Chapter 64

Alan
"Good job today guys. See you tomorrow." I say to my new class as they nearly trip over each other trying to run out of the classroom.
Today was my first day and it went so much better than expected. Back home in Minneapolis I had a class where I only taught social studies, but the school systems are so much different here. I have these amazing kids all day long and I am supposed to teach all subjects. Though I'm a bit rusty, and it's gotten a bit challenging, I was proud of my first day.
Growing up with all little sisters I was able to tell right away how each student was going to be. Fifth grade is an interesting age group. It's where you can potentially meet your future friends and it's also where you truly start to find yourself. I remember being in fifth grade and deciding for myself that being a teacher is what I wanted to be. I had a workshop teacher, Mr. Dunlap, who taught me that I didn't have to be the stereotypical jock just because I played football and had parents with money.
It was also the first year I had met Jared. Being friends with him showed me another side of the world. He was blessed with money like I was, but instead of flourishing in it, Jared hated it. Jared taught me humility, more than he knows.
"Mr. King?" A small voice calls from the side of me. I stayed back after school today to get the curriculum ready for tomorrow.
I turn and see little Peter Skinsky. He reminds me so much of little Arnold back home and I make a mental note to call mom and dad when I get home and see how he is doing.
"Hi Peter, how are you? Shouldn't you be getting on your bus now?" I say looking behind him. Peter is dyslexic. It said so in his file, but I can also tell because of his work he turns in. His chart says surface dyslexia which is how he is still in my class, but I know I'm going to want to spend some extra one on one time with him.
"Yes, I just wanted to ask you a question first." I nod my head at him and he begins to tell me all about his problem with his homework.
A knock at the door jerks us both and when I look over at the clock I see it's been over thirty minutes of helping out Peter. I had googled a few ways to help him specifically and with his help we both found a few ways for him to learn at his own pace what I will be teaching tomorrow.
Peter is actually quite smart for someone with a road block. I know we still have much more work ahead of us and I'll most likely need to speak with his parents on how they can help at home, but I really feel like we made progress today.
I walk over to the bright blue door and open it. I smile when I see Laynie and Anna on the other side.
"What are you guys doing here? How did you get in the school?" Laynie pushes right past me and I notice she has a large bag in her hands.
I look over to Anna and she smiles at me genuinely then walks in as well. She looks beautiful today. She is wearing a black blouse and dark black slacks. She has her hair up in a ponytail and heavy make up on. She must have just come from work.
"Thought we would come and help you decorate today. Anna was able to get off early and I finally got some help at the restaurant. Jared is still at work, but he will meet us tonight for some pizza at our place if you're down." I nod my head at Laynie and walk over to Peter, who looks like he is going to faint standing next to Anna.
Yeah buddy, I here ya, the girl has my mind whipped as well.
"Hey Peter. I'll be right back. I'm going to see if there is another bus for you to get on. If there isn't, we will just call your parents okay buddy?" I receive a small nod back and laugh when Laynie asks if he wants to help her decorate.
I leave the room and head straight to the office. I pull out my phone and text Anna on the way there, because apparently, I'm too chicken shit to say it to her face and tell her she looks absolutely stunning today. I get back a response telling me she is already taken and stop frozen in place. Shit, so she really is seeing someone. Is this asshole the one making her cry? Fuck, I hate this.
I look down at my phone and blow out a breath of fresh air when I see the picture she just sent me. It's of her and Peter. He is holding her, awfully close, and has a great big old smile on his face and I know just the reason why. Her cleavage is literally right next to his glasses. Can't say I blame him but I don't think I have ever been jealous of one of my students before. I laugh at the caption she sends when it pops up.
Meet my new boyfriend
"Hey Dolores. Could you do me a favor and see if there is last minute bus running for the students? I have one that stayed a little late in my class." I ask the office secretary.
Dolores, I had the pleasure of meeting yesterday when I came in to speak with Mr. Moley, is an eighty-seven-year-old single mother of ten, grandmother of seven, and most recently great grandmother of two.
When I asked her if she plans on retiring, she expressed to me that she will retire once she encounters the man of her dreams. She wants a firefighter, age around twenty-seven to thirty with large muscles and dimples to last a lifetime.
"Oh sure, Alan. Let's see, hmmm, no sweetheart, there are no more buses for the day. I'll give little Peter's parents a call and see if one of them can pick him up. Won't be the first time. Mr. Wormon, the man you took over for, use to call them in at least once a week." I nod my head in thanks as she dials the number and leave the office.
I make it back to my classroom and see Anna sitting on my desk messing with something in my drawer and Laynie and Peter placing some kind of banner on the wall. I immediately walk over and help Laynie, knowing damn well Jared will kill me if I let her fall, and she smiles her thanks to me.
"Hey Peter. Dolores is calling your parents and they should be here soon to pick you up."
