Page 5 of Beyond Perfect

“I am.”

“I’m acting so out of character with Jackson. I’m not myself.”

“Hmm. Yet you won’t admit there’s something pulling you two together.”

“Oh, God, Caleb. It can’t be like that. I work for him, a job that I love and will never give up.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“I’m not sure. He’s pretty much out of my league.”

“He’s a tortured soul if I ever met one. What did he say about your last encounter?”

“That he bolted out of Westwood when Denzi died because he should have been able to help her.” She told him about Jackson’s job seven years ago, and how he couldn’t save the girl. “But there’s more that went wrong in his life even before that. He didn’t talk about how he grew up but he told the kids he was in a gang.”

“Tough going in a gang. So, give him a break.”

“I should. I will. But I asked him not to single me out anymore, and he said he wouldn’t, so it should be easier to be understanding.”

“We were lucky to have the Mom and Dad we did.”

“Yeah, but neither of us can blame our problems on them.”

Caleb chuckled. His sister always cheered him up.

* * *

When one of the teachers had an emergency at home, Jackson strode over the campus grounds to take her class. The guys rolled their eyes when he entered their room.

Frankie Pecorino asked, “You gonna do this every time a teacher’s sick?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. But sit in a circle. We have to talk about something.”

“Yeah, why you bolted out of here and were gone for a week.” Bryce was a quick kid with good insights.

“I’ll tell you. Circle up first”. He’d already decided on how much to tell them. “I left when the girl, Denzi Lomax was killed because I—” here he swallowed hard “—I knew her when she was eleven. She hadn’t joined a gang yet. I tried to get her away from that life, but they got their claws into her.”

“She was in a gang when she was eleven years old?” This from Louis Gomez, who was here because he was busted for drugs.

“You that young when you were in a gang?” Louis asked. Jackson had confessed that when he participated in one of Maisy’s classes a while ago.

“I was twelve.”

“So, you couldn’t do that one thing.” Harlan Ford had come to Pathways because he’d been arrested for a burglary. He motioned to the room. “You set up all these schools. You help people.”

“It threw me, Harlan, when I saw her again. Remember, I was searching for your teacher, Annie Stefano. My group found her. Denzi asked why I didn’t save her.”

“That’s rough.” Harlan again. “So, where’d you go?”

“All I’ll say is I went to someone I knew would help me.”

“A chick?” Frankie Pecorino asked. Frankie’s situation was sad. He’d beat his father to a pulp to stop his dad from beating on his little brother.

“Time to change the subject. I’m here to teach you.” He’d picked up a folder off the desk. “Oh, Lord. This is a health class.” He looked at the kids. “You’re doing the Human Sexuality unit.”

Tim O’Malley raised his eyebrows. “Itistime to change the subject.” Timmy had lost a lot. He was a star forward on his town’s soccer team and was in his buddy’s car when they hit a pedestrian, who was severely injured.

Frankie laughed. “We got the state curriculum. Ms. Shannon says we gotta talk about sexual responsibility.”

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