Kindergarten Baby: A Novel Page 22

The two women stared in horror at Bobby’s journal. He had drawn a boy‌—‌probably himself‌—‌curled up in a dog bed. Exaggerated tears fell from his eyes, and small sticks poked out from his back and hips. He had scribbled red over the drawing of himself, made the dog bed blue, and the rest of the picture was pure black. The only words he attempted to write were, BAD DOG BAD DOG BAD DOG.

  “Maybe he used U of A Wildcat colors. You know, red and blue,” Lindsey tried, looking desperately for a bright side.

  But her friend’s expression was anything but encouraging. “Uh…‌I don’t think so. I think we’d better go find him and take him to the nurse. I’m pretty sure you’ll be making that CPS call today.

  ***

  Bobby looked very little, sitting on the cot in the nurse’s office. Laura and Lindsey managed to escort him from the cafeteria without incident‌—‌at least without anything major. A few kicks to the wall and a spattering of bad words were nothing unusual for Bobby.

  “What’s everybody starin’ at?” he asked the three women. “Am I sick? Do I have to go home?”

  “Probably not, Bobby,” Lindsey said, her voice gentle. “But after you had your nap on the dog bed, we found some blood on it. We just want to make sure you are okay.”

  “That’s right, Bobby,” Lucy, the health assistant added. “Do you have any cuts, bumps, or bruises you could show us?”

  “No,” said Bobby, then yanked the bottom of his T-shirt tightly over his hips.

  Lindsey could see panic building in the little boy’s eyes. She had no choice. “We have to look, Bobby. It’s our job to check students and make sure they’re all right. I won’t even touch you. All you need to do is lift up your shirt.”

  Bobby had gone pale and was shaking his head wildly. “No! No!” he cried. “I can’t let anyone see it. Nobody gets to see it but me and dad. If you see it, he’ll make another word,” he shouted hysterically, scooting under the cot.

  Dad? Lindsey had never seen ‘Dad,’ and Bobby hadn’t mentioned him since that one and only time last fall when he’d drawn a picture of his dad staying home with him because they were both sick. Thoughts of calling CPS had nagged at her since then. Was there really a dad in the home? Only the mom and the grandma‌—‌mostly grandma, actually‌—‌ever had any contact with the school. She made a mental note to recheck the boy’s cum file and birth certificate as soon as her students left for the day.

  Mrs. Wilson walked into the health office in time to see and hear enough to justify the next steps. “Well, ladies,” she said quietly to the adults, “we are about to break the rules a tiny bit, but I don’t see that we have a choice. Lindsey, you have the best relationship with this little boy, so you coax him out from under the cot. Laura, you have the most experience holding or restraining students, so once you can reach him, do your thing, and I will move his clothing just enough so we can see what needs to be done. Lucy, stand by for whatever may happen. Ready?” They all nodded.

  Lindsey’s heart raced with dread. “Here we go.”

  Bobby screamed and thrashed at first. Then he stood perfectly, eerily still, stiff as a statue, as if he were bracing himself so he wouldn’t fall down. His eyes deadened, becoming glossy as he stared at the wall with a faraway, detached look. Mrs. Wilson lifted the front of his black T-shirt, but they saw nothing unusual there. But when they turned him around and pulled up the back of his shirt, Bobby crumpled to the floor. The four women gasped in shock, and Lindsey’s eyes filled with hot tears.

  Words had been carved into the little boy’s back; most of the cuts were scabbed over. They weren’t deep cuts that would have required sutures, but they were deep enough that they bled, scabbed, scarred, and left bloody spots on a dog bed. Lindsey could only imagine the levels of pain Bobby had gone through, not to mention the fear, confusion, and humiliation he must feel now.

  Mrs. Wilson took charge, speaking in a hushed, calm voice. “Call 9-1-1, Lucy. We need a police officer here ASAP.” As she spoke, she moved more clothing aside, revealing the lower half of Bobby’s body.

  “Oh my God,” Lindsey and Laura silently mouthed.

