Sanctuary from Harm - 14. Sanc Chapter 14

Once the newest clients had been inducted and settled into their rooms, I called for a staff meeting in the open lounge, so as to discuss what had happened this evening, and to come up with some plans to deal with this situation in the future. Eventually, it was decided that we would all think about it and discuss it some more in a few days’ time.

Now with a total of eighteen clients staying in the project, we will be even busier, and there will now be two distinct classes, split on ages, with 14 and 15 year-olds in the junior class and 16 and 17 year-olds in the senior class, while the older clients participate in just the sports and recreation activities.

With Julian and Greg having a night out and staying overnight at a hotel, they returned to the project on Monday morning, not looking too happy, which I picked up right away. “What’s the problem guys?” I asked as they approached the table where Nathan and I are sitting for breakfast and joined us.

“We have a bit of a media problem,” Julian said quietly, as Greg produced a newspaper and placed it in front of me. “Police conspiracy regarding missing street Kids” was the headlines. “Damn, I wish they would mind their own business,” I commented just as my phone rang, and I looked at the screen. “I have to take this in the office,” I said before dashing out of the dining room. “Hello, Hunter speaking,” I said into my phone just as I left the room.

“Yes sir, Julian and Greg have just brought it to my attention, but I have only just seen the headlines when you rang,” I said as Mr Grantley stated that he had just read this morning’s paper and asked if I had too. “We had a little run-in with the media last night, at the time that we were collecting the next set of clients, I watched and listened while Ezekias and Julian dealt with the media in a proper way, and both Nathan and Kylie were there also,” I explained, when asked what had happened.

I was informed that Mr Grantley, our Board of Trustees chairman was on his way over for a full briefing, and he ended the call before I could say any more, so I headed back to the dining room and ignoring my abandoned breakfast, I asked Julian, Ezekias, Kylie and Nathan to join me right away, before walking out again.

Once in the staff lounge, I informed the group gathered that the Board of Trustees Chairman has also seen this morning’s newspaper and that he is on his way over, and I asked that we all gather in the conference room at the house in fifteen minutes to give Mr Grantley a briefing of what happened last night.

While the others went to finish their breakfast, I headed over to the house, to greet Mr Grantley when he arrives and let him inside, and while waiting, I finished reading the news article. “While investigating the recent allegations of the sudden reduced number of street kids roaming the streets in the past month, we were confronted by an older teen street kid, known as Zeek, who seemed to have connections, as Police Detective Julian Brand soon made an appearance, and warned us off from writing a story or taking photographs of the street kids.

When we asked some of the local NGO’s that work with street kids if they have anything to say, all we received was a clear ‘No Comment’, we will continue to investigate and ask questions about this situation,” the story read.

“Damn media,” I commented to myself, as I heard a vehicle arrive and so I pressed the remote button for the garage door and stood to meet the chairman, just as Julian appeared. “I have been summoned to headquarters, I will talk to you when I get back,” Julian said to me as he walked outside and around the back of the building to where his vehicle is parked.

“Where is he off to in such a hurry?” Mr Grantley asked as he approached, “He has been summoned to headquarters, probably for the same reason as you are here,” I replied, as I lead the way inside and pressed the button to close the garage door, before leading the way to the main meeting room in this building.

A few minutes later once everyone had arrived, I asked Ezekias to give the chairman a detailed description of what happened last night from his point of view. When he had finished, I informed Mr Grantley that I had met with all the staff last night, and informed them of the situation and advised them all to be extra vigilant, when heading towards the project from either work or social gatherings, to ensure that we are not being followed.

After the brief meeting, Mr Grantley asked for a short tour to see the latest changes to the facility, with the new staff living quarters, and the new cinema/lecture hall. When the other staff headed off to get to work in the project, I led the Chairman to my office, for a few more discussions.

“Any thoughts on what to do with the newest building?” Mr Grantley asked me, “Yes sir, we have discussed it with the other staff, and Nathan and I are in favour of making the ground floor into a large parkland, while downstairs, have the tennis relocated to there, and adding one more basketball court.

