A Glimpse Of Tomorrow

by K. T. Martina

Bill sat at the Midland Diner, at a dingy counter sipping on day old coffee. An older man balanced on his red, mushroom to stool, at the end of the counter nearest the rest room. His dirty flannel shirt and mud caked Dickies smelled of diesel fuel, cheap wine and cigarettes. He leaned on the counter trying to finish his meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Spoonfuls of food were sloppily lifted to his unshaved face, but either from the assistance of liquor or the lack of sleep, he was unable to accurately insert the nourishment into his mouth.

  Under any other circumstance Bill would have joined the man and helped him in whatever way he could; be it taking him to his home or a shelter if needed, or just talking to him to keep him alert enough to finish his meal. Tonight however, he faced his own problems that have stolen his ability to sleep. The conversation with Mr. Baker a few hours earlier had left Bill numb as if he had been hit with a thousand nerve-killing volts of electricity.

  Bill focused on his coffee as the night hawks came in for a late night burger and fries. He could hear the conversations around him but wasn’t charmed by their rhetoric enough to put faces with voices. In time they were replaced by the early risers coming in for two eggs over easy, toast and black coffee. The conversations faded into the clinking of silverware on dishes and soon the only voice was that of Gracy, the morning waitress, offering refills on coffee and wishing her customers a good day.

  When the sun had stayed below the horizon as long as it could, it finally rose and cast a golden hue across the smeared windows showing that the help was hired more for their ability to serve food than their ability to clean windows. Although Bill yearned for the night to end he also dreaded the day’s arrival and the things that were sure to come with it. He checked his watch and it was evident that morning was in fact upon him. He left a five-dollar bill on the counter. Gracy picked it up and put it in her apron without a word. She knew when "have a good day’ might be considered a jinx rather than a friendly gesture, so she quietly cleared his dishes and wiped down the counter for the next patron.

  Bill wasted no time as he drove directly to Nathan’s house. He walked up to the front door and knocked. The kitchen light was already on and there was a light at the top of the stairs. In a moment Nathan descended the stairs and grinned as he saw Bill at the door. He opened the door. The look on Bills face obliterated the grin on Nathan’s.

  “Bill, Are you alright?” Nathan asked as he stepped back.

  “Nate, I’m sorry to bother you so early but we need to talk.”

  “Of course. Come in I have coffee and some muffins. Let’s talk in the kitchen.”

  “No coffee for me.” Bill said.

  “Ok, what’s going on?”

  “I had a visit from some guy. He said he was from DCS. He said his name was Phillip Baker and he said some pretty nasty things about you.”

  “Me?” Nathan nearly choked on a mouthful of oat bran muffin.

  “Ya, he said that there are rumors of you being inappropriate with some of the kids that have come by for help. He said that you were taking advantage of them while they were vulnerable. I’m not supposed to tell you this but I don’t want you blindsided either.

  Nathan took a seat at the table and looked up at Bill with utter amazement. “Wow, I don’t even know what to say.”

  “Listen Nate, I don’t believe a word of it, but I wanted you to know. You might want to get an attorney before this gets ugly.”

  “For what?” Nathan leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair. It was obvious that his heart was breaking while his head was spinning. “This is ridiculous.” Nathan got up and leaned on the sink, looking out the window. “I can’t even begin to think of who would say something like this. All I wanted to do was help these kids.”

  “You have been helping these kids. You saw how many were in church yesterday. You have opened their eyes. It’s not just the kids either, their parents and siblings are coming to Christ. You are like one of the Disciples.”

  Nathan smiled a complimentary smile at those words. “Ya, well I don’t feel like it. I feel like one of those toy ducks that people try to shoot at a carnival.”

  “Did you really think that you wouldn’t have any resistance? You saw the final outcome of a faithful life. You saw firsthand what is waiting for us.”