  More words. The same words, really, but an alternate means of imprinting the words on soft, innocent skin had been used. The words BAD DOG carved into his back were horrific enough. Now they saw the words where they’d been burnt into the skin of his tiny bottom, probably with cigarettes. One side of his bottom said BAD, and the other said DOG.

  So many aspects of Bobby’s behavior suddenly made sense, and Lindsey’s heart broke for the little boy. She had to wonder which was worse: the physical pain or the emotional pain. Both would stay with him for a very long time.

  She guided Bobby gently toward her so that he stood by her, next to the cot. She placed loving and gentle hands on his waist. “Bobby, do you know what the words say?”

  “Uh-huh. Bad dog,” he whispered.

  “Why do they say that?”

  “’Cause I’ve been a bad dog all my life,” he said, matter-of-fact. His voice had lost all trace of the grumpy, complaining child from her classroom. He was a completely different boy, and Lindsey wanted to gather this new, damaged child in her arms, comfort him. “That’s why I sleep in a dog bed in the garage. Your dog has a way better bed than me. He’s so lucky. I have my own dog dish, too.”

  Lindsey looked up at Laura, feeling physically sick with helplessness. She saw tears forming in the heath assistant’s eyes just before the girl ran into the bathroom and vomited behind a closed door. Laura and Mrs. Wilson kept watch outside the health office door, waiting for a law enforcement officer to arrive, and Lindsey held Bobby close. He never even cried.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Jake sat with his laptop on his lap and a cup of tea by his side, poised and ready to work. The problem was that not even one intelligent thought or idea came to mind. He needed more information from some of his subjects, since he couldn’t squeeze anything more from the data he currently had. He decided to call Shawna.

  A man answered her phone, which threw him for a moment. No one but Shawna ever answered there.

  “Uh…‌Hi. This is Jake from—”

  “Jake? Hey, I was just thinking about you.” Jake recognized Anthony’s voice. “You must be psychic.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “Hey, man,” Anthony interrupted. “I need a favor. Can you deliver some food over here for Shawna? She hasn’t been eating well since her fall, and now that she’s had the ankle surgery, she’s eating even less. Too hard for her to get around, let alone make it to the kitchen. But I’m sure she’d love to have some of her favorite Chinese dishes. And I’d feel a lot less guilty about going to work if I knew you were coming by with food for her. The thing is, I’ve got to go. I’m already running late. I can settle up with you later. What do you say?”

  Jake couldn’t believe his good fortune. Anthony was actually begging him to stop by and see Shawna. Perfect.

  “I’ll be there by eleven with some of her favorites,” Jake promised.

  “Fantastic! I’ll leave the front door unlocked. She won’t be able to get up to answer the door, so just go on in. She’ll be so surprised and glad to see you. This will make her day. Uh, but be prepared for a shock, though. She’s not her usual self right now, Jake, probably due to the trauma of the fall, the ankle surgery, and the pain meds.” He chuckled weakly. “Boy, does she love her pain meds. Thanks, man. I owe you one hell of a tip.”

  As promised, Jake brought over the food, then slowly, carefully, and quietly‌—‌he didn’t want to startle Shawna‌—‌opened the front door. The situation felt odd, but then…‌all of his encounters revolving around Shawna existed outside the boundaries of “ordinary.”

  “Shawna? Are you here?” Jake asked quietly. He got no reply, so he asked again, a little louder this time, as he walked further into the living room area. “Shawna, it’s Jake.”

  Still no reply. If she felt as bad as Anthony had indicated, she was probably in bed, her sleep a
ided by a strong dose of pain medication. Jake very quietly made his way down the hallway toward the master bedroom with Chinese food in one hand and his laptop in the other. As soon as he entered the hallway, he heard a voice‌—‌or was it voices? Shawna was apparently not alone, and that thought made Jake’s skin prickle. He stopped outside the bedroom, wanting to hear what Shawna was saying. Her voice sounded calm, almost sad.

  “Sean,” she said, “we’ve been on a long and painful path together. I’ve loved you, and I’ve hated you. But today’s a big day for both of us. My life will soon be perfect, but yours is about to end. You will no longer exist. I will never see you again or even think about you after today. No one will.”

