Chapter Twelve
BETHANY
Sharon stood near my desk before the school day started. We always had to have our morning chat. Outside of a cup of coffee, it was one of the things that got both of us going for the rest of the day. “Hey, Miss Cindy,” I said as she strolled past. “You lookin’ good today, honey. I bet your husband didn’t want you to leave the house with the way you are dolled up.”
She smiled, patted her hair, then sashayed down the hallway. “That old woman is a mess,” Sharon said as she smiled in her direction. “I hope I can be as lively when I get to be her age.”
“You’re talking like that isn’t a few years away.”
She popped me on my arm, “Girl, hush! I am a lively 36 years old, do you hear me? Miss Cindy got me by at least 10 years. At least.”
“Yeah, but she doesn't look like it.”
“Anyways. How are things with you and your new boo?”
“Gavin? Oh, yeah, things are going good between us. And that reminds me, his son goes here. Vinny. You know, the well-behaved boy? He is kinda chubby.”
“Oh. That’s his son? Wow. I never would’ve guessed it.”
“I know. I was just as surprised as you. We all went bowling the other day, and when I saw him standing on the other side of my door, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me.”
She leaned forward on my desk. “Well, ain’t that something? I guess the stars must have aligned for you two. That is a big coincidence and a load off your shoulders, I know. Because if you didn’t get along with his kid, that may have spelled doom for any hopes of a relationship between you two.”
“Yes, I know. I was happy, though, because so far, things had been going well between us.”
“I see. You’ve come into this school smiling more than you normally do. I knew it had to be that new man of yours. Oh,” she smiled, “did you talk to Derrick yet?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, and I am not. Jesus. I already have enough crazy men in my life; I don’t need to add him to it.” I thought about the truck I saw the other day when I was out with April. I didn’t know what I would do if my ex tried to come back into the picture. He was not the most understanding man, and I wouldn’t want to put Gavin or anybody else in danger. I tried to brush it off, but no matter what, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t have been surprised one bit if he found me out here in Roanoke. “I don’t owe Derrick anything. Maybe you should take him out on a date?”
“Me?” She shook her head. “Hell to the no. Nuh-uh. That man is not my type. Besides, he has his eyes on you and you alone, so anybody else would be sloppy seconds in his eyes.”
Just then, I heard a knock at my door. “Miss Bethany?” I looked to the right. Vinny stood in the doorway with a bright smile on his face. Sharon glanced at him, then turned back towards me.
“It is your stepson,” she whispered.
I shooed her off, “Hey, Vinnie. Good morning. How can I help you?”
He walked up to me and pulled a note out of his pocket, “My Dad wanted me to give this to you.”
The note was intricately folded when he handed it to me. I couldn’t imagine that a young child would have been able to resist reading the note before it was delivered, but the folds look unbothered as I took it from his hand. “He wanted you to pass me a note?”
“Yes, ma’am. He said he thought it would be better this way.”
“Okay.” I looked at my watch. “Well, Vinny, you’ve got a few minutes before the bell rings. You should hurry to class before you’re late.”
I stood up and gave him a hug. Sharon smiled as we embraced each other. After we released, he waved goodbye to us, then scurried down the hallway. “Aw, that was so cute! I should’ve snapped a picture!”
“Oh, stop it, girl. You are too much right now.”
“Umhm. Well, I need to get going myself. You have a good day, and I am sure I will see you at lunch.”
“Yes, you will.”
As she left the office, I sat down in my seat and unfolded the note. I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face if I tried.
“Dear Bethany,
It has been so long since I’ve written one of these, but I figured that now would be the best time. First, I hope your day is going well. Secondly, both me and Vinny had a great time on our date. I am happy that you two knew each other already. That made things easier for me. However, I would love to take you out again. Just the two of us this time. That is, if you are willing to go out with me again. I truly enjoyed myself. I will give you a call later just to make sure you got my message. Hopefully, there will be some good news attached to that call. I am thinking about you and have been for a few days now. Talk to you soon.”
I smiled, then refolded the letter and placed it in my drawer. It was clear that I would go out on another date with him, and honestly, I would’ve been bothered if he didn’t ask me on another one. Just as I took my phone out to shoot a text message to him, Principal Jones walked into my office. “Bethany, good morning.”
“Good morning, Principal Jones.”
“I have a few things for you to do this morning. They are a bit last minute, so I hope you don’t chew my head off because of it.”
I smiled. “That is not a problem, sir. That is what I am here for.” I stood up and followed him out of my office. For the rest of the morning, I had to set up decorations around the school for a talent show that we had coming up. That, along with my normal work, took up all of my day, and before I knew it, it was time for me to leave the office and head home. I had barely spent more than five minutes alone in my office, but the whole time, Gavin’s name floated around in my mind like a helium balloon. After I left the school, I shot him a text message.
