I allowed Bethany to walk into my office before I did. Benji jumped up. “Mama! I promise I ain’t start it.”
“I know, Benji. Principal Anderson told me.” She turned her attention to her brother. “Boltin, this is the new principal.”
I knew the moment that our eyes locked that he recognized me.Dear God, why is this man so fine?If I thought Boltin ‘Bolt’ Abloy was fine as frog hair when I was thirteen, then he was fine as aged wine now. I gathered myself quickly to approach him. “Mr. Abloy, it’s nice to meet you.”
When he stood from his seat, I took a step back. He towered over me to the point that I took another step forward. This was a lot of man. A lot of fine ass man. “Nice to meet me? Really, P’Nee? Stop playing with me like you don’t know me.”
“Whoa,” Bethany blurted. “Did I miss something?” she asked with knitted brows. Even Benji wore a perplexed expression.
Without taking his eyes off me, Bolt answered his sister’s inquiry. “Sis, this is P’Nee, Joshua’s little sister. I’m not sure if you remember her.”
Her face was tight for a moment before recognition hit. “Oh, wait! I almost forgot he had a little sister. You haven’t been around since we were teenagers.”
My smile was faint. “Um, yeah, I haven’t.” I needed to shift this conversation. “How about we sit down to discuss what happened and what happens next.”
We all agreed before we sat down. There was video footage of the incident, so there was no need to tell them what happened when I could show them. Benji was one of our star honor students. He was quiet and kept to himself and his techy friends. The boy that bothered him today was new to the area and wanted to solidify himself as a bully. The problem with his planwas that he bullied the wrong student, and that student bullied the fuck back.
“So, while Benji did not instigate the altercation, he still did get physical. Benji will be suspended for three days instead of the five that the other student will be out for,” I told them. “Benji’s teacher will send him all of his work so that he doesn’t fall behind.”
Bethany was agitated, which was understandable. If I could get away with not suspending Benji at all, I wouldn’t, but I had to. Benji beat that boy’s ass to a pulp. I was so confused how you wanted to be a bully but couldn’t fight.
“Thank you for understanding that my son is not a troublemaker,” Bethany said as we all stood. “I’ve heard great things about you as the principal. You’re breathing new life into this school in the short time that you’ve been here. A robotics team?” When her brow arched, I giggled.
My eyes shifted to Benji whose cheeks blushed over. “Well, that achievement of the start of our robotics’ club can be directly attributed to your son. From what I heard, he presented a proposal for the club last school year, but it was denied due to budget restraints. Well, this principal knows how to make things pop, as the kids say.”
“Principal Anderson, no one says that. You say that,” Benji said with a creased forehead. “It’s okay to talk like an adult. We’ll still respect you and think you’re cool.”
See, these fucking kids will put you in your place every time.Bolt chortled. “Damn, nephew, you didn’t have to do all that.”
Bethany shook her head. “Don’t feel bad. He tries to put me in my place from time to time too. Told me that I was too old to clock tea or whatever.”
Now that was funny because he told me the same thing last week. Being an educator was a balance of reward, embarrassment, disappointment, achievement, and many otherfactors and emotions. I liked to think that my kids kept me young. “Well, at least you’re consistent, Benji.”
“I do my best, Principal Anderson. So, you’re my uncle’s sister?” he asked with a raised brow. When his fingers went to his chin and tapped it, I knew he was about to say something witty. “So, that makes you my auntie, right?”
Bethany’s head snapped in his direction. “What it makes her is your principal.” She pointed at the door. “Go sit your ass in the office lobby.”
I wanted to laugh at his feigned dejectedness. He grabbed his book bag, then headed out of my office. I felt Bolt’s eyes on me, but I refused to look his way. There was no way that I could stare at this man for too long and not envision me bent over my desk.
“P’Nee, you should come out with me and my homegirl this weekend. Your ass has been back for at least six months since that’s how long school had been in session. Clearly, you’ve been laying low. Clover is too small for Joshua’s all over the place ass not to run into you.” She gave me a look like she knew what I knew. “Where you staying?”
I giggled. “I’m a bit of a homebody, so it’s not hard to stay out of the way. I moved into my grandmother’s house. It was passed down to me after my mother passed four years ago.”
Bethany gasped and slapped her hand over her heart. “Oh my God! I am so sorry for your loss. I don’t know what I would do if I lost my mama.”
My eyes betrayed me and connected with Bolt. His gaze at me was soft. “Damn, Nee, I’m sorry to hear your mom passed. Does your dad and brother know?”
Nee.I hadn’t heard that nickname since I was thirteen. The mention of my father shifted my attitude. “I don’t know what they know as my business is not theirs.” I shifted my attention back to Bolt’s sister. “Take my phone number, and we candiscuss going out further. Naturally, I have to be careful with my position.”
She took the phone out of my hand to put her number into it. “Girl, we don’t go out in Clover. I need separation from these country niggas.”
We both laughed. I understood that. I was sure eyes were on her since she was a mighty Abloy. We said a few more words before she headed toward the door. Bolt hadn’t moved toward the door yet. My head tilted as my eyes connected with his again. “It was nice seeing you after all these years, Bolt.”
My eye bucked subtly when he bit his lower lip. “Yeah, aight. I’ll see you soon, Nee. Believe that shit.” Before he walked out of my office, he turned to me with a sexy smirk. “Oh, and you were right.One Crazy Summerwas a good ass book.”
Oh my!
The entire timeI was in the office with my sister, nephew, and P’Nee, my phone went off with texts from Joshua. P’Nee stopped coming for the summers after the summer when she was thirteen, I think. I remembered Joshua asked his dad about it. Pop Jordan waved it off and told him that her mama was tripping.
