Withholding Secrets

by Diana Fisher

  “Sure. I’ll let him know.” When he pulled back, the warmth and comfort disappeared, allowing the crisp, cool loneliness to fill into the same spot.

  I watched him walk away without saying anything, not being about to say anything because of the thick, heavy lump of tears that were on the verge of busting open. Just as I managed to open my mouth to thank him again, a woman who had to be in her late twenties ran over to him with her chest bouncing up and down in her tight light sweater. He laughed a little and stepped back when she went to throw her arms around his neck. She still managed to get in for a little hug, but he shied back. Her body began to stiffen in the tight, painted on black spandex and the top that was a size too small, realizing she wasn’t going to get the undivided attention she was craving with me in the vicinity just after the tight, body pressing hug he just gave me.

  Pulling my mesmerized eyes away from him, I slid into the driver’s seat, started the car, and headed out of the parking lot, passing him a smile and a curt little wave and getting the daggers thrown at me by the woman. A green jitter entered into my blood and my leg bobbed up and down as I tried to control the amount of gas I was giving to the car. When I reached forty in the twenty-five zone, I pressed down on the brakes. But he was with that other woman. What was he doing with her now? Was he giving into going home with her? Why couldn’t I be the one he wanted to take home for the night?

  Taking my eyes off the road as the trees passed by faster, my teeth grinded together and a hammer beat on my head, seeing that I was up to fifty miles per hour. Stomping on the brakes, my car jerked hard and I came to a fast stop, the seatbelt clinging to me, holding onto me for dear life. What in the hell was I just thinking?

  Chapter 16

  Thursday, and nothing was solved with the bank. It didn’t help that being in my new position, I walked into a huge mess that wasn’t uncovered until I took over. When I did get a few minutes to call the bank, someone else popped into my cubicle and I had to wait until later to try them back. When I did get someone on the line, I was just placed on hold until another person stopped by and I had to cease my investigation.

  Taking a seat at my desk for the hundredth time that day, I looked at the clock, my heart jumping into my throat. It was three, and Ben left me a message on my work phone earlier about having some business to take care of and he wouldn’t be there to let the girls practice their basketball. Instead, Jordan was going to meet up with Kane out from of the school like planned and the kids would go to the rink until I was able to get there and pick them up.

  Just as I reached for the black phone in the cradle on the back corner of my cleared off work station, the light flashed and the ring blasted through the airways into my chest. Jitter bugs scattered over my skin leaving little prickles that brought an arctic chill to scathe my body.

  When I brought up a ball of courage from the pit of my sinking stomach, I didn’t get a call from the bank like I figured it was, but the school notifying me of Jordan getting involved in a fight. Presenting the findings to my boss, he rushed me out the door and I drove as fast as I could to the school and parked beside Kane’s truck.

  By the time I reached the principal’s office, Ben was seated on the bench beside his two children—Andrew, who was colored with the dark cherry all over his face, and Alicia, who had her arm around Sky, comforting her the best she could.

  Sky stood, pressing the white ice pack to her cheek that was already burned red and had a light shade of purple coming through already. Her forearms were brazed by concrete, the knees of her jeans were shredded, and the beads of blood were soaking through the tan band aid.

  My blood turned into an instant boil as it gushed through my heart, urging the rhythm into a mad dash for some answers. Anger pulsated through my limbs, and my hands began to tremble from the nerves that began to skitter scatter. “What in the hell happened?”

  Jordan pushed off the wall and dropped his guarding arms from his chest, and his eyes burned with the deep hatred he once had for me. This time, he wasn’t backing down from the anger and I needed to get him under control before someone did get their nose up our shit creek. “That asshole—”

  “Language!” Cupping her chin, I tilted Sky’s head back to get a better look at her cheek, but with the ice being pressed to it for a while now, it looked to be calming down. Still, I wanted to know who was messing with the little girl, and why wasn’t there anyone else stepping in to stop the bullying against her? Not knowing and not being there was beginning to fill my mouth with a layer of guilt ridden bile. “Who did this?”