“Sorry for just now responding, but I’ve been so busy today. And you are such a cornball for using a child to deliver your message! BUT, I will overlook that and accept your offer for another date.”
“LOL. So, you’re telling me that I didn’t have to use an innocent little kid to deliver my message for you to say yes to another date?”
“Well – lol – it helped, but no. I would’ve said yes to you with or without the special delivery.”
“Wonderful. Well, I am talking with Vinny about his day. Can I call you later?”
“Sure. I am headed over to my friend April’s house, so just call me tonight once you all are settled. If I am busy, I will give you a call right back.”
“Sounds good.”
I headed to April’s home. Mark’s truck was parked in the driveway when I showed up, but as soon as I got out of the car, he was making his exit from the house. “Oh, my God, Bethany, am I glad you’re here. That woman in there is going crazy! I swear that her head just spun around on top of her shoulders.”
I laughed out loud. “What? What are you talking about?”
“That woman is possessed with something, I swear. She literally got mad at me because of how I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” He stood near his truck with his arms folded over his chest. His jet black hair was frizzed on the top of his head as if he had just risen up off a pillow. His white t-shirt was wrinkled, and his jogging pants sat loosely on his waist. “I don’t know. She got mad because I put the jelly on before the peanut butter. The fucking JELLY before the fucking PEANUT BUTTER. How the fuck do you get mad at that? I didn’t know there was a right or wrong way to make a fucking peanut butter and jelly sandwich! And to make things worse, it was for me! Not her!”
I covered my mouth, trying to hide my laughter, but it was no use. He stood with his arms folded across his chest, shaking his head. “Mark, the woman has a baby inside of her, okay? You know she wasn’t like this before. Little things piss her off. Little things that don’t even make sense. You just have to deal with it for now. I mean, she is carrying your baby, and she is going through a lot of changes. I’m sorry, but you just have to deal with it.”
Moments later, the front door swung open. “Why are you still here, Mark? Can you get some more jelly? You used all of it on your sandwich!”
He shook his head, then climbed inside of his truck, closed the door, and sped off. April stood at the front door, yelling obscenities with an empty jar of jelly in her hand. I walked closer to her and took it away. “April, seriously? You are making a scene over jelly?”
“No. Not just jelly. Is that what he told you? He used a whole gob of jelly and slapped it on his bread right in front of me.”
I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the house, “April. Jesus. Calm down. Did he know that you wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? I think that if he knew, he wouldn’t have used all of it. I don’t think Mark is like that, April.”
She stormed back into the kitchen and slammed a few cabinet doors before she slowed her pace. She looked down at the empty jar of jelly, and all of a sudden, tears fell from her eyes. “Damn it, Bethany. Damn it! I yelled at him like a crazy woman over an empty jar of jelly.” She put her hands on the counter as I walked closer to her. I embraced her as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“It’s okay. You’re pregnant. You get freebies like this. He understands. He has to. You’re carrying his baby. In a way, he made you like this.” As I tried to calm her down, I thought about what things would be like if I had gotten pregnant. I didn’t want to go through the emotional rollercoaster that April was on. After she had settled down, things went back to normal, as if nothing ever happened.
We sat in the front room, and as we flipped through the television channels, I told her about my ex. “I think I saw my ex the other day that we went shopping for your maternity clothes.”
She wrinkled her eyebrows, “Your ex? Like, you think you saw his face? You saw him here?”
I exhaled as we both sat on the couch. “No, I didn’t see his face, but I know what kind of car he drives. Well, SUV, I should say. It looked just like one of his. Now, I don’t know for sure if it was him, but I haven’t seen any SUV like that here in Roanoke before. It wouldn’t be a big shock if he found me because he has found me before.”
“Did you call the police?”
“And tell them what? That I saw a truck that looks like my ex-boyfriend’s? They would laugh me to shame. I don’t have anything to prove it was him.”
“Damn it, Bethany. Well, listen, I think you need to be more careful now, especially since he could be lurking around here. Maybe even buy a weapon. A real weapon. Not just pepper spray.”
“A gun?”
“Perhaps.”
That was the last thing I wanted in my possession. I was terrified of guns, especially when my ex showed them to me. I didn’t want anything to do with them, even if it meant it could protect me when I needed it most. I just had to trust that what I saw was just an aberration, and if it wasn’t, I was just going to have to go to the police and pray for the best. That was all I could do, and right now, I could only hope that it would be enough.