Chapter 2 - Last Resort

For a couple of days, Jon heard nothing. School ran normally, although Shawn was a little colder to him than usual. There were no calls from social services or from the police.

Then Shawn missed a couple of days of school. When Shawn returned, Jon decided to try pulling him aside after class for a check in. He asked him a question during class that he knew Shawn wouldn't know the answer to, despite the fact that Jon had said the answer less than five minutes before, and when Shawn shrugged and glared at him instead of answering, Jon told him to stay after.

Shawn approached him when the bell rang, but his eyes were hard, angry. "What do you want, Jon?"

"You doing OK, Hunter?" Jon asked as the classroom cleared out. He refrained from correcting him; Shawn wasn't supposed to use his first name when other students could hear.

"Are you going to punish me for not paying attention in class or not?"

"No, I didn't call you up here to punish you. I just wanted to check in, see how you were doing."

"Why?"

"Because I care about you, man."

"Oh, is that what you call it?"

Jon swallowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Shawn shook his head. "Just forget it." He stormed toward the door.

Jon went after him, but Cory stopped him on the way. "Let him go."

Jon frowned. He glanced toward the hall, but Shawn had already disappeared into a sea of students. Jon and Cory were the only ones left in the classroom.

Cory's voice caught. "How could you do this to him, Mr. Turner? I thought you cared about him."

"What's this all about, Matthews?"

"He's wanted to be with his family for the last year. You knew that more than anyone. Couldn't you have just been happy for him?"

Jon breathed in to tell Cory that he cared a lot more about Shawn's safety than about Shawn liking him or being temporarily happy. But he couldn't tell Cory any of that. Even if Cory knew, he wasn't allowed to disclose details of his report. "Is he OK?"

"No." Cory shook his head, taking a step back. "No, he's not. No thanks to you." And he left the room.

Jon let his breath out slowly. He picked up his keys, locked the door to his classroom on the way out, and went straight to Feeny's office.

He was thankful to find Feeny alone, with the door open. He knocked on the doorframe and stepped inside. "Could I have a minute, George?"

Feeny looked up from his work, and he lowered his glasses. "Jonathan," he said quietly. "Won't you come in."

Jon knew that look. It was a look people had when they had to tell someone that a family member was dead. Jon closed the door and sat across from Feeny, so he felt more like he was walking to the gallows. "I came to ask about Shawn."

"Yes, I expected you would." Feeny cleared his throat and look Jon right in the eyes. "The school received a report from social services yesterday. Shawn has been removed from his parents' care and is living in a foster home."

It shouldn't have been a surprise. And it wasn't a surprise, not really. Somehow, it still knocked the wind out of him. And once again, he wasn't at liberty to disclose the role he had played, even to Feeny. "I see."

"They are asking for our discretion, in order to protect all parties. I trust I can count on you."

"The kid's been through enough. I won't add to it by gossiping."

"You can guess that quite a bit of the school already knows."

Jon winced. Kids could be cruel about that kind of thing. "What do you suggest we do?"

"I suggest we be there for him as best as we can." Feeny gave him a pointed look. "In a professional capacity."

Jon's breath caught. "What's that supposed to mean, George? "

"You know exactly what I mean, Jonathan. The authorities are keeping their eye on this situation. I don't want you to do anything that could be construed as kidnapping."

"Kidnapping?"

"All I'm saying is this. If he shows up at your door, you call the police."

"I don't know if I can do that."

"You have to."

Jon breathed in to protest, but he knew Feeny was right. It wasn't worth the risk. It certainly wouldn't help Shawn in the long run. "I understand."

"Go easy on the boy in class these next few days, if you can."

"Of course." Jon stood.

"Oh, and Jonathan?"

Jon turned back.

"Be careful."

Jon nodded, and he left the office.

For the next week, Jon kept an eye on the situation from a distance. Shawn missed a couple more days of class, but it was almost more concerning to see him there. He was exhausted, pale, strung out. He had always worn clothes that didn't quite fit right, but they hadn't always smelled bad. He didn't crack jokes, and he didn't even seem to be hanging out with Cory.

Meanwhile, for all his efforts to hold himself at arm's length emotionally, Jon couldn't bring himself to lock the door of his apartment before he went to bed. He told himself that if Shawn came looking for a place to sleep, he could at least give him a hot meal before calling the police.

It didn't end up being a problem. Shawn never showed up his house. The kid didn't speak to Jon at all, including in class. He didn't even look at him.

It had been two weeks since Jon's report since when he got a call from social services at home.

"Is this Jonathan Turner?"

"Yeah, this is Jon."

"I'm Marisa Cortez, Shawn Hunter's social worker. I understand you're his teacher at John Adams High School?"

"Yes, I am."

"Mr. Turner, how well do you know Shawn?"