  “He … I said … and they … and I told … He won’t…” She sobbed breathlessly and fell right into my arms, burying her head in the chest of my simple black button down dress shirt. Spreading my hands over the back of her teal sweater, I let her cry a little more, cooing at her to get her calmed down enough to tell me what happened.

  The heavy footsteps came down the hall as Kane’s raging body came closer and closer. The fear and the anger thrummed through my veins as I glared at him.

  “I hate him. He’s … he’s so mean to me…” Pulling back just enough to look at me, the tears were already staining her innocent face and her chin was quivering with the next explosion of cries. “Jordan and Andrew came out and went after him … and now they are in trouble.”

  “Are you hurt anywhere else?” With her petite body leaning in for more comfort, I blocked her and pulled her back so I could get a look at her concrete bite marks on her arms. From what it looked like, she was pushed from behind and tried catching herself. But if that was the case, then why were her arms chewed on and not her hands? “What happened?”

  “He was messing with her again!” Jordan swung around on the heels of his dull, white sneakers and balled his fists while the rage was turning into an uncontrollable inferno that I wasn’t sure I could extinguish. When he raised his fist and took a cheap-shot at the freshly painted white wall, Kane’s hand shot up to catch the flying fist before Jordan had a mess of bones.

  Stepping forward, I had a body slam into mine, a set of trembling arms wrapping around my waist stopping me from battling the raging bull. Luckily, Kane must have been right around the corner to step into the family wealth of undivided anger.

  “You need to settle down right now.” The hiss came through a set of clenched teeth, and the muscle in Kane’s jaw tightened. “I will get you two out of this, but you better not say a damn word unless it is calm and rational. Do you understand me?”

  “He won’t stop—” Jordan pulled away from Kane, and the rage slithered up to an anger I’d never witnessed in someone before. Both fists were ready to go, his knuckles a ghastly white, and his muscles were rigid and that of a tiger’s, ready to pounce and take down the elephant in the room.

  “Jordan.” Ben cleared his throat and stood towering over the kid by a foot or more. His red and black plaid shirt was molded over his belly to prove that he did put on a few age induced pounds, but the snugness through his shoulders screamed that it was harder to find him some items that fit his burly size. This time, there wasn’t any blush in those chubbier cheeks of his, nor the glisten of happiness in his cornflower blue eyes. “I know what he did was wrong, but we need to stop this. Not you.”

  I looked at Andrew and the slight blood stain in the corner of his lips. His shirt was torn and his nice blue jeans had grass stains on the knees and the backside of them. “What happened?”

  Turning my look back to Ben and Kane, rage started to poison my system, and if someone didn’t start talking, I would jump right into the basket with Jordan’s temper.

  “I just pulled up when the fight broke out. I was able to break it up before any more damage could be done.” Ben glanced over at his son with the anger darkening his cheeks.

  “He was messing with her again, and I came out when he grabbed her hair and shoved her down. I tried to catch her, but I couldn’t get there in time.” Andrew stood, his shoulders dropping even more from the watchful eye of
his fuming father. “So I went after him instead.”

  “Thank you for stepping in to stand up for her, but fighting is wrong. You should have told someone.” I put my arm around Sky, holding her to me as her body just vibrated with the cries.

  “They said she was constantly provoking it, Keri!” Jordan anger eased back a bit, but still, his fists were clenched tightly.

  “Why didn’t you tell me that this was going on?” I forced a deep breath while I took a gander over to the red-faced heated man and Kane with the fire deep in his eyes.

  “Because, every time that we turn around…” The pain hit Jordan’s face hard as he pressed his lips tight together and the glass sheened over his dark eyes.

  “Kane, would you sit here with her for a second?” I passed Sky over to Kane’s willing arms as he held her close to him, letting her cry. Taking Jordan by the arm, I walked him down the hall to what looked to be another hall of vacated classrooms. “Now … what is going on?”

