Black Belt Joe By BlindEagle Part 3 blindeagle@codeysworld.com Copyright © 2009 by BlindEagle. All rights reserved.

Mike and Georgia Chase had recently received their license from Child Protective Services to be foster parents. They had two children of their own, and an eight year old foster child who had been placed with them just two weeks after they were licensed by the State. They were contacted by CPS to see if they were interested in taking in one more child. When they learned that the child was actually a fourteen year old, they weren’t too keen about taking on a teen. But when they thought about the extra income they would receive, they agreed.

Keith arrived at their home accompanied by his case worker, Mrs. Hinkle. She talked with the family and Keith about CPS and contact numbers for both the Chases and for Keith should they need to ask any additional questions.

Keith took an immediate dislike to Mrs. Chase. It was as if he could see right through the screen that Georgia was putting up. Informed of the prior foster homes where Keith had stayed, and the incidents at school, it didn’t take long for both Mike and Georgia to start laying down the rules after Keith’s case worker had left. They didn’t even take the time to introduce him to the rest of their family, they simply pointed out where he would be sleeping. A section of the attic that had been squared off by Mike was shown to Keith as his new room. Mike had added a small wall mounted air conditioning unit that put out barely enough cool air to pass CPS inspection

*******

Unaware of the events of Keith’s day, Mike and Georgia arrived home after finishing up their school bus routes. Expecting him to be home, Mike went up to Keith’s room and discovered that he wasn’t there. In fact, it was obvious that he hadn’t arrived home from school. When Mike told Georgia that Keith wasn’t in his room, she started in with how irresponsible Keith was and how he was going to be the reason why they would lose their fostering license, and how much she regretted taking in Keith. Georgia picked up the phone to call Keith’s case worker, and noticed the signal alerting her that there were messages waiting.

******

Back in California, upon receiving the news about Kyle and his family’s accident, and that Keith was the only survivor, it was as if Jack seemed happy in a way. In his mind, all he could think about was that he finally outdid Kyle at something. As sick as that thought was, it wasn’t enough to comfort him when Kim reminded him that they had been named as the boys’ guardians in the event of deaths of Kyle and Susan. Jack and Kim wanted no part in raising someone else’s kid, especially when it was Kyle’s son. Though they had never showed any feelings of resentment towards either of the boys, they clearly wanted no part in taking care of Keith. However, when they learned of the insurance policy and the amount that they would receive, that triggered a completely different opinion about Keith, an opinion that would affect Keith for the rest of his life.

Trying to devise a plan, Kim’s bitterness because of her long brewing hatred of Kyle and his family took over and she came up with an idea that she thought just might work. With a few minutes left on her lunch break, she phoned Jack and quickly shared the beginnings of her plan. As he listened, Jack’s expression changed to a smirk. ‘This,’ he thought, ‘will work.’

******

For the first time in his life Joe felt as if he was floating on a cloud, that his prayers to have a friend had been answered. Glancing at Keith who was investigating Joe’s collection of books on Chinese martial arts, Joe was enjoying being with another boy who showed an interest in the same things he liked. As he continued watching out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that sometimes when Keith came to a section of a book he was reading, both of his eyebrows would rise up. It was as if what Keith was reading was the most intriguing subject he had ever seen.

Joe turned his attention back to his homework. He had decided to start it on since his guest, his first and only guest ever, was totally engrossed in and amazed by Joe’s collection of books.

Calling from the bottom of the stairs, Paul alerted the boys that dinner would be ready in ten minutes and to wash up.

Keith was startled by Paul’s voice. It recalled memories of how his dad had called him and Kevis when it was dinnertime at home. This so disturbed him that he dropped the book that he was reading.

Joe heard the book hitting the floor and looked to see if Keith was ok. He was shocked at the almost ghostly look on Keith’s face.

“Are you alright Keith?”

Joe got up from his desk and walked across the room. He reached out and placed his hands on Keith’s shoulders then noticed tears running down his cheeks. Joe didn’t know what to do, but he followed his heart and wrapped his arms around Keith. Keith hugged him and began sobbing uncontrollably into Joe’s chest.

Unaware of the amount of time that had passed since his father had called them to dinner, Joe finally heard a knock… knock… knock on his bedroom door.

“Are you boys ok? Didn’t you hear me calling….”

Paul let himself in and stopped when he saw Keith’s face buried in Joe’s chest, crying. He realized that Keith must be dealing with issues that were way bigger than they had thought, issues that Keith was dealing with alone.

Joe looked up at his dad with tears in his own eyes, and that confirmed a feeling that Paul had known for a while but had been waiting for the right time to confront. That was something that would have to wait a little longer.

“Keith? I know that you are going through more then you are telling us, and I want you to know that we are more than willing to help you in any way that we can. All you have to do is talk to us. We can’t help you if you don’t tell us what’s wrong.”

