The Summer Job - 37. Grayson Middle and a New Challenge

After Stevie departed, Mikie and Randy returned. Randy was particularly bouncy and asked, “What’s the story with our card players’ boss?”

Phillip said, “You were there. It was just horny kids having fun. Skyler even invited me to join their game.”

Mikie asked, “We know you talked to them. Come on, dish.”

“I know the one you’re most interested in is Stevie, and I think I know what has turned him from a sweet kid into a red-headed porcupine. You guys went to Grayson Middle. You couldn’t have missed the bullying.”

Randy said, “Shit. I should have figured that.”

Phillip asked, “What was your experience like last year?”

Mikie shook his head and said, “I preferred not to be one of the monkeys in that circus. I just kept my head down and stayed out of it.”

“I did too”, Randy added. “Grayson has a really mean vibe. Almost everybody knew to STFU and stay out of the way, or learned the hard way.”

Phillip asked, “What is the deal with that place? It sounds like a hellhole.”

Mikie and Randy exchanged nervous glances. Mikie said, “You’re going to get into this, aren’t you?”

“You know he will”, Randy replied with a grin.

Phillip said, “Whatever was going on tormented Seth and David, the Curtis twins, Stevie and who knows how many other kids. I assume whoever it was is probably headed to our high school, and we’ll butt heads this fall for sure. You two know me. If someone is a jerk to me, I back off and let him be a jerk. If he’s pushing my boys around, I’ll push back.”

Mikie said, “It could... No, that’s wrong. It will get ugly. I’ve only got rumors and gossip, but the whole situation reeks.”

Phillip asked with some exasperation, “It’s a middle school. How bad could it be?”

For the next fifteen minutes, Mikie and Randy told Phillip what they knew, what was rumored and what was suspected. Phillip was stunned: although nothing was obvious, it stank to high heaven.

Randy asked, “What are you going to do?”

Phillip said, “I’m going to have to think about this. You’re right. It looks ugly, and it smells worse. How sure of this are you, Mikie?”

Mikie shrugged and said, “Like I said: I told you what I know, what’s rumored and what we suspect. We’ve seen how rumors get twisted but, there’s too many, and they’re too consistent for it to just be smoke. It would explain a lot of what we saw last year that was inexplicable at the time.”

Phillip stood up and paced. “Tomorrow I’m going to take some kids to see Rodney Jefferson, and I’ll have the Mayor’s ear. I can probably get her interested in looking into it. I wish I had a solid lead to give her.”

Randy said, “Maybe we do. Mikie, do you remember Coach Hardin?”

Mikie snapped his fingers and said, “Yeah, I do. We liked him because he was fair and wouldn’t let Vice Principle Chuckle’s favorites run all over us. Hardin resigned last fall around Thanksgiving. No one knew why, but, he had been butting heads with Chuckles since before I was a sixth grader.”

Randy added, “That is Vice Principle Chuck Farmer, and he has to be up to his fat ass in it.”

“Let’s keep this just between us for now”, Phillip said. “We don't need rumors anyone is interested in this bucket of snakes.”

Just as soon as Mikie and Randy agreed to keep their suspicions quiet, Casey entered the office.

He sat down on the couch and said, “I think I’m going to need to sit in the whirlpool a while. Kelly and I got everything on the list moved to the second locker room, and Campbell needs you in his office.”

Phillip said, “It’s probably ready. You can give it a spin. I put a stack of towels in there before we had to deal with the card sharps. I’ll go see what the boss needs.”

Phillip had never seen the office so busy. It wasn’t exactly a mad house, but add a few more people, and it would be getting there. As soon as Phillip entered, Mr. Cassidy led him through the crowd and into the back offices.

He stopped at a desk with three fat files, pointed at them smiling and said, “You’ve got mail”.

Phillip looked at them and said, “Me?”

“Apparently, you’ve got fans. This is just the stuff that showed up over-night. Now, look at this.”

Cassidy opened a file folder full of checks bound by paper clips and said, “We’ve had seventeen hundred dollars in donations and counting, sixty more kids signed up for the day camper program, and I’ve had telephone requests for hundreds of forms. You are a rock star, my friend.”

