Bringer of Futures.
Chapter 10: Brief Freedom
The speech Peter says in this chapter is from Mended Fences. The time period, however is in the middle of Close Encounters. The change is due to Shelby well.. changing the future. The speech was I guess written by Michael Braverman or something. The writers of Higher Ground own it, not me. *****
Peter stepped up on the stage, unbalanced, and almost fell. The tension in the room was so thick it was almost impossible to breath. He had a speech written up and he was prepared to read it to his students and disappoint most. He was resigning.
"Ahem!" Peter cleared his throat to get the, already listening students, attention. "There's, um... There's no good way to say this except just to say it. Over the past few weeks, I've been fighting with the relapse of my addiction to barbiturates, and though I am clean at the moment, and I have been for over a week, and I plan to stay clean, I can only guarantee today, and, as you all know, I've always tried to lead horizon by example, and I feel that I no longer can do that, so I am stepping down. My intention is to at least take a sabbatical, decide if ultimately I should be involved in horizon at all. In the meantime, I'll make a decision as to who the interim director will be. Any questions?" Peter finished. He took a long deep breath as several hands shot up into the air. Surprisingly Sophie raised her hand. Peter contemplated in calling on her. He finally came to the decision by the look in her eyes. The look clearly stated 'Call on me or I'll rip your head off if I get the chance' So Peter called on her.
"S-Soph," Peter asked.
"Well, it's a nice little speech. Got it all typed out, nice and neat, clear and concise... But all it really says is "I quit." Sophie said. Peter interrupted.
"Soph.." Peter started to say.
"No, I mean That's all it says, right? You're a quitter" She finished.
"Guys!" Peter yelled at the chattering students. "I- I just need to get myself out of this mess." Peter closed his notes and stepped out from behind the podium and walked slowly out the door.
*****
Cole and Isaac layed on the ground as quiet as they could be. The concrete was hard but it was either yell in pain and loose the freedom from pain they now had or take the pain for just another couple minutes and be free. They had dreamt of freedom for so long. They both at the same time remembered the first time they were hit. It was a long time ago.
*Flashback*
"Your getting a new brother, Coley!" Cole's mom announced one day to the 6 year old.
"YAY!" Cole exclaimed. Steve smiled at his son. His beautiful child.. he would never ever stop loving him. He didn't know at the time but something as simple as liquor would take that love away from him.
The day Isaac arrived was a special one. Cole was so excited he woke up 3 hours before he was supposed to on that Saturday morning.
"Mommy?" Cole asked. His mother nodded in recognition. "How old is my new bruder gonna be?" He asked.
"He's gonna be the same age as you, angel" She told Cole. Cole giggled.
"YAY! When we gonna leave mommy?" He asked. His mom laughed as she grabbed his hands and they walked out the door to pick up Isaac.
At the adoption agency 6 year old Isaac Wilton was shyly hanging back in the room as the Taylor's arrived. He was scared.. he wanted a mommy and this was his chance but would she leave him too like his own mommy did? Would his daddy love him, unlike his other daddy? Questions were rambling on in his mind.
The Taylor's walked up to Mr. Jameser as he gave Isaacs hand to Mrs. Taylor. Suddenly Cole's nose scrunched up as he made a funny face.
"Hey," He stared. "Your not the stork!!" He yelled.
"Whatsa Stark?" Isaac asked his new brother. Cole's eyes went wide.
"Its not a Stark, silly, its a stork!" He giggled. "Mommy says they bring all the good little girls and boys brudders and siters to come and live with 'em." He said. Mrs. Taylor laughed out loud as he grabbed both their hands and led them home...
Things were great for a while. Daddy was missing a lot but Isaac still had his new mommy. He loved her a lot. He seemingly couldn't get enough of her. Daddy would scare Isaac and Cole a lot. He would come in late at night banging around and mumbling things they couldn't understand.
One horrible and fateful night daddy was louder then usual. He tripped over a toy truck in the middle of the hall and Cole could hear him screaming at the toy. Cole leaned into his brother and snuggled.
"Why is daddy saying sin words?" Isaac asked Cole.
"I don't know Iz... I don't know." He said just as Steve burst into the room.
