“You and these analogies.”
“I told you I could hook you up with one of Lewis’ friends, they have jobs, and you know you’re like a little sister to Lew. He wouldn’t hook you up with anyone who won’t take you seriously.”
“I’m tired of being set up. I’m tired of dating. I’m tired of seeing everyoneboss upoff of me. For now, I just want to do my work and focus on the upcoming project,” I fussed. Missy came and hugged me from behind as my phone started to ring. I tapped her arm and let her know I was good. Eventually, I would figure out where this all came from and how I got to this spot in my life.
“You’ve reached Teaghan LeJune. How can I help you?”
“Ms. LeJune, this is Elisha. We have an assignment at Coupeville Prep. The meeting is tomorrow at twelve. Are you available?”
Checking my calendar, I scanned the document to see if this would put me in a tight situation. I despised rushing. My assignments with the state took precedence over my personal practice, and that gripped me, but I did what I had to. It was either this or hear my father’s mouth. Somehow, he thought creating this position would get me closer toagreeing to work for him directly. The joke was on him because I had no desire to be a part of the lying trail.
“I can make it; Can you send the case details over?”
“Sure thing, thank you.”
Ending the call, I looked at Missy, and she rolled her eyes. Being a pediatrician was my job title but being the state pediatrician was an obligation. It required more of my time than I would like to admit. I loved serving my community, but on my own terms. Half of my time was spent reading over case files for children that seemed lost in the shuffle. The visits at the schools normally went the same damn way. Parents up in arms and kids caught in the crosshairs of a life they didn’t ask to be a part of. Most are entering puberty, some are contemplating suicide, and a few are acting out from a nasty divorce. None of it could be fixed in one sitting. That’s when my real-life goals came into play. I was able to recommend them to see me personally and help them on my terms. Not according to how the school saw fit. Truthfully, the school wanted obedience, not a fix for what they were going through.
“I’m leaving for the day, my love. Dinner later?” It was downright sad that Missy was the only person in my life worth having. After work, I guess it would be slippers, my wine and a good sappy movie that would somehow restore my hope in finding someone that would share a piece of love with me.
“I got plans with Lewis little baby, I’ll call you afterwards.”
“Always a date with Lewis. You’ve neglected me also,” I joked as I grabbed my things and headed home to relax and check over today’s labs. If I couldn’t be present tomorrow I at least wanted to have things for the nurses available and completed. My life didn’t make sense but my love of medicine and helping was a constant in my life that I wouldn’t neglect. I loved it and it loved me back.
Houston
Someone once said that the bumps in the road wouldn’t last long. But the more I traveled down the road of life shit wasn’t adding up. It was a bold face fucking lie, if I could be honest. For the last three years, the bumps were endless, monumental, and damn near torture for me. Some large, some small, all fucking bumps in the road preventing me from getting my life and emotions in check. It was hard trying to smooth them out without hurting innocent people. But people got hurt anyway.
Here I was, a thirty-three-year-old widow left to raise my son all by myself without a manual or a guide to assist. If raising a son wasn’t already hard, it became ten times harder when I lost my wife, Leslie. The hardest part was raising him in a world that wasn’t so kind to the black male. Between proving ourselves and worth, it was a struggle in itself. I was struggling to be a businessman, a father, and keep my own head above the line of depression. Just one of those days seemed to be my type of day, every day.
When I woke up this morning the universe gave no indication that today would be a trying day. I made breakfast for my son Malone, checked the work schedule, dropped my son off at school and started the day’s work. Like every other day, I prayed to God that it would runsmoothly. With no hiccups or unpredicted issues, it would be a decent day; a better day than what I was used to experiencing. It wasn’t until the infamous call of the week from Ms. Norwood came flashing on my phone. Malone was showing his ass in school again. Before I even answered I knew what the context would be.
“Thank you for calling Four Corners, it’s Houston,” I answered. My frustrations were at an all-time high, and I was just fed up. It could be heard in my voice. I was sinking, and I couldn’t hide it anymore. The more I tried to change the course the harder the conditions became. Malone was stressing me out, and I didn’t know what more I could do to ease him into life.
“Mr. McGraw, I hate to inform you that this is not a business call.”
“I figured that,” I commented, not here for the cat-and-mouse game we normally played when she called to ruin my mood.
“Malone has become a problem. I hope you are on your way, so we can discuss this once and for all.” This was my fourth time visiting my son's school for his wild behavior this month. As silly as it sounded, I was starting to feel like Malone was being targeted by the people that were supposed to protect him. None of the calls were positive, never giving good feedback. It was always Ms. Norwood with the negativity.
Me being a man that possessed few words was probably the hardest part of all this. I knew how to discipline, but that wasn’t the problem. I didn’t know how to handle my own situation without feeling like a bitch. So showing love and understanding to Malone was what made this problematic. Malone didn’t need an iron fist; he needed someone who was comfortable discussing those feelings that I couldn’t.
I was the man you would see and not be able to figure out. Never saying too much, never showing emotions or wearing my feelings on my sleeve. I was a man that had shut myself off from the world after death came and wrecked my home. The world didn’t look so beautiful once the light of my life left. Dark and gloomy no matter what the heat index was for the day. The forecast could say clear skies and my vision would see it in reverse. It was killing me as I progressed. I was aware of the damage but figuring out how to change it would take time I didn’t have
“Ms. Norwood, trust me, I understand. I’m doing my best,” I replied with my head hanging low like a chariot. The phone was in myhands and clenched tightly. At any second I felt ready to crush it with my bare hands. She continued to go on and on about the trouble Malone had caused. My mind checked out, I was barely listening to her rant and rave about what he did this time. I had grown tired of hearing the same shit over and over.
“I don’t think you do, sir. If Malone wants to cut up in class he won’t be able to do it here.”
I sighed into the phone because now it seemed as if she was scolding me for the behavior of a growing nine-year-old. I wasn’t standing for that shit. In a few short seconds, I would forget who I was and what I had on the line. The southside was always in me and still holding on tight. It would be in her best interest to chill the fuck out.
“I do, you just called the other day. I get it, he fucking up.” This was the second time this week that Malone had found himself in some sort of trouble. Today it was him running around the classroom telling the teacher to ‘count her fucking days,’ and I couldn’t help but laugh silently. Her nasally, too deep of a voice for a woman sounded and broke my laughter and she was offended. It served her right, after all, she was always offending me.
“I assure you it’s more than that. Day in and day out Malone is hindering the environment for other students. There is nothing funny or humorous about that.”
“What did the teacher do?” I inquired. Malone was nine going on ninety-five. I wasn’t making excuses for my son, but something had to set him off. Malone wasn’t able to freely cuss at home and I made sure to choose my words carefully when he was around me. This stunt and his language was news to me. She went on record that he said it over twenty times. I was caught off guard. Malone was a lot of things but disrespectful to adults wasn’t one of them. That wasn’t how I was raising him.
“That’s not important,” she commented. I really wanted to understand where it came from. I felt like I would be able to address it better if I was in the mind of my son. Either way, right now I was ready to lay the smackdown on his young ass. Malone didn’t understand how life worked and it would get him in shit later on down the line. Lacking understanding of how the world operated was the only thing I despisedabout him being so damn smart. He had all the book sense but hadn’t grasped common sense. Trouble would find him if I couldn’t channel his energy into shit that was more positive.
“Ms. Norwood, with the way you call me multiple times a week, I would say it’s very important for you to share both sides of the story. I can’t reprimand him without having a conversation