Architect of paradise (PART I: Out of the Ruins)

19. Changes

    It took a week before I received the approval letter of the state. I immediately went to Richmond to sign the papers and receive my authorization papers. The officer noticed me about the monthly sponsorship of the organization and the exact right that it have. He suggested that I need a stable legal support of a lawyer, so he could guide us properly. This situation is not very common and because of it been a complicating situation, I need to know all the time where are my limits and rights. I think he is right and I will take care of it soon.

Right now, only a day after our success, Alice is talking to Mr. Maxwell, in the office that was given to her. She is counseling that old man so she can approve him as a guardian for a teenager. She is really quick-wit. It seems that Mr. Maxwell agreed to take in that boy. Now it is my turn to act. I sent a request to the state and I am still waiting for an answer. I have already noticed Mr. Jackson, the major about my action but he seemed satisfied. Well, the major was approving this matter from the beginning.

In the next step, Mrs. Locust was great help. Her information about Mr. Spencer was really helpful with our plan. It seemed that he was not a good person indeed. After his wife left him, he continued to work at the mines but his payment was not much. He involved himself in other illegal jobs. Sometimes he leaves at night with his car and comes back the next morning. His track is dirty with soil. His movements are suspicious. Well, we can't do something about that, not yet. Now the only thing we need, is time.

I can't not to worry about the end of this situation. It is my first time working as well fare agent. The whole thing is complicating because of Simon. I don't want to bring that boy to his limits, but he must realize his mistakes and wrong-doings. Alice has noticed my nervousness and tries to calm me down.

-"Mrs. Locust is a very precious information source but we need something more advanced." She says and I was surprised. I didn't expect something like that.

-"Why?" I ask and she waves her head disapprovingly.

- "You need information to win a war." She says and I can't disagree with her. I can guess for what reason she said something like that.

-"Do you have something in your mind?" I ask.

-"Well, I need the approval of the director, am I right?" She says cunningly and I think that I blush. 

    In the end, she introduced me a person with high knowledge in computers and internet. He seems able but I don't think that a person like that would come in this corner of the earth to help us. Alice smiled but said nothing else.

At the library, the teen triad comes together. Well, they are good friends now. Steven comes closer to ask about Simon. The only thing I can tell him is that I try really hard to take care of him. Steven seems to be satisfied like he trusts me and I think my heart is beating fast. 

    Jane is enthusiastic about her mission. She keeps watching the kids that I told her to watch closely and the involvement of Simon. Only Justin doesn't seem too willing to help with this case. I think that he still has a grudge on Simon and I don't want to push him further.

Steven's unconditional trust made me anxious. The only thing that I was thinking, was Simon's case. That boy will not avoid punishment but I don't want him to feel alone or dissatisfied or on wrong. Alice is right. I know better than anybody else, what it takes to take off a gang. However, I am not the same since then. Instead, myself then was really strong. A bad ass!!! 

    Now, I don't have the confidence to take on something so serious and dangerous. I don't believe it, but there is a dilemma in my soul. The righteous self wants to act and bring a typhoon, the timid one wants just to hide in a corner. I feel strange with all these contradictive feelings inside me.

I am silent in front of the fireplace with a cup o chocolate in my hands. I watch the flames dancing on the fire woods.

-"What are you thinking?" Alice asks me.

-"A lot of things, but mainly about Simon. It is strange. I don't know him well. In a matter of fact, I don't know him at all, but I feel this unspoken desire to help him."

-"Well, you see yourself in him, aren't you?"

-"Maybe."

When I left home, I was alone in the big world. I was young, younger than Simon and I thought that I could win. However, the reality was not so sweet. When I was hungry and beaten up from the street punks, I was scared until a gang found me and took me in. Then, I was grateful and I felt that the other members were my family and they were, until we started to do some really nasty things. Even then, I was with them and supported them because they were my family, or so I thought. But then, they betrayed me. If it wasn't John, I could have died. He saved me.

I am afraid that Simon is in the same situation. Maybe, the gang was his shelter from his hard life. However, he hasn't realized yet, that this is a catastrophic path. It is my duty to show him the right path.

-"I really want to see you fight like back then." Alice jokes and sits beside me. She hugs me.

-"Everything will be okay." She says and I think that she is right.

Mr. Jackson visits me the next day at the library. He seems in a good mood. He informs me that the new office is ready. It is not something big but it can house the police department. He has already received the papers of the new police officers that will come in here. 

     Three of them, will come in the middle of the week. Their authority will expand to the three villages and some kilometers away. Of course, the mountains, the fields and the mines will be in their jurisdiction. The major will announce the news a little before their arrival. He knows the situation with Simon, so he doesn't want to destroy our plan. His help and co-ordination, are really helpful.

I went at the place which will be the new police station. It was really a small building of three rooms. One of them was the big office. The major enforced it with desks and other furniture. There were computers and phones. It was ready to welcome the new police officers. It was one of the changes in this small town.

    However, more changes will come and only time will show, if they will be good or bad.