The Summer Job - 54. Richard

The bathroom door opened, and Phillip saw Richard standing behind him in the mirror.

He was still composing himself when Richard said, “We call him Pops. That is what he is to us. Pops taught me that sometimes you have to act and, given what I know you’ve heard, I can’t blame you.”

Richard walked over, leaned against the counter and said, “Don’t insult my intelligence by denying it. I think your reaction just now speaks volumes. Just don’t let any of the Lost Boys ever know. They’ll stab you.”

Phillip asked, “You won’t?”

“A few years ago, I might have. I’ve grown up. Another one of Pop’s lessons was in a crisis, it’s better to think than get emotional. I need you thinking Phillip. We know the cops are coming. That’s a given. We need to suck that up and move on. We need a plan for the aftermath.”

Phillip was deeply shaken. “I should have known better. I’ve seen numerous things this summer I thought were bad news turn out to be innocent.”

Richard chuckled and said, “I spent a lot of time at the Y during summers. I know what happens on the second floor. If that bathroom could talk, anything it said would be pornographic. It would have been ten times worse if the Lost Boys had been there. One of Farmer’s edicts was the Y was off limits and a safe haven for the Gentleman’s Club kids.”

Phillip chuckled and said, “Randy Carlson pointed them out to me this afternoon at Center Park. They are a good-looking bunch. It would be nice if they were housebroken.”

“Yeah, no shit”, Richard smirked. “I like Cade a lot and Doug’s not bad once you get to know him unless you get between him and Pops. Look, isn’t your Dad a lawyer?”

Phillip said, “I’m still in shock over what I heard and my brain had to reboot. Dad is a lawyer, but not the kind that they need. I can call him and get his advice.”

Richard nodded and said, “Good. That’s a start. I can see why those kids come to you for answers. You are a natural leader.”

Phillip blushed at Richard’s praise. The older boy was quite good-looking. There had to be some Mediterranean in his ancestry to give him his dark eyes and olive skin.

When Phillip didn’t respond immediately, Richard asked, “Who do you go to for answers?”

Phillip said, “My Dad mostly, and I’ve got some good friends. I hope I’ve made a few new ones.”

Richard grinned and said, “You figure out a way to keep my bros out of a shitty group home or some private youth jail, and you’ll have made many new friends. Now, get your shit together. We’re about to eat some pizza and gossip about cute boys.”

“Gossip started this whole mess”, Phillip responded. “We need some facts. I think I know just where to find them.”

Richard asked, “What are you thinking?”

Phillip grinned and said, “Who do we know that had recent experience with CPS?”

Richard snapped his fingers and said, “Seth and David! Good catch Phillip. Your brain seems to have rebooted and is up and running.”

Richard and Phillip returned to the table to find the other boys were still engaged with the video games. Their pizza had not yet arrived, so they sat down and talked about their high school. It was a big affair with well over two thousand students from the town and outlying suburbs. It, too, had its cliques and drama, but it seemed nowhere near the toxic atmosphere that existed at Grayson.

Michelle the server arrived with Phillip’s pizza and told Richard his was coming right up. Seth and Karl soon arrived and Carlos and David came about the same time as Michelle brought Richard’s pizza.

The poor pizzas were over matched.

After he had devoured a slice, Phillip quietly asked Seth, “Could you tell me about your experience with CPS?”

Seth looked annoyed and said, “I gave them one star on Yelp: definitely would not recommend.”

Richard asked, “What was the problem?”

Seth said, “Really? You guys are asking me about that now? OK, when our parents got arrested, the cops handed us over to CPS. CPS sent us to some joke of an adolescent treatment center in Georgia called Camp Prodigal.”

Phillip asked, “What was it like?”

David said, “It was lame. It was like Sunday school seven days a week.”

Seth said, “They were nice enough and probably believed in what they were babbling about, but it was clear to anyone with a double-digit IQ they didn’t know what they were doing. We were there for three weeks. Grandma was absolutely furious. They didn’t even talk to her about it. She got a lawyer who got a court order for us to be released into her custody.”

Phillip smiled and said, “I’ll bet Wanda was spitting fire.”

David said, “She sued them. They weren’t supposed to send us there. We had a blood relative and they knew it. We told them. The County wrote Grandma a nice settlement check. You’ve seen what she drives.”

Phillip remembered the nice, shiny Chevy Tahoe she was driving when she dropped off Seth and David. He asked, “You don’t happen to remember the lawyer’s name do you?”

David said, “It would be hard for us to forget Uncle Wally.”

Richard smiled at the by-play and said in a terrible English accent, “I believe the game is afoot Mr. Wright.”

They finished their pizzas and Richard, Karl and Carlos followed Phillip home with his five large carry out pizzas. As the boys chowed down, Richard and Phillip went into his study and began by calling Phillip’s father.

