The Awakening - Chapter Two

Bobby was sent home. He had made such a dramatic turnaround in his attitude and behavior that Philip recommended that he be released. Once at home, it was expected by those who knew how these things usually worked out, that Bobby would return to his life of crime. It wouldn’t be too long before Bobby would once again find himself removed from the general population for the sake of society. The thing was, Bobby never did return to his life of crime. When he said he didn’t feel like stealing anymore, he was telling the truth. When Bobby returned to school, He didn’t hang out with his old friends, he got new ones. He applied himself to his studies and was soon ranking near the top of his class. Everyone who had an intimate knowledge of his case, along with all the people who knew his reputation, were shocked. It was like he was replaced with someone who looked like him, but was in fact someone who acted completely different.

Philip called George. He explained the dramatic turnaround to George and asked George what was in the supplement. George explained that the reason why people did things that were against their own interests, was because their brain wasn’t working the right way. It was out of balance. The brain is very complicated, George said, we have spent many years trying to decipher it. It has finally been deciphered. You have to fix the part of the brain that is broken. George explained that the supplement that Bobby took rewired his brain. It fixed the part that was broken so instead of him trying to resist an impulse to steal that was constantly nagging at him, the supplement merely removed the impulse.

Philip couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Did George mean to imply that all the problems in the world were a result of faulty brain wiring? That the methods that psychologists have spent a century perfecting to help people were irrelevant. Philip felt like he had wasted his entire life. If you could just give somebody a pill and fix all their problems, what was the point of being a psychologist?

Philip asked George how this was possible. George simply answered that there had been a breakthrough. George thanked Philip for giving him the update. Philip hung up the phone. He was happy for Bobby but the fact that Bobby was better didn’t make his depression go away. Even if George had found the key to making everyone better, how would he deploy his solution?

There were many issues at the youth detention center. One of the issues was violence. The detainees had organized themselves into gangs and were constantly fighting each other. There were drugs. It was unclear how the drugs were getting into the facility, but several detainees had been caught administering drugs to themselves. It was a battle that never ended but with George’s supplement, Philip thought, maybe it could end.

Philip continued with his work. He continued trying to help the young people that were assigned to him. A lot of the young people didn’t want Philip’s help. They just wanted to do what they wanted to do. Philip started to think a lot about what George had said. The more he thought about it the more sense it made. What was the point in trying to help these young people when all they want to do is the thing that is destroying their lives? Philip didn’t know what to do. This new revelation of the importance of his life’s work was too much for him to take.

Philip started drinking. He knew that alcohol wasn’t the answer, but he needed something to dull the numbness he was starting to feel. Philip went home every night from his meaningless job, got drunk and passed out. He woke up the next day and repeated the process. Before too long it turned into a habit