She nodded.
“Then you need to put clothes on. Can you do that?”
“I think so,” she said and headed to her room, closing the door behind. After a few long minutes, she emerged in jeans and a sweatshirt, combing fingers through still-damp hair.
He patted the sofa. “Sit down.”
She again took her place beside him.
“I’m going to ask you some questions.” He drew in a long breath. “They might make you uncomfortable, but I need you to be one-hundred percent honest with me. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
He shifted to face her. “I need to know about your relationship with Coach Brigham.”
“What about it do you need to know?”
“Everything.”
Leila shrank back. Yes, Leila and Myles had talked about things that most teenage girls would never dream of discussing with a middle-aged man—a teacher, no less. Yet when they had discussed sex at the diner, it was all in theory, formulaic, and abstract. But now, he needed to talk about private issues and real feelings. He hated rousing the discomfort that showed on her face.
She winced. “Why is it important for you to know about my relationship with Ian?”
“Because of what Miss Weiss accused him of. I’m not trying to be intrusive. I only want to help. You need to understand that what happened to you in gym today will not be viewed lightly by the school board.” Myles did not want to alarm her, but she needed to understand there was a storm gathering around her. “Incidents like these are investigated, especially when a teacher has been implicated in alleged sexual misconduct. I want to prepare you for the questions they will ask.”
“I’m going to have to explain about Ian?” Tears again gathered as she drew her knees to her chest.
“Leila, I don’t want to panic you, but you need—” Myles finished forcefully, “you need to get a grip.”
She sat up, offering a weak nod.
Her answers might come with difficulty, but she had no idea how difficult the asking was. He inhaled. “Have you ever had a sexual relationship with Coach Brigham?”
“Sexual?”
He did not want to have to explain it. “Yes, sexual—have you ever had any kind of sex with the man?”
“No!”
“Has he ever kissed you or tried to kiss you?”
“No.”
“Has he ever touched you in an inappropriate way?”
“Inappropriate?”
“In a sexual kind of way.”
She hesitated and blushed. “No.”
“Leila, I'm not trying to embarrass you, but it’s important that you tell me everything.”
“Do feelings count?”
He arched his brow. “Feelings?”
“Yes, sexual feelings.”
“No. Sexual feelings don’t count.” He shook his head, as it dawned on him. “You’ve never had sex with anyone, have you.”
“No.”
“Good,” he said, and continued. “Has Coach Brigham ever spoken to you in a sexually suggestive way?”
“No, not—No. No, he hasn’t.”
“Okay ….” He didn’t like her hesitation. “Have you ever been alone with him outside of the school setting?”
“Yes.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. “Under what circumstances?”
Leila sighed.
Here it comes.
“The first time ….”
Myles refrained from rolling his eyes.
She continued, “… was last July.”
Myles calculated. This might be a mitigating factor. “Before you enrolled in school?”
“Yes.” She explained about her flat tire and Ian’s blues and the conversation they’d had and their immediate rapport. “He didn’t know I was only seventeen. He thought I was older because I sounded like I knew about some of the blues clubs around, which I had been to with my father when I was a kid, but he didn’t know that,” she rambled. “He gave me his card and a cassette, but I never called him because I knew he was older. I just didn’t know he was a teacher, I thought he was a photographer.”
Myles nodded. That was not so bad. “And the next time?”
“It was at his house.”
Oh great! Here we go. “And, did he invite you to his house?”
“No. I just showed up.”
“Okay, how long were you there?”
“I don’t know … a long time, it was hours.”
He tried to relax the tendons in his neck. “And what were you doing for hours?”
“I wanted to see his photography. He showed it to me … all of it.”
Something in the way she said ‘all of it’ made him uneasy. He feared the answer to his next question. “Any sexually explicit content?”
“How do you mean ‘sexually explicit?’”
“Naked people, Leila,” he snapped at her. “People without their clothes or people engaged in sex acts.”
“Well, there were some nudes, but no sex. They weren’t like the ones in Playboy or Penthouse, if that’s what you mean.”
“Like you would know.”
“Don’t be condescending, Clarence. Just because I’m a virgin does not mean that you know what I have or have not been exposed to. I know the difference between pornography and Ian’s art. And you’re not going to twist that.”
Now, Myles startled. “First of all, do not call me by my first name!” He then softened. “Second, I did not mean to be condescending, I’m sorry. Thirdly, I am not trying to twist anything. These are very real questions that may be asked of you, Leila.”
“How do you even know they’re going to ask these kinds of questions?”
“Because I have served on committees whose job it is to ask these kinds of questions. I have had to ask these kinds of questions.”
She slumped back, her eyes exuding exhaustion. “Well, are you done?”
“No. I’m not.” He replaced the ice bag onto her shoulder and tempered his tone. “Were there other times?”
“He drove me home before Thanksgiving when the weather was bad. He dropped me off and left. Then a couple of weeks afterward, I drove to his house and parked outside. He came out. We talked. I left. We haven’t spoken or seen each other since. Until today.”
