When we got back to the house I made Toby his favorite sandwich (peanut butter and jelly) and sat down with him while he ate it.
“So, what did you guys do in school today?” I asked.
“Alphabet stuff,” Toby said.
“Wow, that is fun,” I said. “What letters are you on?”
“O and P,” Toby said.
“Did you learn any words with those letters?”
“Yeah, but I forget.”
“What? You just went over it,” I said with a smile.
“Miss Norris says school is closing.”
“Wait—what?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly. Toby spoke more plainly than most kids his age, but sometimes he got a bit rushed and lazy with it.
“School is closing,” Toby said.
“What do you mean the school is closing?”
Toby shrugged. “Miss Norris said we will go somewhere else.”
I was instantly alarmed. The school was closing down? Was that what Toby was trying to say? He must have been mistaken. Libby hadn’t mentioned it to me today and surely she would have sent word to the other parents.
I checked my personal email. Sure enough, there was a bulk email from Libby Norris.
I opened it up and read it three times.
“Dear, Parents. Due to unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, I’ve been forced to close down the Playzone School. Our last day of class will be one week from today. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
Why didn’t she say anything to me? It just didn’t make sense that she suddenly had to close it down. From what I knew of Libby, she loved teaching and the kids loved her. She had a thriving school that anyone would have been happy to send their child to. Toby’s skills had improved dramatically since she’d taken over. She was so much more capable than Mrs. Hudsaker had been, even taking into account Mrs. Hudsaker’s advanced age.
I wanted to call Libby and see what was going on, but I figured it would be better if I just talked to her tomorrow in class. I was sure that I wasn’t the only person who wanted to speak with her. I hoped I could get a word in edgewise. Maybe it would be better to go to her home?
No, I told myself. That was a creepy invasion of privacy, besides I was fooling myself if I believed that I just wanted to talk to her about school because she was Toby’s teacher. I was genuinely concerned about her. The past few weeks she’d been acting strangely. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but there was something going on with her. Somehow, I got the sense that Libby was in trouble.
I wanted to help if she was willing, but I doubted she’d accept my help in any way. She hardly knew me, and it was unlikely she would even trust me that much. But still… I felt that I needed to make sure she was alright. If she was in trouble, then I would have to find a way to get close to her without arousing any suspicions.
After his snack, Toby and I played some video games and then I read him a bit of his new favorite baseball story. After a dinner of mac and cheese (Toby’s choice) we watched some old Macaulay Culkin movie and then I put Toby to bed.
He had passed out asleep about halfway through “The Pagemaster”. I carried him upstairs, put him in bed, and tucked him in with his favorite Paw Patrol character stuffed toy, Skye.
I turned out the light, closed the door, and headed downstairs.
I poured myself some bourbon and sat down to watch a bit more television. I knew I had work that needed done, but I was trying to do my best to leave work at work and do less of it at home. The late nights were starting to drag me under. I was averaging just five hours of sleep a night. I could have done seven, but I wasn’t about to let my morning workouts slip.
So up at five a.m. it was every morning without fail.
I was just getting settled in with the new season of “Black Mirror”, when my phone rang. I thought about ignoring it, but it was still early enough that if there was some disaster that needed my immediate attention, I could give it two minutes.
But it wasn’t the office; it was Jessica.
I groaned. I knew that she was calling because she was in the mood to drop by, or she was stranded somewhere and needed a ride. Both of those would end up with us in the same place.
And I didn’t want that.
I’d met Jessica at a club downtown where I’d gone to blow off some steam with a few friends after celebrating a great business deal that we all made a bundle on. It was a good time and by the midpoint of the evening, I ended up with several drinks in me.