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He nodded. “I will, mama.”
“And what do you say at lunchtime?”
“Thank you for the food.”
“And what do you say at the end of the day?”
“Thank you for teaching me today.”
I smiled at his responses. I was paying for preschool. It wasn’t like Ms. Sally was watching him for free, but I wanted him to latch onto good manners now. After straightening his jacket, I pulled him in for ahug. My breath caught in my chest as he squeezed his little hands around my neck. I was lucky to have such a good kid.
“Alright, I’ll see you after work.”
“Okay, mama. I love you.”
He ran off without another word, hanging his backpack on the hook and slipping out of his jacket. I watched as he sorted through the name tags, and when he found his, put it on the wall in the attendance column.
“He’s really a very good student. He’s the best behaved and my brightest kid.” She leaned in close and smiled. “Don’t tell anyone else I said that.”
“I won’t,” I grinned. “He was reading National Geographic to me last night.”
“You know they’re going to want to have him skip a grade when he gets into elementary school.”
“I won’t do that. He’s doing great in school, but emotionally, he’s not ready to be with older kids.”
She hesitated for a moment, then grabbed something off her desk. “I’ve been looking into schools that would be good for him. The district he’s in right now has very low test scores. Most of the kids there don’t go to college, let alone graduate. And the few who do make it out…” She pursed her lips. “Parker is very smart for his age. I would hate to see him in a school without the environment he needs to thrive. Take a look at these pamphlets.”
My eyes dropped to the handouts and I immediately knew they were out of the question. “These are all private schools. There’s no way I could ever afford?—”
“There are scholarships available. I know the principal, and she told me that with a letter of recommendation, he stands a real chance at getting in. I’ve already sent over some of the work he’s done in class and discussed what kind of student he is. She said she would love to set up a meeting with you and Parker.”
I didn’t know what to say. The fact that she even thought to look into this for me was amazing. “Thank you, Ms. Sally. This is…thank you.”
“You know I love Parker,” she smiled. “He’s one of my favoritestudents. Again, do not repeat that.” She gently rested her hand on mine. “I know how difficult things are with his father. This is a great opportunity to get him out of that path and onto a brighter one.”
I was speechless, and that was partly because my eyes were watering and my throat was clogged with tears. I quickly swiped them away and smiled at her. “Thank you so much.”
“Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with. And don’t wait too long to call the principal. They’ll be closing registration for next year soon.”
“I won’t.” I glanced at the clock and smiled at her again. “I have to get to work. Thank you again for this.”
“We’ll see you at the end of the day.”
I rushed out of the preschool, setting the pamphlets on the passenger seat of my car. With any luck, I could call on my lunch break and get a meeting scheduled soon. If I could get him in, this could change the course of his life forever. No matter what bad choices I made, I wouldn’t allow my son to ever go down the same road I had.
“How are you feeling, Mr. Landry?”
He grunted, not bothering to answer the question. I walked further into the room, but was immediately on guard. Something about the way he was staring at me set me on edge. I’d seen it all too well with patients that came in after a bar fight. This guy was arrested during a drug deal and was thrown to the ground as cops wrestled to get him under control.
If he was hopped up on drugs, that meant he was dangerous and I had to proceed with caution. I walked over to the computer and read through his intake chart. No matter who he was or what he’d done, I still had a job to do.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the handcuff latched to the bed was no longer around his wrist, but lying on the bed. I had to get out and call for security before he realized what I was doing. With a bright smile, I took a step back, but I wasn’t fast enough. He must havenoticed my hesitation because he leapt from the bed before I could make it to the curtain.
I screamed as his body crashed into mine. My back slammed against the cart and I fell to the floor, smacking my head against the tile. I was too stunned to make a move, and that delay gave him enough time to get his hands around my throat. Seconds of shock passed until I slammed my knee up into his stomach and attempted to roll him off me, but he was too strong. I struggled to breathe, but his meaty hands cut off my air supply in seconds.
Through the fog from lack of oxygen, I heard other people shouting, but didn’t know what they were saying. I was hauled off my feet by the monster and spun around. Air filled my lungs instantly, but it took a second to regain my bearings. Everyone was staring at me in fear, but I had no idea why. Then I felt the cool metal of the scalpel he had pressed to my throat.
“Just stay back!” he shouted in my ear. “You come any closer and I’ll shove this knife in her neck!”
