"Okay, enough. We are getting way off track," Jessica attempted to reel it back in before the words got too ugly. "It's true, Ray. These kids are suffering because of your difficulties. I have had it come up more than once in meetings with the students and parents."
Cynthia folded her hands on her desk and leaned forward, clearing her throat before speaking. "The decision has already been made, Ray. I am sorry. I am not a fan of ultimatums, but we are down to the wire here. We need you to be the teacher you were, and if you can't… well, we'll talk again. Just take care of yourself."
"I thought I was coming here for a discussion, not a directed verdict. Not a big fan of the ambush." Shaking his head in disgust, Ray momentarily imagined a scene where he stormed out, slamming the door behind him so hard it rattled the door frame. Instead, he bit his lip and nodded, turned and exited the room with a cool he didn’t really have. He walked straight down the hallway to Elena's empty classroom, where she was waiting.
“So, what kind of meeting was this?" Elena asked.
"Not a good one. Had their pitchforks and torches and everything."
"I thought it was only a meeting with Cynthia?" She dropped her pen and looked straight at him; the questions and doubts painfully evident in her eyes.
“So did I. But I walked in to her, David, and Jessica, all waiting to attack.”
“Wanna talk about it?” She sucked in her bottom lip and bit at it.
"Not now, I’m too pissed. Can we get outta here?"
"That's a shock.” Elena grumbled. “You don't wanna talk about it, huh? You don't wanna talk about much these days, do you, Ray?"
Ray gnashed his teeth together to keep from losing his temper. He tried to remind himself that it wasn’t her fault. She wasn’t the enemy, and she didn’t deserve to be treated like one. He took a deep calming breath before continuing. "We'll talk later about it, I promise."
Elena shook her head at him, packing up all her papers and well-chewed pens and not saying another word.
3
R ay shifted his gaze out the window. Even though Elena sat right next to him driving, even though he could’ve reached out and touched her, he felt miles apart.
The silence was palpable. On that long fifteen-minute ride home, he sat and stewed, part of that old Irish anger welling inside him. Targeted and betrayed. How could they have done this to him? Threaten his job? See a man going through a hard time and that was what they did.
A tiny little Ray-brain voice snuck in as they pulled into the driveway. It whispered to him, “You know they’re right.”
He couldn’t accept that. Ravynn was his sister. His twin. They shared so much. Shared their mother’s womb. The same eyes, same nose, the same…
Ray remembered hearing his late father’s voice, “I swear sometimes, you two share the same brain. I ask one of you a question and you both give me the same answer in unison.” Ray’s dad would shake his head at them as he said it, but more out of bewilderment than anything else. And, of course, the two of them would answer, at the exact same time, “cool.”
The idea had always made him happy; like somehow he and his sister had superpowers, like that cartoon they loved in the 80’s: Wonder Twin powers, activate. Form of, a pail of water…Water.
Ravynn.
“Ray, did you hear me? Ray?” Elena’s voice erased the childhood memories and drew him back to the present. “Ray, I was talking to you. Did you hear anything I said?”
“Yeah, sorry. Just thinking.” But he hadn’t heard her. Wasn’t really aware she’d been speaking.
“Uh-huh.” He hadn’t been listening, but he wasn’t dumb. The irritation in her voice was easy to read. As much as it frustrated him to do it to her, all he wanted was an escape. For a bit. To be alone, not have someone question him, doubt him, look at him like he was about to break.
“Think I’m gonna head to the gym for a bit, run it off, ya know?”
Pursing her lips, Elena huffed, “Not really. I can’t know until you tell me.”
“I will tell you. But I gotta go blow off some steam. We’ll talk about it later. Promise. I don’t have the words right now, honey.”
THE car sat in park in the driveway. Elena put her hands firmly on the wheel, eyes staring hard forward. Never once did she look his way.
She opened and closed her hands on the steering wheel, her grip making a little squeaking sound on the leather. “Fine. I’ll pick Amelia up and we’ll go shop for dinner.” Still looking forward, she added, “I should go and get her now, I think.” She nodded. “Amelia’s going to be sad we can’t grill out tonight.”
Dumbfounded, Ray responded, “Why wouldn’t we grill out?”
Elena turned to face Ray, the irritation and befuddlement in her eyes obvious. It made Ray realized he liked it better when she was staring at nothing. Elena answered his question, “Because of all the storms. Hadn’t you noticed?” Dramatically, she nodded her head towards the outside, and glanced back to him. “You know. The rain? Soaking wet yard? Puddles everywhere?” She leaned forward, her hand in front of her in a sweeping motion, calling attention to the soggy day that had begun its wind-down. No evidence of a sun poking through the heavy clouds. The light was dimming too early for this time of day; a permanent gray splashed across the caliginous sky.
“Oh, it’ll be fine. The thunder and lightning are long past. I’ll grill out, and we’ll eat inside. No big deal.” He grabbed his satchel and hopped out of the car.
BEFORE he slammed the door, a gust of wind blew rain into the car. The cold slapped Elena in the face as Ray scurried into the house like a rat trying to avoid being drowned. For several minutes, Elena sat in the car, gripping and ungripping the wheel, using it like a stress-ball.
She finally let go of the steering wheel and hit the call button on the Bluetooth. She knew better than to call him, knew the trouble it could stir up, but her desire to know what happened in the meeting took precedence over all else. She knew he, unlike Ray, would tell her. “Call David Finch.” She put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway, heading to Becky’s. Her mind on other things, she remotely made the familiar drive to her sister’s.
The phone rang. Elena panicked, wondering when the last time she called David was. Would he even take her call?
She was about to hang up when a familiar voice came on the line. “Hello, this is David.”
Elena paused, unable to speak. Why was she calling him? Because She had to know what happened and he’d tell her. He didn’t have ill feelings towards her, after all. Just Ray. Yes, their history had been colorful to say the least, but in the end, they were friends, weren’t they? Elena talked herself into that justification.
The voice repeated, “Hello. Elena?”
“Hi, yeah, it’s Elena.” Her voice was unsure, mousy, even to herself. She wished she could have a take-back and answer more cheerily.
The car splashed through a large puddle in the road. The car hydroplaned, careening, gliding, and she eased off the gas pedal, regaining control. She flipped on the windshield wipers to clear the mess that splashed up.