The Summer of My Discontent
Summer 2022
It had been a normal day in the sleepy town of Gunther for Officer Martin Morris. The sun was shining bright but his sunglasses not only kept him looking good but protected his eyes from the daily summer glare of the hot east Tennessee sun. While he had the luxury of staying in his air-conditioned cruiser, he liked to get out and talk to the citizens in his small community. He stopped the cruiser next to the basketball courts at the city park as a group of young teens played a fierce game of three-on-three.
As he exited the cruiser, he tugged at the heavy vest trying to adjust the straps that he knew that he had gotten too tight. He decided it was easier to deal with the tightness than to have to make an attempt to re-dress for the day.
“It’s only ten hours,” he thought to himself.
He waved hello to the six teens playing ball, one of them acknowledged, throwing his hand up, missing the pass. Two of his teammates threw their hands in the air in disbelief and then waved at the officer that they had come accustomed to seeing on a daily basis.
“Want to shoot some hoops?” One of the young men asked.
“Too hot for me. You guys want some water?” He countered, motioning toward his cruiser.
“Yes!” They all yelled in unison.
The young men all stood around the officer drinking their bottles of water.
“Did you guys pass all your classes this year?” Martin asked.
“Tiny struggled but he passed by the skin of his teeth,” the tallest boy laughed, raising his hand to give the smallest guy a high five.
“That, I did!” He smiled, shaking his head.
“Skin of my teeth,” the officer repeated, “Do you know where that saying comes from?” He asked.
The young men groaned, “C’mon M and M, school’s out for the summer, we don’t need no school lesson,” Tyrone, the most athletic of the group, complained and smiled.
Martin smiled at the way the boys lovingly referred to him by his initials, MM.
“First of all, ‘don’t need no’ is a double negative, you should have learned that in school but as far as the other, ‘skin of your teeth’ that saying comes from the Bible.”
They all groaned, “even worse, a Sunday School lesson!” Marcus said with a huge grin.
Martin was used to the complaining from the group of kids but he knew that they were good kids and for the most part, only complained in jest.
“Do you know who Job is in the Bible?” He asked.
“My momma talks about Job, she said that God took everything away from him but that he never lost his faith and he honored God. She said that he was righteous!” John laughed, low fiving Marcus.
“Alright, someone is listening, if not in church at least to his momma,” the officer spoke with a smile.
The officer continued as the sweat from the boys began to dry while they listened to their friend.
“Job had lost everything but didn’t forsake God. His friends gave him bad advice, and even his wife gave him bad advice. When Job was describing what he had been through, he said that he had barely made it through his ordeal. By the skin of his teeth. Eventually, God showed everyone that faithfulness to Him does not mean that life is perfect and that a person can have trials, even severe trials. Eventually, Job was restored and everything in the end was better than it had been before,” the officer finished.
He was thankful that the boys had taken the time to listen but knew that their attention span was short, he had been a teenager once. He smiled as he thought of his days playing basketball with his buddies.
“You sure you don’t want to shoot some, Officer Martin?” They pleaded.
“Nah, I’m going to cool off in my nice air-conditioned ride,” he smiled at them.
They thanked him for the water and started to head toward the court.
“Hey, are you guys here all summer, or is anyone going on vacation?” He asked, knowing that due to financial reasons most of the boys wouldn’t be able to go on a vacation.
The boys stopped.
“We’re staying right here all summer,” Marcus said, pointing at the two standing next to him.
“I’m going up north to spend the summer with my dad,” John said, without much excitement.
“I’ve got to work at Mickey’s, times are a little lean but someday when I make it in the NBA, I will be going places that haven’t even been discovered yet!” He laughed, taking a high five from Marcus.
“What about you, Tyrone?” Martin asked.
“Yeah, we’re going down near Savannah. Momma’s gonna take me and little brother,” he answered, not wanting to sound better than anyone else, knowing they were all stuck with their summer plans.
He continued, ”at least that is our plan, you never know.”
Marcus bounced the ball toward him, “let’s play ball, world traveler.”
Everyone laughed.
As Martin climbed back into the cruiser and felt the coolness of the air-conditioner, his thoughts went back to a time in his life, very much like any of the young boys that he had just been talking to. His thoughts went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A summer vacation that he will never forget. His life was changed forever.
