Right Where I Belong

by Krista McGee

Looking out the window—for the fifth time in as many minutes—Natalia let the blinds click back into place.

  Earlier that morning Natalia had received a phone call from one of the seniors at Tampa Christian School. A female student. Her name was Addy. Natalia had been trying to get Brian out of her head since her tour the day before. The attempts had been largely unsuccessful. She hoped a female friend could help her forget about the blue-eyed giant.

  “Addy Davidson?” Maureen had asked. “I used to teach her in Sunday school. She’s a sweet girl. Her parents were missionaries in Colombia. They were killed when Addy was just a little girl. Her uncle Mike flew down there, picked her up, and raised her all by himself.”

  “Wow,” Natalia said. “You know a lot of the kids here, don’t you?”

  “I spent several years teaching the third- and fourth-grade Sunday school classes.” Maureen smiled. “Life was pretty great back then. I was constantly getting promotions, was involved with the singles group at church, taught Sunday school. But I didn’t think it was great. I wanted more. I was bored, living where I’d always lived. I wanted to see more of the world, to be more successful. Look where that got me. Right back here, unemployed and divorced and bitter.”

  Natalia, trying to avoid yet another meltdown, asked, “What else can you tell me about Addy?”

  “Oh, Addy? Actually”—Maureen laughed—“she’s a bit of a celebrity right now.”

  “A celebrity?” Because of her mother’s and father’s occupations, Natalia had been forced to meet more celebrities than she cared to remember. Most were self-centered and demanding. She was suddenly less excited about her lunch plans.

  “Carol kept me posted about it when we talked. The show was on right when your father left, so I didn’t watch it. Apparently, though, Addy was on a reality TV show competition to win a date with the president’s son.”

  “Oh!” Natalia gasped. “Did she win?”

  “No, but she was a contender right up until the end, and I remember Carol saying that Addy had presented the gospel to one of the show’s producers—right on the air. I think that’s why she didn’t win. But everyone here was so proud of her. She’s fairly shy so that couldn’t have been easy for her.”

  Natalia was excited again. A girl her age who cared more about talking about Jesus than winning something as huge as a date with the president’s son. Would Addy even want to be her friend? Natalia had only been a Christian for a couple of years, and she certainly didn’t have missionary parents.

  The doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts.

  Natalia rushed to the door, then made herself pause a moment before opening the door.

  “Hi, Natalia, I’m Addy.” The young woman held her hand out in greeting.

  Still unused to the American greetings, Natalia put her hand in Addy’s and squeezed. Addy was certainly reserved. Not at all like Brian and Spencer, or even Jack and the girls.

  Addy was taller than Natalia by about two inches, her brown hair a shade lighter than Natalia’s, and her eyes a warm brown. She was very pretty, but she didn’t try to flaunt it.

  “Addy,” Maureen said, walking past Natalia to hug the young American. “It’s so good to see you! I didn’t get to see all the episodes of your show, but I heard you made quite an impression on America. And on the First Son.”

  Natalia was thrilled to see Maureen so happy. She stepped aside as Maureen led Addy into the living room.

  “This is a great place, Miss Maureen.” Addy took a seat on the tan couch and avoided answering Maureen’s question.

  “You don’t have to call me Miss Maureen, Addy. I’m not your Sunday school teacher anymore.”

  “It’s a habit.” Addy laughed. “But Mr. Lawrence did tell me he’s asked you to be our Spanish teacher. So maybe I can call you Señora Maureen. He wanted me to try and convince you to take the position. I’m planning on taking Spanish 3 this year, and I’d love to have you as my teacher.”

  Maureen’s smile melted, replaced by a scowl. She stood. “I’ve already told Jim I’m not interested. I wish he would let it go. I didn’t leave a good-paying job in the corporate world to . . .” Maureen paused, closing her eyes. “I know you were just doing what you were asked to do, Addy. Why don’t you and Natalia go ahead and go, enjoy your lunch. I have some phone calls to make.” She headed to the kitchen.