"Isaac! Cole! Get over here now!" He yelled. The two boys were stunned. They stayed put in some unknown fear, as Steve snarled and seethed at the entrance to their room. After a minute of stillness Steve stumbled over to them and grabbed them both by the arm and jerked them up.
"OWW" They both cried out in unison. Steve spanked them several times. Way more then was needed at all.
"That's what you two get for disobeying" He said leaving the two bruised boys laying on their beds crying. He walked out of the room and slammed the door. Late into the night you could hear Steve and his wife screaming.
*End flashback*
The school officials and resource officers gave up in their pursuit of the two boys assuming they were long gone. Cole and Isaac sighed.
"Are they gone?" Isaac asked his brother. Cole listened for a minute and stood up.
"Yeah," He said. "They're gone." Cole had always believed that he was the stronger one. He at least had the first 6 years of his life with a great family who loved him. Isaac had spent a month on the streets when he was just 5. He was found barely alive.
*****
"I don't EVEN think so, Peter!!!" Shelby screamed, bursting in the door. Peter jumped. He was packing up his office at the time.
"Woah! Shelby.....?" He asked confused.
"I don't wont let you leave" She stated plainly crossing her arms and leaning against the door to his office.
"I have to Shel... I gotta teach you guys and I cant do that while I'm in this situation. Teach by example..." He said, trailing off.
"Oh, I get it" She said. Peter smiled.
"I knew you would" He said, starting to leave. Shelby out her hand out to stop him.
"I understand perfectly. You seem to want to teach us to run away from our problems instead of fixing them. Your teaching us that if something is a little hard you try to find the easy, not so good, way out." She said. Peter thought about it for a long while. Shelby just stood there with her eyebrow face.
"I'll stay" He said setting down his boxes. Shelby wasn't surprised. She had that effect on people.
"Good choice" She said and patted Peters shoulder and walked out.
*****
"Are you sure? I mean guys like you don't really give out... 'samples'" Cole said to the large woman standing before him.
"Just think of it as a present." She said and walked away. Cole felt the substance in his hand. Would this work? He asked himself several times.
After arriving in an abandoned alley way Cole and Isaac set the stuff down. He looked franticly around until he saw a broken piece of a mirror. He set it down and looked into it. (The only way I can describe what I sorta see in my mind is you see Cole looking into the piece of mirror. Then in slow motion a tear drops on it and splashes. Then as the tear splashes he dumps a small portion of Cocaine onto it. He takes a straw the girl gave him and sets it down onto it and as he snorts and you hear the sound it goes to the next scene. Make sense? I hope so)
*****
"They're what?!!" Mrs. Taylor screeched into the officers face. The officer winced at the high pitched sound.
"They sorta ran from school. We saw signs of... abuse on them. Like bruises and stuff. Mrs. Taylor's eyes went soft. She knew her husband was caught.. and maybe this was good.
"My- My husband hits them. I try to stop him I really do!! He is just too strong for me and the boys..." She said but trailed off.
"Its okay Mrs Taylor you can tell us"
"The boys... try to protect me." She said as she broke down crying.
*****
"Izzzzz..?" Cole said holding his head.
"Yeah, man?" Isaac said "floating" around.
"I don't feel so goo- Ohhh... wow, pretty sirens." Cole said.
"Those ain't pretty, man! They're like police sirens, man... get real dude." Isaac said, stoned as he could be.
"Woah.. I wonder who they're here to like.... bust.." Cole said starting to laugh.
"Woah... they're like coming all close to us, man.." Isaac said as he started to giggle. Cole's eyes squinted as tears fell down them he was laughing so hard.
"Hey, Kids!!!" Some man yelled. "Washington Police Department!" He was a police officer. "What are you doing?" The armed man asked. Cole giggled and got in the cops face.
"I think were... druggies" He said as he squinted his eyes and giggled really loud.
"Uh... son? I'm going to have to take you down to the police station to call your parents." He said. Isaac's eyes went wide.
"The hell you are!" He screamed, starting to sober up. The cop started walking toward Isaac but Isaac started to run. Well, as good as he could being stoned. Which wasn't very good at all seeing as he slipped on his own pants and fell face first on the ground. The cop took Isaac and Cole by the arms and set them in the back of the police car.
*****
A/n: How do you like it? PLEASE PLEASE review. Be gentle.. I'm very sensitive!! lol~ Flamingteen. Some of my grammar might be a little off.
