Difficult Lessons (6 page)

“Excuse me Officer,” Cynthia butted in. Is there a reason for this questioning? I thought you gentlemen were in here to look for minors. You obviously know Ms. Carson.  I am sure that your partner remembers me from the other night. Neither of us are minors. If you don’t mind, my friend and I are trying to have a nice relaxing evening. If you two gentlemen do not need anything else from us, we would like to return to our table before it is taken.”

“Certainly, ladies.” Officer Griffin was obviously taken aback by Cynthia’s comments. “By all means, carry on.” 

Sara sat down while Cynthia got them two more beers. She turned hers up as soon as Cynthia handed it to her.

“Damn, honey!” Cynthia smiled. “Are you trying to drown yourself?”

“This is going to get very interesting. He has already gone to Mr. Michaels once. I’m sure that he will do it again. After the threat from Michaels, I am sure I will catch hell this time.”

“Put it out of your mind for now. We came here to have fun. Are we going to let a couple of assholes in uniforms spoil it for us?” Cynthia took Sara’s hand and winked at her.

Chapter 9

Sara purposefully drove slowly across town to the high school, mentally preparing herself for the confrontation that she was expecting. She was certain that Officer Griffin had already contacted Mr. Michaels. He would probably be waiting for her in the parking lot.

She made it into the building without seeing anyone. Even though she had taken her time getting to work, it was still too early for most to be there. She checked her mailbox. Nothing was there.
 
She breathed a sigh of relief as she made her way to her classroom. She gathered up the things that she needed for the day and arranged them on her desk. She then sat down to collect her thoughts.

Shortly after the first bell, a few students started wandering in. Sara made it a point to speak to each one as they entered the room. That was something that she had always done. She made a mental note of who had not come in. Usually Shelly was one of the first in the classroom, but not today. When the tardy bell sounded, she was still not in her seat. Shelly had not missed a day nor been tardy the entire year.

“Emily, where is Shelly this morning? It isn’t like her to miss a day.”

Emily looked way from Sara’s gaze. “I don’t know, Ms. Carson. I haven’t talked to her this morning.”

Sara noticed Emily was uncomfortable.

Sara began class, but her mind was not cooperating. It was difficult to get through the lesson on compound interest, but she managed. Ten minutes before the end of class, she assigned an exercise from the textbook and sat down at her desk.

If I can just make it to fifth period,
she thought as she watched the class work. 

Sara usually ate lunch by herself in her classroom. Today she had to go to the cafeteria because she did not feel like making a lunch before she came to work.

The sea of students moved slowly and loudly toward the cafeteria. A few feet ahead of her, she spotted Shelly. Sara pushed through the students to get to Shelly.

“I missed you in class this morning. Is everything okay?” She asked her when she finally caught up with her.

Shelly averted her big green eyes and mumbled that she was fine. Sara knew in the back of her mind what was wrong. She had replayed Saturday night with Shelly’s father over and over. She had suddenly lost her appetite and turned to go back to her classroom.

Sara made a quick stop in the teachers’ lounge to grab a soda and some chips from the vending machine. She glanced at the phone, but decided against calling Cynthia. 

Sara checked her e-mail while she nibbled on her chips. A large wave of nausea washed over her when she saw the e-mail from Mr. Michaels.

Apprehensively, Sara opened it and read it silently to herself.
Ms. Carson, Please come by my office at the end of the day. I have something urgent to discuss with you. Mr. Michaels

Sara knew what was coming. She tried to prepare herself. A simple explanation of being with a friend, denial of the events, accusations of Officer Griffin lying, and many other things went through her mind. She knew that nothing was going to change what Mr. Michaels was going to say.

Maybe she was wrong. She could be jumping to conclusions. She tried to clear her mind. Her students would be coming back from lunch soon. She already felt like she was not on top of her game today. The bell rang as she finished the last sip of her soda.

At the end of the day, Sara quickly packed everything that she would be taking home with her this evening into her briefcase and slowly made her way to Mr. Michaels’ office. She hoped that her nervousness was not noticeable as she stepped through the door. 

“Close the door and have a seat, Ms. Carson.” His tone was quiet, but serious. “I had a visit this morning from a concerned parent and student. Do you have any idea who that might have been?”

“No sir.” Sara lied again and shifted in her chair. 

Mr. Michaels continued. “Shelly Griffin and her father were in here first thing this morning. Mr. Griffin is concerned about Shelly being in your class. He came to see me after he saw you in that bar the first time. I assured him that I would speak to you about it and that it would not happen again. Do you remember me speaking to you about it?”

“Yes sir. I also remember telling you that the place you referred to is owned by a friend of mine and…”

Mr. Michaels cut her off. “It has come to my attention that you visited that place again this past weekend. Is that true?”

“Mr. Michaels, what I do on the weekends is my business. As long as I am not breaking any laws, it has no bearing on my job. Once again, I was not doing anything inappropriate. A friend invited me there and I should not have to justify what I do on my time off.”  Sara was getting very upset again. 

“It is not the fact that you were out with a friend that concerns him. It is the type of place that he saw you in and also that he saw you dancing with another female.” 

“Sir, I am not sure why this is a problem.”

