Bethany calmed the worry that was growing in my soul.  The things that were coming in the following week were easy to forget when she was against my chest.  Her soft breath and gentle touch was mesmerizing and all I wanted to do was keep her there in my arms for eternity.  There was something about her that made me want to be a different man.  I had good intentions when I agreed to help my brother out but I never dreamed of meeting someone like her.  I wondered how different my life would have been if I had someone like her all along.  I drifted from one bed to the next, never finding more than a moment of solace in a woman’s embrace.  She had turned her life around and I needed to do the same with mine.  Once I was done at Grantham, I needed to find a job that let me continue to help people.  It had always been my brother’s calling, but it was becoming mine as well.  My options were limited with my record, but I would have to find a way.

***

“WHAT THE FUCK!?”  A voice pulled me from the moment of slumber that had overcome me.

“Huh?”  Bethany sat up on my chest, pulling the sheet around her body.  “Oh shit!”

“Fuck!”  I turned to see Sloane’s face riddled with rage.  We had fallen asleep and never heard him arrive.

“You’re having sex with a student?”  His jaw dropped and he took a step back.

“Hold on, I can explain.”  I pulled a quilt onto the couch as Bethany wrapped herself in the sheet.

“Explain?  There’s no explanation that can ever possibly explain this!”  Sloane was practically shaking with a mixture of rage and fear.

“I should go.”  Bethany held the sheet around her as she grabbed her clothes.  She retreated to the bathroom and I sat up with my head in my hands.

“Just wait until Bethany is gone and we will discuss this.”  My main priority was getting her out of the house before my brother blew a gasket.

“Oh we will discuss it alright.”  His jaw was tight and his eyes flashed with his rage continuing to swell.

I knew I would eventually have to tell my brother about Bethany, but I wanted to do it on my own terms.  I certainly didn’t want him to walk in on us with our bodies tangled together before I could ease him into the news.  The horrified expression on his face was exactly what I expected, I just didn’t want it to appear so suddenly.  That hope was dashed and the only thing I could do was try to repair the damage clearly etched on his face.  He sank into the chair next to the couch, angrily tapping his fingers against his arm.  Bethany stayed in the bathroom for several minutes while we just sat in silence.  She finally emerged with her clothes on and didn’t make eye contact as she rushed towards the door.  I hated for her to go and for us to leave things the way they were for the weekend, but talking with my brother was more important than anything else after what he had discovered.  The door slammed and I looked over my shoulder until I saw her darting down the driveway.

“Sloane...”  I looked over at him.

“No.”  He shook his head back and forth in anger.  “You always talk.  Even when I caught you with my wife, all you did was try and talk.  It’s my turn to talk.”

“Okay.”  I raised my hands and nodded—I had a lot to say, but it was clear that he needed to let his anger out first.

“I trusted you—people have always called me a fool for that.  You’ve always been family.  No matter what you did, I tried to honor the blood we share.  Even when I wanted to kill you, I kept that emotion buried because you were my twin brother.  You lied to me.  You told me you were trying to clean up the school and all you were doing was looking for a cheap fuck.  She’s a high school student, Anton!  She’s a student at my school—your school for the last two weeks.”  He paused to take a breath.

“I know.”  I responded and nodded my head.

“This arrangement is done. You and I are done. I never want to see you again.”  He closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled sharply.

“Sloane, don’t say that.”  I felt my face tightening up with a mixture of emotions and anger, but I let the anger settle.  “I know you’re upset, but Bethany isn’t a cheap fuck. I care about her.”

“You care about her?  Is there even something to care about in that dark, black heart in her chest?  She’s the one who tormented me!”  His voice intensified and got louder.

“She was, yes.”  I nodded in agreement.  “She’s changed.  She actually told me today that she wants to apologize to you.”

“Yeah, I bet.”  His voice seethed through his teeth.  “I bet she wants me to let me guard down so she can do something stupid before I see it coming.  What is her next trick—burn down the school?”