  Jake stood frozen outside the bedroom door. What have I just walked in on? From what he could hear, Shawna was threatening someone’s life. Who the hell was Sean? He hesitated, remembering back to the day he’d snooped around the house. Hadn’t he come across some letters addressed to a ‘Sean’ that day? He seemed to recall…‌But why wasn’t Sean saying anything? Did she have him tied up and gagged? Jake glanced behind, tempted to run and call 9-1-1. That would be the intelligent thing to do. But someone’s life might be in jeopardy at this moment. He needed to help…‌he had to help, didn’t he?

  He touched the door with his toe, opening it just enough to catch a glimpse of the setting‌—‌except he caught more than a glimpse. Shawna stood across the room from Jake, her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She was completely naked other than the bandage on her ankle, and she was staring at herself in a full-length mirror. Jake stared, too. It was impossible not to.

  There was no evidence of anyone else being in the room, but that didn’t mean anything. The room was dark and large. He should go, Jake realized, his eyes glued on the scene. His hands were slick with nervous sweat, and he made the sensible decision to run out of the house and call her from his cell phone once he was out of sight. But as he turned to go, the laptop slipped from his hand, and he instinctively lunged for it. His forehead slammed against the wrought iron door knob, and he couldn’t stop himself from cursing.

  She turned instantly from the mirror toward the startling sounds. He watched her fall to the floor, trying to hide from the eyes of her unexpected visitor. Her expression was one of absolute terror, and now that she lacked the advantage of expertly applied make-up, she didn’t look anything like the gorgeous, sexy Shawna he was used to.

  After a breathless second, Shawna screamed.

  Jake dropped the bag of food outside the bedroom’s entrance and grabbed his laptop. All he wanted was to run, but he had to say something. Anything.

  “Jesus, Shawna,” he said, at a loss. Then reality rushed in. “What about Anthony?”

  Shawna’s expression changed instantly from terror to rage, and Jake ran, going as fast as he could until he was safely in his car, driving away from…‌what?

  What the hell was he running away from?

  ***

  A few days past before Jake received the inevitable phone call from Shawna. At first his finger didn’t want to move across the phone’s screen, but curiosity got the best of him.

  “Hello, Shawna.”

  “What did you see, Jake?” she demanded right off. “Be honest with me. Exactly what did you see?”

  Jake, still in shock from the events of his visit, took a deep breath. “Everything, Shawna. Come on. You were naked. I saw everything. I am sorry. None of that was supposed to happen. Look, I was only there because Anthony sent me. He asked me to—”

  “That bastard!” she blurted. “And I thought he was on my side. I thought he understood me. Now I suppose you’re going to go and tell his little princess all about it.”

  Before Jake had a chance to explain Anthony’s concerns about Shawna’s need for nourishment, she emitted an ear-splitting noise that sounded like a cross between a growl and a scream, and then hung up.

  ***

  Except for one interview with the police regarding what she knew of Bobby and his family, the following week went by without incident. Nothing unusual happened either at school or on the home front. Martin had been unable to make a trip to Tucson, but he had emailed several times.

  Lindsey used the week to catch up on her housecleaning, her lesson planning, and her sleep. She met Laura for coffee on Saturday‌—‌something neither of them had been able to make time for in several weeks. She even went to the mall one evening and bought two new outfits‌—‌one for school, and one just right for another outdoor, daytime date with Martin. Life was good.

  On Sunday evening, Martin called. “How’s my beautiful kindergarten baby?” he asked, the smile in his voice obvious.

  “Hi,” she replied, smiling back. “I’m fine, and I’m glad you called. I was missing you a little bit.”

  “Only a little? I’d better step up my courting techniques. Must be losing my touch.” They both laughed, and Lindsey felt a familiar warmth rush through her. Being with him made her happy. Maybe not thrilled, but happy nonetheless. “Anyway, the reason I’m calling is that I have some news. It’s sort of one of those good news/bad news deals.”

  “Do I need to sit down?”

  He chuckled. “Nothing like that. I have an all day meeting in Tucson this coming Wednesday, but I have an early morning meeting in Flagstaff on Thursday.”