  “Every time we turn around, people are saying crap about us, Keri. Her teacher is being nasty to her and treating her like crap that makes her feel even worse about herself. There are rumors that we will be taken away from you, and that you are going to give us up because we are too much for you.” The anger swooshed from his golden skin, and the hurt flushed away. Drawing in his bottom lip, his eyes focused on the wall with the students’ artwork that was being displayed.

  “Who said that?” Folding my arms across my chest, the rapid beating of my heart was hitting the thin sleeves of my shirt and the nausea began to brew in my belly. There was no way I would ever give those two kids up, and if he was thinking I would, then we would have another problem on our hands. I would have to stand up to whoever was the rumor starter and straighten them out myself.

  “Her teacher, her math teacher, and he’s failing her, too. He sits there and makes comments about her being stupid and how slow she is and how she shouldn’t be in regular classes. Keri … she’s not stupid.” Terror flashed in his eyes as they began to fill with water. “He’s going to get us taken away from you.”

  “That is the sort of thing that I need to know, Jordan. You should have told me what’s going on, so that I can take care of them.” I put my arm around him and swallowed hard as the anxiety was urging my heart rate to pick up and my stomach to clench tightly. Why was everyone so against me trying to give the kids a better life than what they had, or what they could have if they were to be split up?

  “I’m sick of him bullying her because of what that fat prick is saying in class.” I raised my eyebrows at his language, and he pulled back the anger once again, allowing the tears to come back to the surface. “Sorry. But I tried talking to the kid, I talked to the teacher, and I talked to my teacher about it, and no one is doing a damn thing about it. Taking it into my own hands is the only way I can get it taken care of.”

  “You should have told me what was going on. You can’t be fighting or you will get kicked off the team. It’s in the rules.”

  “I know. Andrew went after him before I could, but she’s my sister. I’m supposed to protect her.” His eyes shot down to the floor as the shame pressed heavily on his shoulders. “It’s my job, too, because I am supposed to take care of her.”

  “It’s my job to take care of you both. That is what makes us a family, and I don’t give a shit who tells us different. But, I can’t have the secrets and all this going on behind my back or someone will split us up.” Releasing my breath, pain gripped a hold of my chest and squeezed hard, not giving me the opportunity to take in some fresh air. “I’m not going to be upset over this, but you have to come to me if there are problems like this, or they will take you away from me. I can’t let that happen, Jordan. We have a lot of people watching us, and we can’t afford this to happen. You both are all that I have, and I can’t lose either one of you.”

  “I’ve always had to protect her. Nobody else has ever cared.”

  “I care, Jordan.” I gave him a quick hug and pulled him back to check him over, looking for any rips or holes in his clothing, and my chest finally loosened enough for me to take in some much needed air. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

  “Hell no. That kid wouldn’t have stood a chance with me.” He smirked a little as he looked down at his red knuckles. “I was only able to get two hits in before Ben separated us.”

  “Good. But don’t you dare let it happen again.” Sucking in the laugh, I walked him back to the bench and looked at Sky’s bloody knees and torn jeans. This was the second pair of jeans that the kid ruined, and I was about to let him have it myself. After taking care of the kid, I would have to confront the teacher and find out why he was singling out Sky and spreading lies about her, not to count, allowing her to be bullied in the classroom.

  Kane brushed his fingers against my arm, sending a pool of warmth right to my center. “When you go in there, be calm and don’t just attack. You can’t afford to lose your temper either.”

  I nodded, glancing at Ben with his brows pinched together and the scowl still in his cornflower eyes. All I needed was for him to hate me also. He was the first parent who actually spoke to me, or even shared a conversation with me. Our kids seemed to get along very well, and I didn’t want that to change either. Sky and Jordan needed good people in their lives.

  The heavy door opened and a red-headed, freckle faced boy walked out with two professionally dressed parents behind him. His smirk danced across his ashen face as he passed Jordan, and the laugh bubbled out when he saw the tears running down Sky’s face. Both his eyes were already coloring with a deep purple hue, and the blood was stained on his upper lip and chin.

