A Child's Haven - 20. Chapter 20

I left the building and walked the stairs to the roof of the main building. The roof was in fair shape, it’ll need to be recoated before winter, but it wasn’t bad all in all. You could feel the sun shining down on you, and it felt nice. Maybe I should put lounge chairs here where we could sunbathe. Then a breeze blew across the roof and felt nice. It was enough to make you forget you were in the hot sun. Sometimes, your mind is wandering, and you don’t understand where ideas come from. I used an idea from Japan. I wonder if any other ideas can be copied, maybe not Japan but some other country. I looked over the roof onto the parking area when I saw Tony pulling in. It must be lunchtime.

Walking into the dining hall, Jeff comes up to me, “Janine said we could move Amir as soon as you have a bed.” I looked at Tony. He smiled and mouthed the words, ‘on its way.’

I wasn’t really hungry, so I watched the kids line up for lunch. Mario again had the grill going making grilled cheese sandwiches; there was a selection of cheeses, sliced tomatoes, and sliced onions. He had bread from his dad’s pizzeria, which smelled good without the grilled cheese.

Adam had a large pot of soup and a stack of bowls. If a kid wanted soup, all they needed to do was ask.

“Tony, we have 128 kids now. I need to schedule the trip to Lion King. Can we shoot for next Saturday? I can ask dad to help?”

“I’ll try, but if your dad can help, I’m sure between the two of us, we can pull it off.”

“Good, I’ll speak to dad tonight. Mrs. Chester is coming over at 2 to talk to Abe. I want to finalize her contract.”

“I heard you when you made the appointment with Abe. Here’s a contract with a salary. I checked this with Grace, and she said it was in line with the salaries for superintendents.”

“Great and teachers?”

I think Tony is catching on, “Here.”

I just smiled, “You’re a great friend, Tony, and dinner tonight is on me.”

Mrs. Chester and Abe had their meeting. At the end of the meeting, I gave Mrs. Chester two copies of the contract, both signed by me. “Mrs. Chester, this is your contract which includes a salary. If it is acceptable, you need to sign it and return it to me. I look forward to having you onboard. You may take it home to review if you wish.”

“There is no need; it’s a standard contract except your name is where the School Board would be.”

I watched her face as she continued to read. She turned to the last page, which was the salary page and conditions of work. Her eyes got a little larger as she read, looking at me, “This is a legal contract?” I nodded, yes.

“This salary is for a much larger school. It seems too high.”

“It’s correct and was approved by Grace as being fair.” I handed her my pen. She signed my copy.

“Welcome aboard. Your salary starts today. You may enjoy coffee or tea, partake of our meals, and we can find a bed for you if you decide to stay and don’t want to go home. You’ll need to find yourself a secretary.”

I gave the signed contract to Tony; “Job done, my second employee. Now I need to deal with the allowances. I looked over the list of kids by age. And I broke it down. My youngest is eight years old, so I thought I would start at 1.50 per week at eight. At nine, I would add 50 cents and continue doing that until the age of sixteen. At sixteen, I would pay the minimum wage and control the hours to twenty per week. At eighteen, theoretically, they could leave. If they stay, I would give them a job, provided I had a full-time job. I would pay them 1.5 times the minimum wage. What do you think about that?”

“For those staying here, that sounds good. What about those who go to college?”

“If they win a scholarship, then I’ll give them 100 dollars a month, if they have a private donor, then depending on what the donor pays, I’ll make up the difference to equate it to a full scholarship and give them 100 per month.”

“You got a good soul, those kids may start out as street kids, but they are going to be at the head of their class in so many ways. Fill a kid’s head with knowledge and his heart with love; it’s a recipe that cannot go wrong. If you were a girl, I’d married you.”

“If I were a girl, I would’ve accepted.”

The citation was still on my mind, and the lawyer hadn’t called. I was getting a little worried.

“Dad, I haven’t talked to that lawyer yet, and it’s getting close to the court date. What’s up?”

“There may not be a court date.”

“Why? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, it seems that the groups that filed the suit are in jail for child abuse, among other things. Do you remember that child sex ring you busted? Those were the men who filed the suit. It would be best if you thought about filing a countersuit. You’d win.”

“That isn’t a bad idea. The money could be put in a trust fund for the kids. A little ironic that their illegal gain is going to help those that earned it for them. I love the idea. Send the lawyer.”

“I thought you’d see it that way. The papers are ready to be filed. You’ll be suing them for such a high amount they won’t own their underwear.”

“I love it. Dad, one more thing; I promised the kids that I’d take them to see Lion King. Tony is trying to get tickets, but so far hasn’t been too successful. I need 130 tickets for a matinee and the ability to buy more at the box office. I now have 128 kids. Oh, I just thought I’ll need at least 136 to include staff. Can you lend a little help?”

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Now I need to find a nurse, and finding the right one wasn’t going to be easy. Dealing with these kids could be traumatic. Their stories are not easy to maintain a calm composure. At least for me, it isn’t. I’m going to need help along this line as well. In this case, I don’t want a retired nurse; I want one who is up to date in their field. I should check with the local University and contact their nursing school. Thinking about that, I decided that’s what I’m going to do. Hopefully, that’ll be a solution to that problem. Tomorrow we need to pick up Amir and move him into the infirmary.

Tony came over at six for dinner, “I talked to Dad about the tickets. He said he’d do what he could. I also talked to him about the citation. You’ll never guess who initiated it, those men who had those boys locked up. They wanted the boys back and thought if they could close us down, the boys would be back on the street. The case was thrown out, and Dad is filing a countersuit on my behalf. He said he’s sure we’ll win. If we do, any money that we win will go into a trust fund for the boys.”

“That’s good news, you know some of those men were very wealthy. I sincerely believed someone is keeping an eye on you.”

“Well, we’ll see. I’m going to the School of Nursing at the University to see if I can recruit a nurse. Want to come along?”

“Depends when, you know I still have another job.”

“I told dad you were going to quit and come to work for me. He said it was about time you smartened up.”

I think all the blood drained out of his face, “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t, but I wanted to tell him that. What does that job give you that Sanctuary couldn’t?”

“I don’t know. I’ve worked there ever since I got out of school. It’s sort of comfortable for me, I know everyone, I know the systems, and I’m just comfortable there.”

I knew and understood what Tony was saying. I couldn’t ask him to be a part of my crazy world all the time. In a way, I guess the routine of his job helps keep him sane. “I understand, Tony. But if you ever think about jumping into this chaos I call Sanctuary, I’ll have an open position for you.”

“Let’s go to dinner, you’re paying.”

“Ok, where do you want to go? You pick, and I’ll pay.”

“Great, I’ll drive.”