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“Why?” I groan into the pillow I hug to my chest. I didn’t get off work until two am, and I probably got to bed all of four hours ago.
“I need you to wait for the bus with Kels. They’re having that bus driver shortage, and I’m not going to school today.”
Everything she says goes over my head. I’m not firing on all cylinders. Not even a little bit. “Babe, I’m not trying to be difficult, but I need your help understanding what the fuck is happening.”
She sits down, taking my hand in hers. When she speaks, it’s as if she’s explaining what she just said to a toddler. “Mason, I have to go to a school-wide meeting this morning, and Kels is still waiting for the bus. It’s freezing out there, and I don’t like leaving her alone. Since you’re still here, would you mind going to stay with her?”
I rub my eyes. “Why don’t you take her with you and drop her off on your way?”
“Because I’m going to the Educational Complex on the other side of town, and I don’t have time to run to her school before I have to be there.”
I’m doing my best to realize this is the time for me to be the father I know I am. The husband Rina needs me to be. Mornings like this are fuckin’ hard, though. Especially after the long night, I had. One of the things most Officers complain about when they start is the fact they don’t get the shifts they wish they did.
It’s hard to regulate not only sleep but being there for friends, family, and yourself. Sometimes what I need isn’t what’s good for my family. In those times, I have to do what I have to do. Whether I’m exhausted or not, I have a child and wife who need me. They have to come first, even if my eyelids feel like they have sand behind them.
“Okay, give me five minutes to get up, use the bathroom, and get dressed.”
She sighs happily. “I’ll make you a coffee.”
“I’m gonna need it.”
Rolling out of bed isn’t as easy as it used to be. I have different aches and pains daily, depending on how the night before went. Today my knee pops as I put my feet on the floor and stretch. I’ve gotten used to it, and even with all the working out I do and watching what I eat, there’s only so much I can do to prevent wearing down. But the truth is I’m getting older, and my body is starting to rebel. Only I’ll keep that shit to myself. No one else will know it but me.
A little less bleary-eyed, I stumble into the kitchen, grasping hold of the coffee cup Rina hands me. “Thanks.”
“No, thank you. I know you worked late, and you’re still willing to get up and take care of our daughter because I worry about the world we’re living in.”
“Sometimes I think you forget I see the worst the world has to offer. While I do my best to keep it from you, I worry whenever either of you leaves my sight. Even Caleb, although he’s a cop with me now. If I know he’s out on patrol and hear him call for help, I’m the first one on the way. I would never forgive myself if something happened to him, I had the option of being there, and I wasn’t.”
She tilts her head to the side, giving me a smile. Out of nowhere, she launches herself at me. “You’re the best man, and I’m so lucky to have you.”
Leaning down, I kiss her forehead before wrapping my arms tightly around her. “We’re lucky to have each other. The life I lived with Caleb was a good one. We had all we needed, but we were missing something. You and Kels. You made our life complete. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t worry about the dangers of everyday life, so I get it. If you need me to go stand out with her in the freezing cold after having four hours of sleep, so you feel good about it, then I’ll do it. No question.”
“I love you, Mason. More than you know.”
“Not as much as I love you,” I rub my chin along the top of her head before letting her go with a slap on the ass. “Get outta here; you have a meeting to get to.”
CHAPTER 2
KARINA
I waveat Kels as I leave the driveway. She’s huddled into her dad as they wait for the bus. This bus driver situation is one of the things we will discuss at our meeting. It’s gotten to the point where I fear a child-safety issue. There’s been a call for someone to take responsibility for getting things straightened out at the district, and part of me is afraid the person who will have to get things taken care of is me.
Traffic is heavier than I’d like for it to be as I head across Laurel Springs to the Educational Complex, and I’ve only got a few minutes to grab my stuff and head into the building. The heels of my pumps click across the asphalt as I hurry into the building.
Once I get there, I take my card out and scan the reader, giving thanks to the universe when it works on the first try. Just as the meeting is called to order, I slide into one of the last seats.
“I want to thank you all for coming today; I know it was difficult to find substitutes and arrange to be across town for most of you,” the Superintendent says as he stands before us. “We’re facing a lot of problems in the district right now. Some of them are of our own making. Others are societal and economical. What I need is information from those of you who are on the ground running. What is the major problem we’re having from where you sit?”
Immediately my hand goes up.
“Karina,” he nods at me. “The floor is yours.”
As I’m about to stand, I see a text come through from Mason and a picture, and I know I have to speak out about what’s bothering me. “One of the major problems from where I’m sitting, literally, including my own home, is the bus driver shortage. As we speak, my husband, a Laurel Springs Police Officer who worked until the very early hours of the morning, is standing outside with our daughter, waiting for the school bus. He just sent me a picture and a text message,” I pick up my phone and turn it around. “If we could put this on the projector, I’d appreciate it.”
Someone hands me a USB cord, and I plug it into my phone. The picture he sent me is broadcast for everyone in the room. It’s Mason standing in the middle of a group of little kids from our neighborhood. He looks handsome as ever, with a smile on his face, but the exhaustion in his eyes is apparent to anyone. The text read that as parents had to go to work, he kept collecting kids to watch as they waited for the same bus as Kels.
“He’s standing out there with half our neighborhood because these drivers are running three daily routes. Many parents don’t want to leave their kids alone waiting for the bus, not in this day we live in. I’m one of them, but to get to school on time, sometimes I have to leave my eight-year-old outside alone with no one home to wait for the bus with her. I have to report to school so my students can get me at one hundred percent, but honestly, my mind isn’t on my students. It’s on my little girl who I know is going to be late to her own classes because I don’t have time to take her and be a working mother, nor can I wait for these busses. These drivers are doing everything they can, but they physically can’t go any faster. The kids are late to school, and we excuse them, but they’re missing out on their education and breakfast. As we all know, some of these kids only get fed when they’re at school. We owe it to our students to put them first, but we fail on every level. This must be fixed. Luckily this morning, these kids have my husband, who can’t stand to see anyone go without. They have what looks to be juice boxes and pop tarts or toast from my own home. I can afford to do that, but so many can’t. I’m begging you to put the needs of these students first. There’s no reason my husband should be out there with all of these children. We have to make it worth the while to be a bus driver. We must be willing to pay them a wage that will make the job attractive and go to bat for them when things are difficult. That’s all I wanted to say,” I shrug before unplugging my phone and having a seat.
