Badly Taught Boy (Part 2)

Badly Taught Boy (Part 2) [The First Morning At A New Home]

It was now half past midnight.  Kieran was sleeping soundly under the blanket of the pitch blackness.  His eyes were shut and his body was completely motionless.  It was the first time in his entire life that he had been able to sleep soundly.  Next-door, I too had taken myself to bed.  But unlike Kieran, my eyes were still open, and I was looking up at the ceiling.  I was still worried about how Kieran would cope overnight on his own, and although he had been given hypnotherapy to calm down, just like he had told me before, I had a feeling that it just wasn't enough.  But staying awake and thinking about it just wasn't going to do anything for me, so I simply closed my eyes and tried to get to sleep; which I soon did.

~ ~ ~

Saturday Morning at 9AM.  The sun had risen into the clear blue skies, and there was not one cloud to be seen.  I had already gotten myself changed into my day clothes, and I was walking towards Kieran's room, carrying a change of clothes for him.  I had in my hands, a pair of white boxer shorts to go with his jeans, a pair of black socks, and a white t-shirt.  I opened the door to the bedroom and walked inside.  He was lying on his side, still fast asleep, and smiling a bit.  I quietly approached the side of the bed, placed my hand on Kieran's shoulder, and gently rocked him.  He slowly awoke from his slumber and looked me in the eyes.

"Good morning Christian."

"Good morning Kieran.  How did you sleep?"

"Like a log."

Kieran stretched his arms and legs, and yawned.

"What time is it?"

"9 O'clock.  I thought I'd let you sleep a little longer this morning, considering the fact you won't have had a decent sleep in your life."

Kieran blushed.  Then he took note of what I was carrying in my other hand.

"We're going to have to get you some clothes of your own today, and plenty of them as well.  But for now at least, I can lend you these."

"Thank you."

Kieran accepted the clothes from me, and then sat up on the bed.

"I'll go and prepare breakfast.  If you get yourself dressed, and meet me downstairs when you're ready."

Kieran nodded.  I turned around and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me.  Kieran got out of bed, throwing the covers up to the foot end, and proceeded to change.  He unbuttoned his pyjama shirt and threw it off, then undid the fly on his jeans and slipped them down.  He picked up first the boxer shorts, and put them on.  He had never worn underwear in his life before, so it was yet another learning curve that he had to take.  He replaced his jeans straight after that, then he put on the t-shirt.  He then sat back down on the side of the bed, rubbed his feet, and put on the socks he was provided.  Once again, socks were another article of clothing he had never worn before, for he had been forced to always wear shoes without socks.

When he was fully dressed, he stood up and looked at himself in the nearby body mirror. Once again, the clothes were slightly bigger than his body.  The immediate transformation he was witnessing, initially worried him to the point of shivering.  But he promptly swallowed his worries, and then turned back to the bed.  It was then he started to think about tidying his bedcovers.  The hypnotherapy he had been given had also helped him to understand where he was going wrong with the messy state he used to live in, but he had no idea how to properly tidy his room; one because he had never had one before, let alone a bed, two because he wasn't brought up in a tidy environment with his biological parents.  Nevertheless, he took hold of the covers and spread them across the length of the bed, but he didn't straighten them out, for this was something that he would need to be taught by Christian.

Kieran headed out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him, and went straight downstairs to the kitchen, where breakfast was just about to be served by me.  I was setting out a rack of toast, corn flakes, milk, and apple juice...along with spreads and condiments.  This was so Kieran could be given the choice of what he would like.

Kieran came into the kitchen, and sat himself on the chair opposite me.

"Looking good young man."

"Thank you.  Makes a change from tattered hand-me-downs and the lack of undergarments."

"I'm sure it does."

"I tried to tidy my bed as well, but I couldn't work out how to straighten the covers."

"Not a problem, that's something we can work on in due time."

Kieran was amazed by the variety of breakfast foods and drinks that were set out.

"Well, tuck in Kieran."

Kieran did just that.  He took two slices of toast from the rack, picked up his knife, and scraped a small amount of butter onto it so that he could spread it on the toast.  He also poured himself a glass of apple juice.  I opted for a bowl of cornflakes, and poured myself a glass of milk, as I preferred to have my cereals dry.  But I did sprinkle half a teaspoon of sugar on his cereal so that it wasn't left bland.  While Kieran and I ate our breakfast, we conversed.

