Chapter 14
“It’s your senior year, Michael. You have to do something different if you want different results.”
“I know, Ms. T. I promise this year will be my best year.”
Michael had been on my caseload since I started at the high school. For the past two years, I watched him be his own worst enemy. He definitely had some family trauma that affected many of his decisions, but he’d begun making better choices at the end of the last school year.
“I’m counting on you to keep your word.”
We stood, and I escorted him out of my office and to the main entrance of student services. I was surprised to see Ramina sitting in our waiting area with a frown.
“Wassup, Ramina?” Michael asked in a flirtatious manner.
“Boy, get your behind outta this office and go straight to class,” I told him, playfully pushing him out the door.
“I’ll see you later, Ramina!” he shouted over my shoulder.
I closed the door and looked at Ramina. Her smile was as bright as the sun, which was vastly different from five seconds prior.
“What are you smiling about because seconds ago you were frowning?” I asked.
“Nothing. He’s cute,” she responded with a giggle.
I shook my head. “He is off limits. What are you doing in here? Is everything okay?”
“Can we talk in your office?”
“Sure. Follow me.”
It was the third week of school, and things were beginning to settle down.
The first two weeks were always a bit chaotic, but thankfully, it got progressively better.
I met with Ramina during the first week, and she graciously gave me the rundown of her academic and behavioral history since we hadn’t received her records.
Rowdy confirmed what she told me, and she’d been honest about her shortcomings. Our goal for her final year of high school was for her to stay out of trouble and make at least one friend. I connected her and Violet, and they seemed to click right away, but her presence in my office concerned me.
“What’s going on?” I asked once we were seated in my office.
“Is it possible to have my locker moved?”
“It’s allowed on a case-by-case basis. What’s the problem?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Excuse my language, but I’m trying not to beat someone’s ass.”
“Who?”
“Diondra and her minions.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. Diondra was probably the most popular girl in the school, and if you asked her, she was the prettiest. While she was gorgeous, the school was full of gorgeous young ladies, and Ramina was one of them.
“What do you think her problem is with you?”
“I don’t know. I peeped her attitude during the first week when I introduced myself, but I didn’t say anything and let it slide.
Every day, her and her little raggedy friends have something slick to say.
Today, it was about my hair not being real, and they asked who made my lace front.
I ain’t got nothing against nobody for what they do with their hair, but my hair is real.
When I said that, she put her hands in my hair and tried to pull it.
I smacked her hand away and rushed to class, but next time, I’m gon’ smack her face. ”
I took a deep breath because I almost responded like Noelani and not Ms. Townsend. If Ramina had whupped Diondra’s ass, it would’ve been a well-deserved ass whupping.
“Yes, that’s inappropriate and deserves to be addressed. Do you have an idea of where you want to move your locker? I’ll have to check to see if there are empty ones in that hallway.”
“Violet says there are some empty ones by her. I don’t know of anywhere else.”
“Okay. I’ll get right on that after I talk to Diondra.”
“I wasn’t trying to be a snitch, but—”
“First of all, you’re not being a snitch. You’re being a responsible individual.”
“Yeah, I am, but I was gonna say I was trying to save Diondra from this beat down because these hands are lethal.”
This time, it was a little harder to maintain my professionalism, and I laughed.
“Girl, get outta my office. I’ll let you know when everything is taken care of.”
“Thank you. So . . . Are you and my brother serious?”
“Serious as in?”
“Like, are y’all boyfriend and girlfriend?”
“Why? Is he talking to somebody else?”
“Not that I know of, and I’d tell you if he was because he ain’t gon’ be doing my social worker like that.”
I laughed. “Thank you for having my back. As far as me and your brother, I’m not sure where it’s going, but I like him a lot.”
“Does that mean y’all are boyfriend and girlfriend?” she asked again.
“We’ve had that discussion and I’m comfortable saying he’s my man and I’m his woman.”
“Ayeee!” she cheered while dancing in her seat.