“I know this doesn’t make sense to you...”  I shook my head and sighed.

“No, that’s the problem.”  His words snapped off his tongue instantly.  “I do understand.  I probably wouldn’t understand it if it was someone else, but with you—I shouldn’t even be fucking surprised.”

“I really do care about Bethany.  I know it’s hard for you to understand that, but she’s changed me too.  She doesn’t want to be the person that has tormented you anymore.  She has been making a real effort.  She’s actually trying to graduate.”  I sighed again.  “I swear to you, Sloane.  This isn’t the same kind of bullshit I’ve been pulling my whole life.  This is real.”

“I want you out of my house by the end of the day.”  He stood up and walked towards his bedroom.  Once he was inside, he slammed the door so hard a picture fell off the wall.

***

I SLEPT AT THE BUS station Saturday night and when they threw me out on Sunday, I slept on a park bench.  I didn’t have any money and I didn’t have anywhere to go.  I didn’t even know how to get in touch with Bethany outside of finding her at school on Monday.  I tried looking her up in a phone book, willing to use my last dollar to hear her voice if I had to, but there were too many people with her last name to narrow it down—even if her family had a land line.  When Monday rolled around, I knew that I had to go to the school.  Even if my brother didn’t want to see me, I needed to see Bethany.  I waited until the classes were in session and walked up to the side entrance. 

I was technically on the payroll as a janitor, even though I had never handled a broom.  I went to the storage closet and found a uniform that would fit me and pulled a cap down low enough to cover my eyes.  The days of stubble changed my appearance enough that it would take more than the casual glance most people gave me to actually recognize my similarity to Sloane.  My heart sank into my stomach when I turned the corner and saw Braden, his father, and some people that looked like they were from the school board with Sloane.

“This man is a disgrace to education!”  Braden’s father pointed at Sloane.  “Do you know how much money I spend on donations?”

“Yes, Mr. Steele.”  A woman in a business suit nodded.  “That is why we agreed to come with you—and let me just say, Mr. Steele, we really appreciate you agreeing to keep this matter internal.”

“I should have went to my lawyers!  It took you days to even respond to me!”  He turned his head to the woman and then back to my brother.

“I assure you that isn’t necessary.  We do have a lot of other schools in this district that require attention.  We’re here now and I’m sure we can sort this out.”  She put her hand on Mr. Steele’s shoulder.

“The only way we can sort this out is if you fire this man!”  Mr. Steele pointed at my brother again.

“Yeah, he disrespected my father—and he treats everyone in this school like crap.  Just look at this place!”  Braden waved his hands in the air motioning to the school.

“Why don’t we take a look around.”  The woman motioned for them to follow as she took a step down the hallway.

It seemed that both Braden and his father were too proud to tell the truth about what happened.  What he called disrespect, I called cowering on his knees like a little bitch while I showed him I ran the school.  It was a good thing Sloane was wearing the suit because if Mr. Steele had pointed his finger at me the way he was doing to my brother, there would have been a repeat performance. 

I kept my distance behind them as they walked, pushing my broom aimlessly without doing anything to draw attention.  A few words were exchanged that I couldn’t hear and I could see that my brother’s face was nervous.  Braden’s theatrics continued and I had no doubt that he was describing how awful life was at Grantham University.  They took their time touring the school and I had to wait at the bottom of the stairs when they moved to the next floor, but once I heard their footsteps echo, I started up the stairs slowly.  I finally heard them come to a stop and leaned against the wall around the corner from them.

“I must say...”  The woman’s voice resonated surprise.  “I’ve never seen Grantham University like this.”

“See!”  Braden’s words were loud.  “It’s awful!”

“Mr. Thorne needs to be fired and you need to find a Principal that is fit to run this school.”  Mr. Steele’s voice was as loud as his son’s.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Hawkins.”  My brother’s voice was low, but I could still hear him.  “I understand if you feel like it is necessary for me to go.  I know that donations like Mr. Steele’s keep this school going.”

