Badly Taught Boy (Part 4)

Upstairs in his bedroom, Kieran, again using the advantage of his hypnotherapy, took the clothes he had out of the shopping bag and began to sort out all the pieces into the chest of drawers.  But he left out one pair of jeans, the green T-shirt, and the icy blue trainers.  After everything else was put away, Kieran undressed himself of the clothes he was lent by me, and got himself changed into his chosen clothes with a clean pair of socks and underpants as well.

Once he was fully dressed, he tapped his toes on the floor, picked up the other clothes, and went downstairs with them.

Kieran put the borrowed clothes in the laundry basket in the kitchen, and then walked into the living room to join me.  I turned to Kieran as he sat himself down on the sofa beside me, looking immediately at his new attire.

“Wow, look at the change in you Kieran!”

“You like it?”

“I do.  Is it comfortable for you?”

“Absolutely.  For once in my life, I don’t have to wear hand me down clothes.”

We both hugged each other warmly.  I rubbed Kieran’s back to make him feel even more warm and comfortable.

“Thanks to you Christian, I feel so much more welcomed into this world.”

“I know you do.  I’m so happy that you’re happy.”

Kieran felt so warm that he almost couldn’t let go of me.  But he did eventually.

“I think you were so well behaved this morning Kieran.”

“Thank you.”

“Have you ever played a videogame before?”

“Yes I have.  My parents always told me to play some of the most explicit games on the market such as Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty: Black Ops.  Anything along those lines.”

“So Shooters, Fighters and Crime.  Not that I’m surprised, considering that fact the wrongest games in humanity are also the biggest sellers in the market.  Well if that’s what all humanity is forced to condone, call me an alien.”

“I take it then you’ve never played games like that?”

“I have played some, but I’ve never enjoyed them.  There won’t ever be games like that in my house and nobody will ever be allowed to tell me otherwise.”

“So what do you have then?”

I stood up from the sofa and went over to my bookshelf, where all of my games were stored.  There was not a single shooting, fighting or crime game to found in my collection.  Unless you counted Super Smash Bros, which to me was not an explicit fighter, and was as close as I was ever going to get to it.  But I picked out a more light entertaining game, and suggested it to Kieran.

“How about a round of Wii Party on the Wii U?”

“You’ll have to teach me how to play then.”

“No worries young man.  If you know how to play explicit video games, it shouldn’t be rocket science to learn how to play those that are not.”

I loaded up the game, and picked up the Wii U gamepad and two Wii Remotes, passing one of the latter to Kieran.  Kieran and I began playing ‘Spin Off’, in which four players spun the wheel to earn points and play mini-games to earn bonuses.  As each Mini-Game came up, I showed Kieran the rules to each one and allowed him to have a practice, so that he could understand how they were played.

The whole game went on for about 40 minutes, and at the end, Kieran came in a close second place to myself, scoring nearly 33834 tokens, while I scored 36197.  And as we had the two computer players on the easiest difficulty for Kieran’s sake, they scored pitifully with only 5000 between them.  After the game was over, Kieran looked at me.

“That was too easy.  I’d like another round please.”

“By all means.  We’ve got all the time in the world to have a few rounds more if you like.”

“Bring it on!”

Over the remainder of the morning, Kieran and I played a few more rounds of Wii Party.  We did another round of Spin Off, only this time we raised the difficulty level of the computer opponents to advanced, as Kieran thought he would be able to handle it.  The second time around, Kieran won by a landslide, after winning numerous mini-games with massive jackpots to be won, and I was for the chop that time, coming in a close last.  After this, we had one round at the Globe-Trot game, which Kieran won.  This was followed by a round of Bingo, which was won by me.  This meant two rounds were won by Kieran and two rounds were won by me.  Kieran was really pleased to have been able to play a game that was not explicit and full of adult content.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to play such a fantastic game in my life.”

“Did you enjoy all that?”

“I certainly did Christian, thank you so much.”

I looked at the clock on the wall.  The time was reading 12:20PM, much past my usual lunchtime.  Kieran’s stomach started gurgling as he put his hand to it.

“All that playing has made me hungry.”

Now my stomach started rumbling too.

