Torn

by T. N. King

  “You must be Harrison,” Liam said, stopping next to the lone figure.

  “And you must be Liam,” Harrison answered, holding out his hand. “Liam Stone. It’s a real pleasure to meet you.”

  “Very glad to be here.” Liam smiled, shaking the other man’s hand. Give him the lead. Let him know, I am wide open.

  Liam’s father, his adopted father, always said you could learn a lot about a man by his handshake, things that you could never learn just by talking to them. Liam kept his hand firm, but Harrison’s was crushing, he squeezed Liam’s fingers in his grip, a broad grin on his face. Liam kept his smile, pulling his hand away, that one touch confirming everything he’d been told so far. The man liked to dominate, and used his size to do it. Something that might work on someone like Miranda, but he was easily bigger and stronger than the other man. Harrison was a high school athlete, passing his prime, while Liam was still training daily. If that was how he measured a man, Liam could more than match it.

  “Guys, bring it in, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Harrison called, waving a hand in the air.

  Quickly, the players stopped whatever they were doing, and gathered around Harrison. They talked quietly, until Harrison held up a hand, and they fell silent quickly, whatever else, they followed Harrison unquestioningly.

  Reluctantly, a thought started to form, what if it was one of them? Was it one of the players, acting out of some kind of weird loyalty? Or even worse, put up to by Harrison himself?

  “This is Liam Stone. He’s going to be with us for a couple of months, as the assistant coach.”

  The guys were quiet for a moment, digesting that information.

  Finally, one of the guys put up his hand. “What do we need an assistant coach for? We’re already doing the best.”

  They cheered, slapping each other on the back.

  After a minute, Harrison held up his hands, and they all went silent. “Sure, we might be the best in the state,” he started, a small cheer broke out again, but it died away quickly. “But that’s it. Around this country are hundreds of schools better than we are. Does that sound okay to you?”

  “No,” they shouted at him, giving Liam the feeling they had done this many times before.

  “The big teams, the professional ones, the college ones, is it okay with you that they give spaces to kids from other schools?”

  “No,” they shouted again, louder this time.

  “Then you know why we need this guy with us.”

  They cheer again, and Harrison lets them go silent on their own. That one speech taught Liam a lot about Harrison and how he ran the team. He inspired them, but the dream of playing pro was just that for most of these guys. He didn’t even need to see them play to know it, there was always more kids trying out than there were teams to play on. Football was a stepping stone to bigger things than just playing pro ball. If you played your cards right, you could be set for life. A small flutter of nervousness flared in him as he looked out of the cluster of players. Some of the kids were looking at him up and down, appraising him, trying to determine what value he was going to add to their lives. They had to know whether or not it was worth paying attention to him. It shouldn’t be too hard, he knew what they wanted, after all, he’d been standing in their place before, he knew what they wanted to hear.

  “I seen that name before. You that same guy on the trophies by the office?” one of the kids asked, his helmet tucked under his arm.

  The helmets were the same bright blue and yellow as they had been when he was a player. High school really never changes, he said to himself, smiling at the helmets, glad that they were the same. The tips of his ears flushed red slightly. He’d seen the case full of pictures, and trophies, even walked past them on his way to the staff room for lunch, but he hadn’t stopped to look at them. It seemed unbelievable that they would keep his pictures up for so long. “Yes,” he answered, nodding slowly. “I’m that guy.”

  The players seemed to close in a little.

  “Did you know you still have the record for career passing yards?” one asked.

  “And the most wins,” added another player.

  Embarrassed, he shuffled back and forth on his feet, trying to think about what to say. It was like a job interview all over again, he had to hit just the right notes, he needed to say something inspirational, but not corny. Coach H had always been good at that, Liam just needed to find a way to channel it. He bounced for a moment on the balls of his feet, still thinking about what to say. It was definitely harder than it looked. Finally, deciding on a position to take, he stopped bouncing and turned to look at the group. “I am really glad that no one from another school took those records. Those are our records, they belong here, to our guys. We should be setting the standard that everyone else has to follow.”

  The players looked around, nodding and fist bumping, so far they were warming to his words.

  So far, so good, he thought to himself, taking a breath for the next part of his speech. “But, come on! Why hasn’t one of you guys taken it yet?”

  They seemed surprised by this question, and they frowned looking at each other.

  “It’s not that I was a better player than you. Actually, there are probably guys here who are better than I was. The only thing special about me was how much I wanted it. And what I was going to give up to get it.” He didn’t think the idea of giving things up was going to be popular, but it was true, and he knew that now. He could have been better too, if he’d put more of his attention on football, and less on fighting, maybe his life would have been different. But if it were different, would he have met Caroline? Would he have needed to meet Caroline then, if that was the case? It was impossible to know. And if all that brought him to Miranda now, would he have wanted to change it? “That’s what I want for you,” Liam continued. “I want you all to find your thing, the thing you want more than anything else, and show you how to get it.” He glanced at Harrison, whose face was hard and blank, giving nothing away. “This right here, should be both your goal, and a stepping stone to get you to your next goal. To get you another step higher to where you really want to be.”