“Why are you so excited about us being an item?”
“First of all, he hasn’t had a real girlfriend since he was like twenty. Secondly, maybe being with you will stop him from . . . umm, I’m just happy he got a woman. I gotta go.”
She tried to stand, but there was no way in hell she was leaving my office after what she’d just said. I put my hand on her shoulder, forcing her to remain seated.
“Maybe being with me will stop him from what, Ramina?”
“It’s nothing, Ms. Townsend. Forget I said anything.”
“Absolutely not! Is your brother . . . doing something inappropriate to you?”
She looked confused and didn’t answer immediately. It was as if she was processing my question. The moment she realized what I’d asked, her eyes widened, and her mouth opened.
“Oh my God! No, Ms. Townsend. My brother is not doing anything inappropriate to me. That’s disgusting!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! Rowdy would never do something like that. He’s a great big brother.”
I released a deep breath, relieved I didn’t have to shoot his ass.
“That’s good to know. Umm, can you keep this conversation between us? I don’t want him to think I thought he was a pedophile for sixty seconds.”
She laughed. “He won’t hear it from me.”
“Thank you. I still want to know what you think being with me will stop him from doing.”
She sighed. “Let’s just say being with you will keep him out the streets.”
“Is that why y’all left Savannah?”
She nodded. “I don’t want to say more than that because it’s really not my business to tell, if that’s okay.”
I nodded. “That’s fine, sweetheart. Thank you for your honesty. You’d better get to class.”
“It’s just study hall, but okay.”
She left, and I looked at the time. I didn’t have time to dwell on what Ramina had shared about her brother.
I’d been seeing students since school started and missed my lunch.
I had a meeting in forty minutes and needed to eat something before I started feeling faint.
Messing around with Rowdy, I was running late this morning and forgot to grab the lunch I’d packed, but I kept snacks in my office for days like this.
After looking up the location of Violet’s locker and checking to see which ones near hers were empty, I sent an email to the necessary parties to move Ramina’s locker. I then filled out a few passes for Diondra and her besties to come to my office during the last period of the day.
“Noelani, the security at the main entrance says there’s someone here to see you,” one of our office assistants, Shamia, appeared at my door and announced.
“Umm, okay. Thank you. Can you have one of our student aides deliver these passes during eighth period?”
“Sure,” Shamia responded, taking the passes.
On the way to the main entrance, I was stopped three times, and when I finally arrived, a smile spread across my face. Rowdy’s fine ass casually leaned against the check-in counter.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
He held up a bag from the deli down the street, causing my eyes to widen and my stomach to growl.
“I thought you might be hungry,” he said.
I looked down at the bag of pretzels I’d grabbed before leaving my office.
“Your timing is impeccable, but I only have about thirty minutes.”
“Let’s make the most of it. Are we going to your office?”
I nodded, took his free hand, and we went to my office. Although Rowdy was dressed in navy coveralls and a dusty pair of work boots, he looked good enough to eat, and I wasn’t the only one who thought so.
As soon as we entered the student services office, all eyes were on him.
I dragged him past all the nosy eyes without an introduction.
Once we were in my office with the door closed, he placed the bag of food on my desk and wrapped me in his arms, burying his face in my neck.
I didn’t even care that he smelled like motor oil.
His hands made their way to my ass, and he gave it a good squeeze.
“That ass is juicy as fuck,” he mumbled against my neck.
Before releasing me, he cupped my face, left a peck on my nose, and pressed his lips against mine. It took every ounce of strength I had to pull away from him before I let him fuck me against my office door.
“I missed you,” he confessed.
“I see. I missed you too. Thank you for lunch.”
“I wanted to have it delivered earlier but time got away from me, and when I realized it, it was quicker to deliver it myself.”
“I’m glad time got away from you and I got to see your handsome face.”
He kissed me again before stepping away.
“The time is ticking. You should eat.”
“You’re right.” I sat down and opened the bag of food. “This was very sweet of you.”
