CHAPTER ONE
Karina
“I love your makeup today, Ms. H!” Jess, one of the senior cheerleaders compliments me as she runs into class, right before the bell rings, indicating hallways are supposed to be clear.
Little does this girl know my makeup looks different because I’m trying to hide the damage Mason did to my neck on Friday night. Three days later, and nothing is fading. If anything, I had to mix different colors of concealer as it’s gotten darker. But that’s not something you can talk about in a high school classroom. Instead, I grin. “Thank you, Jess! I’m always looking to try new stuff, you know? Trying to keep up with you gorgeous ladies.”
“Whatever, you don’t even need it.”
I wish I had the blind confidence of this girl. Granted, I have it now, but it took me a long while to get it after my engagement fell apart, but I’ve never had as much as she does. “How’s everybody doing today?” I lean against my desk. One more class to go after this one, and then we’re out of here. These kids, though, they’re sometimes the hardest ones to control.
“It’s Monday, and I’ve got a case of them.” One of the football players in the front row sighs heavily, putting his chin on his hand. “Worked all weekend, and now here I am.”
Sometimes I feel bad for these kids, and then I remember we’re raising our future leaders, they’re learning values, and this is an economics class. It’s good for him to talk about work.
“I get you, I worked all through college. And having said that, you’ve brought up a good point, Johnathan.” I turn around to the whiteboard in the room, and show them what I’ve been working on. “Because I worked through college and was able to pay for some of my classes, as well as room and board, this total–,” I point to a number figure I’d circled during the first class of the day, “–is what I paid back for my college education.”
If there’s one thing I believe in, it’s transparency. These kids have got to know where their money is going. “That was the principal, add on interest, and this one is the total I paid.” I point to another figure. “However, if I hadn’t paid down almost fifteen hundred dollars a semester–,” I point to another one, “–this is how much I would have paid. Do you get what I’m saying?”
The numbers are vastly different, and this group of kids ready to take on the world is understanding these principles; I can see it clicking in their faces.
“You sayin’ I need to forget college and go on down to the gulf to work on an oil rig?” a guy in the back blurts out.
The group laughs, and I can’t help but chuckle too. He does have a point; education this day and age is expensive, and everyone has to weigh the benefits. “I’m saying this is a choice that shouldn’t be taken lightly. You need to be fully informed before you make that decision, and that’s what I’m here to help you do.”
As I’m about to continue through the lesson plan I have for today, an announcement comes over the intercom. “Faculty and students, be advised we are to execute lockdown and shelter-in-place protocol. This is a precaution; there is no threat to your person. Execute lockdown procedures immediately.”
My heart is in my throat as I hear the voice of our school secretary over the intercom. As I’ve been trained to do, I go to my classroom door, lock it, and close the blinds covering the pane of glass that allows us to see who’s coming in when it’s closed. I’m in an interior room, so there are no windows for me to close, meaning there’s no way of knowing what in the world is going on. Feigning a positivity I don’t feel, I speak loudly so that I can be heard over the muttering of the kids.
“As she said, there is no threat, but obviously we won’t be getting much done today. Why don’t you all talk amongst yourselves and I’ll get some work done.”
Faster than I should, I move to my laptop on my desk. Under the guise of doing lesson plans, I check my school email account.
Teachers and Staff,
During a routine check of the grounds, one of our security guards located what he believes to be three large boxes containing moonshine in one of the supply closets. Laurel Springs MTF and local law enforcement has been called in to investigate. Due to the heartbreaking situation that happened last year, we’d like to keep this as quiet as we can. Please do not allow students to speculate.
You’ll hear officers and possible K-9s running up and down the hallways as they also execute a locker search.
We hope to be able to release you soon, where we will expedite getting everyone home.