Summer 1993
School was out for the summer. Martin was ten years old and he and his little brother, Charles, were ready to spend the summer riding bicycles, playing basketball, and taking it easy. Martin liked to read and his fifth-grade teacher pulled him aside on the last day of school and gave him a couple of books to read for the summer. Martin was thankful but quickly stuffed them into his backpack so none of the other kids would see.
When Martin and Charles got off the bus and ran toward their small dilapidated house they were met at the front door by their mother and her latest boyfriend, Ted. They both wreaked of Marijuana.
“We have some great news, boys,” she smiled, looking at Ted.
“Tell them, Ted,” she said, still smiling.
Both boys looked at Ted. He didn’t smile.
“I’m taking your mom to the beach,” he said dryly.
“And?” Their mom prodded.
Ted looked at her blankly.
“And, she wants you to go with us,” Ted looked at the pile of dishes piled up all around the kitchen, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
“We both want you to go with us!” She exclaimed, almost squealing with excitement.
“We are going to have so much fun! Go pack a bag, we’re leaving tonight!” She squealed again.
As the boys went to pack a bag, Martin could hear Ted telling her that the boys were old enough to stay at home alone and that they were not going to have any fun with the two of them tagging along. His mom just squealed again and told Ted that he wouldn’t even know that they were there. She told him that they could take care of themselves once they got there.
Martin remembered when they first got to the beach, it was early in the morning and the sun had not risen yet. Ted had pulled the old car into a public parking lot. Martin could hear the waves breaking in the darkness. He could also hear Ted snoring in the front seat. By the time the sun came up, Martin could see the white-capped waves breaking on the empty beach. He had never seen the ocean before. He felt very small. He reached for the door handle and started to exit the car. Ted awoke at that moment and barked at him to stay put. Martin noticed a police officer approaching their car.
“Keep your mouth shut,” Ted mumbled under his breath.
“Hi there, officer,” Ted spoke, friendlier than normal.
“You can’t be sleeping here on public property,” the officer spoke, matter of factly.
“We just got in, we are getting a motel in a little while,” Ted still sounded friendly.
“Where are you staying?” The officer asked.
Martin tuned them out and imagined running into the waves and disappearing forever. Then he imagined stowing away on a fisherman’s boat and leaving the family that was not much of a family. He knew that his mom was a drug addict and that her attachment to Ted was just for the drugs. It had been the same with all the men that she brought home. He vowed that if he could take care of Charles that they would leave forever and never come back.
After a few hours, Ted found a room at a small motel called the Beach Comber. Martin’s mom was excited because it had a pool. As soon as they got into the room, Ted looked at Martin and told him to take Charles and get lost. Martin noticed the bag that Ted was carrying and knew that he and his mom were going to shoot up. She was already strung out, drinking and taking pills. He shook his head and took Charles to the pool.
After a while, his mom stumbled out of the room and to the pool.
“Hey momma, do you want to swim?” Charles asked.
“Maybe later, get out of the pool, we’re going to the store,” she spoke without expression.
Ted walked up complaining, “can’t they just stay here?”
“No, they are going with us, we can get them some pool toys or something,” she smiled.
Ted shook his head and told everyone to hurry up.
“Where are the keys?” He snapped at her.
“I’ll drive, it’s my car” she slurred, proud of the one thing that she provided to the relationship.
“You are higher than a kite, you can’t drive,” Ted barked.
He took the keys.
They drove down to a small market. Martin noticed that they only bought part of what they gathered, the rest was shoved deep into pockets and into her purse. He had noticed this behavior before and knew not to ask for anything because it would undoubtedly be stolen and he didn’t want to take something that didn’t belong to him.
When they got back in the car, his mom started handing out snacks.
“Look what I got for you,” she smiled, handing Martin a Three Musketeers candy bar.
“I’m okay, I’m not hungry.”
“Suit yourself,” she said, handing the candy bar, along with a pack of M and M’s to Charles.
“Thanks, momma! Are we going to get some pool toys?” Charles asked.
Ted and the boy's momma argued about stopping again, but she won out and he pulled the car into a souvenir shop. She hopped out of the car but Ted sat still and didn’t move.
She ran around to the driver’s side of the car.
“Can I have some cash?”
Ted was angry, “No, you can find a way to get their toys yourself,” implying that she should steal them.