Chapter 10: Brief Freedom
The speech Peter says in this chapter is from Mended Fences. The time period, however is in the middle of Close Encounters. The change is due to Shelby well.. changing the future. The speech was I guess written by Michael Braverman or something. The writers of Higher Ground own it, not me. *****
Peter stepped up on the stage, unbalanced, and almost fell. The tension in the room was so thick it was almost impossible to breath. He had a speech written up and he was prepared to read it to his students and disappoint most. He was resigning.
"Ahem!" Peter cleared his throat to get the, already listening students, attention. "There's, um... There's no good way to say this except just to say it. Over the past few weeks, I've been fighting with the relapse of my addiction to barbiturates, and though I am clean at the moment, and I have been for over a week, and I plan to stay clean, I can only guarantee today, and, as you all know, I've always tried to lead horizon by example, and I feel that I no longer can do that, so I am stepping down. My intention is to at least take a sabbatical, decide if ultimately I should be involved in horizon at all. In the meantime, I'll make a decision as to who the interim director will be. Any questions?" Peter finished. He took a long deep breath as several hands shot up into the air. Surprisingly Sophie raised her hand. Peter contemplated in calling on her. He finally came to the decision by the look in her eyes. The look clearly stated 'Call on me or I'll rip your head off if I get the chance' So Peter called on her.
"S-Soph," Peter asked.
"Well, it's a nice little speech. Got it all typed out, nice and neat, clear and concise... But all it really says is "I quit." Sophie said. Peter interrupted.
"Soph.." Peter started to say.
"No, I mean That's all it says, right? You're a quitter" She finished.
"Guys!" Peter yelled at the chattering students. "I- I just need to get myself out of this mess." Peter closed his notes and stepped out from behind the podium and walked slowly out the door.
*****
Cole and Isaac layed on the ground as quiet as they could be. The concrete was hard but it was either yell in pain and loose the freedom from pain they now had or take the pain for just another couple minutes and be free. They had dreamt of freedom for so long. They both at the same time remembered the first time they were hit. It was a long time ago.
*Flashback*
"Your getting a new brother, Coley!" Cole's mom announced one day to the 6 year old.
"YAY!" Cole exclaimed. Steve smiled at his son. His beautiful child.. he would never ever stop loving him. He didn't know at the time but something as simple as liquor would take that love away from him.
The day Isaac arrived was a special one. Cole was so excited he woke up 3 hours before he was supposed to on that Saturday morning.
"Mommy?" Cole asked. His mother nodded in recognition. "How old is my new bruder gonna be?" He asked.
"He's gonna be the same age as you, angel" She told Cole. Cole giggled.
"YAY! When we gonna leave mommy?" He asked. His mom laughed as she grabbed his hands and they walked out the door to pick up Isaac.
At the adoption agency 6 year old Isaac Wilton was shyly hanging back in the room as the Taylor's arrived. He was scared.. he wanted a mommy and this was his chance but would she leave him too like his own mommy did? Would his daddy love him, unlike his other daddy? Questions were rambling on in his mind.
The Taylor's walked up to Mr. Jameser as he gave Isaacs hand to Mrs. Taylor. Suddenly Cole's nose scrunched up as he made a funny face.
"Hey," He stared. "Your not the stork!!" He yelled.
"Whatsa Stark?" Isaac asked his new brother. Cole's eyes went wide.
"Its not a Stark, silly, its a stork!" He giggled. "Mommy says they bring all the good little girls and boys brudders and siters to come and live with 'em." He said. Mrs. Taylor laughed out loud as he grabbed both their hands and led them home...
Things were great for a while. Daddy was missing a lot but Isaac still had his new mommy. He loved her a lot. He seemingly couldn't get enough of her. Daddy would scare Isaac and Cole a lot. He would come in late at night banging around and mumbling things they couldn't understand.
One horrible and fateful night daddy was louder then usual. He tripped over a toy truck in the middle of the hall and Cole could hear him screaming at the toy. Cole leaned into his brother and snuggled.
"Why is daddy saying sin words?" Isaac asked Cole.
"I don't know Iz... I don't know." He said just as Steve burst into the room.
"Isaac! Cole! Get over here now!" He yelled. The two boys were stunned. They stayed put in some unknown fear, as Steve snarled and seethed at the entrance to their room. After a minute of stillness Steve stumbled over to them and grabbed them both by the arm and jerked them up.
