“Move, or I’ll make you move. You and I are done. I’m not dealing with your shit anymore,” I said.
“We’re done?” Nathan said with a laugh. “You think you can leave me?”
“Watch me,” I hissed.
With a loud click that echoed off the bathroom walls, Nathan pulled a gun from behind himself and pointed it right at my face. My world shattered, and my whole body went slack with fear. “N-Nathan.”
He reached one hand down and started to unbutton his pants. “I said, down on your knees.”
25
Deon
I slunk into the kitchen the next morning, convinced my mom would have heard about what happened at school and have some questions, but when I walked in, she just smiled at me from where she was cooking and continued. While she cooked, I sat down at the kitchen table and watched and waited for any change in her behavior, but it was as if it was just another morning for her.
“Morning, Mama,” I finally greeted.
“Good morning, baby,” she replied sweetly. “How’d you sleep?”
What the hell was going on? Even if I could assume that Connor had somehow kept the school from calling my mom about what happened, shouldn’t it still be news that a teacher killed herself?
“Uh, I slept okay.” It was a complete lie. I barely got any sleep. Between the fact that talking to Cherri made me miss her even more and the fact that Sicily had to bring me to collect my mom’s car, driving by loads of police to do so, my anxiety was through the roof. “How about you?”
“Oh, you know how it goes. First couple hours were okay, but I’ll really get to rest once you’re gone,” she said. “Would you like cheese on your eggs?”
No police had come banging down my door. The event seemingly hadn’t made the news yet. Was I really going to be able to just go back to school as if nothing happened?
I forced a smile at my mom to not raise any flags. “Yes, please.”
She finished cooking breakfast and sat it on the table in front of me, then dished up her own plate and sat it across from me. I remained suspicious that she was hiding her true feelings or was suddenly gonna flip, but she carried on eating and talking about work as if there were no issues at all.
To be sure, I opened my phone and navigated to the school website. I checked every page and attached social media site, but there was no news about Miss Abrams. So instead, I did a general Google search, assuming there would be a news article or something, but looking up the school and Miss Abrams only brought up articles about the previous year’s scandal when Nathan was caught sleeping with Miss Abrams.
Had Connor truly managed to keep an entire school worth of students quiet about what happened? How the hell would something like that even work? Moreover, if he was capable of a cover up to that degree, why didn’t he do the same when Nathan and Miss Abrams were caught together?
I backed out of my search engine and navigated to my texts with Sicily.
Hey. How is what happened not national news? My mom doesn’t even know about it.
Yeah, my parents don’t know anything about it either. I walked downstairs, ready to answer questions, and Annika had to cover my mouth just to keep me from blowing it.
It doesn’t make sense. Can you find out?
You know I can, compadre. Let’s connect when we get to school. I’ll let you know what I find out.
Cool. See ya soon.
“You aren’t normally so glued to that thing. Don’t tell me you’re turning into a regular kid,” my mom said.
I locked my phone, sat it down, and looked up at her. “You worked so hard getting it for me, so I just wanna get your money’s worth.”
She shook her head. “All kids your age need one of those fancy phones. The overtime was worth it.”
I smiled. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll pay you back someday, I promise.”
“You pay me back by making the most of your second chance,” she replied. “You’re a great man. I didn’t want to see what happened to you ruin your life. Now look at you. You’re in school. You can’t put your phone down. Friends, dates, parties. You’re turning into a proper teenager.” Her cheeks got a little darker, and she smiled wide. “That’s payment enough.”
The world didn’t deserve my mom. When I thought about letting her down, nothing made me sicker. She just wanted what was best for me. I had to try harder to keep myself straight. I’d take Connor’s coverup if for no reason other than to not disappoint the woman who’d given up so much for me, but I wanted my handouts from him to end there.
“Hey, can I ask you a question,” I started, curious.
“Sure,” my mom replied.
I took the final few bites of my breakfast before saying anything else, letting the few moments help me phrase my question. “Did you hear about what happened last year? With Nathan and that teacher?”
My mom seemed truly shocked and a little disturbed by the question. “You aren’t…associating with your brother again, are you?”
“No,” I replied. “I mean, I see him around, but no. I’m pretty much just friends with Sicily.”
“Good,” she said, letting out a sigh of relief, “and I did. Had a hell of a time escaping it for a while.”
“Escaping it?”
“Yeah, well, the ladies at work all know who your dad is, so it was forced on me. Like I should somehow be more concerned. I was concerned, don’t get me wrong. No kid should be in a situation like that, but it didn’t entirely come as a surprise to me. It seemed like Nathan was a chip off the old block.”
“How does a teacher not get fired for that?”
At that question, my
