prepare him for their appointment. They changed his clothes and brushed his hair. However, the angry red welts were still prominent on his face; his mouth now had a small bruise as well.
"Just great..." Sarah thought.
"Off we go!" she said brightly.
They arrived at Meteor Talent Agency ten minutes early. After speaking briefly with a receptionist, they sat down on a vinyl couch to wait for Mrs. Issacs. At precisely 4:00, a woman in her late 30's, with long light brown hair, dressed professionally in a Hope Renfrew suit appeared in the waiting room.
"Mrs. Quincy?" she asked, cordially extending her hand.
"Yes, Mrs Issacs. It's good to meet you."
"Likewise. And this must be Tommy." the agent added, shifting her focus to the young boy. She raised a questioning eyebrow, but remained silent.
"Why don't we go and talk in my office?" she continued, directing them down the hall to a large corner office, with windows on both sides. Once she, Sarah and Tommy were all seated, she spoke again.
"So? I hear you want to be an actor." Elaine spoke, addressing Tommy directly.
"Yes"
"Can you tell me why?"
"Cause it's fun!" he replied automatically.
Elaine smiled indulgently.
"Oh, to be a child! To see work as fun!"
"Some adults do feel that way about their work." Sarah answered, smiling back at her.
"True. A lucky few! Anyway, what are your feelings about this? How much do you know about acting? Professionally?"
"Nothing" Sarah admitted.
"All I know is that he has talent. It's not just me who says so. His teachers have been saying that for years. Then Greg Abrams saw him in a school play and cast him in one of his shows. Even there, everyone talked about how good he was. Even in the papers... the reviews... called him "exceptional""
"Yes. I saw those. And Greg recommended him very highly. Said he was not only talented, but a hard worker. Both those things are necessary." the agent paused, and then continued.
"Because it would be very hard work. There would be demands on both of you. You would need to bring him to auditions all over Toronto. Even, quite possibly, some in other places."
"I understand." Tommy's mother replied.
"Are you prepared to do that?"
"Yes" she answered instantly.
"For Tommy, for my son... He will have his chance! His father will just have to deal!" she thought.
"Mrs. Quincy? Everything okay?" the perceptive agent questioned.
"Absolutely!" she replied, with as much confidence as she could muster.
"Good. As for you, young man..." Elaine began, turning again to Tommy.
"You need to understand. It will take up a lot of your time. After school, weekends, sometimes even during school. You won't have as much time to play. When you are home, you'll have to practice for auditions. Even more if you get a part! You'll also spend a lot of time traveling to and at auditions. You'll have to be patient and wait your turn there. You also won't get every part you try for. Lots of competition! You need to be very, very strong."
"I am!" Tommy replied, making a tough-guy face.
Elaine laughed again.
"He has moxie! I like that!"
His mother nodded in agreement, as Elaine continued.
"So far, so good. Now, there's another important matter we need to discuss. What happened to his face?"
"I got in a fight" Tommy informed her sheepishly.
"And why would you do that?"
"A girl... Someone was picking on her."
"He got into a fight to protect a girl? At his age?'
"Well, yes." his mother confirmed.
"I'll be... Greg really was right this time! Your boy really is special!"
Hearing that, Tommy beamed proudly.
"Not that you can do that again, ever. As an actor, your face, how you look is very important. You can't get hurt like this. Do you understand? No more fighting! No matter what!" the agent lectured him.
"Yes, ma'am." he answered, as politely as he could.
"He's never been in a fight before." his mother quickly added.
"Yes. Well then, let this be his first and his last. He's a handsome boy! We need him to stay that way! As soon as his face heals, give me a call. We'll need to take some head shots to pass around with the resume we'll put together for him. If you could just give me some more information..."
Elaine quickly rattled off a list of questions about Tommy's schooling, background, and interests. Her eyes widened when Sarah mentioned that Tommy could play the piano and sing.
"Really?" the agent asked him.
"Yup!" Tommy confirmed.
"Can you sing something for me right now?"
"Of course!" he boasted, beginning without a moment's hesitation.
"Baby, baby"
"I'm taken with the notion..."
"To love you with the sweetest of devotion..."
Elaine listened carefully to the young boy's performance. Seasoned agent that she was, she was still awed by it.
"Amazing" she breathed, as soon as he finished.
"Yes" his mother agreed.
"He sings like a professional... Like someone years older!"
"Yes"
"And that song! So beautiful! Where did he get it? I've never heard it before..."
"I wrote it." Sarah informed her.
"Lovely. I can see Tommy isn't the only talented member of his family."
"Maybe..."
"And may I ask about his father? What does he do?"
"He's a doctor, a surgeon."
"I see." Elaine replied, her interest gone, then saying.
"So anyway... We'll work up a contract. Pretty standard. You can review it with your own lawyer. The most important thing to know is that we don't guarantee that Tommy will get any jobs. As we discussed, that depends on a lot of things. However, we will do our best to assist him with that. Especially since we will get ten percent of his pay for any jobs he does get! Is that acceptable?"
"Yes" Sarah agreed.
"We'll get that out to you as soon as possible. If you could please sign and return it just as quickly, it would be appreciated. Also, please remember to call me and make that appointment for Tommy's pictures as soon as he's ready." Elaine paused, studying Sarah's and Tommy's faces to make certain they understood, then continued.
"As soon as those things are taken care of, we'll begin scheduling auditions for him."
"Sounds great!" Tommy replied happily.
"Yes, it does." his mother agreed.
"Welcome to Meteor Talent Agency! I will expect to hear from you soon!"
A few more minutes and Tommy and Sarah said goodbye. Elated, they headed home, chatting excitedly the whole way.
As the car stopped, Tommy heard Spunky barking loudly in welcome.
Sarah grinned at him, anticipating his next request.
"Why don't you and Spunky go outside and play for a while?" she suggested, wisely knowing that both her active son and the frisky dog needed the exercise.
"Kay!"
Outside, Tommy threw a small red rubber ball towards his puppy.
"Go get it, Spunky!" he instructed the animal.
The clever dog easily retrieved the ball in his mouth.
Then a soft, but unmistakably female giggle caught his attention. His head swerved and he locked eyes with Katie, who stood on the other side of the small white fence dividing the two yards.
"Hi." the little girl offered shyly.
"Hi" Tommy replied easily.
They stared at each other silently for a few minutes, not knowing what to say.
"I like... your dog." Katie finally stammered.
"Thanks"
"Are you okay?" she asked, pointing to his injured face.
"Yeah. That doesn't hurt!" he boasted, full of macho pride.
"But I feel really bad. You got in trouble. It was all my fault."
"No! It wasn't!" Tommy passionately reassured her.
"It was all Chester's fault. He started it! But he won't bother you again!" he promised.
"Yeah. Thanks." she replied.
"No prob! Anytime!"
"Well..." Katie began, feeling awkward again.
"I gotta go now..."
"See you later!" Tommy called, as she turned from him.
This time, he watched her walk away.
Author's Note 2: I hope you all liked this! I just couldn't resist dropping some hints about the next chapter- I'm really enjoying writing it- it's a real inside look at the acting biz! Plus-let's just say we are going to find out what another IS character was like as a child... can anyone guess who?