The Boot - Three Years On - 12. Chapter 12

Well, several shocks in this chapter...

I hope that Mr P is the only member of staff who has been abusing boys in the children's homes, and that he isn't part of some larger ring of paedophiles. These rings appeared to have operated almost without any checks for decades up until recently, but they should nowadays find it harder to keep their activities secret...

Great that Becky and Jim have signed the lease for a house. Let's hope it all works out for them.

The Major was right; Ian and Kevin should be able to talk about each others' problems without resorting to shouting at each other. But they're both young, so are probably expected to over-react at times. I'm not sure why the Major himself got so upset, though. Perhaps it was because he, himself, shouted at the pair of them. But I took that to be mainly a result of his military training. Hopefully he can be found, and has calmed down when he is found.

And, fingers crossed that JJ will be found somewhere safe to live...

Whenever people are given control over others, there is the possibility of abuse. It can be relatively minor, as with petty government clerks taking their time to fulfill requests. Or it can be as serious as physical or sexual abuse.

Children are much more vulnerable than adults, but there are plenty of cases of elder abuse (which can include finances), abuse of the physically and/or mentally disabled, and prisoner abuse. Abuse can take the form of supervisors ignoring others who are doing the actual abuse. None of this diminishes the seriousness of the issues or the pain caused to each individual.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Danny was at least somewhat aware of rumors about Graham Peterson. Even if none of the abused boys talked about it, there was bound to be gossip about Peterson. There would have been fear or at least discomfort about being around a pervert like him. This was probably the major reason why JJ ran away from the home.

The worst part about what you say on the subject of abuse is that you are right in every way, it's been going on in many institutions for a long time, too long and probably will continue to so it is important that even a hint of abuse is reported and investigated.

When you read the part about JJ it may not be apparent straight away, but a second read answered your question about JJ's reasons for running. It is highly likely that the rumours do exist, we'll find out in a future chapter.

5 minutes ago, Mancunian said:

When you read the part about JJ it may not be apparent straight away, but a second read answered your question about JJ's reasons for running. It is highly likely that the rumours do exist, we'll find out in a future chapter.

I noticed, but didn’t phrase my Comment clearly enough. It was obvious that Peterson had done similar things to JJ in the past. JJ’s reaction would only have happened if he had be traumatized by things that Peterson had done previously.

I don’t think Danny was aware of JJ’s abuse though, because I think Danny would have raised alarms. I don’t think he would have let JJ deal with it on his own. I’m thinking that Peterson picked on JJ after Danny was adopted because he became more vulnerable without Danny’s support.

Yes - I concur with droughtquake on re-reading JJ's reason for running and do hope there are rumors sufficient enough that will put that

monster where he belongs.  Here in the US people who are incarcerated for abusing children are not well liked by fellow prisoners!! Sometimes karma does make sense!

A lot of drama in this chapter - hopefully all will be sorted out.  Fantastic story - I'm loving every chapter.

2 minutes ago, KayDeeMac said:

Yes - I concur with droughtquake on re-reading JJ's reason for running and do hope there are rumors sufficient enough that will put that

monster where he belongs.  Here in the US people who are incarcerated for abusing children are not well liked by fellow prisoners!! Sometimes karma does make sense!

A lot of drama in this chapter - hopefully all will be sorted out.  Fantastic story - I'm loving every chapter.

Thanks again @KayDeeMac for your comments they are always welcome. JJ's reason's for running are understandable, it may not have been the best decision but who am I to judge? I've never been in that position and many youngsters would no doubt do the same in those circumstances. Here in the UK people who commit crimes of that nature often end up in confinement at their own request for safety, not all get to the end of their sentence for fairly obvious reasons. The drama in life is never ending it just shifts direction and affects different people at different times, but we also experience the good times and I'm hoping for those times for our characters too. 

