Jacob's Submission for GCEA Short Story Contest: 'A second chance'

[[Desolate Divine]]

A Second Chance
"Dear Dr. Palmer,

I am not sure if you remember, but until a year ago, my son Jacob was a patient of yours. He was diagnosed with a minor case of Borderline Personality Disorder four years ago, and after two years of medication, and visits to yourself, has recovered from his mental illness. However because of this, he missed a lot of school. He finished school recently, and has since done nothing. Due to him missing so much school, he is struggling to find a job, or to be accepted into any university.

Recently I heard whispers of an internship at a weather institute. CYCLONE. I am becoming more and more desperate for Jacob to get a job, or enrol in tertiary education, and I believe that if he were to partake in this internship, it could compensate for his missing years at school, and help him find a job or go to university afterwards.

I called CYCLONE, and found out as much as I could about the internship. However the internship has a requirement of travelling with the other interns across Hoenn.

Though he has mostly recovered from his Borderline Personality Disorder, I am still worried. I would like you to evaluate his mental health, and determine whether it would be safe for himself, and the people around him, to partake in the internship."

I read the letter to Jacob, who sat in the seat opposite my desk. It had been a year since we last spoke, and I struggled to recognise the young man sitting in front of me. He was taller, and more muscular than I remembered.

"What are your thoughts about this internship?" I asked Jacob.

"Truth be told, I am only really keen for the last part of it. Studying the weather isn't something that interests me much, though I want to travel." Jacob replied, fiddling with something in his pockets. A year ago, he sat quietly, rarely responding. Now he couldn't sit still. This worried me slightly. Though he was in a better state than he was when I first met him, this could be dangerous.

"You want to travel Hoenn?" I asked. "Any particular reason why?"

Jacob was silent for a second. He replied soon, but I had a hunch he wasn't telling me something.

"Yeah. Most of my friends left did it when they were younger, though I wasn't allowed." he said, "They took on the gym challenge, but couldn't make it past the third gym. I want to show them, that as late as I am, I can be just as good of a trainer, if not better, given the chance."

Jacob began fiddling even more. Any suspicions I had that he was hiding something were now confirmed. I remained quiet before speaking. The first time I mentioned this, he overpowered me, and threatened me easily. He is a lot stronger now, so I needed to tread lightly.

"If you were given the chance to travel Hoenn," I said, "would you try to find your mother?"

Jacob remained silent for a second, and stopped fiddling. He showed a look of great concentration on his face.

"I can tell you right now that I won't and probably tell myself that I won't as well." he replied, "But I don't know what is going to happen. Maybe I will accidentally bump into her, and want to confront her. Maybe something happens that makes me want to track her down. I can say that I won't, and honestly, right now I don't want to. She left us fifteen years ago, without the decency to tell us why. But something may happen to change my mind."

I remained silent for a second. One party trick, which served as a tool of the trade for psychologists, was being able to tell when someone was lying. From what I could see, he was telling the truth.

"Do you remember what happened the first time I asked about your mother? When I asked if you thought you were the reason she left?" I asked as I stood up and placed a DVD in the TV. I smiled in attempt to lighten the mood. "You were a lot smaller then, yet overpowered me easily. You can see why I was hesitant to ask you then. Though you have obviously matured since then."

The DVD played, and displayed the scene as shown from the security camera in the corner. A younger Jacob jumped up from his seat, and grabbed the Dr. Palmer on screen, slamming him against the wall by his collar. Jacob laughed at the screen.

"Can I please get a copy of that?" he said still laughing, "When I have kids, I think they will enjoy this."

I laughed along with Jacob. I couldn't tell if he was kidding, but I knew that he didn't see me as the enemy any more, which was a good sign.

"So you do want to do the internship?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Even though it will probably bore me until we start travelling, it will be good in the end." he said.

"Well you understand that you don't need to be here, don't you?" I asked him, "You are only here because your father wants to be sure that doing the internship will be safe for yourself and the other interns."

Jacob nodded, saying nothing.

"I have read your file." I said to him, "Apparently you have gotten in trouble with the police twice in the last six months?"

Jacob laughed, and nodded. This worried me. His lack of care for his criminal record could end badly, and might drive him to add to it.

"Last time was six months ago, shortly after we finished school." he said, "My classmates and I had just finished our final exam, and a few of them came up with the idea of having a bonfire and party on the school oval the next night."

I struggled to hide my smile. Though I didn't say anything, it was the sort of thing I did when I was younger.

"It was a good night, until about 2am. We had a car parked near the entrance, to watch for people entering the school. Every half hour or so, it would change." Jacob said laughing, "At 2am the lookout told us that the cops had entered the property. Everyone panicked, and the person who gave me a lift left. In the end, myself and five or so others didn't get away in time. We were charged with breaking and entering, and destruction of property because of the bonfire damage."

I remained silent. He was lying, though it was subtle. He was changing some slight detail. I wanted to hear more, and know what he thought about the whole situation. Why he went.

"What about the first incident?" I asked him.

"That was nine months ago. My friend had just gotten his license, so we decided to go for a drive that night." Jacob said, "I can't remember what exactly happened. All I know is we somehow ended up in a fast food restaurant car park, doing donuts. Didn't see the cop car drive in."

I knew that I wouldn't find out unless I asked him. He had been honest with me all this time, and I hoped he would stay that way.

"I have to ask, why did you do it?" I said, "You had to have known that a bonfire on the school oval would have been a bad idea, as doing burnouts with your freshly licensed friend. Why?"

Jacob was silent for a second. It was obvious he had never thought about this before. After a second he responded.

