Chapter 19
The prestigious opportunity-
Summer continued to drag.
On June twenty sixth, some unexpected visitors came to the Sanibel house inquiring about me. It was Principal Schmidt from ACYI, and a Dr. Ludwig Van Hassel. Seeing Principal Schmidt there, my soul filled with dread. Ever since he thought I was a cheater, he had treated me pretty cold. Why had he come to our house? The only reason I could think of was to tell me I had to redo seventh grade, or worse, start sixth. Mike led the uninvited guests into the family room. I followed behind with great anxiety. To my horror, the place was trashed. There were clothes all over the floor along with plates of half eaten food. I hadn’t noticed how bad the place smelled until the visitors came, then I realized it reeked in there. Peggy didn’t get up from her recliner to say hi. She looked annoyed to have them come during her soap. She gave them a crusty stare. Since no one invited them to sit, I quickly cleared all the garbage off the couch and motioned them over. They probably thought I was as sloppy and piggish as the rest of the Sanibels. I wish they knew I wasn’t.
“We are here to talk about Jane,” Principal Schmidt said. Mike stood with his back against the wall. He was a little friendlier than Peggy, but not by much.
“What has she done now?” Peggy moaned, but she didn’t take her eyes off the TV. The two men shot a strange look at each other.
“This isn’t about what she has done, but about what we can do for her,” Dr. Van Hassel said. Peggy didn’t act like she heard them. They sat there in silence for a moment, waiting for her to respond, but she didn’t. It became clear they weren’t going to get a proper audience from her. By then, Mike had already abandoned them and gone to his room to play the XBOX. The thought hit me, why was Mike even home? He should have been at work. The men shifted their bodies and faced me. I might be the only audience they got.
“Jane, this is Mr. Ludwig Van Hassel. He is in charge of a prestigious science camp at Harvard University. Mr. Van Hassel will tell you about it.”
“Thank you, Principal Schmidt. Jane, I am actually Dr. Van Hassel.”
“Sorry about that,” Principal Schmidt said sheepishly.
“Speaking of names,” I meekly interjected. “My name is Alora Funk.”
“What?” Dr. Van Hassel asked looking confused.
“Oh yes, we do need to get that changed on the records,” Principal Schmidt said. Was he actually sucking up to me in front of Dr. Van Hassel?
“Honest mistake, really,” Dr. Van Hassel replied. “Alora, you must be wondering what I am doing in your living room. The truth of the matter is, I have flown all the way out here to tell you about a very special program we have at Harvard. It is a science focused summer camp. This is a very prestigious camp where kids your age apply to almost a year in advance. The camp starts July sixth and goes until August fifth. We receive close to a thousand applicants, but we only allow twenty kids into the program. When I tell you it is a prestigious opportunity, don’t take my words lightly. The camp starts for seventh graders going into eight grade. As long as you keep up on your work and receive high merit then we invite you back the sequential years until your high school career is over. Alora, I must stress to you having this camp on your resume gives you a twenty three percent higher chance at being accepted into Harvard to start your sophomore year.”
I looked at him. I really didn’t know where he was going with everything. “Don’t you understand what I am saying?” he asked.
“Maybe,” I said. At that time, I had no idea what Harvard was or the potential it represented.
“We are prepared to offer you a spot at this camp.”
I almost wet my pants. “What? Why?” Who was I to be offered such a spot? Hadn’t I spent the last few months being told how stupid I was?
“LeAnn Humphry is my niece,” Dr. Van Hassel said.
I looked at him in confusion.
“Ms. LeAnn, the guidance counselor,” Principal Schmidt clarified.
“Oh,” was all I could say.
“When LeAnn told me about you, I was blown away. Such progress you made from your entrance into her school. LeAnn has never been one to exaggerate or to glorify a situation. If she said you scored perfectly on those entire tests, I have no reason to doubt her. She also told me about the little math game you played in the office. She said there was no stumping you. I realized the extent to your brilliance. I flew all the way out here to offer you a spot at our camp, that is, if you can pass a few tests of ours first.”
Ugh, more tests.
“Are you willing to do this?” he asked me, as he stared intently into my eyes. I think he was trying to get a look at my brain. He was a distinguished-looking man with thick, brown hair sprinkled with grey. He wore a full beard, trimmed short. Despite the summer heat, he had on a full blue suit, complete with a vest underneath. I bet the Sanibels never had someone so classy in their home before. It was probably killing Dr. Van Hassel to be amidst their garbage and sitting on their lumpy couch.
“Yes,” I said. I didn’t fully understand the magnitude of what he was offering.
“What you are going to need to do is to go to the Utah State University Extension Campus in Brigham City. There is a proctor there who will give you a series of tests. If you get an average of ninety eight percent or better, than you have a spot at our camp. Your appointment is for 10am on Monday morning.”
