Title: Black Diamonds
Summary: Ryan makes friends with an African-American student at Harbor.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The O.C..
Chapter 7
After everyone had finished dinner, it was time for Henry to have his chat with Ryan. Which was the main reason why he and Gwen asked Sam to have him over. That, and of course because they wanted to meet him and get to know him a little.
Henry looked down the table at Ryan, who was talking with Sam. "Ryan?" Ryan looked over. "I was wondering if I could I speak with you?"
Ryan nodded, then swallowed nervously.
"Let's go outside." He turned to Sam and Angela. "Help your mother clean up, please."
Henry got up from the table. Before Ryan got up himself, Henry watched him exchange a look with Sam, as if looking for reassurance. He was happy to see that Sam gave Ryan a reassuring smile and nod, letting him know that it wasn't so bad to talk to the old man. Henry smiled to himself. He loved the fact that he had a good relationship with his teenage son.
Henry led Ryan out out the french doors and into the back yard. He headed over to the table that they had next to the pool. He was surprised when Ryan didn't follow him but instead started to head towards the pool house.
"Ryan?"
Ryan looked over at Henry, gave him an embarrassed smile, and changed course to follow him to the table. Henry gave Ryan a confused look.
"Um... I live in the pool house at home. So, um, habit, I guess." Ryan gave Henry an embarrassed shrug.
Henry nodded, thoughtful. A 16-year-old boy living in a pool house? In Henry's opinion, that was just asking for trouble. He'd never let a teenager who was living with his family live in their pool house. You had to keep kids in the house, to keep an eye on them. Otherwise, who knew what they could get away with and you'd never know. As a parent, that was a scary thought.
Henry sat down at the table and gestured to the chair across from him. "Have a seat."
Ryan pulled out the chair and sat down, lowering his eyes. Henry decided to start his talk on a positive note. He didn't want to scare this kid, who looked pretty skittish already.
"I wanted to let you know right off the bat that my wife and I are going to give your friendship with Sam a chance." Henry was glad to see that with that, Ryan picked up his head and looked at him. See, not so bad.
"And I want to thank you for helping Angela last week. I was glad to hear that you and Sam were able to defuse the situation without getting into a fight. My wife and I don't approve of fighting."
Ryan gave Henry a half-smile.
Henry took a deep breath and went into lecture mode. "You see, as parents, we just want to keep our children safe. Keep them out of trouble, keep them from getting hurt, keep them away from bad influences." He saw Ryan look away, towards the pool, uncomfortable, as if he knew that he might be considered a bad influence.
Henry leaned forward. "Sam told us what you told him about the stolen car and the fire, and that you used to live in Chino and are now living with your friend's family here in Newport."
Ryan nodded.
"You seem like a good kid."
Henry waited until Ryan looked back at him.
"And as a kid, I know it is easy to make mistakes, especially if you have bad influences around you. But I firmly believe that kids deserve a second chance. You can learn from your mistakes and move on, especially if you are now in a different environment, away from the bad influences."
Ryan looked straight at Henry and gave him a small smile, then looked away again.
Henry hardened his voice. "But I also want you to know, that if Sam, or Angela, starts to get into trouble -- skipping school, drinking, smoking, partying, lying to us, whatever -- and we suspect you have anything to do with it, we're going to have to forbid them from seeing you any more." Henry paused. "OK?"
Sam looked back up at Henry and nodded. "I get it. I wouldn't do anything to hurt Sam or Angela."
Henry smiled at Ryan, sat back, and relaxed. "Good. Glad to hear it. I know you probably think I'm being too tough, but like I said, my wife and I are just trying do what we can to protect our kids."
Ryan nodded, thoughtfully.
"So, um, who is this friend that you're living with now?"
"My friend Seth. And his parents, Sandy and Kirsten Cohen --"
That caught Henry's attention. He leaned forward again. "Kirsten Cohen? As in Kirsten Nichol Cohen? From The Newport Group?"
"Yeah. You know her?"
"We've met, once or twice. My company does business with The Newport Group." Ryan nodded. "You live with her?"
"Yeah."
Henry was impressed. He knew Kirsten was the daughter of Caleb Nichol, the richest and most powerful man in Orange County. The kid was lucky.
"How did that happen?"
"Sandy -- he's a lawyer. He was my lawyer."
That made sense. With stolen cars and such in Ryan's background, he probably needed a lawyer.
"I met Sandy first. He brought me home. Sandy and Kirsten took me in, um, because I needed a place to stay, um, because..."
Henry waited patiently for Ryan to continue. He looked a little upset. Henry could understand that. If he needed a home, something pretty bad probably happened.
Ryan took a deep breath and looked down. He said quietly, "Because my mother abandoned me."
Henry was shocked. That was even worse than he imagined. How could a mother abandon her child? He'd never understand that, ever. Their children meant the world to him and Gwen.
"I'm sorry."
Ryan shrugged and continued to look down.
Henry watched Ryan for a moment. He and Gwen had been talking for years about looking into adopting a child, or two. They knew that they were very fortunate and that there were countless African-American children out there that needed a home, a home that they could provide. After hearing about Ryan from Sam and Angela, he and Gwen had started talking again about really doing it this time. Over the years it kept getting put on the back burner, behind building their business and raising their own children.
Now that he'd met Ryan, Henry was thinking that they should revise their plans. Instead of adopting a young child, perhaps a troubled teen needed more of what he and Gwen could provide.
After the extended silence, Ryan finally looked up, perhaps to see what Henry was doing. Henry decided to take this opportunity.
"I want to ask you something. Would you mind if my wife and I talk to your... uh... foster parents?"
"Guardians. They're my legal guardians."
"Right, sorry. Guardians. Do you mind if we talk to your guardians? We've been thinking about looking into taking in a child or teenager, and we'd really like to talk it over with a couple who has done it, like the Cohens. I don't want to mislead you, we'll probably end up talking about you, at least in generalities. So I wanted to get your permission first."
Ryan looked surprised. He appeared to think it over. Finally, he said, "Yeah, yeah, I guess that would be OK."
"Thank you, Ryan."
Ryan nodded.
"Well," Henry stood up. "How about we go inside and have some dessert?"
To Be Continued