Knox, p.2
Knox, page 2
David Sheen, the school principal, wanted to fire them all, but since teachers were in short supply anyway, they decided the best course of action was to give them time to reflect on what they’d done. Demi didn’t think it would do any of them any good, but he’d not been in charge. He just did the breakfast thing.
“I heard that was going great for the kids. And the pancake breakfast was by far their favorite. I don’t know if I could cook that many pancakes for a bunch of kids or not. It must take you forever to get them all fed.” He said it was easy once he got into a rhythm. “Still. You’d have to be really good at being in a rhythm for you to feed two hundred kids pancakes and sausage in an hour.”
“I’m great.” They both laughed about his joke, and he was glad that he no longer seemed mad. “I have a lot of good help, too, and some of the parents are coming in to eat as well. We don’t charge them for coming in, and I think that it benefits them as much as the kids. I was told that it was the first hot meal of the day that they’d get if not for me being in there cooking. And I don’t mind doing it. I get to see my boys while I’m working.”
Demi had adopted his wife, Mandy’s nephews, when they’d been nearly killed by their father. As it was, he was in prison for the rest of his life, and not beating them daily when they’d been living at home. Samuel had killed their mother in a fit of rage and had asked the cops, when they showed up, if they’d turn their backs for him to murder the two kids as well. It didn’t bode well for him when he confessed to killing Betsey, his wife, while standing over her with a ball bat, either.
They all talked over one another for the two hours they were there. He’d gotten a really good steak from the menu, and his brothers had done the same. It wasn’t like they couldn’t have it anytime they wanted, but it was nice that they could all get together and have a good meal once a week with just themselves. The women did the same thing, and he knew that they enjoyed it as much as he did.
They didn’t discuss business when they were together like this either. It was a time for them to catch up on what they’d been doing all week and to relax. The staff here was used to them and how they tipped, so they got great service when they were there. The Warehouse was one of his favorite places to eat, as Martha had taken them all there when he’d graduated from college.
Martha Grable had been the best mother-like figure they’d ever had when the van they were driving broke down in front of her house. She’d been kind to them, loving as well. She’d also taught them to be good men and how to invest their money. They’d nearly doubled their money with her help, and he missed her every day.
“I was thinking about the holidays this morning. I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. Remember some of the good times that we had with Martha? Those were the best.” Locke brought up Christmas then and said how it had been the first time they’d celebrated the holiday since they’d been born. Zander nodded as he continued. “I remember sitting at her table, where everything was right there, and wondering where we were going to stash the food when there were leftovers. Dad would have had a fit to see us all sitting around a table that he didn’t get to be the head of.”
Dad had been an abusive bastard and a drunk. It was nothing for him to beat them daily, even as grown men, and end up in the hospital. He’d look for reasons to beat on them or not. It didn’t matter if they’d done anything wrong either. He was just a bastard looking for trouble all the time. When he’d been put in jail for trying to kill one of them one Saturday evening, they’d loaded up in the van that Locke had purchased and left town. Never once had they been back and were happier for it. He died some years later, all alone in the house, and not one of them cared.
After the bill was paid, Locke usually picked up the bill. They went to their separate cars and talked more. It was funny to him, really, that they were so close in living next to one another and yet they would get together like they’d not seen each other in a month. He really loved his family and was glad that they got along so well.
“Did I tell you I’ve bought some lottery tickets?” They all laughed and said that they had too. “The lottery winnings are huge this time. If we could win that again, I don’t know what we’d do with it all. We’re rich enough now as it is.”
About twelve years ago, now, Locke had bought a winning lottery ticket. He played the same numbers every week in that it was their day of birth, and played twenty-three on the last number because two of them were born on the same date. He’d not only won the biggest jackpot the lottery had ever had, but he shared it with all six of them to make them all billionaires. And since meeting Martha, they’d more than doubled their winnings to this day. None of them had to work, but they all had jobs. No one suspected they had all that money, and they liked it that way. No one would come to them with their hands out.
“You thinking that you need to have more winnings?” They all teased Locke for him playing the lottery and asked him if he played the same numbers. He told them that he added his wife’s birthday on the card when he played. “I guess I’m going to start playing too. It couldn’t hurt.”
After they started leaving one car at a time, he and Knox were the only ones left. He asked him if he was still sore at him for talking about Carrie. He shook his head and told him how much he loved him. He couldn’t have loved his brother more than he did at that moment, he thought.
“I’m not mad. I shouldn’t have been so snappish to you either. I just don’t like her in that way.” He said that he understood. “I hope so. I do like her. I might even love her a little, but not like you love your wife. Carrie really does remind me of a little sister if we had one. But there is nothing romantic going on between us. I swear to you there isn’t.”
