by C. S Luis
“We make it a rule to stay away from authority figures when we’re skipping,” Alex explained.
“I don’t trust them. They’re useless puppets with detention slips,” she snarled from the other end of the table.
The others didn’t say much of anything. I noticed Sean had resumed reading his book, observing me from behind his framed-glasses whenever he had a chance. Odd that he was still intrigued by the pages of a hardback book rather than a cellphone like most kids our age.
“They’re wasting their time trying to get this place up to code,” Alex firmly stated; among the group, she seemed to be the only one talking and the only one that seemed to care. Sean was busy with his book, but from time to time he would look up at me; Tina and Ruben strangely observed the scene from the other end.
“I agree. There are far more important things to worry about,” Sean declared in a whisper from the pages of his book; he was wearing a callous smirk. I couldn’t help but feel he was talking about something different, when again, I found him looking at me and grinning.
“Who cares if this school falls apart? I think it looks fine the way it is. It gives it character, far more character than some of those here.” Alex continued glancing around the cafeteria.
Sean slightly repositioned his glasses, narrowing his large eyes over at me as Alex continued her rant. He appeared slightly annoyed by her, as they all seemed to be.
Mr. Claypool and Mr. Vasquez walked up to the front of the cafeteria and stood there. It felt like they were keeping an eye on me, but ridiculous as that sounded, I knew it was the truth. They kept glancing over at our table. I had the strangest feeling they wanted to come by and say hello. But they resisted; perhaps because I ignored them.
“You guys aren’t skipping now, are you?” I curiously asked, not knowing what else to say.
Alex wrinkled her nose at me. “You’re not going to tell on us, are you, Pocahontas?" She twisted the pentagram necklace around her neck, lifting an eyebrow at me, noticing the look on my face.
"Alex,” Tina hissed in my defense.
"Just asking," Alex said with a grin, picking at her food.
"What the hell is this?" she exclaimed, lifting a piece of food from her tray.
"You should really get your grandfather to do something about the cafeteria food," she suggested, dropping the food back on the tray in disgust.
"Don't listen to anything Alex says. She’s just being…funny,” Tina firmly said, glaring over at the girl in black in disgust. She looked just as annoyed as the others, but for whatever reason, they remained seated like a group of mannequins. The only live character seemed to be the one insulting me.
“She’s the only one here skipping,” Sean answered me. “And as for character, she has none. Literature builds it----far more than the black lace wardrobe she wears,” Sean said, raising his eyes from his book and referring to Alex’s previous remark. He readjusted his glasses and handsomely smirked.
She flipped him off, merely glaring in his direction.
“Fuck you! Everyone skips class. It’s a teen requirement to skip class,” she angrily replied, but Sean didn’t respond to her little comment, concentrating instead on the book in front of him.
“You’re just trying to impress Pocahontas,” she said to him. Sean’s eyes blinked; his face became a firm frown, but as soon as Alex dropped the argument, he seemed to do the same.
“Her name is Claudia!” Tina firmly corrected.
“Whatever.” Alex uttered, glaring over at Sean. “What can I say? He’s in denial.” She suddenly added this with a laugh. The table was quiet; only the sound all around us kept me from feeling the ugly discomfort of it.
"Do you guys trust my grandfather, Dr. Edwards?” I suddenly asked, hoping to both alleviate the uneasy silence among us and the weirdness they were making me feel. They almost immediately glanced over at me.
“Don’t you?” Ruben redirected from behind the strands of his thick shady hair. I just about turned a bright red. Did I trust him?
“I don’t know,” I honestly answered. They all seemed to glance back at me in wonder and curiosity.
“I haven’t really talked to him since I got here,” I shamefully admitted.
“Why?” Tina asked. “I mean, he is your grandfather, right?”
“That’s just it. I don’t even know him,” I admitted. “I only met him a week ago.” No doubt it was the truth, all the way down to what I felt about the old man. I couldn’t even call him grandfather except in reference.
“When I first found out my parents…had died…that was the first time I found out I had a grandfather,” I admitted.
“No way! You mean you’ve never met him up until now?” asked Ruben doubtfully.
I nodded as Sean put his book down and removed his glasses. My words had erupted the interest in his eyes.
“How does that happen?” Ruben asked, still dumbfounded. Did I honestly want to tell them everything that my father had said, the message revealing my new caretaker? How do you explain that to strangers?
“I guess since he was my only living relative, I had no choice. He had all the documentation to prove who he was. But…”
He had all of the documentation because he was my father’s father, my grandfather. Had I only believed it because my father had sent me here? Although, he had never revealed it to me. Or did I believe it because I had seen it in the old man’s mind? Then why was I in denial? Maybe I was in denial because I couldn’t understand why he had been out of my life and then suddenly wanted to be a part of it.
“You had your doubts?” Sean abruptly asked. I glanced up at him, and he smiled. Perhaps not doubts, just questions, a lot of questions for him.
“I would have been suspicious as well. He just shows up, shows you them the right papers, and says the right things. And you never met him until last week.”
I tried to smile. He chuckled, shaking his head. But of course he didn’t know the entire story, but yes, it was something like that.
