“The sequel lion?”
“Yep.” She’s full-on grinning now, and I return her look with an entertained one of my own.
Her expression turns serious, then unsure. She lowers her eyes back to her phone and picks at the case. “I know you’re not going to like what I’m about to say, but—” Her shoulders rise and fall on a slow, deep breath. “I think we can be more productive if we all work together. The boys and us girls.” She stands abruptly, and leaves the table. “I’ll go get them.” As she passes by my seat, she leans in and gives me a kiss on the top of my head like the sweet mama she is. “It’s going to be alright, doll.” She says quietly into my hair, and then she leaves—a quiet little storm of love.
Wait, what the hell just happened?
She’s not even out the door when I hear a voice behind me, “Ms. Duchamp?” I tamp down the urge to cringe and turn around to see Mrs. Tina Orderly, Ned’s mom. She’s wearing her pilot's uniform and looks oddly out of breath.
“Hello, Mrs. Orderly. Is everything alright?” I don’t have to feign concern. She seems slightly crazed.Please don’t ask me why I’m here during school hours.
“Yes, no, I mean.” She sighs, obviously frustrated. “I heard about your situation, and I wanted you to know that I saw something last week. At the school. It was after school. You know how my schedule is so strange with the job I have, and I needed to swing by the school and get some paperwork before I flew out, and well, the window was easy to see into, you know?”
“Okay, sure of course. What did you see?” Mrs. Orderly is a talker. Parent teacher conferences are,not short,with her. I find itbest to latch onto a few words and make them part of the response. She grabs a chair across from me and sits down to continue her speedy and slightly convoluted story. I’m attempting to keep up, but failing until I hear two particular names and need to stop and rewind her.
“I’m sorry, who?”
“That woman,”she says this with a little bit of violence in her tone. “Ms. Harrison. Her and that teacher, Mr. Dotson? Dogson?”
“Dawson?” I half ask and half shout the name.
“Yes! I caught them en flagrante delicto. Through the windows, in a school! A classroom! I flew out almost immediately after, so I didn’t say anything, and I hate to admit that I completely forgot until Jill called me from the?—”
“Wait, Jill called you? The secretary? Owns a–Taylor’s aunt?”Owns a peacock.
“Yes,” she pauses to look over me. I get a strong sense ofhaven’t you been listening, you dunce.But, thankfully, she continues talking. “She told me that the Central Office was looking into allegations that you were behaving inappropriately in the classroom because of jealousy and other pettiness, but I told her, I saidthat Ms. Duchamp loves our kids, and my Ned wouldn’t be half the student—”she stops when she finally notices my expression. “What, what is it?”
“No-nothing. I’m just disappointed it’s come to this.” I reassure her. I think it’s reassuring at least. “You’re positive it was them”
“Of course darling. That red hair is vibrant. I can’t believe what the rotten girl has brought into our sleepy, little town. Now, I plan on coming forward to let the board know what happened, but I have to go. I’m not sure if I’ll be back before the next school board meeting on Thursday, but I’ll try to be there, alright, Hun? Please understand I feel it is necessary to do this in person. Don’t worry, sweetheart. I have your back.” She finishes this in one breath, hops up, spins around, and takes off.
Well, okay.
“So you’re telling me that Zach Dawson and Taylor were doing the naked tango in a classroom after hours?” Vicky asks from next to me,her voice unapologetically loud. A few faces around the quiet bar turn toward us.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, why do you keep doing that to me!” I gasp a quick breath to try and get myself sorted.She’s a witch; I swear it.I see that Sonya has also arrived. She’s right behind Vicky and looks white as a ghost.
Oh, no. Shitty, shit, shit.I forgot that Sonya and Zach Dawson were hooking up on the down low. Apparently he did too—or maybe they weren’t exclusive. Her reaction tells a specific story, though.What the fuck is wrong with men in this town?There must be something in the water.
“Oh, honey—” I start, but she just starts shaking her head without making eye contact. Vicky turns around and looks horrified when the realization hits her. She reaches for Sonya, but the younger woman takes a step back, face blanched and eyes suspiciously shiny. Movement at the door reveals Paige and the boys entering the bar. Paige has a placid expression, but when she takes one look at the situation, she efficiently pulls Sonya away while murmuring quiet and, I assume, comforting words.
I exchange knowing glances with Vicky, silently agreeing to let Paige take over. As the nurturer among us, she is the best option to help. Carter is the first to sit in the seat directly to my right, followed by Vicky in the seat to my left. Carter and I realize at the same time that there isn’t enough room for everyone to sit, so he hops up and grabs the table next to us. He moves the chairs between them out of the way, and starts pushing the two tables together.
The table’s legs screech against the floor in a way that has my hair standing on end. Carter’s shoulders hitch in a little at the attention, but he doesn’t stop what he’s doing, moving to adjust the chairs again. The bar is quiet, so the shrill noise is overly loud and many of the people that are here all turn to watch him with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. Carter steps back to assess his handiwork, his expression falling when he realizes the chairs are off-center..so he has to pull it back and push it forward a few more times—another screech for each movement.
During his one man interior redecoration, Vicky is next to me, barely holding in her laughter, but the others aren’t even paying attention. Billy is staring off into space, Trevor is staring at where Paige took Sonya, and I’m just sitting here watching this helpful, ridiculous man. The absurdity of it makes me want to laugh or cry.It’s just so, Carter.
Carter finishes rearranging the tables, and scoots the chairs back up, and that signals the others to join us. Vicky, Sonya, Paige, Trevor, Billy, Carter, and I all sit at the table. I pause and take it in. All of these people are gathered here to support me. It’s a humbling thought, and it grounds me in the moment.
Vicky is the one who breaks the silence. “So, let’s burn this witch.”
A couple of chuckles fill the awkward silence before petering back out again. In the silence that follows, I pull out my pile of paperwork, Sonya pulls out a sketchpad, Trevor pulls out a legal pad, and Carter pulls out an old envelope that looks like it's been folded over and over again. I take a deep breath and tell them what I just heard.
“Apparently, Taylor got busy with a teacher at the school last week. I’m wondering if she tried to blame the situation on me somehow.” Sonya flinches, so I push through, trying not to dwell on the details. “I think that what happened there could lead to an actual arrest. I’m fairly certain some things are just not allowed at a school?—”
“Someone found a pair of women’s underwear in his classroom.” Sonya says quietly, brokenly. “Zach—Mr. Dawson, he told me that someone must have snuck into his room when the whispers started.” She’s quiet for a second. “The office told him to keep it quiet until Ronnie got back from her conferences. They’d, um, started looking into it a bit, but—” She stops and drops her head for a second while her shoulders slump.
“We have a video with Taylor blowing Paul in my office,” Billy interrupts. Carter looks at him with a sad smile, communicating something I’m too shocked to follow.
