The Castaway Hotel - 5 - 36. Chapter 36 - Changes

The remaining hours seemed to drag along, as I waited to hear from Ricky, to make sure he had arrived at his destination safely. I even spent an inordinate amount of time watching the 24-hour news channels, to be certain there were no hijackings or plane crashes during that time period. I did manage to take short breaks, when I would say a prayer of protection for him, and I knew he would dominate my thoughts until I was assured he had arrived unharmed. When the telephone finally rang, I was greeted by his angelic, yet devilish, voice on the other end.

“I got here okay, Dad,” he announced, with a bit of a snicker. “I knew you probably wouldn’t go to sleep until I called and let you know.”

“That’s great, and you’re probably right,” I concurred. “I’ve been a bit on edge since you left and I’m so glad you remembered to call. I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t.”

“Well, you only told me a thousand times or more to let you know when I got here and you even reminding me I had a 1000 minute calling card in my wallet, which I was to use to make the call with.” I could hear him laugh after he said that. “Do you want to use all 1000 minutes now, or do you want me to save some for later?” He was laughing even harder now, still my little clown.

“We can use some now, but I don’t think I can stay on the phone for that long.” I teased, which made him laugh a little harder. “So how was your flight?”

“Long, but not bad,” he confirmed. “I watched a couple of movies and listened to some tunes before I got here. I even slept a little too.”

“Well, I’m glad you got there in one piece,” I told him. “Was your family there to meet you?”

“Oh, yeah. They were waiting for me and holding a sign with my name on it,” he replied. “They’re really nice, and I think their son and I will get along well. It’s really different here, but I’m going to try to see and do as much as I can while I’m here.”

“You do that, and keep in touch,” I reminded him. “Do they have a computer?”

“Yes, they do, so I’ll be able to send you all emails,” he announced. “I have all your email addresses, so don’t worry.” There was a slight hesitation after he said this, so I figured he was getting a bit emotional, and possibly a little choked up.

“Dad, I want you to take care of all my brothers for me and take care of yourself and Uncle Jake too,” he urged. “I want both of you to behave while I’m gone, and that means no new little brothers before I get back.” He laughed after saying that, most likely because of its weird implications, but I enjoyed his unique sense of humor coming through again.

“I’ll talk to you again when I can. Love you,” he snuck in, as a prelude to ending the call.

“I love you too, Ricky,” I concurred. “Have fun, but be careful.”

“I will, Dad. Bye,” he added, before hanging up.

“Bye, Ricky,” I managed to get in, before I heard a click and the line went dead.

Now that I knew he was safely in his temporary home, I figured I could start to relax a little and focus on other things too. I was most definitely thrilled to hear from him and passed word along to everyone else that he had arrived safely and everything was going well. The others didn’t look as relieved as I expected, so I concluded they didn’t consider making a trip like that to be such a big deal. Although their outward appearance looked calm, I believed some of them, most likely his two cohorts in crime, Cole and Graham, had been a bit uptight about his safety too. Now that I had eased their fears as well, we could now go back to things as normal.

A few days later, I opened the local paper and saw something that caught me totally off-guard. The Superintendent of our local school district had resigned and was leaving to take over a larger school district, some miles away, in another state. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I generally heard the scuttlebutt about things like this before they had a chance to be publicized, since I still had many connections within the school district, but no one had forewarned me about this. After calling around and checking with my usual contacts, all of them told me that NO ONE had seen this coming.

The Superintendent had told everyone who heard about his interview that he only went to it for the experience, but never seriously considered having a chance to land the job. When he was notified that the other district wanted him, and at a considerable increase in salary, he was somewhat in shock, but did manage to accept the offer. He withheld telling any of his usual confidants about his good fortune, as he wanted to time the announcement of his departure. He contacted each of the schools and had them announce a hastily called staff meeting in the high school auditorium for that afternoon, where he explained what happened and confirmed he would be leaving as soon as the academic year ended, which was only a couple of weeks away.

My friends apologized for failing to think of calling me and letting me know about this little surprise, but I told them it was no big deal. However, I knew the district would be in a bind to get someone to replace him at this late date, since replacing such a position usually took months to complete. The problem was, the district had a renovation project planned during the summer, which would require someone being in charge and able to make those last minute decisions, as well as being able to prepare the district for the next school year.

