by Gail Sattler
“Come on, Sport. Time to go. Did you say thank you to Miss Klassen for the cookies?”
“Thank you, Miss Klassen!” Bradley smiled and wrapped his little arms around her, but winced when he started to squeeze, indicating that the medication was starting to wear off.
Josh stepped closer to pick Bradley up. “Yes, thank you, Miss Klassen. I don’t know what we would have done without you. If there’s anything I can ever do for you, please let me know.”
She smiled politely, then struggled with a bad attempt to stifle a yawn. “I’ll do that. Good night, Mr. McMillian.”
Bradley shook his head so fast Josh could feel his whole body shake in his arms. “No! My dad is gone away with my mom until she gets better. That’s Uncle Josh! Remember?”
One corner of her mouth quirked up. “Then good night, Uncle Josh.”
Josh nodded. “Good night, Miss Klassen.”
He quickly settled Bradley into his booster seat and headed for home.
“Miss Klassen is sure nice, isn’t she, Uncle Josh?”
“Yes, she’s very nice.”
“And brave.”
“Yes, and brave.”
“And strong.”
Josh smiled. Developing a bad case of hero worship was a much better alternative than lingering over the horror of the whole experience. “Yes, she’s very strong. I’ll bet she’s smart, too.”
He glanced in the rearview mirror to view Bradley’s place in the center of the van, since it wasn’t safe to put a child his size in the front seat because of the air bag. Bradley was nodding so fast his hair bounced. Josh returned his attention to the road.
“Yes, she’s super smart. And she’s really pretty too.”
Josh smiled back at Bradley’s enthusiasm. Admittedly, he hadn’t seen his teacher at her best, but still, if he had to be honest, he’d seen better-looking women. Not that there was anything wrong with her, but he didn’t usually go for the blond, blue-eyed types. All in all, she was fairly ordinary—average height, nothing striking about her, especially her hair, which was shoulder length and a bit on the straggly side. Not anywhere close to fashionably thin, she was still by no means fat. Although he couldn’t see anything particularly spectacular about her, because of how she’d saved Bradley from things he didn’t want to think about Josh could see her strength and beauty lay where it counted most, and that was deep inside.
Josh suspected that inner beauty was what Bradley saw through the eyes of a child, because children interpreted things at a more basic level than adults.
“Okay, we’re home now. I can see the blinds moving. Everyone is really anxious to see you.”
As soon as he opened the door of the van to get out, the front door of the house opened. Without thinking about what was happening behind him, he ignored the rush of bodies noisily scrambling down the sidewalk and opened the sliding side door to undo Bradley’s seat belt. Behind him, he heard a sudden silence as the rest of his nephews jostled for position, waiting for him to step aside so they could see what happened to their brother. Just as Bradley stepped into the opening ready to hop out of the van and to the ground, a bark sounded behind him.
He gritted his teeth. The last one out of the house had forgotten to close the front door, and the dog got out.
Josh turned around. “Cleo! No!” he shouted as he scrambled to block the dog. As a yellow Labrador, Cleo was heavy and hard to stop once she made her mind up to do something, especially once she had gained the advantage of momentum.
He made a grab for Cleo as she bounded past him, but missed. Cleo jumped onto Bradley the second the boy’s feet touched the ground, her large paws landing squarely on Bradley’s chest. His heart pounded at Bradley’s squeal when Bradley fell to the ground with Cleo on top of him.
Josh thought he might throw up. He barely made one step toward them when the squealing turned to giggles as Cleo licked Bradley in the face, stopping Josh dead in his tracks.
That Bradley wasn’t going to be afraid of dogs gave something else for Josh to be thankful for in his prayers tonight.
He swiped his hand through his hair, exhaling in a rush. “Come on, guys. Let’s get into the house. It’s way past supper time. Who wants spaghetti? If we hurry, Kyle can still make it to swimming lessons, but I think Bradley is going to miss Cubs today. And who’s got homework? Andrew, don’t you have a test tomorrow?”
The combined moan wasn’t unexpected. “Uncle Josh!”
❧
The phone rang just as Melissa stuck her toothbrush in her mouth. She ran to catch the phone, wondering who could possibly be calling at this time of day. She had to be out the door in five minutes in order to arrive at the school early to talk to the principal about the incident with Bradley McMillian.
“Hello?” she mumbled around her toothbrush.
“Miss Klassen?”
Melissa removed the toothbrush from her mouth and smiled. Usually it was only children who addressed her so, but this was a deep, flowing baritone voice. She recognized the caller before he identified himself. “Hello, Uncle Josh.”
She heard him clearing his throat. “I thought I’d call and make sure you were okay.”
“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” She smiled, hearing little Bradley’s voice in the background bombarding his uncle with questions until Josh assured Bradley that all was well and asked the boy to hush.
“Great. Well, I won’t keep you. I guess you’re probably almost on your way out the door.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Sorry to bother you. Good-bye, Miss Klassen.”
“No problem. Good-bye, Uncle Josh.”