Principal Taggert
The death of a senior had happened during my first year in Laurel Springs, and it had torn this small community apart. Now that I’m more ingrained into this community and entering my second year, tears spring to my eyes as I think about any of these kids hurt because of a stupid decision made to drink a bad batch of moonshine. I feel anger at whoever is bringing this into our school, who’s selling it cheap enough that these kids don’t want to go down to the local liquor store and beg someone to buy them beer. But most of all, I fear for them, because I’m scared to death they’re going to lose someone else, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
Menace
I hate this. Hate being at this school, searching for moonshine while my son is locked in one of the classrooms. I loathe that we haven’t been able to find the person responsible, and failure is weighing on me. We’ve been working our asses off following leads, but there just aren’t many, and what we have isn’t solid. It makes me feel like not only a failure as a parent, but also as an officer of the law, especially as a member of the specialized Moonshine Task Force.
Havoc, the commander of the task force, pulls me aside. “You go with the K-9 Officer as he searches lockers. Since your son is a student here, and you already have a relationship with educators, and the principal, I feel like they would respect and listen to you more than me. Especially if y’all find something in a locker, and the student needs to be confronted.
Everything he says is understandable, but every part of my body is wanting to go to the classroom Caleb is in, and make sure he’s okay. But this is part of my job, part of what I signed on for, and how I make my living. Until we get the scene cleared and make sure it’s safe for everyone, there will be no checking on my son. “Got it, we’ll be in touch.”
The K-9 Officer out of the next county over and I make our way down the hallways. I can never remember his name; all I can recall is the dog’s name Jinx. Typically the officer answers to it, too.
“Your son goes here, doesn’t he?” he asks as we wait for an indication of a hit from the dog.
“Yeah, I bet he’s freaking the fuck out in whatever classroom he’s in, he knows exactly what this shit means.”
“Do you want to go reassure him it’s okay? We can do that corridor next,” he offers.
“No, I’m actually not sure what room he’s in, and if he’s scared, the rest of them have to be too. As soon was get the sweep done, I’ll track him down and make sure he’s good.”
Thirty minutes later, ten bottles of moonshine, three baggies of weed, and a bag of what looks like meth rocks have been confiscated to go along with the initial finding. And now, the dog is pawing and scratching at a classroom door, begging to get in.
“Jinx, halt!” The dog goes down on his belly. He’s wearing a muzzle, so there’s no way he can accidentally bite someone, but he wants in the door bad. He’s whining, which I’ve never heard him do in the many times we’ve worked with this department.
“That’s an occupied classroom,” I whisper to him. “What the fuck is in there?”
“No idea, but Jinx wants it bad. Get Havoc and see what he wants us to do. I’d say let’s take the kids out, but what if it’s something one of them carried through the door and it left a trace?”
Within minutes, Havoc is standing with us in front of the door. The principal is there too as we all discuss on what the proper protocol should be.
“Goddamn it.” Havoc runs a palm over his buzz cut. “None of this shit is easy. We’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t. But if Jinx is picking up something in there, we’ve got to investigate it, Taggert.”
“I do agree with you.” The principal nods. “However, I ask that you allow me to be present if you do have to take a student.”
“We can do that. Can you instruct them to open the door?”
My nerves are on edge as I barely listen to what’s going on before the door opens and we’re permitted inside the classroom. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Caleb. More than anything, I want to stop what I’m doing, go over and tell him it’s okay, but I can’t. I have a job to do, and a lot of people counting on us to do the job well. As Jinx moves up and down between the students, he gets nothing. However, this is a science room and there are a ton of cabinets. When he hits on one, Taggert asks the teacher, a Mr. Cartwright, to unlock it and let us look inside.
When he does, Jinx goes insane and I wonder what in the fuck could be in a science teacher’s cabinet. For more than five minutes, they pull out bottle after bottle, but nothing illegal is found.
“Probably just the mixture of smells,” Havoc apologizes to Mr. Cartwright and Principal Taggert. As I watch the teacher, I’m not so sure, but that’s just a sense I’m getting. Since there’s no proof to the contrary, we leave the room, but not before I wave at Caleb and give him a reassuring nod.
Now it’s time to take care of what we did find. I have a feeling cleaning up this particular scene and dealing with parents is going to make for a very long afternoon.