Damaged Ch. 01-02

Alan read the title aloud, "Flowers For Algernon."

He noticed the picture of what looked to be her parents. He stood and looked around the room, he saw more photos on the walls of family and friends. He inspected them closely.

Finally he made his way to her dresser drawers. Without pause, he pulled the top drawer open and reached in. His hands emerged with a matching set of black silk bra and panties. He rubbed them between his fingers, feeling the slick softness of the material, as his eyes narrowed and drifted away to the side. He lost himself in thought.

"Okay, sure," Teri said, "I'm really looking forward to it. Yes. See you then. Bye..."

Hanging up the phone, she turned and walked back towards the corridor to the bathroom. "Alan?" she asked.

Alan emerged from the bathroom with his toolkit.

"Sorry about the phone call," she apologized.

He shook his head. He asked , "Someone from back home?"

"Yeah. Yeah, a guy I know," she said shuffling on her feet.

"Boyfriend?"

Her creamy-pearl coloured cheeks blushed faintly. She shrugged, "No. I mean...I've known Greg since my undergrad years. I like him. He's...We're good friends."

Alan said nothing more and moved past her. "Dean," he called out to the backyard, "We're pulling out. Get your butt in the truck."

The boy ran by the side of the house towards the front.

"So thanks very much with helping me with this bathroom thing," Teri said as she followed Alan to her front door.

"I'll get the things that I need today then I'll see. Busy tomorrow. Maybe during the week or next Saturday."

"Oh next Saturday is the parent-faculty picnic at the school," Teri remarked, "You're coming aren't you? I mean you are both parent and faculty after all!"

"I'm not really the picnic type," Alan shrugged. "And kind of busy with projects."

"Oh come on!" she nudged his shoulder, "Dean will have fun with the other kids and you have to see me pitch in the softball game."

Wearing a placid expression as he thought, Alan finally spoke, "I want a Teri Medal for this."

Teri chuckled, "I'll give you one for being the best at repairing broken showers."

Alan stopped as he opened the door. Without looking back at her he said, "No. I'll think of another one for myself."

She smiled and nodded, said good-bye, and shut the door. She stood in her foyer for a moment thinking, still smiling to herself.

As Alan and Dean drove away, the man thought carefully. Amongst all the photos she had chosen to put up and around her room, of family and closest friends, none of them looked like the picture of a person named Greg or a person Teri would call her boyfriend.

*********

Dean enjoyed sliding around the long, smooth oak floors in the spacious Locke home. He also liked the pool out back along with the lot of undeveloped forest that they claimed for their property.

There was a lot to do in and around the 5 bedroom house for a young boy to distract himself for a good long time. He didn't even need to go upstairs. Anyway, he would have just got in his dad's way while he fixed Mrs.Locke's problems. Though it looked like a nice, clean home, it turned out the house had many, many problems his dad had to fix.

He was in the bedroom along with Mrs.Locke fixing a problem right at that moment.

Alan's tool belt lay on the floor of the bedroom along with his socks, pants, shirt and underwear. The problem he was looking into was a creak in the bed that just wouldn't go away no matter how hard he shook it.

Sophia was an obliging hostess, absorbing the stiff strikes and thrusts of Alan with her own willing body. All the while she breathlessly urged him on to do his best.

As Alan knelt on the bed, pulling and pumping hard with every muscle in his lean, strong frame, he looked down at the woman spread wide before him. Maybe it was from the heat enveloping the two of them as they groaned and strained repeatedly, but it wasn't Sophia Locke's face he was seeing. Sophia's hair wasn't short enough, it wasn't black enough, her eyes too wide and light, her tan skin not creamy-pearl enough.

She couldn't offer him a medal or make him feel special.

"Ah, Alan! You're so good, baby," Sophia mewed.

Alan pulled her up and the two clutched one another on the bed. Looking past her shoulder, his eyes quickly drifted away from the moment to a hidden old shack by a pond.

*********

Damaged - Chapter 2

16 years ago

Alan sat quietly in the classroom looking straight ahead. He always hated the desks in school; they made him feel small. He stared intently past all the other students' heads, focusing on the chalkboard.

It made no sense to him, grade 11 History -- actually none of the classes did. He was good in math, liked how numbers and logic worked, but he never felt compelled to display his prowess to earn insignificant letters and percentages on his report card.