  Addy looked apologetically at Natalia. “I didn’t mean to upset her. I didn’t know . . .”

  “It’s all right.” Natalia grabbed her purse as she led Addy back to the door. “Maureen is having a hard time adjusting. I think her teaching Spanish would be a terrific idea. She is a gifted teacher. I’ve benefited from that gift—she’s taught me about the Bible, answered my questions, helped me to know how to study and pray. I think she just has to get past the idea that being a teacher is below her.”

  Natalia opened the door to Addy’s red compact sedan, sat down, and buckled in as Addy did the same.

  “Maureen would fit in well at TCS. There are several teachers right about her age, some married, some divorced, some single. All are great. And I’m not just saying that because Mr. Lawrence told me to.”

  Natalia laughed. “She just feels so embarrassed. I don’t understand. This isn’t her. The Maureen I know is the kindest, happiest woman I’ve ever known. But this divorce—my father,” Natalia added angrily, “has changed her. I had hoped that my being here would help. But I don’t know.”

  Natalia stopped. She was surprised at herself for being so honest with a girl she barely knew. But Addy didn’t seem put out by it.

  “I think what you did is amazing,” Addy said. “I left home for the TV show I was on, and I went kicking and screaming. God had to really shake me up to make me look past myself and see the reasons he had me there. But you came willingly, and not just for a month. I can’t even imagine how hard it is to leave your parents and your friends and your country.”

  Addy pulled into the parking lot of Dixie’s Diner, a place unlike any Natalia had ever seen before. It was small and filled with what looked like broken-down tables and chairs, potted plants hanging from the ceiling, and plastic menus caked with samples from the various “southern-style” dishes it boasted.

  “What does ‘southern style’ mean?”

  “Basically, it means extra butter and gravy, with everything fried—the meat, the vegetables, even the desserts. It’s great!”

  Natalia wished for a nice paella—a Spanish rice dish made with chicken or shrimp, no butter, gravy, or fried foods. But she was determined to at least give the new food a try. Addy was thin, so Natalia hoped that meant the food wouldn’t cause her to have to trade her form-fitting jeans for the elastic-waisted pants that seemed so popular to the other patrons of the restaurant.

  Natalia reluctantly ordered the “Dixie De-Lux”—chicken-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and a roll. She was sure that she would be in a carbohydrate coma for weeks afterward, but Addy had insisted.

  “Dixie has owned this diner since the days when Orange Station was just a little town, far outside the Tampa city limits. Tampa has grown, and we’re basically just a suburb of it now. But Dixie is still here. She’s about seventy-five years old and still works a few days a week. These recipes were her grandmother’s—about a hundred years old. They are amazing. I promise!”

  Natalia waited, nervously, for her lunch and listened as Addy filled her in on what to expect from Tampa Christian School.

  “TCS is the only school I’ve ever attended.” Addy took a sip from her iced tea—another item Natalia “just had” to try. “There are about forty in our graduating class. We’re one of the larger ones. A couple years ago, there were just twenty-one graduates.”

  Natalia was shocked. Although she had attended a private school, it was much larger, with the graduating classes averaging two hundred.

  “There are advantages to the size.” Addy had obviously noted Natalia’s surprise. “Our classes are small, so we get to know each other well. With only
one hundred fifty or so in the entire high school, you have a much better chance of making the sports teams or being in school plays. What are your extracurricular interests, by the way?”

  “What clubs was I part of?”

  “No, not exactly. I mean like sports or drama or choir.”

  “Those are clubs.”

  “What?”

  “Clubs that you join. Some private, some public. But what does that have to do with school?” Natalia was confused. Apparently, so was Addy.

  “No, I mean school sports and arts.”

  Was her English failing her? Natalia had no idea what this girl was talking about.

  “Our school has girls’ volleyball, basketball, soccer, and softball teams,” Addy said. “We also have cheerleading. If you’re in one of those, you have practices after school during that sport’s season and you play teams from other Christian schools in the area. Band and choir are both offered as electives. If you take one of those, you’ll have some after-school practices and performances as well. Don’t you have that in Spain?”

