Coming Home: The Finders Series

CHAPTER 7: THE REUNION

I didn't have to wait long for him to come out. Sure enough, he had a puzzled look on his face, like he was trying to figure out what he was doing out here in the parking lot.

"They will let anyone work in these places nowadays!" I yelled. Phil got one look at me, and a smile as big as the Rockies themselves burst onto his face. We ran to each other and hugged each other tightly! You would've thought we were two long-lost brothers being reunited for the first time in decades.

"Boy, I was hoping to see you on this one. It's great seeing you again. How have things been for you these past years?" Phil said with a smile.

"Been going through a lot of training. They told me only a few days ago that I was being made a Finder. They did tell me that there was one thing that they could not teach me, but they said that there was someone here that could, so I am to look them up and start training with him."

"Oh, and who is that? Are they close by? Maybe I could help you look for them if the council did not know where he is."

I started to laugh; I could not help myself. Phil just looked at me with a puzzled look on his face, like I had just gone off the deep end.

"The council told me where to find him, all right. As far as him being close, if he were any closer, he would be crawling in my skin right about now," I said.  There are no words available in either your language or mind to describe the look on Phil's face at that moment when I said this last comment. All I could do was to laugh even harder. Once I was finished laughing enough that I could speak again, I said, "It's you! You are the one that can teach me!"

"What in blue blazes can I teach you that they could not?" He replied.

I could tell that he was shocked, amazed, and a little proud of that piece of information.

"Well, it goes back to something you said to me back when we first met. Do you remember telling me about anger and how it can be used for strength or how it can destroy a person?" Phil nodded, and his face had gone serious. "Since I won't let go of my anger, and since they have not dealt with anger on this scale before, they figured that a human might be better suited to teach me to control this. Since you are someone that knows all about me already, they figured you would be the one to teach me."

Phil pondered this for a while, and I did not bother to read his thoughts. I figured he needed some privacy on this for one. After a moment or two he looked up at me. In fact, he looked me straight in the eyes and said, "OK, I will teach you, but on one condition. You must do what I tell you, when I tell you, without question. Fair enough?" I nodded with a smile on my face. I was just glad to see that he was willing to give it a try. It meant that we were going to be together for a good little while.

"Fine," he said, "your first instruction is to get in there and ask for either John Thompson or Karen Anderson."

"Are those the kids you called in about?"

He looked at me and smiled, "Nope, they are the HR managers here. You are going to go in there and get hired on as the new activity Director of the orphanage here. After that, I will show you the kids, and a lot more to boot. Now, get in there and show them what you have got!"

"But... I-" Phil would not let me finish the sentence.

"Remember our deal. No questions. Now get in there and get that job."

All I could do was give him an evil look and shake my finger at him. He had tricked me, and I fell for it. Oh well, I promise is a promise, so in I went.

I was somewhat surprised when I stepped inside the building. For all its drab appearance, the inside was painted in festive colors. The stairwells were clean, and the brass fittings were nice and shiny. There were signs on the walls to help the visitors get around. It looked like they were done by the residents here. According to some of the signs the offices were on the first floor. The second floor and part of the basement were for classrooms, and the upper floors were for living areas. The remainder of the basement was the cafeteria and kitchen, and a smaller area was for the boiler room.