With a quick glance at the time, she ran back to the bathroom to finish brushing her teeth, grabbed her travel mug of coffee from the kitchen, and ran to the door.
She managed to arrive at the school early enough to talk to the principal and fill out the necessary reports, including something for the police about the dog, but she didn’t have time to complete the medical forms before she had to be inside her classroom with enough time to prepare for the children’s entrance for the morning.
To her surprise, Bradley walked in with the rest of the children, proudly showing off his bandages. She hadn’t thought he would be attending classes today, but it did her heart good to see the child, who was normally quiet, bravely explaining to all his friends what had happened.
Not long after the bell to start classes sounded, the principal’s voice came booming over the intercom advising everyone that a student had been attacked by a stray dog the day before. He then described the dog according to Melissa’s report, followed by a warning to the children to beware of that particular stray or any dog and not to approach any animal they didn’t know. The principal then requested that if anyone had any information about the dog in question to contact the school office, animal control, or the police department immediately. Melissa knew that a notice would be printed and passed out to the children to take home before the end of the school day.
The morning passed by quickly because of the science fair in the gymnasium, although the tension was high as the students eagerly anticipated the results of the vote for best in the class. Following the first vote, announcements would be made of the winner in each grade, then in each division. In the evening, after the parents had been given the opportunity to browse through all the exhibits, they would announce the school winner, who would go to the district’s competition.
Melissa didn’t want to tell her students, but she knew none of her grade one class would make it that high. When the results were announced, she had a small “prize” for every student in the class ready and waiting, each one named as best in something, even if it was only for the best use of colored glue.
When the bell for lunch break sounded, those who were staying inside the building hurried to get their backpacks and hustled back to their desks.
“Miss Klassen?”
Melissa turned to see Bradley’s hand waving back and forth in the air. �
��Yes?”
“My juice spilled all over my lunch, and it messed up my backpack. Can I phone Uncle Josh to bring me a new lunch?”
“I thought your uncle was at work?”
Bradley reached inside the neckline of his bright red T-shirt and pulled out a thin chain with what looked like a dog tag hanging on it. “Uncle Josh wrote down his work number and also Darlene’s. That’s my sitter. So I can call him anytime I need him.”
Melissa tried not to smile in front of him as she admired Uncle Josh’s unique idea.
“Yes, you may call him, but if he doesn’t have time to come all this way, I’ll share my lunch with you.”
Bradley dashed from the room before Melissa finished her sentence and returned within three minutes. He dumped his entire lunch in the garbage pail except for his empty thermos, then sat at his desk. “Uncle Josh is coming,” he said with a big smile that extended nearly ear to ear. “My Uncle Josh is really nice. Do you think Uncle Josh is nice?”
“Yes, your uncle is very nice.”
“Uncle Josh makes good spaghetti. He even made pizza once.”
“Uncle Josh sounds like a good cook.”
“Yes, he is. He’s good at fixing cars, too.” Bradley’s smile widened as he sat at his desk, not moving a muscle. He folded his hands on the desk in front of him, straightened his back, and planted his feet firmly on the floor while he waited very patiently, especially for a six year old.
Melissa checked her watch a number of times as everyone else in the room ate their lunches while Bradley continued to sit as still as a statue. Melissa wondered how she could get the entire class to sit like that at the same time, even for a few minutes.
When only five minutes remained of the children’s lunch break, Bradley’s uncle strode into the classroom carrying a brown paper bag displaying the logo of a local fast-food restaurant. Melissa noticed he wore exactly the same type of clothing as the day before, coveralls streaked with oil and grime and the well-used work boots. This time, though, his hair was even messier.
Bradley sprang to his feet. “Uncle Josh!”
“Here’s something for lunch, Bradley. I don’t know how your juice spilled. I thought I tightened it this morning. Sorry about that.”
Bradley hurriedly emptied a cheeseburger and fries out of the bag while his uncle handed him a soft drink. “That’s okay, Uncle Josh. Do you want to talk to Miss Klassen?”
Melissa crossed her arms, sat on the edge of her desk, and watched the two of them in action. The love Bradley held for his uncle shone through both in his eyes and in his smile. She didn’t need to talk to his uncle. While she could question the nutritional quality of the lunch, Josh was doing his best as a substitute parent when he dropped everything and hurried to the school with an emergency replacement meal.
“Maybe another time. I have to hurry and get back to work. See you at supper time, Sport.”
Melissa stood and looked up at the clock. “Thanks for coming, Uncle Josh. I hope you’re not late getting back to work.”
He grinned, and the start of very attractive laugh lines appeared briefly at the corners of his eyes, probably amused that a woman her age would keep calling him “uncle.”
“Actually, I’m working right now. I’m taking a car for a test run before I give it back to the owner with a clean bill of health.”
She’d never considered that a car could be sick but chose to say nothing rather than keep him with aimless chitchat.