Unable to respond because of the lump gnawing in his stomach, Keith just nodded his head as he began wiping his eyes on his shirt sleeve.

Paul handed the box of tissues on Joe’s desk to Keith. “Why don’t you boys clean yourselves up and come on down, dinner is ready and I think getting some dinner into the both of you will help you feel a little better. Keith, after dinner if you want we can sit and talk about what’s wrong and how we can help you.”

Joe gave Keith a few moments alone and went to wash up, while Keith sat at the foot of Joe’s bed lost in thought.

******

Keith’s recovery in the hospital had taken a little over a month. It was a very hard time for him. Keith, recovering from four broken ribs, one of which had punctured his left lung, and bruises all over his body, couldn’t understand why his life had been uprooted and those he loved were gone forever.

The only reason Keith didn’t try to commit suicide was because of a promise he had made to his roommate in the hospital. Todd was a fifteen year old teen with bushy red hair and stunning blue eyes who looked like he was no older than thirteen. He had swallowed almost a half gallon of whiskey along with a handful of his mom’s sleeping pills. The reason he tried to kill himself was because of physical and emotional abuse he received every day from his schoolmates and his father. One afternoon while cleaning the house, his mother found him in the unused bedroom and quickly called 911. Not a moment could be spared; Todd was at the edge of death.

Because they were in the same room in the hospital and had long talks every day, Todd learned Keith’s story. He realized how much his mother would have missed him, and he made a promise to himself that he would never try to commit suicide again. He asked Keith to make the same promise as well. After looking at Todd and thinking about what a traumatic time it was for both of them, Keith agreed.

After being released, while CPS was attempting to find relatives who would take him in, Keith was assigned to Richard and Mable Sutton. They had been foster parents for years and had fostered several children before agreeing to foster him.

Keith attended counseling sessions once a week, as ordered by the pediatric psychologist handling his case. Week after week, Keith attended his counseling sessions, but he still refused to confront the deaths of everyone in his family because it would recall memories he wanted to permanently bury. All of the life he once had was now gone. The most important section of his heart had been ripped from him.

At the same time Keith was recovering, East Side Orlando Medical Center for Injured and Abused Children was having a conference for foster parents. There was a shortage of people willing to be foster parents, and there was a need for better training for existing foster parents. Keith’s first foster parents were attending the conference. They wouldn’t admit it, but the Suttons were very much in need of additional training.

Living with the Suttons was like living at boot camp. The Suttons thought that keeping Keith on a tight leash would keep his mind occupied, but it only made matters worse. When the fights started at his high school the pressure increased. Though Keith never started any of the fights he was in, neither did he back down from any of them. 

The Suttons made their house a living hell for Keith because they wanted to give him back to CPS. The reason for that was a call the Suttons received from a man requesting information about Keith. He informed them that if they had any useful information regarding Keith’s inappropriate behavior they would be compensated handsomely. The caller also assured the Suttons that any information provided would be kept totally confidential and couldn’t be traced back to them.

After talking with the caller, the Suttons started the process to get Keith sent back to CPS. They increased their pressure on him and constantly threatened him that if he didn’t do as he was told that he would be put back into the system, and that no one would want to foster a trouble-making teenager. Mrs. Sutton made a phone call to the parents of the boy whose nose Keith had broken. Keith had been protecting himself from the boy and his friends while he was using the restroom. She even talked to the boy who was a well-known bully at the school. This added to Keith’s problems, as the boy and his friends staged another fight with him. Of course, Keith defended himself and blackened the eye of the captain of the junior wrestling team. By the time the week had ended, Keith was suspended from school, his clothing and all of his belongings had been packed up, and the Sutton’s had him removed from their home and back into the hands of CPS. This resulted not only in Keith being temporarily placed in a CPS group home, it added another red flag on his record, a record which was slowly stacking up against Keith, and not to his benefit.

******

Furious after listening to the messages left for her and Mike, Georgia called Keith’s case worker, then to the police to report him missing. She turned to Mike. “Do you know what that misfit of a kid Keith did?”

“Well by the angry look on your face, I’m sure it’s bad.”

Georgia went on to tell of the call from the assistant principal that Keith had been in a fight at school.” He’s requesting a meeting with both of us and Keith tomorrow. We’d have to take time off work, and we can’t afford to lose our hourly pay. I called his case worker, that Mrs. ‘Pretty Shoes’, demanding that she come and take that badass kid with her tonight. As soon as we get rid of him, the sooner things can get back to normal and we can move ahead with our vacation plans.”

With the removal of Keith set in motion, Georgia called the number given her by a man who had contacted her the day after Keith came to live with them. She gave him a detailed report about Keith’s problems. She didn’t know, and wouldn’t have cared, that this was the same man who had contacted the Suttons, Keith’s prior foster family. After she completed the call she picked up a travel brochure showing Las Vegas and its glimmering lights, and smiled.

******