CHAPTER ELEVEN
Walking into the staff room for his first faculty meeting was a revelation to Liam, he wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t something so plain. He’d never been in it before, he had so rarely shown up when he was a student, and when he was there, he’d been so focused on his drugs that he’d never given much thought to what was going on inside it. Now, walking in, he had to admit he felt a little disappointed. It was larger than the classrooms, the only furniture a long table lined with office chairs. A small kitchen sat off to one side, and a shelf lined with coffee makers and different types of coffee.
Caroline, and some other teachers, were already sitting around the table. She gave him a tight smile, and waved her hands at the lines of chairs.
Glancing around, he looked at who else was here, and where they were sitting. Miranda was there already, her face even more pale than usual, sitting near Caroline. Other teachers, ones he recognized as part of the English literature team, were sitting next to her, probably as a way of making sure Harrison didn’t.
He sat down across the table from her, ready to smile if she looked over, but she didn’t. He hadn’t seen her since they talked in the hallway, she must have felt embarrassed about what she’d said, since every time he tried to meet up with her, she’d ducked away, or had to leave suddenly.
Over the next few minutes, more and more teachers filed into the room, and sat down. Everyone got hot and restless, but the meeting didn’t start, they looked at their watches, and phones, checking the time.
“I’m sorry everyone,” Caroline said finally, standing up. “Today it’s important that we have everyone here, so we’ll wait a few more minutes.” She drummed her fingers impatiently on the table, the only indication that Liam could see of how the insubordination was annoying her. He could picture Caroline, standing in front of a business meeting, like her husband did, leading a company, or leading a force of soldiers, there was something about her that reminded him of a commander he’d had once, they could bring people to them in a way others couldn’t.
Finally, Harrison and the other coaches walked in, laughing. He looked around the table, as if looking for somewhere to sit, even though there was only one area left, but stopped when he saw Miranda, giving her a sinister smile, his eyes dark with something Liam couldn’t quite put his finger on.
“Finally!” one of the teachers shouted, banging a hand on the table. “Can we start now? I have to get my kids from day care.”
Other teachers chimed in, agreeing with the complaint, but the newcomers seemed to ignore them. They were taking their time walking towards the table, stopping to pour fresh coffee, before sitting down.
Caroline stood up anyway, starting the meeting.
“Before we start our business, I would like to introduce a new member to our team. He’ll only be here for a short while, but I think there is a great deal he can do for us while he’s here. Everyone, please join me in greeting Liam Stone to the phys. Ed. Team.”
A whisper seemed to echo around the room, as some people recognized his name, but it was drowned out in the general applause.
For the first time, Miranda looked over at him, smiling faintly.
He grinned back at her, as Harrison loudly pulled out a chair and sat down. He raised his coffee mug to Liam, as if toasting him, and set it back on the table.
Caroline beamed down the table at Liam, before speaking up again, “For our first order of business, we need to address the continuing vandalism of school property. At this point we do not have a positive identification of who it is, but we have several possibilities. If any one of you knows who is painting lewd messages onto the walls, please bring them to my attention, before I need to get the police involved. The continual cleaning and repainting of the walls is putting a strain on our budget, and the Parent Council is refusing to advance any more money. Unless you want a general cut in your classroom funding, we need to put a stop to it.”
The teachers grumbled, but no one said anything against it.
He was sure they all knew who was causing the painting and why it was happening, when he had mentioned it to Caroline she said they couldn’t go forward getting Harrison removed from the school without proof. They needed proof he was harassing Miranda, and proof he was getting students to help him. He understood where she was coming from, but a part of Liam didn’t care. The part of him that made him a good soldier, only saw a woman in distress, and he had to save her. He almost asked himself who could look at her now and not want to help, but the answer was clear. Harrison looked at her, and saw something wonderful that he couldn’t have, and that made him want to break it, so no one else could have it either. It was a feeling that Liam just couldn’t understand, he’d always been more self-destructive than anything else, he couldn’t understand wanting to hurt someone else, just because they made you mad.
Caroline tapped her papers against the tabletop, getting everyone’s attention back. She set the papers down, closing her eyes.
Liam recognized that look. She was getting ready for a fight. Across the table, he could see Miranda pulling herself up straighter in the chair; it looked like she was bracing herself for an impact.
“As you all know by now, we were turned down for the revitalization grants, which means we will have to be more focused about where the spending for the rest of the year will be. At this moment, we have two proposals on the table. One from Harrison, asking for the money to be spent on the football team, and one from Miranda asking for the money to be spent on the literature department.” Caroline looked around the table, “Miranda, would you like to speak to your proposal first?”