Phillip Wright senior was a little taken aback to be getting questions about criminal defense at one in the morning in London, but it was Friday night. His advice was to connect the kids with a good criminal defense attorney and named a few names. Phillip took them down and asked if his father had ever heard of Wally Garner.

Big Phil said, “Yeah. He’s a good guy. His specialty is child custody, so he’s probably not the guy they’re going to need.”

Phillip junior said, “I think I know what’s going on. Have you ever heard of Judges and CPS people getting kickbacks for sending kids to private jails and treatment centers?”

Big Phil was silent for a moment and said, “Yes I have. There was a big case in Pennsylvania a few years ago where a judge got nailed for it.”

Phillip said, “This is my theory: the local CPS is run by a lady who very jealously guards her turf. I think she’s got an arrangement with a private facility and sends kids there when it’s her call and advises they be sent there when she is consulted. This is just a theory at this point.”

Big Phil asked, “Tell me why you think so.”

Phillip told his father about Seth and David’s case, and how Sturgis had gone nuclear when Principle Farmer went around her when Richard was adopted.

Big Phil said, “Nothing is wrong with your nose. I smell a rat too. What time is it there?”

“A little after eight.”

Big Phil said, “Good. I’ve got a few calls to make. Keep your phone handy.”

When Phillip hung up, Richard said, “I’m feeling a little better about this.”

“We’re nowhere near out of the woods with this Richard. Legal stuff is always a marathon and never a sprint.”

Richard nodded and said, “I noticed Cole was here?”

Phillip nodded.

“I’ve got stuff to do. Keep him, Karl and Carlos here. If they should wander towards Pop’s house tonight, they’ll be right in the middle of it.”

“I can’t exactly hold them, but I will advise strongly.”

Richard leaned over and kissed Phillip on the cheek, smiled and said, “For luck. Maybe when this is over, you’ll let me take you out.”

Phillip watched the way Richard moved on his way out and thought maybe I will.

Richard got in his Camaro and pulled out his cell. He redialed the number Pops had originally called him on.

Farmer answered, “Richard. How did it go?”

“Phillip is everything we thought he is and more. He’s smart and the kids love him. Seth told Karl Phillip got a big check Friday and is outfitting the Barracudas with new kit and cellphones. He figured out Sturgis’s game in nothing flat.”

Farmer chuckled and said, “It took me six months to figure her out. Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat defending her rice bowl. What about the Lost Boys?”

“Phillip called his Dad in London”, Richard replied. “He’s the wrong kind of lawyer to help, but he’s making some calls. Did you know Seth and David’s Granny crossed swords with Sturgis over their custody? Apparently, one of her sons is a lawyer and got her a fat settlement check out of CPS for sending them to Camp Prodigal a couple of summers ago.”

“Now that really is interesting. Come on by. I’ve got some papers I need for you to deliver for me.”

“You know they’ll be watching. I’ll probably get pulled over”, Richard said as he fired up his Camaro.”

“Let them. This is stuff going to my lawyer and your Dad. If they pull you over, show it to them. Explain they are going to a lawyer. If they do more than just look, they’ll blow their case.”

Deputy Harris, manning the drone control station in the park, keyed his mike and said, “I’ve got one incoming. It’s a dark-colored old model Camaro. He’s pulled right into the driveway.”

Murray at the Tactical Operations Center, or TOC, picked up a mike and replied, “What is he doing?”

Harris said, “The new arrival appears to be a teenager. Farmer is meeting him in the yard with two of those reusable grocery bags. He’s having a chat, put the bags in his car and is departing.”

Deputy Gaddis said, “We need to stop him. He might be a mule.”

Murray switched frequencies and called, “Delta Mike to traffic. I need an old model blue Camaro stopped for a possible one-one-three-five-oh. He’ll be headed onto Nash shortly.”

A voice responded, “Delta Mike, this is One-Lima-19. I’m a street over. Responding. Request backup and a dog, over?”

Gaddis called his troops, “Sierra-Delta-November, please respond a K9 to Nash.”

“Roger.”

Richard saw the blue lights out of his rearview and pulled over. He released his seatbelt, pulled out his wallet and had his driver’s license and insurance card in his left hand and his right on the steering wheel when the patrol officer approached his open window.

The officer chuckled and said, “It looks like you know the drill.”

“I watched a video on YouTube about what to do. Just to make sure there are no misunderstandings”, Richard responded handing over his license and insurance card.

“We appreciate that...”, the officer responded reading his license. “Mr. Van Houten, would you mind telling me what you are doing out tonight?”

Richard said, “I’m running errands for a friend. I’ve got papers going to an after-hours notary, and then they are going to a lawyer.”

The officer said, “We’ll clear this up in just a minute. Hold tight.”

The officer got back in his car and radioed, “One-Lima-19 to Delta Mike: the subject is Richard Van Houten, 17. He’s from an address on Linwood. He says he’s carrying legal papers.”

Murray responded, “Let him go. If he is on the level, and we shake him, it could blow our bust.”