"That's the worst thing, a could be writer, will ever say, as soon as I find the time. There's no such thing. You will never find time. You will either make time, or you will never write. Period. If other people become your excuse not to write, you don't wanna write, you just think you do, and then you welcome the distraction from it, which becomes your excuse; which is covering over the real reason you don't write, that being, you either can't write, or haven't the fortitude, patience and determination to write. A real writer ... writes ... period. Time does not matter, how many people in your life does not matter, circumstances changing, doesn't matter. If you're a writer, you will write. And the nature of the beast is, a writer, a good writer, must learn to be selfish at times."
Sylvia chewed the inside of the lips, feeling the hard message, realizing what a fact that was, considering her own circumstances. "I just don't see how I can fit it in, or, make the time."
"How does Shawn feel about you writing?"
"He's very supportive and encouraging."
"I see, so in other words, its you."
"What do you mean, me?" Sylvia asked.
"You - and you alone, are the one holding you back. If you've got a man willing to support your desire to write, you have no excuse. And don't let other peoples opinion of you, hold you back. People will look at you, pigeon hole you, and be even disdainful of you attempting to write, assuming they know you, and what is in your mind. I can't emphasize enough, how many have let just that, keep them from writing."
Sylvia thought about Armundo and how he used to criticize her when she mentioned wanting to be a writer. Accusing her of trying to get above herself, telling her she needed to accept what she was there and then, "Stick to changing diapers, cooking and cleaning house, leave the writing to people with brains."
"You know what..." Sylvia admitted, "...as reluctant as I am to agree with you, you're right. I blame everyone for what I haven't completed, but myself and in truth, I am the only one to blame."
Mercy stopped her before she went any further, "Now let's think balanced here, there will be times, when someone will disrupt what you're trying to do. I'm married to the president of Pen-Tab publishing and girl let me tell you, he sometimes threatens to turn off all the electricity in the whole doggone house; because I get going and won't stop. There must be, family time. There must be time for you and your husband. Unfortunately having said that, writing is not like a faucet, where you can turn it on and off. When you're in mid creative flow, I guarantee you, that's when the roof on the house is falling in and your husband wants you to come and help him hold it up." Mercy laughed, "And believe me, sometimes when you trying to get that scene written, you think, the hell with it, let the roof fall in, 'cause I ain't stoppin' and I ain't comin' out."
They both burst into laughter, and then heard from down stairs,
"You two comin' down or what?"
"See, like now, it's socializing time - which will give you food, for thought. Because remember, every single thing you experience in your life, your entire life, will contribute to a story you'll want to tell." Mercy winked and lead the way down.
Chapter 235
Morning, Madison, Wi.
The good thing about being a high school coach with a winning basketball and football team is, that when you need anything from the school district or principle - for the most part, you've got it. Even when it comes to calling a meeting on short notice when made to feel urgent, there are those willing to attend, at least a few members of the school board would try to be present. In this case, of the seven - three were in attendance for Derrick's sudden call for a meeting with them.
The assistant school district superintendent, Simon Groves; the head secretary, Emma Peacock and the principle of the high school where Derrick was coach, Stuart Henderson. They all gathered within the meeting room beside the principles office, each of them cradling their tumbler of coffee from Kwik Trip. With the four of them gathering, Emma thought to bring donuts, the kind of donuts each man there made a point of reaching into the box to grab his favorite from. Donuts being the last thing on Derrick's mind, he passed them by moving towards his seat, waiting patiently for them to turn from the white bakery box to him, deciding to get things started, he addressed them.
"I really appreciate this short notice meeting, if it weren't important - it goes without saying, there would be no need for it."
"Have a seat Derrick, no need in explaining, we kind of figured that already." Stuart, the principle returned occupying the place that would be directly across the table from Derrick. Simon, and the secretary took the other seats, all three facing Derrick, who sat with his back to the door that lead out into the office, and from there, into the school's corridor. Once the secretary had her pad out, she gave the nod that she was ready.