“I believe you. I didn’t before, but I do now.” He nodded and opened his car door. Before getting in, Knox looked at him with an odd smile. “What? Are you going to tell me that you’ve found someone else that you love? Do you know how much I would cheer you on if you do?”
“I don’t think there’s anyone out there for me. I’m like an old man, set in my ways.” He said that he wasn’t. “It’s Friday night, and I’m spending the evening with my married brothers. How much more old man is that? And right now, all I can think about is going home, changing into something more comfy, and sitting in my chair to read the newspaper that came before I left tonight. I’m old before my time, Demi, and I think I like that about me best of all.”
On the way home, all he could think about was what his brother had told him. Old before his time. He might well have thought that too if Mandy hadn’t come into his life before she had. He was working too hard at his own restaurant and snapping at everyone who got within a foot of him, simply because he had nothing to keep him at home. He was close to having a heart attack if not for his brother making him close down the place for a week so that he could rest. He’d not rested, but he had got to know Mandy and the boys a good deal better, and that had been the turning point in his life.
Pulling into his driveway, he was excited to be home. He had a wonderful wife and two sons that he adored. Tomorrow, they were going to watch a football game together and pig out on snacks and soda. It was the best way that he could think of to spend a Saturday afternoon. Just hanging out with his family.
Going into the house, he was greeted with hello’s and glad you’re home. He’d only been gone for a few hours, but it had been long enough for them to have missed him. Being missed was almost as good as being loved, he thought. There was so much to both of them that he knew that he’d love them until the end of time and beyond. They were his everything.
Chapter 2
Elaine pulled into town about midnight and was exhausted. She’d heard that there were teaching positions open, and she was going to try her hardest to get one of them. She’d heard the scandal about the teachers padding their list and thought that they’d have to be stupid to think that no one would notice. However, she’d also heard of the Ericksons and wondered what sort of people they’d be to be able to afford to help the school out when they needed funding. She would like to get a little funding herself, but would wait for a job to come to her. As it was right now, she was sleeping in her car until she was able to find herself a place to live—if she got the job. If not, there were other positions open for teachers, and she’d try her best to get one of those if things didn’t work out here.
“You can’t park here.” Smiling at the officer who was only doing his job, she said that she was just going to get a newspaper. “Oh well, that’s all right then. Go on ahead. I think that they’re tomorrow’s paper, as I just saw Windell loading up the boxes on the other street. If you want to know anything about a job, you just ask me. I’ll tell you what I know.”
“Thank you. I was hearing about a teaching position that might be available around here.” He said that he knew of three of them. “Oh. So many. I had heard there was some trouble. I didn’t realize that three teachers had lost their jobs over it.”
“Nah, they just got them better-paying jobs in the city and didn’t want to quit while they’d been off. It’s fine by me. My grandkids go to school there, and he said that the three of them weren’t so nice anyway. What grade are you thinking of teaching? I think that kindergarten, third, and fourth are the ones that haven’t been filled yet.”
“I can teach kindergarten through high school. Also, some college classes. But I’m looking for something in a quiet town so that I can have some peace and quiet.” He told her that they had plenty of that around here. “Good. Are the interviews still going on at the principal’s office every morning? I believe that the newspaper said that it was first-come, first-served.”
“That’s right. There have only been a couple of people who have shown up to take on the jobs, so you might well be first if you can get there by eight when they start.” She said she just needed a place to park. “You’re not living out of your car, are you, miss? That’s against the law.”
“Just to sleep. It’s too late to get into one of the bed and breakfasts around here.” Not to mention, she didn’t have the money for one of them. She’d been down to her last couple of bucks now for a while now. “I just need to rest up before tomorrow. It’s been a long drive. Then I’ll look for something more permanent tomorrow.”
If she got the job. She had money enough to put a deposit down on something like a furnished apartment, but not much else. She’d be dipping into that over the next week if she didn’t find herself a job that she could work at until she got to the next town on her list. Things had been rough for a few months now. Ever since she’d gotten out of the service.
When she said she was retiring, they suddenly lost her last three checks. She’d been home for at least three months now, and still, they couldn’t figure out why she’d not been in the system for that amount of time. It was as if when she decided to retire from the Army, they decided that she was no longer employed by them and hadn’t gotten paid. She didn’t know what she was going to do if it didn’t come to her soon. Things were getting rough.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you to live like that, miss. I’d lose my job if I were to allow you to sleep in your car. And if anything happened to you, well, I’d be feeling guilty for the rest of my days.” He pulled out his cell phone, and she thought for sure he was going to call the police on her. “I’m going to call my missus, and you can sleep in one of our spare bedrooms. It won’t be any trouble at all.”
“I can’t do that. You don’t even know me.” He told her that he had a good sense of character. “But I’m a complete stranger to you. For all you know, I could be a mass murderer and kill both you and your wife.”