“Okay,” I said. I looked to Peggy to see what she thought. She had her shirt collar in her mouth as she was focused on her soap, not hearing a word of our conversation.
“Before you waste anyone’s time, I have a few equations for you to solve,” Dr. Van Hassel said.
My heart sped up and bounded against my chest.
He pulled a sheet of paper out of his bag and put it in front of me. “Let me find you a pencil”, he said reaching back into his bag.
I looked at the equation on his paper. Before he had even grabbed his pencil, I had seen the equation set itself up in my mind, and it was solved. “x= 5”. I said.
Dr. Van Hassel’s head popped up, and his eyes bulged out. Instead of grabbing his pencil, he took out a packet of paper and put it in front of me. “There are three pages there, and they are all part of one equation,” he said.
I flipped through the book, my mind aligning and arranging things as it solved through the problem. My abilities still astounding me. I wish I understood how I knew everything. Who was I before the hospital? “54 liters,” I said.
“Brilliant, brilliant,” Dr. Van Hassel said. He already had another sheet of paper in his hand. I took it from him. It wasn’t mathematical equations, it was scientific questions. I studied over it.
“Well,” I said. “The answers is methylation, phosphorylation and acetylation.” Where the knowledge came from, I couldn’t even explain. I seemed to know it. I wondered if I had known all of this before my memory swipe. Maybe I was a secret CIA agent, and they had extracted my memory so I wouldn’t compromise the agency. I didn’t know how I knew the answers to all the tests I had been taking. My mind seemed to recall things. It seemed to be that way since the chess game. It appeared there was a great source of intelligence and understanding in me, and only when I was introduced to it, was when I seemed to recall it. Or, at least that was my theory.
Dr. Van Hassel zipped his bag closed. “I am glad we did this. I can now see sending you to the campus on Monday to test would have only wasted everyone’s time.”
“Did I not pass?” I asked disappointedly. I couldn’t understand how I didn’t pass. I knew all the answers were right. I really liked the idea of leaving the Sanibels for a month. Regret filled me as I saw my opportunity lost.
“Oh, you more than passed. You blew the tests away. I want you to be at the airport Sunday night of July fifth.”
“Um, how much will it cost?” I asked. I hardly doubted the Sanibels could afford a plane ticket, let
alone the price of camp.
“You are going to Harvard, Ms. Alora Funk, the camp alone is fifteen thousand dollars.”
I gasped out loud. There was no chance I was going. The Sanibels couldn’t afford it, and even if they could, they wouldn’t spend that much on me.
“But,” Dr. Van Hassel said as he looked around the house in disgust. “I will find a scholarship for you that will pay your expenses one hundred percent.”
I wanted to jump up and down and run around the room in excitement, but I didn’t want to scare the doctor away, so I didn’t react at all.
“Can you get her to the airport Sunday night, early Monday morning?” Dr. Van Hassel asked Peggy. She looked up, “Huh? Are you talking to me?”
“Did you not even try to pay attention to our conversation?” he asked in disdain.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were here to talk to me.”
“Mrs. Sanibel,” Principal Schmidt said. “Dr. Van Hassel is from Harvard. He has flown all the way out here to offer Alora a spot at their very prestigious summer camp.”
“We can’t afford that,” Peggy grumbled.
“He will be taking her there on a scholarship.”
“I am not sure this is the right time in her life for something like this,” Peggy said.
Her words rammed me in the gut. What was she talking about? Was she really not going to let me go?
“She has been through a lot, and she is finding stability in her life. That camp would put undue pressure on her and unravel all of our hard work.”
What hard work could Peggy possibly be talking about? She hadn’t even noticed when I stayed away for a night.
“Mrs. Sanibel, I don’t think you realize what an opportunity this is for Alora. This is a fifteen thousand full-ride-scholarship we are offering. You won’t pay a thing. There are close to a thousand kids that apply for this and will never get a chance to go. This program will build a foundation she will never get in a small town like this. Going to this camp might be here ticket into Harvard as a graduate student.”
Peggy didn’t like him insulting her place. “Maybe next year, boys,” she said.
I couldn’t believe it. Was she really getting in the way of a life time opportunity? I was sick.
“I have already bought her airline ticket,” Dr. Van Hassel said.
“Then that was a foolish move on your part,” she tartly replied back.
I am not a violent person, but at the moment, I wanted to hit her.
“Gentlemen, please see yourself out,” she said as she turned the volume up on the TV.
The men got up and went outside. I trailed behind them.
“Change her mind,” Dr. Van Hassel said to me. “I will keep your ticket and spot open.” He handed me his business card, and the two drove away in a black limousine. All the neighbor kids had gathered around to see who rode around in such an automobile, and why they had gone to the Sanibels’.
