Someone Else's Daughter

"Then it's Colleen for me," she replied widening her smile. "Has Mr. Philips explained the situation?" she asked as she sat down in the chair next to Kenji. His eyes followed her down, her slacks and sweater not hiding her hourglass figure. Suddenly his guilt kicked in for being preoccupied, checking out his daughter's teacher, when they were here to discuss more serious matters.

"Not yet Colleen. I was about to begin when you walked in," he explained. "So, Ken, will Christine's mother be joining us?"

"No, she won't. We're divorced and she's not in town at the moment. If there's anything serious, I can relay that to her," Ken replied.

"OK then. Well, we have ourselves a situation here. Christine's behaviour today was concerning, but she also left school grounds without permission. Either would earn detention, so that would be a start, for at least two weeks," he paused for a reaction from Kenji, and when all he got was a nod, he was surprised.

Usually, with many other parents, they would already be on the defensive. They would be blaming something other than their child, or they would be threatening the principal or the school. Kenji just nodded and took it in. Colleen took up where Jeff left off.

"Ken, I understand that Christine's been struggling the last little while with your family situation. I'd also suggest that she speak to the school counsellor. It might help," she offered as she placed a hand on Kenji's forearm.

"It couldn't hurt," he agreed. "Well, thank you for your patience with her. I'll be speaking to her about her behaviour and her punishment, both here and at home," he assured them. With a nod to both the principal and Christine's teacher, Kenji stood up and left the office to head home and speak to his daughter.

==========

ACT 3 - COLLEEN

COLLEEN MEEHAN WAS concerned about her student's reaction today, and was worried that there were some deeper issues that needed attention. She thought back to when she first met Christine on her first day of class here in Toronto.

Colleen had just moved to Toronto in August, a 32-year-old divorcée with no kids, barely any savings, a teaching degree, and a deadbeat ex-husband. They were both from Halifax. Dartmouth actually, but she always said Halifax lest people think she grew up in some trailer park with a bunch of morons. She was always the one folks in the neighbourhood thought would go to university, while he was the easy-go-lucky cool kid who was good with his hands.

They were an unlikely pair, and she was happy to be with Edward. Most of the guys didn't want to date the 'tall girl', but he said he found her attractive. While she went to school to get her college diploma, he ended up working odd jobs around town, whether at the harbour, or on a fishing boat for a spell. When Colleen ended up in teacher's college in Edmonton, Edward saw it as a chance to cash in on the oilsands boom and decided to move to Alberta with her.

After a hasty wedding in front of a justice of the peace, they moved west to a small apartment near the university, not that Edward was there much. The work he was doing had him living in Fort McMurray, four and a half hours north of Edmonton, for a few months on and a few months off. The job paid very well, but with lots of spare time, much of it went to drink, drugs, and Colleen suspected, women by the hour.

After university, Colleen landed a job in a middle school on the western edge of town, near the mall. For a while, things were looking up. Edward seemed to be settling down, even though he and Colleen didn't see eye to eye on having a family, the bone of contention being, he didn't want one. Things began to fall apart when the bottom fell out of the oil and gas industry and Edward found himself unemployed, with little to show for his years. Deciding that he might have a better chance of finding work back in Halifax through his old cronies, he and Colleen moved back.

That hadn't been a solution either, and Colleen found that not only was she working to support the both of them, but that she was also working to keep him and his friends in beer, smokes, and donairs while they though up improbable ways to make quick money. All of a sudden, her life was a sad approximation of a trailer trash TV sitcom. In the end, with no savings, no property, and no hope that their marriage would survive, Colleen filed for divorce and moved to Toronto for a fresh start when an opening for a teacher at a Senior Public School opened up.

Toronto was a slight culture shock, even though Colleen was teaching in a suburban school. The classroom was very diverse compared to Edmonton or Halifax, and the kids in Toronto expressed themselves differently than those in her past schools. In any case, kids end up tending towards similar behaviour wherever you are, so Colleen took it in stride once she saw there were few differences in the dynamics compared to her past experience.

Christine stood out for Colleen. First, for being your typical petite, blonde, blue-eyed, future head cheerleader with a distinctly Asian name. Second for an aura of sadness and bitterness that didn't match with her cheerful demeanor. She was always helpful, and despite the fact that she could be Queen Bee, she was always nice to people.

