“Yes, sir”.
Hanna took to heart everything Mr. Pete said and spent most of the weekend in serious thought considering alternatives and their consequences. He even made a chart of action alternatives and probable reactions. The following Tuesday in his session, Wade was eager to tell Mr. Pete all the scenarios and consequences he had considered. After hearing Wade go through his list of scenarios and consequences Mr. Pete indicated, “Those are very good but there is one scenario you didn’t mention.”
Wade had no idea what it might be. “Really, what’s that?”
“What happens if you get Janelle pregnant?”
Wade’s eyes opened wide as he sat upright in his chair. He was at a loss for words except to say, “I don’t know.”
Mr. Pete said “Think about this scenario and its consequences. Follow your life through, with the child of a gang member as part of it.”
There was silence for a few moments.
Mr. Pete looked directly at Wade. “Well, what have you decided?”
Wade still wasn’t ready.
Mr. Pete repeated, “What have you decided to do?”
More silence, broken finally by Mr. Pete. “It’s your decision. After thinking it all through, do you want to continue the relationship with her — or do you want to try to find a way to get out of it?”
“Definitely I want to get out of it.”
“Do you have any idea as to how you would go about that?”
“I can’t confront her or they will put a contract out on me. I can’t let her think I am still interested because she may set up a place and I’m stuck.”
After listening to Wade, Mr. Pete interjected, “There may be another way. There are some things going on with Janelle that could be coming to a head outside of school. I can’t get into those with you, but her situation with the school may be changing. For now, you will have to continue your pattern of avoidance with her. Hopefully things will work out for you.”
As the meeting was ending Wade turned to Mr. Pete and asked, “What if I had told you I wanted to be with her?”
Mr. Pete replied, “I would have wished you well on your journey. You see life is all about the decisions you make and the consequences of those decisions.”
The meeting ended with Wade realizing the importance of his decisions and the consequences of those decisions. He knew there were factors he couldn’t control, but he understood the importance of taking responsibility for those he could. He also felt a new combination of relief, trust, and power as he fully realized that Mr. Pete was going to try to help him work his way through this serious problem but wasn’t going to try to fix it or tell Wade what to do. Mr. Pete wasn’t going to punish him or intervene outside the office. He remembered the words of Mr. Pete in previous sessions, “You don’t get to choose your parents. You can only make choices about how you live your life.” Wade learned valuable lessons about trusting others and about how serious consequences can be when poor decisions are made.
Still, Wade was not safe yet. He basically had to disappear from all of the places where he usually spent his time.
Two months later, Wade heard from a friend in his math class that two plain clothes detectives were waiting outside of Janelle’s history class. When class was over, Janelle was arrested and lead to their unmarked dark blue car in handcuffs.
In addition to two alleged murders under investigation, Janelle was also suspected of kidnapping. Some months later he heard that she was found guilty of most of the charges against her, including the murder charges. She was sentenced to two 23 year consecutive prison terms totally 46 years. Wade thought his relationship with Janelle was now in the past forever. Little did he know that an unwelcomed messenger from her would appear in his life several years later.
8
Wade was approaching the end of sixth grade at Westbrook and was fully expecting to continue at the school the next year. As required of all students, he took the same battery of tests he had taken to get in. His year-end test results were in, and a meeting was set up with Wade, his parents, and Mr. Pete to go over them.
The results were all positive, particularly in areas of former deficiencies. On most tests, Wade made a one or two year increase in grade level. His parents had also had several sessions with Mr. Pete and had come to like and respect him. They were all eager to hear about Wade’s next year at Westbrook, so they were not ready for Mr. Pete’s words as he began the meeting.
“I’m going to tell you something that you may not be expecting. Based on Wade’s test results, we have decided that he is ready to go back to a regular school curriculum.” He continued, “As much as we like having Wade here, and have admired his growth and progress, both as a person and academically, it’s now our job to get him back in the regular school system.”
Wade’s father sounded confused. “It seems to me you’ve just started to make headway with Wade, and now you’re asking him to leave. I believe Wade is still on that probationary list and can’t go to a Catholic school.”
“Wade’s test scores demonstrate that we’ve done our job in getting him back on track. You’re correct that he probably can’t go to a catholic school from here. You have several options within the public school system.”
Wade and his parents were completely taken aback. They simply had not seen this coming. The room was oddly quiet. The outburst Wade expected from his mother did not come. As she sat quietly, his father said, “What are our options?”
Mr. Pete replied, “There are a couple of alternatives. There are three public schools in the general area where you live. I’m assuming Wade will be moving back home?”
Wade and his parents all nodded yes.
“Of the schools in your area, you might consider Monroe Jr. High. It has a pretty good academic reputation, an excellent football team, and there is very limited gang activity around the school.”
Pete added, “I also happen to have gone to school with the football coach. In several of our sessions, Wade indicated his interest in sports that Westbrook doesn’t offer, particularly football. We’re not set up for league sports at Westbrook, as you know; perhaps that might happen sometime in the future. Monroe, on the other hand, has a top notch football coach, and the school came in either second or third in the city.”
Mr. Pete went on, “Even without knowing whether you’d have any interest in Monroe, I took the liberty of contacting my long time friend Coach Baxter. He said the team was not only looking for good players but that he would very much like to meet Wade. I told Coach Baxter I would pass along this information to you.”
Mr. Pete handed Wade a piece of paper with Coach Baxter’s phone number. “You might also consider Freeman Jr. High, which is a little further away from your home. They also have a good academic reputation. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone from Freeman School who might help you. However, if Freeman is a school that interests you, I would be pleased to make some inquiries.”
Wade’s mother commented, “Maybe playing football will keep him out of trouble”
“I’m sure Wade will do fine,” Mr. Pete said.
Wade’s father looked doubtful. “We had our hopes set on Wade staying at Westbrook another year, perhaps two years.”
“I understand that, but I think Wade has made tremendous strides while here, both in his personal development and academically. The concept of our alternative school and its charter is not to be long-term unless the student requires continued help. Wade has responded to our approach and by all indications is ready to continue life in a regular school. He is ready academically and psychologically for the regular school system and will do fine.”