Jon was hesitant to bring up the truth again, worried it might get him into trouble, but he assumed that by now the information was part of the kid's file. "I looked after him for the year his parents were away."

"So you know him well."

"Better than any of my other students."

She took a deep breath. "The information I'm about to share is strictly confidential. Do you understand?"

"Whoa, whoa. Is Shawn OK?"

"There's no easy way to say this. He's been in three different foster homes in the last two weeks. He runs away from every one of them. Right now, we don't know where he is."

"Well, did you check the Mathews?"

"That's where we found in the last two times. This time, he hasn't come up. No one from the trailer park has seen him, either, at least that they're willing to admit."

"And you think he's with me?"

"My job requires me to ask."

"I haven't seen him," Jon said honestly.

"And you would tell us if you did?"

"Of course. I want him to be safe."

"Other than his parents, you're the only one he's ever stayed with for longer than a couple of days."

Jon wasn't sure where this was going. "OK."

"So I have to ask. Do you have a background check on file with the school?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Fingerprinting?"

"Uh, yeah."

"CPR and first aid training?"

"Part of the requirements."

"And your apartment has two bedrooms?"

"Yeah, but… What's this about?"

"Are you available this weekend?"

"Available for what?"

"Foster care training. We can get you a provisional license if you've checked a few boxes."

"What?"

"This is something we normally only grant to family members, but be frank, we've checked in with all of Shawn's. None of them are any more suitable guardians than his parents."

That sounded about right. Jon had met some of them. But… "You want me to take him?"

"Only if you're willing, and only if you can complete the licensing requirements as soon as possible."

Jon breathed in to give a million objections, but what came out was, "If it's for Shawn, I'm willing."

"I'll get the paperwork started. You—"

"Wait, wait." He shook his head, coming to his senses. "The kid's not going to want to stay with me. He suspects I'm the one who called in the original report, he wants nothing to do with me."

A long silence, and then a sigh. "Mr. Turner, we're running out of options. Shawn is troubled. Normally, I would never send him to someone who wasn't an experienced foster parent, but you've had success with him before. He respects you."

"I don't know about that." Jon winced. "If things are so bad, wouldn't it be better to send him back to his parents? At least then he wouldn't be on the streets."

"His parents are in jail."

Jon felt like his heart stopped. "For neglect?"

"Possession of illegal substances."

Jon had no idea what to say to that. He felt less guilty about what he had done, calling in about Shawn's family, but he felt worse for the kid than ever.

"Normally, we would ask you to make your decision in 24 hours, but we need to know now whether we can count on you. As soon as we find him, we're going to need you to pick him up, if you agree to this."

"Wait. Wait. Did you ask the Mathews?"

"They were our first call."

"And?"

"They said they would do it if you wouldn't." A slight pause. "They were quite confident you would, though."

Jon rubbed the back of his neck. "What does this look like, long-term?"

"His parents are in jail for about another month. After that, the judge will decide the process for their reunification."

"Process?"

"Typically, parents who have had children removed from their homes need to complete a list of requirements, determined by a judge, in order to get the kids back."

"What kind of requirements?"

"Could be rehab, could be therapy. It's up to the judge. When they complete the requirements, Shawn goes back to them, and ideally, the work they did while he was away helps them to be better equipped to take care of him in the future."

Jon let out his breath. He didn't know Shawn's parents well, but he doubted they'd be able to complete the judge's orders in a matter of a couple of weeks. "What happens if they don't complete the requirements?"

"Well, there's a period of time when they can appeal for additional time to complete the tasks, after which their parental rights are revoked, and we work on a plan for permanency. That may or may not involve you."

Jon nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see him. He knew exactly what would happen if Shawn came to his apartment. The kid would probably run away, just like he had with all of the other homes. But Jon suspected the other homes had kicked him out at the first sign of trouble, refused to take him back after he ran. Jon wouldn't do that.

God help the kid if Jon was his only option, but far be it from Jon to send him away.

"I'm so sorry to put you on the spot, Mr. Turner. But we really need an answer."

Jon straightened up suddenly. "The training classes are this weekend?"

"Yes. But we may send Shawn to you before that, if we find him. To be safe, it would be best if you filled out the forms in the next hour. I'll fax them to you."

"I'll get them back to you," he said.

They exchanged fax numbers and hung up, and Jon paced while he waited for the forms to arrive.

One comment struck him in particular. The Matthews had been confident that he would say yes. Alan had given Jon some advice when he had been taking care of Shawn the first time, but he didn't consider them to be particularly close. And yet they claimed to have known what he would say, faced with a life-changing decision.

A year ago, he had made a choice in an instant that had changed his life, when he asked Shawn to move in with him. A couple of months ago, he had done it again, when he let the kid go.

But for some reason, this felt different. He could feel it in his gut. He knew that this time, whether for better or for worse, whether Shawn stayed with him for another few months or for the rest of his childhood, the change wouldn't be temporary.