“What did you talk about?”
Her chin quivered. “He said I needed to stop wishing for something that will never happen … and that I need to get a boyfriend my own age.”
That pleased Myles.
She blotted her face. “So why is it that you and I can be alone together, go to the movies, go out to eat, and nobody gets worked up?”
“Because neither of us is romantically attracted to the other.”
“So what. You were in my apartment while I was naked in the other room. You were practically in my bathroom while I was in the shower. What’s the difference?”
“Motives and circumstance, Leila.”
“And do they always take motives and circumstances into account?”
He had to admit, “Not always.”
“So, potentially, you could get in trouble?”
“It’s not likely. Besides, no one is accusing me of anything. I’m a grouchy old math teacher and a very unlikely target.” Myles understood how the system worked.
“Is Ian going to be in trouble?”
“Only if you keep calling him Ian. Don’t ever call him by his first name. Not even when you’re talking to me. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” She yawned. “What’s going to happen to me?”
Pulling the coverlet from the back of the sofa, he spread it over her shoulders and perched her chin on his fingertips.
He looked into her eyes. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I promise.”
“What if I don’t want to talk to—you know, whoever they are?”
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. If they need to, they can get a court injunction to force you.”
“Do I have to go by myself?�
��
“Normally it would be your parents or a guardian. You’re entitled to bring an attorney if you want. However, you are not the one being accused of anything. This is not about finding fault with you, Leila. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“But I fell in love with Coach Brigham.”
“Falling in love with the wrong person is not a crime. If it were, better than half the population would be locked up, myself included.”
“Who’s going to be with me when they ask me questions?”
“Whoever you want.”
“I want you.”
“Then you’ll have me.” He stood, rubbing his stubbled face. “It’s time for you to put your shoes on. I’m taking you to the emergency room.”
She whined, “I’m not going to the emergency room.”
“Oh, yes you are!” He went to her room and found her sneakers sitting in a damp spot. “Are you going to find some dry shoes, or do I need to start snooping through your closet?”
She slumped back into the sofa as he placed her sneakers on the doormat. Just then, a loud rap rattled glass in the outside door. Ms. Thorpe peered through the window. He half-expected her.
Leila rolled her eyes at the sight of Ms. Thorpe. “Oh great.”
Myles opened the door.
Thorpe whispered, “How is she?”
“She’s fine,” Leila called from the sofa.
“Yes,” Myles said. “Though we are having difficulty getting her dressed for the emergency room.”
Thorpe’s eyebrows arched. “Tell me you are not serious.”
Myles stepped aside. “See for yourself.”
She rounded the sofa and stood in front of Leila. “Let me see.”
Stretching the neck of her sweatshirt, Leila exposed part of her shoulder as Thorpe shot an alarmed and disgusted glance at Myles. Both knew the repercussions of a teacher-inflicted injury.
Myles piped up, “Miss Sanders seems to think that she does not need to go to the emergency room.”
“Oh, she’s going.” Ms. Thorpe marched into Leila’s room and returned with socks and boots. She handed Leila a sock. “Put it on.”
Leila grabbed the limp sock and one handedly tried to insert her toes.
“Give me that.” Thorpe snatched the sock and forced it on Leila’s foot.
Both teachers escorted Leila downstairs and to the curb. Thorpe opened her passenger door. “Get in.”
Leila glanced at Myles.
“She’ll drive over with me,” he said, and Leila followed him to his car.
Over slick roads, they arrived at the emergency room ten minutes later. From the scarcity of seats, it was apparent that it had been a busy night. Two chairs became available on opposite sides of the room. Thorpe took one and Leila took the other while Myles stood at her side. After about a half hour, another seat opened up beside Leila. Myles took the vacancy. As Leila dozed, he put his arm around her to keep her from falling over. While she snored quietly, he held her close and watched Thorpe across the room.
What did Thorpe know of Leila and Brigham’s relationship? More than that, when push came to shove, as it surely would, how exacting would Thorpe, and thus the school board, be regarding Leila’s domestic situation? Thorpe met his stare. She would have just as many questions.
When the seat beside Myles opened up, Thorpe moved to sit beside him. She inched her seat even closer.
Myles spoke first, in an undertone. “I take it you realize there are neither parents nor guardian involved.”
“Yes.” She squinted, studying his face. “And so does the board.”
“Of course. And the hearing?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“Who’s on the list?”
“Weiss, Brigham, myself, then later on, of course Leila. You’re not officially on the list. However, I would make myself available, if I were you.”
“I’ll do better than that.” He cocked his brow. “Miss Sanders has asked me to accompany her.”
Giving him a sidelong look, she squinted harder. “I find it more than a little disturbing that you—in a position of authority and oversight of a student—took it upon yourself to conceal Miss Sander’s unsupervised status. What could possibly be your motive?”
Myles looked directly at her. He’d had enough. “You do not want to go there, Ms. Thorpe.”
