Chapter 14
Day 154
I got home from work and smiled, which was slightly unusual. I’d taken a night off, even more unusual. It felt like the first one in ages. I was the one who could get the night off the easiest and so I was taking Jeremy to a teacher parent student thing at school. He was happy and so I was. Afterwards he was going home with one of the boys which was also exciting. He loved his friends, and I was so happy for him.
I went inside and slipped into jeans and a t-shirt. It was a relief that I’d bought a few normal outfits, since my work attire was so not appropriate. I went out into the room where Jenny was playing with Kelly and Jeremy was watching TV.
“Hey kid,” I called. He turned smiling, “You ready to hit the road?”
He nodded. “Yeah, this is gonna be awesome.”
“I’ll be home later Jen,” I said smiling. “See you then.” She nodded and Kelly waved.
Jeremy came over with his backpack that had been packed for the night and we headed out. I took the bag and we started the walk to his school. It was a few miles, but nothing too awful.
“So what exactly is this night about?” I asked.
He smiled, “Well all the parents and students come in. You talk to my teachers and they update you on everything that’s going on in school and you see my work and stuff.”
“Parent stuff,” I said nodding. “And I’m here because Karen had to work so she asked me to bring you.”
“Yup.”
“So tell me about your school,” I said.
“Well I have a few teachers. My teacher, and then my elective teachers,” He said. He babbled until we got to his school and then he led me inside.
“Hi Jeremy,” A polite woman said smiling at him. “Is this your sister?”
“No ma’am,” He said. “This is Sydney.”
“I’m so sorry. Karen couldn’t make it, and so she asked me to come. I’m gonna fill her in when she gets off of work.” I said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hi, I’m Miss Waters,” She smiled. “Jeremy can take you inside.”
We went in and he met up with three other boys and two girls who were already inside. “Sydney, these are my friends. This is Lucas, Spencer, Richard, Hazel, and Lucy.” I smiled and waved at the kids who waved back. A woman came towards me smiling.
“Hi,” She said. “I’m Camille, Lucas is my son.”
“Hi,” I said to her and the group of other moms. “I’m Sydney. I’m best friends and roommates with Jeremy’s sister.”
“I’ve met her once or twice,” Camille said. “It’s so nice that he has you around as well.”
“Yeah,” I said. “He’s like a little brother to all of us.”
“I’m Danielle, Hazel’s mom.” Another woman informed me.
“Diana,” Another woman said gesturing at Spencer.
“Richard and Lucy are mine,” Another woman said. “I’m Eleanor.”
“It’s nice to meet all of you. Jeremy and Karen said he was going to someone’s house, I just can’t recall who.” I admitted.
“Mine,” Eleanor said. “All the kids are coming.”
I nodded, “Alright. Here’s my number, so if anything happens please call.”
“Of course,” She said. “Are you getting him in the morning?”
“No, I work a morning shift. It’ll probably be Karen.”
She nodded, “You all must work crazy hours to live on your own at 18 and 19, and with raising a kid. You guys are like super heroes.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I laughed. “This is my first night off in almost two weeks.”
“Wow,” Diana said. “I teach, so my schedule is fairly clear at night. That must be tough.”
“I work office hours too,” Danielle said.
Eleanor nodded, “I work in the library here.”
Camille shrugged, “I run a club. I work at all hours, but I make my own. I can’t even imagine being your age and raising Jeremy and dealing with working and roommate drama and everything else.”
“We get along,” I said. “It’s a part of life I guess.”
I talked to the mom’s till the teacher began informing us of everything. She told us about the classes and then came to talk to each kid’s parent.
“Jeremy is doing amazing, especially considering the year he’s had.” She told me. “He’s adjusted very well socially and his grades are very high.”
“That’s so great. I know how happy Karen will be. She wants him to be able to go to college and live a successful life.” I said smiling.
She nodded, “If he keeps it up he definitely will. He’s very gifted and so polite. He had a problem a few weeks ago with another student, but its fine now.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Her eyes widened, “He didn’t tell you about Mitchell?”
“No.”
“He’s a student in another fifth grade class. He’s a bit of a bully. He was picking on Jeremy and Spencer for that matter. You know, standard fair. It was name calling, trying to be intimidating, and even picking a few small fights. We talked to the boy and his parent. His electives were changed. We haven’t had any problems since, although they are just together for lunch now.”
“Wow, thanks for telling me.”
“It’s not a problem. Jeremy’s a great kid. I’m sure he just wanted to deal with it himself and not worry you all. It wasn’t a big deal or anything.” She said quickly.
I nodded, “I’m sure. Right now we’re all trying to get settled, and I’m sure he didn’t want to bother us. Are you sure it’s not a problem anymore?”
“I’m positive.” She smiled. “We’ll make sure to call you or Karen if we have any further issues. I doubt it though. It’s just kids being kids, and it got a little out of hand. It’ll be fine.”