"Okay Derrick, let's hear it."
He'd done a lot of serious thinking that morning before calling everyone, trying to decide how he'd go into it. On the way there, still more thinking of how to lay something so heavy on the table, and now that he was there, before the three, he found that he still struggled with how to go about saying what needed to be said. Taking a deep breath, he decided to just go for it, when all of a sudden, those before him looked up behind him. Wondering what could have captured their sudden attention, he turned to see, to his complete shock, staring with wide eyes through the framed window of the door, Margaret Wheeler.
He could not believe his eyes.
Margaret opened the door, stepped in, glanced at those at the table briefly, and then at Derrick, "Um, please excuse me for interrupting, but, Derrick, I really need to speak with you before you go any further."
All four within the room stared, and because three of them hadn't a clue of what the meeting was about, their gaze was one of curiosity. Derrick stood, his eyes wide, incredulous, while fighting anger. Never had he met anyone in his life with so much audacity; it showed on his face.
Stuart the principle stood, "Unless your presence has something to do with this meeting, I'm going to have to ask you to wait Ms. Wheeler. The meeting is impromptu as it is, we've all interrupted our plans to be here."
"All I'm asking is for a moment." She pressed looking from the principle to Derrick.
"No. Your timing, as usual - is bad timing. This ends today, you get my meaning?" Derrick stated forthrightly.
Curiosity of the others had now increased ten-fold.
"What exactly is going on here?" Stuart asked.
Derrick turned to him, both men still standing.
"Derrick... ple-e-ease." She dragged, her voice carrying a tone of slight warning, as she stepped further into the room to look into Derricks' face. He ignored her presence stating, "I called this meeting, I wish to go on with it, without her present please."
"Oh no you don't, if you're going to be talking about me, then I demand to be present to defend myself."
"My suggestion is that you do that by calling your own meeting before them." He almost growled, his impatience showing.
"I take it that this meeting is about Ms. Wheeler?" Stuart asked looking from Margaret to Derrick.
"Yes it is, if she wishes to defend herself, she can do so by calling her own meeting."
Simon and Emma looked to Stuart.
Stuart turned to Margaret. "I'm afraid you're going to have to leave Ms. Wheeler. If this turns out to be a case in which you need to defend yourself, you will be given the opportunity to do so, as for this particular moment and time, I'm asking you to leave so that we can get to the root of the matter."
"I - am not - going anywhere! I have as much right to be here as he does. If he's going to be discussing me, I demand to be present to defend myself."
"This is not a courtroom Ms. Wheeler, but a meeting called by a member of my staff. Each member has a right to do so without it being challenged or interrupted, now for the last time; I'm asking you to remove yourself from this room so that we may continue." Stuart pressed sternly.
Desperate, Margaret t
urned to look at Derrick, trying to get him to look into her eyes, "Don't do this, please - don't - do - this."
Fed up with her there, Derrick turned to her saying, "Your deeds, especially last night, leave me no choice." He turned away from her.
Shaken, angry, feeling the burn of humiliation based on what she knew he would be telling them, she turned and said to the others, "I have a right to have my say, to defend myself!"
"You'll get that, Ms. Wheeler." Stuart assured her.
"Today!" She demanded.
"Sorry, not today, but we will arrange your day. Now if you will excuse us."
Margaret stood breathing hard, glaring from Derrick to Stuart, racking her brain for what to do next, what to say, realizing that nothing she said would sway Derrick from this course of action, there was little else to do, but give in, turn and leave, doing so loudly, she slammed out of the room.
All within gave a sigh of relief as it was feared that she might make a scene and not willingly leave.
Derrick turned back to the table taking his seat, looking apologetic as Stuart followed suit taking his.
"With all intents and purposes, I think you should begin." Stuart opened the discussion.