Where the tennis courts are now, we would relocate the administration to one of those areas, which would mean a bit more space and allow for the inclusion of a conference room, and where the admin is now, would become an expanded open lounge area for the staff and clients.

In regards to the other side, we have not come up with an idea for that space, but in regards to the house at the front, I would like to recommend that we demolish the front two-thirds of the building, so we are just left with the kitchen, laundry and dining room.

Once the demolition is done, we will build a full width entry hallway, which will link the back section to the house, with three extra-large double garages at the front, which will securely accommodate four of the staff vehicles, plus the project van and my vehicle, while the dining room will become a second conference room, and part of the laundry will become a bathroom,” I replied.

“Well you have been very busy with planning, that is good to see, put it all down on paper and email it to me, so I can pass it onto the other trustees, thank you for the tour and the briefing about last night, I guess we will just have to try and avoid the media as best as possible, for now,” Mr Grantley stated, before leaving.

About an hour after the chairman left, Julian returned and he came straight to my office. “So, what is the verdict? Did you get into deep shit about last night?” I asked as Julian entered closing the door and sitting down. “They were not happy about it at all, even though I was following all the rules, but when they wanted to know more about the reason for protecting the street kids, I clamped up, which made the Deputy Commissioner furious, so I just tendered my resignation and walked out,” Julian stated, which caught me by surprise.

“Oh, is that really necessary? You could be of more help being still in the police force than being out of it?” I responded, “Yes try, but to tell you the truth, Greg and I have been very happy since we started working here, we both love the work, and the less amount of stress, not that I am saying that it isn’t stressful looking after teenagers, it’s just we are both very happy here,” Julian said.

“I understand, and thank you for your commitment to the project, it is very much appreciated. Does Greg know about you resigning?” I replied, “Yes, I texted him as soon as I was out of Police Headquarters,” Julian answered, “Very well then, thanks for the update and the chairman of the Board is supportive of your actions yesterday, and agreed that we just have to keep our distance from the media from now on,” I informed Julian.

For the next two weeks, we kept a fairly low profile out of the project, leaving only in the evening after dark, to either do food shopping or getting supplies for the building projects happening within the complex.

We decided to bring forward the arrival of the next batch of clients by two days, to Friday evening, in case the media had worked out our routine, with the last group of clients now fairly tame compared to when they first arrived, and they had settled in well to the programme.

This new group would be the last for a while, as we are approaching full capacity, with the last group three of each sex, this group would have just one boy and five girls, to start and even out the numbers a little, which put a little bit more of a workload on the four female staff, who have to supervise the young ladies, and make sure that hormones don’t lead to inappropriate behaviour amongst the clients.

It has now been over six weeks since the project started taking in homeless young people, and so far everything was going fairly smoothly, until breakfast time on the first day of the newest group of clients, and I was walking with Toby and Ezekias as we entered the dining room, and Toby stopped mid-stride, shortly after entering the room.

When I noticed Toby missing, I too stopped and looked behind, and saw Toby’s face ghost-white as he stared at one of the newest clients. I dashed towards him as he began to sway, and I managed to catch him before he fainted. “Quick, go and find, Samantha and Kirsty, and bring them to my office” I said to Ezekias, who was soon at my side, and he dashed off, as I picked up Toby and walked out of the room and towards my office, where I have a lounge suite that he can lay on.

It wasn’t long before both Sam and Kirsty arrived, and asked me what happened, and I let them know that Toby was walking with us then stopped and looked at one of the new clients before fainting, luckily I managed to catch him before he hit the floor,” I answered.

A few minutes later, Toby finally woke up, and I knelt down beside him, “Hey buddy, you went all white and fainted, can you tell me what caused this to happen please,” I asked in a soft voice, and Toby shook his head no and looked away from me. “Come on dear, we need to know what caused you to faint?” Kirsty asked, and we received silence.