Yet his eyes were transfixed towards the front of the classroom despite the gibberish being scrawled onto the blackboard.

Ms.Jennings had a way about her when her back was to the class, scribbling away with the chalk as she gleefully covered every last inch of that big board. Alan liked the way the skirt of her dress would swoosh to and fro, enjoyed how her long, wavy caramel hair flowed to her lower back which curved from side to side as she moved up and down the chalkboard.

Still it was whenever she turned around to face the class did Alan's eyes narrow on her. Pretty and pristine, she always inhaled deeply after her chalkboard workout, smiling as if she had just run a mile. She appeared to be blissfully unaware that likely half the class wasn't recording anything she had written.

No, actually she wasn't that naïve, she had good sense to know what was what. Alan knew she wasn't some automaton like a lot of the other teachers. She was a pure idealist and rolled freely with whatever obstacles came about. As long as all the kids were passing her class and knew at least one thing that happened in this country in the 1800's, she was happy.

She knew everyone by name without pause, made a point of ensuring each individual had her attention, adjusting to the needs of each of them, making each feel special.

Alan didn't care if she made the entire school feel special or not. To him, he felt like the only student in her classroom. He knew it.

*********

Sophia Locke stirred from her light, sensuous slumber and stretched. Her sultry, curvy body ached in the most lovely way.

In the darkened bedroom, she watched as the man she had just shared an afternoon delight with pulled up his pants. He sat down on the edge of the bed, his back to her, as he put on his socks. The woman reached out and touched his smooth muscular back. She loved his feel, loved his look. The man was lean, long muscle, like a sleek wolf...and he knew how to work it.

"So you have the numbers for those people?" she asked.

Alan nodded and slipped on his shirt. He sniffed the collar. It smelled of juniper and violet, Sophia's scent since the first day he had met her.

"Those are good handyman jobs, should pay well and keep you busy," Sophia remarked twirling her silky blonde hair with her finger, "Hopefully not too busy. And remember, I'm the only one you're doing any bedroom work for."

The man picked up a couple of used condoms, stuffed them in a small bag and pocketed them. "You're gonna change the sheets?" he asked.

Sophia nodded slowly, "Yes, but no hurry. I'm sure Turner will be taking the boys out for a beer or two after calling them in for this weekend meeting at the warehouse."

Alan stood and walked towards the door.

"So I heard that was the new school teacher whose house you were at," Sophia said to him from the bed, "Such a sweet Oriental look to her. We haven't seen too many in our community like that."

Without pausing as he opened the door and walked out, Alan answered, "Working on her bathroom."

"That's what I wanted to hear," Sophia thought to herself as she lay back onto her pillow.

*********

"Hobo Hut?" Teri asked as she faced her class.

An excited murmur floated throughout the classroom.

She had already gotten them worked up discussing the topic of folk legends and mysteries. When she asked if they knew of any eerie local stories, they all spoke practically in unison: "Hobo Hut."

"So what's the story behind Hobo Hut? Somebody tell me," she said scanning the eagerly raised arms in the room, "Yes, Amanda?"

A red-headed girl with a pink striped dress stood up in the back. She inhaled deeply and said, "A long time ago, like 50 years ago, there was a shack in the forest that a hobo had built and he lived there on his own. He stayed there during the day and only came out at night."

Teri leaned against her desk and folded her arms, nodding. She enjoyed the giddiness in the girl's voice. "Okay. Go on."

"And he'd go out to the road at night and kidnap hitch-hikers and bring them to the Hobo Hut," the girl said, her mouth broadening into an excited smile, "Then he would make them drink his potions and then he would kill them really slowly with his knives!"

The class rumbled with cackles and chuckles amongst the kids. Teri winced.

"And then he would dump their bodies in a pond! And if you go swimming there today, the bodies will reach up and grab you by the ankles and pull you under the water!"

The kids were practically jumping on their chairs now.

A boy shouted through the din, "My dad said that, even after the hobo was killed, he heard spooky moaning coming from Hobo Hut at night!"

Many of the kids concurred wildly. Teri had an idea what type of 'moaning' might have been heard. It made her blush inside to think about it.

She waved her hands downward, shushing the children. "Okay. Shh. Wow, thanks Amanda. That's positively gruesome," she chuckled, "So whatever happened to Hobo Hut? Do any of you know where it is?"

