Finding Calvin Pt. IV - 1 - The Sweet, The Sour, The Degradation
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
Finding Calvin Pt. IV – Master Unknown – 1 – The Good, The Sweet, The Degradation
Fine
pressed in tweed
Is the man that he sees
From his blazer
To his trousers
To his waistcoat underneath
He’s
holding something novel
A grand pipe that he feeds
He
inhales what is left
As he packs tobacco leaves
Circulating
through his briar
Calvin
senses something more green
Trying to remember what was heard
As
if just entering the scene
[…]
Mr. Thompson: I don't know how you can smoke that and maintain your wits. You are a better man than I.
Calvin: Yes, well, someone has to be I suppose (Shared laughter).
[Calvin resituates the potted heather plant atop his earthy brown book atop his massive chocolate walnut desk]
[Knock on the door]
Calvin:...Enter
Susan: Dr. Bengali this is our Director of Curricular Innovation and Advanced Programs, Dr. Thompson, and this is our Headmaster Dr. Humphries.
Calvin: Welcome Dr. Bengali Please have a seat Help yourself to a jellied wafer and some tea, or coffee if you will.
Mr. Bengali: Thank you.
[Mr. Bengali has a seat in a lounge chair]
Mr. Thompson: Dr. Bengali has just arrived from India with his wife and child.
Mr. Bengali: This jelly is exquisite. What’s it called?
Calvin: Black Currant
Mr. Thompson: Yes, you certainly have the maker’s touch, Dr. Humphries.
Mr. Bengali: You made this jelly?
Calvin: Yes...let’s just say that things are easier when you have the right help…
Unfortunately,
however, not all jelly is exquisite…
Some jelly, like
children, can be sweet on the surface, but tremendously sour
underneath.
Mr. Bengali: And why is that Dr. Humphries.
Calvin: Sometimes it’s a chemical reaction from improper storage...Sometimes jelly gets a yeast infection….And sometimes its sourness stems from improper mixing during its constitution. This is particularly true with the fruittier types.
Mr. Bengali: Yes, well, my child is not the fruittier type, I don’t think. But I do have a problem.
Calvin: Go on
[Calvin takes a puff of his pipe]
Mr. Bengali: My wife, Molly, has been giving our boy little candies in public when he starts a tizzy. She’s afraid of receiving disdainful looks. I fear her parenting style has become Americanized….and she’s spoiling the child
I say candies will only encourage the reprehensible behavior. What he needs is a good switching.
Calvin: No, no, no what he needs is justifiable trauma. Punishing the child for his emotional outburst might sow deep-seated resentments. It could turn the boy Machiavellian...
Calvin: I had a client say to his child “Rupert, we never look at what we can't have, because if we do and we can't have it, well we might get mad—and we know what happens when we get mad. We have a tizzy, don't we?”...
I told him that he was clearly confusing the boy. There is no we. And he must understand that.
He must understand that there’s acceptable emotions and there’s unacceptable emotions...
With all their pretending poor Rupert thinks he's a spy now.
Mr.
Thompson: Perhaps they can have him ride one of those miniibuses to
school. No one has heard of a special-needs spy
before.
Calvin: Yes, that would be a sight to
see. And if he doesn’t snap out of it perhaps he can
defecate on the streets with the rest of the special-needs spies.
[Susan knocks]
Calvin: Enter
Susan: Dr. Humphries, Phillip Haagandaas is on line 5.
Calvin: Susan, It’s Headmaster in front of guests. Thank you.
[Susan gives a nod then closes the door. Mr. Thompson gives a gleeful expression to Calvin]
Mr. Bengali: Aren’t you going to answer?
Calvin: No.
[shared laughter]
Calvin: Tell me about our future captain of industry.
Mr. Bengali: Well…first, tell me, how does your process work.
Mr Thompson: As you know, many people in life do not connect the dots because they are too busy in the making of them. Essentially, most become victims or victors of their algorithm. Forcing one to be wrong is a sort of mental breakpad, and causes one to reassess one’s approach….
Here, however, we don’t believe in just finding a wrong. That’s not addressing the core problem. We believe in breaking the child….
We call it the WANK method
We
Watch
the child.
We Antagonize
the child.
We Neuter
the child’s defenses.
And then we Kill
the child’s ego.
Mr. Bengali: ...That sounds…insane. How is this accomplished?
Mr. Thompson: We create scenarios of non-compliance. This may seem extreme but we find that traumatizing people gets them to behave, and traumatizing them beyond that gets them to snap. And that’s what we’re looking for.
