Mr. Teacher

“I let grief control me for a while and then it was work. I was finally making money and we weren’t worried about our next meal, but that meant a lot of extra hours.” She sighed and reached for her glass of water. “I thought you were just being a rebellious teenager at first…”

“I was definitely that, and then some.” I turned my attention towards our waitress as she approached.

We gave our orders and made small talk. It seemed like we were avoiding the elephant in the room, but I decided to

let her ramble. She did that sometimes when she was nervous. I imagined there wasn’t a more nerve-wracking moment than finding out your youngest kid had likely gotten themselves expelled and ruined someone’s life in the process. The waitress brought our coffee and after my mother spent time getting hers to the perfect temperature with cream and sugar, she finally leaned back and addressed the reason we were there.

“So, you’re dating Mr. King.” Her face twisted in a perplexed stare. “I guess I understand that, because you were pretty obsessed with him when you were younger.”

“You would have dated him.” I lifted my coffee and sipped it. “You said as much back when I was taking his class.”

“Yes, if he wasn’t married.” She nodded and lifted her cup. “I trust that he’s not married anymore?”

“No. Divorced.” I shook my head back and forth. “I would never do that.”

“He’s really not that much older than you, I guess. He was really young when he started. I thought he was a student the first time I met him.” She put her coffee cup down and nodded. “I’m still not happy to find out you were writing dirty stories about him, though.”

“It was one story and it was stupid.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “I just typed out a fantasy and forgot it even existed. I guess Veronica must have found it on my computer at some point and saved it.”

“This isn’t a proud moment for our family.” She exhaled sharply. “I talked with my boss about possibly letting me relocate to a different office. I don’t think I can send Veronica back to Glendale High School after this and if I stay here, she’s going to have to sit out for an entire school year.”

“Wow…” I stared ahead blankly as the words resonated. “Will you still be close enough for me to visit?”

“Not as often as you do now, regardless of where I end up. Honestly, it will probably be best if we get as far away from here as we can. I know you will need some time to heal from this and Veronica needs somewhere to start over with a clean slate.” She reached for her coffee cup again. “It might be best if I just come visit you at school on the weekends.”

“Yeah, that might be for the best.” I felt hurt that Veronica’s actions were going to take my mother away from me, but I definitely understood her reasoning. “I didn’t make things easy for her at Glendale with the reputation I left behind.”

“She does feel remorse, for what it’s worth. I think things are finally hitting her and she’s realizing how badly she screwed up. She agreed to sign the affidavit that puts the blame entirely on her. I don’t know where that leaves Mr. King, but it will hopefully start to repair some of the damage that has been done.” My mother sipped her coffee and sighed angrily.

“I don’t think he can go back, not after that. He’s meeting with the school board today and I have to go by this afternoon to give an official statement. They might reinstate him since he technically did nothing wrong, but his reputation will never recover.” I shook my head back and forth. “His ex-wife is also threatening to leave the state with his son to shield him from hearing about this as he gets older.”

“Oh my god…” My mother’s hand went to her mouth. “That’s awful.”

“Yeah. It is.” I nodded and exhaled a long sigh.

“Well, rest assured that Veronica will not get off easy. She’ll start over at a new school, but she won’t leave the house for a while.” My mother narrowed her eyes.

“I might have another suggestion.” I tilted my head. “Perhaps you should introduce her to the flat side of the hairbrush you keep in your nightstand—the one you got from Grandma.”

My mother’s eyes opened wide as she thought about what I said. She might not have ever laid a hand on either of us, but she was no stranger to that hairbrush. We heard stories of the trips she took across our grandmother’s knee when she was a little girl. Our grandmother used to threaten to do the same to us when we visited her while she was still alive, but our mother never let her carry through with any of them.

“Perhaps it is time for that.” My mother nodded. “It certainly made me think twice about everything I did.”

We finished our coffee and said our goodbyes. She promised to have Veronica out of the house that evening so I could stop by and pack some things before I had to leave for school. I planned to stay with Gavin until it was time to actually leave, but I definitely didn’t want to go home. I was glad she understood. My sister could show all the remorse in the world and I would simply be too numb to accept an apology for a while.

Chapter 12: Gavin

The meeting with the school board was fairly quick. Their investigation was all but done. Veronica’s confession was enough to put an end to any plans that involved termination. They did agree that it would be best if I took some time off. We both understood that it meant I would be looking for another job, even if we didn’t say those words out loud. I left the school board’s office with only one thing on my agenda—I had to get my son back.

“DADDY!” BENJAMIN CAME running up to me as soon as my ex-wife let me into the house.

“Hey, buddy!” I scooped Benjamin up and immediately hugged him.

“Mommy got me a new truck. Let me down so I can show you!” He pulled away from my hug and I sat him down.

“Can I have a few minutes with him before we talk?” I turned to Amy and pleaded with my eyes.

“Yeah, go ahead.” She nodded. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”