I still wonder, Why they lied.

Hi again, it's me Kevin. I seen a recent video on D-tube saying that if you have writers block then write personal stories, so here it goes.

I was never like the other kids. At fifteen most kids my age were hanging out at different clubs in town , sagging their pants, and doing drugs. I was working, I worked for my father in two different jobs. During the day I hauled scrap metal in our old beat up ford f-150, and at night I stripped and waxed floors. I enjoyed working hard and making money even more. I saved more of it then I spent, and when I did spend it, I would like to think I spent it well.

It was around this time I met my future wife (Michelle). She was like a rare drug to me, I found myself addicted to her laughter, her smile, and her mere presence. I started leaving school or skipping it all together to meet with Michelle.
You see, when I did go to school I was always too tired from working, and on more then one occasion I fell asleep during classes. So in order to spend more time with my girlfriend at the time I thought it best to skip school altogether.

Skipping school had caught up to me. The school had contacted the Children And Youth Services, and it was not long before I was placed in a court ordered school. It was not much different then any other school, smaller perhaps but otherwise the same. I was told that if I skipped going to this school I would be punished severely. I went every day, I found it tiresome, the classes were immensely boring and tiresome. I would spend my afternoons preparing scrap to be hauled the next day, and my nights cleaning more floors, all the while dreaming of Michelle.

It was not long before Michelle informed me that she was pregnant. I remember that moment well, I remember my heart fluttering as if it had been dead for years and this was its first shot at life. I wasted very little time in preparing for my upcoming child. As I continued school and work, I also made arrangements for our housing. My father owned a small piece of land and with his permission and agreement on rent I purchased a mobile home for my family and had it setup on the land. Oh it was beautiful, it had a tiny bar that divided the living room area from the kitchen, adorned with tiny stained glass lights. We had not yet moved into the trailer, although it was ready to live in. We agreed to wait for our child to be born. You see Michelle's mother did not like me and we agreed it would be easier for her to get to doctors appointments and school with her mother because of my busy schedule.

I continued my course, as steady as a boat in a mud puddle, my path was unwavering. I was determined to give the love of my life and my upcoming child a good steady home and life. I remember being in school when I got the call, Michelle was in labor. I never touched the stairs leading into the building as I leaped my way to the sidewalk and sprinted home.
When I had got there they said it would still be several hours and they directed me to Michelle's room. As I made my way into the room her mother was already there, she seared grin at me as I entered and said "I'm going to get a drink". Michelle was already on pain medication, she was very woozy and she giggled when she seen me covered in sweat and panting as I sat at the side of the bed.

Hours later we sat in Michelle's room waiting anxiously to see our son(Christian). I had only gotten to see him briefly. After Michelle had given birth they had handed him to her to hold for a short time, then they whisked him away. The wait was killing me and I could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.

The doctor came in within hours and explained to us that Christian had a noticeable heart murmur and a small hole in his heart. At the time of them explaining it I will be honest, I barely heard a word of what the doctor said. I was looking right at him you see, but my mind was racing with worry. He said it would be alright , the hole was small enough to heal itself and they just needed to keep Christian for several days to monitor him. Michelle would not leave the hospital until Christian was released, and I agreed to the same. The school I was attending allowed for absences with good reason as long as they were informed of them.

For days we sat in that room, they would occasionally bring Christian in and let us hold him, Michelle even fed him. Our hearts leaped to life every time he was brought into the room. I called the school every morning and Informed them that Christian was still being watched and I was still staying on the small chair next to the hospital bed. That chair would be my home until my son was released to me. On the fifth day they came in and told us that the hole was all but closed up and that it would be fine for us to go home with Christian. I remember The huge amount of pride I felt as we stood there in front of the hospital waiting for Michelle's mother to comer pick her and Christian up. Standing there with my future family, ready to take on the world.

After watching Michelle and Christian drive off, I made my way home. I was so sore from sleeping on the small chair for days, so tired from the constant worry. I remember falling asleep in my bedroom at my fathers house with a smile on my face and my head filled with an ideal future. There was a loud banging on the front door, I was still getting dressed for school when I heard it, I buckled my jeans and went to the door. When I opened the door I was surprised to see a Children and Youth Services worker standing there with a police officer. I was told that I had missed too many days of school consecutively(Five days), and I was to be taken into custody for it. I did not raise my voice or fight them off as I had thought of doing, but I told them where I had been and why I had missed those days. They did not care, and with no remorse they slipped the cuffs onto my wrists.

There was no placement facility near my home, The closest one was a three hours of driving on the freeway to reach it. They wasted no time in taking me there, before the day was through I was far away from my home, my Michelle, my son.
They let me call my father and explain to him where I was and what had happened, he told me that he had already been told, shortly after I arrived. He told me that I would have a court hearing within a week and that after they heard of my situation, I would be released. He told me just to be good and do what I was told until then. I did what he asked and obeyed the staff members of the facility to the letter.

