Part 22

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Chapter Twenty-Nine




The cool air rushed to his arm for the first time in weeks and he grinned at the Dr as he went through some exercises. 


"How does it feel?"


"A little weird but fine" replied Lincoln.


"The X-rays showed it has healed very nicely" The Dr looked at the charts.  "And your ribs as well.  How do they feel?"


Lincoln breathed in deeply.  "Yeah they had been better for a week or so."


"Good" said the Dr, closing the file.


"Does he need to come back?" asked Sam.


"Only if he has any problems, but I can't foresee anything" replied the Dr.


 "Can I lift weights straight away?" asked Lincoln.  Sam looked at him worriedly.


"I don't see why not.  It is good to build the muscle back that you have lost.  Use common sense, start with light weights and build up.  If you have any discomfort, stop straight away."


"Great" said Lincoln enthusiastically.


The Dr dismissed himself and the two of them walked back to the car.


As Sam drove, Lincoln kept flexing his arm and hand.  It felt great to finally be able to.


"I saw some old weights in the garage.  Is it alright if I use them?" asked Lincoln.


"They are probably rusted" said Sam trying to put him off.  All this talk of lifting weights worried Sam.  Was Lincoln getting into training so he could fight? 


"I don't care.  It's cheaper than going to the leisure centre, eh?"


"If you want exercise, why not join the school football team?" ventured Sam.


Lincoln thought about the members of the team and snorted. 

"Not sure I would be welcomed there."


Sam misunderstood him.


"You know Connor is very sorry.  He wants to make amends.  Maybe you two doing something together, like football, could be good for your relationship" said Sam.


"What would have been good for our relationship would have been him not betraying me" said Lincoln forcefully.


"You are right" said Sam quietly, pausing for a moment.  "Do you think you can ever forgive him?"


Lincoln looked out of the window and answered honestly.  "I don't know."




They pulled up outside school.  It was 4pm and there was no one left around.


"Are we picking someone up?" asked Lincoln, confused.


Sam unbuckled his belt.


"No, we have a meeting with Mrs Jones."


"I haven't done anything" said Lincoln immediately.


"That is the problem" said Sam, getting out.



"So as you can see Mr Taylor, Lincoln is very far behind in terms of his coursework.  He didn't complete some from his school last year.  The board have agreed to allow him to submit it this year due to his personal circumstances.  But he hasn't done any of that or any of this year's" said Mrs Jones.


"I had no idea" said Sam.


"We have given him detentions but it doesn't seem to be working, so we thought it was best to call you in.  The GCSE's really aren't very far away now and we won't enter him for exams that he will fail or won't turn up to" said Mrs Jones.


"I see" said Sam, looking at Lincoln, who was studying his fingers intently.


"We wonder if it is a question of ability and whether we should test Lincoln for any learning difficulties."


"I'm not stupid" snapped Lincoln.


Mrs Jones smiled kindly. 


"That is not what I am suggesting.  It is just that if we do find an issue, like Dyslexia, there are a lot of resources that can help and make it easier for you to learn."


"I don't have any problems learning" grunted Lincoln.


"That may well be the case.  Why don't you go away and think about it?" said Mrs Jones.  "But either way, the coursework needs to be done and homework completed on time."


She stood up.


"Thank you for your time Mrs Jones" Sam shook her hand.



"Lincoln" he heard Sam call his voice, "Can you come down here?"


Lincoln jogged downstairs and into the kitchen.  Sam was sat at the kitchen table surrounded by workbooks and texts.  On closer inspection, Lincoln could see that they were his school books.


"You have been in my bag and my room!"


"Sit down please" said Sam firmly.


Lincoln scowled but did as he was told.


"You haven't done a lot of the homework since you have been here, have you?"


Lincoln didn't meet Sam's gaze.


"Why not?" he pressed.


Lincoln shrugged.


Sam sighed and pulled out a book.


"Let's start with Physics, since that is more of my strength.  Right; looks like kinetic energy equations to be worked out."


He smiled at Lincoln but he didn't move.


"Come on Linc" he said softly, leaning towards him, "I know it is hard when you don't understand it but until we get the tests done, I can help you with it."


"Who said I didn't understand it?" snapped Lincoln.


Sam looked at him sadly. 


"There is no shame in that.  This is hard stuff.  Not everyone gets it.  We can go through it together."


"Give it here" said Lincoln, grabbing the book from Sam. 


Sam sat silently while Lincoln read the question and then began working out the equation.  After a few minutes he handed the book back to Sam and sat back.


Sam read through it and tapped on the calculator.  After a moment, he looked at his son amazed.


"That is right!"


Lincoln shrugged.


"What about this one?"  Sam pulled out some Maths work and put it in front of Lincoln.  "Simultaneous equations can be difficult."


Lincoln raised an eyebrow but leant over and began looking at the problem.


After a few minutes he handed it to Sam who checked it again. 


"Well done" he said.


Lincoln shrugged.


Sam picked up a history book.  "You are studying the aftermath of WW1.  Name me three key articles in the terms of the Treaty of Versailles."


Lincoln thought for a moment.


