Second Harvest is a good organization that distributes food and goods to the poor here in America. Since there was not an episode showing Jarod helping this organization, indirectly or directly, I decided to have Nicholas and my invented character, Antonio Lambourni do the work that the writers of the episodes failed to have Jarod do.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Antonio and Nicholas were working at distributing food and goods for the poor for Second Harvest. This area of Kentucky was far from the racing tracks where elegantly dressed women with their husbands watched High Spirited Hill of Dale beat Mountain of the Setting Sun win by a dead heat.

Here the people had to contend with dead end jobs, factory closings, and even their practice of gathering herbs to sell to the various health food stores showed diminishing success. Many of the plants in the area were in danger of extinction and because of this the health food chains were raising their own rather than depreciate the dwindling plant life.

Because of desperation, some of the mothers actually left their babies at the hospital or at the local churches, hoping that someone would take pity and take the little tyke home with them and there were the vultures. These scum preyed on the poor, not checking the background of the adoptive parents, so that at least four children died when placed in their new homes. One baby, Lambourni learned, had a medical condition that required he be given a special diet. The adoptive parents and the natural mother had asked him for the name of a good lawyer to sue the Black market Adoption Agency who neglected to give the adoptive parents that information. The lawyer agreed to work pro bono.

However, help was on the way. For those mothers who truly intended to give up their children for adoption, a private adoption agency had been started in that area. They selected the adoptive parents according to strict guidelines. They had strict psychological tests, frequent and unexpected home visits, often disguising themselves as neighbors, salespeople, etc. The agents were wise enough to know when for instance, the housewife answered the door in her negligee expecting her husband, or when the couple had a spat. They even knew not to worry if the house was a bit messy. But that was not the end.

They checked the backgrounds, religion, and even the color of the potential parents, knowing that one aspect of insecurity of adoptive parents was people knowing that the child was adoptive, different eyes or hair color, chubby when the parents were tall and thin, etc. Besides, unfortunately, not all birth reunions turned out well. The adoptive agency hoped to avoid that and for those in which reunions were possible, to have the birth mother say, "I knew my baby was in a safe place, they're common folks like me."

However, they made sure the potential adoptive parents were financially secure and at a higher tax bracket, so the birth mother didn't think she was selfish for giving up her child.

In some cases such as that poor infant who had died, they even refused adoption if the potential parents were not potential blood or bone marrow donors. They were so strict that Antonio told, "I know they would never consider me, but I'm afraid you won't make it either."

"Really you'd make a better parent," said Nicholas, "I'd be afraid the kid would overdose on the pills in my medicine cabinet."

"That's too bad. Tried the natural approach?"

"Here." Nicholas pulled a sheet out of his pocket. "That'd be enough to discourage anyone." He started to name all the traditional medicines that would react negatively with his present set of pills, not to mention the foods he had to avoid and his teacher's salary was too high to allow for prescription deductions.

"Maybe now that The Centre is no longer, ah, evil, they can work on a cure."

"Sure, but I heard that Miss Parker's now in charge."

"And me. I can have someone look into the type of herbs and foods you can eat, and make them taste like whatever you like."

"Like the dish my mother used to make? What did she call it Cassoulet?"

"Sounds like Fridge Cleaner to me."

"Fridge Cleaner?"

"Throw everything that you have left into the casserole and put it in the oven."

Nicholas laughed and then turned to the woman with two girls besides her. They all looked tired. That was one thing about the people around here, their lethargy not by marrying in their teens but by the lack of opportunity. People here married as soon as legally able and if they were expecting, before that.

He had done what he could by volunteering for the literacy program, but he felt he needed to do more and when Mr. Lambourni — you didn't call a man like him Antonio just like that — suggested that he help with Second Harvest, Nicholas had agreed. Perhaps the children were illiterate because they were too hungry. That assumption was correct and already the school grade point average had increased double. They were now producing pupils with Bs and As rather than the C minus and Ds previous.

"My man's left me." She said that as if it were common. "We aint got any money."

Nicholas reached into this briefcase for a voucher. "Take that to that line over there."

"Thank you sir." She loped out followed by her girls.

"Wait a minute," said Antonio, "Are you any good with medical herbs?"

She turned. "Yes sir."

"We're looking for someone to transplant of various herbal vegetation and someone with the knowledge of their growth seasons."

"What?"

"Oh what he means," said Nicholas, "is the new plant, Kentucky Nature' Herbal Remedies wants someone to work in their gardening department. It'll be from nine thirty to three, so you can drop your girls off at school. You'll have to make sure none of the plants get mixed up, fertilizing, etc. Minimum wage starting, but you'll get more. Interested?"

Her face beamed. "Sure would!"

Nicholas smiled. It was sure good to change people's lives, to make them better. He watched Antonio who was now talking to a strange man, one that was new to these parts. After the man left, Lambourni got on his cell phone.

A few minutes later, Antonio came over to him. "I have to leave for Delaware. I've let Max know. He'll be here in five minutes." Max was another volunteer who lived in the area. "It appears there's trouble there."

"My father?"

"I hope not. I also hope my father's not in danger either."

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking. Anyway most of the groundwork has been done here."

Nicholas watched Lambourni get in his van and leave. Whatever it was, he hoped that the lawyer would get back to The Centre before anything went wrong. If anyone died, Nicholas felt he would never forgive himself.