Saving a Legend(10)

“I guess that makes sense. How did you end up here, then?”

“I’m working on my doctorate of psychology, and I interned here last year and kind of never left. I’m still in school, but I ended up taking this job because I really enjoy working with the kids.”

Kieran nodded as she spoke, admiring her for being someone who clearly gave so much of herself on a regular basis.

“From what I hear,” Nora continued as she led him down a hall, then into her office, “you’re out on good behavior and looking to turn your life around. Is that true?”

“Yes, for sure. I made a stupid mistake; it cost me. I did my time, and that’s going to be the end of it,” he assured her.

“Good, then you’re perfect for the job.” Nora sat down at her desk, and Kieran pulled out a chair across from her and got comfortable. She continued, “These kids need guidance and role models. Especially male role models. The majority of them are considered at-risk, but we have a wide variety of kids here, and you’ll learn that they all need something a little different.”



“Okay, well, I’ve never really worked with kids before.”

“That’s fine, most kids like to be treated as you’d treat any adult. With respect, and like your equal. None of them want to be coddled. The majority of the kids you’ll be working with are teenagers who come here after school and stay until their parents pick them up. They need homework help, some tutoring, and monitoring of their recreation time. Sound good?”

“Sure. Doesn’t sound too hard.”

“It’s not,” Nora confirmed as a young girl walked into the room, interrupting them. She couldn’t have been older than eight or nine. She held a book in her hands but seemed not to be looking directly at anything. Instead, she found a spot on the ceiling to focus on as she came to a stop before them.

There was something ever so slightly off about her expression, something that indicated a deeper issue that made him immediately feel protective of her. She seemed fragile, and he found himself wishing something better for her than spending her time in a place like this every day.

“I’m all finished.” The child wore jean overalls, a pink T-shirt covered in flowers, and worn sneakers. Her hair was tied back in two braids, one hanging down over either shoulder, and she handed Nora a thick book. She reached up and carefully adjusted a pair of very large earmuffs that looked like the type of outer-ear protection you’d wear at a gun range.



Except they were pale pink.

“Shea, sweetheart, I’m in the middle of a meeting.” Nora’s voice softened as she addressed the young child, and she took the book and placed it on a shelf by her desk. “Can I get you another book later?”

“I’m all finished,” Shea said again, not hearing Nora as she fidgeted with her fingers and stared up at the ceiling.

Nora gently lifted one side of the earmuffs so the child could hear her. “I’ll bring you another book in a few minutes. Okay?”

“I read one hundred pages. I’m all finished. I need the next one.” Shea didn’t seem to understand that Nora was asking her to wait.

“Kieran, would you mind waiting here for a minute?” Nora asked, obviously wanting to get Shea settled.

“Sure, take your time.” He watched them walk out of the room, holding hands. Glancing around the small room, Kieran spotted a pamphlet for the center on Nora’s desk. He picked it up, slowly flipping through it to pass the time. Nora was gone only a few minutes before returning alone.

“Sorry about that, thanks for waiting. Shea is such a sweet girl, although she isn’t technically enrolled here at the youth center. Her guardian is one of my best friends,” Nora explained, “and needs help watching her during the day while she’s at work.”

“That’s nice of you. She seems sweet but a little impatient,” he noted.

“Oh, no, she isn’t impatient. Well, I guess she is, but she doesn’t mean to be. It’s not her fault. Shea has autism spectrum disorder, although she’s on the mild side of the spectrum and high functioning.”



Ashamed of his earlier observations, it all made sense now. “Really? Wow, I don’t know much about it, but I’ve heard it mentioned on the news.”

He wondered how much of what he’d just seen was due to autism, like why she hadn’t made eye contact with them. He wondered if the headgear also had something to do with it.

“It presents itself differently in every child. She’s extremely smart, mostly because she reads so much, but she struggles with understanding emotions and with sensory overstimulation; plus, she has some communication issues. She can also be a bit inflexible, mainly because routine is so important to her. When she first learned to read, she became voracious and wouldn’t stop. So a while ago her mother made a rule of one hundred pages a day, which Shea adopted to mean exactly one hundred pages without stopping every single daytime.”