Sanctuary from Harm - 13. Sanc Chapter 13

With Ezekias and Toby now relocated to the two larger rooms in the client accommodation, and Marcus and Liam decided to share a room, as they had become good friends over the past two weeks, everything was ready. One thing that had been overlooked in a way, is the amount of work it takes to clean up after the clients, ensuring that they do their laundry, clean their bathrooms, and keeping their rooms tidy, as well as keeping the rest of the complex clean and tidy.

After lunch, while helping Sam and Kirsty to wash up all of the dirty dishes, Kirsty stopped washing for a moment and smiled, which both Sam and I noticed. “Oh no, watch out, she had a brilliant idea,” Sam commented, which made Kirsty laugh, “You know me too well dearest love of mine,” Kirsty responded.

“Are you going to tell me what it is, or are you two going to continue this banter all afternoon?” I asked, which had both ladies laugh. “I was just thinking of Anna and Mary, they could…” “Brilliant idea, I will go and call them while you finish up here,” Sam said interrupting Kirsty. “Whoa, what just a minute, you need to run it past me first, if it has to do with the project,” I said, which stopped Sam from leaving.

“Yeah, I guess we better do that, sorry,” Sam said to me. “We have these really close friends of ours, that we met when we were on holidays in New Zealand, they are a couple like us, and they have come over here to holiday with us a couple of times also, and we are regularly in contact with them.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, during our last telephone conversation, Anna and Mary have been struggling to get a cleaning business going in Adelaide, having immigrated over a year ago, so since they are in the business of cleaning, and we are in need of auxiliary staff, they may be a good solution,” Kirsty explained.

I liked their idea, but I waited for a few moments, just to annoy them, pretending that I was thinking about it before I replied. “Ok, give them a call, and arrange for a skype video call for an interview, for 7 pm our time tonight, and I would like a copy of their resume’s at least an hour before the video call, including a copy of a recent Australian national police clearance, and also a valid WWC – Working With Children card,” I replied.

“I’m not sure if they have a WWC, but I will let them know one is essential, for this job, thanks for this, it may save them from having to return to NZ,” Sam responded, and she headed out the door to make the call. “Actually, only Anna is from NZ, she is a near-full blood Maori, but Mary is originally from Adelaide,” Kirsty explained, as she continued with the washing up. A few minutes later, Sam returned, and she had some papers in hand.

“They have sent me their resume’s, along with a copy of their NZ Children Vetting Cards, and a copy of their Australian Police Clearances, if they get the job, they are happy to apply for a WWC for this state,” Sam announced, as she placed the papers on the bench. “Good, thanks for that, and I wasn’t expecting such a fast response, what did you tell them about the job?” I replied.

“I said it is an NGO – Non-Government Agency that works with homeless young people, to assist them to get permanent accommodation and back to school or in jobs, I kept it fairly broad, as I guessed that you would fill them in with all the details later tonight,” Sam answered. “Yes, that is right, thanks for that, now let’s get this lot cleaned up, and I think we may invest in a dishwasher or two, to make life a little easier for us,” I said.

For the rest of the afternoon, I was busy with making sure everything is ready, plus having a telephone conference with Mr Grantley, to update him and the Trustees on what has been happening at the project lately, and what the future plans are, including employing two auxiliary staff to assist with the cleaning of the complex.

While Jonah, Carter, Giles and the clients, plus half of the staff, were all in the open lounge watching a movie after dinner, Sam, Kirsty and I were in my office for the video interview, and it all went well, and I agreed to employ them both and to assist with them some of the travel costs to get them across the country.

Just by chance, Anna and Mary have a month by month lease on their rented apartment, and most of the furniture and white goods are rented, so they had very little in the way of belongings with them in Australia, to cart across the country.

At 8 pm, Nathan and Ezekias headed out to collect the next batch of clients, and we expected them to enter the atrium at around 10 pm, once they have all been processed, so after the interview was over and I had gladly employed Anna and Mary, I went to the client lounge to check on my son, Carter and Giles, who were practically falling asleep, so I sent them off to their bedrooms, to shower and get into bed.