“Thank you,” I said.
She nodded, “It was nice of you to come in, and it was very nice to meet you.”
“You too. Have a nice night,” I smiled and went to go wait and talk to the other mom’s again until we started the elective cycle. Kids here took PE, music, art, and one that they picked. Jeremy took Spanish.
The PE teacher was a massive man with a balding head. He was completely ripped and wearing a t-shirt and gym pants. He was intimidating, but you could tell he was cool and more like a teddy bear than a bear. He told me that Jeremy had a great attitude, even though he wasn’t great at everything they did.
The music teacher was a small woman and you could tell she had a big personality. She was always smiling and moving. She was wearing a long skirt and a blouse. She had music from musicals playing in the background and her voice was very high. Apparently Jeremy was completely tone deaf, but not awful at the recorder, which was a mandatory instrument in fifth grade. I liked the teacher, she seemed interesting. We talked for a while and then it was time to move on again.
The art teacher was a woman who seemed slightly scattered. I learned she also taught drama. She was very loud and happy. She was wearing a brightly patterned purple shirt and a black skirt. She also moved constantly from one side of the room to the other. Again, I was told he was awful at drawing, but persistent. He never gave up or had a bad attitude. She was polite, once you got past how disorganized she was.
The last teacher I meet was the Spanish teacher. He was an interesting man with curly dark hair. He looked young, and he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He looked like he could be a father to one of the kids. He gave us a speech about the class that was incredibly short and to the point. He asked us to please feel free to look around and he’d talk to us all while we did. When he came to see me I was amazed at how carefree he seemed.
“Hello,” He told me. “I’m Mr. Martinez. Has Jeremy learned Spanish before?”
“No,” I informed him. “Not that I know of, but why?”
“He’s very quick. His pronunciation is better than most of my kids. He’s so polite and well mannered. He’ll sit with some of my more American kids for the w
hole period trying to help them with the vocabulary words.”
“He’s a great kid,” I said nodding.
He nodded, “He’s one of my favorite students. I love all my kids, but he’s special.”
“He certainly is,” I agreed.
“Well I’ve got to talk to more parents, but it was nice to meet you Senorita.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said as he walked away.
Finally we headed outside and I handed Jeremy his backpack. “Be good, not that I’m worried. I love you kiddo.”
“Love you to Syd. See you tomorrow.” He said hugging me before going over to his friends.
Eleanor came over, “If anything I’ll call you. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“I know,” I told her. “Doesn’t keep me from worrying.”
“It never will,” She said. “It was nice to meet you.”
“You too. I’ve got to get going.”
“Me too,” She smiled. “Bye Sydney.”
“Bye Eleanor.” I said waving as I started to walk home.
When I went in Jenny was holding Kelly and tickling her.
“Isn’t it that little girl’s bed time?” I asked rolling my eyes. I had to remind her all the time. She was very lax about it, and I knew if I didn’t Kelly would be up until all hours.
She nodded, “Someone wouldn’t go to bed until you came home.”
“Save me! She’s tickling me.” Kelly called. I went over and lifted the little girl into my arms.
I kissed her head, “Time for bed.”
“No!” She yelled. “No sleeping.”
“Yes sleeping,” I said. “Now.”
“No,” She shook her head.
Jenny smiled and took her, “Yes. Right now Kelly.” The baby huffed and blew a kiss over Jenny’s shoulder as she carried her to our room. She came out a few minutes later and closed the door.
“How was it?”
“Great. Jeremy’s a polite kid. He’s very bright and has a great attitude. He’s awful at art and can’t sing. He’s adept at Spanish and the recorder. He was being bullied, but it’s been dealt with.” I relayed the highlights. “It was better than I expected.”
“Good,” She said. “I’m happy the kids doing well. What did you think of the friends?”
“Very polite kids,” I said. “I met their moms. They were all very nice and welcoming. Three boys and two girls, which is a nice mix.”
“Very nice,” She said. “He’s melded into things better than anyone.”
“Yeah,” I said smiling. “I’m proud.”
We sat down on the couch with ice cream watching chick flicks and bad soap operas until Karen came in. We relayed information to her and she joined us for an hour before we all headed to bed. It had been a great day, and things seemed to be going okay. Not great, but okay.
You’re wrong. It won’t be long before everything gets fucked up. I mean how could it not, with your awful methods of doing things? You’ll ruin everything. You always do. You’ll ruin Jeremy and Kelly’s futures, along with Jenny and Bob and Karen’s. You are a failure. You always will be.
I groaned and fell asleep listening to the frightening and awful monologue that went on in my head. I was sick of listening to it, but I’d given up on it ever leaving. It never seemed to. It just went on and on.
I woke up after a nightmare that I instantly forgot with a gasp. Kelly woke up and crawled over. She curled up against me and fell asleep again. With her lying there I fell asleep as well hoping for a decent night’s sleep.