Clay was already on the way to school by 7 a.m. he knew he would be early, but also knew it was better than staying home waiting on another full beer can to come flying his way, his body seemed to accent this thought by bringing his hand to the swelling bruise at the top of his jaw, when he pulled away, he glanced at his fingertips.
"Least the bleeding stopped," he spoke again to himself. He wasn't exactly sure if his father DID tell him to mow the lawn yesterday evening as he drunkenly claimed, but if he did Clay certainly held no memory of it. He definitely didn't feel he deserved to be walking to school on the first Saturday of Spring Break with a clotting bruise, a change of gym clothes, and reeking of stale and drying PBR, yet here he was.
The one saving grace this morning seemed to hold for him is it was unusually cool for this time of year in Texas. As if Mother Nature was actually swayed by the thoughts of the kid, a chilly breeze ruffled the loose hairs on his head gently, soothing the burning sensation in his jaw just a little. To Clay, it reminded him of a mother dog cleaning the wound on one of her puppies. It was strangely comforting. But aside from that? This entire day could go straight to hell for all he cared. Regardless, he continued his pace and by 7:20, he was almost on campus.
Coach Duncan, or simply "Coach Dunc," as the students referred to him as, or even his first name "Rusty," that the fellow faculty used had arrived on campus around 6:30 that morning. He remembered the "Community service," he had with Clayton Knotter that was scheduled for later that same morning but his first business was to finish up the paperwork for his Health class.
As he was just tying up the last few loose ends, he noticed the obnoxious "CLACK!" of heels coming down the hallway and visibly rolled his eyes at what he knew was coming. As if right on cue, a short petite middle aged woman with pointed glasses and a shiny neck scarf the color of freshly deposited vomit appeared in the doorway to the teachers lounge. It was Ms. Skipper.
"Good morning Rusty!" She said with enough fake sugary sweetness to kill a diabetic, "Hope your mornings' been BLESSED so far?"
To most people this would seem as nothing more than a friendly "Hello," exchanged between two coworkers, but Rusty knew better. Ms. Kathleen Skipper had been eyeing him since the day he first transferred to this high school 6 years ago. And the woman was anything if not persistent. He had shot her down countless times in the time he'd worked here, so much so that he actually had to admire her vigilance. Nevertheless, a short "Mornin'," was all the acknowledgement she received.
Seemingly unfazed, she merely shifted her stance a bit and flashed that sugary smile that made his teeth hurt. He'd come close to simply telling her he played for the "Other team," Countless times in the midst of all her failed courting attempts, but knowing she attended the local Southern Baptist church and doubled down as a high ranking member of the district PTA (and oh how often she bragged about both of those very titles,) had always made him worry on what lies she may spew to have him terminated by the school if fully rejected, so instead he withstood her assaults day in and day out.
"If you can survive the shit you did in your twenties, Rusty, you can survive a woman needlessly clucking around like a starved hen," he told himself.
After a few more seconds of showing her none of the attention she so desperately craved, her smile cracked just a hair and she turned and walked down the hall toward her English classroom, the "CLACK!" of her heels the only reminder she was there at all. Thank God for that... maybe now he could get some peac...
That train of thought was interrupted as he spotted Knotter walking up the ramp to school from the large window in the teachers lounge. Something about that sight bothered some deep part of his mind but he shrugged it off, placed the Health class paperwork in his leather satchel bag, and started off to meet the kid at the front of the office building.
Approaching the kid yet still a couple of yards away, he simply said aloud, "Knotter, least I can see you're capable of being early for once." He was just about to top the statement off with one of his trademarked smirks before he stopped himself. When the kid looked up to meet his eyes he noticed the bruise at the top of his jawbone.
Rusty was many things, but stupid or uncompassionate weren't either of them. He knew the kid was having trouble at home, only didn't know how to help him...
"Yet, Rust, you don't know how to help him yet," his mind's optimist chimed in, "but that's another reason for today's community service."
The look in the kid's eye was pure shame when he realized what the coach must've seen, his not-so-well hidden cut. He was waiting for some remark about the smell of beer and drinking before class from Coach Dunc also, but it never came. Instead he was a bit surprised at what came next.