Atticus Finch, Nazi Hunter

Getting Your Teenage Kids Out of Bed Is a Hard Thing to Do

The day starts out like any other. It was 7 AM, and Scout should really be up by now, but she's out like a light. Granted, I know she probably wouldn't be too thirlled about waking up early- I certainly wouldn't apprecaite having to wake up this early- let alone having to go to schoo lat a time like this- who would, really?- but that's still no excuse for her acting this way.

Seeing the bus, I immediately go rouse her out of bed. She'll have to get out of bed sometime.

"Scout, wake up!" I say, pulling off the covers.

"Five more minutes, Atticus!" she says, pulling them back on, no sooner after I utter those words.

That's my daughter for you. She's twelve years old, going to be thirteen in a few weeks. No, wait- she's going to be thirteen in a few days. Good lord, old age has really been getting to me. I'm fifty-four, and I really wish that my children would be needing and feeding me at this age. (Yes, I know the hormones must've caught up to her, which is why she's sleeping in, but it's still a nuisance trying to get her out of bed. Granted, I'm not much of an early riser myself, but still, what can you do.)

Life hasn't been simple since the Tom Robinson case. We've faced the occasional attack on our doorstep by some white supremacist who's gotten furious at me. We've also faced incredibly supportive people as well, especially from the black community. In any case- no pun intended- I'm honestly quite glad I did the right thing, or at least tried to in the face of adversity. No amount of attacks by anmyone, not even the Ku Klux Klan, could convince me otherwise. I think about this as I make breakfast for Scout- the usual, eggs, sausage, and toast.

Of course, I've always been one to do what's right. For example, when Jem and Dill were little boys, there were a few missionaries who came to the school to teach lessons to the kids there. At closer inspection, I realized that a lot of the lessons were very evangelical in nature. Needless to say, a lot of parents- both atheist and otherwise- were very annoyed by the whole thing- rightly so, of course- and I brought the whole case to court, ruling that it was unconsitutional for schools to sponser prayer like that. A few of them were not fond of my actions, and said "If he doesn't like it, he can pack up his bags and take his children to another school." Eventually, however, I won the case and the lessons were discontinued- if only because enough parents- many of whom were not religious themselves- had raised concerns.

Speaking of Jem, he's about nineteen now. Only two more years until he's legally an adult. God knows what will happen to him. Will he be drafted for that great war overseas? (Come to think of it, I honestly have no idea "why" I'm calling that war "great." What is great about that war, anyway?) If not, how will he get into college? How will he get a job? The Great Depression (Goodness gracious, why am I calling it that? There's nothing great about this depression) is making it harder for young men like himself to find work. Looks like I'll have to rouse him out of bed.

Being a young man, he's even harder to rouse than Scout. He'll sleep into noon if it's possible. And yet, I was able to wake him easily today,without any clear motivation. Go figure.

We prepare outr breakfast when suddenly, we face an attack on our doorstep. I take a look through the blinders and lo and behold, it's yet another white supremacist attack from the Ku Klux Klan.

"What are doing here?" I ask. Of course, that's a rehetorical question- I know exactly what they're doing here.

"Oh, you know what we're doing here," they tell me. "What you've done to Tom Robinson is unacceptable."

"I just did what was best in that situation," I tell them. "He was an innocent man, peresecuted by a disgusting family. How anyone could've supported the bullies, let alone a family as disgusting as the Ewells- is beyond me."

"He was guilty, and you knew it," they tell me. "You know those Negoes, they're all children and they need to be taught the ways of the white men. Just like your stupid family."

It's at this point I can't take it anymore. I want to give them a piece of my mind, and I plan to do just that.

"You leave my family out of this!" I exclaim at the top of my lungs. "They're just children, and I don't want anything happening to them!"

Lo and behold, I witness them burning a cross on my doorstep. As much as I apprecaited the fact that I did the right thing, what I don't apprecaite is how these people have treated me and my family. After all, Scout and Jem are still children (well, Scout is) they don't deserve this! They had nothing to do with this in the first place!

Soon enough, the bus comes and Scout isn't ready. Panicked, I start to realize that this means I'll have to drive her to school, after she finally gets dressed. (Another reason would be for her to avoid the burning crosses, of course.) It's not that bad, but I honestly wish I didn't have to do it.

On the car ride, Scout starts talking about school, and how there are some girls who are mean to her, both for reasons related and unrelated to her father's case. This is one of the reasons I don't like driving her to school.

"Just ignore them, Scout," I say. "Like your father did at the legislature when they bullied him. You remember how your father acted up there, didn't you?"

But it's too late. She's not listening. She's too busy mesmerized by the cross outside her own window. She really doesn't need this.

"Atticus?" she ask s me. "Are they going to attack me, too?"

"Whatever hapepns," I tell her. "I'll make sure that doesn't happen. I'm your father, and It's my duty to protect you."

"Like when I was the ham at the school play, and got attacked?" she asks me.

"Yes, it's like that," I tell her. "Only that time, it was Boo Radley who protected you," I tell her.

"Oh yeah," she told me. "That's when we learned that he wasn't so bad!"

Suddenly, Dill comes out of nowhere. It's been difficult for him to talk with us since the case, but he's still been trying to connect with us. Such a nice young man.

"Scout?" he says. "You excited for school?"

"Not really," she tells him. "I honestly wish they were teaching more interesting subjects at school, but hey, what can you do here."

After dropping her off at school, I immediately get to my job. It really is hard working juggling work as a single father and lawyer nowadays. I get through quite a bit oftraffic,but figure it's all worth it when I'm going to set the record straight on the latest case.

"Well, I tell myself. "This is going to be the first day of the rest of my life, and absolutely nothing can stop me here! After all, as our dear president said, we have nothing to fear but fear itself!"

Famous last words.