God what a chapter things could have been handled better. And Mr. P the filthy bastard wondering how long had he been doing this! I just hope the boys can find the Major, besides fights happen so times and I hope we can find some healing here

Mr P is now in police custody so I think he will be dealt with appropriately, but it takes time. We all have misunderstandings at times, we just have learn to deal with them, The Major's misunderstanding and over reaction is the worst, let's hope the boys find him quickly.

I am glad the hospital staff were able to take Mr P down.  JJ is probably a mess, but at least Mr P will be out of the picture.  I also hope he's the only pedophile at the Home.  I wonder what Ian is so upset about.  The fight put Pop in a difficult spot, but his talk didn't come between Ian and Kevin.  I hope they find him quickly and make sure he knows he was not interfering, but like a good dad helping them.  Neither of the boys have had a loving adult in their lives to help them how to solve problems in a relationship.

Yep Mr P is in police custody, that's the best part of this chapter, as for the rest I have my fingers crossed 🤞.

Rock spiders are generally very unpopular in prison and sometimes their prison sentence is reduced by death (murder or suicide). Graham Peterson if convicted could well find himself in grave physical danger or he may become Bubba's bitch.

Ian and Kevin were foolish to argue, but The Major was even more foolish to leave. What will it take to get through that thick skull of his (thickened by pride and obstinance) that the boys want/need him to complete their family. Stubborn old bastard I recall Kevin referring to him as, a very apt description it seems.

I don't think I have ever heard of gammon before @Mancunian. I had no idea what it was, thinking it may be some kind of game due its name. I was forced to eat meat until I left home a the age of 18, although increasingly less so in my teens as I started to resist and rebel, and was exposed to all sorts of disgusting food (steak and kidney pie, lamb's fry and bacon, corned beef or as some call it silverside, and brains to name but a few). To this day the smell of lamb or pork (especially bacon and eggs) cooking is enough to make me have to close all doors and windows to try and block out the smell. 

18 minutes ago, Summerabbacat said:

Rock spiders are generally very unpopular in prison and sometimes their prison sentence is reduced by death (murder or suicide). Graham Peterson if convicted could well find himself in grave physical danger or he may become Bubba's bitch.

Ian and Kevin were foolish to argue, but The Major was even more foolish to leave. What will it take to get through that thick skull of his (thickened by pride and obstinance) that the boys want/need him to complete their family. Stubborn old bastard I recall Kevin referring to him as, a very apt description it seems.

I don't think I have ever heard of gammon before @Mancunian. I had no idea what it was, thinking it may be some kind of game due its name. I was forced to eat meat until I left home a the age of 18, although increasingly less so in my teens as I started to resist and rebel, and was exposed to all sorts of disgusting food (steak and kidney pie, lamb's fry and bacon, corned beef or as some call it silverside, and brains to name but a few). To this day the smell of lamb or pork (especially bacon and eggs) cooking is enough to make me have to close all doors and windows to try and block out the smell. 

If we had rock spiders in the UK I'm sure that someone would find a way to introduce them to some prison inmates. Graham Peterson gets pushed to one side in this story as other events overshadow him. But we can hope that he meets Bubba, lol.

Many arguments are stupid, and this one definitely was. I think it will all work out in the end.

I love meat and could never give it up, but I do enjoy the occasional veggie meal, they can be very tasty. Gammon is another variant on pork as is ham and bacon, not to everyones taste but popular with a lot of meat eaters.

Jason seems to be having the worst of luck.  At least another paedophile has bitten the dust.  I understand Ian's worry, but The Major was right.  I only wish he had not run off and stayed long enough to hear Ian and Kevin's apology.

5 minutes ago, raven1 said:

Jason seems to be having the worst of luck.  At least another paedophile has bitten the dust.  I understand Ian's worry, but The Major was right.  I only wish he had not run off and stayed long enough to hear Ian and Kevin's apology.

Jason's luck does look like it's on a downward spiral, hopefully, with this happening in the hospital something good can come from it.

Ian's worries are understandable, his spat with Kevin shows how relationships can be affected by outside influences.

I think there is more to The Major's reaction than we see at the moment, if I'm right it will probably come out at some point.