Of course.
I just don’t think I could ask you this in person.
Oh god, what could she possibly be going to ask? My heart was racing again.
You can ask anything...
Okay. Do you think I should be the one replacing Robin? It seems like you were the closest person to her. I don’t want you to be upset they hired me if you don’t think I should take the job. Or if I’m not someone you think you could work with.
Of course I think you should replace her. Why would I think otherwise? They say you are really qualified, plus after you came into my class last week to discuss the Finch quote, I could tell the kids really liked you. You have a way with them.
You really think so? You don’t have to bullshit me. I can take it.
I am not sure I had ever known a woman to use the words “bullshit” or “bullshiting” as often as she seemed to. It was clearly her go-to. I liked it.
Yes. I really do.
I just...haven’t been in a classroom in so long, other than as an occasional substitute. I don’t want to ruin everything she built, that’s all.
I don’t even know if that makes sense, she added.
She was feeling overwhelmed, nervous, apprehensive. The pressure was on her now, and she didn’t want to fail. God, I liked this woman. I highly doubted her husband was going to be there to assuage her doubts. Selfish, angry asshole.
I was half-tempted to call her, tell her she was going to do a tremendous job and that the kids would love her and that she would create special memories in the classroom just like Robin had. I wanted to tell her that I wished her husband wasn’t such a prick and that she deserved better. Obviously, I really knew nothing about this woman, or Marco, but I knew he was slime. And I had known pretty quickly that she wasn’t, not anywhere close to it.
April, I think you will be perfect for the job. Yeah, Robin was special. But she loved the kids. And I know that you will too. You’ll bring something special to YOUR classroom, and the kids will love you.
I thought about what Robin had done for me with the Dum-Dums and tried to wrack my brain to come up with something that I could do to make her more at ease. Except the only candy coming to my mind were Hershey’s Kisses. Probably too soon for those. Even more so, though, I knew how much Robin had been an encouragement to me. She had been there in the early days and had watched over me like a hawk. I wanted to be able to do that for April too. I felt like I had to, like it was my duty. But, I also questioned my motives.
She was taking a few minutes to reply, and I was wondering if maybe she had fallen asleep. It was a school night after all, but I had the luxury of knowing I would be showing movies all the following day, so I really wasn’t in the mood to sleep. However, I probably shouldn’t plan on expecting to spend the entire night texting a married woman either.
Texting always gave you the ability to be freer with what you said. She had even mentioned that she didn’t think she would have been able to ask me the questions in person. But, when you text someone more than you talk to them in person, you run the risk of making things pretty awkward when you see the other person in the real world and not the electronic one. On the flip side, there was always the possibility of text conversations making you even more easy going with the other person, and since we already seemed to get along nicely, I was hoping this would be the case.
I turned on the TV, completely uninterested in watching the Rays lose, especially since I knew Marco wouldn’t be making an appearance that I could root against.
I brushed my teeth and took out my contacts. Then, I lost everything but the boxers and climbed into bed. My phone made a loud beep as I plugged it into the charger.
She texted ten minutes later and my phone chimed loudly. I had almost been asleep, not realizing I was that tired. It was the sex. Holly’s sex wore me out. My phone chimed a second time.
“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” I actually said out loud, immediately feeling like I’d fit in with my elderly neighbors.
I’m sorry, Luke. My son woke up and was throwing a fit, read the first message.
Thank you for saying that. I think sometimes I just probably need an extra boost of self-confidence… read the second.
A third one quickly followed.
Anyway, I am sure you’re sleeping by now. I’ll see you in the morning.
I had to make a pretty quick decision whether or not to let her think I had gone to sleep, or text her back and keep this conversation going as long as possible.
What is your son’s name? I replied.
Marco, she immediately responded.
Then, My husband wanted a Jr.
Is Marco Jr. still throwing a fit or did he settle down?
He’s out cold now. Thank goodness.
I really wanted to ask whether Marco Jr. threw fits often, since his namesake was such a loose cannon. But, I definitely knew that wasn’t appropriate questioning.