Annie's Neighborhood. Roz Denny Fox

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СКАЧАТЬ them dry. He hadn’t quite finished his report when a call came in from the principal at the middle school. A fifth grader had been found with marijuana in his book bag.

      Sky left the convenience store and drove four blocks to the school. He remembered getting in trouble once for taking a garden snake to school. It wasn’t just that he’d taken the snake to class, but he’d put it in Julie Clark’s backpack. Sky couldn’t fathom what kind of mischief kids would be up to by the time his five-year-old son reached middle school. He hoped he’d have some say in guiding Zack through those awkward years. He wouldn’t if it was up to Corrine.

      During the school year so far, Sky had sat down with this principal more often than either of them would’ve liked. “I don’t know what to tell you, Chief Cordova,” Mrs. Beckerman said. “Billy Joe Wright swears he was set up.”

      Sky watched the scared kid who sat in the principal’s waiting room. He was fair-haired and well-dressed. He didn’t have on the oversize, low-slung jeans that seemed to be the gangbanger dress code. “What are his grades like? Have they slipped lately?” Sky asked.

      The principal accessed the boy’s record on her computer. “He’s a surprisingly good student. I hate to admit it, but that’s why I know so little about him. It’s terrible that my days are spent getting to know all the children at the opposite end of the academic spectrum.” She handed Sky the plastic Baggie filled with leaves. “But there is the fact that this fell out of his book bag in algebra class.”

      Sky opened a corner of the bag, sniffed, then made a wry face before sealing it again. “Potent weed,” he said, coughing. “It’s worth some bucks. Could be someone’s bullying him, or else somebody’s been coerced by a dealer up the chain to try and get him involved.”

      The principal closed the boy’s record. “I’ll talk to his mother. He said his dad’s out of town on business. That could mean anything. It may mean he’s in jail. If our counselor can handle one more case, I’ll refer him and I’ll sign a release for you to confiscate the bag. For now I’m inclined to give Billy a pass, but I’ll try to keep him under surveillance.”

      All too familiar with the drill from past confiscations, Sky had come prepared with a notebook of release forms. Extracting one, he set it on her desk, and she signed it with a flourish.

      Borrowing her stapler, Sky stapled the bag to the form. Mrs. Beckerman photocopied it, bag and all. “I hope I don’t have to call you in again before school lets out for the summer. Not that I envy you having so many potential delinquents turned loose on the community for three months. I should warn you, the district cut all summer programs.”

      “Gr...eat.” He sighed heavily. “Don’t they realize it leaves the schools at risk for vandalism?”

      She shrugged. “They claim they’ve wrung every possible penny out of the budget just to hire teachers for enough hours so our seniors can graduate.”

      “Thanks for the heads-up, Mrs. Beckerman. I’ll see if I can arrange our schedules to include driving by the three schools several times a day.”

      “Do that. I’ll pray for an angel to swoop down and keep our facilities protected.”

      Sky took his leave, fearing it was going to be a long summer. The news about no summer school felt like one more nail driven into the coffin of this dying town.

      * * *

      LATER, AFTER HE wound up his day, he went home, showered and changed out of his uniform before traveling eight miles to the town where Koot lived. Sky stopped at a flower shop and bought a potted plant as a hostess gift for Sadie Talmage. He knew she liked flowers. Continuing into the residential district, Sky couldn’t help comparing these clean streets, well-tended lawns and inviting homes with those in his run-down community. He’d been to the Talmage home several times, but it struck him now that if he hadn’t had a touchy encounter with Annie Emerson today, he wouldn’t be making comparisons.

      The safety of residents in his town was his first concern, not how the houses looked to passersby. Yet, Koot, a thirty-year veteran cop, had moved his family because he deemed this town far safer than Briar Run.

      When Sky was hired as police chief, the city had a rule stating that its employees, especially police and fire, had to reside within city limits. Sky wasn’t sure if they’d relaxed the rules for Koot, who was a fixture on the force and due to retire soon, or if the city manager wasn’t aware he’d moved.

      The main question still ricocheted inside Sky’s head—was there truth to Annie’s assertion that spiffing up the neighborhood would translate into safety? Sky hated to think that his reluctance to take her seriously could lie with the fact that she’d laid him out in her front yard, thereby threatening his masculinity. Preferring to put that incident and the woman out of his mind, Sky was glad to arrive at his destination.

      * * *

      SADIE ANSWERED HIS knock. She enveloped him in a hug, which was her way of greeting everyone. “Why thank you, sugar,” she drawled when he gave her the plant. “Koot, are you too old to learn some manners from your younger boss?” she said with a laugh when her husband walked up behind her. She kissed his cheek to take away the sting of her rebuke as she showed off her gift. Koot flung an arm around her shoulders. His brown eyes twinkled as he feigned being stabbed in the heart by Sky, who grinned and followed his hosts through the kitchen and out to the back patio, where an outdoor table was already set. He felt the cares of the day recede. His friends had the kind of marriage he wished his had been.

      “Grab a chair,” Koot said, picking up a platter and a spatula.

      Sadie handed Sky a chilled bottle of light beer and set one each in front of her husband’s plates and hers.

      “Prepare to eat the best pulled-pork sandwiches you’ve ever tasted,” Koot called over his shoulder. He opened the lid on the barbecue and the scent of spices made Sky’s mouth water.

      “No kids tonight?” Sky asked when Sadie moved a tray of condiments to make room on the table for a green salad.

      “Marcus is coaching a junior baseball team at the boys’ club,” Koot said, returning to the table with a platter of buns, piled high with meat oozing a tangy-smelling sauce.

      Sadie used tongs to set a sandwich on Sky’s plate. “Sam is helping his sister study for her bar exams. Poor Sam, he wishes he’d stayed in college instead of dropping out to get married. His job as a hospital orderly just pays the bills.”

      “He could go back and finish his degree,” Koot said, whipping open his napkin.

      Sadie defended their middle son. “It’s almost impossible with two kids, and tuition fees climbing.”

      “I was lucky to finish college with some help from ROTC. Then I went straight into the police academy before getting called to active army duty,” Sky said. “A lot of guys I met overseas hoped they could attend college after their tours,” he added. “If they already had a family, it’d mean sacrifice. Maybe Sam will go back, though, if Koot keeps after him.”

      “I could have helped him out financially if I’d continued teaching.” Sadie dished out salad and passed around dressings.

      “You didn’t need the hassle.” Koot turned to Sky. “It got to where she was trying to teach kids who didn’t care. You know how many times we get called to that high school. I wanted her and Diandra out of there.”

      “I СКАЧАТЬ