MILKSOP Chapter 47

Looking Better
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After Marcy finished getting Junior cleaned up and new clothes on him he was "presentable" where before he had been, to put it nicely was very rank.

She knew he must be hungry so they went to a restaurant nearby and had lunch after which Marcy got him enrolled into remedial school.

Then it was a tour around what was going to be his world.  Everything he needed was within walking distance or by bus.  

 

Lastly she gave him some money and told him to use it sparingly.  She asked him if he needed anything else before beginning his new life and he said, "I don't know."

He went on to say, “Time will tell if I can make it here in the city for I'm not sure about anything.  Too many things have happened in the last few days, things I would never have dreamed of happening, to me anyways.”

Marcy said, “Archie and I are going to see you through this time of uncertainty, and all you need to do is cooperate.”

The next morning Junior was on time for school, dressed in his new clothes and was one of several misfits that needed help.  

A few came from a rich family who were trying to straighten them out.  They needed to go to college but weren't ready for that, at least not academically and emotionally.  

Some of the others were just not very smart, or couldn't grasp educational concepts.

Then there was Junior!  He was smart about country things but he barely made it through the seventh grade.  Education wasn't very high on the list of things a country boy should master.

Marcy had Junior's future all mapped out, and while Archie wasn't as interested in him as Marcy; he didn't object to her helping him.

She usually checked on Junior at lunch time to make sure he didn't need extra help.  

 

One thing she realized was he needed assistance with his vocabulary, so she hired a tutor to spend time with him as he was available.

Archie asked Marcy why she was so interested in Junior. 

 

No No
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She answered, “I don't know, I think he has some real potential, but he needs someone to get him off that mountain, or else he will end up doing the only thing he has been taught, namely how to be a Boot legger."

As days went by Junior was showing improvement in every area.  He worked hard at his job, and took good care of his money so Marcy didn't need to help him cash wise.

One great improvement was in the area of his speech.  He had stopped using most of the terms that identified him as being uneducated.  

 

Marcy told him to go to the movies and see those that used correct English.  She told him to limit the number of westerns and gangster movies for they wouldn't help him speak proper English.

At the job where Junior worked, there were about ten people who cleaned the building and only one maintenance man.  

 

The head of housekeeping agreed to let him work along side the maintenance man and he taught Junior much about maintaining a building the size of the one the law firm owned.

As the year wound down the remedial teacher called Marcy in and said that Junior could go to high school next term, because he had caught up with his age level.  

The teacher said she would continue to help in the areas he might have trouble with, but she expected him to do fine with the academics. 

 

She mentioned that he might have some trouble socializing because it was bound to come out that he was from the hill country.

Given a little time he will probably win most of them over because he is a likeable guy.

However there is always some who try to put people down because it's their nature to do so.

To be Continued