A mother stood and pointed her finger at me and yelling at Charlene said, “He should never have been there. He should have stayed away from the crossing and our children!”
“My husband, Nathan, had no warning of the attack. Who can predict the actions of a madman? Nathan fought with this monster.” I thought I heard a hint of pride in her voice, but most likely, it was only my imagination. “He stopped him from killing our daughter, and who knows how many other children?”
The woman yelled, “Your husband let him get away. If he had stopped him at the …,” but the parent’s rant slowly quieted by the righteous stare of my wife, which conveyed, in more than words, how ignorant this parent was.
Char continued and pointed at a father in the crowd, “Tell me, Mr. Folk, you were there, why didn’t you help my husband? He was the crossing guard doing his sworn duty to protect the children!” Dumbfounded, Mr. Folk couldn’t answer. Char picked out another parent who was present at the corner that day and pointed a finger at her. “Or you?” Char was answered by silence. Then she picked out a third, “Or you?” Then a fourth, “Or you?” Charlene let the weight of each accusation hang over the crowd of shamed parents. I guess Charlene has a pretty decent memory too.
Mr. Folk spoke up, “Ms. Embers, all of us at ...”
Charlene in a calm and steady voice, interrupted him, “Mrs. Embers.”
Mr. Folk bumbled his words at first, “Yes. Sorry. Mrs. Embers I think I can speak for all the parents at Greentree. We all agonized over your ordeal, but we have the right to protect our children as we see fit.”
Still and calm, Char interrupted again, “Even if it threatened the life of another child? Nathan, will you tell this gentleman what you know of Mark Galos?”
I took up the mic again, and said, “Mark Galos is a monster. I battled him more than once. He delights in mentally torturing me. If one single warning had been sent to parents, if he noticed one police officer on campus, or if he noticed one more child absent than normal, he would have fulfilled his promise without hesitation or remorse.”
“You can’t know it to be true!” someone yelled.
With the force the truth provides, I yelled back, “Yes, I do!” Visibly the crowd pushed back in their seats, and Mr. Folk fell to his chair. In a more civil tone, I continued, “I looked into his eyes. I looked past the barrel of a gun into his soulless eyes. He would think nothing of killing children if it suited his purpose. To his regret, he showed me mercy once. It cost him a couple of years in a mental ward for his trouble. Never again will he offer mercy to anyone.” I took a moment then began again. “You all don’t know what it’s like to be hunted by pure evil. Oh, and evil he is, without a doubt. He would describe ways too horrible to mention here about how he would violate my wife, my daughter, or both all the while forcing me to watch.” My voice reached a fevered pitch at this point.
Char put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I stopped my tirade over the monster. “I’m sorry. You don’t know how even now he haunts my mind.” Char squeezed my shoulder again. I handed her back the mic.
Char surveyed the room. The whispers of the group sounded as if they were almost convinced. “Nathan, would you please take these images to the Secretary and have her project them on the screen.” She handed me a thumb drive, and I did as commanded. Within moments, which hung heavy over the crowd, the image of three children came on the screen. “These three pictures accompanied the letter my husband recited.” Each of the pictures showed a child from Greentree playing on the playground of the school. I know each one of these children. Happy-go-lucky innocence reveling in the pure joy of life. One of the girls was playing on the swing set. The boy was running and playing soccer. The last girl was jumping rope. These were the same children I saw when I read the letter in Ms. Canon’s office. The pictures all had a crosshair centered on the head of each child. Gasps came from the crowd. One mother called out, “Cindy.” After a moment to let the horde contemplate, Char started anew, “Ms. Canon, do you recognize these children?”
With a shaky voice, Ms. Canon replied, “Yes.”
“Ms. Canon, what are their names?”
“Cindy, Karen, and Billy.”
“What can you tell me about these children?”
Ms. Canon answered at first with a smile on her face as she wiped a tear away, “Cindy is in the second grade. Such a beautiful child. She loves to sing. In fact, we had to ask her to stop singing during reading time. She even sang a solo in our winter show.”
“Now there is Karen, a marvelous child. She is a fourth-grader, so bright and understands her lessons the first time through. Such a sweet child too. A future teacher, I think. She helps other children who are having difficulties without any encouragement.”
The boy Billy…” Ms. Canon broke down and started crying, “I can’t.”
Char turned to Ms. Canon and said, “I know you wanted to keep this from becoming general knowledge, and I understand your reasons, but given the circumstances, I think it’s best to tell everyone here.”
Then the crowd was hit with the hardest hammer strike of all as Ms. Canon’s crying lessened, and you could hear her say, “Billy is my son.” The eyes of everyone there grew wide in shock.
Charlene continued, “I am sorry, but I thought these people needed to know. Did Billy attend school every day until the crisis was over?”
“He came to school every day.”
