伯大尼和布莱登的故事:第3部分

In the School-Age Program:Max, a school-age staff member, ran his fingers through his hair and tried to think of what to do next. Braden’s behavior just seemed to get worse every day. Braden seemed to completely disconnect from the people around him. He would get very angry and begin destroying things. This afternoon he had caught Braden trying to pull the wings off of a dying fly. Bethany was just as bad. She seemed to have a vendetta against every adult in the building. If you tried to give her a direction, she snapped back with comments like, “Shut up” or “Go away.” Sasha was the only staff member Bethany seemed to like, and today was her day off. Max was exhausted. He looked over and saw Caleb, the siblings’ older foster-brother, twisting Braden’s arm behind his back. At first, he just thought it was roughhousing but something didn’t seem right. Braden actually looked scared. As he got closer he heard Caleb say, “If you lie again, dad is going to burn your mouth so bad you won’t talk for a week.”

Max stepped in and separated the boys. “What’s the problem here?” he asked. Caleb replied, “There’s not a problem. He’s just a little liar.” Braden slumped down onto the chair. “I am not,” he said under his breath. Max thought quickly. This didn’t seem like conflict or a time for mediation. Caleb definitely seemed to be exerting power over Braden, and Braden seemed afraid. He calmed both boys down and sat with Braden in a spot where they could talk quietly. “You seemed pretty upset back there. Is everything OK?” Max asked. Braden just shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t say a word. Max stayed with him for a few minutes and then went to talk to Caleb. Caleb was playing on the computer, but he stopped when Max approached. “Whatever that little punk told you isn’t true,” he instantly began. “I hope he gets sent back wherever he came from. My mom says he is evil and that we have to train him before he ruins our family.”

马克斯对他所看到的谈话谈话的人感到担忧。他们一起决定他们已经看到了一种行为模式，这提出了关于在米勒屋中发生的事情的合理怀疑。

伯尼尼只有一个朋友在学龄儿童中。一个名叫felicity的女孩骑着公共汽车，他们去了同一所教堂。当她度过糟糕的一天或者已经被另一个孩子争吵时，福利常常坐在伯阿西尼。在从乔纳的“服从测试”的特别糟糕的夜晚之后，伯尼尼向她的朋友们讨厌，因为他们在外面的野餐桌上蜷缩在一起。伯万告诉富裕，她太累了。她在她失败的“考试”时，她从她所获得的鞭打上展示了她的鞭子。她不会讲述幸福的测试，但是福利可以从她的朋友的脸上吓到她害怕。

那个夜晚的福利告诉她妈妈伯尼累了的是什么。富利的妈妈叫米勒。她以为他们应该知道约拿在做什么。Melinda Miller感谢Felicity的妈妈呼唤和关心她的家人。她向富利的妈妈放心，他们会照顾一切。她和富利的妈妈谈到了几分钟关于提高青少年前的挑战。贝any在第二天或后几天没有上学。她停止与福利谈话，并在学龄计划中避开了她。

几个星期后，Bethany对Sasha（学龄工作人员）的“服从测试”做了类似的忏悔。服从测试变得越来越性。伯尼尼害怕约拿，告诉萨莎，她不想回家。

Bethany恳求Sasha不要告诉任何人。她说她最后一次告诉别人，她一直殴打真的很糟糕，而且在她痊愈的时候，她就不会上学。“如果你告诉，我不知道什么会发生什么，”她哭了起来。Sasha拥抱了这个女孩，觉得自己哭泣。然而，她知道她不得不告诉。“伯万，我担心你，这是我的工作，”她说。“我得打电话给那些知道该做什么的人。”伯尼安继续哭泣，但Sasha联系了她的经理并立即打电话给Fap。

在社区中：Neighbors always said the Millers were a great family. They were active in the community and attended all of the neighborhood events with their five children. They had a reputation for being strict, though. A school friend of Caleb’s refused to go play at the Miller house. He told his parents that he was scared of Mr. Miller and didn’t want to get yelled at. He mentioned the rubber tubing that was placed in different places around the house. He told his parents that the children got hit with the tubing for not cleaning up fast enough. It happened one time while he was there. His parents asked a few more questions and made sure he wasn’t hit. Then they explained that some people use spankings to discipline their children. From that point on, they always made sure their son invited Caleb over to their house to play. They always looked for any signs that the children were mistreated, but they never felt that anyone was in danger.

随着Bethany和Braden抵达后的几个月过去，邻居开始听从房子大喊大叫。有时它是贝什尼尖叫在成年人身上的诅咒。有时它是米勒先生向孩子们培养了他的声音。他们都希望尊重米勒的隐私。他们说的是，“它必须难以让孩子们变成房子”和“他们比我更强大。”

One night felt different, though. It began with screaming, but for the past hour neighbors had heard a child crying loudly. They weren’t sure which child it was, but the child sounded distressed. Finally, the woman across the street couldn’t take it anymore. She knew the Millers well enough to wave when they passed each other in the car, but she didn’t feel comfortable knocking on the door under the circumstances. She made a call to the military police about the noise. The police arrived several minutes later. They found Bethany still crying in her room. All else seemed well at the house. The parents explained their situation: a pre-teen foster child had a hard day at school. They were friendly and apologetic. The police let the family know there had been a complaint about the noise and that they would check back later. The police left and no report was made.