  “Okay, slow down a little. School sports and music?”

  “Yes.” Addy nodded.

  “Wow, we definitely don’t have that at my old school. Students who wanted to be involved in those types of activities joined a club.”

  “Well, we have Little Leagues here, those are like clubs, where kids from around the community can play sports.”

  “Little Leagues?” Natalia replied. “I suppose that’s similar. But your schools also offer sports?”

  “Yes. Do you play?”

  “I played football—what you Americans call soccer—for fun. But mostly I spend my time studying. I have to get into a good college, after all.”

  “You don’t sound excited about that.”

  Natalia thought of her parents. “It is not exciting. But it’s what is expected of me.” Not wanting to discuss that any further, Natalia began eating her southern fare.

  The pair ate in silence for several minutes. Natalia listened to the conversations going on around them, pleased that her understanding of “American” English was improving.

  Addy pushed her plate away, having only eaten half of what she ordered. “Oh, we also have a girls’ Bible study that meets once a week, if you’re interested.”

  “Oh yes.” Natalia pushed her plate away as well. Dixie was not as delightful as Addy claimed. “You have Bible class and do a Bible study?”

  “And there’s youth group and Sunday school.” Addy smiled. “Not too many girls come. We average ten or twelve.”

  “What do you study?”

  “Different things.” Addy took the check from the waitress and pulled out her purse. “By the way, lunch is on Mr. Lawrence. He insisted. Anyway, sometimes we study a book of the Bible. Other times we read a book together and discuss that.”

  “I’d love to be part of that. I’ve been so isolated in my Christian life. I still can’t believe I actually get to take Bible as a class!”

  “Seniors get Pastor Brian.” Addy raised her eyebrows.

  “He seems very nice. Isn’t he?”

  “He’s great.” Addy leaned in. “But I’ve heard he’s really tough. Last year’s seniors said it’s more like a college class than a high school one.”

  “How wonderful.” Natalia couldn’t wait. College Bible!

  Addy shook her head and grinned. “I’m glad you’re here, Natalia. I think you’re going to be a great addition to our senior class.”

  Chapter 13

  You’ll be happy to know I’ve accepted the job at Tampa Christian School,” Maureen announced as she walked into the town house, slamming the door behind her.

  Natalia was happy, but Maureen didn’t want to hear that. A week had gone by since she had been offered the job by Mr. Lawrence, and despite her constant scouring of the Internet and newspapers, Maureen had not found any other job possibilities. Natalia knew Maureen would eventually have to take the job available to her. And Natalia felt that job was from God, and the more Addy told her about TCS, the more confident Natalia felt that it would be a great place for Maureen.

  “I just signed my contract,” Maureen spat out as she sat on the couch and placed a pillow on her lap. “I am getting paid about a third of what I made starting out in your father’s company. But there won’t be any raises here. No promotions. Nothing. All my education, all my experience, everything goes out the window.”

  “Maureen.” Natalia sat next to her, wanting to scream at her for not seeing the opportunity she was being given but knowing that wouldn’t help the situation. “You are trading one set of gifts for another. And you’ve always told me how much you love the Spanish language and how terrible your high school Spanish teacher was. What was her name? Señora Manzeloswi?”

  “Midzowanski.” Maureen smiled in spite of herself. “She was pretty bad. She couldn’t even pronounce half the words in our Spanish 2 textbook. ‘HO-la, chih-cahs,’ she’d say. She wouldn’t even try to speak with a Spanish accent. It was awful!”

  “But you have been exposed to true Spanish.” Natalia grinned. “From the Mother country. You can teach these poor American kids correct pronunciation, proper grammar. You’re like a missionary to the monolingual!”

  Maureen reached over and hugged her. “Oh, Natalia, I don’t know what I’d do without you here. I’m sorry I haven’t helped you very much. I feel like our roles have reversed. You’re the mother and I’m the child. I’ll get better. I promise. This is just so much harder than I thought it would be. All of it is so much harder.”