“So then your parents die, and you find out he exists? What do you say to something like that?” Tina asked, leaning forward.
“I don’t know,” I honestly answered. “I didn’t believe it at first. My parents had never talked about any other family. As far as I knew, I didn’t have any other relatives.” And for a moment, I couldn’t believe I was actually opening up to a bunch of strangers. But it was nice to get it out.
Sean put his glasses back on. They made him look serious and observant. “I personally have nothing against Dr. Edwards, but the man does strike me as a little odd,” he admitted.
“I’ve seen him staring at shadows and walls and talking to the pipes,” Tina said rolling her eyes and stabbing her piece of meatloaf with her fork. She seemed off herself, staring wide-eyed as if her meatloaf was wiggling in front of her and trying to escape. She didn’t move for a second until Sean touched her hand, and then her eyes blinked. She smiled as if she had never been away. It all happened so quickly I almost didn’t notice it until she laughed robotically, and Alex was the only other person that found it strange.
“Yeah he’s off,” she again said as if nothing had happened. “I think he thinks this building is alive. The man is scared of his own shadow. I would find it hard to believe anything he said.”
She laughed. Alex wrinkled her nose at her, still not sure where she had gone a few moments ago.
“I guess so,” I softly answered. “But why would he lie?” I openly asked; of course I knew the truth. I just didn’t like it.
“Maybe he hasn’t lied. Perhaps the real question is why he waited so long to come forward?” Sean added, slowly leaning forward again, smiling, and for that brief moment, I couldn’t move. There was something about his eyes. The color seemed off, slightly radiantly swirling. I must have been seeing things, but it seemed so. The way the swirls danced in a mixture of bright blues and purples was mesmerizing. Yes purples, they seemed almost real!
“How unfair to keep you a
way from me,” Sean said, but as I blinked, he was looking through the pages of his book.
“What did you say?” I doubtfully asked. He looked up at me with a smile. His eyes were very brown now, almost lifeless like their expressions had seemed from the very beginning. It must have been a trick of the light, those colors in his eyes.
“I said, it must have been hard to keep you away,” Sean answered and fell back into the pages of his book.
“Why would somebody do that?” Ruben asked to no one in particular.
“I don’t know,” I answered, trying to forget what I thought I had heard. I really didn’t know, not that I had given the old man a chance to even tell me what he planned to tell me. Cutting him off when he had attempted to.
"Well, I don’t think I could trust someone like that. I mean how can you? What’s he hiding? And what does he want, resurfacing after so many years? He was never in your life, and then suddenly…boom I’m your grandfather!” Ruben exclaimed.
“That sucks. Listen, if you ever need anyone to talk to, you can talk to me,” Tina offered, an oddly wide smile spread over her face, her eyes as wide as the smile.
“It’s all about money,” Alex exclaimed. “The old fart is just after your money! Could be that he’s a con artist. He has all the right documents and said all the right things. I saw a special on it on MSNBC.”
The others all glanced over at her in amazement until she busted into laughter. Apparently she couldn’t hide it anymore, swallowing the gum she had been chewing the entire time.
"Oh come on!” she said. “I’m just messing around. Dr. Edwards is odd; I’ll give him that, but one thing he’s not: is in desperate need of money. I heard he’s loaded. I doubt it’s money he’s after. Perhaps you’re the one after his money,” she said while pointing at me.
Sean frowned at her. “You’re not helping,” he uttered.
I had never believed he had been after my inheritance. What did he want? And why had he waited so long to come forward? What was he hiding?
“Well if not, this might be the best thing that ever happened to you,” Alex said, glancing over at me. “Now you can get whatever you want from the old man. He owes you big time!” Alex exclaimed. “You can probably get a car out of it!”
Sean glared back at me from the pages of his book; I could see he was a little annoyed by Alex. This made me wonder how they had ever gotten along before I came into the picture.
"I don’t want anything from him,” I softly whispered.
“What? I’d take advantage of the situation, sister!” Alex stupidly exclaimed while grinning.
“Well, what a surprise,” Ruben said to Alex.
“I understand how you feel,” Tina immediately responded. She seemed like the nurturing kind, always apologetic, always polite. She bent over backwards to suit my needs, and as much as I appreciated it, I found it rather strange and peculiar at times. But I had to admit, I didn’t have much experience with friends, so what did I know?
Tina and Ruben leaned forward. I heard them whisper, “We need to walk her to class.”
Then smiling, they came even closer. “Can we walk you to class?” Ruben offered.
Sean lifted his eyes from the book. He listened, waiting perhaps to see what I would say.
“I suppose that would be okay,” I said, feeling uneasy by the way they said it, as if I were some kind of celebrity.
Only then did Sean speak, “We can accompany you to all your classes if you’d like. We’re somewhat of a unit now.” The others happily agreed.
“After all, we’re all friends now,” he said.
“You don’t have to. Really,” I answered.
“But that’s what friends do,” Tina said.
“They help each other,” Ruben offered.
“We can hang out after school. You must say yes, Claudia,” Tina pleaded. “We can go to the mall if you like. We can do anything you’d like to do.”
