The Mountain News – WA

By Bruce A. Smith

Chapter 28 – Trey

Day 13

I got the phone call at 10:00 am

“I would’ve called you sooner, Dave,” Terry said, “but I know how you like to sleep late. How are you?”

“I…, umm…, I’m coming around, Terry.” She was right. I was still in bed, lying in a groggy twilight when she called. “Ummm. How are you?”

“Good. Great actually, personally. I’ve resigned, effective next week.

“Good for you, Terry,” I said.

“You know you’re gonna be in charge now, permanently, or at least sharing things with Anita.”

“Yeah, okay…oy,” I took a deep breath and sighed.

“But, listen, I have some sad news….,” she paused. “Trey died last night.” Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

Chapter 27 – An Adoption and a Departure

Day Nine

My bronchitis came on fast. By morning, I was blowing my nose like crazy, and try as I did with vitamin C, salt water gargles, and healing visualizations I was in bed all day with fever, chills, and a cough that caused my body to spasm. My tenure as “Boss” didn’t last too long. I turned authority over to Jack.

The rest of the house managed to carry on with their duties as medical orderlies and helping downstairs with the sick. Jack and Karen tried vainly to get bone marrow transplants for Trey and Willy, but the Army said they needed parental consent and the Unity Alliance hedged on taking the responsibility. Continue reading →

Bruce A. Smith

Chapter 26

Day 8

It had been quite a week. The start of our second week at Unity seemed like the anniversary of a marriage or a divorce; something big and something awesome. Perhaps in celebration we all made it to breakfast at 7:30 a.m., even Ryan who liked to sleep late even more than me.

In the middle of another breakfast of bacon and eggs, Terry stood up.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys, I wanted to let you know that I’m leaving Unity House in order to accompany Adam’s body to Westover and meet with his family there. I’ll be accompanying them and the body to New Hampshire for his burial there, so I don’t know when I will be back. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

Chapter 25 – The Blue Mist

Day Seven

At breakfast, I learned that I wasn’t going to have to organize any cooking for the 200 or so people at Unity as the Army had convoyed-in two mobile home-sized structures to be a mess hall and kitchen, along with a full staff of cooks. All the Men and Women of Honor had to do was take care of themselves and pitch in as we saw fit medically, which ended up being lots of little detail stuff, especially helping patients get settled in our convalescent facilities downstairs. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

Chapter 24 – By the Rivers of Babylon

Day Six – 1 pm

After lunch, Terry and I concentrated on contacting outside Unity staff to let everyone know the state of things with us and ascertain how they were. Then, we could get a staff schedule set up and get new blood in to relieve us.

Angie was our first successful contact. She was online, and even though she was only four blocks away on Pilgrim Street, it somehow felt like she was in another solar system. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

Chapter 19

Day Five – Dawn

In the faint grey of Worcester’s dawn, I heard the first of many police vehicles giving instructions to the people of Union Hill:

“This is the police. Please stay indoors. Radiations levels are too high for you to spend more than twenty minutes outdoors. Local aid stations are being established in your neighborhood. Place a flag or towel on your door if you need medical attention, food or water. Officers and volunteers are going house-to-house to assist you.”

Sounds like we just got our marching orders. And towels? Did they see our flyer? I smiled with the thought. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

Chapter 17 – Brownies and apple pie

Day Four – Noon

I was in the middle of eating an instant chocolate pudding when I heard the dining room go silent. Slowly I looked up, not sure what kind of shock wave had just rocked us into silence.

At the entrance to our dining room stood the only thing that can render young men mute, girls. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

The Men of Honor of Unity House is a novel based upon my experiences as a therapist at a residential foster care facility for young men coping with sexual assault charges. In 2001, during the Anthrax scare that followed 9-11, my agency’s director and I mapped out a plan for how we would deal with our men, aged 12-18, if we had to go into lockdown in the event of a local terrorist attack. The following pages are based upon those discussions.

The plot so far: A 2-kiloton suitcase nuke has exploded in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the staff of Unity House form the Men of Honor Society for two purposes: One, to keep the seven teen-aged boys of Unity House busy and not fighting each other, and two, to act as a rescue group to the local neighborhood. Due to the destruction and radiation, the police and army can not get into this section of Worcester. The people living on Marion Avenue and Plantation Street have only the Men of Honor for assistance.

To read more of the Men of Honor:

https://themountainnewswa.net/category/the-men-of-honor-of-unity-house/

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Chapter 16 – North High

Day Four – 8:30 am

By the time I got to the dining room, Deon had already spilled a pitcher of juice and tracked it all over the dining area looking for paper towels to mop it up. We called it juice, but it was a Kool-Aid-esque powder mix. Cherry was best and the lemonade sucked. Deon had spilled the cherry. I headed for more coffee.

Karen had things under control, kind of. The kitchen scene was a controlled chaos of the Rolling Thunder type: six teenage boys all trying to be helpful at the same time while insisting that they were the best cook, the smartest cook or the best-looking cook. It made my head spin.

Karen must have had more than one brother. She probably grew up with 10. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

The Men of Honor of Unity House is a novel based upon my experiences as a therapist at a residential foster care facility for young men coping with sexual assault charges. In 2001, during the Anthrax scare that followed 9-11, my agency’s director and I mapped out a plan for how we would deal with our men, aged 12-18, if we had to go into lockdown in the event of a local terrorist attack. The following pages are based upon those discussions.

The plot so far: A 2-kiloton suitcase nuke has exploded in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the staff of Unity House form the Men of Honor Society for two purposes: One, to keep the seven teen-aged boys of Unity House busy and not fighting each other, and two, to act as a rescue group to the local neighborhood. Due to the destruction and radiation, the police and army can not get into this section of Worcester. The people living on Marion Avenue and Plantation Street have only the Men of Honor for assistance.

To read more of the Men of Honor:

https://themountainnewswa.net/category/the-men-of-honor-of-unity-house/

*******************************************************************************

Chapter 15 – Trust the process

Day Four

I was told that 7:00 am treated Sgt. Jackson to two surprises. First, alarm clocks went off in every one of the guy’s room. No one wanted to be late for their workout with the sergeant.

The second was the hulking figure of a cold, shivering six-foot two, 220-pound boy outside the bay window of the Commons room. He knocked on the window and shouted through the glass when he got Karen’s attention.

“Open the door, will ya?”

“Who are you?” she asked, opening the main door, but blocking it. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

The Men of Honor of Unity House is a novel based upon my experiences as a therapist at a residential foster care facility for young men coping with sexual assault charges. In 2001, during the Anthrax scare that followed 9-11, my agency’s director and I mapped out a plan for how we would deal with our men, aged 12-18, if we had to go into lockdown in the event of a local terrorist attack. The following pages are based upon those discussions.

The plot so far: A 2-kiloton suitcase nuke has exploded in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the staff of Unity House form the Men of Honor Society for two purposes: One, to keep the seven teen-aged boys of Unity House busy and not fighting each other, and two, to act as a rescue group to the local neighborhood. Due to the destruction and radiation, the police and army can not get into this section of Worcester. The people living on Marion Avenue and Plantation Street have only the Men of Honor for assistance.

To read more of the Men of Honor:

https://themountainnewswa.net/category/the-men-of-honor-of-unity-house/

*******************************************************************************

Chapter 14 – A breath of fresh air, and smokes

Day Three – mid-morning

I went back to bed, and slept deeply until the smell of bacon awoke me. Continue reading →