Teacher

by R. L. Merrill

  “I will. Jesse I’m so sorry.”

  I held up a hand. “No, it’s ok. He’s going to need you, though, Nora. He won’t question you or your support. I’ll just go get my things.”

  I turned to walk outside and I heard her cuss under her breath. I walked over to Jane and Connie and put on my best performing smile.

  “Hey girls, I hate to break up the party, but I need to say goodbye.” I hugged Connie and held out my arms, silently asking Jane for a hug. She threw hers open and I leaned down, taking in a shaky breath and giving her an extra squeeze as I didn’t know how long it would be until I saw her again.

  “You take care of that ankle, Jane. I’ll hopefully see you soon.” She looked confused but said goodbye. I hurried to Nora’s cottage and gathered up my things. Luckily, there was a separate exit from Nora’s cottage so I didn’t have to go back through the house. I hurried out to my car and threw my things in. I tried not to peel out as I drove away. The tears made it hard to see and I nearly hit a parked car before I got them under control.

  Thankfully, when I got home all was quiet at Cosmo’s. I crawled into bed and stayed there for the rest of the day. I had to believe that Danny was acting out of fear and not being rational. He had a lot of stuff on his plate and instead of seeing me as an ally, he looked at me as someone else who was pulling away from him. That wasn’t the case and I intended to prove it to him, even if it meant my heart was breaking into pieces. I needed my rest if I was going to have my game face on, so I went to sleep and prayed for the strength to see this through.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Getting up Monday was hard. Not because of my body, which for once felt pretty great after Connie’s work, but because there was a gaping hole in my chest. Thoughts of Danny were like lemon juice on a paper cut. I dressed to the nines hoping it would give me more confidence. Work consisted of mainly finishing my grades and forms. I had only a few students left who needed to come by to return materials. We had a department meeting to go over end-of-year procedures. At the end of the day I packed up half of my personal things and loaded them in the car. I couldn’t think about the fact I might not be back next year. That would be too painful on top of the prospect of losing whatever might have been with Danny.

  At 3:00 I left and drove to Danny’s. I told myself the whole way that I was there to do a job, that I could do this without crying, but doubt sat on one shoulder chirping at me the whole way.

  Nora opened the door to greet me. “Danny isn’t here. He left work for you on the bar and said he’d be back later.”

  That knocked the wind out of me a little and I had to take a deep breath to collect myself. “I’m not surprised. May I come in?”

  She nodded sadly and let me in, following me to the bar.

  There was no cute, handwritten note on top. Just a stack of papers he’d printed out, activities he’d completed for Government. I puffed up my chest and told myself two could play at this game. “Very well. If you intend to play this game, Mr. Black, I can play, too.”

  I told Nora my plan. “I’m going to leave a boatload of bookwork for him to complete. If he does it, great. If he chooses not to, I’m still going to come on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4:00 and Saturday and Sunday at noon. He can choose to work with me or not, but I’m going to continue to come. It’s all I can think of to do. I don’t know where his head is, but I came here to help him get his diploma and that’s what I’m going to do.”

  Ok, that came out a lot more confident than I really felt. Nora must have sensed that because she gave me a hug and didn’t complain when I started to cry. She held me for a long time and when I finally was able to collect myself, she handed me a tissue.

  “All he told me is that Janey is coming to live here starting next week. Brooke leaves for New York then and Janey was excited to be able to stay with her dad for the summer. I asked him what happened with you and he said it was 'none of my fucking business.' He was all smiles around Jane but as soon as he returned from taking her home he went to his room and I heard his guitar playing until I went to my place for bed.”

  I took a shaky breath. “I don’t know what happened, Nora. All I said to him was that if he needed to take some time to get Janey settled, his diploma could wait. He started accusing me of wanting to leave because he had a daughter and started pulling things out of thin air. Then he shut down and wouldn’t even speak to me.”

  She rubbed my back and nodded. “He’s scared, honey. He’s afraid he won’t do right by Janey and he’s afraid of losing you. I told you the Danny you saw was different, in a good way.”

