Stolen Lives

by Joy Redmond

They made it to school just as the bell rang. All the other students were at their desks when they walked into the classroom. When Mr. Patrick looked at Ali, he seemed to have a special gleam in his eyes, which made Ali’s heart flutter.

  Most of that morning was spent on a reading assignment. The closeness of Mr. Patrick made it hard for Ali to concentrate, but he didn’t touch her. She was both glad and disappointed. At noon, the students headed for the cafeteria.

  Halfway down the hall, Ali stopped and told Toots, “Dang it! I forgot my purse. You go on. I’ll catch up.”

  Toots said, “You don’t have to have your purse. You can use my lunch ticket today. Then I’ll use yours tomorrow. If we don’t get in line right away, we won’t have time to eat without swallowing everything whole. We’ve only got thirty minutes.”

  “But I need a pad out of my purse,” Ali said. “I’ll be quick.” She hurried back down the hallway and found that Mr. Patrick was still in the room. She smiled, lifted the top of her desk, and pulled out her purse. To her surprise, she felt a pair of strong hands on her shoulders turning her body. She looked up and Mr. Patrick was smiling in a way that sent chills through her body.

  “What do you want?” she managed to ask before his lips came down on hers.

  The kiss lingered and the softness of his lips was both exciting and frightening. When he pushed his tongue into her mouth, Ali pulled away from him. She felt her face turning red, but the smile on Mr. Patrick’s face made her feel as if she was going to faint. She seemed to be frozen, wanting to run out of the room while at the same time wanting to throw herself back into his arms.

  Finally, she managed to make her feet move and she ran out of the room. Her heart was pounding and she hoped that the color in her face would be back to normal before she reached the cafeteria.

  When she entered, she saw Toots near the front of the line, but she knew she couldn’t cut in so she took her place in the back of the line. As she waited, she touched her lips with the back of her hand, and when she pulled it away, there were no lip prints. Mr. Patrick had sucked off her lipstick. She fondly recalled the feel of his soft lips, but was repulsed by the thought of his tongue in her mouth.

  Ali finally got her lunch and then took a seat beside Toots. “I didn’t have time to get things taken care of in the restroom,” she said, “so I’ll have to eat fast.”

  “What took you so long?” Toots asked. “And what happened to your lipstick?”

  Ali’s face turned crimson as she replied, “I must have chewed it all off. I’ll put more on before we get back to class.”

  Toots laughed and said, “Well, you might want to check the mirror. Your lipstick is smeared all around your mouth.”

  “It is?” Ali said, frantically grabbing her purse and heading for the bin to drop off her tray. In the restroom, she gasped as she looked in the mirror and saw that Toots had been right. She quickly grabbed a paper towel, wet it, and cleaned up the area around her mouth. Then she reapplied her lipstick, hoping none of the other students had noticed. Even as she was working, she could still feel the thrill of Mr. Patrick’s kiss. It was like nothing she had ever experienced.

  For the rest of the day, Ali couldn’t concentrate on her studies, and when the day was finally over, she quickly changed clothes and scrubbed off her makeup off at Toots’ house, then called out, “Bye, Toots. See you tomorrow!”

  When she got home, Aunt July met her with the daily quiz about every moment of her day. Ali gave cursory answers, and then hurried to her room, Mr. Puss in her arms. When she heard Aunt July making noise in the kitchen, she took out her diary and wrote about the kiss, adding to the episode as she recalled scenes from Splendor in the Grass. Mr. Patrick was more handsome than Warren Beatty, she thought, and she finally had to admit it—she was in love.

  The next day, Ali was disappointed when Mr. Patrick was the first to leave the room when it was time to head for the cafeteria. She and Toots were the last students in line, and as the line moved slowly, Ali felt a body behind her. Before she could turn around, she felt a pair of strong hands wrap around her waist, then hot breath on her neck and a face brushing against her hair.

  She pushed the hands away, turned around, and saw Mr. Patrick’s handsome face. She glanced away and saw Darla Winter looking right at her with an expression of astonishment. Darla turned to the students standing nearby and whispered something. Immediately those students turned in Ali’s direction. Feeling her face flush, Ali turned and hurried out of the cafeteria. She then walked down the hallway and went back into the restroom, where she stood in front of the mirror above one of the sinks and felt her eyes fill with tears. What Darla had told the others? Ali knew it couldn’t have been good.

