Inspiration 27

http://goo.gl/1eLv66

Ephesians 6:1 & 4 

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth...

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

I recently was blessed with my first grandchild. I told my son that once he held his daughter, his world would never be the same. He would do whatever it takes to care for that child. I know how much he clouded my world! And then I had four more, and sometimes I don't see anything but clouds. When my child hurts, I am devastated. 

What does fatherhood do to characters in Whatever It Takes?

7

Fatherhood

Derrick McAlpin tossed and turned as his reoccurring nightmare came to his tired mind. The baby cried and cried. Nothing he tried would make the baby stop. The child's mother lay dead in a pool of blood. He could not bring her back, and still the baby wailed.

Suddenly, the child was ripped from his grasp as the baby's grandfather snarled, "Give the little bastard here. I'll make sure he at least grows up right. How could you disgrace your family like this? He will never know you're his father." Then, the grandfather hit Derrick so hard he fell to the ground, unable to move or function.

Derrick sat bolt upright in bed and held his chest as it felt his heart would burst. Dawn streaked the sky, and he was glad to be awake. He would rather fight fatigue from lack of sleep than to endure the torture of that nightmare night after night. He got up, swallowed one bar of Xanax, and went to work early.

Courtney LaFontaine rubbed her taut abdomen and looked at her bloated feet during the first week of May as she got ready for state testing of the students, her least favorite part of her job. She was due the first week of June but didn't think she would last another month...

Although doubting she'd make another full month, she did not expect the unexpected. As she reached for one of the top boxes, she doubled over in pain as a contraction hit with a vengeance. A second, almost immediate, brought her to her knees. "No," she muttered, feeling the warm sticky ooze of blood trickling down her leg.

Courtney tried to get her phone from her pocket, but the pain was excruciating. She fumbled the device and couldn't seem to wrap her fingers around it. She heard a noise in the hallway and thought it must be the cleaning crew still in the building. "Help!" she screamed with all the energy she could muster.

There was no response. "Help!" Courtney screamed again.

Scott peeked in the teachers' lounge. "Mrs. LaFontaine, what's wrong?"

A student? I don't care. I'll take anyone. "Help me," she begged. "Dial 9-1-1."

Scott came to Courtney and saw the blood. "Stay calm." He held up a stiff hand. Scott snatched the phone in the lounge. "Do I dial 9 to get an outside line?"

"Yes."

Dialing 9-1-1, he spoke over the responder. "This is Scott Ball a student at Eau Boueuse High. Our counselor, Mrs. LaFontaine, is in labor and having serious complications. Send an ambulance ASAP. The back door is still unlocked."

"Thank you," breathed Courtney as Scott sat beside her...

 Tears on her face, Courtney grasped Scott's hand. "Scott, I'm scared. I don't wanna lose my baby." 

"We won't let that happen," Scott comforted Courtney. Biting the inside of his cheek and swallowing hard, he removed Courtney's undergarments. "Oh, God!" he choked.

"What?" she asked.

"It appears you might be suffering from placenta previa. That's when the placenta is covering the cervix. It's not good. Wasn't it diagnosed?"

"No." She moaned with another contraction.

"That ambulance needs to get here, and you need a C-section immediately."

"Are you sure you're only seventeen?" asked Courtney.

"Not right this minute." Shit, shit, shit.

Both heard the door open. "Here!" yelled Scott. "We're in the teachers' lounge."

EMT's rushed in. After a cursory exam, they loaded Courtney into the ambulance. Courtney handed Scott her phone from the pocket on her smock. "Call my husband, please. It's under 'Kyle.'"

Scott dialed the number as the ambulance squealed away. Kyle answered, "Hey, baby."

"Mr. LaFontaine, this is Scott Ball, a student at Eau Boueuse High. EMT's just took your wife to the hospital. She's having the baby now."

Kyle did not even hang up. He rushed to the hospital.

Scott held the phone. What do I do now? Cherie...

Scott arrived at the hospital to find the entire Reynolds family, plus the entire Gautier family that lived in Eau Boueuse. The LaFontaine (Blackwell) family was on their way from Baton Rouge. Larkin saw the boy and asked, "What were you doing at school?"

Trying to find evidence and build a case so I can get away from this town. "I forgot my sneakers," answered Scott through gritted teeth. He took a step back from the principal. "The back door wasn't locked yet."

"I'm so glad," sniffled Larkin as she hugged him.

"How is she?" asked Scott, pushing from her embrace and frowning...

Scott tried to wait discreetly away from the family, but Cherie sat by him. She said, "Is this your way of buttering me up for ice cream?"

"No, but you should be grateful enough to have ice cream with me."

"Maybe if you buy."

"Did you break up with Justin?"

"No."

"Isn't that cheating?"

She wrinkled her nose. "We're not engaged."

"Sounds like trouble in paradise."

Cherie pushed up a bit on her hands and kicked her feet back and forth like a child. "Honestly, Justin is boring."

"Not a good kisser?"

"Adequate."

Scott laughed. "Maybe he just needs practice."

"Do you?"

Scott raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Little girl, you'll never know."

