Damaged Ch. 01-02

All chapters in this story are plotted and written. I'm just tweaking and adjusting the later chapters as I submit them. So no worries about the story just stopping without an ending. New chapters will be submitted once the previous one has been approved.

Thanks very much tokholix22 for initial thoughts and ideas on the story and a special thanks tocafejunkie for all the time, encouragement and editing help offered during the entire writing process. Get some sleep! -TN1969

All characters, events, and settings in this story are fictitious

Damaged - Chapter 1

Alan Rosetti packed his tools into the back of his pick up while his son, Dean, watched from the lawn.

"Sure you don't want to come with your dad?" Alan asked the boy, "Check out the Hobo Hut?"

Dean shook his head.

Alan climbed into the driver's seat and nodded, "So you're gonna be okay on your own this morning? Keep yourself busy?"

Dean nodded. He had that squirrel-chasing look in his round dark blue-eyes. Early autumn was a good time for that.

"I'll be back later with some lunch," Alan said as he slowly backed out from the driveway, "Don't go too far and be back here by 12."

As he pulled down the street, he could see Dean immediately run off with his paintball gun. Crazy kid.

It was only a short drive to the pond. It was actually only a quick jogging distance away. Alan needed his gear and some building materials to cart over, though.

Following the railroad tracks, he turned off the side of the road and headed into the forest, down an overgrown dirt path and a couple of minutes later, parked his truck in a small clearing surrounded by trees and bushes.

Grabbing his kit, and slinging his tool-belt over his shoulder, Alan made his way through the foliage. About 25 metres in, he arrived at another, smaller clearing. The pond was just another 15 metres away through some dense bushes towards the west.

He dropped his gear and looked at the old shack, covered with brush and leaves. The makeshift fire pit just outside its 'door' was barely visible these days, though the sitting log was still there.

The shack itself was still hanging in there though. It had been bandaged over the years with things like street signs, fencing, and tarp, but the structure was still relatively sound. The original architect and the reason why it had been built had long faded from the rural community's awareness. However, the shack did serve its purpose over the years for those who were aware of it.

It never really served a purpose for Alan...until now.

"Should be a good project," he said strapping on his tool-belt. "A good project."

**********

Drummond Elementary - Grade 5 classroom

Alan walked around the empty classroom looking at the display of noodle art on the wall. Some of these kids had real talent, practically Picasso's with dry pasta. He came across Dean's picture: bits of broken noodles randomly pasted on a crumpled sheet of construction paper.

Alan smirked. You'd think that for a kid of an Italian, he'd have better skill with his pasta.

On another bulletin board, there were little paper and foil medal ribbons pinned onto it.

Alan leaned in and the first one:Cindy McPherson; For Excellent Hula-hooping

"Good for Cindy McPherson," he thought.

"Hi Mr.Rosetti," a voice called to him from behind. Ms.Teri Yao entered the classroom carrying a clutch of papers and folders. She put them down, sighed and said, "Sorry, the teachers' meeting ran a little long. Hope you weren't tempted to fix anything while you were waiting."

Alan said nothing and returned to looking at the ribbons.

"Those are the Teri Medals," the young teacher said walking up beside him, hands clasped behind her back. "I give them out to the kids when I notice whatever exceptional talent each of them has."

Alan nodded and continued to read the different inscriptions.

"Ah don't worry, I won't play favourites," Teri went on, "Each child gets only one medal and before the end of the first term, I'll have figured out something special about each one of them."

"Everyone's special so no one's special," Alan said bluntly.

"Hmm," Teri paused, then said thoughtfully, "I think it's more to show how each child is special for a different reason."

Alan looked back and forth between her and the board. Finally, he shrugged and droned, "Okay."

"Um, so if you'd like to come have a seat over here Mr.Rosetti, maybe we can go over a few things about Dean?" Teri said and walked back towards her desk.

Alan kept a close eye on her. The slender woman in the dress slacks and white button down blouse shuffled through her papers. She ran her fingers through her straight hair, black with auburn highlights. It was a short bobbed cut, the hair curving around her cheeks and chin framing her small eyes, button nose, and rose bud shaped lips. The right side of her bob kept falling across her eye as she looked down. She had to sweep it aside constantly.

He walked to the student desk positioned directly in front of hers, and leaned back against the desktop.