“I’m sorry. It must have been an agony every moment.” Through Ms. Canon’s crying, you could hear her acknowledge the statement. Charlene turned to face the stunned parents. “Shame on you! This woman endangered her own son to keep your children SAFE! Shame on you! I have no doubt she thought, “I can keep Billy home. Mark Galos won’t notice one extra child staying home,” but Ms. Canon stood strong. She didn’t let her fears dictate her actions. Would you have done the same? If you were the one to know of the danger, would you have had the courage to risk your own child? My husband fought a pitched battle with a killer, and he showed great courage, but I think if you weighed his courage against hers, his would be the lighter.” Charlene turned around and face the School Board, “Wise leaders don’t stick their fingers in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. Wise leaders don’t always listen to the will of the people. Wise leaders will do what is right, not what is popular. Wise leaders lead.” Char turned back around and faced the throng again. She stood there looking at each member of the assembled parents in turn. There was an awkward silence as one by one, the parents stood and left the meeting. Once a few parents had left, the room emptied faster until you could see the last parent, Mr. Folk, walk out the door.
The Chairman announced, “This meeting is adjourned,” he banged his gavel. All the board members started gathering all their belongings and filed out of the meeting room. Char made her way to Ms. Canon. They hugged and whispered with each other. It was a healing time for them, so I gave them their privacy. I walked outside and waited for my wife.
It wasn’t too long before Char came outside. The television news crew ambushed Charlene. “Ms. Embers, Ms. Embers, could we get a few words from you on camera.” Char let loose one of her famous stares at the newswoman. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Embers, a statement please.” Char nodded in agreement. The newswoman repositioned Charlene to face the camera. The reporter took a deep breath. “Okay, Marty let’s get this in one. I want to get this on the eleven-o’clock news.”
Marty called out as he lifted his hand, showing all five fingers, “Okay people in five, four, three.” For the last two numbers, he pantomimed the count down.
The reporter started with, “We are here at the San Diego School Board emergency meeting where the fate of one Ms. Canon, the principal at Greentree Elementary, was to be decided. After a myriad of angry parents called upon the School Board to ask for her resignation, the hero of the day, Ms.” Char started to clear her throat in warning. “Mrs. Charlene Embers came to the rescue. Mrs. Embers, can you tell us why you feel so strongly about Ms
. Canon staying on at Greentree Elementary?”
“Well, the simple fact of the matter is the parents were wrong. Once I took a two-by-four of truth to their heads, they saw the error in their thinking. I don’t blame them. They’re scared and needed a scapegoat to vent their frustrations. Ms. Canon is an easy target and one who couldn’t fight back. So, I fought for her.”
“I see. Tell me, did your own daughter continue to go to class every day?”
“I was in the hospital fighting for my life at the time. However, yes, my husband, Nathan, made sure she attended every day. If he had not, I would have given him the same two-by-four.”
“Of truth, correct?” asked the interviewer.
“Sure,” Char said with an impish grin on her face while looking directly at me.
The reporter turned to the camera, “There you have it, folks. One school administrator saved by a plucky victim of …” The reporter went on for about thirty seconds before signing off.
Charlene walked up to me and said, “Let’s go home.”
As we walked back to the car, I said, “Charlene, you are one badass.”
“No, Nathan, I have a great ass.”
I stopped in my tracks and watched my wife walk away for a few steps. “You’re right, you do have a great ass.” Char looked over her shoulder and smiled at me. I watched my wife walk away for a moment longer then ran to catch up. I took the car keys from her hand and said, “I’ll drive us home. Say, with the way you drive, have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?”
“No, I have never gotten a ticket.”
“How did you manage it?” I asked.
Then without missing a beat, Char said, “They're called breasts, Nathan.”
“I believe the quote from the movie Erin Brockovich is ‘They’re called boobs.’”
Char replied matter of factly, “I am too classy to use the word boobs.”
Chapter Eighteen
We arrived home in time to say goodnight to Moiraine. Already in bed with Marlene and John tucking her in for a good night’s sleep. After all the goodnights were said, and we all walked into the living room, John asked, “So, how did it go at the meeting?”
Charlene said, “It went well, I would say.”
“Went well? You have a gift for understatement, Char. She gave them what for and rubbed their noses in it for good measure!” I exclaimed.
“That’s my girl,” John gushed.
“That’s our daughter, John. She ceased being a girl a long time ago,” Marlene stated.
“That she is. Proud of you, we all are. Maybe you should run for the School Board. You would do a damn sight better than them bureaucrats.” I thought John might spit after the way he said “bureaucrats.”
Charlene, in full self-denial mode, “I didn’t do anything other than point out where they were wrong in their thinking.”
“Charlene, you not only held up a mirror to those parents, but you stood up. You were one against a mob. Not many people have the guts to do it. Most people go along with the crowd. And you did it all armed with only your words and your wit,” Marlene said as she gave me the eye and looked to her daughter. The message was received loud and clear. I put my hand on Char’s shoulder. Marlene proceeded to hug her daughter.
“Nathan, my boy, can we talk a minute?” I agreed with John’s request, and we went out to the dining room table and sat across from each other. Char and her mother visited for a time on the couch while John and I talked.
John took a moment to gather his will, then he blurted out, “That little angel is growing up fast.” John pointed towards Moiraine’s room. “Before you turn around, she’ll be dating boys you can’t stand.”
I laughed, “John, she is only six-years-old. I think I can wait a bit before I have to worry.”