Colleen, however, was concerned, and kept an eye on Christine, sensing that at some point, she would snap. Half way through the school year, snap she did. That was how Colleen met Christine's father, and learned of her unique home life. Not that divorce was uncommon in the school population, but that she ended up in the custody of her adoptive parent in a bi-cultural household. Sure that she didn't know the whole story, Colleen vowed to keep closer tabs on Christine, which was how she ended up volunteering to cover detention for the next two weeks.

Christine was resigned to her punishment: two weeks detention at school, and grounded at home until her birthday. Her first afternoon in detention, she pulled out her homework without being told and worked away quietly. By four-thirty, things had gotten dark. Colleen looked up and saw that Kenji was at the classroom door, waiting for Christine, and smiled.

"Hey Meg,' he tousled her hair as she came up beside him, "how was prison?" he asked with a smile, unused to Christine getting in trouble.

"Meg?" Colleen asked as she followed Christine up.

"Yeah, Ms. Meehan," Christine replied, "Dad calls me Meg sometimes, especially if he's feeling bad for me. It's short for Megumi, my Japanese name."

"Huh, you'll have to tell me how that happened sometime," Colleen requested from both of them.

"Sure, Ms. Meehan," Christine smiled cheerfully. "I love when Dad uses it. It means he feels guilty... maybe guilty enough to un-ground me?" she explained giving her father sad puppy eyes and a small pout.

"You wish, squirt!" Kenji retorted sarcastically, but with an affectionate arm around her shoulders. He spoke again, looking at Colleen. "Thank you again for suggesting Christine speak to someone. We're gonna to be going to sessions as a family so we can all hash some things out."

"I'm glad to hear that. Maybe if you could come a little earlier tomorrow, I could ask you a few things?" Collen asked.

"I'd be happy to," Ken replied with a smile, then turning, after a moment's pause, to head out to his car.

~ ~ ~

THE NEXT DAY, Colleen found herself looking over to the classroom door as four o'clock approached. A few minutes before the hour, Kenji looked into the window and waved. Colleen excused herself, making sure to let the kids know to continue with their homework.

"Hi Ken," she smiled, slightly out of breath from the walk to the door, at least that was her excuse. "Thanks for coming in early."

"Not a problem Colleen," he replied. "Good to be the boss, sometimes," he chuckled. "So, you had some questions?"

"Yes, I did," she replied, motioning him to a seat in an empty classroom. "I'm a little worried about Christine."

"I am too, but I want understand how so. What's your take?" Kenji asked her.

"Well, Christine is well behaved enough, and she's doing very well in school, but there's something there that just isn't quite right. It's like she has a wall built up and she's keeping a lot of resentment inside," Colleen explained. Kenji sighed.

"Yeah, I've noticed it too, since last September at least," Kenji agreed. "When Karen and I, that's Christine's mother, when we split up, I was very worried about Christine. She seemed to adapt well though, making sure to be present for her younger brother, even checking in on me every once in a while. She has a nurturing nature about her," Kenji explained.

"I keep trying to make sure that she understands that there isn't anything that she needs to take over, you know? That she's the child and I'm the parent," Kenji continued. "She seemed to be fine until her mother came into town with her new boyfriend, and that didn't go so well..." Colleen tilted her head in askance, brow furrowed. Kenji shrugged in response.

"She wouldn't tell any of us what happened, but she became a bit withdrawn after that. It, sort of, blew up at Christmas dinner when she got a call from her mom. Seems that she can't make it to Christine's thirteenth birthday," Kenji recounted. Colleen glanced over her shoulder at the detention classroom, a concerned look on her face.

"That's quite sad. I know it's not Sweet Sixteen, but your daughter's going to become a teenager and her mother can't be here," Colleen empathised. "Ken, I don't mean to be indiscreet but, would you mind if I asked you a delicate question?" Kenji nodded. "How did the separation... transpire?" Kenji thought for a moment.

"If you're asking who left whom, Karen, um..., she left almost a year and a half ago," Kenji confirmed. Colleen looked like she wanted to ask another question, so Kenji beat her to the punch. "And, well, she chose to give up custody," Kenji sighed. "I'm trying not to be judgmental, but I am a little bit. I'm also happy she did, because that means I get to have my children with me all the time."