The class shook their collective heads. "No one knows where it is," Amanda remarked, "I think it was burnt down."

Teri nodded. She noticed a hand go up. She blinked then said, "Yes? Dean?"

Dean continued to hold his hand up in the air, his chin buried in his chest, until all eyes were on him.

"Dean?" Teri asked again.

Slowly the hand came back down. The boy didn't say anything.

"Ms.Yao?" a small voice of a young boy called out from the back.

"Yes, Darryl?"

"There's also the haunted train tracks."

"They're not haunted," another boy jeered at him.

"Well, there was that man and woman who got run over by the train a long time ago," Darryl replied.

"That was like only less than 20 years ago. And it doesn't make it haunted, stupid."

As the class broke down again into a heated debate over the train tracks. Teri continued to watch Dean still staring at his desk.

*********

In the evening, Alan was back at Teri's house to work on her shower.

"What's Dean up to now?" Teri asked as she handed Alan a glass of water.

Alan sat down on the edge of her tub and took a long drink from the glass. He handed it back to her, "I don't know. Chasing cars maybe."

Despite herself, Teri grinned and rolled her eyes, "Terrible."

"He's fine. I fed him before I came over tonight and once he's in his pyjamas, the kid's not going anywhere."

Teri leaned up against the bathroom door and nodded.

"Is he giving you trouble in class?" Alan asked as he fidgeted with a monkey wrench.

"No. No, he's never been trouble, Alan," Teri pointed out, "He's doing fine."

The man stood up and got back to work.

Teri smiled to herself, looking at the tools all over her bathroom tiles. "The kids were telling me grisly stories about the town today," she said, "Talked about the Legend of Hobo Hut."

"Oh yeah," Alan said, distracted.

"They were telling me how the place was a murder shack and it was haunted by the victims of the hobo," she giggled, "Eerie moans and groans at night and all that."

Alan paused for a moment, staring hard into the wall. "The moaning part probably wasn't from ghosts," he said with a low rumble. Then he went back to work.

Teri nodded and grinned. "Yeah, I kind of figured," she said tilting her head down to hide the blush in her face. "Isn't it strange how kids get so excited about violent murder stories?"

"Just stories."

"Yeah," Teri sighed, "The kids couldn't say where it was or if it really existed, anyway."

"Hut's real," Alan turned and looked at her. His crystal lake blue eyes were set on her but there was an intangible distance in their gaze as well. He added, "The moans were, too."

"Oh," was all she could muster. She suddenly felt like she was leaning forward as she looked back at him. Only when he returned to working on the pipes did she feel her balance return.

She hesitated then turned to leave the man to his work. Pausing for a moment looked back and asked, "Do you mind if I leave you here and go for a jog?"

Alan continued to focus on the pipes.

Teri went into the bedroom and closed her door. How did he always do that, give her pause for thought? Why was she always curious about what he had to say? He didn't even talk that much. And though he rarely did so, the way he looked at her...

She shook her head and changed into her jogging gear.

*********

When Saturday came by, the school kids and their families joined the faculty in the schoolyard for the annual picnic.

"Thanks so much with the shower," Teri said as she and Alan set up the tables on the back field of Drummond Elementary, "Feels nice to stand up when getting clean."

Alan bobbed his head and propped up another table as Teri draped a red and white cross-patterned tablecloth over it. Mother nature was working in the school's favour today, casting a bright sun and warm breeze across their faculty-parent picnic.

"I was thinking you might want to do some roofing work on the place," Alan remarked.

"Hmm? My roof?" Teri asked.

"I noticed some damp and cool spots in your ceiling when I was poking around."

"Oh you're kidding," she said exasperated. She sensed a money-pit opening beneath her feet.

Alan waved an easy hand at her. "I've got some leftover shingles and roofing supplies from other jobs. Won't match exactly with the colour of your roof but it's just some patchwork to be done before the colder months set in. I could be done in a day, tomorrow even."

"Really?" Teri said. She didn't want to constantly lean on him for all of her house repairs but she couldn't think of a better way. They agreed on a price and Alan confirmed he'd start the next morning.

Along with the other teachers and parents gathered around the table, they started laying out the buffet while the kids played in the school yard. Dean preferred to help at the table and stayed close by Teri's side.

"So what did you and your dad bring for us today?" she asked.

