“Good-bye, Mr. G.!”
Gabe turns as he’s folding the flag and walks toward Maddie, who’s waiting for the van for Glory’s Place. “Hey! You’re first in line for the van today!”
“I decided to wait until I got to Glory’s Place to go to the bathroom.” He finishes folding the flag and puts it under his arm. She notices something on his arm and says, “I have a bracelet like that!”
He looks down at his corded bracelet of black, brown, and red on his arm and touches it. “We have the same great taste!”
“Miss Jenson gave this to me. She said that a cord of three can’t be broken.”
He nods, impressed. “That’s right!”
“It looks like you and Miss Jenson already have things in common,” she says, grinning and raising her eyebrows up and down.
He chuckles. “I think this is a pretty common bracelet.”
“Where’d you get yours?”
He shrugs. “At an arts festival in California. I’ve had it for years. I don’t know why I decided to put it on today.”
“Miss Jenson got hers at the flea market.”
“She probably paid less at the flea market. Those colors are really pretty on you.”
She reaches out to touch his bracelet. “I really like yours.”
“Then why don’t you have it?” He begins to take off the bracelet.
“Really?”
He slides it over her hand. “Absolutely! Two of them will look awesome together. If I want another one I’ll go to the flea market this time.”
Maddie grins. “Maybe you’ll see Miss Jenson there.” She straightens her shoulders. “Wait! You have to come to the fund-raiser. She’ll be helping out and she said that if you’re there that she’d say hello.” He begins to shake his head. “Please come! We are going to be singing and everything.”
He sighs in resignation. “How can I say no to singing and everything?”
As the van pulls in to the school driveway, Maddie throws her arms around Gabe’s waist. “It’s Saturday afternoon, okay?”
He helps her into the van and watches as it pulls away. Before he was married, Gabe always thought he wanted three or four children, but as alcohol gained its control, life became increasingly more about him. By the time he was married he had little interest in children. Life was a party and children would bring an end to that. His wife wanted kids but he always had the best of excuses: they needed more money, a better place to live, better health insurance, or more time together. The last excuse is laughable now as the more time they spent together, the more he tore them apart. He walks back into the school and through the empty halls to the maintenance office, placing the flag on its shelf. God saved him from destroying himself and this job has kept him busy, his thoughts and time occupied with others and not just himself.
He’s tried dating a few times over the last six years but the women have never measured up to his ex-wife. She was kind and beautiful and would laugh at even his dumbest jokes. He dreads meeting Maddie’s Miss Jenson but he will do it in order to see the joy on Maddie’s face. Although he enjoys all of the children at school, there’s something about Maddie that stays with him after he locks the doors each evening. He grabs his tool belt and bucket of tools and heads toward the gymnasium. One of the risers was unable to be pulled out for the school assembly today and needs his attention.
Bent over his work, he wonders what he could do for Maddie and other kids like her. Although his dad wasn’t perfect, he always showed Gabe the value of hard work and being a man of your word. He showed him how to be a man, and when Gabe’s life fell off the rails, he always remembered his dad’s words and example. What about the kids who don’t know what that’s like? He’s heard rumblings of a mentoring program but knows little about it. Maybe there’s room for someone like him to help? He jumps when he hears his name. “I’m sorry, Gabe,” Mrs. Kurtz says. “I took a shortcut through the gym. I was trying to let you know I was behind you so that I didn’t scare you but ended up doing that very thing.”
“No worries. See you tomorrow, Mrs. Kurtz.” For reasons he can’t explain, and before there is any time to think of something else, he says, “Mrs. Kurtz?” Her hand is on the door as she turns to him. “I’ve been thinking…” She’s looking at him, waiting, but he doesn’t know how to put the words together. “I don’t know.”
She walks over to him and smiles. “What is it, Gabe?”
He turns the wrench over in his hands, looking down at it. “There are a lot of great kids here but…”
“Did one of mine do something? It’s okay, you can let me know and I’ll take care of it.”
He shakes his head. “No. Nothing like that. I know it sounds strange but … I’ve heard about a mentoring program after school and was wondering if you know anything about it. I know there’s lots of kids who could … I mean, I know I’m not the best example of—”
She cuts him off. “You would be a wonderful influence on so many of them! Mr. Parrish organizes that. I don’t know much about it but I know that he tries to get some kids together with men once a week. The problem is he doesn’t have enough men.” She smiles. “He’ll be so happy to know you’re interested.”
Mrs. Kurtz leaves the gym and he turns back to his work. He stands, thinking, wondering if he’d be any good at something like this. He turns the wrench over and over in his hands before setting it down on the riser and heading for the main office. “Is Mr. Parrish still in?” he asks Mrs. Kemper.
“He’s in his office. Do you need him?”
Gabe rests his hands on top of the counter. “I just wanted to ask him a quick question if he’s around.”
Mrs. Kemper shrugs. “You can head back there and see if he’s available.”
“Thanks,” Gabe says, walking through the office to the hallway where the principal, school nurse, bookkeeper, and Vice Principal Parrish have their offices. Rick Parrish looks to be in his late forties and has been at Grandon Elementary for twenty years, serving the last eleven years as vice principal. Gabe sees that his office door is open and sticks his head inside. Mr. Parrish is working on his computer. “Mr. Parrish? Do you have a minute?”
“Sure, Gabe! What’s up?”
Gabe sits in a chair opposite the desk, leaning forward on his knees. “I was just talking to Mrs. Kurtz and she said that you organize a mentoring program and I was wondering if you could tell me about it.”
Mr. Parrish’s face opens in surprise. “Absolutely! I try to pair a man from the community with a child from the school who currently lives in a home without a dad. We just get together once a week as a group and do things like bowling, go for pizza, or to a sporting event that’s in season; sometimes we do a project. Ed came from the hardware store and instructed us on how to make a wooden airplane. Another time we made a simple boat together. Sometimes we’ll just shoot baskets or play games. We discovered that it doesn’t really matter what we do. The kids just like to get together.” He props his elbows on top of his desk. “Could you help us?”
Gabe nods. “Yeah. I think so.”
“Well, you’ve already gone through all the background checks so if you’re interested you can join us tomorrow evening. We’re meeting here at six for pizza and then someone’s going to help us make a wreath for each child’s front door.”
“I’ll be here.”
Mr. Parrish leans back in his chair. “Just curious. What is it that brought you to me?”
Gabe shakes his head. “Maddie was telling me this week about her report on Florence Nightingale in Mrs. Kurtz’s class. She said that if she dressed nice, she’d get extra points for her presentation, but she wasn’t sure if what she wore was nice enough. I told her she looked perfect, and, I don’t know why, but I’ve just been thinking of her and so many of these kids who don’t…” He stops, thinking. “I know I’m not a dad but these kids need to hear that they’re smart and awesome. Maybe I can help them believe that.”
Gabe leaves the office unsure of what he’s gotten himself into but there’s no turning back now.