“Okay, but watch the boys.”
He just huffed as she happily twirled into the souvenir shop.
Ted exited the car, “you little brats can watch yourself.”
Ted lit up a cigarette and walked across the street to a bar called, High Point.
After a little while, two police cars entered the parking lot. The officers looked in the direction of the car and then entered the store. A few minutes later they came out with their mom in handcuffs. Charles began to cry. A policeman approached the car and stuck his head up by the window.
“You boys okay?”
Charles began to cry harder.
“Where is your daddy?” The officer asked.
“I ain’t got no daddy!” Martin burst.
“Is this your momma’s car?” He asked.
“Sure is,” Martin said, trying to sound proud.
Within a little while, both boys were in the custody of Children’s Services. After a few days, they were placed into separate foster homes. Martin found out much later in life that the car was filled with drugs that Ted had planned to sell. A large amount of cocaine. Because the vehicle belonged to his mother and because Ted avoided being caught. His mom went to prison and he and his brother became foster kids.
After a year, Charles was adopted by a loving family. When they found out that Charles had a brother, they also adopted Martin. The boys were elated to finally be together again. The adopting family gave both boys a home and a belief that they could become anything that they wanted to be. Martin became a police officer and Charles became a school teacher.
Summer 2022
Martin took a deep breath and leaned his head back on the headrest, remembering seeing his momma for the last time being led away in handcuffs. He remembered the officers trying to be kind to them, giving him and his brother food that they bought from McDonald's.
His thoughts were interrupted by the radio as dispatch called him.
“7144.”
“Go ahead, station,” Martin spoke into the microphone.
“We have a 1079 in the parking lot of Mickey’s.
Martin was used to working drug overdoses, they seemed more common in the last couple of years in this small town.
Dispatch came back on the radio.
“7144, be advised that the subject is not breathing and there are two children in the car with her.”
Martin picked up speed, going faster than he knew he should. Three cruisers pulled into the parking lot at the same time. The other two officers pulled the woman from the car and immediately began life-saving measures. Martin looked into the back window and saw two little girls. Both looked terrified, the younger one was crying.
Martin looked at the older of the two.
“Where is your daddy?” He asked.
“I ain’t got no daddy!” She burst.
“Okay, young lady, hang tight for a minute,” Martin stepped away for a second and returned with some candy bars.
“You like Three Musketeers?” He asked.
The older one shrugged and the younger one smiled.
“You guys come with me and I’ll drive you over to McDonald's and get you something to eat. The ambulance came and loaded their mother up. Martin noticed that it left without sirens. He knew that these two little ones were now orphans.
When Children’s Services arrived, Martin asked a lot of questions of the social worker. It only took a moment to find out that there were no relatives for the two girls. They were going to become a product of the foster system in a matter of hours. Martin excused himself and made a phone call.
“Hey honey,” he spoke quietly.
“Is everything okay?” His wife asked.
“Um, I think so,” he stammered as words seemed to escape him.
As he spoke, all that his wife heard was that a mother had died and there were two little orphaned girls. Her mind went to the years of infertility and trying to have a baby, to the classes that they took so that they could someday adopt. Through tears, she asked the question.
“Can you bring them home?”
“I have already cleared it with the social worker, they can come home today. It will be a process and they obviously will have some emotional damage from what they just went through, but,” his voice trailed off.
“But who else can help in a situation like that,” she finished his sentence.
Martin smiled, “the older one reminds me a little of myself.”
“I have to go break the news to these two little ones, please be praying,” Martin dried his eyes and hung up the phone.
Summer 2023
“Can we stop?” Amelia asked.
“Sure,” Martin smiled.
Martin, Amelia, and Kenzie jumped out of the car.
Tyrone saw them first, made a basket, and threw his hand up to the officer and his daughters.
“Y'all ready for a little game of three on three?” Martin asked.
“You got it, but I got Kenzie and Amelia on my team,” Marcus chided, and continued,” I ain’t playing no aged-out cop who can’t hit the basket,” he smiled.
“Double negative, Marcus, double negative,” Martin said, shaking his head and tossing the ball, missing the basket.
“Good shot, M and M!” the boys laughed.
The girls squealed with delight.
The girls were having the summer vacation of a lifetime and loving every minute of it.
The End
By: Craig Cruise 2023