“Same with me Kieran.  Would you like to help me prepare lunch?”

“Sure.”

Kieran and I stood up from the sofa and headed into the kitchen.  I told Kieran where the cutlery and crockery was located, unto which he then proceeded to set out the breakfast bar.  I myself started to get out the food which I set out on the breakfast bar.  I set out some potato crisps, bread, biscuits, spreads and salads.  Once everything was set out, Kieran and I sat down and tucked in.

~ ~ ~

After we had finished our lunch, Kieran and I cleared the table, and headed back into the living room together.  But just as we were about to sit ourselves down and play some more games together, the doorbell rang.

“Who’s that?”  Kieran asked.

“I’ll get it.”

Kieran sat down while went to the front door and answered it.  When I opened the door, I was greeted by polite handshakes from two LDS church elders, whose last names were Harvey and Harrison, both of whom were American elders.

“Hello Christian.”  Greeted Elder Harvey.

“Hello, how are you doing Gentlemen?”

“We’re doing fine Christian.”  Answered Elder Harrison.

“Mind if we come in for a chat?”

“Certainly.”

Both men wiped their feet and took off their shoes and bike helmets as they came in.  As I closed the door behind them, the elders removed their backpacks and walked into the living room.  Kieran looked up at the Elders as I followed them in.  The Elders greeted first.

“Heya Buddy, how are you?”  Asked Elder Harrison to Kieran.

“I’m fine.”

Kieran reluctantly shook hands with the elders as he was told not to trust people he’d never met before.

“Oh, I haven’t introduced you to my new resident yet have I?  This is Kieran.”

“Hi Kieran.”  Greeted Elder Harvey.

“Hello Sir.”

I got two spare chairs out of the corner of the living room as I didn’t have another sofa, and set them out so that the Elders could be seated.  As I sat down, The elders opened their backpacks and each brought out their copy of ‘The Book of Mormon’.

“So how have you been Christian?”

“I haven’t felt better since I’ve been looking after my new companion here.”

“And how did you come around to finding him?”

“It’s a long story.  Kieran was separated from his parents by social services because they were treating him as appalling as appalling got.  He and I could go on for hours about how much of a badly taught boy he was.”

“Then how is he so calm with us?”

“When he was placed in the orphanage, he was placed on an emergency list for adoption, and given hypnotherapy to help him get over the horrors and wrongdoings he had faced.  He came to me with torn clothes, and I provided him some to see him through the night.  Just this morning we went clothes shopping for him, so that he had clothes of his own to wear, and plenty of them too.”

“And you were able to afford it?”

“I had to be able to afford it.  I was not prepared to leave a victimised boy to suffer in poverty and appalling conditions like this.  And I always wanted a child of my own, but I wasn’t willing to find a marriage partner as you both know.  So I answered to Kieran’s condition immediately, being the good samaritan that I am.”

“Then if we see Kieran at church with you tomorrow, we’ll organise donations of extra clothes and goods for Kieran.  No need for you to spend money you don’t have.”

The Elders then spoke to Kieran.

“So Kieran.  What do you know about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?”

“I know nothing.”

“Have you ever heard of us before?”

“No.”

“Have you ever had a religion before?”

“I was brought up as an atheist.  I was told that God was forbidden to exist; not just in my life, but in everybody who was anybody on the planet.”

“You were told that nobody in the world was allowed to believe in Christ?”

“That’s correct.”

“But did you believe in Christ anyway, despite what your parents told you?”

“I wanted to, but I was never given the chance.  My parents never let me out their sight for even a split second.  They wanted to make absolutely sure that I wasn’t doing anything behind their back.”

“Unbelieveable.”

~ ~ ~

The conversation between Kieran, The Elders and myself continued for over an hour.  During that time, The Elders educated Kieran about the Latter Day Saint movement, and got to know him better as a person, including the appalling conditions in which he was brought up.  They taught him what it was like to pray to The Lord Christ, and the many ways in which it could be done and when.  We had ended the conversation with a prayer to the lord as a group, but before the elders were seen out, they asked Kieran.

“Do you think we’ll see you at Church Tomorrow?”

“I sure will be there, no thanks to your words of encouragement.”

“Lovely.  So we shall see you tomorrow then.”