Tears poured out of my eyes as I watched them drive away. I knew my chance was gone. Peggy was extremely stubborn. There was no way I was going to change her mind. I couldn’t understand why she had said no.
As I came back into the house, I slammed the door behind me. I stomped all the way down the hall, through the dining room, and into the family room, planting myself in front of Peggy so she couldn’t see the TV.
“Why can’t I go?” I hissed.
“Calm down, Alora. Not everything is what it seems. I don’t feel right about this, and I must listen to my gut.”
“I don’t care how you feel. This is my life, not yours, and I am going!” I yelled. I shook, for I had never been so brazen with her before.
“Don’t you use that tone of voice with me,” she said, elevating her own tone. “While you live under my roof, I am your mother, and I set your rules. Like it or not, that is how it works.”
“But this is my life, not yours!”
“And I want to protect that life.”
“You mean stifle it.”
“Do you honestly think you can change my mind by yelling at me? That is not how it works; in fact, it is causing me to build the highest wall around this subject, a wall that will never be removed.”
“How can you be so heartless?” I challenged.
“Go to your room!”
“Gladly,” I said. I stomped up the stairs, and slammed my door closed. I threw myself on my bed and bawled. After an hour, I decided to go and talk to Mike about it.
…
“And she won’t let me go,” I said as I finished my plea to him.
“Wow, don’t get me involved. You are her project, not mine.”
“Project,” I roared. “I am not a project. I am a human.”
“Whatever,” he said as he un-paused his video game and resumed playing.
I decided to call London.
…
London met me at the Country Store. I climbed in her car.
“Don’t you tell Peggy I took you,” she said.
“I promise.”
She was taking me to see Mr. Scary, my case manager with Child Protective Services.
As she drove, I said, “There is no way he is going to help me. He is stern and even more heartless than Peggy.”
“We start with him, and if he says no, then we go up from there. We have to follow the chain of command, and he is the next in line.”
London had the windows opened, and her blond hair blew in the wind. At times, it seemed like it blocked her view of the road. She had to keep pulling it away from her eyes. I really hoped we wouldn’t get in a wreck.
…
I couldn’t believe I was back at Child Protective Services. I hated the place. The last time I was there, I had been scared, frightened, confused, and lost. All those people did was talk about me as if I wasn’t a real human, a problem needing a solution. I hated Mr. Scary, as he sat there on his high horse, always in a hurry, and always better than everyone else.
They put London and me in a small room. We were alone for almost forty-five minutes when Mr. Scary finally appeared.
“We’ll Ms. Jane Doe, how are things? And London Bridges, how are things?”
I bawled as I explained the situation I was in. “We were hoping you would give Jane permission to go, since you are her case manager,” London said ever so sweetly.
“I can’t go behind the Sanibel’s backs on this. They are caring for Jane at this time.”
“Yes, but you have custody, and the ultimate decision lies with you.”
“Let me call the Sanibels and see if we can work this out. I have to agree that the opportunity presented is a prestigious opportunity indeed. I would hate to see it lost. Not many kids in foster care get breaks like this. I will try to do everything I can to help you,” he said. He almost sounded like he cared.
I couldn’t believe Mr. Scary’s words. He was going to help me? I thought he hated me.
He called Peggy, but got no answer.
“It will be hard to resolve this if we can’t get through to them.”
“Just keep trying. They usually don’t answer until the third or fourth time,” I instructed. It took them that long to find the phone.
He called back three more times, and finally someone answered.
“Is Mrs. Sanibel there?........This is Mr. Cox from Child Protective Services, will you please get Mrs. Sanibel……..Oh I see, will you tell her this is of an urgent nature…….Well, no……Yes……….Hello Mrs. Sanibel, this is Mr. Cox from Child Protective Services ………Mr. Cox……….I am Jane Doe’s case manager………..Oh, I see…………She is here with me…………She came in on her own…………………Well, not technically running away if she comes to us………………I am sure you don’t mean that………..Well you see, she was really hoping to be able to go to the Science Summer Camp at Harvard……….Why for?..............Our number one goal is to help these children. This is an excellent way to help Jane……
………..I am afraid I don’t understand…………..I am afraid I am not following you………No, I do not agree…………..Is that really your place? Yes, I know you are her foster mom……………….Mrs. Sanibel, you can’t surely mean that……………But, I am sure that………….I understand……………Yes, it is your right………….Are you sure?…………….I thought things were going well for you and her………………..Please reconsider……………….Are you sure…….Send it over in an email………Good day to you.”
He put his face in his hand and held it there for a minute preventing us from seeing his expression. I was nervous. His phone call didn’t sound like it went very well.
He removed his hands and tried to put on a smile. “Good news and bad news, Jane.”
I stared at him.
“Give us the good news,” London said.
“You are going to Harvard!” he tried to say upbeat.
