by T. N. King
“No. The question is, what are you doing?”
“N-nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me. That’ll only make things worse.”
“I’m not lying. I didn’t do anything.”
“You see, now I know you’re lying. Because you have been doing something. Your handiwork has been going up on the walls all over here.”
The look in the boy’s eyes changed as he realized what Liam was talking about.
“Everyone’s seen it, and people are pointing fingers at you. Are you still going to deny it?”
The kid tried to struggle, but couldn’t move against the iron of Liam’s body pressing him against the wall. He didn’t say anything, but his face flushed a violent red. It was a bit of an exaggeration, no one was actually admitting to seeing him, but Liam was betting it would be enough to get the kid to admit to something. He knew as well as anyone that the recruiters were here to watch the practice, and wouldn’t want anything getting in the way of that.
“Are you going to deny it?” Liam asked again, his voice barely above a low growl.
“N-no. I won’t deny it,” the boy’s voice was full of false bravado, as if he could bluff his way out of this unscathed.
“Why?” Liam asked, pressing his elbow into the boy’s shoulder. “Tell me why.”
The boy grunted by didn’t answer.
Liam pressed his elbow further, until he could feel the soft flesh starting to give. If he pushed any more, it would dislocate his shoulder. “Tell me why.”
The longer the boy stayed silent, the harder Liam pressed. Part of him admired his ability to stay silent for so long, whatever else he was, the kid was not a rat. Finally, he made a noise, a strangled grunt of pain, and Liam pulled his elbow away a fraction of an inch. “Well?”
“She needed to be taught a lesson,” he croaked, barely above a whisper.
Liam dug the elbow in again. “And you thought you were the one to do it?”
He made another noise, but only nodded his head.
“Who told you to do it? I don’t think you’re smart enough to have thought of it yourself.” Liam gritted his teeth, and gave another push of his elbow. This was it, this was what he needed. The one last piece of evidence that would point to Harrison. But the kid was giving nothing away. Liam again when to the verge of dislocating his shoulder, the kid’s teeth were gritted tight, nothing was getting out of there. Frowning, he loosened up on his elbow, trying another tack.
The kid sighed in relief at the elbow was pulled away, his entire body sagging.
“Promise you’ll never do it again. I want to hear it.”
“I promise, I won’t do it again,” he mumbled, trying to pull himself out of Liam’s grip.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you?”
“I promise I won’t spray paint anything about Ms. Carter again.”
“Try again.”
“I promise not to spread lies about Ms. Carter ever again.”
Liam looked at him long and hard, squeezing the boy even more.
“Just let me go,” he whined. “I did what you wanted.”
He didn’t respond, just putting more and more pressure against them kid, crushing him against the wall.
He wiggled slightly, in a vain attempt to get free, but he couldn’t fight against Liam’s size and strength. “Please, stop,” the boy begged, not even trying to fight any more.
“That depends on you,” Liam growled. “If you stop, you’ll never have to worry about me again. You don’t, and you’ll have to explain to the scouts why you have two broken legs.”
The kid turned even paler, his dusting of freckles looking like spots of ink.
Liam tightened his grip, leaning even closer to him. “You understand?”
The kid was shaking now, but Liam kept him pressed against the lockers. The arm against the kid’s chest was like iron, hard and unmoving. It felt like a stranger’s arm, like it was somehow, separate from him, acting on its own. Every time he saw some hurting Miranda, he had to stop it from happening, especially since he wouldn’t be able to protect her for long.
Finally, Liam pulled his arm away, letting the kid drop to the floor.
His body fell with a heavy crash, and for a moment lay unmoving.
Liam stood watching, until the body moved, he’d be all right eventually. His face was like ice as the kid struggled to sit up, leaning against the wall, breathing heavily.
“Give me your phone.”
“What? NO!”
“I don’t recall giving you a choice. Unlock your phone and give it to me.”
“No.”
Liam took a step towards him.
The boy flinched. “Alright, alright.” He stood up slowly, walking towards the end of the line of lockers. His was still open, and he pulled the door wider, and rifled around, before pulling out a slim iPhone. He pushed the screen, and then tossed it to Liam. Swiping through the pictures, it was hard to keep the grimace off his face. There was picture after picture of him with his buddies, or half naked girls, and one picture taken looking up a girl’s skirt. Liam had already passed it before he realized what it was, recognizing the navy blue fabric with pink flowers that Miranda had worn two days ago. Rage flared up in him again, in a way it hadn’t done for years. Opening his fingers, he let the phone fall to the hard cement floor. They both watched as the phone hit, the screen shattering on impact. It bounced once, before coming to rest, flat on the floor, the screen facing down. Quickly he lifted his foot, bringing to crashing down onto the phone, his heel grinding the components into the floor. He hoped the picture hadn’t been sent yet, if it had there was nothing else he could do it stop it.
“Hurry up and get out onto the field.” Pressing his foot even harder, he turned, reveling in the scraping crunch, and walked out of the locker room, onto the field.
The anger had drained out of him by the time he got to the field, watching the players warm up, he just felt hollow.
“Is that all of them?” Harrison asked, his voice sounding far away.