“They do...”  I heard her sigh.  “But at what cost, really?”

“Excuse me?”  Mr. Steel’s voice got even louder.

“We started Grantham University so students like Braden here would have a place to go to school once they were kicked out of every private school in Atlanta.  We certainly didn’t want them in public school—no offense.”  I heard her sigh again.

“None taken.”  Braden chuckled.

“A university for the kids that didn’t care enough to graduate high school with what we hoped would be a motivator to transition them into college once they saw the opportunities we could offer.  Yeah, you’re right, Mr. Steele—we wouldn’t be where we are right now if it wasn’t for donations from people like you.  Of course, if you gave more shits that donations, this place probably wouldn’t need to exist in the first place.”  Her words went from monotone to sharp with no warning at all.

“What are you trying to say?”  Mr. Steele matched her sharpness as he snapped back at her.

“I’m trying to say that up until now, I’ve always thought Grantham University was just a waste of time.  I wasn’t even in favor of building it, but the majority of the board voted for it, so I was overruled.  I’m proud to say that I was wrong.  What I see is a school that appears to be thriving.  Every classroom we passed was full—all the students are interacting and participating.  This place used to be a dump—an expensive dump, but still a dump.  Now it looked like it’s a real school.”  She shifted her feet.  “Mr. Steele, I think you should be congratulating Mr. Thorne for his success, not condemning him.”

“He disrespected me!  He doesn’t deserve anything but termination!”  Mr. Steele’s voice cracked as he spoke.

“I disagree.  If you want to get your lawyers involved, then do it.  Your donations, along the donations of all the other parents, have left us in a position to fight any sort of litigation you want to bring against Grantham University or Mr. Thorne.”  Her voice went silent and I could hear Mr. Steele’s rage coming out in hurried breaths.

“Fine.  You can forget getting another donation from me.  Braden will be going to school somewhere else—effective tomorrow.”  Mr. Steele’s footsteps started to echo and I could tell he was walking my way. “Braden, let’s go—now!”

“Yes, sir...”  Braden sounded defeated as I heard his footsteps following behind his father.

Their footsteps got louder as they approached and I pulled my cap down further over my face and looked at the floor.  I definitely didn’t want to be recognized after things had went so well between Sloane and the school board.  The two of them turned the corner and I pushed my broom along the floor.  They didn’t even bother to look my way.  I could hear them arguing as they went down the stairs.  Braden didn’t want to go to another school, but his father was not open to discussing it.  I was happy that the situation didn’t blow up and my brother didn’t lose his job, but it wouldn’t do anything to repair the relationship I had ruined between us.  I leaned against the wall, trying to remember what class Bethany was in.  I had walked by them enough that I should have known it by heart, but I always had the computer to reference when I started looking for her.  I started to head back down the stairs, but then I heard Ms. Hawkins speak again.

“I must say, Mr. Thorne.”  She let out a surprised sigh.  “I didn’t think you had it in you to get this place under control.”

“You’re the one who put me here.”  His voice was a little tense as he spoke.

“You weren’t our first choice, you were just the only one who didn’t say no.”  She laughed and shook her head.  “I thought you were a fool, but now I see that I was wrong.”

“I didn’t realize there was an option to say no.  I’ve asked you every year to transfer me somewhere else.”  His tone reflected annoyance on top of the tension.

“We’ve tried—we just haven’t found anyone else who was willing to run this place.  Now that I’ve seen what you’ve done with it, I’m not sure I could easily recommend that you go elsewhere.  This place is thriving under your leadership.  This is the kind of thing that could one day land you in the superintendent’s chair.  In fact, you are now my official recommendation for Principal of the Year.”  I wasn’t sure if she was feeding him a line or not but her words did sound authentic.

“Wow...”  My brother’s voice hollowed out as he spoke again.