  When other girls started coming in to the restroom, Ali knew lunch was over. She headed to the music room, wishing she could drop dead before she had to go through the classroom door. When she walked in, the students began whispering, snickering, and giving her strange looks.

  The rest of the day seemed endless. Mr. Patrick didn’t even look her way when she walked back into his classroom, but everyone else did, including Toots. When the final bell rang, Ali looked at Mr. Patrick before she left the room, but he was just staring out the window, as if he were in deep thought.

  Toots didn’t wait for Ali like she usually did. She was already well on the way to her house by the time Ali caught up with her. Toots didn’t look at Ali or say a word as they walked, and Ali couldn’t think of anything to say either.

  At Toots’ house, Toots stayed on the front porch while Ali changed clothes and scrubbed her face. When Ali emerged from the house, she found Toots waiting, hands on her hips.

  “I can’t believe what you did,” Toots said angrily. “Why did you touch Mr. Patrick like that?”

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t touch him. He—”

  Toots interrupted, “Darla saw him cup your breast and kiss your neck, and then you reached around and—” The words seemed to freeze in Toots’ throat and she could only shake her head.

  “I reached around and what?” Ali demanded. “Since you and Darla know so much, spit it out! What did I touch?”

  Toots bristled and then blurted, “You grabbed his privates and caressed them like they were powder puffs! There. I said it. I think you need to get your trampy butt under control!”

  Ali shouted, “That’s a damn lie, and if you believe it, you need to kiss my trampy ass!” Then Ali turned to go, adding, “And while you’re at it, go to hell!”

  Ali stormed away, but Toots ran after her, calling, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call you a tramp. Don’t be mad.”

  Toots followed Ali all the way to her house, where Ali turned and finally saw the sadness in Toots’ eyes. She sighed and said, “I can’t stay mad at you. You’re the only friend I have in the world. But you have to believe me when I tell you I’d never do that! How could you even think such a thing?”

  Toots threw her arms around Ali, crying even harder, and said, “I don’t know why I believed it, but Darla wasn’t the only one who said she saw it. Other girls said they saw it too.”

  Hugging Toots, Ali said, “They’re all liars. The only thing he did was hug me around the waist—but I pushed him away! That’s all there was to it. I’ll slap the snot out of Darla tomorrow. She’s jealous because Mr. Patrick doesn’t give her the time of day, so she made it all up to get back at me. She’s the real tramp!”

  “Okay,” Toots said. “I—”

  Before Toots could finish, Aunt July opened the front door and said, “Ali, you know not to dilly-dally outside. Tell Toots goodbye and come in the house.”

  Ali sighed and said, “I better get on in. According to that witch, if I’m on the sidewalk for more than thirty seconds, I’m acting like a streetwalker. Between the witches at school and the one I live with, I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell—but she says I’m headed to hell anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter.” With that, she turned and walked toward the house, lea
ving Toots standing on the sidewalk.

  Inside the house, Ali picked up Mr. Puss and went to her bedroom, where she whispered, “We’ll get away from that crazy woman and all the crazy people in this town as soon as I can save up enough money. I don’t know where we’ll go, but anywhere is better than Morrisville. Now I know why Mama Jane hated this town and wanted to get out. She was forced to come back, but we won’t. We’ll never come back—you can bet on it!”

  Ali started on her homework while Aunt July cooked supper. When Aunt July called her, she headed for the kitchen. After the blessing, she ate a few bites, but felt sick to her stomach.

  “I really have a lot of homework to do tonight and I need to finish reading the book of Acts,” Ali said after eating. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to get started on it now.”

  “Sure, child,” Aunt July said sweetly. “I’ll clean up the kitchen. Your schoolwork and Bible reading is more important. I’m proud of you for studying so hard and reading your Bible. You’ll be a fine young lady someday.”