Their eyes needed something from me, an answer perhaps, but I didn’t want to give it to them. I liked them well enough, but I just wasn’t the friend-type. I was used to being on my own. I wasn’t the mall-type either; my idea of a good time or day was sitting in my room painting or drawing.
For god sakes, I grabbed the first thing that made me comfortable when it came to clothes, an easily fitting blouse, a pair of jeans, and my red Doc Martins.
I was a bit of a little rebel, and perhaps that name Alex had been calling me since we’d met hadn’t been that off.
“Well, I’ll have to ask my grandfather,” I softly offered them. They didn’t sound disappointed, but they were more robotic in their understanding than what I’d expected.
“Of course. I’m sure he won’t mind,” Ruben said with a smile that spread upon his face. His eyes sparkled but seemed soulless and empty.
“We can ask him for you if you’d like,” Tina offered. She nodded; her eyes seemed to be as soulless and empty as Ruben’s and Sean’s.
“No, I think I can handle that.” I could see Alex grinning over at me.
“Here take my number,” Tina offered. “If you need anything, call us. It doesn’t matter what time.”
“But won’t your parents get mad if I call late?” I softly asked.
She laughed like I had said a really funny joke. “No, of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. Call us, really, any time you like.”
“You’re suddenly the popular one, Pocahontas,” Alex smiled, coming to sit right beside me. “Creepy, isn’t it?” she whispered as I glared in the distance at the two assistant principals.
"Look at the gruesome twosome up there. You think we can't see them constantly looking over here," Alex said.
"Sorry, I think I’m the reason they’re here,” I honestly admitted, looking over at Mr. Vasquez and Mr. Claypool.
“The…my grandfather has them watching me,” I said.
"He has, has he? Well, you don't have to apologize," Tina politely offered, smiling robotically back at me.
"What? Oh great!" Alex exclaimed. "They're gonna find out for sure that I'm skipping. Thanks a lot, Pocahontas!" She snapped at me.
"Perhaps I should go," I offered and rose, but Tina stopped me.
"Maybe you should!" Alex exclaimed.
"Don’t be ridiculous! Stay!” Tina challenged, pulling me down as I tried to get up; she flashed a set of white teeth at me which made me uneasy.
Alex wrinkled her eyes at them. "Really guys!"
Tina, Ruben, and Sean looked back at her. Angrily, Alex rose, but when she noticed the principals approaching, she immediately sat back down.
"Great. Here they come,” she whispered, trying to hide her face. "If they see me, I'll get another week of detention again for sure. Why did you bring her here, Tina? She’s gonna get me in trouble."
"Perhaps you should have stayed put," Sean offered without glancing from his book. Alex mocked him and offered him her middle finger.
"How mature," he whispered and continued to read.
I rose at once, and even after Tina called out to me, I began to walk towards Mr. Vasquez and Mr. Claypool. I just couldn't allow Alex to get in trouble because of me. They watched as I approached the two administrators, and they greeted me with smiles.
"She saved your ass,” I overheard Tina say to Alex.
"Don't expect me to thank her, your highness!" Alex angrily replied.
"Perhaps you should," Ruben insisted, lifting a brow at her.
"I like her," Sean added, looking up from his book as Alex made a face at him.
"Me too," Ruben agreed.
"Oh fuck you guys!" Alex yelled, leaving the table as I led the assistant principals out the other end of the cafeteria.
I walked into the hallway with Mr. Claypool and Mr. Vasquez and noticed Alex coming from the other end. When Alex saw me talking with the men, I grabbed Mr. Claypool's hand suddenly to lead him in the other direction.
"Would it be alright if you guys show me to my next class?" The old damsel in distress act
never failed. My distraction had worked, and I watched Alex ducking into the stairwell nearby and disappearing before they could see her. I hated to think it would have been my fault if Alex got in trouble.
The assistant principals had been more than happy to offer their help, and it seemed I had made their day perhaps by the way they almost skipped alongside me. I had never seen any administrators like these two, but now I was stuck with them, the gruesome twosome, as Alex had described them back in the cafeteria.
And I regretted it for one thing; Mr. Vasquez wouldn't stop talking about faculty get-togethers and dinners at the old man's house. And Mr. Claypool, although kind and sweet, was a bit of a nerd, lecturing me on grades and schoolwork. I thought of what Alex had said about them. They seemed fairly nice to me; unlike anything Alex had described.
"Wait until Christmas. We have faculty parties and then Thanksgiving dinners for the whole staff," Mr. Vasquez went on.
"But that's not what life's all about, you know my dear," Mr. Claypool interrupted, glaring at Mr. Vasquez. "Good grades and studying hard are always more important than parties and such."
They stopped at the end of the hallway; I noticed the entrance to PE class in the distance, but I didn’t just want to dart away. Luckily for me, I was saved by the bell, and as the men kept talking, I broke away.
"Oh, that's me. Thanks for the help Mr. Vasquez and Mr. Claypool," I said and then darted away towards my class.
They watched Claudia as she rushed away. Standing in the hallway, they simply waved and smiled.
"What a nice kid," Mr. Claypool said.
“I like her,” Mr. Vasquez agreed.
10
The Man in The Black Suit and Red Tie
Claudia
