Page 20 of A New Chapter
“Well…” He sighed. “It wasn’t ‘work’ like I had to earn a living. It was helping her out, and it was fun. I liked what I did down there, and she encouraged my artistic side. She taught me about ceramics and art and everything involved with it. I loved doing it—it was like a hobby. I’m not going to ‘make’ you work down there. If youwantto help out around your studies, and want to learn more about it, sure, I’d love to teach you all of that. I’m sure Aunt Roberta and the grannies would adore teaching you stuff, too.”
Rom started getting their breakfast ready while the brothers talked. He noticed Clayton held one of the pictures of Colton as a baby.
“Did they say anything when they signed the papers?” Clayton asked.
Colton sighed. “Not really, no. Once Ross told them they didn’t have to pay any attorney fees, they signed the papers. He threatened to get them arrested for throwing you out, and that motivated them to sign and get rid of us.”
“How many eggs you want, Clayton?” Rom wasn’t about to send the poor kid to school hungry.
“I…I…” Rom turned and spotted him rubbing at his eyes.
Colton patted him on the shoulder and met Rom’s gaze. “Buddy, if you’re hungry,sayso.”
“Can I have three, please?”
“Sure. Scrambled okay?”
“Yes, please. Thank you.”
Rom bit his tongue not to swear up a storm at Clayton’s parents.
Within an hour, they were heading to the school even earlier than they’d planned, which was fine. It meant more time to get things done.
After parking and finding the office, they stood in line at the administration desk and finally got to speak with a very harried-looking receptionist who, after hearing the basics, waved them to chairs and told them to wait.
Rom heard a bell ring, and through the office windows noticed students starting to pick up their pace. Within fifteen minutes, the halls were clear by the time another bell rang, and a different woman walked out to shake hands with them.
“Sorry for the wait. I’m Lisa Ayers, the guidance counselor. They’ve got me doing triple duty this week, because our staff got hit by the flu bug. Follow me, please.”
The three of them followed her to her office, where behind a closed door Rom took point explaining the full details of the situation to her.
Halfway through Rom telling the story, Clayton broke down crying where he sat between Rom and Colton.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” she said, but she looked as angry as Rom felt over it. “We’ll get you situated, okay?”
Clayton nodded and blew his nose in a tissue Colton snagged for him from a box of them on her desk.
“So, first off,” she said, “let me see what you have for him for paperwork.”
Rom handed everything over for her to look at.
“Okay,” she said after examining everything, “we can start here. But do you have his vaccination records?”
“Just what’s there.”
“He’ll either need his records, or you’ll need to get him vaccinated before he can attend. Most clinics will do it as a walk-in. That way, he can start classes tomorrow. I have a list of what you’ll need.”
“I’ll call my sister-in-law and see who she uses,” Rom said. “Her sons are twelve and fourteen.”
“Excellent. Meanwhile, I’ll need you to fill out these forms for me for him…”
Two hours later, Clayton was enrolled, had a photo ID badge, an assigned locker, a paid lunch account for the month, Rom and Clayton had a folder full of paperwork, a computer login for the parent portal, and Clayton had a full schedule of classes, a list of school supplies to go with it, and she’d taken them all on a quick tour of the campus so he’d know where he’d need to go tomorrow.
But before Clayton could start classes, he needed to see a doctor and get a physical and shots.
They’d just returned to the car, and Rom was going to call Ina, when his phone rang from Ed.
“Hold up, guys.” He answered. “Please have good news for me.”
