Memories Aren't Forgotten Ch. 03

By the time Paul's car pulled into the garage of the house, Jessie could feel the fatigue a day at the mall brought. Before the entered the house a pounding of feet could be heard coming down the stairs inside Mrs. Smythe greeted them at the door. She wore a blue apron that read "kiss the cook" over her round frame. Flour was sprinkled on the apron and from the yummy smells coming from the kitchen, Jessie knew she was baking. She frowned when she saw Paul carrying two shopping bags and balancing another under his left arm.

"Really Paul you could have asked someone for help," she told him as she took one of the bags.

Before Paul could answer, Natalie and Chad flew out the door and began questioning them.

"Did you bring us anything Uncle Paul?"

"Can we come to the farm on Sunday? Our moms said its okay if you say it's okay"

"Can I ride Nightstorm? You said I could if I kept my room clean and I did. Come see," Chad finished.

Paul dropped the bags he held in the hallway and stretched.

"Of course you can come to the farm. I got to see your room first Chad and as for what I brought you..." He reached into his pockets and pulled out a pair of rubber snakes. Natalie screamed and Chad stepped back. Realizing they were fake the two pounced on Paul. He returned the tickles on any body parts he found, arms legs bellies and feet. The three collapsed onto the floor laughing.

"An eight year old trapped in the body of a thirty-two year old man," Josie laughed. Paul Chad and Natalie got up and pounded up the stairs to Chad's room.

"I just took out a batch of brownies. Than next batch should be ready in ten minutes," Mrs. Smythe explained as she pulled on her coat, "have to hurry to the supermarket. Arthur invited some friends over. See you Monday loves"

She quickly gives Laura and Jessie hug and hurried to her car. She seemed to have forgotten she was still wearing her apron.

Josie closed the door and turned towards her sisters and cousins.

"Moving on to other matters, mom is above the list. What if she brings that man to the family reunion?" she began.

"She can't do that. Saturday is only for family?" Danny told her

"I guess Adam is our family huh?" asked Jessie.

"Well no... but he could be..." began Josie. Rolling her eyes Jessie headed to the kitchen.

Josie followed her. "I don't know why I even bother,"

"Mom has a boyfriend?" Laura asked following them

"Yes and we have got to do something!" Danny exclaimed

"It's a bad thing?" asked Laura opening the oven and peering inside.

"Yes she's already had a boyfriend, a husband, our father." Josie put in.

"But you guys think its okay for Jessie to date Adam," she told them.

"That's different. Jess was never married. She can still date. I had divorce. I can still date," Danny explained taking a brownie from the cooling rack.

"I'm confused, this all sounds crazy," Laura stated.

"Finally someone who thinks this is crazy too," said Jessie.

"You won't think it's crazy when you hear wedding bells,"

Rain was falling. Hard. Jessie was walking down the path that led to her grandmother's house. She knew she was dreaming the moment she saw the large fern that was blowing violently against the side of the house. Her grandfather had cut it down the week before he died.

As she strolled along unaware of how wet she was getting she suddenly noticed someone standing near the lake she had swam in so often as a child. She could not make out the face in the distance, but she could tell they were watching her. She suddenly remembered how slippery the lake's edge got when rain fell and at the moment, it was pouring. She waved at the man to move away from the edge but he just stood there, looking at her. Angry he wasn't taking any heed, she broke into a run towards him. He turned and began walking away, closer to the edge.

Now that she was closer, Jessie saw he was wearing a brown t-shirt. Something was written in yellow. It reminded her of the t-shirt she had made for her father for his birthday when she was a nine. # 1 dad she had written with yellow fabric glue. After he had died, she had worn it for months until it had gotten so many holes and the glue had fallen off. She still had the tattered t-shirt in her bottom drawer.

As she neared the lake now she realized it was the t-shirt she had made her father.

"Daddy wait you'll fall in. don't go so close she cried running faster. He stopped walking and turned around. It wasn't her father. It was Adam. He looked at her and smiled exposing his dimples. Then it faded. Jessie looked down to see that she had gotten too close to the edge. She was slipping. Adam ran towards her, his green eyes filled with horror and reached out, but it was too late.