"You can have a seat," she offered.

"I feel a bit silly sitting in those little chairs," he replied.

"Ok, well, that's alright," Teri said. She couldn't decide whether or not to sit at her desk and look up at him while they talked. So instead, she remained standing, "We've done some initial proficiency tests for the kids just to see where everyone sort of is at for the beginning of the year. I've been looking at Dean's..."

"The boy's a bit of a slow," Alan remarked.

"No...no, I wasn't going to say that," Teri said slowly, her soft-spoken voice remaining steady.

"Dean was held back a year in grade3 already. We all know he's not going to cure cancer."

"His marks aren't really what concern me, Mr.Rosetti," Teri insisted, "There's always ways of improving those. But you're right, he is a year older than the other kids and he's already showing a growth spurt. I'm worried that his size and theperception that he's a bit slower might cause some stress for him in the classroom."

"So, if he's bigger he can always pound any kid who's getting in his face," Alan said. His words were stern but his voice was very matter-of-fact.

Teri remained unfazed and went on, "Well, you'll be amazed at how early an age kids can develop the group bullying mentality -- but that's just one aspect. Dean's also a bit distracted and doesn't say much in class..."

"Like his dad: big, strong and silent," Alan said, "Maybe you can give him a ribbon for being exceptionally quiet."

That's what always struck Teri first about this person: the same words spoken by others would come off as terse or brash. Mr.Rosetti spoke everything in the same, calm tone.

"Mr.Rosetti..."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Alan interrupted, "We work in the same building. It's just that you teach the kids while I clean the toilets after them."

Teri nodded at the school custodian, "Well, we're talking here as teacher and parent. I thought it would be appropriate."

"So if we were at a restaurant together, you'd call me Alan?"

Teri blinked, her mouth open.

"I'm just saying that as an example," Alan said, "I'm a bit hungry."

The teacher caught up with her thoughts then said, "Well, if we could go back to discussing Dean..."

Alan stood and made his way towards the exit, loosening the collar of his blue custodian shirt. He looked back and said, "Don't worry and I won't either. A new pretty teacher should get his attention soon enough. It's in his blood."

"Mr.Rosetti, please wait!" she called to him, "Alan!"

He stopped at the doorway, shoved his hands in his pockets and pivoted on his heel to turn and face her.

"If you could just..." Teri started to say when the ring of a cell phone interrupted her. She held up her finger towards Alan as she picked up her phone, "Just a moment, please Alan. Hello? Yes...this is her speaking..."

Alan tilted his head to the side as he watched her. While she was talking on her phone, she picked up a brush and began to wipe down the chalkboard almost subconsciously. He squinted, a nagging, bothersome feeling of déjà vu seeping into his head.

"Dammit," Teri muttered as she ended her call and flipped her phone onto the desk. She put a hand on her hip and rubbed her forehead. It took a moment for her to remember that Alan was still there. "Oh, sorry," she said shaking her head and sighing, "Not the best of news I'm afraid."

Alan waited.

"I've been having some problems with my pipes in my shower at home and it's going to cost me a small mint to get it fixed," she sighed.

The man at the door nodded. After a moment he said, "Whatever the lowest estimate is, I'll do it for half."

Teri looked up and said, "What? Oh...no, that's okay. I mean, can you really...?"

"I can keep this place from falling on all your heads, I can fix some pipes," he stated, "Send me your address. I'll be there this weekend."

Without another word, Alan left the room.

"I...th-thanks! Thanks, Alan!" Teri called to him from within the classroom. She forgot what she had been speaking to him about in the first place.

Alan strode quickly through the hallways, distancing himself from that uneasy feeling he suddenly had while watching her in the classroom.

**********

Less than a month earlier...

The newest member of the Drummond Elementary faculty stood on the front school grounds greeting the kids as they made their way in for the first day of class. Teri Yao saw so many different faces --happy, anxious, crying, laughing-- it made her excited and nervous about her first full-time teaching position.

She watched as one child approached her: a solid looking boy, with dark curly short hair topping a roundish face. His expression, in contrast to the other kids, was noticeably blank, his blue eyes just staying on the ground three feet ahead of him.

A man walked with him. He looked to be in his early 30's. Though he had short, curly salt-and-pepper hair, Teri couldn't quite decide if he was the boy's father. It could have been his expression -- a much more focused and assured look on his sharp face than the child's.

