Wildflowers

Chapter 52

Chapter: 52

We go over things on the ride there and we get there about a hour or so later. We pull up and it's a long wooden building. There are people wearing tan pants and white polos working and walking around. We pull into the parking stall and we get out. Anthony walks around and takes my arm.

'Ready?' I whisper and he nods.

'Yeah' Anthony says taking a breath.

We see a women in a tan pleated skirt and a white button down, come out.

'You must be Harper's how nice to meet you both' she says. She's in her early 40's. With dark shirt hair and a cross necklace on.

'I'm Barbra Jones, Director of Hillside but please call me Barb' she says shaking our hands.

'It's nice to meet you, Barb. I'm Hank and this is my wife Ruby.' Anthony says holding out his hand and she shakes it.

'I'm so happy you made time to see us' I say smiling.

'Of course, there's always time to show people around' she says.

'Come on in' she opens the door to the wooden building. We walk in to a large living room with wooden furniture and a fire place.

'Come let's sit down' she says as we move to the couch. Barb sits in a chair, then Anthony and I sit on the couch. I fold my hands in my lap and he sits close to me.

'Now tell me about your daughter, you mentioned on the phone she has been having some issues.' She says.

'Yes, Vera is 12 almost 13 now and we have noticed some changes in her behavior. She has been talking back to us, sneaking out late at night and has been hanging out with some different kids at school' Anthony says.

Barb shakes her head 'How long has this been going on?' She asks us.

'Well, I am at work during the day, honey your home with her during the day, how long would you say this has been going on?' Anthony asks me.

'I noticed it about 6 months ago. We enrolled her in the youth program at our church hoping that would help, but sadly it didn't' I say and with a sad smile.

'I see, sometimes a child needs more guidance than that. Here at Hillside we make sure there is no outside temptation or influence. We believe in keeping busy and scripture to help kids settle down. What do you do for a living, Hank?' She asks him.

'I am a doctor' he says.

Barb smiles 'Wonderful, would you like a tour of the grounds?' She asks and we nod.

We get up and follow her 'Do you mind if I take a few pictures? I want to show Vera how wonderful this place it' I say and she smiles.

'Of course, take as many as you would like.' Barb tells us.

We follow her into the cafeteria area and she shows us the kitchen.

'We grow all our own vegetables here and all of our meals are healthy and balanced' she says and we smile.

'That is so important for children' I say and she smiles and nods.

We walk out the back door and down a concrete path to a set large wooden buildings.

'These are our dorms, there's a girls dorm and a boys dorm.' She says.

'I assume they aren't allowed in each other dorms?' I ask concerned.

'Of course not, Ruby' she says and I breath a sigh of relief.

I take some photos of the outside of the building before we walk inside and it's like a college dorm with a long hallway full of doors.