Truth: Friend or Foe?

Scott Pharmaceutical has provided more than a million dollars in scholarships to Dunnville High School annually for the past ten years. The owner and CEO Phillip Scott wanted to award a parent a gift for being the mother of an honest child.

He didn’t know where to begin. An idea flowed into his head and he followed it.

At the final PTA meeting before graduation, staring down at the parents in the audience. He noticed that males and females were sitting together on one side. On the other side, there were patches of females and males separately.

“What do you think of honesty when raising children?” he asked after getting the audience’s attention.

The group to the left with males and females sitting together spoke first.

“We must raise all children with honesty,” one lady said.

Other parents joined in sharing their opinion on the importance of being truthful.

One lady shared, “We must teach our children that the truth is a friend, not an enemy.”

They said many things, but these words were repeated a lot, “Honesty is the only way to the right decisions.”

He concluded that there were married parents on the left and single parents on the right.

The other side had conflicting but similar thoughts. One female sitting alone said, “The truth depends on which side you are on and how you benefit from it.”

Her words started a firestorm of criticism, as some parents looked at her with scorn. They were about to crucify her for her conviction. He jumped in before it got out of hand and any harm came to her.

“What’s your name?” he inquired.

She smiled, saying, “Hilary Lewin.”

Glancing at her left hand, seeing no ring, he said, “Miss Lewin. You are saying that those who don’t benefit from the truth will fight like hell to keep it hidden?”

“Oh yes,” she agreed. “And the opposite for the ones who benefit.”

The audience erupted again. Phillip snatched back control. Two parents continued to attack her long after everyone had said their peace.

Ten days later, at 7:21 pm, Andrew Bingham Jr. was getting ready to leave his home to pick up his date. His mother warned, “I don’t like you keeping company with Mark. His mother has no scruples and is dishonest.”

In protest, Andrew fired back, “Mom, Mark is a good friend and a wonderful person.”

“Well,” Mrs. Bingham said, scrutinizing her son. “His mother isn’t.”

“Mom, Mark is the smartest boy in our school.”

Ignoring her son’s compliments of his friend, she ordered, “Eleven-thirty is curfew. Take Betty home early.”

As Betty Flynn slowly eased down the stairs, her father warned, “I hope Mark isn’t coming with you guys tonight. His mother isn’t an honest person, and I don’t want you around him.”

“Mom, he is a smart guy. A good friend and a wonderful human being.”

“I don’t think his mother is,” Sara, her mother criticized.

“Mom,” she stressed in defense. “Leave Mark alone. He is a nice person.”

“Don’t talk to your mother like that young lady!” her father stepped in.

“I am sorry, dad, but you don’t know Mark. None of you do,” she defended in protest.

“Parents have a right to protect their children, and that’s all we are doing,’ her father explained.

Nodding, Betty rushed towards the door at the sound of a car stopping.

“Hold it, young lady!” her father ordered, marching towards the door. Opening it, he stared outside. Then he said in approval, after kissing his daughter on her left cheek, “Enjoy your date and please be home before eleven-thirty.”

Ten minutes later Mark Bradford was picked up at his home nearby. "Don't be late son," his mother called out as he headed towards the door at the sound of a familiar horn.

"Ok," Mom, he said as he exited.

Hours later, Andrew burst through the front door of his home screaming. His parents were in the family room watching a late movie. They rushed into the living room, and their son screamed hysterically, “We killed someone, mom!”

“What!” his father shouted, rushing over to console his son. “How?” he asked as the smell of alcohol pushes him backward. “You are drunk,” his father cried out. “What is wrong with you, son?”

Pulling his son close to him.

“I have to call the police. We didn’t stop, Dad!” Andrew admits trembling in tears, easing out of his father’s arms.

"Was Mark with you?" his mother asked.

"Yes, Mom!" Andrew admited.

"Didn't we warn you about staying away from him," his father said.

"He wasn't in the driver seat Mom. I was," Andrew confessed.

“No police!” his mother insisted. “You are only eighteen years old, and you haven’t started life as yet.”

“Dad,” Andrew wailed. “What should I do?”