"That would explain how Christine is feeling. When you start seeing the counsellor, they may want to explore feelings of abandonment," Colleen suggested. The corners of Kenji's mouth pulled into a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Thank you for the suggestion, Colleen."

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry if I overstepped," Colleen apologised, all flustered, misinterpreting the mirthless grin.

"No, no, not at all. It's just a little overwhelming," Kenji explained. "I thought we would be rounding the corner on this but it seems to be one step forward, two steps back, you know?"

"I actually do," she replied. "Although, thankfully, no kids, so that was a blessing, really," a small huff followed.

"Now it's my turn to apologise, Colleen. I didn't realise you'd been through this too," Kenji responded.

"No, that's alright. It's still a bit fresh is all, especially since he didn't want kids." Colleen sighed. "I guess it's a touchy subject for both of us. Why don't we table this for another time?"

"Gladly," Kenji ventured a small smile. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Sounds good," Colleen said, returning the smile.

Over the next few afternoons Colleen teased out the circumstances of Kenji and Karen's homelife and divorce and its impacts on Christine. It really hit home for Colleen in different ways, and she was determined to reach out to Christine and bring her out of her shell.

After Christine completed her sentence, there was no call for Kenji and Colleen to meet regularly, so their interactions went back to the once a semester parent/teacher conference. Colleen continued to work on Christine's melancholy, while Katherine and Margaret worked on Kenji's solitude. On the odd occasion that they could convince Kenji, he found himself on a blind date with one of Robert's coworkers, or the daughter of one of Margaret's friends.

~ ~ ~

THE SCHOOL YEAR was ending on the Canada Day long weekend, and Christine convinced her father to help chaperone the year-end barbecue at one of the local parks. That was where he reacquainted himself with Colleen.

"Hey stranger, long time no see," Colleen greeted him with a sparkling smile.

"Hi Colleen," he greeted her in return. "So how have you been?"

"Oh, you know, same-old, same-old," she bobbled her head. "How did you get roped into this?"

"Christine," was his one-word response.

"Yes," Colleen nodded sagely. "That girl is a force of nature, once we got her out of her shell."

"That she is," he agreed. "Listen, Colleen, I want to thank you again for helping her out so much this year. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't get my old Meg back. I don't know how I can repay you."

"We-ell, now that you mentioned it," Colleen began hesitantly, "I was wondering what you were doing next Friday night?"

"Nothing really," Kenji responded after a moment's thought. "Why?"

"You see, by next Friday I'll have wrapped up the school year and I won't be Christine's teacher anymore, and I was wondering if you'd like to grab a drink," she explained. "And if that drink goes well, then maybe we go and have dinner. And if THAT goes well, then maybe we can get together again for another meal, and so on...," she shot him a vulnerable look.

"I..., well..., I never thought that...," Kenji got out, surprised and flustered. Looking at Colleen, and seeing disappointment creeping into her eyes, he realized she was putting herself out there, and that he was sending the wrong message. "That is, I am very pleasantly surprised, and I would really like to take you up on that," he accepted with a smile.

~ ~ ~

COLLEEN AND KENJI'S first date went very well, well enough that they repeated it the next week. Over the summer, Colleen and Kenji would spend every Saturday out enjoying one of the many music, neighborhood, or cultural festivals in Toronto, often with his children along. At least once a week, Kenji and Colleen would see each other for dinner and drinks.

Christine already knew Colleen from school and thoroughly approved of her dad's budding relationship with her erstwhile teacher. It took a few awkward outings before Christine got comfortable with calling Colleen by her first name, instead of "Ms. Meehan". Bradley again amazed his father by taking to Colleen very quickly, charming her thoroughly.

By the fall of that year, Margaret wanted to meet the woman that had pulled Kenji and Christine out of the doldrums. Colleen was invited to Thanksgiving up in Waterloo, where she would meet all of Christine's extended family and pass muster with the grandparents, and pass she did. From singing along with the band at Oktoberfest to keeping her composure as one of the horses from the hayride at the farmer's market in St. Jacobs took a dump right beside her, Colleen won the approval from Kenji and Christine's family.