She stood up, and smoothed down the front of her pink button down shirt, momentarily pulling the wrinkles flat, before letting the fabric spring back to normal.
Liam wasn’t sure if she was nervous about speaking, or if it were the audience.
“I know it will be hard to support the literature department, since most of you are seeing your own areas passed over. I’m sorry, we can’t help everyone. English literature is one of the important core subjects, it helps students learn how to effectively communicate, and understand the media culture around them. We’ve all seen the test scores, read their essays, and engaged them in discussion. We’ve seen how their abilities to communicate, and evaluate the culture and media around them has been decreasing, we need to change the ways we engage them. We need to invest in materials that relates better to them. We need books for class study that encompasses different ethnic backgrounds, and gender choices. If the materials better reflect the lives the students see around them, they’ll take more interest in the class.”
There was a small smattering of applause, most from the other English teachers sitting around her.
Liam felt a sort of pride in them, they stood together, protecting their team. He filed this thought somewhere in the back of his mind.
“I think it’s a no-brainer,” Harrison said, banging a hand on the table. From somewhere, there was a short of hidden laughter, and his face turned red. “It should go to the football team. That’s where our good press comes from. Good football teams are what get schools noticed.”
Another of the coaches nodded his agreement. “If we can get more kids going out on football teams or scholarships, it will raise the profile of the entire school. When that happens, everyone else can have all the money they want.”
Miranda made an annoyed noise in the back of her throat, running her fingers through her hair. “It doesn’t really matter how good the students are at sports, if they can’t achieve academically. Their football scholarships aren’t going to count for much if the students can’t get the marks to keep them.”
She made a good point, but as he looked around the room, he could tell it clearly didn’t matter. The only ones actually listening to her were Caroline and Harrison. The look on Harrison’s face made him pause, it was angry, but there was something else in there, something else that put Liam on his guard. Now he understood, this was where the tension came from. If it came down to it, Harrison would leave a man behind, if it would save himself.
“In the end,” Miranda continued, “critical thinking will do more for them, last longer in their lives than any sort of football success. Most of these students are not going to play professionally, and one injury could put them out for good. They need academic skills to build their future.”
Harrison’s face turned a deeper shade of red, directing the full force towards Miranda, but refused to look in his direction, instead looking at Caroline, or the wall behind her. Every time she moved, Miranda made certain she never looked at Harrison, her face never turning more than half way. Occasionally, she would turn, looking at Liam out of the corner of her eye, blushing slightly before turning away to look back at the wall behind Caroline.
“They will be building their future. They wouldn’t have gone to college without the scholarships the football team brings in.”
“Many students not on the football team go to college. Most of our students aren’t on the football team, we need to give them support too,” another of the teachers spoke up.
Harrison’s face got even redder.
Caroline held up her hands, stopping the arguments. “Before this goes any further, we need to put this to a vote. You’ve all made good points, but we need to get this decided today. Does anyone else have something to add?”
Everyone looked at each other, shaking their heads. They already knew how this would play out, and now they were all too tired to keep it going longer. Most people would vote with Harrison, they’d seen how he was treating Miranda, and didn’t want that for themselves, or they didn’t want him to drag things out longer. A select few would ignore that, maybe Harrison already didn’t like them or they just didn’t care, and they would vote with Miranda. He hadn’t spent much time with Harrison yet, but the man had seemed all right, though talking with Miranda had given him pause. It was starting to make sense now. Her suspicion that he was getting the football players to harass her, seemed more believable, if he could cow the rest of the teachers into agreeing with him, it would be nothing to get kids on his side. Especially, the students who’d been like Liam, students would couldn’t or didn’t want to fit in anywhere else, who had nothing else going on in their lives. Liam knew he would have fallen for it, following the man who seemed to care about it, no matter what he said. That must have been why Caroline brought him into the school. She’d seen what was going on, and needed to give the students someone else to look up to, someone else to provide a role model for them, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d made the wrong choice. She should have chosen someone else, someone who could be a better example than he was. Someone who hadn’t broken a kid’s nose under the bleachers one night.
“So we will vote,” Caroline said after a moment. “It will be the usual show of hands, starting with who is in favor of the football department getting the money?”