Melissa watched the flash of his blue coveralls disappear around the corner out the classroom door. Just as Bradley had said, Josh did seem like a nice man. She had to admire the spirit and fortitude of anyone who would take on five boys who were not his own, jumping in with both feet to become an instant single parent. That he was handling them right was proven by Bradley’s obvious love and admiration. He seemed to be living up to the responsibility and challenge of balancing a job and five active boys, although she knew he would continue to have struggles, as every parent did.
She sighed while placing the empty containers of her own lunch into her drawer, regretting that she couldn’t have met him another way. Even though it was not stated in her contract, there was very much an unspoken rule at the school that the teachers were not to have a relationship with any of the single parents of their students unless they already knew them from outside the school, and even then it was discouraged.
While the school could never enforce such a rule on paper, it had been made very clear when she was hired.
The ruling stemmed from an incident years ago when one of the other teachers had been dating a student’s father, supposedly a single parent who wasn’t single at all. The following scandal affected not only those directly involved, but a major percentage of the school population and, most notably, that teacher’s own class where most of the students ended up hating the teacher involved. It eroded the reputation of the teacher and nearly destroyed her career, because even though she had been a victim, gossip and innuendo followed her even after she had to change schools.
Melissa definitely respected the wisdom of that decision. True, it was a worst-case scenario, but she could also imagine what might happen to the general morale and atmosphere inside the classroom if a teacher dated any student’s parent, even someone really single. Favoritism, real or imagined, would definitely be a major issue. Also, in most cases the relationship would not see through to marriage, and strained or hurt feelings would follow the breakup, as well as for a considerable time afterward. No teacher could perform adequately under those conditions.
After Bradley wolfed down the last of his fries, Melissa sent the children out into the playground and spent the rest of her lunch break in the staff room. While she filled her coffee mug, she listened to a couple of the other teachers discussing two of Bradley’s brothers, Ryan and Kyle, who also attended that school. All three boys had needed to make major adjustments in their lives, and it appeared they were slowly working through the process of the separation from their parents, as well as getting used to the shift in authority with their young uncle moving into their home and taking charge.
No matter how well they were doing on the surface, Melissa knew right then there was something that she personally could do. Not only did she need to pray for little Bradley this weekend but also for his whole family.
Three
“Get dressed? Why?”
Josh stood in the middle of the living room as he fastened the cuffs on his shirt. It felt good to wear something that required buttons again, unlike the usual T-shirt and jeans he wore under his coveralls at work every day or around the house in the evenings. He also liked the feeling of wearing good leather shoes instead of his heavy steel-toed safety work boots all day.
He straightened the knot on his tie. “We’re going to church. And don’t pick anything with holes in the knees.”
“Church!” a chorus of voices bellowed around him.
“That’s right. I haven’t been to church since I moved in with you guys, and it’s about time. Instead of going back to my old neighborhood, I’ve picked a nice church close by that I think will have lots of kids everyone’s age, probably even some of the kids you go to school with every day. So, everybody, get moving. We’re going to all be in the van in precisely thirty minutes.”
“But I’m not finished with the level!”
“Too bad, Ryan. Save the game, turn it off, and get dressed. I hope you’ve already had your cereal.” He didn’t bother to ask if they had brushed their teeth because the ensuing scramble answered his question, just like most mornings. Even though Josh could never understand how they did it, everyone was in the van at exactly the right time, although he noticed Andrew’s laces weren’t tied.
“Why do we hafta go to church? Mom and Dad never made us go to church.”
“What’s the matter, Tyler? Don’t you believe in God?”
“Yeah, I believe in God. So what?”
“So that’s why you go to church.”
; “What if church is boring?”
A round of “yeahs” echoed around him as he turned the key to start the engine.
“Then it’s up to you to make it unboring. All you have to do is pay attention and think about what’s being said.”
“Why do you go to church, Uncle Josh?”
He turned to smile briefly at Tyler as he backed onto the street. “To worship God and be with other people who believe in God like I do. And then I get to listen to the pastor tell me stuff about God, so I can learn something.”
A rare silence filled the van, but it didn’t last long.
“Learn something? You mean church is like school?”
“Well, no. Just see for yourselves, okay?”
Not much was said on the journey until they pulled into the large parking lot, where Josh heard mumbles of wonderment that there were so many people there. He smiled to himself when he heard Ryan comment softly that maybe church wasn’t going to be so bad, after all.
Fortunately the kids were quiet and stuck close to him while he checked the place out. From the crowd already assembled and the size of the sanctuary, he judged the congregation to be about a thousand people, which was more than he was used to but was probably best for the kids to integrate themselves.
He didn’t know if the kids were supposed to go directly into the Sunday school classrooms or sit with the rest of the congregation until dismissed, so he took the lead from watching other families who were seated in the sanctuary, kids and all, waiting for the service to begin.
When more people started filing into the sanctuary as the time neared ten o’clock, Josh pointed his nephews toward the sanctuary opening. They hadn’t gone more than a few steps when he heard a familiar female voice behind him.
“Uncle Josh? Bradley?”
At the sound of his name, Bradley immediately stopped walking, causing Ryan to bump into him, then Andrew tripped over Ryan, who barely managed to right himself before Andrew hit the floor.