Chapter 15: Farewells

All during that week, students were being summoned to the little conference room next to the office to be interviewed by the Program officials. The two teens heard from some of the kids who had been interviewed on the first few days, and indeed, they had been asked to justify their religious exemptions. The students had followed Slater’s advice and told the officials basically nothing. Many had responded to the questioners with one biblical verse after another until the questions stopped, while others had simply stone-walled the officials and said nothing at all. At the week’s end, both Drew and Connor learned that, indeed, they had been selected for the Program.

On Friday morning, their home-room teacher handed both of them official notice letters that their interviews were scheduled for Monday morning and they could have their guardians present—that’s how they first learned that they had been a potential Program participant. They found out that their names had been posted on the office bulletin board on two different weeks in January, but since nobody ever looked at those lists, the two of them weren’t aware that they had been selected. Since they had previously filed their written claim for a religious exemption, their participation was waived when they didn’t appear in response to their names being posted. That was a strange way of handling the Program participant selections, but it’s how the process had developed.

After discussing the pending interviews with Frantz, they decided to act as each other’s “guardian” and Frantz gave them a short letter to formalize his “appointment.”

Drew was summoned for her interview first, at the beginning of the second period, and Connor went along with her. There were two people waiting in the room, a man and a woman.

“Who are you?” the woman asked as Connor entered. “This interview is to be with Drew Harper.”

“Our guardian designated me as his representative for Drew,” Connor said, giving the woman his letter.

“You can’t be her...” the man began but Connor interrupted, holding his hand up.

“Stop. You can’t dictate who a student has for representation. And what you’re doing is essentially illegal, asking us to justify our religious beliefs; it’s a violation of the federal injunction. We’re here, so start your interview. Oh, to save time, you can ask us both, because you scheduled me for this morning too.”

After a bit of grumbling and paper shuffling, the man began.

“You ... well, both of you ... were chosen to take part in the Naked in School Program here but you both claimed a religious exemption. What church do you belong to and what’s the basis of your claim for modesty?”

Drew looked at Connor and he nodded.

“Those questions violate my right to practice religion free of governmental interference,” Drew answered. “Next question?”

The woman asked, “Why do you believe that your religion gives you the right to ignore the law?”

Connor spoke up. “I’ll answer for the both of us. Refer to the Supreme Court’s decision on the Yoder case and the federal appeals decision in the Stony Brook Mennonite Church case. That’s all I’ll say on that question.”

“I agree,” Drew said. “Do you have anything else for us?”

“All of the students here refuse to answer these questions—and now you are too. You are required to answer them...” the woman began but Drew cut her off.

“Required by who? If you claim that you, as a rep of an agency of the U.S. government, are requiring answers, then we will cite the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as our basis for refusals. That’s all, we’re done. Any further answer is ‘no comment.’”

“But you...”

The objection was cut off as Drew closed the door when they left the room.

“I wonder what they intend by this fishing expedition?” Drew mused.

“Only thing I can think of is intimidation,” Connor responded. “Hey, why didn’t I think to contact Wayne about this? Let me send him a text and a copy of the notice to appear for the Program interview.”

He did, and when school ended in the afternoon, Connor got the reply. He showed the text to Drew.

You’re correct; what they’re doing is a violation of the federal court injunction. I had my governmental affairs specialist contact the federal district court. The lead judge in this case was highly annoyed, so the court is invoking the federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4.1(a); those interview activities actually constitute criminal contempt, and your Program interviewers can expect a visit from a deputy U.S. marshal tomorrow or Wednesday. He or she’ll have a summons and a cease and desist order. Let me know if something else happens.

“Super!” Drew exulted. “Too bad you didn’t think of that sooner.”

“So where were you, darling? You’re the one who’s got the brains here.”

At lunch Tuesday, the room was buzzing with excited conversation. An earlier interview session with one of the kids had been interrupted when two federal marshals entered the room, served the summonses, and escorted the two Program officials out of the school. He was telling everyone all about it, in detail. One could forgive him if some of the details were slightly embellished.

Drew and Connor looked at each other and smiled, then exchanged a high-five salute. Jennifer and their other table mates looked at them with puzzled expressions and Drew leaned over to Jennifer.

“Tell you later. It’s kinda secret,” she whispered.

Drew told her later in private what they had done.

