“Wait. Who’s Ms. Lewis? I thought Mrs. Allen was your teacher,” Dilynne asks.
“She left to have her baby. Johnny said that the baby was gonna rip open her vagina.”
Elliot practically snorts. “Looks like Johnny knows a little too much.”
Ellis tilts her head to the side. “Can babies do that? Do they rip it open with their hands and crawl out?”
“Uh…” Fletcher looks to the rest of us for guidance. “A little help here, people.”
Luckily, Rhonan arrives at that moment, practically panting as he jogs through the doors to the cafeteria, dressed in his deputy uniform. “Daddy!” Ellis shouts, wiggling out of Fletcher’s arms before running across the room to him.
“Thank God I got out of answering that question,” Fletcher mumbles, pulling Laney back into his arms as she laughs.
“Yeah, we don’t need another stripper incident,” she says.
Elodie’s brows draw together. “Stripper incident?”
Fletcher shakes his head. “Don’t ask.”
Laughing, I pull Elodie into my arms and kiss the top of her head. “Let’s just say that I won’t be letting Remy hang around Uncle Fletcher when she starts asking the tough questions.”
Rhonan walks toward us, carrying Ellis in his arms. “I didn’t think I was gonna make it,” he says out of breath before setting his daughter down on the ground.
“You look like you just ran a marathon,” Laney says to her older brother.
“Actually, I was chasing after a damn dog.”
“I didn’t know that was in your job description,” Elliot says with a smirk.
“It’s not.” Rhonan pushes a hand through his unruly hair, trying to tame it. “It’s my new neighbor’s dog, and he happens to be a bit of an escape artist.”
“Wait. You have a new neighbor? Someone is renting that house now?” Laney asks.
“Yeah, and it’s…” But he doesn’t finish his sentence because a beautiful, tall blonde picks up the microphone at the front of the cafeteria and drowns him out.
“Good morning, everyone,” she says, her voice cheery. “If you could all take your seats, please, we will begin Career Day in just a few minutes.”
Our group looks toward the rows of chairs in the back as all of the teachers guide the students to sit on the floor in their class groups.
I move toward the back, following my friends, when I realize that Rhonan is still standing in the same spot. Returning to him, I ask, “Dude. You okay?”
“Fuck my life,” he grates out, staring at the woman at the front of the room as she smiles at the kids sitting by her feet.
“What’s going on?” Fletcher asks as Elliot comes up next to him.
“That’s Ms. Lewis!” Ellis shouts, pulling on Rhonan’s hand. “That’s my new teacher, Daddy.”
“She’s—she’s your substitute?” Rhonan stutters.
“Yes. And she’s so nice and pretty. Isn’t she pretty, Daddy?”
Rhonan remains frozen as I glance over at Elliot and Fletcher, wondering what the fuck is happening. “Uh, Rhonan?”
“Go take your seat, Ellis,” he says before Ellis runs off. Closing his eyes, he blows out a breath and mutters, “This is just my luck.”
“Care to fill us in?” I add.
“That’s the woman I…” He mutters low enough that only we can hear him, but he doesn’t finish his thought.
