Andrew
“Hey!” Raven cried as I turned out the lights.
Wet footsteps echoed in the space, coming closer to me.
I turned the light on, finding Raven standing just a few feet away, hair dripping and eyes flashing. Without any warning, I gasped. Those bright green eyes, wild with emotion, the long, honey waves and sharp chin.
With each day that passed, Raven looked more and more like her mother.
Maybe that was part of what had made our relationship so hard in the last year. But who the fuck knew?
“What do you want from me?” she demanded, attitude turned up to the max.
I shook my head, more to get ahold of myself than anything else. Raven was not her mother. They were two completely different people. I needed to remember that.
“I should be asking you that,” I answered. “What do you want that you don’t have? Why are you screwing up your life?”
Her arms folded and then quickly unfolded, showing her discomfort. Avoiding my eyes, she snatched her towel from the chair and began to dry her hair vigorously.
“This is your last chance, Raven. Either straighten up or face the consequences. No phone. No car.”
The reaction didn’t come. She just kept drying her hair, acting as if phones and cars weren’t the lifeblood of any and every American teenager.
I fought the urge to pull at my hair. She’d already gotten enough of a rise out of me. Completely dropping my poker face wasn’t an option.
Licking my lips, I closed my eyes. There was one more thing I hadn’t tried, but it was time.
“Do you want to talk to someone? I’ll set you up with a therapist.”
Back turned, her shoulders tensed. “What, like a shrink?” she barked.
My mouth became even drier. “Just someone to talk to.”
“I don’t need meds. I’m not like her.”
She couldn’t have hit closer to my weak spot if she’d tried.
Swallowing hard, I looked for the right words and then realized I’d been doing that for the whole last year. The English language only contained so many options.
“Just… Can you just try to do better? Tomorrow is a new week, all right? It’s a chance to get started off on a new foot.”
Raven kept her back to me, her head hanging low.
“Sure,” she finally said, taking her things and leaving the pool room.
The “sure” had been the most listless it could be. There was no way of telling whether she had absorbed anything I’d said or not.
Burying my face in my hands, I ran my fingers down my cheeks. “Fuck,” I groaned out.
When enough time had passed for Raven to make it up to the second floor, I left the pool room and weaved my way back to my office. The downstairs was dark and silent, the perfect atmosphere for getting some work done.
Closing the door to my office, I settled into the leather chair once more. But try as hard as I might, the words on the computer screen didn’t make any sense. The letters all ran together. All I could think about was Raven.
And Danica.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, there was a chance they were more alike than I had originally thought. Raven was the spitting image of her mother, but it could have been the similarities went beyond just physical.
Ten years. That’s how long it had been since I’d put my wife in the ground. Not a day went by that I didn’t think about her, but at least I didn’t have any regrets. We’d had a good marriage. I’d loved her as much as any man could love a woman. Though I’d always worked hard, Danica had stayed home with Raven, and we always set aside a couple weekends a month for family time.
It was ironic, though. For years, I worried myself sick over Danica’s mental illnesses. Anxiety. Depression. She took medication, went to therapy, meditated—did everything that was recommended.
But that hadn’t stopped the dark bouts from popping up. Several times, I feared she might take her life. In the end, though, it had been a car crash that had done it, sudden and quick, while I was in New York for a meeting and Raven was working on a leaf collage at elementary school.
Those first few years after the accident had been the worst. But, eventually, ten years crept by. Now Raven was almost an adult, preparing to take on the world all on her own. The hardest times were behind us.
Or so I’d thought.
Mental illness ran in families. So why hadn’t I thought to have Raven evaluated before?
I didn’t want to face reality. That was it. Didn’t want to admit that maybe she struggled as much as Danica had.
I shut my eyes and rubbed the lids, locking out the rest of the world. This office was supposed to be a place of focus and productivity. I’d set it up so I could be at home more often. I guess, in a way, it had been successful. Now I really saw how much Raven sought to avoid me.
But I didn’t have time for this kind of bullshit. If Raven needed to see a specialist, then that was the way it was.
One more chance, I promised myself. I’ll give her one more chance.
Another note or call from school and she was headed to see a professional. This wasn’t something I could deal with on my own. I was busy. An entire company counted on me. Distractions, like always, could not be afforded.
Nose to the grindstone, eyes on the prize. Don’t get distracted, don’t let others sway you. That was my way of life, the one I’d taught to my daughter. I didn’t need anyone to tell me it was the right way to live.
For me, there was no other option. There never would be.