  “I’ll try not to be in your way, Nora. I’ll just come when we had originally scheduled and wait to see what he does. If he talks to me, fine. If he doesn’t but still does his schoolwork, then I’ve done what I came to do. If he wants... Never mind. I’m just going to put his assignments together for him and we’ll see what happens, ok?”

  She nodded sadly. “You’re a brave woman, Jesse. I’ll help however I can.”

  “Just take care of him, please?”

  She smiled and left me to my work. I’d brought several courses for him to work on. I made a list of all the assignments he needed to do and set each course in a different pile. Economics, Psychology 1 and 2, Survival, PE, Photography, English 2... all classes we hadn’t started yet. Forty credits to add to his 70 and he’d be closer to his goal. He didn’t need me for any of it. I’d come Wednesday and see what he got done, if anything.

  My bag was a lot lighter when I left his house an hour later. Nora said she’d call me if anything came up and I thanked her. I drove home determined I wasn’t going to cry about this anymore. I had to finish school in the next couple of days, get my dance students ready for their show, and beat Danny at this game of wits.

  Cosmo was outside on the step playing guitar when I came home. “Jesse baby. Haven’t seen you. How’s the teaching business?” I offered him a thumbs down and a raspberry noise. “Really? That good, huh? Thought you’d be at Black’s tonight.”

  I blew out a breath and plopped down on the step next to him. “Men suck, Cosmo. Did you know that?”

  He stared at me like I’d grown horns. “I’m sure some do, baby. I for one like to suck on some things. But I’m guessing that’s not what you are talking about.”

  I shook my head. “No, it’s not, but good point. I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. That’s likely going to be my schedule for the week.”

  His eyebrows raised clear into his hairline. “Trouble in paradise I gather?”

  I dropped my head down, stood up and walked toward my door. “Guess you could say that. Guess you could also say may the most stubborn person win. Please let the boys know that if they decide to get rowdy and interrupt my sleep, I will not be pleasant to deal with.”

  He chuckled. “Will do, baby. Will do. Hey, listen,” he said and strummed his guitar. I turned to find him looking up at me. “Give the guy a small break. We menfolk are pretty fucking stupid when it comes to relationships. It’s part of our genetic makeup. We say and do the wrong things, sometimes on purpose, because we are too fucked up to be honest. Something about protecting our ego. So just think about it.”

  I smirked. “Oh, I’ll think about it. All I can do is think about it. Good night, Cosmo.”

  He laughed and kept playing his guitar. I thought I recognized the tune to Legs.

  Tuesday at school was more of the same and that night at the studio my students got the workout of their lives. I went totally drill sergeant on them and several looked at me in fear before leaving for the night. Can’t say I blamed them. I wasn’t sure I shouldn’t have been feared.

  Wednesday I finished packing up my classroom and turned in all of my paperwork so all I had to do Thursday was check out with Gloria. She assured me she was still working on a way to bring me back and I told her I appreciated that. After work I drove straight to Danny’s only to be greeted by Nora again saying he wasn’t there.

  “He’
s been working though. Almost non-stop. I think he’s trying to spite you,” she said with a laugh.

  When I looked at what he’d done, I was pleasantly surprised. He’d finished three credits of Psychology and had logged four hours of PE along with two credits of work out of the book. I graded it all and left his marks for him. He left no note for me again. Well, two could play at that game.

  Thursday I signed out and gave Gloria a big hug. “Hope everything goes well with your student, Jesse.”

  I didn’t want to tell her the whole story so I just said, “Well, I’m certainly doing my part. We’ve had some complications. We’ll see if he gets it done. I’ll be in touch.” I drove away from the school determined not to cry about this possibly being my last day ever on the job I loved.

  Thursday night at dance class I worked out hard with the kids, ignoring the little bit of pain I was feeling. It was a rush. I felt a lot of my stress from the week flowing right off my body as I shuffled, flapped, and stomped through classic tap routines with the kids. I iced before bed that night and woke up Friday no worse for wear.