Later that day, I received a visit from the President of the Board of Education, but I couldn’t understand why he’d be coming to me about anything. After all, I was retired now and had nothing to do with the district, other than as the parent of a larger than normal percentage of their student body. However, he soon answered this question for me, and quite unexpectedly. “Josh, the board met last night in an emergency session to handle this situation with the Superintendent. I take it you’ve heard that he’s leaving by now?”

“Yes, I have,” I confirmed. “I read about it in today’s paper.”

“I assumed you would have learned about it, one way or another,” he responded. “Well, the reason I’m here is this: the majority of the members of the school board have authorized me to offer you the job of Superintendent, if you’re interested?”

“But I’ve never even applied for that position,” I replied, slightly dumbfounded. “Why not offer it to one of the other administrators in the district?”

“Because we don’t feel they are as qualified as you are,” he announced, quite succinctly. “You know the issues confronting the school district and have shown you are willing to do what’s best for everyone involved at all times, so we really feel that you are the best man for the position.”

“Well, I’m honored, but I’m also retired,” I countered, partially in jest.

“We’d make it worth your while, financially that is,” he urged.

“That sounds nice, but I’ve really enjoyed being here for the boys when they needed me,” I explained. “I’d really hate to give that up and miss out on large portions of their lives.”

“We’re also willing to be flexible, if you need extra time off or want to juggle your work hours for the summer,” he offered. “This shouldn’t be a problem during the school year either, since your boys will be in classes as well. You are our first choice and we really hope you’ll take the job.”

“I don’t know, this is all so sudden,” I informed him. “I’d have to talk it over with the family first. I couldn’t possibly accept it without seeing how the boys would feel about it.”

“Fair enough,” he replied, more quickly than I expected. “Do you think you’ll be able to let us know, say within 48 hours?”

“I suppose I could do that,” I agreed.

“Great!” he responded. “Josh, the entire board truly hopes you will accept our offer, so please think this over carefully.”

“I will,” I confirmed, before he departed.

I was still somewhat in shock after he left, as I tried to consider what this might mean. I went over all of the ramifications I could think of, as I waited to talk this over with Jake and the boys. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this, but I felt I needed their input in order to make such a rather important decision.

I also considered if I should talk this over with just Jake first, before I let anyone else know, but decided this should be done in a family meeting and all at once, so I wouldn’t have to go over everything more than once. I waited until we were all gathered around the dinner table, before I brought it to their attention. “I had a visit from the President of the School Board today,” I began. “He came because the current Superintendent has announced he’s leaving the job and the board is offering me the position.”

“Wow, that’s really great, Dad,” Danny told me, looking both please and impressed.

“Yeah, that’s great, Pop,” Nick added. “Then you’d be the big boss.”

“Can you do that, without us having to worry about you having another heart attack?” Kevin wanted to know. He looked very concerned as he asked this question.

“Yes, I believe I can,” I confirmed. “The doctor has given me a physical and told me I can do almost anything I want, as long as it’s done in moderation. I’d just have to make sure I keep my stress level down, so as not to provoke another episode. Does anyone prefer I NOT take this job?” I asked, while looking around to see if anyone was responding to this question.

“Well, I’d rather you didn’t,” Jake told me, bluntly. “I know the stress level of that job is very high and you really don’t need the money. I think the boys and I need you more than you need this position,” he added, while showing a little extra emotion on his face.

“What if I just took it on an interim basis, just until they had time to post the job and go through the interview and hiring process?” I asked, as an alternative. “They are really in a bind here and need someone who is familiar with the district and what’s going on, post haste.”

“I guess that would be all right,” Jake told me, “if it was only going to be for a couple of months.”

“Yes, it would probably be something like that,” I agreed.

“Well, it is summertime, so not so many stressful things should be happening for a while,” Jake added, showing that he didn’t understand how stressful a renovation project could be or how tough it was to replace old staff and hire new, while preparing to get the next school year underway. “I guess we could live with that, right boys?”

“Only if it means he’ll be here with us through July and August, when Nigel and his boys come over,” Pat added. “I thought we planned on doing a whole bunch of things with them.”

“You’re right, and I almost forgot about that,” I admitted. “Since we’ve planned most of the activities to take place over long weekends and such, I don’t see it as a problem. The Board President has assured me they’ll be flexible and allow me time off, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem. Other than that, do any of you have anything else for me to consider?” No one responded, so I concluded everything was fine with my accepting the position on a temporary basis. The next day I called the School Board President back, to discuss the matter with him further.

“Josh, thanks for getting back to me so quickly,” he began. “Have you made a decision?”

