Tightening the Knot (4 page)

           
Thank you,

           
Mrs.
Donnor

Jacob’s mom sent a reply the very next day.

           
We have no rules against Jacob chewing gum.
 
He buys it with his own money and I will not take it away from him.
 
If the school wishes to have a rule against something as harmless as gum, the school can enforce it.

           
This was why Meredith hated sending notes to parents.
 
It was also why she hated parent-teacher conferences.
 
It seemed every year there was one parent who refused to parent.
 
She had sat down with Jacob after this to explain her fears.
 
She told him that she would simply leave the trash can near his desk.
 
She attached a piece of paper to the wall behind it with the word “gum” and an arrow pointing down to remind him.
 
For a few weeks, he would spit out his gum shortly after arriving and no one had to say a word.
 
This eventually stopped working, too.
 
He started waiting longer and longer to spit it out and was now
back
to swallowing it when she said something.
 
And she had to say something as the entire class was aware of his habit.
 
She planned to start a new approach, one she had not yet thought of, after the break.
 
In the meantime, she had recently stopped by the school nurse to brush up on her Heimlich technique.
 

╣ Chapter 4 ╠

           
Shortly before lunchtime that Monday, Jeffrey’s mom appeared in the hallway holding up a familiar red lunchbox.
 
It was familiar because half the boys in the class had the same Spider-Man box.
 
Meredith took the lunch as Jeffrey’s mom blew a kiss to her son and rushed off.
 

           
“Thanks, Miss Donna.”

           
“Oh, nuts!
 
I mean, you’re welcome Jeffrey.”
 
It had just dawned on Meredith that he was not the only one to have forgotten a lunch.
 
She laughed and wondered what Jenna would say and if Mercy would believe it had really been an accident.
 
At least she worked in a place with a cafeteria.
 
She lined up the kids and grabbed her bag, which did not contain any food, and followed the little ones down the hall.
 
Most of them scattered to tables and she followed the rest into the lunch line.

           
After paying for her lunch, Meredith found her way to a staff table and chatted with co-workers over several fried items and a Jell-O cup, which was actually a bit of a treat as she never bothered to make Jell-O at home.
 
Then she bused her tray.
 
More than anything else she did as a teacher, returning a tray to the cafeteria reminded her of her own school days.
 
There was something very déjà vu inspiring about the clinking of cheap silverware into plastic wash tubs.
 
She sat back down and pulled out her laptop for the last five minutes, as a few at the table had already done, and logged on to her email account.
 
She found a note from Greg informing her that he would be gone when she got home.
 

He would be leaving after lunch on a business trip to
Atlanta
.
 
He was called upon to spend a day every few months at his company’s office there.
 
He was typically given a bit more notice and explained that the trip could have waited till the end of the week, but he wanted to go now so he could drive back on Wednesday and be home in time for his mother’s arrival.
 
Meredith appreciated the fact that she would not be left alone with her mother-in-law, who was also nice enough.

Meredith’s class lined up next to another group of first graders as the bell rang.
 
She greeted the other teacher, Ellen, as they headed down the hall.
 
This was one of the same women she had caught drooling over the new teacher earlier in the day.

“Hey, Ellen.
 
How’s your day going so far?”

“Pretty good.
 
How’s yours?”

“Honestly, I forgot my lunch so it could be better.”

“Yeah?
 
The food here isn’t that bad though.”

“It’s okay.
 
But I also found out my husband is going to be out of town on business the next two days.”

“Oh.
 
Sorry you’ll be lonely.”

“I’ll probably try to do something about that.
 
Maybe I can get a friend to come over or… Is that
him
?”
 
Meredith had noticed Mercy and her class about to pass them.
 
Bringing up the rear was a man she did not recognize, except by reputation.
 
And she suddenly understood how that reputation had come about so quickly.
 
She subtly flashed Mercy a look of approval and received a mouthed, “I know,” in response.

Then Meredith realized her
hallmate
was eyeing her strangely.
 
“What were you saying?” Ellen asked.