“I agree with your mother,” his father said. “You have just secured a basketball scholarship. You are drunk. You will lose everything if you get the police involved.”

“But you taught me to always tell the truth,” Andrew wailed.

She slapped him across his face, shouting, “Control yourself, boy! You are under the influence of alcohol. Getting the police involved, you will lose everything.”

Turning to his father, still in tears, “Please, Dad,” he begged. “Tell her that she is wrong. Tell her that we must do the right thing. We just killed someone!”

Andrew Sr nodded, then consoled, “We can’t destroy your life for one stupid mistake, son. I agree with your mother. We have power and prestige in this community. It’s your words against Mark’s.”

“What about Betty?” Flew from Andrew Junior’s mouth.

His parent’s eyes clashed, and his mother grabbed the phone on the end table to her right.

At Betty’s home, after giving her parents her version of what happened, her father quickly announces, “No police. I don’t want you to be mixed up in this.”

“But I am already in it,” Betty affirms. “You and mom preached to me and everyone who will listen that honesty is the key that will open the door to the truth. You raised me to always tell the truth because it is a friend. Don’t you want the truth?”

"Was Mark with you?" her father demanded to know.

"I told both of you, he is a very nice guy and he wasn't the driver," Betty informs her parents.

The ringing of the telephone called out to them. They ignored it, glancing at each other, then upheld, “ We can't get the law involved. Not when it threatens your life. It’s our job to protect you. No police. You weren’t at the scene of the crime, and we will swear to that. We have good standing in this community. No one will doubt us.”

"And it will be Mark's word against yours," her mother insisted.

"Andrew was the driver Mom!" Betty alerted.

"Then it's one against two!" her parents agreed.

The phone demanded their attention, and they gave in.

At Mark’s home, his mother Hilary read his fear as he entered her bedroom. He said before she asked, “We had an accident, Mom. I think we killed someone.”

She instantly flung the covers off and bolted out of bed and rushed closer to her son, asking, “Where did the accident occur?”

When he told her, she uttered in shock, “But that’s across the state lines.” Grabbing her phone off the night table nearby, she called 911 and reported the incident and location. Snatching her robe off the bed, she ordered, “Come on, son, we must get there before the police.”

EMS and the NYPD were already at the scene when they arrived. Mark was taken into custody, trembling in fear. His eyes asked his mother, ‘why?’

Consoling him, she revealed, “I have already messed up my life. I won’t destroy yours.”

Hours later, Andrew and Betty’s parents were led to a waiting room at the 27 Precinct along with Hilary Lewin.

“Why are we here?” Andrew Bingham Sr. demanded from a rookie exiting the room. Holding on to his wife’s hand and pulling her down on the seat beside him, he glared at Hilary to his left.

“Yes,” Betty’s father demands. “Whatever it is, our children weren’t a part of anything!”

Sergeant Milford entered, catching his remark before the rookie could respond. He asked, “You are willing to swear that your children weren’t involved in an accident on Highway 495 a few hours ago?”

“Yes,” they perjured themselves.

“So that boy over there is lying?” The Sergeant points to Mark and his mother sitting together.

“Yes,” they held on to their lie. “Our children didn’t leave our homes last night.”

Fighting to subdue his shock, he asked, “You are willing to swear to that in a court of law?’

“Yes, we are,” they agreed.

“Did you examine your son’s car to make sure no evidence of the accident was left on it?”

Unconsciously, they both exchange glances. Before they could respond, the door opened, and Philip Scott entered.

“What is he doing here?” Mr. Bingham asked.

“Your children called me. I was at the restaurant they were drinking in last night. I had to stop the waiter from serving them more alcohol. I also took away their fake IDs.”

All four parents swallowed painfully. The Sergeant handed them some photos and asked, “Is this your son’s car?”

Their heads in their laps, Mr. Bingham, took the photos, looked at them, and passed them down the line.

Tied up by guilt, silenced pulled the restraints tighter, and Phillip Scott discloses, “Your children told me everything. I stood outside and listened to you proving her theory right and making an enemy out of the truth.” Pointing to Hilary.