“But you can’t tell anyone. We don’t want any notoriety, okay? Besides, after what you told us happened to Emma, we don’t want kidnappers hunting for us.”

“Oops, that’s for sure,” Jennifer nodded. “Say, do a couple more of those things against Program officials and you’d catch up to Emma’s record,” she giggled.

“Ah, no thanks. The fewer contacts with those morons, the better. She can be the reigning champ. I give my definite permission.”

They both laughed.

As the end of the school year approached, Drew, Connor, and Jennifer were spending a lot of their free time with their friends and Drew with her teammates. About half of their closest friends were seniors and were graduating. Many were going to Penn State; a few had chosen the nearby Elizabethtown College, and others would be attending several of the other local colleges. Some had chosen schools in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. The twins, Jason and Justin, had chosen Drexel; it was their father’s alma mater, they wanted to study business, and they liked Drexel’s program. They all promised to try to keep in touch with each other.

When the movers got the Ritters’ house packed up and her mother and brother left for Maryland, Jennifer moved into Drew’s and Connor’s apartment for the two-and-a-half weeks remaining in the school term. Frantz had left the family’s SUV for their use and Connor had his bike crated and shipped to Maryland using a motorcycle moving service.

All the farewells were over. Drew and Connor made their rounds, visiting Pastor Richardson and his wife, Connor’s supervisor and co-workers at the chocolate plant, Drew’s boss at the ice-cream shop, Drew’s coach, and finally, their attorney, Wayne Gelb.

“Wayne, your advice and mentoring has been wonderful; you basically saved us from all kinds of bad things that can happen to runaways,” Drew told him. “I’m sure we’ll need legal help with switching our guardianship to Maryland—should we continue to use you for anything related to that?”

“Actually, Frantz has already begun that process and has the judge’s permission to move. He needs to get a Maryland lawyer to start the guardianship process there. I told him that I’d be glad to consult with an attorney that he selects locally, Drew. Perhaps you could check with Frantz and see who he plans to use; he might have gotten recommendations from the attorney he used for his house purchase. But you wouldn’t want to use a real-estate lawyer; you’d need one specializing in family law.”

Connor spoke up then. “Say, Drew, isn’t Wilma’s father a lawyer?”

“Oh, right, he is. Wayne, one of the good friends of the Ritters in Maryland is a lawyer. We could ask him.”

“That’s excellent. Do you know if he’s in a firm or in solo practice?”

“Um, Wilma said he’s a partner in a law firm.”

“Ah. Give me his name and I’ll look him up. With everything being on line, my professional life’s much simpler.”

“Jay Robbins? His firm’s in Baltimore.”

Gelb worked his keyboard for two minutes.

“Okay, I found him. Tyler, Scott, and Robbins. Full service firm, but they specialize in corporate law. He’s the managing partner. Sure, ask him. Here’s my card to give him; if he takes over your guardianship legal work, I’ll be happy to share what we’ve done.”

It was an emotional farewell when they departed.

Saying farewell to the Robertsons and to Mrs Neumann was the hardest of all for Drew and Connor. In many ways, they had become surrogate parents for the teens and had done so much to help them. They were the last good-byes for the teens before they drove off toward a new life in Maryland.

“We’ll be right back in the thick of the action in the fall,” Jennifer predicted as Connor drove south on I-83. “Dealing with that damn Program.”

“You could play your religion card—the exemption—you know, and avoid all that garbage,” Drew told her.

“Sure, I could, but it seems so ... like cap to do that. I know that just about everyone at Etown High used that exemption, but after moving away from that Bible-quoting area, I think it would feel kinda wimpy to take that way out. And you know that the nudity part isn’t that scary for me—it was the sex shit they heaped on top. Damn, that’s just the right image ... pile of shit. So if Wilma and Sherrill get that plan you came up with to work, I’ll be right in there with them making it work.”

Drew chuckled, “Jennifer Ritter, the making of the legend. You go, girl. I’ll be on the sidelines rooting for you all. Say, anyone think of getting input from Emma on the plan to take over the Program? She’s almost a legendary figure herself. Maybe she’d like to hear how Andrew’s idea’s being used.”

“No clue; we’ve been busy with our exams and saying goodbye, so I haven’t been in touch. Maybe I can see if Wilma can talk.”