“Nathan, the time slips through your fingers before you know it. When Charlene was still a bug like Mo, I realized I wouldn’t always be there to help her make the right choices.” I started to interrupt John, but he bulldozed over me. “No, Nate, listen to me. You have to teach her how a man, a gentleman, treats a lady. I did with Charlene. A few times a year, I would take her out on the town. I treated her like I was dating her mother.” Marlene turned her head toward us and smiled at her husband. It is reassuring to me to see love goes beyond the grave. John became a little befuddled, seeing his wife smile at him. “Where was I? Oh yes. I think you should do the same with Moiraine while you still can. There’ll come a day when she’ll tell you no thank you to the invitation. Charlene told me she didn’t want any more “daddy-daughter dates” during her first year of middle school. Broke my heart it did.” A brief moment of sadness touched my father-in-law’s face.
“I like the idea, John, but things are tight,” I lowered my voice, “I am barely paying the bills as it is. We are behind in everything but the rent. I won’t get a paycheck from the show for a while still, and I want to get caught up first.”
“Why haven’t you told me this before. I can spot you a …”
“John, would you have taken a loan from your father-in-law?” I asked.
“No, but he was a son-of-a-bitch. Wait a minute he hasn’t shown up here, has he? You know, as a ghost.”
“I’ve never thought of seeing if he is hanging out there in the ether. Do you want me to call him up?”
“Heaven’s no, Nate. I couldn’t stand the man. He never thought much of Marlene and me tying the knot. If Marlene’s mother, nice woman, hadn’t gone to bat for me, I don’t think we would have been married.”
“Really? And you’re right Grace is a lovely woman.”
“You met Grace?” I nodded to the question. “Son, sometimes, this place is hard for my understandings.”
“I met her sisters too.”
“Not all at once, I hope. That flock of hens could make a man lose his marbles. Hated family reunions I did.”
“Yes sir, I did meet them all together and Char’s grandmother, too. Luckily, I saved most of my marbles. I did lose a cat’s-eye and a couple of lemonades in the encounter though.”
John gave out a laugh and said, “Well, you’ll warn a man if those ladies are about in the future, I hope.” I chuckled to myself and nodded my agreement. “We’re getting off track. Nathan, those dates you need to take Mo on are important to me.” John reached for his wallet and pulled out some money.
“John, I am not taking money from you,” I tried to keep my voice down. I didn’t want Charlene to hear.
“Nathan, I admire your principles I do, but this is important to me. Moiraine is such a sweet child. It worries me something awful that she will be hurt if she doesn’t know the right way of things.” John leaned toward me and in a hushed whisper said, “The night after you and Char’s first date she came to me and told me you were a gentleman right and proper. It was a first I’ll tell you. Most of them men who wanted to go out with Charlene were after only one thing and treated her with disrespect. They tried to take liberties,” a fire-filled John’s eyes. “In truth, son, I thought you to be another one of them, but I was wrong, and I am man enough to say it. I believe if I hadn’t taught my daughter right, she would have been hurt or worse. Instead, she is the strong woman she is. So, I am asking you to do this for me. Take this money and take Mo out to dinner in a fine restaurant, one with cloth napkins and all. Promise me this won’t be the only time either.” John pushed the money into my hand. Looking me straight in the eye, he said, “Promise me, Nathan. I know if you promise, you’ll keep your word. You always have.”
My hand closed on the money, and I said, “I can see this is important to you, so I give you my word as a Man with no joking or clowning. I will take Moiraine out a few times a year until she refuses me. I will teach her how a gentleman treats a lady, and I’ll pray she is as strong as her mother.”
“Thank you, son. Hearing them words lifts a worry I’ve had off my shoulders,” we shook hands, and John reached over for a man hug with a single pat on the back. We have been growing closer since the eve
nts with Mark Galos. Though I don’t have many friends and even though John is my father-in-law, I count him as one.
When our little encounter was finished, we turned to see my wife and Marlene looking at us both with suspicion on their faces. Charlene started the interrogation with, “Alright, gentlemen, what’s going on?” Both Char and her mother crossed their arms under their breasts in synch, you would have thought they choreographed the move.
“You two, never you mind. This here is men’s business and none of yours,” I grimaced as soon as the words left John’s mouth.
Marlene said, “Do you think their plotting will end the world as we know it?”
Charlene answered, “As long as they don’t disturb my plans, I don’t see how. Besides, I’ve got mine trained well enough. He won’t do anything without getting my approval.”
“Are you sure? He always struck me as being a little wildly.”
After a long moment of examining John’s and my shocked faces, the ladies broke out in laughter. My wife needed a proper hugging by my reckoning, so I put the move to her. John followed me but stood in front of his dead wife. I reached over and placed my hand on John’s shoulder, paving the way for him to hug his ghost wife. After too short a time for him, I removed my hand from John’s shoulder and released my wife. Stepping away from Charlene is always difficult, but it is getting late, and I want to go to bed. Turning to John, I was about to say something, but John and Marlene were still hugging. What the f…, I thought to myself. “Char, your mother and father are still hugging!”
The Calling Page 19
