by Tonya Kappes
“Are you telling me that you or your parents asked him to give you some leeway?” I asked.
“You know if you’ve been around here long that this community helps each other out. He didn’t want to help no one for nothing.” Sam shook his head. “But you wouldn’t understand.”
“I understand more than you know.” I glanced down the hallway when I heard the janitor come around the corner pushing his cart full of cleaning supplies.
“Yeah, well, I’ve got to get back to the office. I’m the aide this hour and I’m sure Mrs. Willey has something for me to do.” Sam hurried back towards the office.
“You taking over for Scott?” The wheels on the cart stopped squeaking as the janitor brought it to a halt.
“I am.” I clasped my hands together in front of me. “Gracie told me that you could get me a key to the front door so I don’t have to have her buzz me in each morning.” I dragged my finger between the two of us. “Between you and me, I think she’s sick of me already.”
“Between you and me,” he leaned in, “There’s a lot of between me and yous, him and hers, her and hims, if you know what I mean.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You will.” He started to push the cart down the hall. “Stop by my closet during your lunch break and I’ll give you a key.”
The sound of yelling from the behind the closed door of the classroom cut my thoughts off. I wanted to ask him what he was talking about and if it had anything to do with Scott, but the unruly classroom needed my attention more.
“Good morning!” I hollered over their voices, walking back into the room. “I’m Miss West, your substitute teacher.” I sat down on the edge of the desk and waited a few long seconds until they all returned to their seats. “I remember sitting in your seat not too many years ago.” Over ten to be exact. “I couldn’t wait until I turned eighteen and could get out of Kentucky. That’s just what I did.”
I told the story about how at midnight on my eighteenth birthday, I had hopped on a Greyhound bus to New York City. All of them listened intently and I knew I had their ear.
“Little did I realize, I would one day be back in Kentucky, running a campground, of all places,” I groaned to meet their laughter, “and helping to bring Normal’s economy back to life.”
I decided to walk around and stretch my legs. I tried to get a look at all of the kids, but the full wall of windows and the sunshine day distracted me and made me miss gabbing with Dottie while we complained about the campground.
“I’m not telling you that you can’t move out of Normal, but while you’re here, you can make an impact on your community.” I looked at Beth. “Some of you may be getting scholarships.”
“Don’t look at her. The Coach caught her cheating on her ACT exam.” One kid snickered.
“Shut up, JB!” Beth jumped up and shoved him, knocking him sideways in his chair. “I’m retaking it on Saturday. That scholarship is mine.”
“Okay, settle down.” I hurried over and pointed to her chair. I couldn’t help but notice that the red Mustang from this morning had pulled up to the side of the school where my classroom was located. “Now that you know some more about me, why don’t we talk about you? What does your family do in Normal?”
While each student told me what their family did, almost all related to tourism, I walked over to the window to get a better look. The janitor had walked out of the school and over to the car. The same car that’d practically hit him this morning.
I’d turned around to acknowledge the next student’s story. When I looked back out the window to check out the little meeting outside, the car was gone and so was the janitor.
The hour flew by and before I knew it the bell had rung for the students to switch class. According to the planner, it was time for my planning period.
“Can I help you?” I asked Beth Lambert.
She stood at my desk with her backpack flung over one shoulder and looked as if she needed something.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“I just want everyone to come up with a couple ideas about how they can help our community. Just like I wrote up there on the board.” I was beginning to see why she hadn’t passed her tests. Not that I was judging her, but she’d clearly not listened.
“I got that,” she said with a smirk and sarcastic tone that ran through me like hot water on a brutally cold day. “I’m talking about for your planning period. I’m the student aide.”
“Oh, gosh.” I looked down and flipped through the notebook to see if Scott had written that down. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
“I’m guessing you have no idea about a lot of things.” She dropped her shoulder, and the backpack landed with a thud on the old tile floor. “Like what that loser said about my test scores.”
“I don’t think we need to call anyone a loser.” I felt the need to correct her as her teacher and it was just plain good manners. “But I was a little curious.”
I had to be careful how I phrased questions about her and tie them in with what Sam had told me.
“From what I’ve been hearing, Coach Goodman took a lot of pride in his athletes’ grades and a lot of the Archery and Rifle Club seniors aren’t getting scholarships because of grades.” I walked around the desk and sat on the edge of it, giving her my full attention.
“What you said today made me feel better about my circumstances. I mean, I know my parents are disappointed that I cheated, but. . .” she stopped when the door opened and Mathew had popped his head in.
“I’m sorry.” He put a hand inside the door and started to back out.
“Come on in.” I waved him in. “I’m talking to Beth about her test scores and I’m sure you’ve got some great advice to give her seeing you’re the doctor and all.”
“Sure.” He smiled and opened the door.
“That’s okay. I’ve got some homework to do if you don’t need me today.” Beth grabbed her backpack and flung it over her shoulder, taking a step back to steady herself. “I’ll be in the library if you need me.”