Jennifer sent a text to Wilma and about five minutes later, her phone rang. She connected the speaker to the car’s audio.

“So hi, Wilma, we’re on the way!”

“Hurray!” Wilma cheered. “How soon will you get here?”

“Connor says with the expected traffic, not quite ninety minutes. It’s been sooo busy with final exams, packing, saying goodbye to everyone, that I haven’t had any time to think about you guys and the planning.”

“Hi, Wilma!” both Connor and Drew called.

“Yeah, hi guys! Can’t wait ... this’ll be so, so dope to have you here. Yeah, we have lots of kids interested in the Project ... that’s what we’re calling it ... but maybe only two dozen who’ll definitely get nude so far. We’ll need hundreds to make it work, though. Lots more kids say they might do it.”

“Drew was wondering if Emma knows what you’re doing, since this, um, project, is based on what Andrew said at the resort.”

“Um, no, we didn’t talk to her about that; maybe Sam did. Me and Sherrill were in touch with Sam about what she’s been doing to resist the Program at her school ... she lives in Langley Park and that’s at least a half hour away, or more when traffic’s bad. Ha, traffic’s always bad, heading into D.C.”

“I kept in touch with Sam too, Wilma, and told her what you two were trying to do. I’m sure she told Emma about it, so maybe Emma can suggest an idea about how to get kids to go bare for the cause? We need at least a third of the kids in every classroom to be naked—maybe even half—to take control. You think?” Jennifer asked.

“We didn’t get into the numbers yet. Sherrill and I are still in recruiting mode. About ten to fifteen others are so energized by the idea that they’re recruiting too. And, yeah, there’s the whole incoming freshman class we couldn’t talk to, of course; they’re coming from the two middle schools near us. A number of high school kids here have siblings in those middle schools, so we’ve been tapping those contacts. Emma? Maybe. I’ll see what Sherrill thinks. Oh, that’s right. I think that Andrew mentioned that his family goes to the resort on weekends starting late June. But we probably should contact her before that.”

They chatted for several more minutes and then Wilma disconnected to call Sherrill. And just as they arrived in the Baltimore area, Wilma called back.

“Hey, we spoke to Emma and she loves what we plan doing. Actually it’s her ... ha, adopted sister Sam, who says the idea’s bussin’. She has some recruiting ideas too, and wants to meet us.”

“When can she meet?” Jennifer asked.

“Weekends. She’s working at a lab in Laurel, a physics lab. Part of Johns Hopkins. She’s actually a professor there now.”

“No cap? Wow. She’s how old? Fifteen now?” Jennifer exclaimed.

“Um, yeah. Remember, she got a Nobel Prize.”

“Oh, that’s right. You did tell us that. You know, we should get right on this ‘cause fall will come real fast if we’re not ready.”

“I hear ya, girl. I’ll see if we can set something up for next weekend. Talk soon; ‘bye.”

They disconnected and Jennifer asked Drew, “When does your camp start?”

“Monday. Coach sent directions to the club where the camp’s held. It’s about three miles from our new home. It runs from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday.”

When they pulled into the driveway to their new home, Frantz, Eva, and Timmy came out to greet them.

“Hi, kids,” Frantz said as Eva hugged them all. “Let’s give you a hand unloading the back.”

“How’s the new position doing?” Connor asked. “Is it what you expected?”

“It’s far better than I had hoped for, Connor. The people and facilities are simply outstanding. How was your trip?”

“Very smooth, until we got near Baltimore. Reminded me of the traffic back near Boston, but at least the drivers here are courteous. In Boston, the roads are like a war zone; aggression everywhere.”

Frantz chuckled. “I’ve heard that said before.”

Connor’s and Drew’s new home was a small apartment somewhat separate from the rest of the house. It shared just a single wall with the main house and had two levels. There were two bedrooms and a full bath on the upper floor and a kitchen, half-bath, great room, and utility room on the ground floor, a total of almost 1000 square feet. The apartment in Mrs Neumann’s home was slightly larger, but this layout was much better for them. Since their former apartment was furnished and that furniture had to remain there, the Ritters had equipped the new apartment with the furniture from their basement apartment. Connor told the Ritters that he planned to furnish the second bedroom with second-hand items; he refused letting the family pay for any of it. Meanwhile, he and Drew would share a bedroom. They were getting used to sharing a bed.