Just talking about amazing friends made Tammy feel a little sad. Some of the best friends of her life had gone on after Willowcrest to accomplish amazing things. Tammy always worried about not living up to her potential. Not to mention, compared to her happily married friends, Tammy’s love life was a disaster and it had been ever since Randall.
It wasn’t long before she pulled the car into the parking lot of Willowcrest Prep’s admissions office. When she set foot in that familiar brick building, Tammy felt at home. She had never felt such a wave of nostalgia before. Tammy had not set foot in the building since her 10th high school reunion. Had it really been that long ago? Jabari followed her into the building. For his first day of school he was dressed up in long khaki pants with a navy blue polo. He looked handsome and like his father.
Tammy cringed at the thought. Tammy was proud of her son. He was so different from his father…
Once inside the admissions building, Tammy knocked on the door to Stanley Duffy’s office. She hadn’t seen him in person in years. She remembered when he was a middle-aged teacher. Now, Stanley Duffy was an old man and the headmaster of the school he had served faithfully for so many years. Stanley Duffy invited Tammy and her son into his office.
“Good afternoon Miss Powers,” Stanley huffed. He had gained about 100 pounds since Tammy had last seen him. His fat was covered in wrinkled, sunburned skin. Stan Duffy still had his signature mustache from his younger days and his classic tortoiseshell glasses. He peered over them with his bright blue eyes and looked at Tammy and her son with a mixture of nostalgia and joy.
“Is this young man Jabari Powers?” Headmaster Duffy boomed.
“Yes sir,” Jabari replied. He stuck out his hand to shake Headmaster Duffy’s. After a firm, strong handshake, Stan Duffy gave Tammy and her son idea of how things would work now that Jabari was enrolling half way through the fall semester.
Tammy could already tell that Jabari was excited to be surrounded by students who cared just as much about their education. As Headmaster Duffy gave him a run down of the school, his eyes gleamed with excitement.
This was a big change for her son. Once the Headmaster had told them where to go next, Tammy gave her son a hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving the Admissions Office.
After sending Jabari off, Tammy gazed at him bounding down the hall.
You have to stop worrying. She told herself.
Tammy had to figure out where to go to join the parent teachers association. Since she was unemployed, she wanted to give her all by investing in Jabari. If she didn’t join the PTA, there would be no chance of her making friends with the other moms.
It won’t help to be more of an outsider.
Once Tammy had made it her business to get the e-mail address of the PTA secretary, she headed home to make an unfortunate phone call. Randall had begged her to keep in touch every once in awhile about Jabari’s life. If she didn’t call Randall about a big change like private school, she was certain he would be furious. Tammy couldn’t stop Jabari from speaking with his father so Randall would most certainly find out.
The man had been absolutely lazy about being a part of Jabari’s life but would randomly make demands like this. Tammy didn’t want to deal with Randall any more than she had to.
“Wassup babygirl?” Randall began when he answered Tammy’s phone call. Randall seem to live in a dream world where Tammy was still interested in him. Tammy wondered how on earth he managed to keep up this delusion. She tried to keep things professional.
They had a child together but none of Tammy’s love for Randall was present anymore. Had it ever really been “love” or was it all a manipulation. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that she despised Randall on some level.
“Hey Randall. I just called to tell you that in Jabari is starting at Willowcrest today,” Tammy said.
She was already regretting this phone call. The last thing she wanted to do was have Randall get started on whatever would inevitably upset him about her phone call.
“At Willowcrest? Who the hell is paying for that?” Randall barked.
Tammy felt her blood pressure rising. Randall didn’t even pay child support. He hadn’t invested more than $10 into Jabari in the past five years. What did he mean who was paying for it? She was the one who always paid for everything. He was clearly asked this question to get a rise out of Tammy and it worked.
Randall knew how to push her buttons.
“Well who the hell do you think is paying for it?” Tammy yelled back.
This was always how their arguments began. Randall would instigate her and Tammy would take the bait and fall for it. Randall launched into a long rant about Tammy and how she never let him see his son. That was always Randall’s go to argument when he knew he had no ground to stand on. He wanted to distract Tammy from the fact that he hadn’t paid a cent of child support and was barely involved in Jabari’s life at all. Tammy couldn’t believe she was actually sitting there listening to this shit.
She ended the conversation fast, cutting off Randall before he could insult her further.
“You know what Randall, I’m going to go cook dinner now. I don’t have time for your crap. Call me when you’re ready to be a real father to Jabari,” She barked before hanging up the phone.