The day of the court hearing had come, I felt robbed, I had just become a father, I had just had my joys stripped from me and kept from my family and my work for a week. I had an attorney appointed for me, though I did not think I needed one for I had done nothing wrong. The judge sat there with little to no emotion on his face as I told him my story and I thought that might have been good, at least he would be fair and just. It was when They called in the other person that I was taken aback. It was the same lady who had shown up at my door with the police, the same lady who had me taken away. She approached the bench and told the judge how I had missed those five days because I was in the hospital, and I was glad she seemed to be on my side. It was then she said that the school "had no excuses from me,and did not know where I had been those five days". My jaw dropped, I made a phone call every morning to the school, I talked to them every day, I told them where i was!!. Liar I yelled, I did what I was supposed to do, I let them know!. She then proceeded to tell the judge of how I often slept in my old school and had skipped occasionally. It was then the judge declared his verdict, I would remain in placement until i could obtain a G.E.D, so as to no longer be required to attend school. The cuffs were again placed on my wrist. I shuddered and felt weak in the knees as I watched Michelle burst into tears.

Upon returning to the placement facility I vowed to make quick work of their demands. I spoke with the education directer and he said that I would need to take a pretest, to determine what areas of the schooling I would need to study to obtain my G.E.D. I took the pretest the very next day, and after returning it to the teacher was informed that he would work quickly on getting the results back, and I would know by the morrow. They allowed me to make a phone call, I called Michelle. I tired my best to assure her that I would not be long, I would work as hard as possible to return to her within days. The next day I met with the teacher and he had told me great news, I had passed every subject with ease and that if given the G.E.D test I would easily pass it as well. But there was a problem. Since I was under the age of eighteen I could not by law take the test. I would first have to apply for a court order. I called The case worker that they had given me and informed her of the situation(The same Services Worker who had me arrested). She informed me that she would speak to the judge and get the court order.

It had been three months, I called the office of the caseworker they had given me and would always be told that she was unreachable at the time of my calling. They had taken me to court again for a hearing to evaluate my efforts. I informed the judge of everything I had done and after hearing my story he asked the caseworker why she had not asked him for the court order as of yet. "I have been very busy your honor, and I just haven't had the time". The judge did seem angry as he told the woman that he would give her the order I needed and told her to make haste with getting them to the proper people.

It was now five months, every phone call with Michelle was a stab in the heart. To hear her crying how she missed me, to hear of christian growing, it was then I first thought of death. I thought of how it would end my pain. As I walked, lost and mindless doing everything as perfectly as I could, hoping for it all to just end, I was finally brought good news. The teacher at the facility was given the court order and I could take the test. Within days the test was done and I waited patiently for the results, they told me that the results could take up to two weeks, but this did not wave me. What were two weeks after five and a half months. It was time again for another hearing to see my progress. The judge now furious raised his voice loudly as he shouted at the caseworker for taking so long in releasing the court order to the teacher. The judge seeing my suffering so clearly on my face made a ruling, whether or not I passed the test and obtained my G.E.D, I would be released on my seventeenth birthday. I was shocked, I understood that he was trying to good in his guaranteeing my release, but in so doing just handed me over three more months.

I had gotten the G.E.D results just days later. I passed within the ninety fifth percentile. Part of me should have been happy, I should have been proud. I felt nothing, my ability to smile, to laugh had been stolen from me. For the remainder of my time I walked the halls as emotionless as the very bricks that made them. After a total of nine months I was released, on the day of my seventeenth birthday. I rode home with my father, who had told me several things that I was kept aware of inside. He had let family members who had been struck with hard times, take dwelling in my home. Since Michelle would not stay there with out me it seemed the right thing to do at the time. The family members had destroyed the place, broken windows, holes in the walls, human fecal matter left on the floors. They claimed it was not them, and that others must have been to the property after they left, but either way my home was ruined. Michelle and my father hand come to the agreement that it was too much work to repair. They burned it down and had the remaining pieces of metal framing scrapped. He handed me just over one hundred dollars, the price of my perfect future.

p.s. The staff members at the juvenile facility where I was placed were very nice. I hated the place itself, but not the people. I am now 34 years old, Michelle and I are still together and we now have 4 children. To this very day I cannot fathom why the school had lied about not knowing where I was, what reasons they had for it. And I wonder as to why the caseworker who had me arrested for those days so shortly after them had been so slowly on correcting her mistakes.
I missed the first nine months of my sons life, I missed him crawling, I missed him mumbling, all from a lie.