Mr. Bengali: That’s your justifiable trauma?
Calvin: Justifiable for our purposes, yes. God did not consult us when he made the commandments. Some things are justifiable in their own right.
Mr. Bengali: Yes, I’ve been meaning to ask you, I’ve seen several students wearing E-collars.
Mr. Thompson: Ah, yes, the cone of shame...it’s part of their neutering. Breaking someone is a multilayered process. It involves fellow students, teachers, and sometimes unorthodox methods.
Mr. Bengali: How was I not aware of your hazing methods before I came?
Mr. Thompson: The process is very hush-hush. Once a child has become broken they’re in on it. It becomes sort of an inside joke. It’s like a big club.
Mr. Bengali: Are the parents not aware?
Calvin: Yes and no. It’s a sort of tongue-and-cheek understanding. Their children come back smarter, cunning, and obedient--so those who know don’t care and those who would care don’t know.
Mr.
Bengali: I’m okay with a good switching, but I have never heard of
these methods before.
Calvin: You're raising up a captain of industry...
You must remember that no great man had it easy.
Unless you want him to be a couch puffin'
Mr.
Bengali: A couch puffin'?
Calvin: Yes, the sinecure types...
Being great without actually being great.
Mr. Bengali: What happens to the child after he breaks.
Mr. Thompson: We formally expel the child, then we isolate the child for up to 48 hours under pretense that transport will pick them up. Once we’re convinced they’re broken we can reintroduce them back into gen pop. Then and only of then will they be compliant with The Cycle.
Mr. The Cycle?
Calvin: Essentially, trauma—and most relationships for that matter--is about control. A person can sustain prolonged trauma if they understand the control. However, our methods are designed to inhibit understanding. Eventually unable to process the trauma the child snaps.
Dr. Bengali: This seems a bit much
Calvin: After they break we can then empower the traumatized with the control. From then on they will be champions over any potential trauma, avoiding the decycling that ruin so many in life.
Mr. Bengali: You want to make them control freaks?
Calvin: Controller freaks. We are making them impervious to interference. They will be in charge of their own player and part of the bigger game.
The lion sayeth I wilt...We make lions here Dr. Bengali. We consider it a grace to impart a trauma that negates future trauma.
Mr. Thompson Dr. Bengali, as you know life is not only about establishing good habits and correcting wrongs along the way; it’s about breaking their cycle of failure. To do that we have to break the person. And then we can reintroduce them into a successful cycle...
Calvin: With your background Dr. Bengali you have probably never known anything outside of The Cycle, so you probably don’t even know that you’re already in it. But you know when other people are outside of it. I have been outside of it, Dr and I assure you that being separated from its understanding is, in most cases, irreversible. With our understanding and our program we have neutered such possibility. Every child is molded to standard.
Mr. Bengali: I understand.
Calvin: Dr. Bengali, an anchor is only as strong as its weakest link, and the upper links have no tolerance for martyrs…
"You see in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend. Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."
Mr. Thompson: Great movie.
Calvin: His lesser peers will not get such lessons much until later in life, probably not until they’re well into their career. This is the blessing of our kind--to change before we see the need to...
Mr. Bengali: It seems a bit much.
Calvin: Those who do not understand their trauma do not understand their cycle. we provide both the trauma and its resolution. Here we can provide a successful cycle for your child.. Mr. Thompson will show you around campus if you wish, allow you to explore further.
Mr. Bengali: Yes, I think that would be a great idea.
Calvin:
It was a pleasure meeting you Dr. Bengali. If you have any
questions, don’t hesitate to stop by my office.
[Calvin
gives Mr. Bengali a nod with his pipe while Mr. Thompson gives Calvin
a nod]
Mr. Thompson: Follow me Dr. Bengali, I have some interesting rooms that I think we should explore.
[As they exit, Calvin pulls out his velvet bag and packs his pipe. Suddenly, the TV in the corner of the room would catch his view]
[BREAKING NEWS ALERT rolls across the screen]
Alright folks this just came in. We have a breaking news alert. The body of Senator’s Briars’ son, Jack Briars, was found this morning buried along side with 18 other bodies in a backyard of a suburban neighborhood in New Jersey. We don’t have a cause of death or motive at this time, but the last known owner of the house was a man named David Weasles. His picture is on the screen now. If you have any details concerning this man’s whereabouts, please contact your local authorities at this time. We don’t have any further details but we will inform you as soon as we do.