Tammy hoped that Randall would stay far away from Jabari. He had no idea what it meant to be a real father. But the way he’d been talking made it seem like he had plans to show up in her son’s life again. He only ever did that when he felt like he had something to gain.
Her skin crawled at the idea of having to see him regularly.
Randall ruined everything he touched and he was a danger to everyone who was close to him. Tammy had found that out at a young age, but although young, it was still too late. Randall was toxic. And now, Tammy had to deal with him for the rest of her life. What’s worse, she wasn’t sure how much she could protect her son from him.
THREE
AFTER TWO WEEKS at Willowcrest, Jabari’s attitude and happiness had improved. Tammy quickly saw that she’d made the correct choice.
Since Willowcrest was a little ways out from their house, Tammy had started picking him up from school again. During the drive home, Tammy could see the real change in her son. Jabari had gone from being sullen and hateful at school to experiencing life as a happy young man who seemed to be making quite a few friends.
Tammy was starting to feel secure in the fact that she’d made the right choice. All that needed to happen was Jabari needed to keep his nose clean and Tammy needed to maintain a good reputation around the town to ingratiate herself with the other parents and the board of trustees.
Jabari could be headed back to Southwest in shame if anything happened.
Tammy sat in her car, tapping the steering wheel with her fingers as she raced over to pick Jabari up. She stuck her head out of the window, but decided against cussing the guy driving at a snail’s pace in front of her.
Her doctor’s appointment had run a little long and she was going to be late picking up Jabari. He didn’t have soccer practice and they could get some much needed mother-son bonding time.
Jabari was already waiting by the time Tammy arrived. Today he looked a little bit less jubilant than he had the previous two weeks. Tammy’s heart sank as she imagined all the horrible things that may have happened. She hoped that Jabari hadn’t stumbled upon a new set of bullies looking for someone to pick on. He’d been fitting in, but he was still the new kid.
“Good afternoon mom,” Jabari mumbled as he got into the passenger seat. His brow was furrowed in frustration.
Tammy greeted him back and then pulled her Audi out of the school’s driveway.
“Is everything alright Jay?” Tammy questioned.
Jabari replied, “Yeah… Everything’s fine. I guess… Well my Spanish teacher wants you to come in tomorrow.”
Jabari was supposed to be doing everything right keep his place at Willowcrest Prep and now his Spanish teacher wanted
her to come in? What was going on? If that boy is acting up in class I swear to God…
“Everything’s fine but your teacher wants me to come in? What the hell has been going on Jay?” Tammy said.
She realized she was raising her voice.
I need to calm down.
After the effort it had taken to get Jabari through the doors of Willowcrest, she didn’t want him taking it for granted.
Jabari sighed and rolled his eyes.
“It’s not that serious… I’m just having a little trouble and my teacher thinks for some reason you could help,” Jabari grumbled.
Tammy’s mind whirred too quickly for her to chastise him for his teenage attitude. She wanted the best for Jabari and she was concerned that he had managed to hide the fact that he wasn’t doing very well in Spanish from her.
Tammy agreed to go meet with Jabari’s teacher the next day. The rest of the drive home, she probed, trying to find out more and uncover anymore secrets Jabari happened to be keeping.
She couldn’t stand the idea of losing her friendship with her son, but first she had to be a parent to him. Tammy feared the older Jabari got, the more distant their relationship would become. He was all she had. He was all she’d worked for.
Once the subject of Spanish dissipated, Jabari happily waxed on about his new friends. He’d made five new ones which surprised Tammy due to his introversion.
Surrounded by so many people he got along with, Jabari had found more than two people who shared his interests. Everyone else thought he was cool either because he was new or because of his interest in math and science.
Jabari was also starting to become closer to the people in his soccer team. Although he was on junior varsity, the boys on the team encouraged him to try out for the varsity team. Tammy couldn’t have been more proud.
She had worked hard since she was 18 years old to raise her son to be the best man he could be. Tammy was a child raising a child, but she’d put her very best effort into Jabari. He wasn’t quite a man yet, but Tammy felt like he was getting close.
Each day, Jabari seemed just a little bit savvier and wiser. He had even gone through one massive growth spurt and he was still shooting up like a beanstalk. Within a year, Tammy was sure her son would tower over her.
At home, Jabari did his homework under Tammy’s somewhat watchful eye. She made them a simple potato leek soup for dinner and then left Jabari to read a book as she retired upstairs to her bedroom.