Not realising that he had left the room, Ezekias raced back inside and came to a stop. “I know what the problem is. Toby is that Jacob that I see in the group of new clients?” Ezekias asked, and Toby softly nodded his head, yes. “Oh, this is not good, I will be back in a moment, I need to get Nathan and Julian in on this,” Ezekias said before dashing out of the room again, leaving us remaining wondering what the hell is going on.

I was feeling a bit frustrated by the time Ezekias arrived back with Nathan, Julian and Greg. “Will you please tell me what the hell is going on?” I demanded. “Sorry for the confusion, Jacob one of the new clients, is or was Toby’s boyfriend. The split up when Jacob joined the Beats Street Gang, which is the same gang responsible for the warehouse fire across the road,” Ezekias announced, and we could now hear Toby sobbing, so Kirsty and Sam comforted him.

“Was he directly involved with causing the fire?” Julian asked, “Toby and I have discussed that question a few times, and yes we think he was involved,” Ezekias replied. “Great trust it to happen after I left,” Julian grumbled, and only Greg and I know what he meant by that statement.

“For those who don’t know, I resigned from the police force earlier today, but my partner here is still involved in that case, so he can still take official action,” Julian announced.

“Shit, sorry I didn’t research their backgrounds as well, I guess I have been preoccupied with everything else happening,” Nathan said, “I too missed it, if I had taken more notice of his name, I would have made the connection,” Ezekias added. “Right, let's stop the blame game shall we, we are all a team here, so let’s just face the problem that we have now.

Ezekias, can you go back out to the dining room, and see if you can spot any other members of the gang amongst the new group, while I check on the background history, to see if there are any others. Ladies, can you take Toby back to his room, and get him settled there, he is excused from any activities today,” I stated.

A few minutes later, Julian and Greg brought a 16-year-old lad into my office, and what surprised me was that he was handcuffed. “Jacob, my name is Hunter, I am the director of this facility, it has been brought to my attention, that you are or were a member of the Beats Street Gang, which was responsible for the burning down of a warehouse in a neighbouring suburb from here.

Julian here is a retired Arson Police detective, and Greg is an Arson Investigator with the Fire Service, with information that they had gathered a few nights after the fire and what we have learnt today, you will be taken to Police Headquarters to be questioned and possibly charged with arson,” I announced to the boy, who looked visibly shocked at what was happening to him.

“Please sir, I was there but it was all an accident, we only wanted to stay warm, and one of the older boys in the group threw a small can of petrol into the fire, which is when it got out of control and we fled,” the boy said, as he started to sob. “Ok, now listen carefully Jacob, did Julian or Greg read you your legal rights?” I asked, and the boy nodded his head yes.

“Do you understand those rights?” I asked, and once again he nodded his head yes, “Ok, don’t say any more unless I tell you, do you understand?” I said to the boy, and he nodded his head once more. “Right, now since you have resigned from the police force, I suggest that Greg takes him into the police, and you remain here,” I said to Julian who agreed with my suggestion.

“Jacob, I will be coming with you as your In Loco Parentis, that is Latin and legal term for in place of a parent,” I announced.

Taking my vehicle with Jacob and Greg in the back seat, I headed straight to Police Headquarters, and when Greg’s phone beeped, he smiled. “Julian has contacted his former superior, to let them know that we are bringing in a suspect for the warehouse fire and that you are the boy’s guardian,” Greg informed me, and I nodded my head in understanding.

Presenting my Psychology Licence ID card, I was accepted as a responsible adult to accompany the boy for the interview, and a few minutes later, we were in a 4^th-floor interview room. Three long hours later, Jacob was released on bail to appear before a Magistrate tomorrow morning at 10 am, to face a charge of Accessory to Arson.

Greg had left earlier to return to the project, so I drove us back to the project, and I noticed that Jacob had fallen asleep on the way back, and only woke up after we were in the garage and the door was already mostly closed, so he had no idea where the project is located.