Lanie South Seattle High School was bigger than it was supposed to be. At least that’s what I thought as I stood outside looking at it on my first day. Had it been so gargantuan when I had gone in for my interview? I didn’t think so. Although, maybe the fact that I didn’t feel intimidated at all that other morning led to me being confident and getting the job. This day, though, I was anything but sure. I felt like it was my own first day of high school as I navigated the swarm of students in the main hallway, none of who gave me so much as a second look. Right then, I was just another adult to them, someone whose name they thought they wouldn’t remember in five years. I hoped to change that. South Seattle had over a thousand students, which meant there had to be hundreds of kids there who needed help in some way or another. Luckily, that’s what I was there for. Hopefully, by the time these teenagers left high school, they’d be at least a little more adjusted, thanks to me. Really
Lanie Trailing my finger down the page, I found the girl’s stats. Raven Marx. Seventeen. A senior at South Seattle. Had some disruptions the previous year, including skipping classes and talking back to teachers. The last few weeks, though, things had gone further south. She’d taken to cussing in class and threatening other students with harm. Moving past Raven’s file, I read the few other ones in the folder. Just judging from the family information on the other pages, I got a sense of why the kids were likely having troubles. One boy’s father was in prison, and another’s parents were going through divorce. There was more information on all the kids, but I left the detailed reading for another time and moseyed my way down the hall. There were coworkers to meet. Too soon, the teacher’s lounge was in front of me. With sweaty palms, I opened the door and went in. Two women not much older than me stood talking in the little kitchen area, and a man with salt-and-pepper hair hunched over
Andrew Dead silence filled the boardroom. I let the door fall closed behind me as I stood there, finding all eyes where they were supposed to be. On me. “Well?” I barked. Kyle cleared his throat, and the four other employees sitting around the table all looked anxiously at him. “Mr. Marx, it appears there is an issue with an account. Houghton Graham. There is, uh, twenty thousand dollars missing from the account.” He pressed his lips together hard, probably waiting for me to yell. “Then find it,” I simply answered. “No need to call a meeting. You.” I pointed at Carolyn. “Go through the statements from the last few months.” “I already—” “Do it again. And you.” I nodded at Kyle. “Make sure this doesn’t get out. Don’t notify the client until we know exactly what’s going on. The rest of you, make yourselves busy. And if you lose one more damn check, you’re all fired.” With a string of curses checked but rumbling in my throat, I turned around and left the boardroom, Maggie trailing
Lanie The piercing scream shook my bones, making me jump in my seat and drop the scholarship papers I’d been looking over. Heart thudding, I left the papers on the floor and rushed to the door. Someone fainted? Or brought a weapon to school? A dozen awful possibilities ran through my head. Cracking the door the slightest bit, I looked down the hall. Near the front office, a girl with long, blond hair stood with clenched fists. “It’s not fair!” she yelled. “Miss Marx,” a female voice said from inside the office. “Have a seat. Now.” So that was the infamous Raven Marx. My second day at school and she already had a run-in. Not surprising in the least. “Why?” Raven shrieked. “I didn’t do anything. Nothing that the bitch didn’t deserve.” I cringed at the harsh words. Everyone up and down the hall had to hear Raven. The other voice said something I couldn’t make out, and Raven stood there for a few more moments, her chest heaving up and down. I took the time to inspect her closely.
Andrew I curled my fingers around the golf club, the new gloves Maggie had ordered just for this occasion clinging snugly to the grip. Sinking into my stance, I pulled back, set my eye on the ball, and swung with precision. The club’s head hit the ball with a satisfying smack, sending it flying through the air and onto the grass, about five feet away from the hole. A booming laugh echoed across the green. “Well done for a man who says he’s rusty.” I grinned at Paul Nordmeyer, polo shirt stretched tight across a bulging belly and neck red from the sun. “Guess I’m a natural.” “Beginner’s luck,” he good-naturedly mumbled through his caterpillar mustache. “You’ve been away for so long, you might as well be starting over. How long did you say it’s been?” I shrugged. “About a year. Used to play all the time, though.”“All the time” was an exaggeration, but what Paul didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. I stepped to the side, watching as Paul took his turn. The course was close to empty, with
Andrew Inside the country club was a little busier than outside. People chatted quietly over small tables, and the shiny, wooden bar only had one customer—an older woman drinking what looked like tea. “A whiskey,” I told the vested bartender as I took a seat. “Neat.” He set the tumbler down in front of me, and I took a long sip that burned my nose and throat. It didn’t help any. My problems were still there. What was I going to do if the meeting with the counselor led nowhere? Take Raven to see a specialist outside of school? What if that didn’t work? She never talked about school, but that had to be the problem. Home was fine, somewhat. Nothing went on there. Come to think of it, maybe that was the issue. It had been years since Raven had a friend over. That wasn’t normal. When I was her age, I was practically glued to my friends. If South Seattle wasn’t working out, I could take her out of it. Her senior year had only just started. She could get in at another school. Not priva
Lanie I took a deep breath and stared in the mirror, turning one way and then the other. Was the black eyeliner too much? Yes. Too loud. I was going to work at a high school, not to a nightclub. Grabbing a makeup wipe, I went to rub it off, then remembered it was liquid and would smear all over the place. “Shit,” I murmured, dropping the wipe in the bathroom trash. Heart racing, I adjusted the little strands of hair around my ears and frowned. The look would just have to do. At least I was dressed somewhat conservatively in a button-up and wool sweater. Checking the time, I grabbed my purse and keys from the hook by the front door and locked my ground-floor apartment behind me. There was still plenty of time to get to work, but with my nerves making me shake, I knew I’d be more comfortable once I got into my office. This was the day. In less than an hour, I had my first parent-teacher conference. Hopefully, I’d make it through the meeting without vomiting. I’d had plenty of pa
Lanie “Y-yes,” I sputtered. “Come right in. Mr. Marx, I assume?” “That’s right.” “Have a seat.” He walked over to the chairs opposite my desk, tight shoulders and sculpted rear-end moving with controlled precision. Realizing I was staring, I quickly took my own seat. If I’d hoped meeting Mr. Marx face-to-face would help ease my anxiety, I was sorely wrong. The man sitting across from me was perfection, in possession of the kind of face that could give any professional male model a run for their money. Now, not only was I worried about how well I would perform during the meeting, I was once again worrying about how I looked. Was my makeup still holding up? How was my hair doing? I resisted the urge to touch it and see. Remember the steps. One at a time. Placing my palms on the desk, I smiled. “Thank you for coming to meet with me. I know you’re well aware of Raven’s recent, um, acts.” I checked a cringe. This wasn’t the speech I’d prepared at all. Mr. Marx’s face darkened, an