Liam shook his head. “There’s one more inside. He was just finishing when I talked to him.”
“Right.” Harrison nodded towards a group of strangers huddled at the edge of the field. “I’ll get the recruiters settled and start the practice.”
Liam nodded at him, and as Harrison walked away, he called for the player’s attention, waving at them to come in.
They ran in slowly, each of them turning to look at the recruiters, trying to catch their eyes.
He smiled as he watched them, remembering what that felt like, the nervousness and excitement all tangled together. The idea that the future hung on what those people were writing on their clipboards, that you were on the verge of doing anything you wanted.
Harrison came back, starting the practice, but soon left Liam to run it, choosing instead to go back to talk to the recruiters. After what had happened in the locker room, Liam threw himself into the practice, using it to let go of his emotions. All he saw were the students in front of him, watching what he was doing, imagining those motions done with their own bodies. It reminded him how much he missed it, not just the football, but the training for missions. He missed the stretch and burn of his muscles, as he strained them. For the first time in weeks, he found part of himself actually looking forward to being sent out again. The other part was scared to leave Miranda, just when she was starting to get close to him.
“Receivers, you need to do more to make sure you aren’t covered. It’s not just about speed, it’s about agility. It’s how fast you can step around them to make the catch. You have the power, you just need some finesse. Go out and try it again. This is a practice. This is the best place to try out different things.”
Some of the players groaned as they ran back out, but it looked like some of them were paying attention, absorbing his words. He felt a small swell of pride, as he watched them run out to the field. Some of them changed their footwork, like he’d said, and could see u
nderstanding move across their faces.
“Mr. Stone,” came a voice beside him. It was hard and clipped, Caroline’s seething with barely contained anger, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Players and spectators turned to watch what was happening. “I’ll need you to have a meeting with me.”
This felt too familiar…to surreal. Like the years had disappeared and he was a teen again. “When?” he asked.
“Right now.”
* * * *
Liam walked into Caroline’s office and heard her lock the door immediately after he entered. A shiver ran down his spine. Liam had faced death many times on his tours in Afghanistan but nothing could spike fear into veins like Caroline’s icy stare. He watched as she slowly crossed to her desk and stood behind it. Her crystal blue eyes were seething with anger. Liam noticed that not only did she not sit but that she didn’t offer for him to take a seat either. She probably thought that he didn’t deserve comfort at this moment, and she was probably right.
A long uncomfortable silence went by and Caroline let Liam sit in it.
Liam glanced at her perfectly manicured hands and the way that they were clutching her glass top desk. He was surprised that she didn’t shatter the top with her iron tight grip. He’d experienced the strength of that grip on multiple occasions when he was younger. The memory of Caroline’s grasp was still vivid in his mind.
“What were you thinking?” Caroline practically growled at Liam through gritted teeth.
He knew that whatever his response was it would be unsatisfying to Caroline. For a moment, he remained silent, but her fiery blue gaze was relentless and demanded an answer from him. Liam shuffled back and forth feeling very much like teenager back in high school. “I can explain—”
“You weren’t thinking.” Caroline slammed her hand against the table startling Liam. “That is the only acceptable answer.” She paced the length of her office and then stood facing the window gazing out of it.
Liam had never seen her so flustered before. He’d never seen her so out of control. Caroline almost never let her emotions boil up to the surface, she always kept them in check. He realized that what he did in the locker room must have really crossed a line.
Caroline let a deep long breath out. She continued to stare out the window across the main front lawn of the school. “What is happening Liam? Why have you been refusing to satisfy your needs? Why have you not been with any women, even when I am providing you them?”
“Miranda,” Liam murmured under his breath. He knew as soon as he uttered it that he’d made a mistake.
Caroline whipped around and crossed the room until she was mere inches away from his face.
Liam breathed in her familiar scent: lilies and lavender.
“I can tell that you’ve fallen in love with her already Liam, which is a mistake. It’s distracting you from taking care of your needs. Your love for her is making you restless and more willing succumb to your anger and worst of all it’s leading you to make mistakes and lash out like you did in the locker room today.”
“I’m sorry Caroline.”
“It’s too late for ‘I’m sorrys’ I brought you here to mentor these boys. To be a good influence for them. All they have as an example of how to behave like a man is Harrison, and Harrison is violent bully. I thought you could show them how channel their anger in productive ways like football, instead of spray painting libel about teachers. I thought that you could show them about the importance of hard work and dedication, but instead you sank to Harrison’s level today and showed a student that the only way to get what you want isn’t through hard work, but through physical force and bullying.” Caroline was up in Liam face not yelling but very close to it.
Each of her words slapped him across the face leaving him feeling torn inside.
Caroline walked away.
Liam could tell that she was doing everything possible to keep her anger in check.
Her body was shaking with rage. Caroline sat at her desk chair and took several deep breaths.
“Is Mark ok?” Liam asked after a long stretch of tension filled silence.
“Mark is shaken but fine. I talked to his parents and they are not going to press charges. I explained to them your situation and how you’re on leave from the army. Mark’s Dad being a Vet himself understood and they have kindly not requested for you to be fired. The school is going to replace his phone and Mark is not going to get charged with vandalism or sexual harassment.” Caroline rubbed her hand across her face.