  He glanced again at Harrison, hoping for some kind of clue, something that said Liam was saying the right things, but the man’s face hadn’t changed. It was hard to tell if he didn’t like what Liam was saying, or if he just wasn’t paying any attention.

  Hard truth lied n beneath this…His gut told Liam this man was pure pain, ego, control. He liked to hurt people.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Walking into the staff room for his first faculty meeting was a revelation to Liam, he wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t something so plain. He’d never been in it before, he had so rarely shown up when he was a student, and when he was there, he’d been so focused on his drugs that he’d never given much thought to what was going on inside it. Now, walking in, he had to admit he felt a little disappointed. It was larger than the classrooms, the only furniture a long table lined with office chairs. A small kitchen sat off to one side, and a shelf lined with coffee makers and different types of coffee.

  Caroline, and some other teachers, were already sitting around the table. She gave him a tight smile, and waved her hands at the lines of chairs.

  Glancing around, he looked at who else was here, and where they were sitting. Miranda was there already, her face even more pale than usual, sitting near Caroline. Other teachers, ones he recognized as part of the English literature team, were sitting next to her, probably as a way of making sure Harrison didn’t.

  He sat down across the table from her, ready to smile if she looked over, but she didn’t. He hadn’t seen her since they talked in the hallway, she must have felt embarrassed about what she’d said, since every time he tried to meet up with her, she’d ducked away, or had to leave suddenly.

  Over the next few minutes, more and more teachers filed into the room, and sat down. Everyone got hot and restless, but the meeting didn’t start
, they looked at their watches, and phones, checking the time.

  “I’m sorry everyone,” Caroline said finally, standing up. “Today it’s important that we have everyone here, so we’ll wait a few more minutes.” She drummed her fingers impatiently on the table, the only indication that Liam could see of how the insubordination was annoying her. He could picture Caroline, standing in front of a business meeting, like her husband did, leading a company, or leading a force of soldiers, there was something about her that reminded him of a commander he’d had once, they could bring people to them in a way others couldn’t.

  Finally, Harrison and the other coaches walked in, laughing. He looked around the table, as if looking for somewhere to sit, even though there was only one area left, but stopped when he saw Miranda, giving her a sinister smile, his eyes dark with something Liam couldn’t quite put his finger on.

  “Finally!” one of the teachers shouted, banging a hand on the table. “Can we start now? I have to get my kids from day care.”

  Other teachers chimed in, agreeing with the complaint, but the newcomers seemed to ignore them. They were taking their time walking towards the table, stopping to pour fresh coffee, before sitting down.

  Caroline stood up anyway, starting the meeting.

  “Before we start our business, I would like to introduce a new member to our team. He’ll only be here for a short while, but I think there is a great deal he can do for us while he’s here. Everyone, please join me in greeting Liam Stone to the phys. Ed. Team.”

  A whisper seemed to echo around the room, as some people recognized his name, but it was drowned out in the general applause.

  For the first time, Miranda looked over at him, smiling faintly.

  He grinned back at her, as Harrison loudly pulled out a chair and sat down. He raised his coffee mug to Liam, as if toasting him, and set it back on the table.

  Caroline beamed down the table at Liam, before speaking up again, “For our first order of business, we need to address the continuing vandalism of school property. At this point we do not have a positive identification of who it is, but we have several possibilities. If any one of you knows who is painting lewd messages onto the walls, please bring them to my attention, before I need to get the police involved. The continual cleaning and repainting of the walls is putting a strain on our budget, and the Parent Council is refusing to advance any more money. Unless you want a general cut in your classroom funding, we need to put a stop to it.”

  The teachers grumbled, but no one said anything against it.

  He was sure they all knew who was causing the painting and why it was happening, when he had mentioned it to Caroline she said they couldn’t go forward getting Harrison removed from the school without proof. They needed proof he was harassing Miranda, and proof he was getting students to help him. He understood where she was coming from, but a part of Liam didn’t care. The part of him that made him a good soldier, only saw a woman in distress, and he had to save her. He almost asked himself who could look at her now and not want to help, but the answer was clear. Harrison looked at her, and saw something wonderful that he couldn’t have, and that made him want to break it, so no one else could have it either. It was a feeling that Liam just couldn’t understand, he’d always been more self-destructive than anything else, he couldn’t understand wanting to hurt someone else, just because they made you mad.

  Caroline tapped her papers against the tabletop, getting everyone’s attention back. She set the papers down, closing her eyes.

  Liam recognized that look. She was getting ready for a fight. Across the table, he could see Miranda pulling herself up straighter in the chair; it looked like she was bracing herself for an impact.