After watching the last half an hour of the movie, I headed over to the apartment to check on Jonah, before heading downstairs to my main office, as I had a fair amount of paperwork to deal with, and it would kill some time before the arrival of the new clients, while the current clients headed to their accommodation.

All went well with the new clients being inducted, and as they arrived in the atrium for the first time, I was there to meet them. “Welcome to the Project, my name is Hunter and I am the owner and director of this facility, this is one of two buildings that provide us with all the space to make your stay enjoyable and educational. You will be sharing, with two per room, with a private bathroom, get settled in, and we will see you tomorrow morning at breakfast,” I said, and Ezekias led the way to the stairs.

“Get a look at this place, it is huge, and the director said there are two buildings, I wonder what they need with all that space?” we heard one of the new lads say, as they headed upstairs, and I saw Ezekias turn his back towards me and grin before continuing, “That is pretty much what I said when I first arrived here two weeks ago, some of you guys know me, I was a street kid too, until Hunter and his staff offered me a place to stay here, and I have never regretted that decision for one minute,” I heard Ezekias say, before I headed back to my office nearby.

Half an hour later, Ezekias knocked on my partially open office door, “Come-in mate, did you have any problems?” I said when I saw him there, “Oh man, they are going to be a real handful, I left them for just two minutes, so as to go and check on the others, and when I came back there was a full-on pillow fight in progress,” Ezekias stated looking annoyed, and I had difficulties stopping from laughing.

“Well they are 8 of the apostles, what do you expect, actually disregard that statement, I am just thankful that you and the other three were so easy to get settled in. If you have any problems, don’t hesitate to speak to me or Nathan, and we will help you deal with any issues,” I said to Ezekias.

“Thanks, I think I will be needing it, Toby only hung around for about a minute before he disappeared somewhere, I will be having a few words with him before bedtime,” Ezekias replied, “Fine, but don’t be too harsh with him, he is just learning to be a leader like yourself, he just doesn’t have the skills and experience that you seem to have acquired so quickly,” I said, and with a nod of understanding, he said goodnight and headed out.

After another half an hour of office work, I made my way upstairs to check on everything, and everything seemed to be quiet, so I headed over to the apartment to get some much-needed sleep.

The first three days of having the new group were very trying, and I wondered if we were doing the right thing, as they were almost like wild savages, constantly causing trouble and creating chaos. When I entered the dining room on day three with Toby and Ezekias, the room was loud, and I saw that Jonah, Giles and Carter were not in the room, as I thought about what action to take, but, I was beaten by Toby, who stood on a chair, and let out this very loud ear piercing whistled, that brought the whole room to silence.

“That is much better, now we expect a fairly quiet and respectful time while eating, so if you need to talk to your table-mates, keep it to a loud whisper, anyone who decides to go against my request, will find themselves doing extra cleaning duties, do I make myself clear,” Toby announced, which caught Ezekias and myself quite by surprise, as I spotted the staff on duty peering out of the kitchen with big smiles.

After getting my lunch, I sat at a table with the two leaders. “Well done with handling that Toby, you have made a giant step to becoming a very good leader,” I commented quietly, which made him blush a little. “Yeah, well-done mate, I am impressed, but please warn us, if you are going to whistle like that, man that is a deadly weapon,” Ezekias added, as he gave his friend a light pat on the back.

The rest of the staff on duty voiced their congratulations on a job well done, as they passed us to take a seat, and for the first time in three days, I was able to concentrate of enjoying my food without the excessive noise. Nathan informed me, that Jonah Giles and Carter are in the kitchen eating, where it is a lot quieter, and I nodded my head in understanding, as I thought about my sports class at 2 pm this afternoon, which I was not looking forward too.

The rest of the week ran a lot smoother, with Toby and Ezekias taking the lead with managing the new clients during recreation and mealtimes. On Saturday evening, Kirsty and Sam set off in the van, to go and collect our two newest staff members from the airport, while the clients were enjoying an evening of movies in the newly completed cinema theatre.

