12. Theo
Theo
CHIROPRACTIC CARE
Sunday
“You have a thing for her teacher?”
My sister’s teasing drifted through the phone, and I should’ve been annoyed, but really, I needed the distraction. I couldn’t get Mia out of my head.
I paced the hardwood floors in my office as I said, “I wouldn’t put it that way.”
“Then which way would you put it? Because I’m getting images of Mrs Habershfield spanking you over her desk, and it’s very disturbing.”
“She was in her sixties when she taught us.”
“And? It’s not like I know what you’re into these days.” She paused, then said, “I still think you got lucky with Tash. I mean, a girl that pretty hanging out with you?”
I snorted. “I wasn’t that bad back then.”
“You used to sit in our neighbor’s basement and play Dungeons & Dragons for hours.”
“So?”
“So most guys would’ve been trying to get into Tash’s pants. She was so patient.”
“Until I got her pregnant.”
“And then told her you didn’t want that kind of relationship.”
“Yeah, that didn’t go down so well.” And even now, I still couldn’t find it in me to regret it. We didn’t love each other. There was no point in pretending that we did.
“Does Kira’s teacher remind you of her?”
I scoffed. “Fuck no. She’s nothing like Tash.”
“So she isn’t waiting for you to make a move?”
“Obviously not. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
Rochelle paused, then her teasing lilt came back in full force. “You do like her. Oh my god, this is amazing. You want to shtup your daughter’s teacher.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like I’m going to sleep with her.”
“Sure you’re not.”
“I’m serious.”
“Theo, come on. I haven’t heard you talk about anyone like this in years.”
“That doesn’t mean I like her.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No, it doesn’t. She’s so sarcastic all the time, and almost everything she says is out of line. She keeps a vibrator in her bag, Rochelle.”
My sister laughed. “She sounds fantastic.”
I sighed, leaned into the doorframe, and watched my daughter. Kira was sitting at the reception desk, thumbing through the script instead of the book she was supposed to be studying.
“She’s… difficult. If it weren’t for those eyes and that hair, I wouldn’t think twice about her.”
“It’s a physical thing then?”
I turned back to my desk and cursed. “And she knows it, too.”
“Does she?” My sister sounded so delighted that I wanted to hang up on her without another word. “And what does Kira think?”
I blew out a breath. “She thinks I hate her teacher, and she’s mad at me for blaming Mia about the script thing. She barely spoke to me yesterday.”
I was glad to hear the sympathy in Rochelle’s voice. “That’s not great. After what she went through with Tash, the last thing she needs is you arguing with her teacher.”
“I know. I just need to keep my distance.”
She was hesitant as she asked, “Do you… need me for anything?”
I barked out a laugh. “Did that hurt to ask?”
“I just, you know… I haven’t seen her since the funeral.”
“She knows you’ve got your own shit to deal with.”
Rochelle went through a nasty divorce, and for a while there, I thought my sister might have permanently changed for the worse.
She went from one legal battle to another, and it worried me. So it was good to hear her voice now, to know she was still my sister underneath her fancy art critic lifestyle.
“But it would be good to have some help over here,” I told her.
I stared through the doorway again, hoping to see my happy little girl sitting in that chair, humming and kicking her feet as she flipped through the pages of her book. Instead, I saw a young woman weighed with grief. Since we moved here, all I managed to do was make things difficult for her.
It hurt to admit, but it had to be said. “I’m not doing great with her on my own.”
“Well…” Rochelle’s voice was slow and deliberate. “Is there anything I can do to help out at her school? You said she was in a play, right?”
“Yeah, she roped me into building the sets. You could paint them. I don’t think they’ve got anyone lined up for that yet.”
She pulled in a deep breath, like she was committing to something she never thought she’d do, and it genuinely confused me for a second. Rochelle loved to paint.
“Well, it’s not like I have anything else going on.” I took that as her way of saying yes.
Kira stood in the doorway, catching my eye. She had her pack over one shoulder, like she was about to leave.
“I’ll sign you up then. Kira’s here, do you want to say hi?”
My daughter dragged her eyes up from the floor, shaking her head. I gave her a look, but Rochelle just sighed and said, “It’s fine. I have to pull dinner out of the oven anyway.”
We said our goodbyes, and I hung up as Kira planted both feet on the ground and spoke with more confidence than I’d seen from her in a while.
“I’m going to meet Miles. He wants to run lines.”
My stomach dropped. “Uh, no. That’s not happening.”
She blew a breath out through her nose and said, “Dad, I have to. It’s for the play.”
“Yeah, and I guess the two of you need to practice kissing for the play too.”
She raised a brow at me. “I don’t think of Miles like that. He’s nice, but I’m not.” She winced, as if the thought of locking lips with her co-star was as appealing as sucking a lemon. “Miss Walker said I don’t have to kiss him.”
I folded my arms. “Yeah, well. Miss Walker says a lot of things, doesn’t she?”
She mirrored my stance, crossing her arms tight against her chest as she glared at me. “And so do you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you yell at her every chance you get, and I’m lucky she hasn’t kicked me out of the program yet.”
“Kira, I overreacted, I know that. I apologized.”
She raised a brow. “To her?”
Well, if I didn’t have the strongest, most bullheaded women in my life, I didn’t know what I had. Kira looked exactly like Tash as she stared me down, and my gut twisted at the reminder of her mother. It caught me off guard, and I dropped my arms.
Kira’s expression shifted from annoyed to confused. “What?”
My throat felt scratchy and tight, but I managed, “Nothing. I’ll call and apologize tomorrow.”
She searched my face, then asked, “If I leave, you’re not going to freak out over Miles, right?”
Frustration buried my grief in an instant. My gut told me to dig my heels in and tell her she couldn’t meet some boy I barely knew. But I was already on her shit list.
“I didn’t say I was okay with you meeting him–”
“But Dad–”
“–But I trust you. Are you going somewhere public?”
She relaxed and nodded. “He booked a room at the library.”
“What’ll you do if he tries anything?”
“Dad.”
“He’s twice your size, Kira. What will you do?”
She shrugged. “Scream, kick him where it hurts, and run.”
“And you’ll call me, right?
She nodded. “I’ll text you when I get there.”
“Good. Now come here.”
Despite everything I’d done to upset her, Kira let me pull her into a hug anyway.
I held her so tight it would’ve squeezed the life out of her if she were smaller.
I walked her to the waiting area and watched her leave, deciding I’d better wrap up for the night, when a black-and-gray book cover caught my eye.
Lying on the reception desk was a copy of the book I’d bought for Kira weeks ago. Misplaced. I picked it up, flicking through pages and pages of annotations and scribbled crying faces before shutting it.
Mia told me she’d give Kira a new book to study. So what the fuck was she doing reading this?