Some teachers looked apologetically at Miranda as they voted, or consciously looked away from her, though it didn’t seem like she noticed. She kept her face hard, always looking at the wall behind Caroline. There was definitely a kind of strength about her that he hadn’t seen before. Somewhere inside her elfin body, there was a core of steel.
Caroline looked carefully around the table, counting the hands. She didn’t let any emotion pass over her face, nothing to tell the way she wanted the vote to go, but Liam could guess, she had taught history, and was always passionate about student learning. She’d managed to help him pass, after all.
“Alright,” Caroline said finally, writing down the number on her paper. She waited a moment for them to go back down again, and looked around the table. “Let’s see who’s voting in favor of using the money for English literature curriculum materials.”
Liam put up his hand, and gave Miranda a quick smile as she did the same, but a vote was unnecessary, and everyone knew it. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of giving to money to the football program.
Harrison glared at him, as he noticed Liam’s hand was raised. He met the glare with a calm face, making sure no trace of emotion was showing. He’d faced worse than this in his life, even before the Navy. He could see Harrison in a way Miranda couldn’t, because she was so intimately involved. She thought he was a monster, bent on destroying her life. But he only could destroy it because she let him. Harrison didn’t actually have that kind of power. He wasn’t a monster, he was nothing more than a schoolyard bully, and Liam could squash him flat in a second. He hoped he wouldn’t have to, since it would put Caroline in a bad position, but if it came to it, he would do what he had to.
“Well,” Caroline answered finally, writing something on one of her papers. “We have our answer. This money will go to the football team. And with that, I will let you all go.”
He glanced quickly at Miranda, and she didn’t just look upset, she looked defeated, as if it had been a physical blow. If she was down, Harrison was the exact opposite, he was almost crowing with pride that he’d won the money over everyone else, even though he hadn’t really done anything to achieve it. All he had done was win a greater show of hands from a group of people too indifferent or scared of him to actually pay attention to the debate. In the midst of his celebration, Harrison looked over at Liam, giving him an angry look.
Liam kept his face neutral, looking at Harrison until the other man had to look away first. He had to be kidding himself, Liam thought, to think that was going to scare him. He’d been up against the Taliban, a high school gym teacher couldn’t compare.
Liam stood up, and let the rest of the teachers’ stream past him.
Caroline walked towards Miranda, holding back until Harrison left. She rested a hand on Miranda’s arm, and leaned her head forward. “I’m sorry Miranda,” she said softly. “Hopefully we can apply again for those grants, and use the money for the core subjects.”
Miranda shook her head, moving her arm away. “Not as long as I’m here,” she answered, checking that the room was clear, making sure that Harrison had already left.
Without saying anything else, she slipped away and out of the room.
Caroline looked over at Liam, raising her eyebrows.
He got the feeling he was supposed to do something, but didn’t know what it was. Instead, he stood, looking at the door as everyone left, leaving him alone in the room. He wasn’t sure what Caroline wanted him to do, but there was something. There were people he knew, people he could talk to, that might be able to help her.
Liam reached into his pocket, took out his cell phone and quickly dialed a number. He waited as it rung drumming his fingers against the desk.
“Department of Liaisons,” a cordial female voice answered.
“Hi this is Liam Stone I’m trying to connect to Lieutenant Jamie Saunders.”
“One moment please,” the polite voice responded.
Liam stayed on the line listening to monotonous muzak that played. He stood up from his chair in the conference room and looked out the window. Students were still trickling out of school. He felt nervous. He hated asking people for favors, it made him feel too open and vulnerable. He had no problem doing favors for other people, in fact, he liked doing for others, he liked people owing him, and was going to call one in now.
“Hey, Stoner! Gotten yourself into some trouble?”
Liam immediately broke out into a smile hearing Jamie’s voice. Jamie was the only that ever called him Stoner. In fact, he was the first person to ever even give Liam a nickname. Although Liam would never share this with Jamie, he was the closest thing to a brother that Liam had.
They’d met a few years before, at a base in Afghanistan. They’d had opposite patrols, Jaime in the morning and Liam in the evening, so Liam was back at the base when they brought Jaime and what was left of his team back. Seven had gone out in their Humvee, but only three came back. The metal rod they had to put in Jamie’s leg meant he wouldn’t be going on another rotation again. Instead, he started working at the liaison office, doing good back home, and he seemed to be enjoying it.
“Hey Jamie, how’s office life treating you? Is it eating you alive yet?”
“If we could send a company of these Department of Liaisons lackey’s to Afghanistan, things would be done by now man, they run an even tighter ship than our old General.”
