The Cover Up Novel Part Seventeen

Drake had already started work on what he hoped would be his first novel that was to be his first serious piece of writing. During his time working in the field of mental health, Drake had become increasingly jaded. He had seen too many things that shouldn't be happening and too many things that should be happening but were not. Drake felt that a book needed to be written that would expose the state of our present mental health system. Drake had already opened a document page on his home computer where he recorded any ideas he got for the book.

Drake fully realized that no one other than his wife, Judy could know about his new project. If Lisa Harrison were to find out about Drake's work in progress he knew it would result in his termination. There were few people in the top echelons of the mental health system that really wanted the public to know how poorly the present system was meeting the needs of people with serious and persistent mental illness. The front line workers all knew that they would risk immediate termination of their employment if they were ever to reveal to the media or the public what was really going on.

Drake had already decided that he would not be offering his writings on his new novel for the writing group's critiques.

The writer's group met in one of the conference rooms at The Northside Community Center. The building was relatively new and had been rebuilt recently on the old site where a dilapidated wooden structure once existed. The new community center was made out of concrete that had been painted white. Some of the outside wall space had been reserved for local artists. A group of young people that had formed a sort of artist's commune did most of the art work. The new center fostered creativity and artistic expression.

The building was of course, designed with sports and physical recreation for youth in mind. The North Side Community Center was the home of North End hockey teams, baseball teams and football teams. It also sponsored indoor sports like volleyball, basketball and team handball. The key mandate for the new community center was to provide such a variety of positive and constructive activities and programs that it would be seen as a viable alternative to joining a gang. Someone on the community center's board of directors pointed out that not all youth had athletic inclinations and aptitudes. It was then decided that the community center would also provide programs like art, drama and creative writing. The same person also suggested that the community should programming for all age groups including the neighborhood's seniors. The end result was that many adults signed up and participated in creative expression groups designed for their own age group. As the community was basically low income, the programs, courses and activities would be offered for nominal fees or for free.