"So, how are you feeling about the way I've treated you so far?"

"I haven't felt more welcomed into the world before.  I've been waiting my entire life for the moment when someone with respect would find me and take me into welcoming arms."

"I suppose you've always wanted to find a true caring heart, haven't you?"

"Absolutely Christian.  I couldn't have asked for anyone better to take responsibilty of me.  But oh how I was glad to have taken that hypnotherapy treatment.  It helped to wash out most of the bad experiences I have suffered in my life."

"And that's why I took you in from the emergency list Kieran.  It's the first time I'd heard of an orphaned boy to ever be listed on such a high priority.  You know, I've always wanted a son of my own."

"Really?  How many times have you been married?"

"I haven't.  I'm happy being a bachelor."

"Then how can you have children, if you have no intention of getting married?"

"Because, I find it very difficult to cope with the noise that toddlers make.  I mean I've got maybe a dozen nieces and nephews between my brothers and sisters, and I barely cope with them."

Kieran was confused.

"Then why did you want to take me in, if you have trouble coping with children?"

"Just young and noisy children.  I know what you're probably thinking Kieran, 'all children are noisy'.  Honestly, the first time I set eyes on you at the orphanage, It was clear to me that you needed some tender loving care in your life; something you've never had before, have you?"

As Kieran swallowed his mouthful, he looked up at me, frightened.  He crunched his face and shut his eyes tightly, putting his hands to his face.

"How I wish I'd have had that care right from the start."

I stood up from the table and came around to Kieran's side.  I placed the palms of my hands on Kieran's shoulders, hoping to calm him down.

"How it would have helped me to know what it was like, having someone who cared about you."

"I know that it's hard for you to forget all the horrors that you've faced, but you can't rely entirely on the hypnotherapy.  You have to use your own willpower as well."

"That's easy for you to say Christian."

"Of course it's easy for me to say, because I'm not the one who faced with the troubles.  But the only thing that can help you is to wash your hands of the abuse you once faced with your parents, and move on."

Kieran was nearly crying as he slowly took his hands away from his head and straightened his face.  He slowly looked up at me.

"Do you really believe that you can help me out of all troubles I have faced in my years?"

"I wouldn't have committed myself to you if I couldn't help.  If I promise you one thing Kieran, I will break the spell that has been thrown on your shoulders.  Do you trust me?"

Kieran pondered for a moment.

"I trust you."

Kieran and I embraced.  I rubbed Kieran's back to help calm him down even more.

"Now come on, the sooner we finish up, the sooner we go out to get you some new clothes."

Kieran nodded his head, and turned back to the table to finish his toast, as I walked back around and sat myself back down to finish my breakfast.  We took about 15 minutes more to finish off, as Kieran wished to have some more toast after he had done with what he had.

When we were finished, Kieran helped me to clear up the dishes from the table, and even assisted with loading the dishwasher for me.  I was very surprised to have seen him helping out in the way that he did.  Clearly I saw that in the short time he had been looked after by the orphanage, he had been taught the true way of living, and had taken in the most important information very quickly.

~ ~ ~

About an hour later, I invited Kieran into my bedroom, where I stored my spare shoes in the wardrobe.  Very surprisingly, not only were his body sizes roughly the same as mine, but his shoe size was almost alike as well.  This made it much easier for me to sort him out with some spare shoes.  I looked through the half a dozen pairs that I had, and picked out two pairs which I thought would suit him.  I showed them both to him to see if either pair was to his liking.

"Would either of these pairs suit you for now?"

Kieran had his eyes on a pair of red converse boots, he pointed at them.

"Those ones please."

I gave him the red converse so that he could put them on, again slightly bigger than his own feet, while I returned the other pair to the wardrobe.  I put on a pair of black suede shoes, because I liked to look smart.

"Are you ready Kieran?"

"Ready when you are."

I picked out my wallet, phone and keys from my bedside drawer and put them all in my pocket.  Then Kieran and I stood up and headed out of the the house together.

...To be continued...