Rip - Trust (Completed)

The trouble with punishments

Mr Dutton regretted having given him a full week inside after only two days. 

On the first day Mr Dutton was rather pleased with himself, having found something that the boy experienced as unpleasant enough so he could use it as a deterrent in the future. However, on the second day it had become as much a punishment for him as for the boy. Rip seemed steer crazy. He was sullen and ill-tempered all the time and did the chores he was given only half-heartedly or not at all, which was completely out of character. 

He told his uncle twice to "Fuck off, I am not doing it again!" when his uncle wanted him to correct his efforts which resulted in the predictable consequences. Fearing a fifth trip to the woodshed in as many days Mr Dutton changed tack the next morning and decided to confine him to his room after all, when the boy yet again mumbled some profanities at him.

He assumed the boy had started to push him and test the limits. Samuel had suggested that following the "honeymoon period", the boy might go through a phase in which he would push back to find out if he would ever get that angry with him that he would send him back or would lose all self-control like his father did.

It was against his initial instinct but decided he as much as the boy needed a break from each other. He marched him into his room holding him by the ear. He locked the balcony door and took the key out of the lock and did the same with the door to the apartment and left. 

He was pleased that the boy did not seem to lose his head over it but was cooperative enough. Had he paid proper attention however, and not been so wrapped up in feeling inadequate and overwhelmed himself, he would have realised that his foster son was far from submissive but frozen with fear. 

No sooner that he had locked the door the boy started to sob and beg for him to be let out. Walking away Mr Dutton was satisfied he was doing the right thing, Rip needed to learn respect he told himself, but by the time he got to the bottom of the stairs the sobbing had changed into a terrified screaming "Dad, please don't leave me here, dad please! Maaaaam make him come back!"

Mr Dutton realising that things were far from alright, took three steps at the time running back up the stairs to get to Rip and when he opened the door found him in a terrible state of distress, screaming crying and pulling his hair. Robert und Jacob, who had heard the commotion even outside came running in and helplessly watched how their tearful father cradled an exhausted and sobbing Rip who slowly started to find his way back into what was happening around him.

The boy couldn't or wouldn't tell them what he experienced but Mr Dutton was certain that this was what Samuel meant when he had spoken about trauma patients being transported back into the past. Mr Dutton felt terribly guilty not least because he had felt from the moment he first laid eyes on Rip in McCluskey office that this was a boy who needed space to breath, which was why from the start he had told Samuel he would rather wallop him than use confinement as a method of punishing him. He was right but so was Samuel of course, neither worked.

Jacob remained standing in the door, while Robert helped his father put the boy to bed who promptly fell asleep in his uncle's arms. For the rest of the morning the men took it in turns to watch over the sleeping boy.

Later, when Rip woke, he seemed to have recovered from his episode but appeared quiet and depressed. He went to bed early and did not stick around, he declined his uncle's offer to go for a walk outside with him.

Once the boy had gone to bed Mr Dutton rang his son Samuel to ask him for his opinion on what happened in the afternoon and hoping to get some practical advice. 

"It sounds like a proper flashback, I always suspected that he might have PTSD, was this the first time this happened?... I think it is time to get a psychologist to have a look at him, I think he needs therapy.... No, you can't just do that, you would have to get him to agree and actually come to think of it you probably need consent from his social worker as well, so don't do anything yet, just keep things as stress free as possible" 

His father filled him in on how stressful exactly things had been over the past few days and gave him an honest account of what happened since Sunday morning, even so he felt very guilty about all of it.

"Why did you feel the need to punish him in the first place, father? Samuel sounded somewhat exasperated 

... Yes father, I of all people do know what he said to Dante was very wrong. But he said sorry to him and you say you believe he was remorseful, what more do you actually want from him?

 ... Exactly, you are punishing him for losing his head. When he is stressed, 'what we call the thinking brain' switches off. He is on autopilot and he loses it. Punishing him for that is completely ineffective, no matter what kind of punishment you dish out," Samuel lectured his father who as a result started to become defensive. 

..."No of course I am not saying that he should be able to do whatever he wants to, but look at it objectively, you walloped him for saying 'fuck off' to you, you told him he'd get double the next time, which he did, and still he did it again twice more. At what number are you actually going to stop before you see punishing him is pointless and is not going to work for you? In fact, you are making it worse, you are stressing him more and more out, father

... yes but why ground him? You are keeping him from doing the things that we agreed are really good for him, the things that help him stay calm. He is on the fresh air, uses up pent up energy and is doing something that is valued by everyone. He actually likes the physical work on the ranch. With the love for the horses, you had found something that you all have in common and that allowed him to feel connected to you guys. You have taken everything away from him that has worked in your favour so far. You are sabotaging yourself for god sake.

 ...Oh, for god sake father, that is complete nonsense, of course you can go back on what you said. You are not selling cows here. All you need to say is, look this is not working we need to do something else. It's that simple. 

...No, it does not mean that in the future he will think he can get his own way by being obstructive. Quite the opposite, you are teaching him that it is okay to make a mistake now and then. Own up to it and repair it, and things are going to be okay. No one is perfect, not even your old man. It's a good lesson for him to learn

... Well, father you actually do know what to do, you have done it already. Anytime he loses it, focus on calming him down, and then talk to him afterwards, the way you did on Sunday evening about the incident at Dante's, you couldn't have done that any better by the sounds of it.

... yes exactly. You need to do more of that. Burn that fucking paddle and get rid of your belt

... Ha, I can loan you a pair of suspenders, if you like".

They changed the subject and Mr Dutton asked Samuel to come and visit again on the last weekend of July. He had felt they had left on bad terms yet again and feared he would not see his son for another long time if he didn't make up for last weekend right away. 

"Oh, I don't know, father. Last weekend was a bit too intense for my liking to be honest. I am not sure if I am ready for round two. 

...Beth is coming? Really? How did you manage that?" he sounded interested 

..."She wants to see me, really?" now he sounded skeptical 

..."Did you tell her that I am coming and want to see her?" he joked

..."Father if Beth wanted to see me, she would come and visit me here, but yes, of course I would love to see her. So, since you managed to twist her arm, of course, count me in as well

...Father, you really need to stop doing this. 

...Manipulating us so you get what you want. 

...Ha, No need to apologise, that is actually quite funny, you calling me a Drama Queen. You might find you will take that back after a weekend with Beth... Yes, I will bring Sebastian."

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