Liam laughed.
“So, what can I do you for?” Jaime asked.
“It’s a school that I’ve been helping out. They’ve been having trouble getting some grants for their core classes, and I want to help them out. It seems they just never get enough.”
Jaime gave a hard, short laugh. “There’s never enough to go around.”
“That’s why I want to make sure this place gets its share,” Liam explained. It was hard to put into words why he wanted to help them so badly. It was more than just wanting to impress Miranda, or repay Caroline, even though both those things were mixed up in it. Miranda’s speech at the staff meeting had moved something in him, made him think about things differently. He supported the football team and always would, but Miranda’s words opened his eyes to the other kids, the ones that wouldn’t be helped by football. No matter what Harrison said, the football team’s success didn’t mean success for the entire school. Someone had to think about those kids too, someone like Miranda. “I know there’s all kinds of grants and stuff, through State and the DOD, and that they can sometimes be hard to apply for. I thought maybe if I came in and put in a good word for them, that might help.”
Jaime agreed, “It can sometimes. It depends on the word. And the person giving it. Which one of the grants are you looking for?”
Liam shrugged. “I don’t know. Anything we can get, I guess. Anything for the core classes would be useful. But I know they haven’t had much for English literature for a while.”
“Alright.”
Liam heard Jamie typing something into his computer.
“That’s definitely something I can help with.” There was a silence and then, “I don’t know how quickly this will happen though, you know how State goes.”
Liam shuffled his feet. Why was he even doing this, meddling in other people’s business? But then he looked down at the parking lot and saw Miranda slowly walking to her car. He found himself leaning even closer to the glass. Even though she was so far away, he felt like he could tell from her slow gait that she was upset. The slight bounce in her step was gone. “Whatever you can do to make this happen as quickly as possible I would really appreciate it.”
“Liam,” Jamie started but didn’t finish.
Liam could tell that he was starting to push Jamie to his limits. “You know me,” Liam took a deep breath and spoke, “You know I wouldn’t be making this call if it wasn’t important.” It was hard for him to swallow that part down, since it wasn’t technically true. The school needed money, that part was true, but their need wasn’t any more than any of the other schools.
Jaime sighed again. “You’re right. I do know you, and I know you don’t really ask for much. You do your duty, and don’t complain. That’s more than a lot of other guys could say.”
Liam just nodded, unlike a lot of other guys he didn’t need to brag about his record. He knew what he’d done, and why he had done it. He didn’t need anyone else’s comments about it, he didn’t need them changing and twisting his motives to fit their own stories, calling them heroes, or murderers, just to make themselves feel better. It’s easy to judge if you’ve never had to make those choices yourself, until you hear the bullets flying past your head, you don’t really know what you would do in that situation. He had stepped up, and done what he had to do, that’s all that mattered, and all that anyone else needed to know.
Jaime continued, “I’m sure your record will squeeze open a few more doors for them. A lot of people have a high regard for you and your judgement. I’ll make a note of your interest in the file when I send it in, and we’ll see what happens.”
“Thanks,” Liam said distractedly as he watched Miranda just sitting in her car. It looked like she was crying, her face in her hands. It bothered him a little that he was pushing to help his school get the money. He thought back to that staff meeting, the teachers lined up against each other, like they were getting ready to fight in a war, Miranda’s pinched, pale face in the middle of the action, fighting her cause, knowing it was going to fail. No, they had a need too; they needed this just as much as any other school.
“Everything all right, buddy?”
“No, it’s fine,” Liam answered, although the tone in his voice conveyed otherwise. He could tell by the following silence on the phone that Jamie was debating whether to bring it up or not.
“Alright, what school is it?”
“E.T. Morrow High School.”
“Nice. That’s not too far away. Have they applied for the grant in the past?”
Liam thought for a minute, the whole idea suddenly seeming foolish. He’d hoped to get the money for the school as a surprise, to show that those classes had value, and maybe show Harrison he couldn’t rule the entire school. It could give everyone a bit more breathing space; maybe make things better for Miranda, once he left. But now he wasn’t sure about it. There was so much he didn’t know, about the school, about this process, everything. But he was here now, he had to keep going. In the end he just shrugged. “I’m really not sure. I’ve just been here giving them a hand while I’m stateside. I don’t know what they did before. Maybe they have.”
Jaime sighed on the phone. “That’s really above and beyond, buddy.”
“Does it change anything if they have?”