“Okay.” I didn’t want to push the topic with her. She reminded me of myself when I was her age. I didn’t want anyone knowing anything about me and if I did, I’d go to them in confidence like she did me. “Hold on a sec,” I told Mathew.
I followed her out the classroom door and into the empty hall.
“I’m sorry if I said something to Dr. Tillman that you didn’t want me to.” I put my hand on her arm. “I understand and actually see myself in you when I was your age. I probably should’ve just kept things between us.”
“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just. . .”
“You don’t have to explain.” I gave her arm a squeeze and dropped my hand. “I have an open door policy. You can stop by anytime if you need me.”
“Thanks. I just might take you up on it.” It was nice to see her tense jaw relax into a smile.
I waited until Beth had walked around the corner of the hallway before I went back into the classroom.
“I hope I didn’t disturb something.” Mathew was sitting in one of the kids’ desk.
I laughed out loud.
“What?” He asked.
“You look hilarious stuffed in that desk.”
“Think about how our basketball players feel. In fact, I need to look into this exact thing when I take my new job as superintendent.” He pointed to the lesson plan book. “Did Scott have it all filled out?”
“He did, but I’m kinda doing my own thing since I was going to do that for six weeks anyway.” I smiled. “Me. A teacher,” I laughed.
“Can I see his lesson plans? I’d like what an economics lesson plan looks like so I can see if my new school district is up to snuff.” He groaned as he maneuvered his way out of the desk.
I glanced up at the digital clock on the wall.
“Can we do that another time? I’ve got to get down to the janitor’s closet
to get a key to the front door. If I get on Gracie’s bad side she’ll gossip about me.” I grabbed the planner and my bag.
“Oh, no. She’s already drawn you into her web of gossip?” He asked in a mysterious voice.
“No, but I’ve been warned about it. I just want to do my six weeks and go back to my little campground.” The irony of my words made me giggle on the inside. I truly never thought I’d say that.
“I was just stopping in to see if you need anything, but clearly you are in control.” He walked to the door. “The students are already coming to you for advice. That took me years.”
“It’s a girl thing,” I said, not knowing if that was true or not, but it seemed to make him feel better.
After he left, I did a quick erase of the chalk board so the next class wouldn’t see my assignment before they got the full story behind it. With my bag in my hand, I headed down the hallway to the janitor’s closet.
“Knock, knock,” I said in a jovial voice, pushing open the slightly ajar door a little more. “It’s me. Mae West. I’m here to get the key to the front door that we talked about.”
The door caught on something and didn’t open any further. The light was on and when I pushed a little harder, the cart that was blocking it moved enough for me to pop my head in.
To be fair, it was much larger than a closet. There was steel shelving on each side of the room and a large open area in the middle, enough to put three of his janitor carts. I walked down the row and turned the corner to find a washing tub, hanging mops, brooms, and various other cleaning tools that were much too large to put on a shelf.
“There you are,” I said when I noticed there was a desk. The chair was turned away from it, facing a gray door that had a photo of a woman on a beach. The door was cracked.
I took another step closer and my shoe grazed an ink pen. I bent over and picked it up to put back on his desk.
“Lypsnk.” I laughed and wiggled it in the air. “I just saw one of these at. . .” I stopped talking when I noticed he wasn’t turning around. “Am I interrupting something?” I asked.
Just then, one of Kentuckey’s big spring winds whistled outside, pushing the door open and knocking me into the janitor’s chair, swiveling it around.
“Oh, no!” A blood curdling scream escaped me as my eyes settled on the arrow sticking out of his chest.
EIGHT
Principal Bass cleared out all the students in a fire drill type setting, making sure the hallway in front of the Janitor’s closet was blocked off. Even though the body of Orlando Banks, the janitor, couldn’t be seen, we all knew it was in there.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mathew Tillman asked me while I waited for Hank to get there.
“I’m fine.” I shook my head. Little did Mathew know that this wasn’t my first dead body rodeo. It was starting to become a regular occurrence and I wasn’t too happy about it. “I just don’t understand. First Scott and now Orlando.” I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it.
“Both with school arrows. Which makes me wonder if it’s one of the crazy parents around here,” said Mathew. There was a certain disdain in his tone that I completely understood.
“You know, I think you might be right.” I didn’t want to speak too loud since Principal Bass and Gracie were walking the hall to make sure no one was going to walk down it. “I overheard one parent talking about how Scott better straighten up or her husband. . .”
“Sounds like the Patterson.” Mathew already knew before I even had to tell him.
“You know about that?” I asked.
“Everyone does. Scott talked many times about how the parents wanted him to change their kid’s grades and he didn’t back down.” He looked down the hall as if to see if the coast was clear. “One time Principal Bass wanted him to change some kids’ grades in order for the school to get some grants or something like that.”
“He told you that?” I gasped.
“Scott didn’t, but Orlando did.” He looked back at the janitor’s closet. “Orlando told me that he could practically walk around here tooting a horn and no one really saw him. He said that he was such a fixture here that people talked freely when he was around. His janitor’s uniform was like a cloak of invisibility. He claimed he’d heard it all. From affairs to cheating to anything else you can imagine.