She found herself kicking and trying to scream but the water kept falling into her mouth. The rain was falling heavier and she could hear Adam calling her.

"Jessie! Jessie, wake up!"

She woke up to find Laura at the side of her bed. It was morning, but the sun had not risen yet. It was still dark.

"Had a bad dream. Sorry to wake you," she apologized, sitting up.

"You didn't. Tony called. He wanted to come over today. To meet Chad."

"Oh honey. What did you tell him?"

"That today was nit a good time. He said okay, he needed to talk and to meet him next week Monday for lunch. To talk."

"Do you want me to come with you? I could take the day off and we could go together," Jessie volunteered.

"Thanks Jess, but I have to do this alone. Don't tell anyone. My brothers will rip him to shreds if they knew he was in town.

"Okay, but if he wants to try to take Chad away we have to say something."

"That's another thing jess. I need you to do something for me," Laura began.

"Anything," she promised.

"When we go to mom's on Saturday, I need you to talk to Adam about this. Get his professional opinion," said Laura. "I know it's a lot to ask, considering you think Danny and Josie are practically throwing him at you but if I did it Danny and the others might get suspicious.

"Consider it done,"

Laura hugged her and stood up. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," she returned as Laura closed the bedroom door.

She cursed the day she decided to go to Eclectic Soul with her cousins, the person who pushed her into that barstool, and the idea her cousins had to invite Adam to their family reunion. but that she didn't want to help Laura, she would pull out her molars and dye her hair neon pink in a heartbeat if it would send Tony to Antarctica, but it seemed talking to Adam was what the fates and those in charge of earthly matters desired her to do to help her cousin.

She wouldn't deny that she didn't feel something when he was near (she wasn't a lump of coal) but she just didn't feel ready for the hold dating thing. And the part that scared her most was she knew that he knew she felt something for him. If he was just as male as her male cousins, he would try his luck again the moment he got the chance.

Even worse Danny and Josie would think their little "Get Lonely Jess a Guy Plan" worked.

She groaned and climbed from the bed. Why couldn't he be very old with warts? She would even settle for the warts alone. Why did he have to be God's gift to single and married women alike? One look at him smiling again and she would be lost in his green eyes. She would just have to avoid them at the reunion, and making him laugh. Just keep the questions brief, like they do in interviews. Focus on the mission ahead. Just like in those Mission Impossible movies. She padded into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Peeling off her clothes, she climbed in and adjusted the spray from heavy to light and allowed the water to wake up her body that wanted desperately to crawl back into bed and take another sick day. Knowing her students as well as she did they were probably gagging at Mr. Rogers, the literature substitute teacher rendition of Shakespeare's Hamlet they were suppose to have done in class on Monday. They were still complaining about the Christmas Carol play he directed the year before. No doubt she would be getting an earful from her class that morning.

Fifteen minutes later, she had donned a navy blue blouse and skirt and was headed downstairs to make breakfast. Laura had started the coffee machine she never did without and had gone back to bed. She left for work at eight. Looking at the clock, Jessie saw it was 6:45. The sun was just making it's warm yellow journey.

She buttered her bread and cracked and egg. She added her seasonings and checked to see if the frying pan was hot enough before adding the mixture. It sizzled and crackled in the fat. Mrs. Smythe pulled up in her car just as she was sprinkling the grated cheese. She walked in smiling. Her face was flushed from the cool, early morning air.

"Morning dear. Ready for a day at the high school I see. Saw a couple of the dears still in their p.j.s getting the morning paper," she said pulling off her coat.

"Morning Mrs. Smythe. How did Arthur's dinner turn out?" Jessie asked. She sipped on her mint flavored tea. Laura was addicted to coffee as she was to tea.

"It was wonderful. His friends even helped me with the dishes. One of them even tried to coax the secret ingredient of my New Orleans Style Clam Chowder. I kept telling her not even Arthur knew what it was, but she kept trying to guess. I think she called every condiment that has ever existed!" she grinned. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat next to Jessie. She frowned at the food she was eating.

"That's all you're going to eat until lunch? Not wonder your getting like skin and bones! In my day you'd be eating anything and everything to plump up if you wanted a boy to notice you. Let me fix you some more eggs, I had some muffins left over from yesterday..." Gloria Smythe said getting up and moving about.