  I had the day to myself so I carried my boxes of school supplies down to my small storage closet in the basement. It was fairly clean down there and I didn’t want to look at the boxes for the rest of the summer. Didn’t need the reminder. At 2:45 I showered and dressed in teacher clothes to go to Danny’s.

  Nora greeted me at the door looking pissed off. “Don’t take any shit from them. Do what you came to do and leave, you hear me?”

  I frowned, but was doing my best to keep my game face on. I heard loud male laughter echo through the living room from outside and saw Danny with his bandmates and a few other people on the patio and around the pool. There were four or five women in skimpy bathing suits hanging on the others, but Danny was sulking in a lounge chair next to Alex. I didn’t bother to go outside and say hello. I sat at the bar and got to work, determined not to let it get to me.

  Danny had finished Psychology 1, but he only received a 68% on his final so I left a note for him to correct his test. He also finished two credits of Economics and scored in the 60’s on the chapter tests so I left another note telling him to correct them. His final project for Psychology was good. He’d chosen to do an essay on the treatments for eating disorders. His information was good and his grammar and mechanics were flawless so I gave him an A. I was just finishing up when I heard voices behind me.

  “Well lookey here, it’s the teacher. Damn, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

  Julian Manning and two other men dressed only in swim trunks were heading toward the bar for refreshments Danny had under the counter. One of the men poured himself some tequila straight and took a shot.

  “How’s our student doing,” Julian asked.

  I shrugged. “You can ask him. I’m just leaving.”

  The guy who’d been pouring the booze grabbed for my arm.

  “No, don’t leave yet. Why don’t you come hang out with us, go swimming. I’d love to see more of those legs.”

  I pulled my arm away from him and said, “Thanks, but I have no desire to go swimming. Good-”

  He grabbed me around the waist and said, “Of course not. Teachers are no fun. We all know that. But I bet I could get you to loosen up.”

  He pulled the clip out of my hair as I fought to get away from him. The other guy laughed nervously, but Julian grabbed his arm.

  “Hey, get your hands off her,” Julian said as the guy pulled me closer to the slider. He shrugged off Julian's grip easily. He got the door opened with his other hand and spoke low in my ear, his rank breath making my stomach turn.

  “Let’s see if we can’t get you all wet, sweetie.”

  He was dragging me toward the pool when I finally let out a scream. I saw Danny jump up from the chair just as I went airborne. The water wasn’t cold, but the shock had me swallowing water. Someone grabbed me and pulled me toward the side. Someone else grabbed my arms and yanked me out of the pool, wrenching my shoulders in the process. I was coughing violently and trying to get air back into my lungs when Nora came running out.

  “All of you get the fuck out of here. Now! The party is over.”

  She pulled me up and helped me into the house. She cussed the whole way down the hall as she took me into Danny’s room. I’d lost a shoe in the water and was grateful for the towel she brought me since I was wearing a pale yellow, very see-through-when-wet dress. Tears were streaming down my face, but I was more pissed off than anything.

  Danny came running in and I just glared at him. He was whispering to Nora and I couldn’t concentrate enough to figure out what he was saying. Nora held him back from me and started yelling at him.

  “Get those fucking losers out of here, Danny. I don’t know what you were thinking bringing that kind of shit into this home. I won’t tolerate it, I swear I won’t!” He was still trying to get to me and she just yelled, “Get out and get rid of those people!"

  I looked up one last time to see the look of disgust on his face. Nora was back tending to me again, drying me off and getting me out of my wet clothes. She handed me a pair of Danny’s sweats and one of his t-shirts.

  “Thank you, Nora. I’m ok. If you can just get me a plastic bag I’ll get my things and leave.”