  “Then that’s it.” Nathan said turning around swiftly. “We must be doing something right if the Devil is trying to stop what is happening here. I was doing a bible study last night before bed and it said something about this very thing. Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Nathan ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Bill could hear his footsteps going across the floor and back down the stairs like an eager child on Christmas morning.

  Nathan laid his bible in front of Bill on the table, and opened it to where his bookmark was. Then he pointed to a passage that was underlined. “Look right there.”

  “1st Peter: Chapter 5, Verse 8; Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Nathan read it aloud. “And then I read this too…” he flipped to the back of the bible. “Right here.” He pointed and began to read. “Revelation: Chapter 2, verse 10; Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation for ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

  “I realize that the second one is out of context, but it still has some relevance, right?”

  “I am glad to see that you are taking this so well Nate. I’ve been up all night trying to figure out what to do. You do realize that this is the kind of thing that can ruin a career, don’t you?”

  “Bill, I know what’s waiting for me after this life. I can’t say that it doesn’t hurt, but I’m really not worried about it. I believe that God has a plan.”

  When they had finished their conversation Bill asked Nathan, “So, what’s on your agenda today?”

  “I’m going back to work today.”

  “Hey, that’s great.”

  “Thanks. I need to get ready but your more than welcome to stay here as long as you want. We can talk some more when I get home if you like.” Nathan said getting up from the table.

  “Alright, I’ll be back around five.” Bill started to the door and called back over his shoulder, “Good luck today.”

  Nathan chuckled slightly, “Thanks.” Then he went upstairs and got ready for work.

  When he pulled into his parking spot, a small crowd of students surrounded his car. They began to welcome him back and express how much he was missed. He was touched by the turn out for his arrival and soon dispersed the students when the first period bell rang. A few stayed behind and walked in with him, but vanished once inside the building doors.

  The warm welcome didn’t stop there though, as he entered the front office he was greeted by Shirley, a cheerful and bubbly woman who held the title of office administer but was easily much more than that, and Ruth, the Principal’s secretary aka vice principal, not nearly as friendly as Shirley but polite enough in a professional way. Then Henry emerged from his office and welcomed Nathan with a firm hand shake.

  “Glad to see you made it ok.” He said in a jovial tone.

  “Well it feels good to be back.” Nathan replied looking around the main office as if he would find it remodeled or something. He felt as if he had been away much longer than he actually was. But the office hadn’t changed. Then again, it seemed as if nothing had changed at all. As he entered his office, he realized that this too was unchanged. It had a staleness to it.

  He took the photo of his family that Max had brought to the hospital from his briefcase and placed it on his desk. Then he sat at behind the desk and turned on his computer. He hadn’t gotten settled in any more than that when Shirley tapped on his half open door and popped her rosy cheeked face in, “Excuse me Nathan, are you busy?”

 
“No, just getting situated. What’s up?”

  “I know that you just got in, but when the word spread that you were coming back today, and a few of the students have set up appointments to see you.”

  “That’s fine Shirley. When is my first appointment?”

  “At 7:00.”

  Nathan looked at his watch. 6:55. “Ok.” He said.

  Shirley walked in and placed a day planner in front of him, “I thought you might need this to keep track of your schedule. I filled it out with what is already set up.”

  Nathan opened the book and took a deep breath and then sighed, “Wow.” He flipped the pages. “How many are there?”

  “Eighty-three so far. I set them up for thirty minutes each and thirty minutes between each student in case you run over on time or need time to regroup or something” She laughed. “Welcome back.”

  Outside his door he heard the very distinguishable thud of a backpack dropping on to the floor and knew his first appointment had arrived. Shirley showed the boy in. Aaron Trainer, a seventeen-year-old freshman. Though his school work was not up to par, he was a clever and street wise kid. He was held back in the sixth grade and ninth grade already once. Seventh grade he barely made it by two points.

  Nathan had met with him on several occasions and was completely clueless as to how to motivate this young man. He was intelligent and all his teachers liked having him in their class. He participated in class discussions and seemed to understand the material but, when he took tests, he rarely achieved higher than forty percent correct. And yet, Aaron never seemed too worried about failing or passing and that concerned Nathan.