Peter nods his head towards me and continues to give Laynie tape, one strand at a time, while she hangs up little children's hand prints with my students' names on them. How she got a hold of my list of students, I have no idea, but I wouldn't put it past her to obtain. Laynie can be a little small gremlin when she wants to.
I walk back over to Anna, who is now standing near my desk with a deviant smile on her face.
"What did you do Banana?" I smile when she shrugs her shoulders.
I walk around to my desk and see several pictures of me and her, of Laynie and her, of Jared and I, and finally one of all of us on the girls' graduation day. I remember that day well. Anna and I had our first kiss that day. I don't know what made me do it, could have been her finally being eighteen, could have been how absolutely adorable she looked in a bright blue cap and gown, could have been knowing she was on her way to a college out of the city and I would hardly see her. Either way, I wanted to remember that day forever.
"There's another one in the drawer." She tells me, and the smile becomes one of most dazzling smirks I've ever laid eyes on. If Laynie and Peter weren't six feet away from us, hanging up a world map, I would pull her on my desk and have at her, but not only is that inappropriate, Anna would probably chop my balls off for doing that to her.
I open the drawer out and see the picture I love of the two of us. The one no one knows exists. It's Anna and I, on one of our dates, and we are in an over the top fancy restaurant. I was trying to impress her, she was trying to be nice, and we were both miserable.
Finally, after the over the top fancy waiter came with our two-hundred-dollar bottle of wine, she just started cracking up. It took me a few minutes to calm her down and when she finally told me that she hated these kind of places, I cracked up with her. I told her I hated them too but was just trying to impress her. We laughed so hard the waiter just left without taking our order, which made us laugh even harder.
We were heading out of the restaurant, without eating anything, when a lady stopped us. She had told us that she saw us, loved that we were having fun on our date and had taken a picture. We both loved the picture so much, we had her send it to our phones. I lost my copy of it a while ago, but I'm pleased to see Anna hung onto hers.
"Still you're favorite picture?" Anna asks.
"Always."
A knock at my door jerks me from yet another inappropriate thought of Anna and my desk, and I look over to Laynie and Peter whispering something to each other. I get out of my chair and walk over to the door. Peter's parents aren't what I would expect at all. They look absolutely nothing like him. His father is this giant wall of muscle, six feet, and a large goatee. His mother is a red head and has exceptional looking blue eyes. She is five feet tall and has the largest smile I have ever seen. They both have a mass of tattoos on their arms and around their necks and I almost for a second ask what they are here for.
It isn't until Peter runs over and into the arms of the giant man in front of me and calls him Edgar does it dawn on me. These are his adoptive parents.
"Thank you for giving us a call. Peter can be easily distracted but we know he's safe when he is here at school. You must be Mr. King, his new teacher, I'm Eliza." I shake hands with her and watch Peter's dad Edgar whisper something in his ear, making him giggle.
Peter gets down and walks over to me. He gives me a small wave and peers behind me to do the same with the girls. Once they leave, I turn around and come face to face with Anna.
"Sweet isn't it?" She asks me.
"What is?"
"They don't seem the type to have a son that looks like him, yet, they probably care for him more than anyone in the world. They all have a story there, and it's most likely not a happy one, but it's theirs and it's something that will only bind them closer as he gets older."
I stare at the woman I'm madly in love with in awe. She gets it. She's always got why I wanted to be a part of shaping today's youth. I want to do to kids what my old workshop teacher did for me. I want to show kids like Peter, that his parents and him may not look like they all belong together but that just makes them more perfect for each other.
"Okay, I think we got it all." Laynie interrupts and when I look over at her, a smile is tugging at her lips. The girl always was a sucker for romance. She is also the one person that has always pushed for me and Anna to be together. I think she sees what I do.
"Wow, the room looks great Lanes. I can't thank you two enough." I say and looks between both of them.
"Well, you certainly can't thank Anna. All she did was take selfies around the room with Peter and sit on your desk." Laynie says laughing. When I look over at Anna she just shrugs. God, I love these girls.
The three of us leave the building and head to our cars. I see that Laynie drove and see the SUV is the vehicle she chose. I haven't stopped thinking about the news she broke to us. Seems I was the only one out of the loop that night because when she announced her news about Nicholas, I looked over to Anna, and she didn't seem surprised. She simply seemed withdrawn, like she was guilty for knowing and not telling as well.
I follow Laynie all the way out to their home and park next to Jared's car. He must have just gotten home. The three of us head inside only to find Jared pacing back and forth in the kitchen. He is on the phone and the conversation seems rather heated. Anna and I walk into the living room and Laynie stands by Jared's side. Whoever he is on the phone with, whatever news he is receiving, is not good.
"Eerie, isn't it?" Anna asks from my side. I hadn't even known she was sitting next to me on the couch.
"What is?"
