“How-how did you get that past the metal detectors?” I squeezed my cellphone in my hand and wondered where the other teachers were. Where were the other students? Except that this wing of the school was mostly quiet during this period. I glanced up and down the hall, but most of the classrooms were dark.
Andre grinned and it sickened me. There was a calculated maliciousness there that didn’t seem right. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about that, teach.”
“Andre, please let him go. You can’t kill him at school. It’s almost Christmas break. Can’t you kill him during that?”
Andre cocked his head back in surprise. His grin spread and genuine laughter barked out of him. “He’ll run. I’ll never find him if I let him go now.”
“Please don’t kill him,” I pleaded. Everything inside of me shook. I could barely stay standing. Tears pricked at my eyes and adrenaline surged through me, making everything feel extra bright, extra real.
Andre stood up suddenly and pressed his fingers against the dull side of the knife to close it. He slipped it back into his pocket and shrugged casually. “Ms. Carter, it’s just a figure of speech. I wasn’t really going to kill him.”
I nodded to reassure him, but I didn’t believe him. Not in any way. “I know,” I whispered.
Andre’s scary gaze swung back to Jay, “You’d better get my money.”
Jay jerked his chin up, “I’ll get it.”
Andre took a step toward him again in an attempt to shield me from his next threat, “Better watch your back until it’s in my pocket, culo.”
Jay’s jaw clenched dangerously, “I said I would get it.”
Andre stepped back again and turned his attention to me. “You’ll never find this knife.”
I understood what he was saying. I didn’t argue. “Okay.”
“And you don’t have any witnesses. Jay’s not going to talk. Are you, Jay?”
Jay didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. I did, though. I needed to reassure Andre I wasn’t going to turn him in. “Okay, Andre. I won’t say anything either.”
“It wouldn’t matter if you did or not,” Andre grinned. “There isn’t anyone to back you up.”
I nodded. I couldn’t stop nodding. “I get it.”
His smile died and he pinned me with a hard look. “Good.”
Andre and his thugs walked down the hallway with the kind of swagger that told me they believed they were completely untouchable. They believed they could act like thugs and threaten teachers and hold knives to other people’s throats and nothing bad would ever happen to them.
I watched them go and wondered if I would ever see Andre again. Sometimes things like this happened and the offending student never came back. As soon as their autonomy was questioned, they gave up school for good and left for the life they believed was inevitable. A life on the streets.
I couldn’t decide if I wanted Andre to come back or not.
On one hand, he was smart. Too freaking smart. He could do something with his life. He could go places. Do things.
On the other hand, he had threatened me.
This school.
My legs finally gave out and I slid down the lockers until I was a messy heap on the floor. I felt like bursting into tears, but I held them back. I had to make it through the rest of the day. I couldn’t breakdown now.
I’d wait until later… until I was locked safely in my home... until I was away from this place.
Jay slid down next to me and I jumped. I’d forgotten he was here.
He sat a foot away; his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. He crossed his arms over his chest too and stared at his shoes thoughtfully.
I didn’t know what to say to him. I knew what I wanted to say. I wanted to yell at him for ever getting caught up in something so stupid. I wanted to hit him on the back of the head and ask what the hell he was thinking. I wanted to know why he owed Andre money and how he planned to get out of this mess.
I didn’t say anything.
He wouldn’t have answered any of my questions. And honestly, I was still trying to recover the ability to form words.
I was a trembling, terrified mess.
“Thanks, Ms. C.,” Jay finally said in a low, sincere voice.