“Well, you probably won’t be totally happy with it, but you won’t be completely upset by it either,” I informed him.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he wondered, aloud. “Should I start to worry now?”

“Well, that’s up to you,” I teased, “but after talking it over with the family, they’ve convinced me to only accept the job on an interim basis, to give you the time to post the position and look for someone to fill it permanently.”

“You’re right, it’s not what I wanted to hear,” he confirmed, “but it is definitely better than your just saying no to us. Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to get you to take this job outright?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I admitted. “The boys are worried about how the stress will affect me, since they’re concerned I might have another heart attack, but they’ve also reminded me we don’t need the money that badly, especially if it would pose a risk to my health.”

“All right, I guess I can understand that,” he conceded. “If that’s the case, would you also be willing to serve on the selection committee to help choose your replacement? We could really use your expertise and your knowledge of the district to pick a successor.”

“Yes, I suppose I could do that as well.” I agreed.

“Great, even though I would have preferred to have you just accept the job in the first place,” he acknowledged. “I guess this will have to do.”

Once I hung up, I told everyone else what I had agreed to, and they seemed fine with it. I wasn’t sure if I was thrilled about going back to work, but I have missed some of the diversion that work provided me at various times. Although I love being with my boys and being there for them, I sometimes get bored when they’re all at school or busy with other things. Besides, it’s nice to be around adults at times too. Many of the teachers I knew were more than just colleagues, they were friends as well, and now maybe I’ll get to see some of them on a more regular basis. As superintendent, I’ll be making scheduled visits to all of the schools, so I might run into them while I’m there, plus I’ll get to see them at district meetings and other functions, besides running into them at the other school related activities I will be attending with the boys. Yes, I think this might be a good move for me.

It was less than a week later and I was still adjusting to going back to work. Although I never had a problem getting up early, since I always got up to prepare breakfast for my boys, even after I retired, the issue-filled day did tire me out more than I first expected. After coming home from one of these exhausting day, I opened my email and discovered I’d received something from Ricky.

Hi, Dad.

Have u forgotten me yet? J/k. It’s pretty nice here. My host brother is pretty neat. His name is Peter and he’s 15. We’ve talked some and he thinks he might be bi too. We even fooled around a little, just for fun. He’s like Jay, natural, and he says most of the boys r here, so he kind of likes that I’m not. He introduced me to this cute girl too, so I might go out with her sometime. I’ll have to ask Peter where I should take her though.

My host parents are pretty neat too, it’s just that I’m not used to having a mother fussing over me like this. That can be a real pain sometimes, plus I have to watch that I’m dressed properly whenever she’s in the house. I’m not used to that either. lol I almost goofed yesterday. I started to walk from my room to the bathroom with nothing on, but I heard her singing as she worked in there cleaning the tub, so I ran back and grabbed my pants. I don’t know what I’d have done if I’d walked in on her or she had walked out just then, cuz I’d have had some tough explaining to do about why I was walking around naked. hehehe

So how is everything at home? I kinda miss all of you. I didn’t think I would so much, but I guess I didn’t realize how much I talked to my brothers and you when I need help or feel down. It’s just not the same here, but Peter helps some. I hope u r takin it easy. Remember what we talked about.

Sorry about those things I did to you and Uncle Jake before I left, but I thought you’d remember me better that way. Btw, I did that to Peter the first night too. Guess nobody’s done that to him before. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong. It was kind of funny. He went out and asked his mom what she had done to his bed, so she went in and checked it and then started laughing. I played dumb, like I didn’t know what was going on. You know I’m good at that. hehehe Now I’m just waiting for the weekend, so I can run into his room, jump on his bed, and wake him up like I used to do to you guys. He doesn’t know what he’s in for.

Love you all, and please write back. I want to hear from each of you.

Love ya,
Your bestest son, Ricky

Well, that email was definitely typical Ricky and now I pitied his host family, especially his host brother. I think they might all be happy to see him go when his time is up. Then again, his little pranks and stunts might just endear him to them. I know it did to us. He’s just such a fun kid to be around. I was glad to hear from him too, and to learn that he was adjusting there, although I knew he would. He’s such an adaptable young man.

Well, now that I don’t have to worry about him, I can move on to other things. I guess maybe tomorrow I’ll talk to Nick, Trey and Vinnie, to see if they’re ready to start their driving lessons. They’re all old enough, and I’m sure anxious enough, so maybe I’ll start them on their lessons this weekend, if they’re interested.