Page 71 of At Her Will

He lifted his gaze. “You look like someone I want to sing for all my life, Mistress. Thank you for being here. And when she get here, tell Miss Mavis I hope she’ll enjoy the show and not hold it against me if it not her type of music.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem. I think she’s coming so she can ogle you in a very un-principal-like fashion.”

That startled a chuckle out of him, and he tugged her hair before he went up to the stage.

She did some ogling herself, enjoying the shift of his backside in his black jeans. He’d worn that and a snug black T-shirt that said 5 & 2 on it in teal. He’d told her it referred to the five loaves and two fish brought to Jesus’s sermon, when he turned them into a feast for hundreds. “You bring the five and two to whatever’s needed in your life,” he told her, “and God handles the rest. That what 5&2 mean.”

“Made it.” Mavis plopped down into the chair Rev had vacated, making Vera start. “Didn’t mean to interrupt your meditations on the cosmos. Or a fine-looking man’s butt. Did I mention I’m changing the custodial staff’s dress code to jeans instead of coveralls?”

“Did I mention I might break your fingers?”

Mavis chuckled. “I see we’ve become possessive of that fine-looking butt.”

“Just protecting you from a workplace harassment suit.”

“I’m nowhere near work here, thank God. I need a night around legal adults. But my fingers are safe. If I did it, Beau would break out his tight disco era bell bottoms and give me trauma. Are any of your other ladies coming?”

“Yes, but Ros said they’ll squeeze in wherever they can find a place when they get here. I was able to hang onto your chairmainly because Rev was parked in it until a few minutes ago. Want a drink?”

“Please. Start with two, because the first one’s going down fast. But don’t let me have more than that. I have a full weekend. The adult literacy program for our kids’ parents is kicking off its new rotation bright and early tomorrow, and I always show up to meet the attendees the first day, to help them feel less self-conscious about it.”

Vera signaled the waitress, and they placed an order, which gave her time to consider what she was about to ask. From Rev’s reaction on the bus, it was tricky terrain, but she was wired toward giving a person all available tools to succeed. Especially a person she couldn’t stop thinking about. Or looking at. He was working around the other men on the small stage, getting set up, smiling at their banter.

“When you talked to Rev about improving his reading and writing skills,” she asked, “did he say anything else, other than what you already told me?”

“I was worried he’d be offended, but he wasn’t. He just thanked me and said he was good for now.” Mavis grimaced. “‘Don’t worry about me none, Miss Mavis. My English ain’t pretty as your’n these kids, but no one has trouble understanding what I say.’”

She lifted a shoulder. “He’s right. Honestly, as an educator, I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t worry too much about him.”

“Yeah.” It was a message Vera kept hearing. “Does that connect to whatever it was you were reluctant to share with me, when I called you about him?”

The waitress brought the drinks. Vera offered her card for the tablet the waitress carried. “Just keep the tab open,” she told her.

After the woman headed off, Mavis shot her a narrow glance. “My husband used to say you and I were friends because Ineeded someone in my life with my own annoying ability not to forget anything, or let it go until I had the heart of a matter.”

“Strong women need other strong women.” Vera clinked her glass against Mavis’s. “Your hesitancy seems…personal. If you don’t feel comfortable, don’t share. But if you do, I’d really like to know.”

A shadow crossed Mavis’s gaze. “It might change how you see me. You’ll decide I need psychiatric help."

Vera was startled to see the woman meant it. “I already know you need that. You work with teenagers.” She kept her tone light, but added, “I respect and admire you deeply, Mavis. Whatever you tell me, I’ll give weight because of that. Even if you tell me monkeys flew out of Rev’s very fine butt.”

"There’s an image.” Mavis took a swallow of her whiskey sour. “Okay. I’ll tell you this up front. I don't know how to explain what I saw, or if it was right or wrong, or whatever it was. It just…”

She shook her head. “Hell. I’ll just get it out. About a year ago, a man tried to grab one of our girls.”

“Off the school grounds?” Alarm spiked inside Vera.

“From behind that tree where you saw Janis. She’d snuck her phone out of her locker and was texting her boyfriend, who’s at another school. When she was at the chain link fence, some guy strides out of the woods, grabs her shirt and hauls her over it. He had it well planned.”

If Mavis had been a wolf, her ears would have been pinned back and her fangs bared. “He stuffed a sponge into her mouth—it was soaked with a drug that disoriented her. His van, with a fake utility company magnet sign on it, was on the other side of the woods, parked at the dead end in a neighborhood.”

Though Vera knew the story had to have a good ending, she was leaning forward tensely.

“Two people saw it,” Mavis continued. “One was a teacher, who immediately yelled out to catch everyone’s attention. I was at the basketball court, discussing school dance plans with the class president.”

She took a breath. “The other was Rev. He was fixing an anchor on one of the soccer nets. When she shouted, he was already halfway across the field. He ran faster than I’d ever seen anyone run, and vaulted the fence one-handed. When he plunged into the woods, I ran after him while the teacher called the police. Thank God I was wearing athletic shoes that day.”

“But I expect you didn’t vault the fence.” Though her tone was teasing, Vera’s grip on her friend’s hand wasn’t.

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