Kyle bounced into the waiting area. "It's a boy!" He grinned like the Cheshire Cat. "They're both fine. Courtney was lucky someone was around or they both could have died."

Outside, Scott dry-heaved near his motorcycle. His stomach was in knots. "My, God!" he said to himself. "What a family!" He laughed. "Derrick, I hate to burst your bubble, but you won't break that family. When will you pull a stunt I can really nail you with?"

Once Scott heard rumbling snores from Darren where he had made the boy a place to sleep on the sofa, he tiptoed into Frank's room. "You awake?"

"Yeah. I heard."

"What can we do?"

"About the child abuse?"

"Yeah."

"Nothing. It would blow your cover out of the water."

Scott sighed deeply. "Darren's a good kid. He needs somebody to help him."

"Then stick to the plan. Put the assholes in jail." Frank sat on the side of his bed. "Scott, compartmentalize, or you'll go nuts."

"Sometimes it's hard."

"I know it is. Talk to me when you need to." He lay back down. "Now get some sleep. We'll look after the kid for the weekend. And I want to know more about Shotz and his little demon spawn."

So! The old doorkeeper is Danté McAlpin. The thought scared Scott for some reason. He looked ancient, and his equipment was outdated and dangerous. When the old man started the machinery, the temperature in the already cold room plummeted. Scott shivered. The bald eagle was going over Lucas's heart. Lucas Shotz? Where is his father? Conspicuously missing. Has Derrick become suspicious of the cop, and is he now using Lucas as leverage?" Scott's mind raced.

After the poorly done tattoo, those present applauded. Derrick spoke again. "It's time to finish the list and take a few steps back and watch. Gautier and Gautier is about to experience some difficulty. Lucas and his entourage will take care of it."

Ah. Scott half smiled, half frowned. I've fallen from grace, too...

Scott started out the door. "Scott!" Derrick stopped him.

"Yeah?" Scott snapped.

"Oh, don't get your feelings hurt." Derrick clapped him on the shoulder. "Lucas can handle a little vandalism. I need you for something more important."

"What?"

"Not here. Meet at the Waffle House."

Scott parked and looked around. The place was almost deserted. He cautiously entered the eating establishment, surveying the occupants. Derrick was not there, but Scott took a seat and ordered a peanut-butter-chocolate-chip waffle and milk, the closest thing he could get to his mother's brownies. Before his food arrived, Derrick sat across from him.

"Whatcha eatin'?" he asked Scott.

"Peanut-butter-chocolate-chip waffle and milk."

"Sounds good." The same little black waitress brought Scott's comfort food. "Bring me one." Derrick gave the girl a smile.

"Yes, sir."

Scott forked a mouthful and asked around the bite, "What could be more important than our cause?"

"Impatient cow! Just teasing. Darren is more important than the cause."

"You beat the shit out of him, so I don't understand."

"You'd like to take a swing at me." Derrick gave Scott a lopsided grin. "I'm making the right choice."

Let's get down to business. I want you to be my brother's keeper. Keep him out of trouble, keep him away from The Bald Eagles, and keep him away from Lucas Shits!"

Though still angry about the bruises on Darren, Scott snickered at what Derrick called Lucas. "Why?" he asked.

"Don't laugh. I can't stand the little shit. He's worse than his daddy."

"He was absent tonight."

"Had to be detective tonight. Murder in the slums. I love the fact that he missed Lucas's big moment. That's why I called the meeting tonight."

"You really don't like Shotz, do you?"

"Hell, no!" Derrick ate some more, so Scott followed suit. "Now about Darren. I want him to have a future. I know you must've noticed that Darren has a darker complexion than I do although he looks a lot like me."

"Yeah. So? Cajuns tend to have Mediterranean complexions."

"True, but that's not why. I know you've heard the rumors that I had a fling with a black woman while I was at Texas A & M. Not true. She was Mexican. The girl's name was Sarai. Her brothers were involved in illegal drugs. They weren't happy about her being with a white boy. So, you see, whites are not the only ones who have prejudices." He ate another bite before continuing. "We had a baby, and, no, we weren't married. We were living together. Scott, I was raised to hate anyone not white, so you can imagine how my relationship with a Mexican was received. The thing is, Sarai was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I loved her. My dad broke my jaw and three of my ribs. Still, I planned to stay in Texas. To Hell with the old goat! My kid, my woman, that's all that mattered to me anymore. Three days after she got out of the hospital, her brothers' gang did a drive-by as I was pulling up to our apartment. I was late because of an accident. They were trying to kill me. I know that." He pushed his plate back and struggled to control his voice. After a long pause, he went on. "Sarai died trying to shield the baby. Yeah, the baby had a bullet tear through his upper right shoulder. I let them believe the baby died, too, and came home. I finished my degree at Southeastern Louisiana."

Scott's eyes widened. Oh, my God.

He's figured it out. Derrick sat back and looked the man across the table in the eye. "Scott. Darren is my son. I love him so much. I would do anything for him. I am." Derrick brushed tears from his cheeks. He downed the glass of milk he had before he said another word. 

Cover by Christopher Chambers.

Happy Father's Day to Kyle & Derrick.