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I hold onto my emotions, because this is a parent-teacher meeting, not a therapy session. “Four months ago.”
“That really sucks.”
Yeah, it does.
It suckssomuch.
I stare back at Tyler, grateful for a little bit of understanding. Zak told me at least a dozen times that he was sorry for my loss. It’s a perfectly acceptable thing to say when you lose a loved one, but just once, it would have been nice if he’d say that losing my mom sucks. That it’s not fair that I got dealt such a crappy hand when everyone else gets to go on shopping trips with their mom and plan their weddings.
Not having her here just plain sucks.
And now that Zak broke up with me, I can’t even do the one thing she hoped for in marrying him. It’s like I’ve lost another piece of her.
“I didn’t know about your mother.” Diane’s voice knocks me out of my trance. Her expression falls. “I guess we’re all dealing with loss in some way.” She stands, smoothing her skirt. “We should get going. Ms. Johnson’s next appointment is probably waiting in the hall.”
* * *
TYLER
That’s it?
Meet the Teacher is over?
Aren’t there more assessments we need to look at, or a drawing of Johnny Appleseed that I need to pretend like I’m impressed with? The ones where instead of a hat, the kids draw a pot on top of Johnny’s head?
“There’s actually one more thing I wanted to discuss with Krew’s dad,” Meg says.
Krew’s dad—not Tyler. “Mr. Dixon” would have been better than that. It’s not like Meg doesn’t already know I’m a dad, because she does.
The gig is up.
But I want her to look beyond the dad status and see a single man…not a single-parentman. I had written her off the other night. She was a party girl in my eyes, but school teacher Meg, in a feminine, flowered dress with splotches of red paint on her arms and a pencil resting on top of her ear, is in my league. This version of her is the exact thing I am looking for…ifI were looking.
“Sure,” I say. “I’m here to talk about whatever you want.”
Diane gracefully slides back down to her seat as Meg meets my eyes.
“You’ll notice, Krew’s folder is pretty bare compared to the other folders sitting here.”
I follow Meg’s eyes to the stacks of papers beside her.
“He hasn’t been turning in his homework.” Her words are followed by a look of disappointment.
I immediately turn toward Krew. “Bud, you’ve got to turn in your homework. That stuff is important.”
“You said homework is stupid and that I don’t have to do it.”
Busted.
Meg raises her eyebrows, but maybe I can still salvage this.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yes, you did. You said I’m only in second grade and that I should tell Mrs. Johnson that I don’t need homework.”
So, so busted.
Apparently it’s my fault there’s no drawing of Johnny Appleseed.