“What theory?” Mr. Bingham demands after silence and guilt slackened their hold.

“She said that the truth depends . . . . .”

“We know what she said!” Betty’s father slid in without his conscience. “What do you expect us to do? Don’t you think we have a right to protect our children?”

“Of course, you do. You also said that we must raise our children with honesty and integrity. What? You stop believing in that?” Phillip Scott threw at them. “That boy over there didn’t drink a drop of the alcohol your son and daughter were sharing. He didn’t have a fake ID either. Did you know Mark wanted them to stop and help the injured? He wanted to call the police and report the accident because he wanted to give the truth.”

“How did you know that?” Betty’s father defended.

“You weren’t listening to me. Your children called me and begged me to come here and save him and his mother from being crucified by your beliefs. They knew he would tell his mother, and she would call the police.”

“Stupid idiots,” Mr. Bingham squeezes out under his breath.

“Don’t you want to know why?”

Their silence told Phillip to go on, “Because his mother raised him, to tell the truth, even if he didn’t benefit from it. Your children came to you seeking honesty. You did what many parents who won’t benefit from the truth do. You fought to keep it hidden. Truthfulness is that if you try to hide it, it will fight to find a way out. And when it does, you will never stop paying for that lie.”

“You have children,” Betty’s mom attempted to explain her reason for being dishonest. “Our first instinct is to protect.”

“I agree,” Phillip said. “As a parent, -yea. But I also have a responsibility to teach my children the difference between right and wrong.”

“Didn’t you do stupid things when you were eighteen years old?” Andrew Bingham, quizzed, refusing to yield.

“Yeah, we all do. But your children left a friend on the side of the road with nothing. He had to walk home after eleven o’clock at night. He dropped his phone in their car while they were arguing. You said his mother had no scruples. Yet the first thing she did when her son told her what happened was call 911, then she took her son back to the scene.”

“I am sorry, but as parents, we did nothing wrong,” Betty’s parents claimed.

Smiling as if he had an ace in the hole, Phillip nodded at the Sergeant who said, “Your son hit and killed a mother deer.”

Their laughter bounced off the wall, with relief and shock behind it.

Four pairs of eyes stared at them.

“So, my son didn’t do anything wrong,” Andrew Sr, blurted out.

“My Betty too,” her mother added.

“Humans or animals, don’t you think all life is precious? That deer died and left several fawns without a mother,” Phillip Scott said in frustration.

Silence returned, and Hilary broke it, alerting, “It’s against the law in that area to hit animals and keep on going.”

“What if they had hit a human? Still think both you and your children did nothing wrong?” Phillip wondered aloud. “Your children reaching out to me tells me that they have a conscience. Listening to everything you all said tells me you don’t. You have convinced your children that the truth is their enemy. Their actions tonight should teach you something. I hope you are listening!”

Charges were filed against Betty Milfort and Andrew Bingham for animal cruelty.

At their graduation ceremony, the topic was: ‘The Truth: Friend or Foe!’

Phillip Scott was the guest speaker. “Congratulations, young minds. Are you ready for the world?” he asked.

“Yes!” More than six hundred graduates shouted back.

Smiling, he shared, “I like the truth. I think of it as a friend. I have a lot of respect for anyone who doesn’t fear it. During my more than forty years in business, I tested everyone I employ and associate with. I found out that I acquire friends when I lie. But create enemies when I speak the truth. You are entering a world where the truth will be an enemy for many. But it will be the kind of enemy you will want. It’s better to have one honest enemy than ten dishonest friends!”

The audience cheered, and he waited until they finished and went on, “I met one parent who isn’t afraid of the truth. And Scott Pharmaceutical wishes to award $100,000.00 to Miss Hilary Lewin for being an honest Mother.”

The audience screamed and cheered as she rose and walked on stage to collect her award.

'The truth depends on which side you are on, and how you benefit from it.' Annelise Lords

Parents must be careful what they teach their children because many children will forget what you say. But they will always remember what you did. The truth is feared by the ones who won’t benefit from it.

Are you afraid of the truth?

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it.