  Throughout the day Nathan had met with six more students besides Aaron. He found that two had eating disorders, one was severely depressed, one was worried about getting into collage, and two just wanted to vent about school and home and friends. With each one he finished the meetings by asking, “Can I pray with you?” And with each one they agreed.

  He found out that word had spread like wild fire about how he helped Daniel and Amanda and Patricia and he was now the new “Mr. Fix-it.” The day had taken its toll on his mind though, and as he packed up to go home, he remembered that he was still meeting up with Bill. He watched the kids get on the yellow busses and thought about his own kids. Who were they talking to about their problems? He knew that Helen and Richard were good faithful Christians and God had this all under control.

  When he arrived at his car and got in, he set his briefcase on the passenger seat and whispered a simple prayer for his children. He didn’t feel so far away from them now, since he knew that the same God that had watched over him was watching over them too. He looked in the rear view mirror and pulled out.

  Soon he arrived home and drove into his garage and took his briefcase into the house. He set the briefcase on the kitchen counter and checked the clock. He saw that it was a little after 4:00 so he had some time before Bill got there. He went into his office and turned on his computer to check his email. While he was deleting miscellaneous offers for vacations and car loans, he heard a knock on the front door.

  When he reached the front door though, no one was there. He stepped out on the porch and looked down the street as far as he could see. There wasn’t anyone on the sidewalk or any cars on the street. He shook his head wondering if he imagined it, but when he turned back around, there, on the door frame was a piece of paper taped to the door frame.

  “I know what you did and you won’t get away with it!”

  The note was written on what looked like parchment, but the writing was bold and black like a thick permanent marker that bled into the paper. Other than that, there were no distinguishing characteristics that gave away the author’s identity. He figured that it must be a threat since no one accompanied the note but rather vanished and left it to be found by itself.

  Nathan folded the note and put it in his shirt pocket and walked back in the house, but by the time he reached his office he heard another knock on the door. He ran to the front door and jerked it open. Bill nearly fell over the chair beside the door. Nathan saw him and stared at him for a few seconds.

  “Hey Nate, you scared the daylights out of me.”

  “Sorry.” He replied looking out over his yard and around the corner of the house.

  “You ok?” Bill asked.

  “Ya.” He pulled the note from his shirt and gave it to Bill. “Someone left this on my door, but they took off before I could catch them.”

  “Geeze, that’s creepy.”

  “I know.” He took the note back and placed it back in his pocket. “Come on in.”

  They walked to Nathan’s office, “You hear anything else about what we talked about before?” Nathan asked.

  “No, I asked around a little but no one’s heard anything about it.” Bill said taking a seat. “Maybe Mr. Baker isn’t really who he says he is.”

  “Ya, maybe.” Nathan took a seat behind his desk. “This whole this is kind of strange.”

  “You hear anything at the school?”

  “Nope. Actually, there is a month’s worth of students with appointments to talk to me. That part is pretty amazing to me, since I used to have to hunt the kids down and drag ‘um kicking and screaming into my office for their annual evaluations.”

  “If you need any help counseling some of these kids, just say the word. I’d be happy to help.”

  “You mean it?”

  “Sure, I’d love to help.”

  Nathan though for a moment and said, “You know, I’ve been toying around with an idea.”

  “Really? What is it?”

  “What if we set up a youth program so they have somewhere to go and talk to someone? Without the publicity associated with doing it in school.”

  “You know, that’s a great idea.” Bill answered. “We have the church and there’s nothing going on most nights. Let me run it by the board and see if I can get some volunteers. Maybe some of the women would be willing to help talk with the girls.”

  “Good, how soon can we get something set up?”

  “We can start right away.” Bill said. “We can use the church on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Monday is women’s bible study and Tuesday is men’s. Wednesday is mid-week service and obviously Sunday’s full so that leave those three days.”

  Nathan looked up, “That’ll work.”