Mr. Michaels interrupted her again. “He does not want his daughter to be in your class any longer. He has asked me to move her to another teacher’s classroom for the remainder of the year. He told me that he does not want his daughter being influenced by a lesbian.”

Sara began to shake with anger. “He has not had a problem with me as a teacher before. Shelly has been in my class all year long. We have spoken at the various parent nights that the school has had. He has always been extremely supportive of me as his daughter’s teacher. He saw me in a bar owned by a lesbian and now all of a sudden I am not good enough to be his daughter’s teacher? Do either one of you realize how ridiculous this is?”

“Evidently he, along with me, had no clue as to your orientation until now.”

“So why would it matter what my orientation is? Does it matter whether I am gay or straight when it comes to my abilities as a teacher? Quite frankly, Mr. Michaels, whoever I choose to date has nothing to do with my job, whether it is male or female.” Sara was getting angrier as she spoke.

“Are you gay, Ms. Carson?”

“That is a personal question, sir. I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but that is none of anyone’s business but my own. If I was on a date with the young lady that he saw me with or if I was on a date with a man, it is not his business or yours.”

Mr. Michaels was visibly taken aback by her response. “I have moved Shelly out of your class. She will be in Mr. Fender’s class starting tomorrow morning.”

“I am not trying to tell you how to do your job, Mr. Michaels, but I think that’s a mistake. There are only two more months of school left. Moving her will cause people to question the reasoning behind it. Do you want people doing that? Also, it may cause her problems. Mr. Fender and I teach using totally different methods.” Sara was not really concerned about Shelly. She was a smart girl. She would do fine in anyone’s class.  She was concerned about the possible fallout if this got out to the community.

“It is already done. Now back to you. I am encouraging you to stay out of that place. It is going to cause you problems in the future if you do not.” Mr. Michaels’ tone had turned to threatening. 

Sara was extremely angry. She excused herself from his office and left the campus. 

Sara pulled her cell phone from her bag and dialed Cynthia’s number as she drove out of the faculty parking lot.

“Cynthia, can you meet me at my house?”

“Of course I can, honey. What’s wrong? You sound horrible.”

“I’ll explain it all when you get there. Right now I am so angry I can’t talk.”

“I’m leaving now. I will see you there,” Cynthia responded and hung up the phone. 

Cynthia arrived as Sara was unlocking the front door. As soon as the two were inside, Sara collapsed in Cynthia’s arms and Cynthia guided her to the sofa. When she regained her composure, Sara told everything that had happened. Cynthia listened carefully without speaking. 

“What should I do Cynthia?”

Cynthia had a flash of what she went through in Alabama. “The way I see it, you have three options. You can run away like I did. If you do that, you will either have to give up the career that you love or move to another town. I don’t think that is an appealing option for you. You have roots here. Your second option is to live the remainder of your life like a hermit and hope it goes away. That will eventually make you miserable. The third option is to go on with your life. If they continue to harass you, you can handle it legally. You will have to come out to everyone if you take this route and it could get ugly. You are the one that has to make the final decision of what you do. I can tell you, if I had to do it over again, I would fight like hell. I will support you no matter what your decision is.” Cynthia squeezed Sara tightly and kissed her on the forehead. 

Sara closed her eyes and rested her head on Cynthia’s chest. Cynthia held her until she fell asleep. She knew exactly what Sara was going through. She hoped that Sara would choose to fight, but she would not tell her that. She didn’t want to influence Sara’s decision at all. Sara had to make it on her own.

Cynthia had slipped from underneath Sara while she slept. Sara awakened as Cynthia reentered the room with a tray of soup and sandwiches.

“You are too wonderful,” she said smiling up at the beautiful woman in front of her.

Chapter 10

Friday afternoon seemed like it would never come. Feeling as though everyone was watching her had made Sara uneasy all week. At times she felt like people were whispering behind her back. Paranoia was taking its toll on her.

Much thought had gone into the decision she had made. A fantastic woman had come into her life and she was not going to hide from the world anymore. If the school administration wanted a fight, they had just gotten themselves one.

She called Cynthia as soon as she got home. “I have made a decision.”

Cynthia was apprehensive. “And that is?”

“I am not going down without a fight. They are not going to threaten and harass me.”

“Good for you!” Cynthia replied. “That’s the decision that I hoped you would make.”

“I know that I’m going to have to come out to everyone so I might as well get it over with. Will you have dinner with me tonight and meet my parents? I want your support when I tell them what’s going on. I’m not sure how it will go with Dad. I need your back-up.”

“You know I will. Name the time and place. I will be there.”

***

Both her mom and dad were already at the restaurant when she arrived with Cynthia. 

“Sara, are you sure you want to do this?” 

“I’m positive. This is something that I need to do now,” Sara said as she turned off the car.

Sara made quick introductions as they were being seated. “Mom, Dad, this is Cynthia. Cynthia, these are my parents, Stan and Myra Carson.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Cynthia said extending her hand to each.

Being the observant person that he always is, Sara’s father got right to the point. “You look like you want to talk about something, Sunshine. What is it?”

“Let’s wait until after we order. I do have some things to tell you guys. I want to do it without interruption though.” Sara was stalling a little.