Page 21 of Tom's Chance
“Let’s hope.” Lorissa gave the animals one last check, then shooed everyone out. While Cole and Ducky headed toward Lois’s house, she heard them say something about growing plants, Laurie went toward her house saying she was going to get something started for supper, but for Lorissa to give her a call if she needed help with the puppies. With them all scattering, that left Tom and Lorissa standing there and an awkward silence came between them.
“Do you want to tell me what the hell happened at the bakery earlier?” Lorissa asked, and tried not to sound upset, but when Tom winced, she didn’t know if she succeeded as well as she thought.
“Do you have any coffee? I’m not putting it off, but it’s a long explanation.”
“Sure, come on in,” she said as she turned on her heel, and went to the back door to the house, not the clinic. Once they were inside she immediately went to the coffee pot, got it going, then pointed to the table to the side. “Sit, I’ll bring it over. Start talking.”
CHAPTER 9
Tom waiteduntil Lorissa joined him at the table with the two steaming mugs of coffee before he spoke. He scrubbed his face, leaned forward, and sighed heavily. “I need to give you a little bit of background before I can explain what happened earlier. Without it, I don’t know if you’ll understand why I did what I did, and why it happened.”
“Okay.” Lorissa nodded as she settled back and sipped her coffee. “I’m listening.”
Tom drew in another deep breath and let it out in a rush. “I’m not vain, but I’m not as old as I look.”
Lorissa cocked her head to the side and frowned. “You’re around the same age as Duane, right?”
“No, I’m only thirty-four. Like I said, I know I look older. Let me explain.” He waited until she nodded and launched into his story. “Up until I was about ten, I always wanted to join the military. Thatwas my lifelong dream. When I found out I couldn’t join any branch of the military, I buckled down and harnessed what was going on inside me. I know I’m not making any sense, but I was smart. My parents and teachers thought I was lazy and disruptive.”
“First, why couldn’t you join the military? You don’t have to answer, but was it due to a medical condition? And what did you do to make them think that about you?”
“Nothing medical was wrong with me, but I was the only son, of an only son, of an only son.”
“Ah, so they wouldn’t let you join because the blood line might die with you.”
“Correct. I’m not saying this for you to feel sorry for me, but as the truth. I have no aunts and uncles, nor do I have any cousins. Growing up, my parents would send me to my grandfather to try to work some of my excess energy off. But I digress. The other part of your question, I wasn’t lazy and disruptive. At least I didn’t think I was.”
“Then what were you?”
“Bored out of my ever-loving mind. One year, during a long weekend break from school, it wasn’t Thanksgiving. It was in October, I think it was Columbus Day where we had a three-day weekend. I was so bored, I took the workbook we had been given at the beginning of the year in math class and did the entire thing. I even read the entire historybook and wrote a ten-page report on the entire book.”
“Oh my,” Lorissa said in shock, then smirked. “So, you weren’t lazy, but you were smart.”
“Yes, and it wasn’t until I went back to school after that weekend that things started happening for me.”
“Can you describe some of it?”
“First, I waited until after school let out. I was a walker, so I didn’t have to catch the bus. After the other kids left, I approached the teacher. I knew he didn’t like me, but he tried to, I guess the word I’m looking for here is tolerate. He tolerated me because he thought I was lazy.” He shook his head and finally lifted his cup of coffee to sip. With it in his hands he leaned back in his chair and stared at the floor before he resumed his tale. It was like he was seeing what he was describing.
“I asked the teacher if I could talk to him. Yes, it was a male teacher. He acted like I was putting him out, but there must have been something in my expression that made him pause. Once I knew I had his undivided attention, I apologized for my actions, and explained I flopped around at my desk during his lectures because I was bored. I then told him what I did over the weekend and handed him all the work. I don’t know if he didn’t believe me or what, but he never said a word. I quickly left because I didn’t want to get into trouble.”
Lorissa giggled. “What happened next?”
“I gave him what I had done on a Tuesday. On Friday, when I was getting ready to leave for the day, he stopped me. He never said anything about what I had given him, but he handed me a backpack. His only words were to see what I could do with what was inside, and turn it in on Monday.”
“What was it?”
“School books from three grades above me. This went on every week until Thanksgiving weekend. So, like six or seven weeks. On the last day before that break, he handed me another backpack full of books. I don’t know if this is important, but Mr. Booker never said a word to me about what we both did. After I gave him those first books, he handed me a backpack with books and instructions. I received it on a Friday, and returned it on Monday.”
“This went on for weeks? May I ask what type of work was in the packs?”
“Upper classmen work.” Tom sat forward, put his coffee mug on the table, and scrubbed his face. “When I returned to school after that break, I handed in the pack, and went about my day. That day Mr. Booker asked me to accompany him to the principal’s office.”
“Were you in trouble?”
“No, well, I won’t lie, I was crapping bricks on the walk to the office, and when I saw my parentswaiting for me, I was even more scared. I was only eleven by this time.”
“Wow,” she said as she shook her head at him in awe. “What happened?”