"OWW" They both cried out in unison. Steve spanked them several times. Way more then was needed at all.
"That's what you two get for disobeying" He said leaving the two bruised boys laying on their beds crying. He walked out of the room and slammed the door. Late into the night you could hear Steve and his wife screaming.
*End flashback*
The school officials and resource officers gave up in their pursuit of the two boys assuming they were long gone. Cole and Isaac sighed.
"Are they gone?" Isaac asked his brother. Cole listened for a minute and stood up.
"Yeah," He said. "They're gone." Cole had always believed that he was the stronger one. He at least had the first 6 years of his life with a great family who loved him. Isaac had spent a month on the streets when he was just 5. He was found barely alive.
*****
"I don't EVEN think so, Peter!!!" Shelby screamed, bursting in the door. Peter jumped. He was packing up his office at the time.
"Woah! Shelby.....?" He asked confused.
"I don't wont let you leave" She stated plainly crossing her arms and leaning against the door to his office.
"I have to Shel... I gotta teach you guys and I cant do that while I'm in this situation. Teach by example..." He said, trailing off.
"Oh, I get it" She said. Peter smiled.
"I knew you would" He said, starting to leave. Shelby out her hand out to stop him.
"I understand perfectly. You seem to want to teach us to run away from our problems instead of fixing them. Your teaching us that if something is a little hard you try to find the easy, not so good, way out." She said. Peter thought about it for a long while. Shelby just stood there with her eyebrow face.
"I'll stay" He said setting down his boxes. Shelby wasn't surprised. She had that effect on people.
"Good choice" She said and patted Peters shoulder and walked out.
*****
"Are you sure? I mean guys like you don't really give out... 'samples'" Cole said to the large woman standing before him.
"Just think of it as a present." She said and walked away. Cole felt the substance in his hand. Would this work? He asked himself several times.
After arriving in an abandoned alley way Cole and Isaac set the stuff down. He looked franticly around until he saw a broken piece of a mirror. He set it down and looked into it. (The only way I can describe what I sorta see in my mind is you see Cole looking into the piece of mirror. Then in slow motion a tear drops on it and splashes. Then as the tear splashes he dumps a small portion of Cocaine onto it. He takes a straw the girl gave him and sets it down onto it and as he snorts and you hear the sound it goes to the next scene. Make sense? I hope so)
*****
"They're what?!!" Mrs. Taylor screeched into the officers face. The officer winced at the high pitched sound.
"They sorta ran from school. We saw signs of... abuse on them. Like bruises and stuff. Mrs. Taylor's eyes went soft. She knew her husband was caught.. and maybe this was good.
"My- My husband hits them. I try to stop him I really do!! He is just too strong for me and the boys..." She said but trailed off.
"Its okay Mrs Taylor you can tell us"
"The boys... try to protect me." She said as she broke down crying.
*****
"Izzzzz..?" Cole said holding his head.
"Yeah, man?" Isaac said "floating" around.
"I don't feel so goo- Ohhh... wow, pretty sirens." Cole said.
"Those ain't pretty, man! They're like police sirens, man... get real dude." Isaac said, stoned as he could be.
"Woah.. I wonder who they're here to like.... bust.." Cole said starting to laugh.
"Woah... they're like coming all close to us, man.." Isaac said as he started to giggle. Cole's eyes squinted as tears fell down them he was laughing so hard.
"Hey, Kids!!!" Some man yelled. "Washington Police Department!" He was a police officer. "What are you doing?" The armed man asked. Cole giggled and got in the cops face.
"I think were... druggies" He said as he squinted his eyes and giggled really loud.
"Uh... son? I'm going to have to take you down to the police station to call your parents." He said. Isaac's eyes went wide.
"The hell you are!" He screamed, starting to sober up. The cop started walking toward Isaac but Isaac started to run. Well, as good as he could being stoned. Which wasn't very good at all seeing as he slipped on his own pants and fell face first on the ground. The cop took Isaac and Cole by the arms and set them in the back of the police car.
*****
A/n: How do you like it? PLEASE PLEASE review. Be gentle.. I'm very sensitive!! lol~ Flamingteen. Some of my grammar might be a little off.