The Box

15. adoption

"Hey there!" Chuck approached Maia. She was seated on one of the park benches in the orphanage playground. They agreed not to show any PDA especially in front of the kids and the orphanage nuns and staff. Instead, Chuck sat next to Maia.

"Kanina ka pa?"

"About two hours ago. I went over some of the kids' homework."

"Tapos ka na?"

"I gave Joey a break. He's struggling so hard that he was getting frustrated already." Chuck nodded towards some of the kids playing in the playground.

Maia nodded. She had seen how Joey tried very hard but would always end up on the verge of tears as he struggled with his schoolwork. Before Chuck came along, it had been a struggle to get the children to do their assignments and tasks. Many tears were shed, and a lot of the children were failing badly at school. Chuck's attitude and teaching style calmed the children, and they soon were doing very well at school. Joey was constantly struggling with his activities and was perceived to have some attention problems; he was also disruptive in class. Chuck read up on teaching styles and activities that would help Joey. About a month after Chuck changed his teaching style to suit Joey's needs, the boy was able to focus more on his activities, although there were still some days when he was having some difficulty.

Joey darted across the playground and was having the time of his life running freely with his friends. "Maswerte nga si Joey e"

"Hmm?" Chuck glanced at Maia.

"May mag-aampon na sa kanya"

"Wow! That's great! Does he know already?"

Maia shook her head. "Kanina lang tumawag si Ate Josie."

"Ate Josie, the social worker"

Maia nodded. "Foreigner daw ang mag-aampon kay Joey"

"Wow!"

Moments later, Chuck called on Joey to continue their tutoring. Joey was much calmer and focused after spending most of his energy running. He skipped along happily back to the room. Somehow, after time outside and Chuck's short chat with Maia, Joey's demeanor changed, and he was quite positive and willing to take on the challenges of his homework.

"Good afternoon, Joey, Chuck."

"Good afternoon po, Mother Carmela" Joey looked up from his work to greet Mother Carmela who entered the room. The general noise outside quieted down just a few seconds earlier so Joey and Chuck knew that Mother Carmela was in the area.

"Hi!" Chuck smiled. He noticed that behind Mother Carmela were Ate Josie, the social worker, Sr. Berna, and Maia. He wiggled his eyebrows at Maia who nodded slightly.

"Are you done?"

"Just one number more" Chuck said. "Finish that because I think Mo. Carmela wants to tell you something"