My heart leapt. “And the bad news?”
“The Sanibels terminated your placement with them.”
“Oh, that is too bad,” London said.
I put my head in my hands and cried. How could they end it like that? I thought we were family. I had tried to be a real good daughter to them. Other than getting in a fight about Harvard, I had tried not to disagree with them. All their kids yelled at them all the time, and they never seemed to let it bother them. But, I get in one small argument with them, then they send me back. How could they do that? I thought we had been a family. I guess it was all for show. Peggy loved show. That way everyone in Mantua could think what a wonderful mother she was, bringing in that poor child that was found in the cement room. Oh yeah, I probably boosted her image.
“What is going to happen to her?” London asked.
“We will have to find her a temporary family until Sunday, then while she is gone to Harvard, we can find a better placement her.”
“Can I stay with you?” I asked London.
“I am afraid not, honey,” London replied with a downcast face.
“Why won’t you take me? You seem to care about me.” I pleaded.
London’s eyes filled with tears. “I am sorry, honey, it is complicated.”
“Screw complicated, take me,” I wailed.
London looked to Mr. Scary to rescue her.
“Don’t let it stress you too much right now. We will find you a place for a couple of days, and when you return, we will have a really nice family waiting for you.”
“I have a nice family,” I said.
“I am sorry, Jane, that is sadly the nature of foster care. Kids and parents alike get attached, then for various reasons, they have to break their attachment before one or the other is ready to.”
“Well, I hate it!” I cried. “I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!”
“Give me a sec,” Mr. Scary said as he slipped out of the room. London came to my side and wrapped her arms around me. She held me tight while I bawled, then, like at the hospital, she sang me songs. By the time Mr. Scary returned, I felt a bit better. He looked more upbeat as well.
“Great news, we have a terrific placement for you. The Petersons. They are a young couple, and they have no children, except for one on the way.”
“Do they want me?” I asked, rubbing my sore eyes.
“They can’t wait to get you. Give me a while to get things set up,” he said as he left the room again.
I turned to London. “Why won’t you take me?”
London looked away. I could tell she was debating over telling me something. She turned back to me with more tears in her eyes.
“I haven’t always been a good girl. I made some mistakes about six years ago, and because of them, I can’t be a foster parent.”
“What kind of mistakes?”
“Ones that I have received forgiveness from the Lord for.”
“Like what?”
“Alora, I can’t share with you the bad things I did. They are very personal and embarrassing. Like I said, they happened a long time ago. But, they stop me from being able to take you in.”
“How come, if you have found the Lord’s forgiveness for them?”
“Because, there are certain rules about being a foster parent. I have criminal charges that they just won’t look past.”
“Are you in trouble with the law?”
“No, I made restitution with the law a long time ago. I have made restitution with everyone. As far as I am concerned, I am fully forgiven. That is the power of Jesus’ atonement. But, the law is different.”
“Do the people in your society know about your offense?”
London looked shocked. “I have been forgiven. It is not their concern. The thing I did has nothing to do with my position in the church.”
“Oh.”
London thought for a moment longer. She obviously had more she wanted to share with me. “Do you know how you ended up at the Sanibels?” she asked.
“Child Protective Services put me there.”
“They did, but it was under my recommendation. I have friends at Child Protective Services. That is one thing you will learn about me. I have friends everywhere. Anyway, since I couldn’t bring you into my home, I wanted you to at least go to my sister’s home.”
“PEGGY IS YOUR SISTER?” I blurted out.
“Yes. Haven’t you figured that out yet? We look just alike.”
As I looked at her, I suddenly saw Peggy. How had I not figured that out before? They were both stocky woman. London had dyed blond hair. If her color was left natural, then she would probably look identical to Peggy. Why hadn’t I seen it before? As I thought about it, I realized even some of their mannerisms were the same.
“If she is your sister, than why do we have to meet in secret? Why don’t you meet me at the house?”
“Because, she hasn’t forgiven me for the thing I did.”
“I thought your church was all about forgiveness?”
“It is, but just because there are commandments in my church, doesn’t mean everyone follows them. We believe in free agency, and people are free to govern themselves.”
“Well, it sounds hypocritical.”
“Oh no, not at all. Church is like a hospital. Everyone who goes to it is sick in their own way. They go to get well. People don’t go to church because they are perfect, they go to become perfect. We all make mistakes.”
“Why do you always check up on me?”
London’s voice choked up, “Because I love you, Alora Funk. I want you to always remember that. Just because the law stops me from being your foster mom, I will always be a mother-like figure in your life. You can come to me for anything.”
The door opened and Mr. Scary walked in. “Jane, things are all set up. Let’s get you over to your temporary home.”
London reached out and gave me a very long hug. “Good luck to you, Alora. Have fun at camp.” In my ear she whispered, “I love you.”