"Yes, well - I would apologize for what you just saw, except I have no control of this situation, reason for me calling this meeting. I'm going to cut to the chase. Margaret Wheeler has been coming onto me for some time now. Her coming on to me, has gone from subtle hints, to the extreme. How extreme? She's now harassing my wife, and disrupting my home. When I leave here, I will be going to the police to take out a restraining order on her-..."
There was a collective gasp from those sitting across from him.
"...-considering her irrational conduct, I personally do not feel that she is suitable or competent to be a teacher or a role model." He admonished.
"Well, this is certainly - more than we expected. And the accusation you've made is certainly a strong one. To be fair, I need ask, have you done anything to lead her on, or into this - this - uh - well - coming on to you?"
"No. No I have not. I am very happily married to my wife. I've never cheated on her and would not consider doing so. From her very earliest and subtle actions towards me, I have always shown nothing but disinterest. That in itself has not been enough, she's continued tenaciously in pursuing me, becoming even more blatant as time has gone by."
"Doing what exactly?" Simon asked as Emma too dictated.
"Well, I will go directly to her first bold and direct attempt; she's completely undressed herself, and I do mean, naked, and has waited in my office for me to discover her that way-..."
"She? Wha-... here? She-..."
"Yes, here. When I walked in and saw her, believe me, I was stunned. However, looking away from her, I took my jacket, turned and left, asking her to close up my office. I thought after that, she would be able to see beyond any doubt that I had no interest in her. She cooled off for a moment, or rather, a few weeks and then continued on again." Derrick went on to give them incidences as close and as accurately as he could for each time she'd made a move on him, including her impromptu lunch that his wife walked in and caught, their brief physical altercation and all the phone calls leading to the night before. By the time he was done, they were reeling in shock, clearly stumped as to what to do. However they assured him, "We will of course need to bring this before the other school board members and then hear her side of it."
"I expected that. However I cannot continue to let this happen, as I stated, it is really starting to disrupt my family. So I need to make you aware, should the problem persist, I will be forced to leave this job and relocate my family because of her harassment."
"Now now, let's not be so hasty. Give us a chance to see this through, please - one day at a time."
"You do what you have to do, I'll do what I have to do. Once I leave here, I'll be heading to the police station to request a restraining order." He stood nodding to them, "For the sake of all, I hope this wasn't a wasted meeting." He left.
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph ... there's always something!" Simon exclaimed, the donut giving him a stomach ache at just the thought of where this could all lead.
Outside, Derrick made his way to his truck and spotted Margaret sitting in the school parking lot waiting for him to come out. Before he could get to his truck, she was out of her car walking towards him.
"What did you tell them?! I can't believe you brought this here! Will you slow down and talk to me! Derrick! I'm not going to just go away! You might as well get used to that idea. Derrick! My god, say something to me!" She went on, walking beside him, trying to keep up with his purposeful strides. He completely ignored her presence, determined to get to his vehicle and away from her. "Derrick!" She grabbed his arm to stop him. That did the job, he turned on her with a fierceness that set her back. "Don't - touch me! Don't put your hands on me, understand?! What you have done - concerning my wife - my wife - it is unforgivable! You understand?! You've gone too far - you hear me? Too far! At this point and time, were I you, I would be seeking some psychiatric counseling." Finally at his truck, he opened the door to get in, she grabbed the door to keep him from closing it.
"It's not counseling I need - it's you Derrick - you! How can you be with someone like her when I'm here and love you so much? I would do anything for you Derrick, anything!"
"Anything? Anything you say? How about stay the fuck away from me? How's about that?!" He started the truck and pulled off with his door open. She was forced to let it go, he grabbed it then and slammed it as he hurried out of the school parking lot; heading for the police station where a restraining order was filed.
Having done what he set out to do, Derrick entered his home looking for his wife. She was in the basement in the laundry room, doing that and getting some ironing in before dinner. She glanced up to see him entering, offering a simple smile. He started off right away filling her in.