“It’ll be fine.” While he spoke to whom she assumed was his wife, she tried to think where she could go to sleep. There was no way that she was going to go to his house to sleep. That was just about as ridiculous as her not getting her paychecks. Whatever he said to his wife, he was giving her the thumbs up. They both might be nice people, but why would they take in someone off the streets? “Look, officer—I didn’t get your name.”
“Telly Markus. My parents thought it was a fun name. Get it, Telly Markus, like telemarketer.” She didn’t get it, but he thought it was funny, so she laughed as well. “It’s all set up. If you’ll just follow me over to the next street, my wife will be waiting for you in the doorway.”
“This is very generous of you, but out of the question.” He said they had an extra shower too. He told her how their kids were all moved out now, and they had plenty of room. “But I’m a stranger.”
“What’s your name?” She told him she was Elaine Westcock. “See, now we’re not strangers anymore. My wife’s name is Brenda Markus. Nothing funny about her name.” She still hadn’t caught on to his name but only nodded at him. “You’ll be able to get a fresh shower in the morning, and won’t it be nice to be able to have a hearty breakfast before you go to your interview. I know good things are going to come your way, Ms. Westcock. See that it don’t.”
“I could use a bit of good luck.” She was bullied into going to his house and staying. There was no other way around it. If she didn’t stay, he was going to have to arrest her for not having any place to sleep, and then she’d be late getting to the open interviews at the school. She didn’t think it was right, but she didn’t want to be arrested either, when she needed this job more than anything that she’d ever done before. “You’ll have to let me pay you for messing up your evening.”
“I didn’t have to fill out paperwork, so you saved me a bit of time. I’m getting off at eleven, and now I can go home thinking I did something good for a change. I don’t particularly care for making arrests. This town is quiet all the time in the evening, but sometimes things happen. You’ve made my night. I love helping people.” She thought him a generous man if not a little on the too-trusting side. She could have been anyone. “You’ll be fine as rain. Just go on to see my wife there, and you’ll see, things will be better in the morning for you, having a good night’s sleep, not in the jail.”
She’d been bullied or blackmailed; she didn’t know for sure which, but she was going to enjoy having a bed rather than the back seat of her car. Then there was the shower that she was looking forward to, instead of washing up at a rest stop. Yes, she supposed that being bullied into something like this was good.
Mrs. Markus had the bed all made up for her when she arrived. There was also a plate of food for her to eat, as well as clean towels for her to take a shower with. She didn’t get this kind of service at home, much less in the rest stops where she’d been sleeping until tonight. Thanking the woman several times for her hospitality, she was in the little bedroom before ten-thirty. Snuggling down in the covers, she decided that if she was going to be homeless after tonight, she was going to look back on this night with fondness and be thankful that there were still kind people in the world.
She didn’t stir at all. Elaine did wake up once and fell back to sleep when she heard something in the room. But since she didn’t see anything, she went back to sleep and slept until Mrs. Markus woke her at seven the next morning. After taking a refreshing shower and getting dressed in her nicer clothing, she made her way to the kitchen to have herself a nice cup of tea. Apparently, she was having breakfast with the mister, too, as he was just as chipper this morning as he’d been last evening.
In the bright sunlight of the room, she could see that they were an older couple. More than likely in their late fifties to early sixties. She thought Telly, as he’d asked her to call him, was a little old for the police force. But he answered her question before she could think it all the way through. He was set for retirement in a couple of months and was looking forward to it. They were the cutest couple that she’d ever met and told them so.
“Oh, go on with you.” She smiled at Brenda and told her that it was true. “Well, I hope you get the job today. They’ve been looking for teachers since the mess up before.” She told her about the scandal from before, and it was terrible to hear how so many teachers had gotten into trouble over it. “Some of those teachers should have been fired if you ask me. Those Erickson men, they’re good ones too. Old lady Grable did them well when she passed away. I’m glad that she had them. There is no telling what that son of hers would have done had they not been around to keep him on his p’s and q’s.”
She hadn’t heard of Mrs. Grable, but would love to hear the story; but she was being pushed out the door to her interview, and it would have to wait for another day. Driving to the lot that surrounded the school, she thought she could see herself working here every day. Elaine thought that if she didn’t get the job, she’d be depressed again. It was difficult being out of work for so long, and she couldn’t wait to land herself some kind of job.
There were already two people in front of her when she got to the school. While waiting her turn, there were three more who came in behind her, and she wondered where they came from. No one at the desk seemed to know anyone who was applying, or perhaps that was a ploy. Perhaps they did know them and were pretending not to.
When she was next in line, she pulled out her resume and thought about what she was going to say about being out of work. She’d been out of the service for four months now, and she’d been traveling the states. All true, but she’d been looking for a place to work, too. After being in the service for ten years, she thought it was time she tried something else. That was all true. She looked up when the woman who had gone in front of her came out.