“You will indeed.”

Kieran and I shook hands with the Elders, and I showed them out.  When they left, I walked back into the living room and rejoined Kieran.  I was proud of the way that Kieran had taken this situation, talking to people that he didn’t know.

“That was very well done Kieran, speaking to the Elders in the manner that you did.  Good on you to accept what they were saying about the Mormon church.”

“I’m glad to be learning about The lord Jesus Christ.  Something I’ve always wanted to do in my entire life.”

“Did you always want to join The Mormon Church, or did you have another religion in mind?”

“Like I said before, I never had the chance to make my mind up about my desired beliefs.  Any religion would have favoured over being refused the right to believe in God.”

“Did you ever feel that Christ was with you even though you were being told to believe in him?  Be honest with me.”

Kieran pondered for a while.  He started getting watery eyes at the thought that God was forbidden to be with him.

“I really wish that he was with me.  I had every right to believe in him if I wanted to.”

“And every right you only ever will have, now that you’re away from those disgusting people you were forced to call good parents.”

Kieran buried his face in my chest as he started crying his eyes out.  I rubbed his back to try and calm him down.

“You’ve probably never cried in your life before, have you?”

“Never like this.  I’ve never felt more welcomed into the world than this.”

“It’s okay to cry about your worries.  It helps you to clear your mind of your worries.”

Kieran kept on crying for at least another five minutes before the waterworks began to die down.  He had so many worries that he wanted to clear his mind of, not that I was surprised.

But regardless of the worries that he was facing, I felt he had done so well that he deserved an extra special treat for the good behaviour that he was showing.  So I told him what I was thinking of.

“Hey Kieran.  I can probably guess what the answer is to my next question but, did your parents ever treat you out to places?  Maybe to a restaurant?”

Kieran wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up at me.

“I wish they did.”

I kept rubbing his back.

“Well I think that for the behaviour you’ve shown me, you deserve a meal out tonight.”

Kieran gulped.

“You’re not thinking of one of those Fast Food takeaways are you?”

“Certainly not.”  I answered firmly.  “As much as I enjoy them too, I wouldn’t depend of them like its life or death.  No, I’ve got something much better in mind.  Something much more grown up.”

As more tears tried to come out of Kieran’s eyes, he wiped them away too.

“What have you got in mind?”

I put my finger to my lips.

“It’s a secret.”

Kieran was used to secrets, albeit not in a good way.  But he knew that I wasn’t one to keep bad secrets, and gave me another heartwarming hug.

~ ~ ~

At 5PM, I pulled up in the car park outside The Harvester Restaurant.  Kieran and I got out of the car and walked into the building close beside one another.  There was nobody else in the queue waiting to be seated, so Kieran and I waited patiently by the reception.

As we stopped however, Kieran looked over at the bar behind us, and thought he had spotted his biological parents having a few to drink.  I looked down at him.

“Something wrong?”

“My parents are at the bar.”  Kieran said quietly.

Concerned for Kieran, I looked over my shoulder, and eyed the two that he was looking at.

They were both dressed in rank tracksuit bottoms, hoodies, and skate trainers.  The man was clean shaven and bald headed, and the woman had frizzy and knotted long lair.  They looked like two people that not even the police would want to touch with a barge pole.  Both of them were too busy enjoying their booze to even notice that their lost son was closer than they thought.  I quietly whispered to Kieran and I turned him away.

“Just don’t look at them.  Don’t make them suspicious.”

Seconds later, one of the waitresses greeted us.

“Good evening.”  She greeted.

“Table for two please.”  I answered.

She picked out two menus and then led us to an available table, passing us the menus and then asking us.

“Can I get you some drinks?”

I looked at Kieran.

“You like Pepsi?”

“Sure.”

“Two refill pepsi’s please.”

“Certainly.”

The waitress walked away as Kieran and I looked through the menu to decide what we were going to have.

“So you think that you saw your parents at the bar?”  I asked Kieran.

“It was them, I’m sure of it.”

“Did they drink on a regular basis when you grew up with them?”

“A few pints a night.  Every night when I went to bed, they always went down the pub to have a few to drink.  Or so I was told by Social Services the day I was placed in the orphanage.  There are thousands of things that I could tell you about them, but it would take me weeks to go through it all.”

