6. Finn
Finn
MONDAY, AUGUST 18TH
I saw Callie leading Lex through the crowd to the teacher’s lounge and by the time I got to the doorway, they were cracking open their sodas. I’m so angry and disappointed in my kid that I was about to kick down the door and ground her for the next ten years.
But I heard something I haven’t heard in a very long time…Lex talking. In a calm voice. And then to hear Callie interact with her in a way I haven’t been able to? It was somehow both a tremendous disappointment and relief.
I was more than a little surprised, hearing the woman with tattoos, a nose stud, and technicolor hair get my daughter to come out of her angsty shell. I wasn’t about to interrupt and ruin the whole thing…but I wasn’t about to stop eavesdropping, either.
The conversation was enlightening, to say the least. It isn’t exactly a secret that Lexie hates it here, but to know the reason behind her rebelling makes sense.
She’s still going to be grounded for the next ten years, like I said, but at least now I know why.
But the biggest takeaway was just listening to the ease of their back and forth. Callie didn’t go in with guns blazing, but she didn’t let Lex off the hook. She handled the whole thing better than I ever could. And I realized how desperately my little girl needs someone else to talk to.
I duck quickly into the crowd when Lex exits the lounge and then I make my way back in. I have to give Callie my eternal thanks for her help.
When I hear her mutter that she needs to get laid, the shock (combined with my own lengthy dry spell) makes me want to give her more than just gratitude.
“Is that an invitation?”
Now I’m standing in front of her, watching the pink rise in her cheeks at the question I definitely should not have asked. But the words left my mouth before my brain got the memo. “I’m sorry,” I apologize. “That was?—”
“No, it’s okay,” she interrupts and smiles. “It’s a good line.”
I hate that she’s so fucking pretty. I want to hug her for helping my kid and then kiss her until she forgets her own name.
“So you were talking to Lex?”
Her smile falls. “I hope that’s okay. I just…I felt like she probably needed someone to talk to, so I?—”
“Thank you.”
Her features relax and she breathes out a sigh. “She’s a sweet girl. Moving is really tough.”
“It sounds like you have some experience. You gave her some good things to think about.”
“Oh, so you were full on spying on us, then?”
“Absolutely. I’m not even sorry.”
She chuckles. “Well good. Dads are supposed to worry about their daughters.”
“You knew all the right things to say, it was actually kind of like watching a genius at work. Are you just naturally good with kids, or did you learn it along the way?”
“A little of both, I guess.”
“Well, I’m grateful. I’m, uh, I’m terrible at it,” I confess. Suddenly, my stomach knots up. I’m not exactly used to broadcasting my inadequacies, but Callie must have some sort of spell that she casts on everyone around her.
“I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself. It’s always worse for the parents. Lexie pushes on you because she knows she’s safe with you. You’re not going to leave her. And so your reward is that you get to be crapped on until she’s older.”
I laugh. “Oh good, lucky me.”
She smiles. “Did you teach in Illinois?”
“Actually, no. I was a physical therapist, believe it or not.”
Her eyebrows raise. “Well, it’s not that I don’t believe it, it’s just that I’m wondering how you ended up doing this? Was it time for a career change?”
“Definitely not,” I answer. “I’m not just bad with my kid, I’m bad with kids in general.”
“Knock it off, you’re not bad with your kid. Or kids in general, I’m sure. So what happened, if you don’t mind my asking?”
I’m surprised to find I don’t mind. It’s so embarrassing that I haven’t talked about it with anyone other than my parents and Jonah and Delilah. Not that anything stays under wraps in this town…
But I’m opening my big mouth and telling my story to Callie without hesitation. “We didn’t live in the greatest area, as my lovely child told you. I’d hired an incredible nanny when Lex was little and it stretched my budget pretty thin. Even then, I’m sure Sarice wasn’t charging me what she probably could have. But she loved Lex and Lex loved her and it was great for a long time. But then she got engaged and her fiancée got a good job in San Diego. I couldn’t afford a new nanny and Lex didn’t like any of them, anyway. So I ended up back here in Birdville, where I grew up.”
She gasps. “That’s right! You grew up here!”
I wrinkle my nose. “I did.”
“Was it, like, the most magical childhood you could ever have? I bet this place is like the Promised Land for kids!”
“Um…you look pretty happy with that, so I’m gonna let you have it. Anyway, my parents have an apartment over their garage and they let us move back. This job was literally the only thing I could find, and it’s probationary until I get my teaching certificate. Unless I find something else.”
Her expression falls slightly. “So you don’t think you’d stay teaching if something else opened up?”
“Between you and me, there would be a Finn-shaped hole in the door at the first sign of a new opportunity.”
She nods but says nothing. And I realize my truth-telling might have offended her, since she clearly loves her job. Before I shove my foot in my mouth, she says, “I’d give it a little more time. I bet you fall in love with it.”
“I’m not real big on falling in love with much of anything,” I reply.
She doesn’t bat an eye. “So is that why you dress like you’re The Incredible Shrinking Man? Because you don’t really want to be here?”
I look down at my clothes. “What? What are you talking about? I’m comfortable!”
“Oh, I’m sure you’re comfortable, you’re basically in a Snuggie every day. I mean, I guess it’s convenient if you’re ready for a quick nap on your break.”
“Well, maybe I like a little room in case I want to bring my ferret with me to school.”
“Do you have a ferret, too?” The hope in her voice is almost comical.
“No, of course not, I’m not a crazy person.”
“I think you mean fun. You’re not a fun person.”
“You’ve literally never been more wrong.”
She snorts. “Oh really? Please enlighten me then. What do you do for fun? Do you pull those sweatpants up ’til the waistband is tucked under your armpits and do a run around the Town Square?”
“Um, I’ll have you know that there are at least four standing rules at this school that were made specifically because of the fun I had.”
“Oh yeah, I bet that guy was a real hoot! But I’m asking about this guy here.”
“I, uh…listen, I’m fun. I do…things. Fun things. Like…you know what? I don’t have to prove my fun-ness to you.”
Before she can offer any kind of retort, the bell rings out, filling me with disappointment.
“That’s my cue,” she says.
That damn bell keeps interrupting us .
She gifts me a grin and walks past me to the door, close enough that I catch a whiff of whatever amazing soap she uses. I should ask her what it is. But not in a creepy way.
“What about you?” I ask quickly before she leaves.
“What about me?”
“You just bounce around from place to place all the time? What do you do for fun?”
Her expression goes full-Cheshire cat. “I’m here til May,” she shrugs. “I guess that gives you less than a year to find out.” Then she disappears into the chaos that still consumes the main office.
D’Shawn and Piper come in to grab some food for their lunch break and I politely excuse myself. Lexie isn’t sitting outside Principal Field’s office, which means she’s in there now getting read the riot act. I’ll deal with her after school.
Nothing much left to do now except get ready to clean up the oil spill and think of all the ways I can avoid the first woman in ten years who makes me want to give up my “no dating” rule.