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“What?”
“The note and the picture.”
“Oh crap, duh, sorry.”
I go get the note out of my purse and hand it to him. By this time Heidi can see that there’s something going on. We pull her to the front corner of the room and fill her in on what’s been happening including this latest threat that now involves my daughter.
“Emily, I am so sorry. I had no idea. Do you think it’s Jesse’s family?” Heidi asks as she pulls me into a hug and then holds me by my shoulders. “Go home if you need to, but be sure that you go talk to Principal Utz and make sure that he’s up to speed on the situation, okay?”
“I have no idea if it’s Jesse’s family, but I do know that I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to show any signs of them getting to me. It’s important to me that I stay, if that’s okay with you?”
“Of course, you do what feels right to you, but please go see Mr. Utz right now and fill him in.”
“Jonathan Kelly, Mrs. Colyer, nice to meet you. I’m a Portland police officer and Officer Blackburn and I are on top of this. We’ll take her to the office right now.”
“Nice to meet you, Officer Kelly. Thank you for helping Emily out with all of this.”
“Of course, we’re gonna head over to the office and I’ll have her back soon.”
Jonathan ushers me out with his hand on the small of my back and we meet up with Officer Blackburn in the hall to make our way to the office.
The principal is in a meeting, so we have to wait in the office until he’s available. I can’t help but fidget. I have one hand worrying my necklace while one leg bounces up and down. Jonathan puts his hand on my leg and strokes his hand up my thigh and then back down to my knee, over and over. Eventually, my leg stops bouncing and I grab his hand in mine.
I turn to look at him. To take more strength from him. He holds my stare; telling me it’s going to be okay without any words. He’s such a calming force and makes the constant anxiety that I feel seem to slip away.
How did I get through these past years without him?
At the moment, he may not be taking away all of my anxiety but he does make me feel like I’ll get through it and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. He feeds my soul every time he looks at me.
Principal Utz opens his door and calls us in. We go over the details of the threats and show him the latest letter. We also bring up Jesse Miller and the fact that this started just after I reported his abuse. He makes arrangements with Officer Blackburn to view the videos from the few cameras that are spread out throughout the school. It’s a quick conversation and before you know it we’re leaving his office and I’m heading back to class.
Jonathan makes me promise to not go anywhere in the school without Blackburn and to text him if I need him. Thankfully, I only have an hour and a half left in my workday. Jonathan says he’s going to take care of a couple things and will be back to pick me up.
I feel the loss of his calming force when he waves goodbye. I head back to class with Officer Blackburn and pray that I can keep it together for the next hour and a half.
19
Jonathan
I can feel myself raging as I walk out of the school. I couldn’t even touch her when I left because I knew that I wouldn’t leave without her if I did. The thought of leaving her at that school knowing that somebody is messing with her is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Thank God she only has an hour and a half left and then she’ll be with me again. I may go out of my fucking mind otherwise.
Once I get in my truck I pull out my phone and pull up the info I had gathered on Saturday. While Emily was studying and Ireland was watching her movie, I was emailing back and forth with my favorite records clerk at work getting as much info on the Jesse Miller situation as possible. I program his address into my phone and point my truck in the direction of his house.
I’m sure it’s not Jesse, but it just makes sense that this is connected to Emily reporting his abuse. I know this is against the rules and I shouldn’t be using my resources at work to solve a problem in my personal life, let alone be going to his house when I am off duty, but fuck it. I have to get to the bottom of this. Emily has enough to deal with and doesn’t need this shit.
I pull up to the nondescript single-story apartment complex, park in front of apartment four and turn the truck off. I get out and head up to the door and knock. It only takes a minute for the door to swing open and there stands a burly, unkept teenage boy who I can only assume is Jesse.
“Hi, I’m Officer Kelly with the Portland Police Department. Are your parents home?”
“Uh, no it’s just me.”
“Are you Jesse Miller?”
“Yes. Am I in trouble officer?”
“No, you aren’t in trouble, bud. I’m just checking in on you for a friend of mine, Emily Jacobs. She’s a Teaching Assistant at the high school and she wanted me to check on you.”
I watch to see if any emotions flash across his face at the mention of her name. All I see is the relief that I’m just here to do a welfare check and not because he’s in trouble.