  The mother, who was wearing an elite, top of the line white business suit, glared at me. Her plastic nose was flared, and the disgust was painted heavily over her face along with the makeup. “I suggest you keep your filthy kids away from mine, or else.”

  “You should tell your son to keep his hands off my daughter, or else.” The snap of the words blasted out, and both Ben and Kane stiffened their stances. The anger started to pulsate through my body again as I caught a little tormenting drifting toward Sky from the mean boy. “I hear that he puts his hands on her again and I will get the authorities involved.” My eyes shifted over to the dad. “Shame on you for letting your son bully a little girl. You want to look down at me for my parenting? Look in the mirror before you throw stones.”

  “This coming from a girl who had a kid at … what? Ten? You have no ground to stand on when it comes to talking to us.” She snorted a laugh as she started to walk away.

  “You know nothing about my kids! Don’t you ever, ever talk about them again! I see your son bullying my girl again and you will be sorry!” Just as I went to follow behind them to voice my thoughts, an arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back. Looking up, my heart jumped into my throat, seeing that it was Ben and not Kane who picked me up. I was tiny by their means, but them both insisting on picking me up was starting to annoy me. All they had to do was just hold me back.

  “You keep your son and his hands away from her, Marge.” Ben’s angry voice ripped from him as he just held me to his side instead of putting me back down on my own feet. “He’s bullied my daughter, and I’ll be damned if he will bully hers.”

  Finally, he carried me over to Kane and put me back onto my feet, taking the extra caution of placing me down gently before taking his seat at the bench again beside his two teens.

  Kane’s arm snaked across my shoulders as he tucked his face close to my neck, the heat warming my frosty skin and sending a warm shiver down my spine. “Keri, I am serious. You need to just settle down. Do not attack like that in the office. I will take care of them.”

  “Her teacher is the one who is making the remarks, Kane. What am I supposed to do? She’s not a dumb kid. She’s smart and knows this stuff, but he’s getting her too scared to even think.” I looked over at Sky with her head on Jordan’s shoulder. “What am I supposed to do? Because, apparently I’
m not good at this. I’m just ruining everything for them, and I just—”

  “Keri, just listen to me and don’t blow up. Trust me. If you really want to keep those two, you need to trust me.” He loosened his hold and nodded with his emerald eyes dancing over mine. “Ben knows what’s going on, and he will stand up for you. You need to let him take care of this meeting.” He held up his finger pointing it to my heart. “Calm. Calm, Keri.”

  Nodding, my name was finally announced at the heavy door where their trouble maker and his ruthless parents came out. How could I do this? How could I not want to beat the hell out of that teacher, that student, and the principal for allowing this to happen? When a kid says that they are being bullied, those were the people who were supposed to put a stop to it. Not encourage it because of the kid’s background.

  Ben escorted me into the office and motioned to the two chairs placed in front of the oak desk that was jam packed with clutter. A computer on one side, a large … something on the other. Papers, folders, a desk planner that spread over some more papers and folders. It was worse than what Kane’s desk looked like when I first saw it. Right on top of the litter or mess, was a paper with Jordan’s name on it and red makings all over it. Once the principal, a man that looked to be in his late forties with the receding hairline and the silvery sparkles at his temples, mentioned something about suspending Jordan because of constant trouble making, my attention snapped up and the age rushed through me again and I scooted to the edge of the chair.

  “I will go straight to the school board if our boys are reprimanded. They had no choice except to take matters into their own hands, because you and your staff neglected to do anything against the bullying of her little girl. Now…” Ben vacated the chair fast with enough force it shot backward and across the room. Putting his large fists down on the desk, he leaned three-quarters of the way over the cluttered top of the desk and looked the ghostly man right in the eye. “My daughter has told me how that math teacher bullies that little girl in the middle of class. Now, you tell me where the issue is and I will assure you that the board will hear their side quite heavily. I will guarantee those two boys will not be the ones punished with suspension.”