Page 15 of Ayden

“No, I don’t suppose you will.” He laughed. “All right. I’ll go over there tonight. What is it that I’m looking for? You said all the teachers, but going over there on a Sunday night, what do you want me to look for?”

They handed him a list. Like at some point, they expected him to be able to get his head out of his bottom, not her words, and get this taken care of. In addition to the teachers’ names on the list, there was the breakfast program, lunch programs as well as a couple of other things that she’d not heard mentioned. They had a list of after-school projects that had been left undone, as well as some things that the school kids did for the community that hadn’t been touched in over five years. Her little girls had been busy.

“The school nurse is a joke. She’s not been there since we’ve been there, and when one of the kids is hurt on the playground, they’re told to not say anything, or they’ll fail them. They have a real prison-like thing going on if you ask me.” Lica laughed, but not for long. Harley took him to task. “You might think this is funny, but without good teachers and food, some of the kids are really falling behind. There is this one kid in the class, his name is Buck, the teachers stand him in the corner from the time he gets there until it’s time to leave. It’s because he wanted them to let him go to the library. And don’t even get me started on the ‘library.’ There isn’t a book there that is younger than me. And a lot of what mom calls smut books for the teachers. Also, there is a really expensive coffee machine in there that the teachers all use. I hate to say this, Uncle Lica, but I’m not very proud of you.”

She thought that it hurt him to the core to be told that, especially from Harley. Selma agreed with her sister, but the words had come from Harley, who rarely had anything to say about anything. As he was gathering up the things that they’d given him, it was Ayden who went to the school with him. He said that he was going to ask Harley to be his second in things like this, but he was afraid of disappointing her again.

Lica would take care of this if only to get back in the good graces of her children. He looked crestfallen that he’d failed them so much. As soon as they were out the door, Lica and Ayden, the girls asked her if he was mad at them.

“No, not at you, but he is at himself. Like you pointed out, he was lacking in getting even the basics for the school taken care of. I think you did right in talking to him.” Selma asked if he’d tell on them for talking. “No, he’d never do that. He is a good man, but I think he was handed things that weren’t up to par as he’d been told they were. Yes, the school is doing well, but at what cost is it taking from the kids. No, he’s going to thank you for helping him soon. I’m betting that he’s feeling bad about it already for not thanking you before he left.”

At least, she hoped so. She would hate to have to go and tell him that he disappointed her too about her kids. She’d tell Brandy about it, and the man would have hell to pay.

Chapter 6

The school was a mess. Not only had they been slacking on teaching the kids, but it also looked like the place hadn’t been cleaned in all the years that it had been there. And he was just sick about the library.

There were books on the shelves, but they were more to do with smut, as Summer called it, than anything to do with the kids. The entire preschool section had been removed and put into boxes that were so covered with dust that it made him sad. Ayden looked at the expensive coffee machine and wondered how they would justify that if asked. The entire school looked like it had been closed for years rather than just over the weekend. Then they went into the yard.

The playground equipment was rusty and had nails hanging out of some of the pieces. The swing, long since broken, and the seats looked dangerous, like something that one might find in a war zone. Not only was the equipment in ill repair, but he didn’t think that the parking lot, other than the teachers’ lot, looked like it had been repaved in years.

“I know that I just signed a work order for the lot to be repaired. Other than where the teachers park, it looks like they used the money for something else. There isn’t any way that they used all that money for the little bit of lot that they have.” Ayden asked his brother when the last time he was here. “I’m sorry to say that I don’t know that I’ve ever made a trip here. I was getting good reports, and that’s all I cared about. Out of sight, out of mind kind of thing.”

“No wonder the girls wanted to talk to you about it. It really does look like no one has cared long before you took over the job of alpha. I’m betting right now that if Brandy knew about this, heads would be rolling. She’d be all kinds of pissed off about allthis.” He said that he was going to tell her before they left. “I think that’s a good idea, but I don’t want her coming down on me about it. I don’t work here.”

The two of them laughed, and Ayden told him to give him a heads-up about telling her. When his brother told him that he was talking to her now, he decided that he was ever so glad that his daughters had been the ones to mention it rather than him. Hell was going to be paid, and he was thrilled that he wasn’t going to have a thing to do with it.

Entering the barn that was to hold the mowers and other outdoor equipment, he was dismayed to find a single mower that looked like it might have been about fifty years old and nothing more. There wasn’t even a shovel there to use to get the snow off the sidewalks. Yes, he thought a lot of people were going to lose their jobs over this.

Brandy showed up just as they were looking into the kitchen. There was equipment there, a newer microwave, and nothing but old, broken-down things like desks and chairs. Even a desk had been put in the room that only had three legs, and most of the vinyl had been pulled off to make it look like it would be better served in the trash dump. He couldn’t believe that his daughters had been going here all this time, and he’d not had any idea. Brandy caught up with him when he was in the rooms that his daughters were in.