As Tammy watched reruns of her favorite show, she started to realize how lonely she was. Sure she had Jabari, but he couldn’t be her only company all the time. When her friends were out of state, Tammy was sometimes is forced to confront aching loneliness.
Where was the man who was going to turn this all around?
She had been single for almost 4 years now, and sometimes she felt like she was comfortable with it. Other times, Tammy wanted nothing more than to have a man she loved sharing her bed. Getting involved with men had its risks, especially with a young son. Jabari always came first.
Most guys saw Tammy’s teen pregnancy as a “red flag” without ever knowing the full story. Tammy’s life was not as cut and dry as people thought. She wasn’t a “slut”, but most people labelled her that way anyways.
Tammy decided she’d better put these depressing thoughts out of her mind. She had never imagined herself dying an old maid, but now it seemed like a definite possibility. Tammy didn’t throw herself these pity parties often, but sometimes it was unavoidable.
I’m too dramatic… Tammy thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep.
The next afternoon, Tammy prepared to see Jabari’s Spanish teacher. She wondered if she would recognize the man — or woman.
She knew many of the teachers stayed at Willowcrest for years but just as many of them left and pursued opportunities in busier towns.
Most of Tammy’s favorite teachers had already retired. Stanley Duffy was one of the few that remained and he was already pretty close to retiring.
Either way, Tammy wanted to make a good impression. For this meeting, she wore a gorgeous teal Calvin Klein shift dress with nude colored heels. The dress hugged her curves perfectly. The heels elongated her legs making her look even more like a model and even more professional. Tammy’s dark skin popped against the bright teal dress.
Again, Tammy put on some light makeup and wore an old pair of pearls that she had received from her mother back when she went to Willowcrest. Tammy wished she looked a little older…
When she was satisfied with her appearance, she drove up to the school. The humanities building was just like it was back when Tammy attended Willowcrest.
Not a single change had been made; not even the interior was remodeled. There were only a few buildings left like that. The old hardwood still had that familiar smell that took Tammy back to her childhood. As Tammy walked through the building to the office number she had been given, she couldn’t help but worry about meeting with this teacher.
What would they think of her? Would they judge her for being a young mother and consider this case hopeless? Would this affect the teacher’s view of her son? Tammy tried to carry herself tall and proud. But she didn’t feel very tall at all. She still felt insecure even after years of dealing with judgment.
When Tammy knocked on room 221, a familiar voice called out, “Si!”
Tammy stopped, stunned that she was hearing that voice again. It couldn’t be him. She figured it was the nostalgia was playing tricks on her mind…
Tammy opened the door and her mouth hung open in shock when she saw the teacher sitting behind the desk. This was Jabari’s Spanish teacher?!
Victor Del Toro had been a young intern when Tammy Powers attended Willowcrest Prep. When she was 16 years old, he had started teaching as a fresh out of college 23-year-old.
Every single girl in Tammy’s class had a huge crush on Señor Del Toro. Tammy couldn’t believe that he had continued to teach at Willowcrest.
Tammy couldn’t imagine what a handsome man like him was doing still working at a prep school tucked in the middle of nowhere. Señor Del Toro seemed like he was a rolling stone, always moving on to the next thing. But here he was so many years later, sitting behind a desk in a classroom very similar to the one Tammy sat in.
Tammy’s sixteen year old crush came rising to the surface again. Victor looked like he hadn’t aged much. Over ten years had passed and he still looked attractive. Tammy wondered if he had been married…
Age had served him well. The lines on his face only accentuated his sharp Spanish features. His parents were real estate moguls from Barcelona and Victor had always looked like more of a model than a teacher.
He was well over six feet tall. His Spanish heritage gave his skin a more olive complexion, well complimented by his dark hair.
He was in incredible shape, even if he was quite large for a runner. Standing before him, still stunned into silence, Tammy could see his large biceps rippling through his Oxford shirt.
Back then, there had been rumors he had worked for Calvin Klein before becoming a teacher. He had an angular, rugged face with a square jaw and bright blue eyes. Victor had dark chestnut brown hair that he always wore a little bit long.
She wondered if he would remember her…
“Good afternoon… I’m Jabari’s mother, Tammy Powers,” Tammy said confidently.
She glanced at his face for signs of recognition. He raised his brows and furrowed them again as if he recognized her, but wasn’t sure from where.
Silver Fox: BWWM Romance Novel Page 2