"They're quite protective of you," she said to Kenji on the way home as she reached for his hand. Colleen glanced back at the sleeping children in the rear seat.

"They took me in with open arms when Karen and I married, seeing as my parents are half the world away," Kenji stated by way of explanation. "And they want to make sure that whoever I end up with gets along with the kids and the family, you know?"

Colleen smiled smugly at Kenji, "So we're 'ending up' together, eh?"

"Yeah, that's the plan," Kenji responded with his own grin.

~ ~ ~

THINGS WERE NOT as rosy in Vancouver. After a few more recurring appearances in one more season and a short run to close off an arc in another, Karen was cut from the show. Fans complained of her acting as being one dimensional. Ultimately the show was cancelled.

Fortunately, Karen was still doing some part-time work for her former firm in Toronto, representing the company at some castings in Vancouver. It was fortunate because she was not landing many roles, with the odd bit part and some screen and print advertising. More fortunate because Brock seemed to view her as a source of financial support as well as pestering her for the inside track on roles he thought he would be "perfect for".

Despite his dependence on her, Brock was back to his old ways. He was still chasing younger skirts, and he wasn't as successful as he thought he was at being discreet. Karen chalked it up to his "creative temperament", and excused his behaviour.

Sometime after Colleen's successful visit to Waterloo, Karen and Brock showed up in Toronto for some casting calls. This time there were no invites to film festival events, or downtown hotels. The couple were staying at a chain motel in the Markham area just north of Toronto's suburbs. Christine was again invited to lunch with her mother and Brock, this time at a dim sum restaurant in the vicinity of the motel. Kenji again dropped Christine off, on this occasion with Colleen in tow for moral support.

"Hey Chris, text us when you're ready to go, OK?" Kenji gently instructed his daughter as Colleen squeezed her hand. "We'll be close by, alright?" Christine nodded with a shaky smile and got out of the car to walk over to where her mother was waiting with Brock.

"Who's that with your dad?" Karen asked her daughter as Kenji drove away.

"That's his girlfriend," Christine informed her mother. Christine smiled when she noted the small frown that marred Karen's face.

"Wow, your dad got lucky with her!" Brock exclaimed, not taking his eyes off of Colleen until the car left the small parking lot. Christine noticed that her mother's frown got bigger.

In the year since Karen and Brock had seen Christine, she had begun to develop a more womanly figure. With her pretty face and her budding figure, Colleen, her Aunt Kathy, and her grandmother agreed that she would be a complete knockout, and coordinated to have "the talk" with her soon. Karen noted the changes but Brock definitely noticed. Even though it was mature women that had kept Brock in champagne and caviar, young, preferably very young, women were what excited him.

No amount of knowledge that Christine could be his biological daughter was deterring Brock from leering at the young girl. Although young, Christine was prescient enough to sense when someone was openly lusting after her. She didn't know exactly what that meant other than it felt wrong. When Brock went to the washroom, Christine spoke up.

"Mom, Brock is creeping me out!" she told her mother. "He's been giving me these gross looks. I don't like it!"

"Oh Chrissy, you're overreacting!" downplaying Brock's inappropriate behaviour. "Brock is an actor and an artist. Creative types like him are able to see and assess beauty objectively. That's all he was doing, appreciating your beauty. It's a compliment really. Brock knows about beautiful women. He works with them all the time. Now have a dumpling," Karen said, moving away from the topic.

Christine's stomach churned with helplessness and anger. When Brock came back and distracted her mother, she quickly texted her father to come and pick her up.

"Mom, I'm not feeling so hot. Would you mind if we cut this short?"

"Why honey? We've only ordered six dishes," Karen fussed.

"Women trouble, Mom. It's that time of the month," Christine mumbled under her breath. Karen was taken aback.

"Oh. Are you...? I mean... is that where we're at with you now?" Karen whispered, surprised that she had missed that her daughter was going through puberty, even though it was hard to miss. Christine just nodded knowingly, looking her mother in the eye. "OK then, well, it can't be helped," she said as she signaled for the bill, pulling out her wallet. As always, Brock made no move for his.

As they were leaving, Christine let her mother and Brock walk ahead. Remembering her science classes earlier, she quickly grabbed Brock's chopsticks and wrapped them in his napkin and dropped them into a resealable bag that she had brought in her purse.