I had decided that it was best to have the two current and any future leaders in the two larger bedrooms, in the client accommodation area, so they can be close by, in case the clients decided to cause any issues, of which there had only been a few minor ones so far. This would leave the former staff accommodation, available for any future staff, and youth leaders who become staff.

While the youth leaders were supervising the movie night, I called a meeting of all remaining staff, to the open lounge, on the ground floor of the main building. “As most of you know, we had a fire in the neighbouring warehouse across the road, just before our official opening a few weeks ago. Well today, I am able to announce that the project has acquired that building, and it will be added to the project, with a link yet to be decided, between a raised covered walkway, or an underground passageway like the others,” I announced, which brought a lot of surprised looks from all but one staff member, that is Nathan, who joined me earlier in the day for a tour of the building.

When we inspected the building for the first time, we saw that the fire had virtually guttered the inside of the building, but the external walls are all still very solid, and although the roof frames are still in place, there is no roof at the moment, as most of what remains is cluttered on the ground inside.

“What do you think we should use it for?” Nathan had asked me earlier in the day, “On the ground floor, I think just a large recreation park, with plenty of trees, and maybe a water feature or two,” I had replied.

“If you are going to make it into just an open park, maybe with a clear Perspex roof, to allow plenty of sunlight, can I suggest that maybe we add a bit of wildlife as well, that way it will be a nice relaxing retreat for anyone who visits the place,” Nathan had suggested. “I agree with you mate, but I think we will just stick to some birds, maybe you and Brent can come up with some design ideas for us<” I replied.

“Maybe some fruit and nut trees, so as to provide some extra food for the birds,” Nathan said, and I nodded in agreement. After taking a few moments to allow the staff to absorb his news, I continued, “Nathan will coordinate with Brent with a design for the ground floor of the complex, which will be a giant parkland, with plenty of various trees, including some nut and fruit trees, for food for the birds that will be introduced, along with a couple of water features.

There is also a lower level to this building, which is undamaged from the fire, I don’t think the street gang who caused the fire were aware of it, and at the moment, it contains a large room at each end, one small room in the centre, plus an entry foyer, so I will be asking for some suggestions with what we can do with the space, once we have all had a look at it sometime next week.

For now, we will be getting contractors in, to remove the fire rubble, once that is done, we will have some builders in, to brick up all but one entry, and to install a full-length skylight roof of the warehouse, to allow plenty of natural sunlight. Once that is done, we will have some minor electrics installed, before we begin to work on the parkland,” I announced.

For the next fifteen minutes, we discussed possible options for the new areas on the lower level of the third building, before I called the meeting to a close so that the staff on duty can supervise the clients getting ready for bed. With tomorrow being Sunday, I hoped that the recreation activities will help the new clients to settle a bit more, and not create so much chaos in the project, as they had spent nearly the whole weeks putting all the staff to the test one way or the other.

As I was heading for the apartment, Nathan came up to me, “I have a suggestion in regards to the extra space, if my calculations are right, the 3^rd building is a lot shorter and slightly wider than the other two buildings, so I would like to suggest that we move the four tennis courts to the lower level third building, which would free up a lot of space on the ground floor of this building.

I would suggest moving the administration over to where the tennis courts are, which allows more space for a conference room to be included, and this would allow for the open lounge to be a lot bigger,” Nathan said to me.

“You know, we think very much alike, that is pretty much spot on with what I was going to suggest to the staff in a few days time. Any suggestions for the other tennis court area?” I replied smiling. “Not yet, let me sleep on it, and I am sure I will come up with some ideas for that area and the smaller central area in the third building, goodnight,” Nathan responded, before heading off towards the client accommodation area.

With the increase of numbers of clients, this coming week would see some changes made, with two separate classes operating each time, making it a lot busier for all of the staff who are teaching. Thankfully both Greg and Julian have made adjustments to their jobs, taking on less responsibility and going parttime, so as to be available more at the project, with Julian taking over my sports classes, so I now only have three classes a week with English Literature.