“I’m sorry. I did not mean to imply anything. It’s just that I’ve come from hours of interrogating, wondering if my people have come clean with me, or am I going to hear any surprises come tomorrow night. I’m just trying to cover all my bases.”
“I understand you have a vested interest in your so-called people,” he spoke evenly. “However, my only interest is Miss Sanders and what repercussions she will have to suffer at the hands of your board, as a result of the behavior of ‘your people.’”
“This is not my board and it’s not my inquest.”
“And this means that neither you or the board has any intention of pushing the issue of Miss Sander’s unsupervised status?”
“That’s not my decision.”
“No, but your husband is on the school board.”
Her nostrils flared. “He has recused himself and will not be hearing this case. I resent the implication that you think my husband would influence the outcome of this hearing.”
He smirked. “What you should be resenting is the fact that I believe you capable of influencing your husband, who certainly has the ability to influence the outcome of this hearing.”
Thorpe leaned into him and glared. “How dare you insinuate that I would protect my people at Leila’s expense!” She drew curious glances from those around them.
Myles lips pressed tight before he answered. “I am not the least bit interested in what outcome your people suffer—or whether they suffer at all.” He kept his voice low yet forceful. “My concern is that Leila maintains her dignity and her autonomy.”
“That is completely out of the board’s jurisdiction.”
“And they have no intention of contacting Children’s Protective Services?”
“And why would they?”
“A minor has been assaulted. A minor with no parent or guardian.” He watched her calculating the repercussions of involving the state. And yet it was bound to come up. If they concealed her status, it could be construed as subterfuge. Just the same, he preferred the issue not come up at all.
Leila stirred, wincing as she rubbed her shoulder.
“Isn’t there someone who can see her?” Myles barked at a passing nurse, rousing Leila as he massaged the bridge of his nose.
In a minute, the nurse returned and called for Leila.
“Come on.” He helped her up.
Thorpe accompanied them until the nurse said, “I’m sorry. Only one can come in.”
Thorpe had been excluded. After an exam and an X-ray, Leila received an icepack, sling, painkiller, and instructions. The sprain should heal if she kept her shoulder inactive for a few weeks.
Chapter 22
When Kyle entered homeroom, he didn’t think much about Mr. Myles’ clean-shaven face. Then Leila didn’t show up. Suddenly, something in the universe felt dreadfully out of balance. In his gut, he correlated the two anomalies.
By the end of homeroom, Leila still hadn’t shown up. He began to worry.
At his locker, only Micah met him. “Hey man, did you hear about Leila?”
“Hear what?”
“Some sort of cat fight in gym.”
“What? Between her and Maryanne?”
“No man, between Leila and Miss Weiss.”
It took a second for Micah’s words to register. “What?”
“Yeah. Apparently she and the coach have been, you know, messin’ around.”
“Everybody knows Weiss and Brigham have been messing around.”
“Not Weiss, man. Brigham and Leila.”
“There’s no way that’s true. Why do you even listen to crap like that?”
Micah backed down. “
I didn’t say it was true, but you know, she is kind of mixed up. It wouldn’t really surprise me if it were true.”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “You’re just saying that because she didn’t want to jump your bones.”
Micah shrugged. “Yeah, maybe, but you know, they kind of have a lot in common—running and art and junk. I could definitely see the two of them together.”
“That’s sick.”
“Don’t be so judgmental, man.”
“I’m not,” Kyle huffed—that coming from a kid whose parents were the biggest drug dealers south of Merrick Road. What did he know about morals? “But you make Coach out to be some kind of perv.”
“It ain’t perverse, man. People can’t help who they fall in love with.”
He couldn’t refute that, given his own wayward heart. “You’ve been listening to too many love songs.”
“Yeah, probably.” Micah bobbed, walking off.
Returning to the classroom, Kyle approached Myles’ desk. “What’s going on with Leila, is she okay?”
“Leila will be fine.”
“What happened?”
“I’m sorry, Kyle, I can’t discuss that with you. Please take your seat.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kyle—” He gave him a warning glare. “Take your seat, please.”
Kyle obeyed, but he couldn’t quit thinking about Leila and what Micah had said. Was it true in his own case, that people can’t help whom they fall in love with? Was he even capable of true love, or was the intensity of his feelings for either Maryanne or Leila simply a matter of horniness? How would he even know when or if it was true love? All he did know was that he needed to see Leila. He spent the remainder of class weighing out the risk of going up to her apartment. Sure, Maryanne might find out, but he didn’t care. Besides, he shouldn’t have had to hear about all that from Micah. Maryanne should have told him.
~
Kyle arrived at Leila’s apartment during his lunch hour. She answered her door, cradling her arm in a sling and smiled.
“Leila, what happened to you?”
He stepped in as she opened her door wide. “I’m sure you must have heard.”
“I’ve heard all kinds of things. Are you alright?”
“Yeah. Just a little shoulder thing.”
“What happened?”
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