As Kieran was telling me so many bad things about his parents, I felt the need to make it simple for him.  So I asked a simple question.

“Did they have evidence of the many things that your parents did to you?”

“One thing that I’ve always remembered about my parents is that they were very good at hiding and destroying evidence of many things.  The police were regular visitors to the house, but they rarely, if even at all, found anything that they wanted to know.”

“Your parents must have been far too good at acting innocent then?”

“Oh they were, that I assure you.  But I dread to think what they’re thinking even now.  And what would they think if they saw you helping me to become a well taught boy?”

“It’s not worth thinking about Kieran.  So don’t.  You need to wash your hands of the endless nightmares they’ve put you through, and forget they even existed.  If they want to see you again, in a bad way or a good way, let them do so.  But I will protect you with all of my heart, whatever they do.”

The waitress brought our drinks over to the table, and had the notebook and pen at the ready to take our orders.

“Are you both feeling well this evening?”

“Yes.”  Kieran answered.

I nodded my head.

“I’m Sandra and I’m going to be your waitress this evening.  Are you ready to place your orders?”

“I think we are, have you decided Kieran?”

“Yes.”

“You go first.”

“I’d like the...Gourmet Chicken Burger with Cheese and Bacon please.”

“Any sauces with that?”

Kieran looked at the sauces available and made his decision.

“Could I get some BBQ sauce with it?”

“You sure can.”

I then made my order.

“I’d like the fish and chips please.  But no peas or tartare sauce.”

“So just the fish and chips without anything else?”

“Yes please.”

“OK.”

Sandra took the menus back from us.

“Help yourself to salad whenever you wish.”

“Thank you.”

~ ~ ~

Over the course of the next hour and a half, Kieran and I savoured our meals, salads and drinks.  While were were waiting between courses, Kieran took regular opportunities to explain to me as much as he could about the way his parents brought him up.  Seeing their faces in the bar had somehow jogged Kieran’s memory, which allowed me to learn more about his past.  As we left to head home, the parents were seated at the nearest table to the door.  They looked up at us as we passed by, but we didn’t notice.

When we headed out of the door, they started speaking to one another about what they just saw.

“That was him wasn’t it?”  The woman asked first.

“That was what love?”  The man asked.

“Our son.  Kieran.  The one we lost.”

“To social services?”

The missus nodded.

“How did he look so calm as he passed by?  Did he not recognise us?”

“I jolly well hope he did.  I’ll do anything to get him back.”

“Me too.”

The man and woman looked out of the window at my car as Kieran and I got in.  When I started the engine, the man got out a pen and took down my car registration number.  Even though I didn’t know he was doing this, I couldn’t pretend to know why he might have been doing it.

“Got his number.  We can use that to find out who he is.”

“Good plan.  We can find out about Kieran’s new carer and get him back somehow.”

~ ~ ~

Back home that evening, after Kieran had had a shower, he got himself changed into the blue striped pyjamas that had been bought for him by my good self.  But because he didn’t have any slippers unlike I did, I asked him to put on the icy blue trainers instead.  As he was used to not wearing socks with his trainers for so long, it now didn’t bother him, and that’s just what he did.

With his towel slung over his shoulders, he came out of the bathroom, put the towel on the radiator to dry, and then joined me on the sofa, where I was setting up a game of Sonic and all stars racing transformed.

“Had a nice shower Kieran?”

“I certainly did.  Helped me to get over the anxiety with seeing my parents.”

“Yes.  I remember you felt very anxious when you saw them.  I couldn’t pretend to know why.”

“Do you feel that they may have been planning something to get me back by force?”

I immediately entered deep thought.

“I should certainly hope not.  When I took you in from the orphanage, I was told that the parents were forbidden to have any contact with you.  So if they come anywhere near me or you, I’ll make sure that they face the consequences.”

Kieran and I hugged one another warmly.

“Anyway, I’m setting up a game of Sonic and all stars racing transformed.  Would you care to join me?”

“Sure.”

Kieran picked up a pro controller, and began to play some races with me throughout what remained of the evening.

...To Be Continued...