  She looked like she wanted to say something but was too pissed off. She said she’d be right back and I sat there on the toilet in Danny’s bathroom in shock. What the hell had just happened? I looked in the mirror and tried to collect myself. Eyeliner was smeared under my eyes so I used some tissue to clean it off. My hair was tangled and all over the place and since Danny didn’t have much hair and therefore had no need for a brush, I had to settle for finger combing it. Nora came in a minute later with a bag and I dumped my clothes and shoe in it.

  “Thanks, I’m just going to grab my other bag and go.” I hurried past her, not wanting to be in this house one minute longer. Danny was in the living room with the members of his band and the idiot who’d thrown me in the pool. Alex and another guy were holding a struggling Danny back and Danny was screaming hoarsely in the guy’s face.

  “You fucking touched my woman, you piece of shit! I’m going to beat your ass, motherfucker! I should call the fucking cops and get your cocksucking ass thrown in fucking jail. Get the fuck out of my house and don’t ever come back or I swear to fucking God, I’ll drown your sorry ass in my fucking pool.”

  Julian and Bronson dragged the other guy out of the house. He was obviously drunk and was apologizing profusely.

  “Danny!” I said loudly. “Stop yelling! You’re going to hurt yourself.”

  He broke away from Alex and ran to me, checking me over. I pushed past him and grabbed my purse. He was whispering to me and I just ignored him, feeling not very dignified trying to hold up his sweats with one hand while I gathered my things with the other. I seriously hoped no one noticed my lack of a bra. Not that the girls were that noticeable, even when they were standing at attention due to the cold like they were right now, but it still wasn’t very dignified. Nora came running in then and helped me with my things.

  “Jesse! Honey, I’m sorry! Don’t go!”

  I turned to look at him and calmly said, “I’ll be here to work with you at noon tomorrow.”

  His face fell and he looked destroyed. It took all of my strength to turn and walk out his door.

  Nora walked me to the car and we put my things in the backseat. She gave me a hug and smiled deviously at me.

  “He’s a wreck, Jesse.” She laughed, “His woman.”

  I grinned mischievously back at her. “I know. Serves him right. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She kissed me on the cheek and sent me on my way. I smiled the whole way home. He couldn’t pretend he didn’t care anymore. That little scene proved it all.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When I awoke Saturday morning, it was almost 10:30 and I was still in Danny’s clothes. I could barely drag myself out of bed because my shoulders, chest and back we
re so sore from getting yanked out of the pool. I trudged to the bathroom and stripped. I gasped when I looked in the mirror and saw bruises all over my torso and arms. Some were from the jerk and some were from whoever dragged me from the pool. I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. I took some Aleve and ate some overripe fruit. My usual sleeveless outfits or sundresses weren't going to work, even though it was hot, so I settled on a long-sleeved blouse and long skirt. I pulled my hair up, put on a pair of heels and grabbed my things. I heard buzzing in my purse so I pulled out Danny's iPhone. There were ten text messages from him. My face got hot and I wasn’t sure if I was going to laugh or cry.

  I can’t say sorry enough. Please answer me

  Jesse, honey, I hope you’re ok. I fucked up, I’m so sorry

  Please just tell me you’re ok

  If you don’t want to answer me, I understand, but please call Nora if you need anything.

  Jesse?

  They went on like that until midnight. I was glad I hadn’t heard the phone or I likely would have answered him.

  I stepped out onto the stairway and found Cosmo airing out his apartment.

  “Jinx burned breakfast and it smells like death in there.”

  I smiled at him, holding my nose. “And that’s different how?”

  He laughed and frowned at my outfit. “Isn’t it a little hot for long sleeves?”

  “I’m out of clothes. I need to go by the dry cleaner. See you later,” I yelled over my shoulder.

  He would flip out if he saw me right now. As it was I was trying desperately to make it down the steps without falling. My bag wasn’t very heavy but the weight on my shoulder was excruciating.

  Driving a stick in this condition was no fun either, but I was determined not to be late. I arrived at 11:57 and I knocked on the front door. Danny pulled it open before I even pulled my hand back and he went to grab me into a hug but I stepped back. He frowned and I smiled at him.