“No, me neither,” I said. “I don’t have her in any of my classes.”
The door opened, and Malik came back in. He looked sad. There was no other way to describe him. He dropped his backpack onto my small coffee table and took his work out. I sat down and rattled off an email to his teachers, explaining he would be in my office for the rest of the day, and they were to consider this an excused absence. I would probably catch hell for it, but so be it. Malik was more likely to get his work done in here than he was in class.
“You aren’t missing any tests today, are you?” I asked.
“No, sir.”
Jerome excused himself to go do hall duty for the in-between-classes bell, and I glanced at my lesson plan for my next class. Back to floor hockey for this upcoming period.
“Coach?”
“Yeah, Malik?”
“Do you think you could be with me when I tell my dad?”
“Of course. Do you know when you plan to do that?”
He shook his head. “I’m pretty scared to tell him, honestly.”
“I get it. It’s been the two of you for a long time, and he works hard to give you everything he didn’t have.”
“Yep, and now I’ve gone and messed it up.”
“There are two of you in this, Malik. You can’t accept all the blame.”
He nodded, but I wasn’t sure my words were sinking in for him.
“I want you to think about your future.”
Malik sat back and scoffed.
“Hear me out. You are talented, and colleges are already looking at you. I don’t want to see you give up sports because of this.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but I held up my hand to let him know I wasn’t finished.
“I’m going to talk to Lee Waters, the owner of the Ridgeview Diner, and see if he has any openings. If he does, I’ll ask about flexibility. If you could get a job there and work your way into waiting tables a couple of nights a week, that’ll give you a decent paycheck.”
“How does that help with college, though?”
“I believe, with the new Name, Image, and Likeness program, you’ll be able to market yourself to companies. I’m not well versed on it yet, but I’ll do what I can to figure it out.”
“Okay.”
“The bottom line is, you and Janelle had an error in judgment. Neither of you should be punished for it or lose the future you have planned. I don’t know what her plan is for after high school, but I do know yours, and I’d really hate to see you give it all up.”
Malik nodded and wiped at his eyes. “I don’t have to get married, right?”
I shook my head. “Not unless you want to. Do you want to get married?”
“No, sir.”
“All right then.” I sighed. “If you’re not busy, I want you to write down everything we just talked about so when you sit down to tell your dad, you have detailed notes.”
Malik nodded and stood. He came over to me and wrapped me in a hug. “Thank you.”
I patted his back and wished I could take all of this away for him. Even for Cutter. These boys didn’t deserve their lives to be twisted around the way they were. No one did.
The bell rang, and the current PE class filtered into the hall. Some kids saw Malik in my office and teased him about being in trouble. That was the last thing he needed.