On any other day, she would have jumped at one of Mrs. Smythe's breakfasts but she didn't feel very hungry that morning. Most of it had to do with the family reunion on Saturday.

"Thanks a lot Mrs. Smythe, but I'm not really hungry. I'll take the muffin just in case the eggs don't tie me over until lunch," she quickly added when the older woman began frowning. I was just like her and her Auntie Flo to feed people who were smaller in size than them.

She collected her teaching material and the three large muffins Mrs. Smythe handed her before heading for her car in the garage. She maneuvered her way out and headed down the street.

Cedar Oaks was a large enough town, population eight million. Aside from having the best honey smoked chicken wings; it was one of the best vacation resorts. It had a total of twelve lakes and three rivers. Being sunny three hundred and sixty five days a year, the beaches were always flooded with locals and visitors. The high school where Jessie worked was within walking distance of one of them and on days when the salty air was too tempting to resist, she took her class outdoors for the literature sessions.

Turning right at the traffic light, she headed down a private street and stopped in front of a large white house. She blew her horn and waited. After five minutes; she climbed out and walked up to the front door which she found unlocked. She was greeted with an unpleasant smell coming from the kitchen. Archie Hill her colleague and close friend stood in front of a large pot on his stove mixing enthusiastically. White t-shirts were thrown carelessly on the cluttered countertop and colourful ones lay damp in the sink. Jessie had learned years ago not to look at Archie and ask "what the hell are you doing?" Instead she walked over and peered over his shoulder "are you going to work today?

He looks at her and grinned "yeah. I just need to cook this a few more minutes."

"This" was a couple of t-shirts tied up in bits of twine.

"I'll go change," he continued heading to the out the kitchen. Archie taught art at the high school. Although some teachers complained he was a bit eccentric and his teaching methods were strange, all his students worshipped him.

Five minutes later he reentered, carrying a large laundry basket with dry tie and dye t-shirts. He was wearing a bright green t-shirt with the words "it doesn't matter what I wear, as long as I'm happy". Words he seemed to live by since he was wearing matching green jeans and a pair of white Nikes. A green cap was pulled backwards on his finger combed hair. He pulled out large garbage bag and began humming as he emptied the clothes into it. He then turned off the stove and emptied the pot in the sink. He looked at Jessie.

"Well, come on. Can't be late on your first day back," he said before heading out the door.

"So how do you feel?" Archie asked as he climbed into Jessie's car. He threw the bags in the seats behind.

"Okay I guess. Everyone keeps asking me that. The couple of days I had off I could have spent preparing tests but Laura and Mrs. Smythe insisted I relax. I was so restless. What did I miss at school? Anything new?

"Not really. With the holidays coming up the students are so excited, some decided to skip school altogether, get a head start on the holidays and head for the beach. Unfortunately for them frank had a biology class trip on the beach that day and were caught. Oh and the cafeteria menu has changed. The untouchable salad tasteless tuna sandwiches and pulpy French fries will be served on Wednesdays instead of Fridays," he told her.

"Thanks for the heads up. I don't think my ileum can handle another salad from the cafeteria," she said as she drove past the gates that lead to St. Christopher's high school.

Students were slowly shuffling up the large stone stairs of the school's entrance. Their lethargic gates spoke volumes about their "enthusiasm" for starting the lesson pack week. Some seemed to ignore the fact that ironing their uniforms made them looks more distinguished. Some of the boys shuffled aimlessly about the grounds rumpled shirts hanging out of their baggy pants. The early morning sun shone brightly against their bed rumpled heads. Most of the girls had congregated in their usually groups gossiping about the previous week's events.

"It feels good to be back," Jessie smiled as she parked her car in a vacant spot. Archie climbed out and pulled out his bag with some effort. He waited as she locked the car then the headed to the teacher's lounge in the administrative building. The six teachers who were already there barely give Archie a second glance as they entered. Everyone had somehow grown accustomed to his unique way of dressing. Jessie headed for her desk and began taking out the books she needed for her first class.