[Calvin reflects on the familiar face on the TV display, and his possible hidden motive for their bundt cake park date]
[Screen fades to and from black]
(subtle Classical music ?] [A toddler walks through the kitchen, alone, carrying a Tupperware plastic plate with leftover food. He walks over to the small stepping ladder leaning against the fridge. He carries the ladder over with one hand to the garbage can, uses the bottom of the ladder to lift the garbage can foot pedal, ascends the ladder and scraps his plate, and then the toddler carries the plate to the dishwasher, meticulously finding the perfect slot for the plastic cutlery and plastic plate. On his way out of the kitchen the toddler returns the small step ladder to its original place, and uses the remote magnetically affixed to the bottom of the fridge to turn off the kitchen light The toddler exits the view...Kiddie Ascendant Technologies pops up on the screen…
[Calvin leaves the room]
Entering the long corridor
He strolls casually
Encountering a waft of cinnamon vanilla
And a melodic variable increase
Observing a young woman
Tugging at some blind strings
He notices that she's struggling
As no light can be seen
As he enters the room
He greets the children heartedly
As he makes his way over
To where the woman would fail to see
Pretty woman: Headmaster Humphries. Perhaps you can find where my heart has steered me wrong.
Calvin: yes, let me see what I can do.
(...)
Calvin peers past the light blocking apparatus
And in the radius of that bulbous being
But from the headrail to the cording
No fault nor solution could be seen
(...)
Calvin: I'm sorry children you'll just have to imagine the Sun (simultaneously making a theatrical double-handed windshield wiper wave with one hand still gripping his briar)
(...)
Pretty woman: awe...well what do we say to Headmaster Humphries for trying?
Children: thank you Headmaster Humphries.
Calvin: you're welcome children
(...)
Pretty woman gives Calvin a despairing but hopeful look)
(...)
Pretty Woman: yes, thank you headmaster. Maybe next time.
[As Calvin strolls by he feels inclined to give wink and thumbs-up to the E-collard child in the front of the class.]
[...]
As he continues his walk
He'd hear the same music as before
But it was abruptly stopped
As he found its opening arching source
He sees the piano pedagogue
In his periwhig, hosery, and waistcoat
Critiquing the student's movements
Using insightful verbal jokes
[…]
Piano pedagogue: that was shat. Did you shit your pants. Try again.
[…]
He
grips a half-eaten banana in his left
And a professorial
switch in his right
As he swats the child’s thigh
For
failing to get the wrong right
[...]
Piano
pedagogue: Stop looking at the keys. Let your intuition guide you…
It is your innocence to not know what innocence is.
Let every swat be a reminder of my great love for you...
Now before you approach the area of mistake, I want you to visualize the correct movement. Do you know what that is? Tell me
[…]
A
light caught Calvin’s eye
Just beyond an empty seat
Where
the other children sat behind
The child struggling to sneak a
peek
It’s
another set of blinds
And the one side just wouldn’t blink
But
this walk seemed unkind
And he’d prefer something a bit more sweet
The
kitchen pantry he would find
In the room’s adjacent scene
He
would seek to fill his mind
With a jellied encrusted treat
But
as he found its sight
Adjacent was a jar of budding green
As
he fills his bag and briar pipe
He hears a memorable tune from
MTV
[…]
What
happened here
As the New York sunset disappeared
I found an
empty garden among the flagstones there
Who lived here
He
must have been a gardener that cared a lot
[…]
Calvin enters arched entrance of the door consternated
[…]
Who
weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And now it all looks
strange
[Calvin catches the piano pedagogue’s disturbing stare]
It's
funny how one insect can damage so much grain
And what's it
for
This little empty garden by the brownstone door
[The
communicating door between the piano pedagogue and Calvin abruptly
swings open]
[…]
The blinds boy now had jelly fingers
Around the jar of jelly that he
found
And then he had dark jellied insects
crawling out his
dark jellied mouth
[…]
Boy: Ahoy!
[…]
Suddenly
Calvin would wake
To
a glimmer his blinds failed to block
With
light pitter patter fleeting
Atop
the deck of his big white yacht
Without
any time to think
He
considers where his anchor dropped
And
he would quickly nestle his sidearm
Preparing for what waits
above on top
The
companionway was rife
With the sun and ocean sea rot
And he
would rise to find a sunlit castle
Atop a dark ocean and
earthy sea top
It appears Calvin has some fairly disturbing dreams. That's all I'm going to say about that!
*$* - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWyy7Huc6KA (Elton John - Empty Garden)
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