A gesture Liam had never seen her do. He sighed. Part of him almost wished he had been fired. He never belonged at this high school. Why was he still trying to fit in?
“You will have to maintain a distance from Mark and you are not allowed to interact with him except at football practices. Which is too bad. Mark was one the struggling students. He needed a good mentor more than anyone.”
Liam looked at his feet ashamed again. “I’ll do better in the future.”
“You have no other choice, Liam. Miranda and these students need strength. But they don’t need yours Liam. They need you to help them find their own. You won’t be able to fight Harrison’s dominance with dominance. This school needs an example of a man who finds strength in subordinance.” This seemed to rush out of Caroline.
Liam felt like for a rare moment he saw the true inner workings of her mind. He looked at her sitting in her office chair—really looked at her, and for the first time ever—Caroline looked tired and even worse, disappointed.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Miranda glanced at her watch for the third time within the last minute. Her cab was 15 minutes late, which wouldn’t have been a big deal if it wasn’t for the fact that she had to pick Elise up from day care in the next 10 minutes. As a single mother, Miranda knew that her parenting would be judged a lot harder than a two parent household. She knew she had to work twice as hard to make sure that Elise was getting all the support, attention, and love all the other kids got. And one of those things that single parents were judged on a lot more harshly than other parents was being on time for their kids’ appointments.
“Where is that cab!” Miranda yelled to herself. This really was the last straw to an awful day. She nearly got ran over this morning by Harrison, her car was totaled, and she just found out that 30 minutes ago students had been circling around a photo of her crotch, and now she was going to be late picking up her daughter from school. Miranda felt quick hot tears pour down her face. She quickly buried her face into her hands. She took some deep steading breathes into her hands, hoping that it would calm her nerves enough to get through the rest of the day. She would hate to pick up Elise crying, she wouldn’t want her daughter to see her like this.
“Miranda, are you alright?”
Miranda jumped about a foot in a half. She hadn’t heard anybody approach, but in her defense, she was sobbing pretty loudly. She looked up to see Liam staring down at her and her mascara and tear stained cheeks. She knew she looked a mess and she knew that her day had just gotten worse. Of course, Liam was the one she would run into as she had a total and complete melt down. It seemed like he was always the one to walk by as she was having an ugly break down. For once, she would love for him to see her when she wasn’t just a puddle of tears and cheap mascara. “I’m fine, just had a bit of a rough day. But I’m fine though.” Miranda tried to desperately reassure him.
Liam looked incredulously at her and then around the parking lot. “Where’s your little white car?”
Miranda was surprised and slightly flattered that he knew what kind of car she drove. But Miranda without thinking looked at her feet. She had no idea how to answer Liam’s question. My crazy ex husband slashed the tires this morning and then proceeded in trying to run me over. Yeah, that wouldn’t sound insane at all. Miranda chuckled to herself a little.
“What are you laughing at?” Liam was looking at her quizzically. His head tilted his eyes searching.
She could tell he wasn’t only
confused by her, but also trying to figure out what her deal was. “I got into to a little accident this morning, and now am waiting for a cab that seems like it will never come!” she blurted out.
A flash of worry crossed his eyes. “I can give you a ride,” Liam said matter of factly.
Without even releasing what she was doing, Miranda began frantically waving her hands in front of her face. “No, no. Don’t worry about it. You’re too kind, but I also need to pick up my daughter, and it would just be a huge hassle for you,” she rambled while she flailed. Why was she making such a big fool of herself?
Liam raised one eyebrow skeptically. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. Without breaking eye contact with her, he unlocked his red sports car. “Come on Miranda, I’d be happy to give you and your daughter a ride.” He reached out his hand to her.
Miranda was overwhelmed. This seemed like something out of her desk daydreams. She took a step forward and took his hand. A last left over tear rolled over her cheek. She watched, as Liam’s other hand came up and cradled her face. His thumb quickly brushing the tear away. Liam’s brown eyes bore into Miranda’s hazel ones. Their bodies were very close now. Thank goodness, most of the staff and students had gone home at this point, She couldn’t imagine what they would write on the wall if they saw her this close to Liam. Miranda felt a heat emanating from both of their bodies. She tried to restrain herself from letting her body lean in any closer to his. She was scared if she did that she would kiss him right here in this parking lot. She felt their breath mingle and for a moment, she thought. What if she kissed him? What if for once in her life she did exactly what she wanted to do without fear of Harrison or what anyone thought of her.
So she did. She kissed him.
Right there in the parking lot. Miranda reached out to the black leather lapels of Liam’s jacket and crushed her soft pink lips into his, placing a searing kiss onto his mouth. She felt his body tense in shock and then slowly relax. His solid muscular frame slowly pressed into hers. His two rough and strong hands gently cradled her face as he kissed her passionately back. For a moment, time seemed to stop as Miranda found herself kissing Liam deeper and deeper her body slowly being enveloped by his. She wanted more of this. More of him. Her kiss grew faster more desperate, he kept up with her, his mouth moving from her mouth to her neck.