Perhaps that was why this windfall seemed like such a life-changing opportunity.Life-changing. Alife-changing opportunity. No time like the present, Pinky.
When the door between the joint classrooms swung open, Sumi nearly fell off her chair in her haste to conceal her phone entirely, breathing a sigh of relief when it was only her co-teacher.
Meredith taught math, reporting that the kids were just as over-reliant on their phones to feed them answers in her class as they were in Sumi’s. Sarcastic, with a caustic tongue and a very low threshold of patience for thethis is the noblest profession!teachers’ union and school board, she and Sumi had become fast friends the instant their classrooms were paired.
“You know, ifIinherited a million dollars from a strange relative, the very first thing I would do, without reservation, would be to buy my coworker a new car. Like, thefirstthing Iwould do. Before I even paid my own bills. I think that says a lot about my character, don’t you?”
Meredith had perched on the edge of her desk, blocking out the trio of girls sitting in the front row, keeping their conversation as private as it could be amidst the cacophony of her chattering students. Sumi snorted in response.
“Wow, you’ve really been giving that a lot of thought. It’s giving sainthood, no question.”
“I know, so sigma of me. The second thing I would do is turn in my resignation and walk backward out of Mark’s office, slapping my ass. All the way down the steps, out the front doors. They’d be able to hear me slapping on the other side of town.”
Sumi buried her laughter in her palms, squeezing her eyes shut.This is your chance. This is your chance to tell someone for real. “Does that mean you’re not going to hold it against me if I’m not back next year?”
It was the best she could do. She couldn’t bring herself to actually say the words out loud before she had officially resigned. She knew the way teachers in this district gossiped, knew how fast the ignition turned on the gossip machine. If she told Meredith, their room para would know before Sumi even cleared the doorway to leave for the day, half the building knowing before she hit the parking lot. Even though she wasn’t coming back, she valued her professionalism enough to want the principal to hear it directly from her, and she didn’t want Jordan finding out through the whisper network.
At least . . . she didn’t think she did.
“Girl, I’ll hold it against you if Idosee you in three months. Slap. That. Ass. All the way out the door.“ Meredith scoffed, helping herself to one of the mini chocolates Sumi kept in a bowl at the edge of her desk. “Maybe you should take a year off and travel, see the world. Wait, will Jordan go with you?” Reading Sumi’s expression of uncertainty at the thought, she unwrappedanother candy. “Good, that’s the right answer. You should buy one of those huge sunhats and sleep with a bunch of hot twenty-five-year olds. If you’re not being railed on your private sundeck by some unnamed stranger with a six-pack, what’s the point of anything.”
“I didn’t realize hot twenty-five-year olds were interested in middle-aged fat women.”
“They are when she’s loaded!” Meredith exclaimed from around her mouthful of chocolate. They both quickly turned, checking to see if any students were listening in, but it didn’t matter. Too engrossed in their phones, too deep in their own shrieking conversations to notice or care. Meredith turned back, rolling her eyes. “Don’t forget the luncheon today. Is Jordan going to be there?”
When she groaned at the reminder, one of the front row girls finally lifted her head, eyebrows raised in interest for a moment before turning back to her conversation. “I forgot all about it,” Sumi admitted.Mother fucker. So much for taking another load of boxes to the house.“I’m sure he will be,” she went on despondently. “Are you kidding? He could never resist a captive audience hanging on his every word about his favorite topic.”
“His favorite topic being himself,” Meredith put in helpfully.
“I could never bring Jordan on a trip like that.” Sumi felt her cheeks heat, emboldened by the conversation. “Leaving work? With no one to impress? Who would he perform for? He’d wither like an orchid.”
The other woman snorted, taking another candy. “Maybe there’s somebody else who ought to see you slapping your ass on the way out. Just sayin’.”
“Maybe I just want to do some quiet, off the grid dream job,” Sumi blurted. “Make jelly and bake pies. I don’t know, maybe I’ll open a flower shop. I love flowers.”
“I told my husband I wanted to open a bookshop after the kids are in high school. I just want to sit and read, enjoy the peace and quiet, maybe have a little coffee bar. He said I was describing a living room and those don’t make money. Turned the den into a library for me; said it was cheaper. He even put in a little coffee station. Seriously though, if I was in your position . . . I wouldn’t need to think twice about coming back. But really, a new car. Thefirstthing I’d do. And make sure your replacement understands the way this works. Theysupplythe candy, Ieatthe candy.”
She would stay friends with Meredith, Sumi vowed as the other teacher crossed the room, popping her last chocolate in her mouth before pulling the door shut behind her.That’s what social media is for. And you’re good at talking to people on that, at least.
She hadn’t told many people about the inheritance.
It had hurt, knowing there had been someone from her mother’s side of the familyright fucking thereall along, but there was no one to blame. Her father hadn’t known. The great aunt in question had never known how to find her. When the probate paperwork had caught up with her, the documents originating from an office less than two hours from the house she’d lived in for more than twenty years, she had cried bitter, heartbroken tears, but now she was wrung dry. No point in regret. Nothing left but the life savings of a frugal couple who’d owned their own successful business and a house in an affluent neighborhood of a town in the midst of a real estate explosion.
They all thought she was going to sell it. Her boyfriend, her father . . . everyone thought she would sell the house, put the money in the bank, and keep on living the status quo.
Everyone but ChaoticConcertina, who was enthusiastically supportive in her plan to run away and start her life over again.
After all, how could she not?
She was forty years old and felt as if she were being given a do-over of the last twenty years. A docking of theSS Sunk Cost, a chance to do the job she’d always dreamed of doing, a chance to own a house, own a business, a completely fresh start. A mulligan on her life, an opportunity to behappyrather than simply exist.No time like the present, Pinky.
He was right, and so was Meredith.Slap your ass all the way out the door. It’s a big, bouncy ass, so they’ll be able to hear you coming all the way in Cambric Creek.
Pushing to her feet before the bell rang, Sumi idly wondered if she was going to regret it. The clock was running down, and maybe she’d look back at this week wistfully once it was done.Who knows?she thought, bending to retrieve a pen that had been pushed off the desk when Meredith rose.Maybe once you’re out of here, it won’t seem that terrible. Maybe you actually love these kids and you’re too close to realize it.
”Gyat!”
Her face flushed and her eyes narrowed as she snatched up the pen and straightened, whipping around to face the 12-year-old at the far corner table, smug in his exclamation over the bouncy ass in question. She wouldn’t need a slang cheat sheet in her new life, she reminded herself.Nope. You’re not going to miss them at all. Fuck these kids.