  Ali went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Her stomach was in knots and she didn’t want to go to school the next day, but she knew there was no way around it. In her bedroom, she opened her notebook and started on her math. Then she opened her Bible and began reading. When she was done with that, she soaked in a warm bath, hoping it would relieve the tension.

  Later that night when Aunt July was asleep, Ali took out her diary and began to write about the day. She wrote an exaggerated story about what had circulated around school, embellishing it a bit. She chewed on the end of the pen and wondered what it would actually feel like to touch a man’s privates.

  She locked the diary, hid it under the clothes in the bottom drawer, slipped the key into her purse, and climbed into bed. Mr. Puss lay beside her, and his purring was all Ali needed to be able to fall into a deep sleep.

  The next morning, Ali dreaded going to school, but she knew she had to face the music. She grabbed her books and purse, and just as she was turning the doorknob to leave the house, the phone rang.

  She turned around, walked over to the end table, picked up the phone, and said, “Hello?”

  A female voice said, “May I speak with Miss Monroe, please?”

  At that moment, Aunt July walked into the living room, so Ali held out the phone and said, “It’s for you.”

  “Who’d be calling me at this time of the morning?” Aunt July asked.

  “I don’t know,” Ali said, again heading for the door. When she reached Toots’ house, she went through her regular routine, then she and Toots started for school. “Do you think all the lies will have died down before class starts?” Ali asked hopefully. “It’s more embarrassing than I can stand, but I’ll tell you one thing. Darla doesn’t know who she’s fooling with.”

  Toots looked concerned as she replied, “What are you going to do to her? She’s a lot bigger than you.”

  Ali smiled and said, “Hey, size ain’t everything. I’m going to knock her on her lying butt.”

  As they neared the school, a number of students stared, pointed fingers and laughed, but Ali ignored them and continued into the school. She and Toots were in the classroom and at their seats before the bell rang. Ali’s heart was racing and Toots looked scared. Mr. Patrick wasn’t in the room. Neither was Darla.

  Ten agonizing minutes went by, but Mr. Patrick still hadn’t come. Ten more minutes passed and Mr. Patrick was still absent. Ali breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that neither Mr. Patrick nor Darla had the courage to face her, which was fine, because she didn’t really want to see them either.

  Finally, a female voice came over the intercom. “Ali Monroe, please come to the principal’s office.”

  All eyes were on Ali as she slowly stood and walked out of the room. She could hardly feel her feet touching the floor. When she reached the principal’s office, she looked through the door window. Her heart stopped beating when she saw Aunt July, Mr. Patrick, Darla, and Darla’s mother sitting in chairs in front of Principal Johnson’s desk. The school superintendent, Mr. Westmond, was also in the room.

  Ali’s head began to spin as she saw her diary on Aunt July’s lap! The strap that had held the lock in place had been cut.

  Ali pushed the door open and walked slowly into the office.

  Mr. Johnson said, “Come in, Ali, and have a seat.”

  Ali leaned against the door and said, “I’ll stand, thank you.”

  Mr. Westmond said firmly, “Ali, you need to take a seat beside your aunt. This is going to take some time to sort out.”

  Ali stood frozen for a long moment. She looked at Mr. Patrick, hoping he would stand up, proclaim his love for her, and tell everyone they had no business butting into their lives. Instead, Mr. Patrick’s eyes were as cold as steel.

  When Mr. Westmond motioned toward a chair, Ali sat beside Aunt July. When she was seated, Mr. Westmond said, “Ali, I’ve read your diary and I apologize for the invasion of your privacy, but this is a serious matter. I have daughters and I know how young girls like to write about their fantasies, but I need you to tell me which parts are true and which parts you made up.

  I already know much of it is made up because there’s no way it could have happened. Maybe you’ve seen too many movies. But there are some things that could be true. I need you to either confirm or deny them.”

  Ali crossed her arms and replied, “What difference does it make? It seems to me that all of you have decided that I need to be hung, so you can believe whatever you want. I really don’t care. All I have to say is Darla is a liar and a troublemaker, and I won’t stay in the same room with her. Either she goes or I will.”

  Mr. Johnson said firmly, “Alright, Ali. I see no reason for Darla or her mother to remain here. We’ve heard Darla’s claims. Now we need to hear your story.”