By the end of the second week of the second group of clients, big difference could be seen with the majority of the clients, and with smaller class numbers, we teachers are able to provide a better education for the clients. Nathan and our two youth leaders, Ezekias and Toby, with the assistance of Kirsty, have now taken on the role of preparations for new clients entering, including spending four evenings, out on the streets talking with the street kids and getting the next group ready to enter the project, with this group consisting of three girls and three boys, with one aged 18 and the others aged 14 to 16 years old.

As the prep team, headed out to collect the six new clients, it was not long before I received an urgent telephone call from them. “Boss we have a situation, we noticed them at the street kitchen gathering a few days ago, but they are back snooping around, a news reporter and a photographer, are asking questions and taking photos,” Ezekias informed me.

“Ok mate, keep the van clear of the clients, and maybe you can slip in try and round up the clients, and move them to a place where the van is waiting, while I get Julian to come over and deal with the media,” I responded, and Ezekias said he would wait till Julian has dealt with them before leading the clients to the van.

As soon as the call was over, I text Julian. “Emergency, need your police assistance, the prep team have come across some media snooping around,” I texted, and I received a reply almost right away. “Ok, on my way, meet you in your office,” and I smiled glad that we had a police officer able to assist us.

After a brief discussion, Julian set off to the Entry building, where his private vehicle is parked at the back of the building, along with the other three staff vehicles, and I texted Ezekias to let him know that Julian is on his way, and I decided to go along to in my own vehicle and watch and listen from a distance.

It didn’t take me long to locate Ezekias and keeping away from street lights, I moved closer, so I could watch and listen, as I say him gathered with a group of male and female street kids. “Zeek, what is going on here?” I heard Julian ask when he arrived, “Hi officer Julian, these media people are hassling the younger street kids, and I am trying to get them to leave us alone,” I heard Ezekias said to Julian, in a rehearsed way, that sounded genuine.

“I am Detective Julian Brand, do you have any reason to be harassing underaged street kids?” Julian asked the two members of the media, as he presented his police ID. “We just wanted to ask some questions, regarding a story we are following about the sudden drop in the number of street kids in the area in the past month,” the reporter replied.

“I see, and because they are street kids, does that give you the right to question and possibly photograph these underage kids without adult permission?” Julian asked, “Well, we thought because they are street kids that we would not need to ask for permission,” the photographer replied.

“I want to see your camera and any notes you have taken this evening?” Julian asked, “But we just…” Give them to me now,” Julian ordered in a booming voice, interrupting the reporter, and reluctantly they handed over the notebook and camera, with the camera handed over to Ezekias, who began to search and delete any photos taken that evening.

Meanwhile Julian looked at the notebook with notes written in shorthand, which was not a problem for Julian as he understood it, and he ripped out six pages of notes from the notebook, before handing it back, as Ezekias returned the camera.

“Identification please?” Julian asked, and the photographer and reported handed over their driver’s licences, which Julian made a note of in his notebook before handing them back. I will be referring this to my superiors to see if any charges will be laid, but for now I am issuing you with a verbal warning to stay away from underage street kids, and verbal move on notice, to stay away from this area for 48 hours, do you understand what I have said? Good, then you can go now,” Julian said.

Once the media had left the area, I stepped out of my hiding place, which the media passed when leaving, and I walked towards Ezekias and the group of street kids, as the van arrived. “Guys, this is Hunter, he is the Director of the place that we have been telling about, and with his assistance, we were able to get rid of the media for you.

Officer Julian is also a staff member of the project, so you have no worries about him, and these others arriving are Nathan who is the deputy director, plus Kirsty is a paramedic and also a staff member of the project, and finally Toby who like me, is a youth leader at the project,” Ezekias explained to the six teenagers gathered. Once the introductions were done, Nathan joined me to head back to the Project, as did Julian in his vehicle, leaving Kirsty, Ezekias and Toby to bring the new clients in.