Destined to Change by Harley, M. (top android ebook reader TXT) 📕

I hope we can work something out,” I said as Mr. Michaelson walked back into the room.

“I spoke with Samuel’s teacher and she feels that his punishment should fit his offense.  She doesn’t believe that suspension is the right answer either.  She would like for Samuel to write a letter of apology to the boy he accosted and also help her in the classroom during recess for the next two weeks.”

“That seems more than fair, Mr. Michaelson.  I’ll let his mom know what happened.  Where is Sammy?”

“He’s in his classroom.  I’ll take you down there.”  Mr. Michaelson stood up and led us down the hall to Sammy’s classroom.  When we walked inside Uncle Jake went to talk to Mr. Michaelson, while Sammy’s teacher was at her desk grading papers.  I sat down at a desk next to Sammy.  He looked scared.  I hated to see him like that.

“Hey Sammy…you got yourself in a little trouble today, huh?” I asked.

He was fiddling with his pencil.  He finally looked up at me and said, “Yeah, I guess.  Where’s my mom?”

“She had an important call to make so she asked Uncle Jake and me to come get you.  Do you want to talk about what happened today?”

He nodded and shrugged his shoulders.  “Well I want to talk about it, okay?” I asked.  He agreed and I continued. “You know that it’s never okay to hurt somebody, right?” He nodded. “When you get really mad like that and use your fists it hurts everybody, not just the person you’re hitting. You can’t fix anything by using your strength.  You’re going to be a man.  Men don’t hurt people.  The only exception to that is if they are hurting you.  Then you can fight back, but never throw the first punch. Remember that, okay?”  He stood up from his desk and put his arms around my neck.  I could feel his little chest heave as he started to cry.

“He was talking about my daddy.  He said I didn’t have a daddy, but I did have a daddy.” He was sobbing.  “He died.  And that makes my mommy and my grandma and grandpa so sad. I just want to have a daddy like the other kids.  Jaxon, will you be my new daddy?”  His words hit me like a ton of bricks.  Me? Be his new daddy? How was I supposed to respond to something like that?

“Sammy, nobody will ever replace your daddy.  He was very special to your mommy.  I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I’m here for you, little man.  If you need to talk or if you feel like you need to use your fists to fix something, you come see me okay?  We’ll talk it out.”

He stopped crying and smiled at me as he released me from his bear hug and started to put his jacket on.

While Sammy was getting his stuff ready and his teacher was lecturing him again about his stunt today, Uncle Jake pulled me out into the hallway.

“Son, I warned you.  That boy thinks you’re gonna be his new daddy.  You need to figure out what the hell is going on back in Richmond.  Get your shit together, and decide what you’re gonna do.  You cannot hurt those kids and their momma.  You hear me, boy?”

“I hear you.  That’s the last thing I wanna do.”

Loralei

 

When I got home around five thirty, Jake’s truck was in my driveway and Mags was sitting on the front porch listening to her iPod and playing with Tinkerbell, her cat. When she saw me, she came running over, whispering, “Mommy, I think Sammy is in a lot of trouble.” I could tell she didn’t really feel bad for her brother.

I walked into my house, and Jaxon, Jake, and Sammy were in the kitchen, Jaxon and Jake were chopping veggies for a salad. Sammy was sitting at the table, staring at the pizza boxes sitting in front of him like he was starving to death. I caught Jaxon’s attention and nodded for him to come upstairs with me.

When we got to my room he gave me a quick kiss and I asked “What happened at the school?”  He chuckled, and explained to me that Sammy got into a fight at school and apparently called another boy an “asshat”.

“Why were they fighting?” I asked.

He explained, “The principal said that the other kid was giving Sammy a hard time about not having a dad and Sammy told him his dad had died, but he was getting a new daddy and he was big and mean and had tattoos and would kick his butt. Then he called the kid an ‘asshat’ and pushed him down on the playground.”

I didn’t know which part of this statement I should tackle first. The part where Sammy was in a fight, or when he cursed at another child, or that he thought Jaxon was his new daddy. And the worst part of the whole thing was that Jaxon thought it was really funny.

“I’m glad you find this humorous.” I said in a very sarcastic tone.

He smirked. “Some parts of the story are funny, babe. I straightened everything out with the principal, Sammy didn’t get suspended. All he has to do is write a letter of apology to the kid and help the teacher for a couple of weeks during his recess times.”

But didn’t he understand which part of the story upset me the most? “Sammy thinks you’re going to be his new daddy?”

Jaxon looked confused. “I know we aren’t there yet, Loralei, but wouldn’t you rather him think that than not like me. I talked to him about it and explained that I wasn’t his new daddy and that he shouldn’t ever use his fists or his strength to solve his problems, because it doesn’t work that way.” When he said that, he had a look in his eyes that told me he was speaking from personal experience.

We went downstairs and Mags had set the table and Sammy was looking