  “As you all know by now, we were turned down for the revitalization grants, which means we will have to be more focused about where the spending for the rest of the year will be. At this moment, we have two proposals on the table. One from Harrison, asking for the money to be spent on the football team, and one from Miranda asking for the money to be spent on the literature department.” Caroline looked around the table, “Miranda, would you like to speak to your proposal first?”

  She stood up, and smoothed down the front of her pink button down shirt, momentarily pulling the wrinkles flat, before letting the fabric spring back to normal.

  Liam wasn’t sure if she was nervous about speaking, or if it were the audience.

  “I know it will be hard to support the literature department, since most of you are seeing your own areas passed over. I’m sorry, we can’t help everyone. English literature is one of the important core subjects, it helps students learn how to effectively communicate, and understand the media culture around them. We’ve all seen the test scores, read their essays, and engaged them in discussion. We’ve seen how their abilities to communicate, and evaluate the culture and media around them has been decreasing, we need to change the ways we engage them. We need to invest in materials that relates better to them. We need books for class study that encompasses different ethnic backgrounds, and gender choices. If the materials better reflect the lives the students see around them, they’ll take more interest in the class.”

  There was a small smattering of applause, most from the other English teachers sitting around her.

  Liam felt a sort of pride in them, they stood together, protecting their team. He filed this thought somewhere in the back of his mind.

  “I think it’s a no-brainer,” Harrison said, banging a hand on the table. From somewhere, there was a short of hidden laughter, and his face turned red. “It should go to the football team. That’s where our good press comes from. Good football teams are what get schools noticed.”

  Another of the coaches nodded his agreement. “If we can get more kids going out on football teams or scholarships, it will raise the profile of the entire school. When that happens, everyone else can have all the money they want.”

  Miranda made an annoyed noise in the back of her throat, running her fingers through her hair. “It doesn’t really matter how good the students are at sports, if they can’t achieve academically. Their football scholarships aren’t going to count for much if the students can’t get the marks to keep them.”

  She made a good point, but as he looked around the room, he could tell it clearly didn’t matter. The only ones actually listening to her were Caroline and Harrison. The look on Harrison’s face made him pause, it was angry, but there was something else in there, something else that put Liam on his guard. Now he understood, this was where the tension came from. If it came down to it, Harrison would leave a man behind, if it would save himself.

  “In the end,” Miranda continued, “critical thinking will do more for them, last longer in their lives than any sort of football success. Most of these students are not going to play professionally, and one injury could put them out for good. They need academic skills to build their future.”

  Harrison’s face turned a deeper shade of red, directing the full force towards Miranda, but refused to look in his direction, instead looking at Caroline, or the wall behind her. Every time she moved, Miranda made certain she never looked at Harrison, her face never turning more than half way. Occasionally, she would turn, looking at Liam out of the corner of her eye, blushing slightly before turning away to look back at the wall behind Caroline.

  “They will be building their future. They wouldn’t have gone to college without the scholarships the football team brings in.”

  “Many students not on the football team go to college. Most of our students aren’t on the football team, we need to give them support too,” another of the teachers spoke up.

  Harrison’s face got even redder.

  Caroline held up her hands, stopping the arguments. “Before this goes any further, we need to put this to a vote. You’ve all made good points, but we need to get this decided today. Does anyone else have something to add?”

  Everyone looked at each other, shaking their heads. They already knew h
ow this would play out, and now they were all too tired to keep it going longer. Most people would vote with Harrison, they’d seen how he was treating Miranda, and didn’t want that for themselves, or they didn’t want him to drag things out longer. A select few would ignore that, maybe Harrison already didn’t like them or they just didn’t care, and they would vote with Miranda. He hadn’t spent much time with Harrison yet, but the man had seemed all right, though talking with Miranda had given him pause. It was starting to make sense now. Her suspicion that he was getting the football players to harass her, seemed more believable, if he could cow the rest of the teachers into agreeing with him, it would be nothing to get kids on his side. Especially, the students who’d been like Liam, students would couldn’t or didn’t want to fit in anywhere else, who had nothing else going on in their lives. Liam knew he would have fallen for it, following the man who seemed to care about it, no matter what he said. That must have been why Caroline brought him into the school. She’d seen what was going on, and needed to give the students someone else to look up to, someone else to provide a role model for them, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d made the wrong choice. She should have chosen someone else, someone who could be a better example than he was. Someone who hadn’t broken a kid’s nose under the bleachers one night.

  “So we will vote,” Caroline said after a moment. “It will be the usual show of hands, starting with who is in favor of the football department getting the money?”

  Some teachers looked apologetically at Miranda as they voted, or consciously looked away from her, though it didn’t seem like she noticed. She kept her face hard, always looking at the wall behind Caroline. There was definitely a kind of strength about her that he hadn’t seen before. Somewhere inside her elfin body, there was a core of steel.