Dean removed the lid from a large foil tray and showed it to her. Dozens of inch-sized Italian meat balls steamed deliciously in the container.

"You were expecting falafels?" Alan remarked.

Teri looked up at him from across the table. Did he actually just crack a joke? The man continued moving along down the tables laying down napkins.

She watched him for a moment then looked down at Dean and the tray of meatballs. "Must have been a lot of work."

Dean nodded and smiled.

*********

"Those were great, a real hit," Teri remarked about the meatballs as she stretched her legs on the grass, "I think I could have measured each one with a ruler and they'd all have been the exact size."

Alan looked at his shoes as he tied up his laces, "My aunt would kill me if I didn't make them completely identical."

After lunch, the school community held the events part of the picnic: races, soccer, dodge-ball, etc. Dean preferred to wander in the nearby ravine by himself. The big event came last: the parent vs. faculty softball game.

Alan stood and walked towards the parents' team.

"Oh, hey! Wait," Teri called to him, "Aren't you going to be on our team?"

"I'm a parent," Alan shrugged, "What kid wouldn't want to watch his dad spank his teacher on the field?"

"Oh really?" Teri got up grinning and said, "I'm pitching you know."

"Yeah, I know," he said walking away from her.

Teri's lips curled wickedly as she wound her arm in the air.

Alan was assigned lead off and he walked up to the plate. The kids and parents sitting around the edge of the field cheered loudly as the umpire called for the game to start. He stepped into the box and adjusted his bat as he glanced around the field. Dean was nowhere to be found, of course.

A few metres away, Teri worked the grapefruit-sized ball in her fingers. Even in her sports shirt and track pants she looked way too delicate to get the ball across the plate with any kind of oomph.

She took a step back then forward as she cranked her arm.

There was a collective "ooh" from the gallery.

"Strike one!" bellowed the ump.

Alan, his bat still on his shoulder, glanced at the catcher and then back at Teri looking very pleased with herself as she received the ball back. He was trying to figure out when exactly the ball had disappeared from her hand and ended up in the catcher's mitt.

Teri cranked her arm again.

"Strike two!"

Alan was glad Dean was wandering around in the bush.

*********

It was a long game or a short game depending on which side of the field you were on. Fortunately, the teachers were almost as inept as the parents were at bat. However, on the strength of Teri's additionally skilled hitting, they managed to push four people across the plate which was four more than the parents.

As the teachers made their way out onto the field for the final inning, Teri, feeling a bit giddy, skipped over to Alan in the batter's box.

"Hey, no psyching out our players!" a parent called out from the side followed by some laughter.

"When it comes to softball, you shouldn't mess with a Taiwanese chick," she teased, "You ready to concede before I send you down for a fourth time?"

Alan continued to take his warm up swings. "I'm going to hit that ball over the fence back there," he said calmly.

Teri arched the fine lines of her brow. "Really?" she retorted, "Sounds like a challenge to me. Want to lay a wager? The loser of our little duel treats the winner to a drink at the faculty after-picnic party at Duffy's tonight?"

"I don't make bets for drinks," he said, "But I'll take the wager. I'll just let you know later on what it is I want."

"Presuming you can hit my ball out of the park. If I win?"

"You won't." Alan took one last swing and then set himself up over the plate.

Teri, still grinning, walked out onto the field. She got into her stance, wound her arm and slung the ball towards the plate. There was a loud "thunk" as the bat made solid contact with the ball hurling it skyward over the field. Teri's mouth slumped open as she watched the white orb drift over the fence in centrefield. She never heard the roar from the crowd as she watched Alan diligently circle the bases around her.

********

The families and teachers walked towards the parking lot as the successful picnic came to an end in the late afternoon. An orange-red hue painted the straggling clouds above.

"That was some swing, Mr.Rosetti," Teri said as they packed away the softball gear.

"That's some arm," he acknowledged, "You're really into the athletics."

"It offsets my bad eating habits," she conceded, "I usually just jog at night."

Alan nodded. "I know of a few jogging paths in the forest," he mentioned.

"Yeah? Maybe we could..."

A loud honk interrupted her. They both looked towards the parking lot. A man, East Asian, stood beside a blue Corolla, waving in their direction.

Teri, smiling warmly, waved back. "Greg! Hi!" she called out to him.