Alex Part 4

Like all things there are beginnings and endings.  The end of one life is the prelude to the start of a new one.  The problem for most people is defining the start of one and end of the other.  As in my case, I didn’t have that kind of problem.  Nightmares of what could be were common place as the crime I fought in this city.  But this would be the first time my nightmare had come to life.

Cassy had been dead for years.  Nothing could bring her back from the dead.  My nightmares included those two simple things and combining them into something that would haunt my waking moments.  I never thought that my nightmares would become real.  But that wasn’t Cassy.  That was some poor woman I had accidentally molested.  No, that wasn’t my nightmares that had come to life.  It had to be some sort of mental breakdown.  I must have imprinted Cassy’s image to hers.  I made that woman to become Cassy.  I had done it so well that it had fooled me.

And that frightened me.

I hadn’t even left the parking lot of the mega mall.  That was how much it had affected me.  I needed to drink or train or something.  But I had Danny to think about soon.  I couldn’t exactly be preoccupied with other things when Danny was there.  I might be a psychotic mess, but I wasn’t going to endanger my kid.

My phone started ringing.  I stuffed my hand into my pocket and dug about.  I pulled out my phone and answered.

“Hello?  Alex speaking.”

“Mr. Simms?”  It was a woman’s voice.

“Yes.”  I rolled my eyes.  “Speaking.”

“This is Frederick Douglass Elementary.  There has been a situation with Danny.  We require your presence to talk with the Principal about the consequences.”

I closed my eyes.  “I can be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you, Mr. Simms.  Please check in at the main office when you arrive.”

She hung up.  I put my phone away and got on my bike.

“What the hell did he do?”

I strapped on my helmet and started the engine.  The elementary school wasn’t that far away.  But there wasn’t a direct road there, so the only way to get there was a long route off one of the main roads.  Which meant I had to double back on myself to get to the school.  Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic at this time of day.  Within fifteen minutes I was rolling into the parking lot.

I parked in one of the visitor parking spots by the door and took off my helmet.  I walked to the door and knocked.  A buzzer sounded and unlocked the door.  I entered and signed in my name and number.  They gave me a little orange visitor sticker and pointed me the way to the Principals office.

As I walked to the office a middle aged woman and a young boy around nine came walking out of it.  The woman had a look of disappointment on her face.  The boy bore a beautiful black eye and a split lip.  Outside of the office sat two more children.  A girl around the age of nine, with a tearstained face, and Danny.  His knuckles looked raw but not bloodied.  His face beamed up in a smile when he saw me.  That smile faded when I didn’t return it.  The Principal opened the door for me.

“Mr. Simms?”

I reached out and shook her hand.  “Principal Dwyer.”

“We can talk inside.”

I entered the room and sat in a hard wooden back chair.  She closed the door and sat in her office chair behind the desk.

“Mr. Simms, what is your relationship with Danny Whyte?”

“I’m his legal guardian.”

“And of his mother and father?”

“His mom is busy at work.  His dad is stationed in Tokyo.  Please, what does this have to do with Danny?”

“Formalities, Mr. Simms.”  The Principal pointed to the tape recorder on her desk.  “The state requires that we record all conversations between ourselves and the parents.”

“Okay.”  I said slowly.  “So what happened to Danny?”

“There had been an altercation on the playground today.”  The Principal sighed.  “According to eyewitnesses, Danny punched Robert without provocation.”

I raised my eyebrow but said nothing.  “Due to circumstances both boys will be sent home early today.  Danny will not be able to come to school for the rest of the week as part of his punishment.”

“The rest of the week?”

“That is correct.”  She gestured to the pile of papers on her desk.  “I have taken the liberty of collecting all of Danny’s homework for the next two days.  They will be due on Monday when he returns to school.”

“I agree.  But what about that girl?”

“Miss. Stone was present at the scene for the fight.  She wants to go home for personal reasons.”  Her tone made it evident for me that there was no further discussion about the girl.

“Alright.  Is that all?”

“That is.”  She stood up and handed me Danny’s homework.  “Thank you for your time, Mr. Simms.”

“No, thank you.”  I shook her hand once more.  “I’ll talk to him about his behavior.”