"Good morning," she chimed as they approached her, "I'm Ms.Yao, the new Grade 5 teacher."

The man nodded. He said, "This is Dean Rosetti. He'll be in your class."

"Oh, that's great," she smiled at the boy, her gentle, small eyes cresting, "We're going to have a good year together."

Barely pausing to stop, Dean continued walking past her and into the school. The man followed.

"Oh, wait, sir!" Teri called to him, "We're asking that the parents just drop off the kids at the front here."

The man gave her a long look. Though his blues eyes seemed impassive, Teri felt like she was being inspected thoroughly.

"Morning, Alan!" Mr.Helms, the school principal, stepped out from behind Teri and shook the man's hand, "Got Dean all ready for another big first day?"

"Barry," the man who would be Alan replied with a nod.

Teri looked at the burly, fatherly principal greet the man like a long lost cousin.

"Ah, sorry, Ms.Yao," Mr.Helms turned to her, "Some introductions now. This is our supervising custodian, Alan Rosetti. Alan, this is Teri Yao, plucked fresh out of teachers' college. We're lucky to have her."

They shook hands. Teri noted how rough his hand felt as it clasped rather tightly around hers. Again, as she smiled at him, she couldn't help notice that his sharply angled face showed very little expression but it also didn't seem like he wasn't paying close attention to her.

"You're the custodian?" she asked even though she had just been told so.

Alan didn't answer. Instead, Mr.Helms piped in, "On the first day of the school year, we let Alan get Dean ready and walk him up to school along with the other parents. That's why he wasn't here earlier."

"I'll be here before you arrive everyday," Alan said, "Let me know if you need anything...Teri."

Teri nodded.

"Can I go get ready for work now?" Alan asked without a hint of sarcasm in his steady voice.

The teacher rolled her head apologetically, "Of course! I'm sorry, by all means!"

Teri thought his blue eyes lingered on her for a moment longer before he proceeded into the building.

She continued to look ahead but heard the man say dryly, "You're right. We're lucky to have her, Barry."

So many new faces. For the rest of the morning greeting, she remembered only one.

*********

Dean came along with his father the following Saturday morning when he went back to the old shack.

"Hey, bring me the hammer," Alan called out from inside the shack. He held a sheet of pressurized wood board up against the wall.

Dean was whacking the bark off a tree with a metal pipe.

"Yo, Paul Bunyan," the man called to his son again, "Hammer, kid!"

The boy looked up and smiled. He ran over to the tools and grabbed the hammer. "Sorry, dad," he said.

"Instead of beating a defenceless tree, help your dad nail this board in place?"

Dean joined his father inside and quickly went to work. The kid knew how to pound a nail, that's for sure.

The sounds of hammering echoed through the forest.

"Okay, that's good," Alan said after a while. He gave the board a tug. It wasn't going anywhere. He rubbed his fingers roughly through the boy's hair, "Good job, squirt. Go fetch a few more nails and my pliers."

While Dean went outside to get the things, Alan looked around the small shack. It was coming along well. Cleaned out, he was almost done with re-enforcing the walls and floors. Some sanding and sealant and paint and then he just had to install the windows he had brought. From there he could move on to the outer structure. Work from the inside out, that's the way to go. Inside then out, that's how he went about everything in his life.

Dean returned with the requested items.

"Thanks," Alan said to him. He looked out a hole where a window would eventually be and nodded to a small pile of wild flowers and plants lying in the middle of the clearing. He asked, "You got enough flowers there for your teacher?"

The boy frowned and looked away.

"Yeah, I understand," he said, turning back to his work hammering nails, "I remember."

The hammering shook the birds from the surrounding trees.

*********

Later in the day, Alan and Dean stepped out of the pick up truck parked on the driveway of the house formerly belonging to Mr. & Mrs.Ed Bingham. The little boy had a clutch of flowers in his arms as he made his way towards the bungalow.

As Alan retrieved his tool kit from the back, a large SUV pulled up along the side of the road. The window rolled down and the head of a woman with long, straight, golden blonde hair peeked out from the driver's side. Her lips curled into a smooth smile as she raised her sunglasses and spoke, "Hello Alan."

"Hey Sophia," he replied with a nod to Mrs.Locke.

