Adina's journey began one evening when she was staying late at school, back when she was still teaching just in the middle school. Her daughter Dazi, seven, was at a meeting for Girl Scouts. On those evenings, Dazi had dinner with one of the other girls in the troop, which left Adina free to catch up on grading and prep. This evening, Dazi was staying the night with her friend Anna, another girl in the troop who was the daughter of Elaine, one of Adina's trusted friends. The elementary schools had parent conferences the next day. That would have left Adina stranded for childcare if it weren't for Elaine's generosity. Adina was taking half a personal day off so that she could attend parent conferences with her daughter's teacher. She expected a good report: "Dazi is intelligent, kind, helpful and happy..."
Adina was eternally grateful to the other mothers and women in her circle of friends who understood how difficult it was to be a teacher and raise a child alone, who helped her by having Dazi over for dinner or a playdate so that Adina could do chores or errands or grade papers without disruptions. Since her husband Josh had died four years earlier, she'd been on her own; her parents were three thousand miles away. Josh's parents were two hours away by car.
Reserved and too shy to impose more than she felt she already did, Adina held her household together in a way that looked seamless to outsiders, but she was ready to crack.
Adina left her classroom and was planning to get beakers from the supply closet. She walked into Katy Michael's room (her only access), and approached the door, which was closed. Katy hadn't seemed to have left; her coat was untidily draped over the back of her desk chair, one arm dangling on the dusty floor. Adina frowned, wondering where Katy was. She heard a muffled bump from the supply closet, and a moan.
Her curiosity piqued, she put her ear to the door without trying the handle. She heard two voices, Katy's and another woman's.
"Oh my god you feel so good..." Katy moaned.
"Don't stop," the other woman begged.
Adina realized with surprise that it was Michelle Miller, another teacher from their department. "What were they doing?" she wondered.
It was silent on the other side of the door, except for the sound of something wet.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Michelle moaned.
"Was Michelle crying," Adina wondered, and then she blushed and thought, "That sounds like sex. Sex!" She didn't move. She could hear them shifting positions and then nothing for several minutes, until Katy started moaning softly.
"Shelly...Shell...ooooh...keep going...I'm on the edge...push me over...Shelly...Shelly..."
Adina felt her hips press into the door, and touched her breast.
When she had caught Katy and Sandeep sleeping naked in the dunes two years before, she had been shocked and upset and hadn't been able to say a word. She had just stared, and turned on her heel when Katy offered her hot chocolate from her thermos, her full and naked breasts swaying as she sat up. Dazi had been with Josh's parents that weekend; Adina had gone back to bed and stayed there reading a trashy romance novel (well, Jane Austen), unable to do anything else. Adina and Sandeep had gone out to dinner just three nights before. She had thought it had meant something to him.
Katy's climax came and Adina heard her stifle her cry. They were whispering; she couldn't hear them.
Adina was enormously curious and was surprised to feel herself wet. She slid her hand under the waistband of her skirt, past her tights and panties and squeezed, then looked out the window of the classroom door to the hall. She had forgotten where she was. With effort she slowed her breathing and removed her hand.
They would probably leave the supply closet soon, and then what? Adina crept back from the door and slipped into the back of Katy's classroom. She hid herself under a lab bench. If she kept still, and if Katy kept the lights off, Adina would not be seen.
Within five minutes, Katy and Michelle emerged from the supply closet. Katy's fingers were hooked through Michelle's belt loop in the back. Their shirts were untucked. Adina couldn't see their faces.
"So just go take a shower and meet me at Drew's in an hour," Katy was saying.
"You must be joking," Michelle answered.
"Shell, it will be hot. He'd be so into it. You know you want to."
"It's a school night."
"Oh come on! Where's your mother! Not here! Don't be ridiculous. Just be there. I'm going to be there. I want him to watch me eat you out."
Adina could tell from their feet that Michelle was leaning against the wall of the classroom next to the door. Katy was straddling her legs. Adina ducked down with her chin almost on the floor, and from there she could see that Katy was kneading Michelle's breasts and biting her neck, but not hard enough to leave marks. Katy's red hair was falling out of its already untidy bun.
"Where does Drew live again?" Michelle whispered.
"Vista Heights, on Maple, kind of past most of the development. Big green house, cream trim...down a long private driveway, two big hemlocks at the entrance to the driveway. You'll find it. See you there."
Michelle took a big breath, exhaled, and left the classroom.
Katy walked over to her desk and leaned over her chair to turn off her computer. She took a swallow of something from her go-cup and picked up her jacket. She gave her dim classroom a cursory glance around the tops of the lab benches, left and locked the door.
Adina released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Slowly she picked herself up from under the lab bench, knocking over a metal stool. It clattered and she ducked down again, but nobody came to investigate.
Since she had come to Katy's classroom to get beakers out of the supply closet, Adina figured she should complete that task so she wasn't scrambling at 7:45 a.m. the next morning trying to pull a lab together for her students. She spent half an hour more at school and then went out to get in her car. She sat in the parking lot, unsure of her plans. She picked up her cell phone and called Anna's mom, Elaine, and asked to speak to Dazi before the girls went to bed.
Dazi sounded cheerful. "Hi, Mama! Elaine made us chicken nuggets for dinner! We're going to watch Madagascar but then we have to go to bed."
Dazi's high pitched voice brought Adina back to the reality of being a mother and a teacher, practical, organized and sensible.
"That sounds nice, honey. I hope you said thank you."
"Of course, Mom!"
"I know, honey. I love you. You pay attention to Elaine's rules and be a good guest for me. We'll have Anna over to play Saturday before swim lessons."
"Ok! I love you! Do you want to talk to Elaine again?"
Adina and Elaine chatted briefly. Elaine was a little distracted by herding two active seven year olds and twin four year olds. They said goodbye. It was getting dark, and the ocean fog was beginning to thread its way up the coastal rivers.
Adina put her cell phone in her purse and stared through her windshield. She was going up to Drew Jensen's house. To do what, she didn't know.
It wasn't hard to find, and was very private. Adina killed her lights, pulled past the large hemlock trees and coasted onto the gravel driveway. She pulled her car over to the edge, got out, and walked a quarter mile up to the house in the dark. The night was damp and silent. The fog wet Adina's hair and dripped down her Gore-tex jacket.
Drew's house was a large Craftsman with a large porch across the entire front. It was surrounded by unfenced lawn and beyond that, forest. On the south side of the house was a large garden, including berry bushes. The garden was finished for the year. The porch was dark, as if Drew were not expecting any visitors.
Katy's bike was on the porch; Michelle's Jetta was parked in front of the garage. Adina planned to leave before being seen by anyone.
Adina crept up the front stairs, stepping lightly in case the wood squeaked. The front door was in the middle of the porch. On the right was a picture window to the living room. On the left was another large window, to an office. And in the office were Drew, Katy and Michelle, on a futon that must have doubled as a couch. It was pulled flat. They were naked.
Adina pressed herself against the pillar closest to the study window. In the deep shadows of a foggy night, she pulled the hood of her jacket up and tucked her pale hands into her pockets.