Liam could almost imagine Jamie shrugging as he said, “Maybe, I’d have to check to be sure. It really just means I’ll already have that information on file. Less work. It will also say if they’ve been given the grant before, and when. Any school that gets any of the money has to wait five years before they’re eligible again.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Give everyone a chance. Make things fair. Is there a lot of schools that apply?”
“There’s enough, I guess. It’s the scholarships that are the big thing. A lot of them don’t really get advertised, so people don’t know about them. There’s a lot of money that could be going to students, but isn’t.”
Liam frowned at this, it could be a lot of kids missing out. A lot of kids missing chances for a better life. But, a small voice whispered through his head, it was another chance to impress Miranda. He could get that information, and hand it out to her students. Think of her face, the way she would smile at him, if he came back to the school with scholarships for her students. She would be so grateful, she’d throw her arms around him, and he could pull her closer against his chest…no, he told himself roughly. Don’t even think about that. He didn’t want to get Miranda that way; he wanted her to choose him on her own. He didn’t want to compel her, like his stepfather had done to his mother.
“What’s the principal's name? And the lead teacher, or teachers for the courses?” Jaime asked, interrupting his thoughts again.
“The principal is Caroline Cole,” he paused, thinking. “I don’t actually know the name of the lead teacher. Or a lot of the other teachers.”
Jaime was silent for a moment. “That doesn’t really matter. The principal will know. I can get that information from her. Or it would be listed if they’re already in the system.”
“Okay, great.”
“What’s so hot about this place? Why are you pushing it so hard? I’ve never even heard you talk about this place before.”
Liam shrugged. “No real reason. It was my school, you know. My, what do they call it? My Alma Mater. They gave me something, so I guess I should give them something too.”
Jaime scoffed. “Just apologize for the trouble you put them through.” He laughed loudly. “I don’t hear you denying it.”
“Well, you aren’t entirely wrong,” Liam answered rolling his eyes, even though it wasn’t entirely right either. “How soon do you think we’ll know? One way or another.”
Jaime laughed again, this time with a hint of bitterness. “Like I said before, I have no idea. I don’t know much about government, but I know it doesn’t work quickly. Or at all most of the time.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” Liam agreed, with a snort. “I was just kind of hoping it would be taken care of in the next couple months.”
“You heading out again?” Jaime asked, his voice breaking into Liam’s thoughts.
“Yeah in a couple months, last I heard. But that could change if something comes up.” Sometimes he wondered if Jaime missed it, or if he asked just to be friendly. It was hard to tell, and Liam wasn’t sure he wanted to ask. He wasn’t sure what he would say if Jaime said yes.
“Do you know anything?”
“Probably Afghanistan again, but nothing concrete. When it happens, I’ll probably be the last to know about it.”
“The place that time forgot.” Jaime laughed hollowly.
Liam knew he was rubbing his leg under the desk. He always did when talk turned to Afghanistan.
“Do you think you’ll ever stay put state-side sometime?” Jamie asked.
Liam chuckled. “I don’t know. I guess whenever they stop sending me.”
They both laughed, but Liam knew that wasn’t true. He’d done his duty, and completed many missions, some more successful than others. They probably wouldn’t be happy about it, but they’d let him go if he asked. The problem was he just couldn’t stay in one place very long, there were too many bad memories, too many thoughts in his head. If he didn’t keep moving, he would probably drown in them.
“Well, I let you know about this Liam, take care of yourself in the meantime. I mean it.”
“Thanks Jamie, you too.” Liam hung up looking out the window, not sure if he did the right thing.
“You’re instincts are wrong.”
A tight lip smile crossed Liam’s face. He should have known better than to have this call on Caroline’s turf.
“That’s not the right way to help her.”
Liam turned from the window to see Caroline standing there arms crossed in the door way. “How long have you been standing there?” He ran his hands through his thick dark hair.
“Long enough to know that you’re pulling strings with the DOS to get funding for Miranda. Was there anything else I missed?”
Liam shook his head. He looked at her smooth porcelain face. One of her perfectly manicured eyebrows was arched. He tried to read the expression behind her smart eyes. “You disapprove?”
“I’m no longer in control of you Liam, you can do whatever you wish. But I would also say that I know you and that you’d be wise to take my advice. I don’t believe you’re able to give Miranda what she needs. It’s best if you would leave her alone. Focus more on your job here and helping the kids.” Caroline looked him up and down as if assessing him. She gave him small sad smile.
“And what does Miranda need?”
“Inner strength.”