“What?”
 
Meredith flushed a little as she realized she had been caught studying the new teacher like the day-after-Thanksgiving sale ads.
 
“I… oops, we’re here.
 
Later, Ellen.”
 
She ushered her students into her room as Ellen continued to hers.

At the end of the day, Mercy appeared in her doorway to make a proper introduction and to pretend she hadn’t already told her friend all about her attractive replacement.

“Meredith, you’re not too busy for a quick visit, are you?”

“Of course not.
 
Come sit down.
 
Are you going to make it through the week?”

“I’m a little tired, but it’s not so bad.
 
As for making it through the week,” she pointed at her basketball-shaped midsection, “that’s up to this guy.”

Meredith nodded, and then looked deliberately past Mercy to the man who had followed her into the classroom.

“Oh, yes.
 
I brought Gavin in to meet you.
 
Meredith
Donnor
, this is Gavin
Giano
.
 
He’s taking over my class for the rest of the year.”

“Hey, Meredith.
 
Donnor
?
 
Like ‘the
Donnor
party?’”

“Yes, no relation though.”
 
Meredith was always in a hurry to move beyond her last name to avoid the tired jokes.
 
“So,
Gavin,
how was your first day?”
 

“Not bad.
 
Seems like a good group of kids so I don’t think I’ll have any problems.”

“Maybe not big problems, but I for one don’t know how you stand the giggling.”
 
Mercy turned to Meredith.
 
“I swear every girl in the class has a crush on him already.”

“They’re fourth-graders!
 
Are fourth-graders old enough to have crushes?”

“Sure.
 
Didn’t you?”

“To be honest, aside from maybe a couple subs, I didn’t have a male teacher until seventh grade.
 
And let me assure you that
no one
had a crush on Mr. Johns.”
 
They all laughed, probably thinking of different teachers from their respective pasts, before Meredith looked at Gavin more seriously.
 
“But I hope that isn’t really going to be a problem for you.”

“No, they’ll get used to me pretty soon.
 
And as soon as I have to give a detention or something, I’ll seem much less cool.”

“Maybe.”
 
Mercy looked doubtful.

“Has Mercy given you the official tour of the building and clued you in on everything you’ll need to know?”

“Yes.
 
She even told me about the coffee.”

“Oh, good.
 
Because she wasn’t kidding.
 
You will be fired if you use the main pot for decaf.”

“Thanks for the warning.
 
Both of you.
 
I really don’t drink coffee so it shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Worried it will stunt your growth or something?”
 
Meredith teased.
 
Gavin was about six foot four.

He smiled.
 
Wow.
 
Now there was a smile.
 
Meredith would miss her friend during her maternity leave, but she couldn’t help appreciating how much the scenery would be improving with her replacement.
 

“We should get back so we can all go home soon.”
 
Mercy was already halfway to the door.
 
She was bored with showing off for now.

“Alright.
 
See you both tomorrow.”
 
There was some waving and nodding as the two visitors departed.
 
A short time later, Meredith left the room for the day as well.
 
She went home to an empty house.
 
She couldn’t decide whether to be upset that, with Greg gone, step two of her plan would be delayed; or pleased that, with Greg gone, she would have nothing but time to think of a step two, which still did not exist.
 
She spent about an hour that evening staring at the wall.
 

╣ Chapter 5 ╠

           
It rained all day on Tuesday.
 
This meant that the students did not get to go outside for morning recess.
 
They stayed in the classroom where Meredith helped them move some desks so they could play musical chairs.
 
They played to a Wiggles song that kept going and going in Meredith’s head long after the game was over.
 
It was still raining, horrible cold rain that they all wished could be snow instead, when the time came for afternoon recess.
 
Again the kids stayed in the classroom and this time pulled some board games off the shelves.
 
Checkers crashed onto a desk near the front of the room whenever someone connected four, and it could have been really annoying.
 
Fortunately, Meredith couldn’t hear it over the raucous game of Hungry-Hungry Hippos near the back.