"I guess that I just didn't want to let the opportunity slide by." he replied, "In the two years in which I had my condition, I missed so much. I missed important parts of my teenage years. Parties, concerts, problems with girls. I guess that after missing so much, and regretting it, I don't want to miss a thing. I won't be this young forever."

"It is good that you aren't dwelling too much on the future." I said to him, "Though there is a difference between taking opportunities, and being plain reckless."

Jacob frowned for a second. This was another thing that hadn't crossed his mind.

"You are right. That is just something I need to work on." Jacob said, "I am not sure to be honest. I guess that during the time when I was suffering from my condition, I was in a dark place. Maybe this is subconsciously my way to stay out of it?"

I wrote down some notes on my note pad and put it into Jacob's file. Though he was in a much better state than he once was, his mindset was dangerous. Even if he could admit it, changing it could be another story.

Jacob and I spoke for another hour, and eventually he left. I stayed in the office for a few more hours reading over the notes I had taken in the session, and listening to the tapes I had recorded.

I went home, and went about my night as usual, though still wondering what to tell Jacob's father. I wanted to tell him that Jacob can do the internship. Jacob was in a much better place than he used to be, and it would help compensate for the school he missed. However his reckless attitude could prove dangerous. He didn't seem to care what happened to him, however other people could be hurt by his actions, and he didn't seem to see it.

"After a lot of thought and consideration, I am sorry to say, that for the safety of himself, and those around him, that it would be for the best if Jacob did not partake in the internship at this time."

I reread the final sentence of the letter, addressed to Jacob's father, before printing it. After making sure that I was certain about my judgement, I printed it, and folded it up, and put it in the envelope. I gave it to my assistant, and had her put it in the post box. It was done. I had made my judgement. Though Jacob might hate me for it, I made a decision that was for the best.

A few weeks later, I received an unexpected visit from Jacob's father, Mason.

"Mason, to what do I owe this visit?" I asked across the desk, as he sat down. I noticed in his hand a piece of paper, which I had a hunch was my letter.

"I wanted to thank you for evaluating Jacob." he said, "It makes me more comfortable to know that he will be alright."

I was slightly confused by Mason's comment, though didn't show it.

"It's my pleasure. Though I have to say, his reckless attitude could prove to be an issue." I said, "In all honesty, I think it would be best if he started coming back here regularly, before he does something he will regret. Maybe start next week?"

Mason showed a look of utter confusion.

"How will that work, if he is doing the internship?" Mason asked. My eyes widened at his comment.

"Why is he doing the internship? I specifically said that right now it could do more harm than good."

"What are you talking about?" Mason asked, "You said in this letter that he would be able to do the internship."

Mason slammed the letter on the desk, and I took it, and read through it. Though the language was similar to that of which I use, and my signature was at the bottom, I did not write this. It was a convincing fake. I took the magnifying glass, and pointed it at the signature.

"Somebody has made a fake letter. The one I sent said that he should not do the internship." I said. I got out a letter I had written earlier that day and put it next to the fake. I pointed at the signature. "See this? The signatures are different. On the fake, the signature isn't as clean, and the background colour isn't the same as that of the paper. If you look at the real letter, the signature is clean, and the colour behind it is that of the paper. Jacob must have seen the letter arrive, and read it. He scanned it to take the signature and wrote it saying he could go, and photoshopped the signature in."

Mason had a look of fury on his face, and slammed his fist on the desk.

"I am going to kick the crap out of that kid!" he yelled, "He has been gone over a week."

Mason reached for the phone on the opposite side of the desk, and dialed a number.

"Hello, CYCLONE, this is-" he said as I pressed the end call button on the receiver.

"What are you doing?" Mason yelled at me. "He shouldn't be doing this internship! You said so yourself!"

"I have changed my mind." I said calmly, "Please calm down Mason. Maybe this will be good for him. Maybe spending time with other people his age will be beneficial. If you pull him out now, he will hate the both of us, and will make it all but easier to help him."

Mason sat down, and put his head in his hands.

"What if he does something, and gets the others hurt, or worse?" he said, "Jacob has a tendency to make bad decisions. We both know that."

"I agree, that could happen. But maybe having to fend for himself in the real world will teach him to think twice before acting. " I said, "All we can do is hope that he doesn't get into trouble. Jacob is a good kid. He just needs to know that he has some good years ahead of him. Slowing down a bit won't kill him."

Mason was silent for a second, then nodded. He shook my hand and left the office. I spent the next few minutes looking around my office for a phone book, and found one eventually. I opened it, soon finding the number I was looking for.

"Hello, CYCLONE Head Office, Mary speaking." Said the female voice on the other end of the phone line. "How may I help you today?"

"Hello Mary, could you please forward me on to one of the interns at CYCLONE?" I said, "His name is Jacob."

"Sure. Please hold."

After a few minutes of listening to music I would expect to hear in an elevator, I heard Jacob's voice on the other side of the line.

"Hello?"

"Jacob, it's Dr. Palmer." I said, I heard him gasp.

"Sorry, I don't know a Dr. Palmer. Maybe you are looking for the other Jacob?" Jacob said, changing his voice slightly.

"Jacob, I am not pulling you out of the internship." I said. He made a noise of confusion.

"I know you made a fake letter, and that shows how much this internship means to you." I said, "So consider this your chance to make amends. If you can prove that you are mature, and mentally healthy enough to take on the real world, then this is your chance to do so. If you don't, we will be having regular visits when you return."

Jacob was silent for a few seconds. Eventually he responded with a single word.

"Okay."

"And Jacob," I said, "Good luck.

"Thanks, Doc."