"Everything happening right now to all of us. Part of the reason why I moved out to New York was to get out of my past. To get away from everything that haunted us back there, but, it just followed us."
"Yeah, but that's a good thing Anna." I wait until she looks to me to continue. "We can't run away from our problems. We can't avoid them thinking they will eventually just disappear. We have to be brave and strong and fight them. Otherwise we're never truly free." I say without thinking.
Anna reaches for my hand but retreats her hand back when Laynie and Jared walk into the living room to join us. They sit on the opposite couch as us and Jared tells us what the phone call was about.
"That was detective Stephanson. He was the one in charge of trying to locate my father. Seems the last they heard of him he was in Columbia." I feel Anna tense at the last part of Jared's speech.
"Why would he be in Columbia Jared?" Laynie asks rubbing his arms back and forth, trying to relieve the tension.
"Don't know babe. Don't even know if it's a real trail. He could have known he was being followed and planted that trail. I mean all these years and I don't think I've ever heard him say anything about Colombia. He doesn't even have a business out there. Nothing ties him there, so it doesn't make any sense."
"Well, at least it's something. And at least there is nothing tying him here." I say to Jared but can see the tension remain in his body. Even with Laynie holding onto him, he is not keeping his cool. This news is really bothering him.
"Jared, Alan's right. Your father probably left the country because that's what all criminals do. He may not have anything familiar there but for all you now, he could know someone that does. Trust in Stephanson. He wouldn't be letting you guys run your daily lives, if he really felt that you were in danger." Anna says and this time I can see some of Jared's tension leave his body.
Jared nods his head and just like that, we spend the night hanging out, eating pizza, because once again, Anna tried making dinner, and watching crappy movies. I say crappy because Laynie tried getting us to watch chick flicks. I get ready to head home and ask Anna if she needs a ride. She looks hesitant but agrees.
"So, you still have this old beat up devil huh?" She says when we are on the road. She is talking about my ten-year-old Toyota. I bought it for three thousand dollars and have probably put in five just to keep it alive, but a part of it is sentimental for me. This is the first car I bought myself. My parents helped me with just about each of the other ones I have had.
"Can't all drive Lexus's around." I say with as smug smile then get punched in the arm.
We are halfway to Anna's apartment when her phone goes off. At first, she just stands there in shock and when I lean in to see who may be giving her this look from just a phone call, I see an unknown number display pop up.
"Anna, you can answer it in front of me, if you need to." I say to her, glancing between her and the road.
"What? Oh, It's okay. I'll just ignore it. Probably a bill collector or something." She says but doesn't sound convincing. She seems scared. She has a shaky voice, and her hands are a bit wobbly as she lays the phone down on her lap face down.
It rings again two minutes later and this time when I look over to her, she is gripping the phone tightly in her hands. She doesn't look at it, she just continues looking through the windshield. The frigid winter air is frosting my car before the heat could prevent it.
"Anna?" I call out to her, but the ringing prevents anything from coursing through to her.
"Anna?" I call out a little louder but another ringing noise cuts me off. It's like whoever is on the other side of the phone is taunting my efforts at getting a hold of the woman I care for more than anything in the world.
I pull over, grab the phone and look at it. The unknown number rings again. I look over to Anna, back to the phone and do it twice more. She knows who's on the other end. I turn the phone off, grab her head, force her to look my way and I do the only thing I know will get through to her.
I count.
I reach two hundred and fifty-seven when she finally breaks away from me.
"Anna, talk to me. Tell me what I need to do." I say to her but instead of getting what I have been craving. Instead of getting what I think we both deserve, I'm met with a wall of silence and that damn frigid smile I hate.
"Sorry about that Alan. Guess I was more tired that I th…."
"Cut the bullshit Anna. You think I'm some schmuck in this car with you and not your friend for over ten years? It's me, not some asshole you went on one date with. So, stop this. Stop trying to hurt me, just so you have the excuse of keeping distance. You don't want to tell me why unknown numbers are having you freeze up, don't. But don't you dare tell me lies. Don't you dare act like I'm just anyone."
Anna lowers her gaze to her lap. I'm still clutching her cell phone and lay it in her lap. The silence is nearly defining, so I start the car back up and pull back onto the road. We reach Anna's apartment within twenty minutes and as soon as I park, she hops out of the car and jogs up the stairs to her apartment.
I stay parked in the spot for another few minutes, hoping, praying that she will come back down, apologize and talk. I want her to show me that I'm worth putting her trust into, but I guess after another ten minutes of waiting and still no light on in her unit window, I'm only making myself look desperate and foolish.
I pull out and drive home. Every fiber of my body wants to stop at a bar. Every inch of my insides wants the amazing sensation of being numb, to block out my emotions and stress, and to just lay around and feel nothing like I used to. But as I drive home and park in my stall, I realize something. It's not worth it, and maybe, just maybe, Anna isn't either.