"Well it's done, I've spoken to the school board, well, three of them anyway, they'll be going back to the others. And I've gone to the police station and filed a restraining order on her." He was leaning against one of the cabinets waiting on her reaction. It was slow in coming as she rearranged a shirt on the ironing board, spraying some starch and then taking the iron to it again.
"Meri?"
"I heard you. The vans overheating, I was going to the store, but thought I'd better wait until you got home to see what's happening with it. I'm out of onions, tomato sauce and red pepper, some other things. I sent Shawn2 and Joseph to the store, soon as they're back, I'll start dinner."
"Are you ignoring what I just told you?"
"No, not at all."
"Well ... what do you think?"
She hung the shirt on a hanger and grabbed another from the basket, spraying it with starch and arranging it on the board.
"Meri?"
She sighed and looked up at him, "I'm glad that you've done it, papi, I am. But - do you honestly think either will make a difference? You're going to have to face that she's not normal. She obviously has no shame. Her one objective, is to have you. The school board - the police - a restraining order - will mean nothing to her. So while all of this is a good show of effort on your part, it will not stop her."
Leaning where he was, Derrick ran his hand over his head, admitting, "I don't understand her, or any woman like that. She ah, had the nerve to show up at the school today, I couldn't believe it."
Meribel froze in her ironing, her mouth on the verge of hanging open as she stared up at her husband, finally she shook her head feeling sorry for him. Simply because of the kind of man that he was - being ill equipped to deal with someone like Margaret Wheeler. She was done asking for the woman's address because she knew he would not give it, therefore she would be forced to carry through with her own plans just to be ready if the chick went psycho on them.
Her husband's hand was suddenly at her chin, lifting it to gaze into her eyes. "I'm so sorry about all of this, really I am."
/> "This is not your fault. I know that and I am not blaming you so don't think that I am."
"Either way, I need you to know - that I'm in love with you. I've always loved you, I've never cheated on you - I never would, the thought has never entered my mind." He declared walking around the ironing board to her. Meri set the iron in the rack turning to him as he gathered her in his arms, "You believe me?"
"Yes, of course I believe you. Still, it doesn't change what we're up against. I need you to listen to me Derrick, I want you to know, despite what you're doing - she'll be back. More than likely, she will be angry and humiliated because of your rejection. Just so you know it, I am prepared to defend myself, my home, my children and if need be, you. In fair warning, I must make this clear to you, you don't ... really know me, not really. With this - I will only wait so long - take - so much."
Derrick stood tall looking down at her, his large hands grasping her uppers arms, his thumbs caressing the round of her shoulders. He could see the seriousness in her eyes and despite what she thought, he did know her; better than she realized. All the years that they'd been married with frequent trips to Chicago visiting her family and while they spoke Spanish quite a bit, there were times when one or another would slip up and say a bit too much in English. He always played it off, but as time went by, with a bit said here, and a bit said there, and mornings when Meribel and her mother spoke, thinking him asleep, he heard plenty, learned quite a bit about his wife. One particular visit, Meribel had mentioned wanting to visit an old friend of hers to her mother. Because Meribel and Derrick slept in a room where the door to it was only a few feet away from the door of the room her mother slept in, this allowed for easy hearing to what was going on in other rooms. That morning, mother and daughter were up early to go to the Mexican store to pick up Carnitas meat, Menudo, tortillas, and all the fixings she loved for breakfast when they visited. It had been then, when they thought everyone else still sleeping when he'd heard the greatest bit - the reason his wife ended up in Wisconsin; to escape a threat to her and Dj from a rival gang, while she had been pregnant. Meribel's mother had been warning her, telling her that she was better off never revisiting that time in her life, nor the friends from it; because of Derrick being there and her children, she knew that her mother was right. At no given time had he ever heard the whole story all at once, but as the years went by, the big picture finally came together. That picture being, his wife had once been in a gang. Since she never brought it up to him, he went on with their lives never bringing it up to her. Derrick gathered her close to him within his arms, bent low; kissed her brow and softly stated in view of her declaration.
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