Inside in the lounge room, I asked Jacob to take a sit so we could talk. There were a few issues that we needed to discuss, once of them being Toby, who I explained is a youth leader in the project, and I asked if there were any problems that may arise if he was to remain at the project if the courts do not impose an imprisonment sentence.

Jacob informed me that the relationship ended when he joined the street gang, which Toby wanted nothing to do with, and that he has no ill feelings towards Toby for his decision. I informed Jacob that I would try my best to keep Toby away until the court hearing is over and that I would be with him at court in the morning.

I text Nathan to ask him to come over to the house to collect Jacob and take him to lunch, and to ask Toby to meet me at my office in ten minutes time. When I arrived at my office, Toby was already at my door waiting for me, so I let him in and sat down on the lounge.

“I shouldn’t tell you this, but Jacob had been charged with accessory to arson, and will appear before a magistrate in the children’s court tomorrow morning until then he will be staying here as was planned. Should he not be sentenced to detention, would you be ok for him to continue staying here, or would you prefer that I find temporary housing for him elsewhere?” I asked Toby.

“I would prefer that he is not here at all, and if he is to continue staying here, then I will be leaving,” Toby replied with an angry tone, which surprised me a little. I thought you would be more understanding than that, obviously, there is a lot more to this story than what I have been told so far,” I responded.

“He… his so-called gang members, wanted him to bash me up for being gay when they cornered me on a street one evening. He… called me some awful names, and I can never forgive him for that,” Toby informed me. “I see, I am sorry that you had to go through all of that, and I do not want you to leave here, as you are a valuable member of the project team. I will get to work right away to have him placed in foster care as soon as possible.

He is having lunch at the moment, so all I can suggest is that stay away from him as best as you can, and I will have him accommodated in another area of the complex until then, that is all, for now, thanks buddy,” I said to Toby, feeling horrible now that I knew a bit more of what really happened.

I headed over to the dining room to have some lunch, having missed breakfast this morning, I was quite hungry, and after collecting a full plate, I sat down with Nathan and Sam. “Guys we have a bit of a problem, that I can’t really go into right now, but it is in regards to Toby and the new guy Jacob.

As you know, Jacob was in the street gang, and there is a lot more to the story that we were first to lead to know, and it is my decision that we isolate Jacob from the rest until his legal situation is sorted tomorrow, and if he is released into our care, I will arrange for emergency foster care placement right away, as they can not be in the same building together.

Nathan, can you arrange a roster to supervise Jacob while he is here, we will put him in the old staff quarters, that way he has plenty of room to move about instead of been stuck in one small bedroom. He can move about the gardens on the second floor when classes are on, so he can get some exercise, and we will arrange for the rest of his meals to be served in the lounge room of the staff quarters,” I announced quietly to them so no one on another table could overhear us.

“That is not a problem, he seems to get along with some of the guys from the previous intake of clients, it is a shame that he has to be isolated this way,” Samantha stated, after looking over her shoulder towards where Jacob was sitting. I saw Toby pop his head out of the kitchen for a moment before he disappeared out of sight again.

“Yes, it is, but Toby is more of an asset to us than having Jacob staying here, so that is my decision, Jacob is to go, as soon as it is arranged, that is if the courts release him tomorrow morning,” I said before starting to eat.

Once I had eaten, I put my plate and cutlery in the kitchen and let Toby know that Jacob would be remaining in the former staff quarters for the remainder of his stay today and tonight and that I would be arranging for emergency foster care if he isn’t sent to detention.

Toby seemed relieved with this news and gave a small smile, and I gave him a sideways hug before heading out of the kitchen and walked up to the table where Jacob was sitting. “With me please Jacob,” I said before heading for the door, where I waited for Jacob to catch up, and I led the way upstairs to his assigned room.

“I have been given some more information in regards to your behaviour while in the street gang, which I do not approve of. I will be with you in court tomorrow as I have promised, but for the rest of your stay today and tonight, you will be staying in a sperate area on the second floor, with staff supervision,” I informed Jacob, who dropped his head, then nodded in understanding.