A stepfather's dilemma what he should do with his stepson after he is suspended from school after a fight.
Jayden Prince and Roscoe O'Malley weren't on speaking terms. The wait for their respective parents was awful. The formidable principal Mrs. Kowalski had already found out, what had happened exactly. She was going to have a talk with the parents of both miscreants and the sentence was announced. Roscoe hoped his mother was coming to collect him. He knew how she was going to react and could deal with it. He wasn't too sure about his stepfather. They had met the first time slightly over a year ago and were still getting used to each other.
Jayden Prince and Roscoe O'Malley weren't on speaking terms. The wait for their respective parents was awful. The formidable principal Mrs. Kowalski had already found out, what had happened exactly. She was going to have a talk with the parents of both miscreants and the sentence was announced. Roscoe hoped his mother was coming to collect him. He knew how she was going to react and could deal with it. He wasn't too sure about his stepfather. They had met the first time slightly over a year ago and were still getting used to each other.
Roscoe was sorry and felt guilty. He shouldn't have started the fight.
Mrs. Prince arrived quickly. She was white faced and her lips pressed into a thin line. Mrs. Prince ignored her son and went into Mrs. Kowalski's office after being invited by the secretary. She returned a few minutes later. Mrs. Prince picked up her son and promised him a serious talk at home.
Roscoe feared nobody was arriving to collect him. Maybe Mommy and Daddy were so angry with him, they didn't want to have anything to do with him...
His stepfather came, but it had taken him time to arrange for a babysitter for Roscoe's younger siblings Tina and Alyssa. Before going into Mrs. Kowalski's office, he insured Roscoe hadn't been injured. Outwardly Daddy seemed calm. Roscoe sensed it was a facade. What emotions his Daddy hid, Roscoe couldn't say.
Roscoe tried to find out more by sneaking to the door. The walls weren't very thick and he could listen in without any problems. The secretary was busy and didn't look up, what Roscoe was doing.
"Mr. Richards, I wished, we would have met under different circumstances. I like your books." "Thank you, Mrs. Kowalski." "Unfortunately Roscoe and one of his classmates had a fight. It seems Roscoe started it. You probably have read the school regulations already and know, that this offence is punishable with a week’s suspension." "Mrs. Kowalski, isn't there another way round? I'm sure Roscoe and Jayden are very sorry for what they did. They are very young and boys that age normally make up fast, no matter how serious the reason for an argument or a fight a few minutes earlier seemed. Maybe Roscoe could apologize and both boys get detention?" "Mr. Richards, my hands are tied. If I start to make exceptions, everyone wants one. No, the suspension starts from tomorrow." Roscoe sneaked back to his seat. It took a little bit longer for Roscoe's stepfather to re-emerge.
Sam Richards was angry, upset, disappointed and worried. He kept his emotions under control, though, and didn't show a great deal of them. "Roscoe, ready to go?" He asked. Normally they would have talked all the way home. This time around Roscoe was trotting behind Sam, his head hanging low. Roscoe had realized his step father was angry. He feared he was going to be punished. If his real Daddy would have been here, Roscoe would have been shouted at and received a short, but painful lesson.
On the way home Sam Richards analyzed, why he was so angry. It was the strongest feeling. Roscoe was a miniature copy of his biological father. Sometimes it was hard to swallow for Sam, who had been at the receiving end of Oliver O'Malley's madness and still carried the psychological and physical scars with him. Thank goodness, the bastard was dead! Sam realized his biggest fear was that Roscoe had inheritated Oliver's violent nature and his anger came from there. There was also a little bit of guilt on Sam's side. Roscoe had seen him and his brother Dominic fighting. Maybe Roscoe thought it was okay to solve his problems with his fists, even though Sam had explained, he had been wrong and never should have let it escalate. Knowing, what had bothered him, Sam was able to breath lighter.
At home Sam sent Roscoe to the living room. Roscoe hated the wait. What was keeping Daddy so long? He returned with two mugs of hot chocolate. Roscoe was sitting on the sofa. Sam took a seat on the chair. "Start." Sam's voice wasn't unfriendly. "Are you..." It cost Roscoe a lot of courage to ask. "Are you going to spank me?" Sam was surprised. It never occurred to him. "No. Tell me, though, why you attacked Jayden, based on that I am going decide, if you get punished in a different form, and please don't lie to me." Roscoe was relieved and admitted everything. Sam could understand perfectly well, why Roscoe had lost it. What his son needed was reassurance. "Come here." He heaved Roscoe on his lap. Sam didn't mind Roscoe's weight. "Jayden was envied, and I know how difficult it is to keep calm... The best reaction would have been to ignore him. Jayden has it all wrong, though. I love you very much, even if we aren't blood related, and would be very hurt, if you wouldn't call me Daddy. Not all step fathers and step kids have bad relationships." It comforted Roscoe. After a short pause Sam continued: "Remember on the plane to London, there were a lot of Americans?" Roscoe nodded. "Or the Americans we did see in Paris and Madrid?" Roscoe nodded again. "See, they were on vacation or live there. I can also show you statistics about Americans living abroad on the internet, if you like, just to confirm it. Remember, when you helped me on the book tour last year?" Roscoe gave Sam the books he had to sign. "Yes, I loved it." "Me too, you were a great assistant. So I must be a writer, mustn't I?" Roscoe agreed, feeling much better. Sam and Roscoe cuddled. Roscoe gave Sam a kiss on the cheek. "Roscoe, what I want you to do now, is write a letter of apology to Jayden." Sam left him alone to compose it.
Later Mrs. Prince had called, asking permission to visit with Jayden. Jayden's mother didn't accept bullying and forced her son to apologize. Roscoe handed over the letter he had written and after the air between the two boys was cleared, they went off to Roscoe's room. "You had only to write the letter?" Jayden asked incredulous. "Yep. What about you?" "Mommy has confiscated my Nintendo DS. I have it back at Easter." "Oh, that's tough. It's ages away." It was around one and a half months until Easter. After a moments consideration Jayden asked: "Do you want to change parents?" Roscoe didn't.
The End.
©2011
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