#brightwindsbarony

Mike smiles "THANKS!"

Andi nods and waves to her dad through the glass

Dominick smiles just a bit

"Awesome. Remember - scrubby clothes for the wheel!"

"Yeah" Jill nods "It really gets messy"

The reactions from the kids vary. MIKE gives an enthusastic hug. PRimal indeed.

"Alright! Thanks, Mike. See you next week!" Hug back, a wave to his mom.

His mom says "I Hope he wasn't too much trouble"

"Moooom" he says but grins "I got to smash"

Jill says "Thank you for teaching us, ma'am" Mannerly. Her folk approve

Andi gives a thumbsup and joins her father. Her father seems to avoid Sparrow, at least for long durations.

"Mike's great, a real Jackson Pollock!"

"Nice to see you as always, Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar. Jill is really growing in skill!"

A nod to Andi's father, but she doesn't push it.

And then there's Dominick's parents. They take him in hand but "Can we talk a moment? We were wondering how our son was doing?"

His folks are nice. But Julia suspects their son's condition induces guilt in themm. It's not logical, but they seem to feel that their son came out Autistic because of something they did, or didn't do. They rise to the challenge, but that doesn't stop them from FEELING Helpless

"Sure thing, I'm happy to talk. Dominick is very engaged - you want to see his bowl?"

"Please" the mother says "Is he.. can you tell if he's ..happy"

"He's gotten more comfortable here, and he's opened up a lot! I learned his favorite color today." Sparrow smiles again. "But mind you, he also lights up when he spots you through the window."

The parents look so pleased at that... Mr. Washington says "I swear sometimes he seems to reach out and we.. it's so hard not to rush him you know?"

Mrs. Washinngton, a pretty latina looks relieved as well "If art is helping him, we want to continue. "

"Well, we're glad to have him here. It's a good group, pretty chill."

"Regarding finances" Mr. Washington says "Some of the art supplies, i's not fair you pay for them all "

"Well, the center is a non-profit - if you wanted to donate, we certainly welcome it. And it's tax-deductible."

"Do we hand the money to you or? " they don't seem to care about the tax deductable part

"Mrs. Harris handles the financials, but if you have a checkbook you can make it out to the center and we'll take it from there. It does help! We've been able to get classes going for junior and senior high, too!"

"Don't get excited" Mr. Washington says "it ain't that much"

His wife gives him a bag

bap*

"And five bucks is a pound of clay. You know how many pinch pots that is?"

"No idea" Mrs. Washington admits

"Lots."

"Well " the man smiles "In that case, I don't feel so cheap laying a fifty down on this. thank you. Our son..well, we just want to do what we can for him" Oh how he wishes he could do more

"Of course! You're doing great, and we appreciate the help."

Dominick is staring at the light through a window

"Kind of you to say, we should go. We'vek ept you long enough" Mrs. Washington says "Thank you so much for looking after our boy"

"My pleasure, Mrs. Washington."

And they withdraw guiding DOminick along, who now that the art is over, seems as zombbie like as ever

A moment later, Mrs Harris comes up "Hey, we just got a fifty dollar donation"

"Wonderful!"

"Yes, they want it for... Clay" she says with a mix of pleased and frustrated "Julia. I hate to say this but, normally I divide donations to every need. "

"Well... " She tosses up her hands. "We need clay, too. And I'll chuck in fifty for you to place."

"Ok. I knnow you're rich, but you should put up a bigger fight than that "She observes

"Well, I want this place to succeed... right now, we're able to pay you and Dana, and it's important we keep that up..."

"In this case, it's not our payments that worry me.. okay those ALWAYS worry me. It's the damn termites"

"...Termites?"

"Yeah" She says with the annoyance of a woman who is sure God is a Man and he thinks he's funny

"We had a blizzard, and somehow.. we have termites. Explain THAT one to me"

She shakes her head. "I got nothing. Okay, so we need to find an exterminator."

"I'm working on nthe budget for it, and before you offer, I don't know I feel like I should TRY To see if I cann still finagle figures . I am open to suggestions for a really cheap one"