“Since I made you forget your lunch, it’s the least I could do. Besides, it gave me an excuse to see you.”
He sat next to my desk in the chair where students usually sat. I’d already taken a bite out of the chicken Caesar wrap he’d bought for me, and it hit the spot.
“You never need an excuse. You actually just missed Ramina. She came to talk to me about something before it escalated. You should be proud.”
“That’s not how she usually moves, so I am proud. Were you able to help her?”
“I haven’t yet, but I will after my meeting.”
“Good. Thank you.”
“That’s what I’m here for. Was the shop busy this morning?”
“Not particularly, but since I got recertified, my uncle has me taking a lot of the jobs coming in. He wants to make sure I can provide all the services offered, and also show my coworkers that I’m qualified and he didn’t just hire me because I’m his nephew.”
“That makes sense. If they stick around, you’ll be their boss eventually, and he wants them to respect you.”
He shrugged. “I guess, but I don’t give a fuck if they don’t. As long as they keep the disrespect to themselves, I won’t have to fuck nobody up.”
“Hmm . . . I wonder where Ramina gets her hot temper from.”
“Her parents. I—”
Before he could finish, the door to my office opened.
“The meeting is in ten minutes,” Kenai announced.
“Nigga, do you know how to knock?” Rowdy questioned as he stood and got in Kenai’s face.
“This is a school, and that kind of language isn’t tolerated.”
“Barging into my woman’s office ain’t tolerated either.”
“I didn’t think knocking was necessary. Noelani—” Kenai began as he tried to step around Rowdy, but when he moved, Rowdy moved.
“That’s Ms. Townsend to you,” Rowdy corrected him. “And she’s a professional, so she doesn’t need to be reminded when the meeting starts. Get the fuck outta here and find something to do.”
Rowdy pushed him so hard, Kenai stumbled backward before regaining his balance. Rowdy closed the door in his face, and I was tickled and slightly turned on by the whole interaction.
“Does he always do that shit?”
I shook my head. “No. He’s never come into my office without knocking. I’m almost sure he only did it because he knew you were in here.”
“I don’t like that nigga. You need to keep your dealings with him on an as-needed basis.”
“Believe me, I do. Thank you for putting him in his place, but now you got my panties wet.”
He raised his brow. “Oh yeah? I can take care of that right quick.”
He pulled me to my feet, wrapped me in his arms, caressing my ass as he pressed his erection against my stomach.
“You’re gonna make it worse if you keep this up,” I warned him.
“You didn’t have to tell me your panties were wet. This is exactly what you wanted.”
Before I could offer a rebuttal, he kissed me, and I damn near melted in his arms. This man did something to me that I couldn’t explain. If I didn’t do something to slow my growing feelings, I’d be head over heels in love sooner than I was ready.
He pulled away and looked into my eyes. “I might have to sneak away more often in the middle of the day.”
“I won’t stop you.”
He kissed me once more before I began to wrap up the food I hadn’t eaten to put in my minifridge. Rowdy stopped me and wrapped his arms around me again. It felt so good being in his arms that I could spend an eternity there.
I let my head fall back and looked up at him. His eyes said something that his mouth had yet to speak, and it gave me butterflies. Or maybe you’re reading too much into this.
“Will I see you later?” he asked as he released me for the second time.
“You know where I’ll be.”
I finished putting away my food and walked him to the door.
The thirty minutes I spent with Rowdy were the highlight of my day and gave me enough of a boost to power through the rest of the day.
As I gathered my things to leave, Kenai appeared at my door, which was open, knocking dramatically on the doorframe.
“What is wrong with you?” I questioned, annoyed by his behavior.
“I had to make sure I knocked so you wouldn’t sic your big, bad, thug boyfriend on me.”
“Why are you here?”
“It’s Friday. Some of us are headed over to—”
“No, thank you. Have a good weekend.”
I didn’t care who was meeting where, for what, or for how long. If Kenai was going, I didn’t want to be there.