"You're still going to be able to come by tomorrow to check out those pipes of ours?"

Alan nodded again.

"Please try to be on time and no earlier than 3:30," Sophia said. She looked up and saw a pretty Chinese woman greeting Alan's son on the porch. She smiled and lowered her sunglasses, covering her narrowed green eyes. "No earlier than 3:30," she repeated then drove away.

He watched her turn a corner, then made his way towards the house.

"Hi Alan," Teri waved to him from her porch as Dean stood beside her.

"Hey."

"Who was that?" she asked referring to the driver of the SUV.

"Just a neighbour stopping to chit chat," he said as he stepped onto the porch.

"That's what's nice about a town like this," Teri smiled, "People just stopping to talk with their neighbours and friends."

Alan followed her into the house. "Yeah," Alan thought, "Real friendly."

*********

"That looks great, Dean," Teri said looking over to her kitchen table as she washed her hands in the sink.

Dean took his time arranging the plant and flower clippings he had brought in a vase provided by his teacher. There was a hint of pride in his usually impregnable stoic expression.

Teri thought for a moment that she might have had an idea for what sort of "Teri Medal" she could give to Dean. Then again"For Exceptional Flower Arranging" probably would not be the best inscription to place beside Dean's name.

"They're really lovely," she said with a smile as she stood beside him.

Dean slapped his hands together to shake off some dirt, and then he climbed down from the chair and scooted out to her backyard.

Teri made her way to the bathroom. "How does it look?" she asked.

Alan was standing in her bathtub. He had pried off a few tiles and removed the showerhead.

"Well," he said, "I've made it so you can at least take a bath in the tub till I get this properly fixed. Have to check the pipes below as well."

Teri winced, "How much is this going to hurt?"

Alan sighed, "I can figure out ways of cutting costs to the bare minimum, but yeah, it'll be a bit of a lump to swallow."

The woman shook her head and said, "I knew this was too good of a bargain when I bought this place."

Alan stepped out of the tub and washed his hands in the sink, "Yeah, well I knew the Bingham's. Decent old couple. They loved this place, but didn't know Jack from Jill about how to maintain a home."

"Lesson learned," Teri smiled softly and nodded.

"Why'd you buy anyway?" Alan asked, "Isn't it safer to rent first coming into a new job?"

"I felt like I wanted to commit to being here," she replied earnestly.

"How'd you end up so far out of the city?"

"Couldn't get a permanent full-time teaching job there," she said, "It would take years."

Alan nodded.

"Not that I didn't chose to come out here," Teri swiftly corrected, "It's the rural regions that are expanding quickly and are offering good opportunities to new teachers."

They walked to the living room of the small bungalow as Teri continued to talk, "I'm enjoying it here. It's peaceful and it's only a couple of hours drive back to the city if I'm in urgent need of seeing a stage play."

Alan looked at her suspiciously. "A couple of hours?"

Rolling her eyes sheepishly, she said, "Guilty. Lead foot driver."

Making their way to the kitchen, she opened the fridge to grab a couple of bottles of juice. Alan tilted his head and peered inside. She could tell by looking at his expression that he wasn't impressed with the contents of her fridge.

"I know," she sighed, "Not exactly a hardcore chef. More like queen of the microwave oven. That's one thing really -- I'd kill to have a 5 star French or Italian restaurant to go to in this town."

"How about home cooked Italian?" Alan asked.

Once again, Teri was caught off guard by one of the man's remarks. He seemed to have a knack for doing so. Shifting uneasily on her feet, she still wasn't sure what to say even as she opened her mouth. Then the phone rang. Quickly she picked up the receiver.

"Hello? Oh, hi Greg!" Teri said, her voice a sudden mix of glee and relief, "How are you? Yeah, I'm missing you, too."

Alan waved to her and pointed back towards the bathroom. She nodded then turned away as she spoke.

Turning the corner to the short corridor that lead to the bathroom, Alan quietly and calmly detoured into the bedroom. Always listening to the conversation from the kitchen, the man strolled around the room as if he were taking a leisurely walk through an art gallery.

She was a tidy person for the most part. Her desk was covered with school papers but otherwise, everything had its place. He sat down on her bed and examined her night stand. A couple of CD's sat beside her alarm clock -- classical orchestra. There was also a paperback book on the stand.