  Lindsey frowned. “Is that the good news or the bad news?”

  “I guess it’s kind of both. With my time constraints, I need to fly, not drive, so I will only have about two hours that I can spend with you. Are you willing to go on a mini-date? There’s something we need to talk about.”

  “I’m willing to do better than that,” she replied. “I’ll come home right after school and begin preparing our dinner. All you have to do is take a taxi from your meeting to my place. When we’re done with dinner‌—‌and whatever else there’s time for‌—‌I will drive you to the airport. What do you say?”

  “I say I’m the luckiest man in the world. See you Wednesday.”

  Lindsey had to smile. That was bad news? He obviously didn’t know the meaning of bad news. Then she remembered something he’d said and stopped smiling. What did he want to talk about? It sounded important. Was he getting too serious, too fast? What if he wanted to talk about moving in with her? Or…? She liked him a lot, he treated her well, and she always felt safe with him. Plus, he had a real career and seemed to have his finances in order. He was perfect…‌almost. The only thing holding her back was the physical side. His lovemaking was just…‌nice. Nice? It seemed to her that it should be far more than nice. If he was going to talk about a serious commitment, how could she turn him down and still keep the relationship going?

  It was too much to think about, and she was happy to let herself become distracted when Malcolm popped over for a chat.

  Wednesday was busy and exhausting, but that was typical. Lindsey was used to the mental and physical rigors of being with twenty-six young children most of the day. What she wasn’t used to was rushing home to create an impressive feast in record time for a man she had decided she wanted to impress. She’d almost made it out the door to the staff parking lot when an announcement came over the schoolwide PA system.

  “Certified Teachers.” Mrs. Wilson’s voice echoed through the hallway. “ALL certified teachers please meet me in the library as soon as possible.”

  “Damn,” whispered Lindsey. She turned around and headed for the library, hoping whatever this was would be quick.

  So much for impressing him with a home cooked feast, Lindsey thought as she drove home a little too fast. On the seat beside her sat a bag of salad and two bottles of Merlot. The pizza would arrive in about fifteen minutes. Hopefully, by the time Martin showed up, she’d have the table set, the salad tossed, the wine breathing, and the pizza warming in the oven. Unfortunately, when she pulled into the driveway, her tall cowboy was already there, crouching by the front door.

  “Hi!” she said, hopping out of her car. “Sorry. I was delayed
due to an emergency meeting at school.”

  “Not a problem,” he said, walking toward her. She started to loosen her ponytail, but he stopped her. “Your hair looks pretty like that. You should wear it back more often. Here. Let me help with those bags.” He put out his hands. “I was a little earlier than I anticipated, but it gave Wendell and me a chance to become better friends…‌through the door.”

  She laughed. “He’s a good listener. I will give him that.”

  After dinner, Martin smiled at her across the table. “We’ve got almost an hour before we have to head for the airport. I could help you clean up the kitchen.”

  “Or you could take me upstairs and make mad, passionate love to me,” Lindsey suggested, surprising even herself.

  He grinned and took her hand. “Well, if you insist. I suppose that’s an option. What guy in his right mind would turn down an offer like that?”

  Their lovemaking this time was unusually lust-filled and urgent. Every move, every caress intensified the passion. Tonight nothing was slow or gentle. The heat was on and turned up high. There were no words of love, because both of them were too breathless to speak. Lindsey was thrilled with the change.

  Their intimate hour flew by far too quickly, and Lindsey, now a bit tousled and tired, found herself at the airport, saying goodbye. There was little time for words, since Martin’s flight was already boarding when they arrived at the gate. Lindsey kept waiting for him to drop the bomb, have “the talk.” Was he going to propose? Or did he want them to move in together? She knew it was too soon, but their recent time in bed had been headed in a positive direction. Even the kissing had improved…‌a little.

  “Lindsey, I don’t know where to start,” he said, gripping her hands. “There is so much I want to tell you. Maybe I should call you when I get home.”

  She gave him a coy look. “Nothing doing, Mr. Mackelroy. I don’t need details tonight. Just the summary in twenty-five words or less,” she suggested.