Phillip looked overwhelmed and said, “I... didn’t mean to.”

Cassidy shook his head and smiled at Phillip like one of his Middle Schoolers who had said something cute.

Campbell entered from the back of the office and said, “That’s what makes you special, Phillip. We know you didn’t mean to land in the limelight. When you did, you made us all look good. I’ve had calls from our national headquarters in Chicago. They love this kind of thing. Come on in my office and have a seat. We’ve got some business to take care of.”

Phillip followed Mr. Campbell into his office and was surprised to find Coach Hanson and the Curtis twins.

Mr. Campbell said, “Coach, you have the floor.”

Coach Hanson was a very fit, handsome man in his thirties that had been on the US Olympic team back in his late teens and early twenties. He had won several medals in different events.

He turned to face Phillip and said, “I have a medical issue that has come up and, I’m going to be unable to continue to Coach the Barracudas for at least six to eight weeks. I’ve talked to the team Captains and the boys, and they all want you.”

Phillip asked, “If I’m coaching them, can I change the practice start time from eight to nine? That’ll give me a chance to get here and get started before practice without having to wake up at stupid o’clock.”

Coach Hanson grinned and looked to Mr. Campbell, who said, “I don’t see why not.”

Hanson said, “Eight to ten was because I teach classes at the Community College in the afternoon, so our practice schedule isn’t set in stone.”

Phillip plowed ahead and said, “There’s another issue the kids asked about. They hate Speedo and several of them are asking about switching to Jammers. Teens feel exposed in Speedo, and seem to like Jammers better.”

Bobby Curtis said, “Yes!” and pumped his fist.

Hanson shrugged and said, “I don’t really have a preference. I just don’t want to force them to have to buy another fifty bucks worth of swimwear.”

Ronny Curtis said, “I’ll cut some yards or something. Anything to get out of those...”

Hanson stifled a laugh and said, “I know. I know. We called them ‘nut slingshots’ before you guys did. If Phillip can talk the parents into it, I’m OK with it.”

Phillip asked, “I know we have Summer Heat coming up in July. What about travel?”

Campbell said, “If they make it to regionals, they’re in Atlanta and nationals are in Dallas this year. Those are in late July, early August.”

Phillip said, “I’m in. I was planning on trying out for the high school team...”

Hanson said, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll get it cleared with Coach Forrester. He’s about to graduate a strong senior class, and he’ll need you and Mikie next summer.”

Campbell said, “If there’s nothing further Phillip, Cassidy has got checks for you, Mikie and Randy. Thanks for helping us out with this.”

Hanson stood, shook Phillip’s hand and said, “Thanks. The kids like you, and I’m sure they’ll give you their best.”

Phillip said, “You’re welcome. I like what I saw out of them this morning.”

Phillip took an armload of correspondence and the checks back upstairs to his office and sat down to go through it. There were about sixty-five of them— all emails that had been printed out. Most were essentially fan mail from parents, girls and even a few boys.

A few picked up on the bullying Grandma Wanda had mentioned, and fussed about Grayson Middle. There was one rambling epistle about Jews, the Trilateral Commission and “the New World Order”. That one went in the round file, thank you very much. Yikes. Phillip rather hoped that crazy had an FBI file somewhere.

He put them in piles and resolved to come up with a form email to answer them, and try to customize each one when he had time.

When he opened the big vanilla clasped envelopes, he found envelopes with Mikie and Randy’s name on them, and two with his name on them. When he opened the first one, it was his check with a two fifty an hour raise from what it was the week before.

The second one was a check for thirty-five hundred dollars paper-clipped to a handwritten note:

Phillip:

Words alone can’t adequately express my gratitude for your assistance with Rodney’s difficulty. The city council has voted a resolution of thanks for the work you are doing and has empowered me to release this honorarium. A signed certificate will arrive in the mail early next week.

-Martha Jefferson

His first instinct was to return the check, but it had a purpose. Now he knew where the Barracudas cobalt blue Arena Jammers for competition and Speedo drag suits for practice were coming from.