Chapter 2: Errand of Mercy
Author's note: Readers might want to read School's Out before reading this story.
Two weeks had passed since Kim Collins's afternoon with her former student Tim. They'd talked for an hour after their love-making, before she drove him home. He'd admitted that he was almost engaged ("'Engaged to be engaged' is the correct term," she told him) to a business major at college.
Tim had been amazed when Kim didn't seem to care. She'd kissed him and said, "This was a great afternoon, Tim. I wasn't counting on a lifetime commitment."
They'd parted on friendly terms. What amazed her now was that she hadn't minded at all that she'd had an afternoon fling with a former student. She hadn't cheated in three years of marriage and four years of seeing Roy prior to their marriage. Before Roy, she had taken four lovers in her life and not a one-night-stand among them.
Things changed, she guessed. Things changed.
For one thing, her tan was getting to be halfway decent -- light gold, anyway, and the sun had lightened her hair almost to platinum. Not bad, she thought as she rubbed lotion on her stomach and breasts in long, languid circles.
And thanks to the set-up of her backyard, she could tan topless without worrying about putting on a show for the neighbors.
Kim lay back on the chaise lounge, lotion duties completed, and thought about what she wanted to do that night. Her afternoon with Tim had left her wanting more, but more of what was the question.
It wasn't just about wanting another Tim. Their afternoon had opened up something in Kim that she hadn't really known was there. She didn't know where it was all going to go, but she was interested in finding out. She checked the watch lying on the table beside her. She had an hour to enjoy the sun before she'd have to shower and change for her date, if her date elected to come.
While she lay there, she thought about yesterday's events.
Kim had been surprised to find anyone in the staff room when she'd dropped by the school the previous night to pick up a couple of books that she'd left in her desk when term ended. She'd realized she was out of coffee filters on the way out of the house, and rather than stop at a convenience store, she'd hoped to filch a couple from the staff room.
The school was just a block away, so she walked, as she did every day for school, though she was obviously dressed more casually, in sandals, white shorts and a white t-shirt. She liked the way the bubble-gum pink toenail polish looked on her tanned feet, she'd decided. Her toenails matched her nipples. Not that most people would be privy to that information.
Upon unlocking the staff-room door and opening it, Kim realized the lights were on. "Who's there?" she said.
"It's just me, Walter, Kim," had come the response.
Walter Oakley was slumped in an armchair against the outside wall to her left. He was a fairly handsome African-American man a few years older than Kim. He taught in the history department and had good taste in shoes, a nice sense of humor and a lovely wife and two kids. Right now, he wore a white dress shirt, red tie and blue suit pants. Kim checked. Nice shoes.
Kim cocked her head a bit as she stopped and looked at him. "Needed to pick up stuff like me?" she said.
He sipped at his coffee cup and shook his head. "No, no. I was just in the neighborhood and stopped to use the...facilities."
"Right. Well, as long as you don't report me for lifting a couple of coffee filters."
He laughed. "No."
She went over to the cabinet upon which the coffee maker sat and, having opened the cabinet's doors, knelt and rummaged around until she found the filters. She grabbed a few and stood.
The coffee maker was empty and clean.
"Wow, not only did you make coffee, you actually cleaned the pot afterwards," Kim said. "I think that makes you the perfect man. Or at least the perfect man in this staff room."
Walter didn't answer. Kim looked over at him. He was staring at the wall. As that portion of the wall was blank, she figured he had something on his mind and realized she should probably leave him alone. She stuck the filters in her leather shoulder-bag.
"Anyway, Walter, I should get going. Have a good summer if I don't see you again until the fall."
She was almost out the door before Walter answered.
"Kim, hold up, if you've got a minute."
She stopped and turned. "No problem, Walter." She went to a chair across from him and sat and looked at him, waiting for him to say what was on his mind.
His eyes were red. She hadn't noticed that before.
He stayed silent for at least a minute, staring at the floor now. Finally, he spoke.
