Coffee with Mr. Casey

6 - A New Realization

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Johnny

I stood outside of the little broken down doublewide in the complete dark. No porch lights, or even a streetlight were fixed to light up what I was staring at. There were some windows lit up, indicating that someone was awake, but it didn’t help much. From what I could see, the house was a complete poor excuse for a home. The holes on the outside of the wall were as large as my fist. Window screens hung ajar as if someone had pulled them off halfway. No one seemed to take care of this place.

I expected Lola Farber to live in a much bigger and finer house with trees, green grass cut perfectly, and a wrap around driveway…

Vengeance ran through my blood when I had called the school secretary for Lola’s address. Janice was always known for working late and she had a soft spot for me. But now I didn't feel so well.

I wondered why I was standing out there in the gravel for so long. I guess I was debating on whether I should tell her parents what she did, or just let it go. After all, I easily was able to get the candy off the hood of my car after dropping Kevin with Kelly. Now, I was coming to collect the pay like some dangerous mob guy. I didn’t necessarily like the feeling of that, especially when it looked like Lola couldn’t afford it.

A beat up red Chevy sat dormant in the driveway next to an undecipherable white SUV. My head shot up at the sound of thrashing inside the house. Then, a terrifying thud came to the door.

I knew I should’ve just turned around, got in my car, and left. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that twisted and tied into knots as I quietly stepped onto the porch, muffled yelling behind the door. I raised my hand but hesitated.

“…you think you can just go around and do whatever you want?” The thundering voice of a man made me twinge. After a few moments of silence, the voice grew angrier. “Answer me, you bitch! You get suspended and think you can just run off like that? Where the hell did you go? Don’t tell me you were with that fucking boy again.”

My face slowly inched to the door, and the tiny sobs became clearer. Lola’s voice hummed against my ear. I could tell she was sitting right on the other side. “I wasn’t…” she mumbled, unable to get the rest out because she was panting for air.

Fear built up inside of me as I heard the loud hammering of footsteps coming towards the door. I backed up, afraid of what was going to happen.

The sound of a vulgar slap, followed by Lola’s cry caused my teeth to grit in rage. I’d been completely wrong about Lola this whole time. Everything explained itself in that moment as to why she was always late, why she was so forgetful, and why her face was battered. I couldn’t believe that I had thought anything otherwise.

Before I could take anymore of it, I was knocking on the door. Everything went silent, followed by shuffling against the door. When it flew open, Lola’s tear soaked face stared at me in shock.

“Who are you?” The unshaven heap of a mess that I assumed was her father gave me an angry look.

I looked back and forth between Lola, her father, and her mother who was clenching a book to her chest with an agonizing look on her face. I tried to think of something—anything.

 I forced the best smile I could, brushing past Lola and sticking my hand out to him. “Hi, Mr. Farber! I’m Jonathan Casey, an instructor at your daughter’s high school. I realize that it’s late but I just got off of work.”

He crossed his arms across his chest. “And?”

I had to think of something before I looked like a total idiot. “Uh, well… Principal Reynolds and I realized that there was a huge mishap in the detentions. You see, a student actually had made copies of the detentions which had ended up in the wrong file, therefore causing us to count twice as many than she really had.”