I blinked a few times and wondered if my hunch about the Pattersons was right and they’d gotten mad at Scott over a scholarship or grades. That would be a good motive to be mad at someone, but to kill them?
“I’m assuming Scott’s funeral will be a military one.” I reached around and rubbed my back. Sitting up against the concrete wall didn’t feel so good.
“Military?” Mathew looked at me funny.
“I’d heard Scott was in the military?” At least Betts had thought so since she’d overheard Adrienne and Scott fighting about it when she cleaned for them.
“Not that I know of. I guess he could’ve been in some sort of guard, but not that I know of,” he said.
“Mae,” I heard Hank call my name as soon as he laid eyes on me. “Are you okay?”
“She’s fine.” Mathew stood up and he reached out his hand to help me up. “I keep asking if she’s okay and she keeps saying fine.”
“Who are you?” Hank didn’t jump right into his usual line of questioning. There was a different, more protective tone to his voice.
He did motion for the other officers to go into the janitor’s closet to assess the scene while he stayed with me.
“Hank, this is Mathew Tillman, Dr. Tillman. He’s the . . .” I paused. “I’m sorry. I’m so new I have no idea what you teach.”
“I’m the performing arts teacher here at Normal High.” Mathew put his hand out. “You must be the police.”
“Detective Hank Sharp.” Hank reached around and pulled the black wallet out of his pants pocket and flashed his badge. It felt like he was peeing around me like I was his territory. Very odd. “Mae’s boyfriend.”
“Nice to meet you.” It didn’t seem to faze Mathew when Hank told him that. “I was just telling Mae that I can’t help but wonder if Orlando overheard something he shouldn’t’ve. Because he did say he heard a lot of things while cleaning.”
“If you don’t mind stepping right over there. Someone is going to be taking your statement.” Hank snapped his finger and pointed to Mathew.
“I don’t really have a statement to give. I haven’t even seen the body.” Mathew fidgeted a little, appearing to be uncomfortable. “You aren’t going to have me look at the body, are you?”
And by the way he was acting, I could tell why he was a performing arts teacher. Very dramatic.
“No, I’m not, but you somehow made it from your room to staying here with Mae. That’s what they will ask you about.” Hank nodded to the officer.
The officer came over and tried to take Mathew to the side.
“I only heard her yelling, so I came running. That’s all.” Mathew was now sweating along his brow. “This is all making me a little. . .” he gulped. “Lightheaded.”
“I’ll get you a drink.” The officer took Mathew a little more forcibly by the arm over to where they had water bottles.
“He’s a strange one.” Hank had no problem telling me that right off the bat.
“He’s harmless. He’s been super nice, checking on me and making sure everything is all good. He is leaving the school and from the rumblings in the teacher’s lounge, they’re really going to miss him around here.” I looked over at Mathew and he appeared to have settled down and gotten some color back into his face.
“He seemed pretty chummy with you.” Hank hadn’t even mentioned poor Orlando.
“Hank, are you getting jealous?” I teased.
“Stop it. So tell me what happened.” Hank’s detective voice came back, and I knew that play time was over.
“Orlando told me to come get a key to the front door of the school during my planning period. When I did, that’s wh
en I found him dead.” It was pretty simple. “The door to the outside was cracked open and. . .”
“Sir, you want to take a look before Colonel Holz takes him.” The officer popped his head out of the door.
“Holz is already here?” Hank questioned.
“Yeah. The Principal wants it all cleared out before the parents start freaking out and coming here to get their kids. Holz pulled up to the back of the building so he didn’t have to cart the body out the front door of the school in view of the kids.”
“Is it all clear?” Hank asked.
“Yeah.” The officer shrugged. “Nothing. Not a fingerprint or anything else. It’s spotless. Strange really. But I think the shot came from inside of the building. Maybe the killer went out the back door. But there’s no prints or nothing.”
“Why don’t you head on down to the station,” Hank suggested.
I did what Hank said. Maybe if Natalie was there instead of the coroner, I would’ve hung around a bit, but this gave me a chance to apologize to Agnes for not bringing her donuts this morning.
The police station was a little bit outside downtown in the business district. The white courthouse was the tallest building and right in the middle. The police station was attached to the
courthouse.
“These are a little late.” Agnes opened the bag with the Cookie Crumble donuts from this morning. “And a little stale.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea school was on early arrival and dismal for spring. Whoever heard of such a thing?” I asked and leaned on the windowsill using my elbow. “I was going to come here on my lunch break, but then I went to get my key from the janitor and found him dead and Hank hauled me down here.”
I looked at her out of the corner of my eye.
“Orlando Banks.” Agnes’s head shifted slowly side to side as she looked around her. “Plus, Ellis has been on Hank’s nerves.” Agnes took one of the donuts from the sack and took a bite. “She’s all over him about getting a new place to live. Not to mention that Natalie.”