Not Sorry

Phillip was in trouble. His foster Mother said he should be ashamed of himself, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t sorry about anything that he had done. Why didn’t they just leave him alone?

It all started when Phillip’s friend came over to play. He showed Phillip a hunting knife that he had gotten for his birthday. But when it was time for him to go home, he couldn’t find his knife anywhere. “Maybe you dropped it somewhere,” said Phillip.

Later that week Phillip was playing outside when two boys from down the street came by. They called him “Stupid” because he got into fights all the time and did not study in school. Phillip wasn’t stupid, but his behavior was. He called them names and threw stones at them. So they called him some more names and threw stones back. Phillip knew what to do to make them respect him. He ran inside and got the knife out of his closet. “You’d better stop calling me names!” he yelled. “I’ve got a knife!” Sure enough, the boys were scared. They ran home.

Then a lot of things began to happen. Phillip’s big, mean half-sister grabbed him and began to pull him inside. His foster Mom came out and took the knife away. Phillip kicked and hit them. He was so mad that he wanted to hurt people. But they were bigger, and they had the knife. His foster Mother said that he should be sorry, but he was NOT SORRY!

The police arrived. They looked big and scary. They told Phillip the bad things that would happen if he kept acting like that. Phillip was scared, but he was still not sorry. He showed he was not sorry by not saying anything.

Then his foster grandpa came in the door. He wasn’t like his real grandpa, but Phillip knew Gramps loved him and was disappointed in him. “Phillip,” Gramps said, “answer the policeman.” He said it in a commanding way that Phillip knew he must obey. After he had answered the policeman’s questions, Gramps said, “Phillip, tell the officer that you are sorry.”

Phillip struggled with himself. He didn’t want to say that he was sorry, because it meant that it was his fault. Then Phillip opened his mouth and said it. Next he had to say sorry to his foster Mom, and then Gramps helped him find the boys down the street. “I’m sorry,” Phillip said again, and it was easier this time. The neighbor boys said they were sorry, too. All the boys shook hands.