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“Jesus.” I run a hand through my hair, remembering the call I missed. Ah, fuck. “How is he?”
“The hospital took him in and pumped his stomach, but they let me bring him home this morning. He has to go in for some kind of psych evaluation this afternoon. He’s…” He pauses. “He’s just lying on his bed, crying. I don’t know what to do. He won’t talk to me. Look, I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye. But he trusts you. And… he’s my boy. I didn’t think he’d do something like this. Will you come and talk to him?”
“Of course,” I say immediately. “I’ll be right over.”
“Thanks, bro.”
“See you soon.”
I dress quickly, grab my keys and wallet, and head out. Soon I’m flying along the state highway, heading to Philip’s house.
On the way, I call Greenfield Residential School and ask to speak to Atticus Bell. I’m not sure if he’ll be there as he often goes out into the mountains on camp, but after thirty seconds or so there’s a click, and he says, “Atticus speaking.”
Atticus is in his mid-fifties, tall and slender, with thick gray hair and a gray beard and mustache. He’s the closest thing I have to a father figure, and he was instrumental in helping me become the man I am today, so I have a lot to thank him for.
“Atticus, it’s Henry West.”
“Henry! It’s good to hear from you. How are you doing?”
“Yeah, not bad. Sorry for the sound quality—I’m in the car.”
“No worries, you’re pretty clear. What’s up? Have you been thinking about what I said?” As I mentioned to Alex, he’s asked me to consider leading some of the adventure therapy sessions.
“I have, but that’s not why I’m calling.”
“Oh, what’s up?”
I tell him about Rangi, about the fact that he got his girl pregnant, that she terminated it, and that he’s so upset by it, he tried to take his own life. I know he won’t be judgmental. He deals with young men and women on a daily basis who get themselves into far worse scrapes than this, and he’s all about solving the problem rather than apportioning blame.
“Aw,” Atticus says when I’m done. “The poor lad.”
“Yeah. My brother’s asked me to go over, which shows how bad things are. Look, I’ve mentioned to him about sending Rangi to Greenfield before and he’s always said no, but I think maybe he’ll be open to the suggestion now. So I wanted to ask, do you have any room there this year?”
“We’ll make room, Henry. You’ve given enough to the place to warrant something in return.”
I send regular donations to the school, and recently gave an additional sum toward the building of a swimming pool for the students.
“I don’t do it for this reason,” I say awkwardly, conscious that I sound like one of those people who donates to hospitals then expects to jump the queue when they need treatment.
“Of course you don’t. But even so, it’s the least we can do. How old is he?”
“Sixteen.”
“So year twelve? Yeah we’ve still got a couple of places.”
“I’ll talk to them this morning and get back to you.”
“Sure, no worries.”
“How are things going with you anyway?” I ask, coming off the State Highway and heading into the city. “How’s Clem?” I’m very fond of his wife, who bakes the best blueberry muffins in the country.
“She’s good thank you, in fine form.”
“And Joel and Fraser?” I spent a lot of time with his boys during my stay at Greenfield, and keep in touch with them. I sometimes wondered whether Atticus was worried that the troubled adolescents would corrupt his children, but with their good manners, hardworking attitude, and sense of humor, all three of his kids were a positive influence on the residents, rather than the other way around.
“Yeah, both working hard.” Atticus has a passion for history and archaeology that he handed down to his children, as well as many of the kids who passed through his care. Fraser now runs a museum in Wellington, and Joel is an underwater archaeologist.
“And Elora?” I ask softly. “How’s she doing?” His daughter, Elora-Rose Bell, is four years younger than me. When I first arrived at Greenfield, she was only ten, but she had blonde plaits and big, innocent blue eyes, and from the start I adored her as if she was my own baby sister. I haven’t seen her for a while, though, and Joel hinted that she’d been in some trouble a few years ago, but he wouldn’t elaborate, so I don’t know what happened.