Just then, Luther Rogers entered. He was looking his usually early morning self, well cut, clean starched and pressed designer shirt and pants. His black hair peppered with premature grey hairs was nicely cut and combed. All it took was a class of active fourteen year olds for him to become a mess. He approached her with a grim look on his face.

"I was going over your syllabus for the class in room 12 and noticed you hadn't done "As You Like It" but began "To Kill A Mocking Bird" and I took the liberty of giving your class assignments on it," he told her. He pulled out a copy of the syllabus and pointed with his well manicured finger.

"I don't know how I forgot. A lot on my mind these days, you see. Thank you so much, Mr. Rogers," she began. Luther waved his hand.

"Don't mention it. Just be careful next time," he said smugly before walking away.

Jessie didn't feel like telling him that she had completed the book the term before. He worked so hard to keep sane at St. Christopher's.

Just them the bell rang, signaling the start of the first period. She hurried to her class in room 5 which was on the first floor. As she hurried down the hallways she was greeted by complaints of Mr. Rogers by some of her students.

"He gives us Shakespeare again, Miss Ryan," one girl moaned.

"Told us we should watch the movie! Shakespeare is a classic. No modern day film maker unless it's Peter Jackson, he's a film god or actor can remake that book. Mr. Rogers is crazy!" one said passionately.

"When we tried to tell him we got it already he got angry and give some of us detention," Ronald Higgins, her brightest pupil exclaimed, he's nuttier than my grandma's peanut butter and almond cookies.

Jessie promised to listen to all of their complaints during their fourth period session with her and ushered them to their chemistry class with Amber Wilks before going to her class in the opposite room.

Room 5 was affectionately called "the dungeon by both students and teachers alike. It was on the southern end of the school's main building. The only view was an aging fern that needed to be trimmed badly. The tree created a permanent dark effect and the room was rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of the sailors whose ships had crashed on the rocks in the nearby beach on the northern end of the school. Jessie knew it was an urban legend, probably thought up by past student who didn't want to go to class.

The students in room 5 seem if possible less enthusiastic as the group she had seen outside that morning. A couple were using the desks as make shift beds while others poked their heads outside and waved to other students who were late for their classes. She walked in and ushered them to their seats.

"Do we have to do work today, miss Ryan? Jeffery Morgan whined as he opened his battered copy of "Shane"

As always, Jessie give him the same answer, "if I didn't teach you would be in my class next year and we both wouldn't want that would we Jeffery?"

"No," he muttered sourly into the book.

"Good. Now you will begin the summary of chapter eight you were supposed to do for homework. Two weeks ago. It was due today. Steven, Amanda, Toby and Michelle will finish," she began. She removed the chalk from the cupboard and began writing the date. As usual, there was a large sigh from Jeffery before he began.

Cedar Oaks was a small town with three hotels, The Divine Palace, Cedar Mirage, and the Vintage Village. The beach were all easily accessible by all three and as Jessie drove her car to the Vintage Village she couldn't help admire the white sandy beach and coconut trees which lined the road. She hadn't been to the beach for some time and made a mental note to do so. Slowing down as she neared a fork in the road, she made a left turn. She drove down a small private road before the Vintage Excellence loomed before her.

The hotel had been a mansion which had belonged to one of the early settlers at Cedar Oaks. The owner's mistress had taken it upon herself to create her own little community which looked like the home in England she missed. The result was small houses surrounding the mansion which was used when entertaining and for the forty servants which maintained the eighty room mansion. Years after the death of the owners, the estate remained undisturbed believed by the locals to be haunted by two servants that died saving their master and mistress from robbers pretending to be lost travelers. Some years later, descendents of the owners from England resurrected the estate and turned it into a hotel.

Pulling up to the main building, she got out and handed her car keys to the handsomely dressed valet and walked up to the entrance. As she walked up to the information desk, she thought about the telephone conversation with Josie the night before.

"What in the name of all that is holy possessed you to do something like that?" she had said as she got ready for bed.

"Well he is new to Cedar Oaks and he doesn't know anyone. I just thought it would be nice if "someone" could, show him around."

"That I understand. The fact that the "someone" is me is a whole different thing,"

"You're the only one free tomorrow,"