"No, no, you should go. I was going to ask you something personal, but we hardly know each other."
Kim leaned back in her chair. "It's OK, Walter. I'm not that close to anyone on staff here. You want to know why? Roy didn't like teachers. Not enough money. Or maybe Roy was just dumb and didn't like having people around who were smarter than him. So I never went to get-togethers. Instead, I made friends with Roy's friends and the wives and husbands of Roy's friends. And you know what? When we got divorced, they were still all Roy's friends. That doesn't mean I want to be everyone's best friend here now, but I'd at least like to try."
Having finished, Kim couldn't believe what she'd just said. But saying it felt good.
Walter was looking at her now. His jaw had dropped slightly. She repressed a giggle.
"Unh, OK," Walter said. "When you and Roy got divorced -- what happened?"
"He was cheating and decided to make the cheating official and me unofficial."
"OK, that's what I figured."
"Why?"
"You just didn't seem like the sort of person who...cheats."
Kim cocked her head again. "I think the word you're looking for is 'fucks', Walter."
Silence. Then, Walter exploded into laughter.
"Christ," he said, "I've been drinking and I wouldn't have said that. You sure you weren't hitting the bottle before coming over here?"
"No. I know what people thought of me. Think of me. The students..." She paused for a second. "...the students liked me more than the teachers because I'd do the extra tutorials, be nice to them, try to get the ones who didn't want to work to work without yelling at them. But the other teachers -- I didn't have the time of day for most of you, and I probably gave a lot of you the impression that I looked down on you. I didn't. I just...I let Roy determine who I was going to socialize with, so I didn't want to get friendly with people I was never going to see."
"The Ice Queen. Or the Milk Maid. Those are the two nicknames some people would toss around."
"Milk Maid?"
Walter looked away for a moment before setting down his coffee cup and making the universal two-hand sign for 'large breasts.' "That and you are...really white." He paused. "Were really white."
"Oh. That's partially genetic, partially Roy's fascination with... pallor." She paused. "You should see the new girl. She makes me look golden-brown. And I've got better boobs than her."
Walter hiccuped. "Those are big breasts, especially for your frame. Bentley used to joke about greasing them up and titty-fucking..." He steepled his hands in front of him and laughed again. "Christ, I am drunk."
"What happened, Walter?"
"Lisa's leaving me, taking the kids."
"That's awful. Why?"
He put his head in his hands. "A lot of things. I spent too much time running clubs during the school year, working on the variety show, doing union rep stuff. And she...she started up again with an old flame from college, a divorced vice-president of some company or another."
"That's awful," Kim said. "When did you find out?"
"Last week. She...they, her and the kids, left today to go visit her mother in Texas for a couple of weeks. Oh, it's all cordial -- there won't be any problems with joint custody, and she's not trying to get anything out of me financially. She doesn't have to. The new guy could buy me ten times over. I actually got them to agree that I'd sell the house and put half the funds into a college fund for the kids."
He sniffed a bit. "So I'm sitting in the empty house tonight and I couldn't keep sitting there and I didn't want to go out to a bar and I didn't want to go inflict myself on somebody else. We're between summer sessions. I thought I'd be pretty safe here, just to gather my thoughts before going home."
"I'm sorry, Walter." She rose and went over to give him a hug. He smelled like a bourbon factory, which made sense given the empty fifth of Jack Daniels sitting on the floor by his chair.
She sat again. "Walter, when did you get here?"
He looked at his watch. "About...90 minutes ago."
"And when were you planning on leaving?"
"Um, soon. I can't sleep here. You know Dick" -- Dick was their vice-principal -- "he'll be in bright and early tomorrow morning to enjoy walking the halls of an empty school, the little bastard." He hiccupped. "Plus, I put away...a six? Maybe two sixes before I decided to come over here. Not gonna wake up too early from this."
"Walter..."
"Please, please, call me Walt."
