Paint the Town

see you later, alligator

Over the next few days, Lizzie kept her eyes peeled for Henry's index cards during snack time, watching him from her desk as he unzipped his lunch bag. Every day he would put his little hands inside, retrieve the drawing, giggle, then proceed to eat his packed food. Occasionally, he would show his friends the cartoons, sending them all into fits of laughter at the table.

"Hey Henry?" Lizzie said. He was sitting at the table, cleaning his trash and packing up what was left of his food, putting away a small bottle of
orange juice and packet of gluten free blueberry muffins as he looked up at Lizzie. "What you got there?" she said, just as he reached to stow away his message for the day.

Without a word he handed it off to her with a sheepish grin. "See you later, alligator!" Lizzie read. The message was accompanied by a cartoon of the same man being followed closely by an alligator. The reptile had its teeth clamped into the man's pant leg as the man fearfully bit his nails, with wide eyes and crazed hair. "This is so awesome. Who draws these for you?"

Henry received the card back and tucked it away behind the orange juice. "My daddy draws them. He's a really good drawer."

Lizzie smiled. "Yes indeed." The little boy lit up with pride.

The day continued on, but Lizzie could not stop thinking about Henry's father. Had she met him? Was he an artist? Was there more to him than cartoon bees and alligators? Even as she read to the kids during story time, she looked at the pictures in the book, wondering if Henry's father was more than "inspirational lunchbox note," good.

The kids dismissed with Mrs. Adler for recess as Christina began to vacuum the rug. Lizzie was at her desk, organizing her coloring sheets for when the kids returned. "Oh, by the way, did you ever speak to Mr. Lawrence about the mural?"

Christina stopped and huffed.
"Yes, I did."

Mr. Lawrence was the school art teacher and resident dinosaur; the oldest teacher at school and maybe the most miserable person Lizzie had ever met. When she first conceptualized the mural, she went to him immediately for input. Not long after the word left her mouth did he start, "Now Miss Marks I know you are not planning on asking me to paint this for you. I have no time, not to mention my body is not cut out for that kind of labor anymore." When Lizzie interjected, stating that she would be more than willing to help, he said, "You? Ha! Sure. Anyway, Donaldson would never approve, don't waste your breath."

"Well?" Lizzie said back to Christina.

"He said, and I quote: 'I'm not painting your damn mural, Victoria. Now leave me alone, I have a crossword to finish.'"

Lizzie laughed out loud. "He called you Victoria!"

"The bastard will retire soon enough," Christina muttered under breath, angrily pushing the bulky vacuum back and forth over the rug.

Finished with her filing, Lizzie began to lay out the coloring sheets on the table in different piles. "Have we met Henry Alvarez's dad?"

Christina looked up from the puzzle patterned rug. "Honestly Liz, I don't remember. All the dads look the same to me— old and not wealthy enough for me to take the risk."

"Christina!" Lizzie yelled, crumpling one of the coloring sheets into a ball and throwing it across the room.

After the ball hit Christina's shoulder, it landed by her feet. "The vacuum won't pick that up so neither will!" She said, kicking it to the side. "Why the interest in Henry's dad?"

Lizzie shook her head. "No reason, just wondering."

And she wondered for the rest of the day if she had ever actually met Mr. Alvarez or not. Probably. Right? Henry was her student! In the past seven months they must have met at a school function, or maybe a parent teacher conference— no, she would have remembered that.

So at dismissal, as the kids ran around the black top, bundled in their down jackets, and waiting for their parents to pick them up, Lizzie swayed back and forth on her toes and craning her neck left and right, scoping out the parents pulling up in the car line.

She almost missed it, but she spotted little Henry in her peripheral, saying goodbye to Mrs. Adler and jumping into a  small silver car. As per protocol, each parent had to have their window open to be identified by the dismissal proctors. Last thing they wanted was for any of the kids to climb into an unmarked van.

The car moved up in the line, and Lizzie was quick to spot a woman in the front seat of the car with both hands gripped on the wheel. Her head was turned to Henry in the backseat before she faced forward and drove away. Dismayed, Lizzie rested on her heels and sighed. She would have to wait until tomorrow.

But tomorrow came, and so did the same woman. For the next six school days, the short haired woman pulled up with her window down and a smile on her face, ready to receive the little boy and his red lunch box that was the size of his head. After watching it so closely, she became familiar with the car; the maker, the model, and the first three digits of the license plate. It wasn't a fancy new car, and the license plate didn't read an abbreviated message like "2BAD4U." 

When she asked all of the fellow teachers who she might be, almost all assumed her to be Henry's grandmother. Lizzie was bold enough to ask Henry himself during class, to which he responded. "She's my abuela."

The seventh day came and Lizzie was caught in conversation with another first grade teacher, telling about how one kid in her class accidentally said "Penile," instead of "Penal." Lizzie couldn't help but laugh.

From the corner of their eyes, both teachers spotted a car they had never seen before. It had perfectly polished rims and a sleek black exterior that reflected the sunlight right back at them. The windows were spotless and it glided so smoothly that it seemed to float over the ground. Both women could hear the music pulsing from the car as it pulled up, turning multiple heads.

Lizzie felt a poke on her leg. "Yes, Henry?"

"Miss Marks, my daddy is here. Can I go now?" he pointed at the car.

Lizzie's eyebrows raised and her mouth fell slightly open. "Uh, sure buddy, just tell your daddy to roll down his window before you leave. We have to see his face."

Henry nodded before making a mad dash for the car, using his tiny body to fling open the door and throw himself into the low laying vehicle.

Lizzie and the teacher waited with anticipation for the tinted window to roll down, and when it did, Lizzie's mouth fell open a little wider.

"Holy shit," said her colleague.

From where Lizzie stood, all she could see of Mr. Alvarez were the intense angles of his nose and cheeks, and a beard that was substantial enough to make an impression. His hair was sleek and black, styled back and away from his face, giving view to his heavy eyebrows and tanned face.

Unlike Henry's abuela, Mr. Alvarez didn't smile at any of the teachers or other kids. He rolled down his window, adjusted his rear view mirror, and zoomed out of the lot and onto the street, sending hair and frilly skirts flying up into faces.

That was the goofy cartoonist?

****
Authors Note

Heyy y'all! Helloooo Mr. Alvarez ;)

There's more coming don't worry, so keep reading!!

p.s. if you're enjoying so far feel free to leave a vote or a comment! i love getting feedback!

-R :)