"Germany had to pay reparations, Alsace Lorraine was returned to France and The Rhineland was demilitarised."


Sam put the book down and sat back in shock.


"If I were to pick another subject, would you be able to answer my questions?"


"It is probably a fluke.  I just have a good memory, that's all."


"Takes more than a good memory to be able to understand and answer those equations."  Sam looked excited.  "Linc, I just don't understand.  You are obviously getting all this.  You are very smart.  Why haven't you been doing the work?"


Lincoln shrugged.  "What is the point?"


Sam threw his arms out.  "For your future, University, career"


"University – yeah, like I could ever get in, let alone afford it."


"Judging by all this, you certainly have the ability.  As for money, I've been sending your mother extra money just for the purpose of a university fund for years."


Lincoln said nothing but looked at the ground.


"She spent it?"  Sam was enraged.  "I can't believe it.  That money was for your future, she had no right!"


"She didn't spend it, I spent it."


"All of it?  What on earth on?!"


"For her funeral" he blurted.


Sam was silenced. 


"Oh, I see," He mumbled, "That wasn't what it was for."  


"I didn't have a choice.  Who else was going to pay for it?  She didn't have anyone else and Ray took all her savings.  She kept it hidden from him in a secret account."


"Who is Ray?" asked Sam.


Lincoln blinked at him.  He really didn't know.


 "Ray was my stepfather for a few years.  They divorced about 18 months ago."


"Sophia married?  I didn't know."


"There is a lot you don't know" muttered Lincoln.


"So I see" said Sam. "Did you still see him after they broke up?"


Lincoln snorted.  "Nah, he disappeared back to the hole he crawled out of."


"You didn't get on with him?" asked Sam tentatively.


"He didn't get on with me more like" said Lincoln.  He closed up suddenly.  He didn't want to talk about Ray.  He sat up.  "So, shouldn't you know all this already?  Didn't Cassie give you a file or something on me?"


"I've seen your police record but I declined to see your file.  I wanted to get to know you as a person, not what is in some file."  Sam said, noting how Lincoln had changed the subject. 


Lincoln was surprised for a moment. 


"So are we done with all this?"  He looked at the books.


"No, we aren't" said Sam firmly.  "You have the ability to pass all these exams and to pass them well and it is time you realised that you have the potential for a bright future.  Admittedly, there is a lot to catch up on and I will help you with it.  With your skill, it shouldn't take long.  Every night, 7pm, at this table we will look at it together." 


"I don't need you to hold my hand" grumbled Lincoln.


Sam raised an eyebrow.


"Well it hardly seems that I can trust that you will do it on your own as you haven't up until now." Sam's voice hardened.  "Until it is done, there is no going out."


Lincoln looked shocked. 


"You are grounding me?!"

"I am helping you.  You can't waste your potential."


"This is bull" said Lincoln crossly.


"It is the way it is" said Sam.  "Let's start with English Lit."


Lincoln wanted to storm off but he found himself staying.  He pulled his chair a bit closer to his father and started to read.



Lying on his bed later on, Lincoln thought about what Sam had said.  Why didn't he do the work at school?  Was he just lazy?  He thought back.  He hadn't always been this way with school.  He remembered really enjoying primary school.  Really, it had all started to change when Ray came on the scene.  When the beatings started, school had become less of a priority.  He would be unable to do the homework because he had been locked in a room or Ray would rip it up, saying he was stupid.  He would be agitated from the night before and so he started to get in trouble with the teachers.  The unfairness of it all only made him angry; and he became unruly in class, which only got him in more trouble.   When he started taking drugs, school became even less of interest.  It became a self fulfilling prophecy and even after Ray left, he just never bothered with school.   Maybe it was time to change.  Ray was gone and he didn't have to be like that anymore.  His Mum would have wanted him to do well; he would do it for her. 


His phone rang and broke his stream of consciousness. 


"Hey Linc"


Abbie's voice soothed him. 


"Hey babe, it is good to hear your voice."


"How did it go?  Did they take it off?"


"Oh yeah, they did" Linc had forgotten about his cast.


"You don't sound pleased?  I thought you would be celebrating."


"Yeah, well Sam had other ideas" He told her what had happened with Sam and the school coursework.


"Well, are you going to do it?"


"I don't know."


"I think you should.  Remember the other day, when you helped me with my Chemistry.  You understood it way better than me."


Lincoln smiled at the memory.  "That was just so we could go back to making out."


She laughed.  "I know, but you did it in like five minutes.  Have you thought about next year?  What A levels to take, or what you want to do at Uni?"


"I never really thought I would get that far.  I was going to leave at 16.  Guess I never thought I could do well."


"You could, you really could" she implored.


Lincoln smiled at her enthusiasm.


"I have so much coursework to do though" he groaned. 


"I will help you catch up."


"You would?"


"Of course.  I could even incentivise it for you."


Lincoln grinned.


"Oh really?  What did you have in mind?"


"You won't find out until all the coursework is in" she purred.


"That sounds like a deal" said Lincoln.


He hung the phone up, picked up Of Mice and Men and began to read.

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