“Your daughters are going to be paid for bringing this to our attention.” He said that they would be thrilled to have it cleaned up more than anything. “I think we’re going to have to start over is all I can think about. From the buildings to the teachers. I just can’t stand the thought that I was excited to have my children going someplace so nice.”

He pointed out the big pile of books that was still in boxes. There were boxes everywhere in the buildings, and he didn’t even have a clue what they were holding. If he was honest withhimself, he didn’t want to know what was in them. For all he knew, it could be more items for the teachers.

“Will you be here when the teachers start showing up?” Brandy looked around and then at him as he waited for an answer. “They’re going to take it out on the kids, mine, I’m thinking, since you two are here with me.”

She asked him if he wanted to go home. Before he could answer, even if he knew what he was going to say, he saw the first car pull into the lot. It was one of the janitors coming in to presumably shovel off the walkways. He just then remembered that he’d not seen any salt around.

“He’ll be able to call school. I didn’t think that he was the one to do that, but I’m guessing since he’s out there with a ruler measuring the depth, that’s his job.” He, too, was driving a brand-new truck. He’d bet anything that it wasn’t any more than a few months old. “Brandy, he’s leaving if you wanted to talk to him.”

“I don’t. Not yet. We should be getting the call here in a few minutes that the school is closed. That’s a good thing. It’ll be easier for us to have a thorough inventory of what needs to be taken care of. And what has to go. I was serious when I said that the entire place needed to be taken to the ground and all the teachers fired. I believe, too, this is why we’ve had such a high turnover of teachers this last couple of years.” He asked her if she thought it was because they’d been so disappointed. “Either that or run off. They have the ones in place that they have here that are going to play ball with them. All others would be run off I think. Did you notice too that there are newer buses? I believe that it’s to make it look good for the parents. Like your daughter said, no one is going to believe a bunch of kids complaining about the school they go to.”

They were there for another three hours. School was canceled, but it had more to do with the weather than the thingsthey were finding. Calling the police at eight, they also could gather up the teachers. They were all brought to the school to be ‘talked’ to about what they had found. The first teacher that was brought in was the one who seemed to be in charge.

“What do you care if a bunch of kids are complaining about classes. I mean, that’s what kids are…how long have you been here?” Lica told Mrs. Holly Branch—even he thought it was a stupid name how long he’d been there. “Look, we have things under control, and you don’t need to worry about things. I have it under control.”

“You said that, but it looks to me that we’re running a spa here for teachers who are getting paid to teach. None of that seems to be going on.” She asked Lica if he’d gotten her reports. “Yes, but it doesn’t really show the whole picture, does it?”

“Why are you bothering with all this? The kids are learning. You have a good group of teachers. You shouldn’t be bothering yourself on something like this.” She eyed him hard. “Those nieces of yours talked, didn’t they? “I don’t know why you’d care about them. You do know that they’re only human, right? I mean, what do they expect? For us to cater to their every need simply because they’re sort of related to you? Get real. Just tell them that I’ll have a talk with them when they return tomorrow, and that will be the end of you coming around. We don’t need someone sticking their noses into what we have going on here.”

“They’re my nieces, no matter what they are.” She actually patted him on the shoulder and told him to go on believing that. “What’s that supposed to mean? I do believe that they’re my relatives. They’re my brother’s daughters.”

“Whatever. Look, you just let me talk to them, and you’ll have no more trouble from them. I knew they were going to be trouble in the first place. Always having their noses into—did you know that they’ve been bringing in food for the ones that don’t have it? That’s only going to cause us more trouble than we need. You nipthat in the bud right now, or I’ll have to. As I’ve said, you don’t need to be worrying over something that you have no control over in the first place. We’ve been doing this my way for a while now, and there isn’t any reason for it to change now. What are you going to do, fire us all? We both know that’s not going to happen.”

“It’s exactly what’s going to happen. You and everyone that works here—” She told him to shut up, and Ayden took a step back when he felt his brother’s wolf run along his skin. When she smacked him on the face, both he and Brandy took another step back. Things were getting out of hand, and he didn’t want to have to kill someone over this. But it was surely looking like that was going to happen. “Do you have any idea who I am? I’m your alpha. You’ll do what you’re told, or so help me, I’ll take pack action against you.”

“Like I’m supposed to be afraid of you. Look. You’ve been alpha for all of what? Eight months? I’ve been running this for the last ten years. You have no say over me and what I do here. None of the teachers are going to listen to either of you.” The shift from man to beast was quick, and the woman smacked him again. It was over almost as soon as her hand was back at her side.

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