  “We’ll get through this, Maureen. And I, for one, am quite relieved that you’ll be at school with me. You can protect me from awful things like chicken fried chicken.”

  Both laughed. Natalia had not enjoyed the southern food, but, thankfully, Addy was very understanding. In fact, she had called later that night and offered to take Natalia to a local Spanish restaurant.

  “It’s supposed to be the real thing,” Addy promised. “In fact, it’s called a tapas bar. When I told that to my uncle, he thought I said ‘topless bar’ and got this shocked look on his face.” Even Maureen had chuckled at that.

  “Tapas are very Spanish,” Natalia assured Addy. “They are similar to what you call appetizers, except you share them with a whole table and that is your meal. If this place is really authentic, we can even get some chorizo. That’s my favorite!”

  “What’s chorizo?” Addy asked.

  “Just wait and see.”

  “Oh, Natalia,” Maureen said, snapping Natalia out of her reverie. “I almost forgot. When I was in the meeting with Mr. Lawrence, he asked me about your community-service hours.”

  “My what?”

  “Students are required to have a certain number of community-service hours in order to graduate.”

  “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Anything that benefits the community,” Maureen replied.

  “Well, that clears it all up.” Natalia raised her arms in surrender. “I don’t litter and I go shopping. Isn’t that beneficial? I can go shopping a little more if that would help.”

  “Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. It has to be a service, like tutoring kids or volunteering at a community center. Oh, I know.” Maureen placed a hand on Natalia’s knee. “Little Brian said he runs an ESL program here. That’s English as a Second Language. He offers classes at the church. Most of them are Spanish speakers. You could help with that.”

  The thought of working with Brian was not unpleasant. But Natalia feared that working so closely with him every week might be difficult.

  “Well?” Maureen asked.

  “I don’t know. Let’s keep looking for other options. If I can’t find anything else, I’ll do that.”

  “Hmmm, where have I heard that before?” Maureen laughed.

  Natalia was so happy to hear her laughing, she didn’t stop to wonder if God was using her stepmother to guide her to this ESL ministry. She was sure God wouldn’t want her to
be around a guy she was attracted to.

  Why purposefully court temptation? I’m sure there will be some other community service I can do. Preferably with a woman. Or an ugly old man.

  Chapter 14

  Ah yes.” Natalia leaned back in her chair. “This is good food!”

  Addy had picked up Natalia from her house that evening to take her to the Spanish restaurant. Natalia quickly discovered that the food was, in fact, quite authentic. The owners were from Salamanca, as were their chefs. Upon hearing they had an actual Spaniard in the restaurant, two of the chefs came out to personally greet her.

  Natalia was thrilled to speak to someone in her native language, talking about places they knew in Spain and things they missed here in the States. Both men had lived in Tampa for over a decade, and their accents sounded more Latin American than Spanish. But it was Spanish. And for that, she was grateful.

  Once the men excused themselves, Natalia looked at Addy. She had been sitting quietly during the entire conversation.

  “I’m sorry for taking so long. I was just so excited.”

  “Don’t apologize.” Addy shrugged. “That was great. I know a little Spanish, so I could pick up on some of your conversation. But your accent is different. It almost sounds like you lisp when you speak.”

  “Lisp? What does that mean?”

  “Like when you said gracias,” Addy said. “You pronounced it gra-th-ias.”

  “Of course. It’s the Latin Americans who have a different accent. Ours is the mother tongue. Just like British is the mother tongue of English.”

  Addy laughed. “So since you learned English from your British teachers, does that mean you speak better Spanish and English than we do?”

  “I guess so.” Natalia winked. “But since you’re in Spanish 3 this year and Maureen will be teaching you, you’ll be able to learn from the best.”

  The conversation continued to be light and fun as the waiters brought out the different appetizers, called tapas. Addy confessed that she wasn’t sure she liked the chorizo.

  “Properly pronounced chori-tho,” Natalia had corrected. The sausage-like links were a little spicier than what Addy was used to. Natalia was happy that Addy liked the octopus.