The Christmas Wedding - James Patterson [21]
“Now you have me with you all the time,” Gaby had said when she gave her the watch. “Even when you don’t want me there.”
Time for class. Her students—Curtis, Andy, Reggie, Timbo (real name Timothy)—would be waiting for her. If she wasn’t on time they’d shout “Class canceled!” and take off.
She clicked the watch closed. She upped the volume on the iPod, and Claire and Daft Punk dance-shuffled down to her tutoring classroom.
I’m not a loser. I’ve just been acting like one.
Chapter 25
CLAIRE’S REMEDIAL English class was officially called the Supplementary Academic Advancement Program. Today one of her students, Curtis, decided to set her straight about that.
“You know what they call this class? The Academic Dumb-Ass Program.”
“That’s harsh. Who calls it that?” Claire asked.
“Everybody does,” said Timbo. “Even we do sometimes.”
“And how much do you care about that?” Claire asked.
“I don’t give a shit,” said Andy.
“Same here, Mrs. D.,” said Reggie.
“So, that’s that. Case closed.” She knew that another teacher might get angry at the phrase “give a shit,” but not her, and especially not today.
“Listen. We have work to do, and we have an hour to do it,” she said. “Mr. McCormack is giving a quiz tomorrow. The Old Man and the Sea.”
“Thanks for the Christmas present, Mr. Mack,” complained Curtis.
“That’s how it is,” said Claire. “Anyway, let’s start with the obvious. Has everyone read the book?”
“I tried, man, but it was fish, fish, fish, water, water everywhere. The marlin was boring. The old guy was worse than boring. The kid was an asshole. I bailed,” said Reggie.
“What page did you give up on?”
A pause. All eyes turned toward Reggie.
“Ten?” he said. The others cracked up. Even Claire did. At least these kids were honest.
“Well, I think tonight, instead of watching Jersey Shore, you have some reading to do. Everyone take out a piece of paper.”
A small moan, but the paper came out. She couldn’t help smiling. The boys were tough and could be disrespectful, but she liked being with them most days.
“First question. What country does Santiago come from?” Claire asked.
“Ms. Donoghue…”
“No more talking, Timothy. We’ve got work to do,” Claire said.
Timbo ignored her order and spoke again.
“There’s a man at that little window on the door. He looks like he wants to talk to you real bad. Is that your husband?”
Chapter 26
“I KNOW THAT I’M early for our four-thirty,” Hank said when Claire met him outside the classroom. “Where should I wait? Outside Paul’s office?”
She spat out her next words:
“Our meeting with Paul was at two-thirty!”
“You told me four-thirty, Claire. You said so this morning.”
“It’s been on the calendar all week. I know I said a dozen times that it was before my tutoring class. I always said it was two-thirty. And I know that’s what I said this morning.”
Claire knew how conniving Hank could be. She knew this was a trick. And she called him on it.
“You knew it was two-thirty. But you forgot. So you thought if you showed up here and pretended that…Oh, Jesus…I can’t believe you.”
“That’s not what happened,” he said. “I swear to God, Claire.”
“I don’t believe you,” she finally said. “You’re lying to my face.”
“Then fuck you. How’s that?” Hank said. At that precise moment Mrs. Rupp, a history teacher, passed by. Mrs. Rupp nodded and walked a little faster.
“Well, that was just terrific. You’ve made another fan. And look at you. Filthy jeans and a sweaty, smelly shirt. I’d be surprised if you weren’t stoned. Are you stoned?”
“You know I’ve been helping out selling Christmas trees and wreaths down at the nursery. It’s a job, Claire.”
“And you couldn’t change your shirt for a school meeting? No, I still say I don’t believe you.”
“Yeah? And I still say fuck you.”
Claire returned to the classroom and closed the door behind her. Within seconds Hank was banging on the door. The students looked vaguely frightened so Claire opened it quickly.
“Are you crazy?” she whispered.