  Darla and her mother glared at Ali as they made their way from the office. When they had gone, Mr. Westmond looked at Mr. Patrick and said, “You’ve also read what Ali wrote in the diary. Will you please confirm which parts are true?”

  Mr. Patrick looked into Mr. Westmond’s eyes and never even blinked as he replied, “Everything in there is a lie, or I should say, a figment of her overactive imagination. I’ve never touched her in any form or fashion. I would never—”

  Ali jumped to her feet and shouted, “You’re a damned liar! You pulled my desk next to you, ran your hands over my breast, and you pulled me back into the room when I was going to the cafeteria so you could kiss me on the lips! You made me think you loved me, you bastard!”

  Aunt July teetered in her seat as if she were about to faint while Mr. Westmond raised his hand and said, “Ali, I want the truth, but I won’t tolerate that kind of language. If that’s your statement, so be it. I don’t think we need to hear any more from you.”

  Turning his attention to Mr. Patrick, he said, “And if you’re going to stick to your statement, we don’t need to hear any more from you either.” He drummed his fingers for a few seconds, then said, “Mr. Johnson and I have already discussed this, and so far, this hearing has gone the way we suspected it would, so here’s how it going to be.

  “Mr. Patrick, you’re dismissed for actions unbecoming to the profession of teacher. You’ll never be allowed on the premises of this school again, and I’ll do my best to see that you never teach at any other school. I’m old, but I’m not stupid. I know a liar when I see one, and you are a liar. Now get out of here. Anything that belongs to you will be gathered up and mailed to you. If I could prove anything, I’d have you arrested, but as it stands, it’s a he said/she said situation, so just get out of my sight—now!”

  Mr. Patrick stood and walked toward the door. Ali watched him open the door and step outside. She wanted to run after him and beg him to take her with him, but he never looked in her direction.

  She fought back the hot tears that were welling up in her eyes as she turned and looked at Mr. Westmond. She gritted her teeth as she waited to hear her
punishment.

  “As for you, Ali,” Mr. Westmond said sternly, “I suggest you keep your fantasies inside your head from now on—and keep your distance from any man who shows any such interest in you. You didn’t resist, and you shouldn’t be acting like this at your young age. Now, go back to your classroom.”

  As Ali stood, Aunt July grabbed her arm, saying, “She’ll be going home with me, and she won’t be coming back until her face is scrubbed and she’s dressed in decent clothes.”

  Aunt July stood and began to pull Ali toward the door. Mr. Johnson held up his hand and said, “Miss Monroe, Ali needs to stay in school. If you take her, she’ll have an unexcused absence. As for the way she’s dressed, well, if she wasn’t dressed appropriately, she would have already been sent home. The makeup is up to you, but she can wash her face in the restroom.”

  Aunt July’s voice rose as she said, “Excused or unexcused, she’s coming home with me! I’ll decide what is appropriate and what’s not, and I’ll scrub her face myself!”

  Then Aunt July pulled Ali out of the room. Ali looked over her shoulder, her eyes begging for someone to rescue her, but Mr. Johnson just shook his head and didn’t say a word.

  Once they were in the hallway, Ali said, “I need to get my books. I’ll meet you out front.”

  “No, young lady,” Aunt July snapped. “You go to the car—right now. I’ll go to your classroom and get your books from your desk. Lord only knows what else I’ll find in there.”

  Once outside, Ali decided it was time to run, but she couldn’t decide which way to go. She couldn’t go to Nancy’s. That would be the first place Aunt July would look for her. She didn’t have time to run home, grab her getaway money, and head for the bus station. Aunt July would call the cops and she’d be caught as a runaway. There was nowhere to go, so Ali just sighed deeply and trudged toward the car, wondering what more could possibly happen to her.

  Chapter Nine

  Aunt July came out of the school building and marched to her car as if she was a soldier keeping time to the beat of a drum. She was carrying a stack of books, and Ali’s clutch bag was setting on top of the pile. As she watched her aunt approach, Ali wondered if she was going to keep her home the rest of the school year. She wouldn’t have minded if she did. She never wanted to see any of the students, teachers, or anyone else at that school again.