Page 10 of Locke 2

That day his mom was late even more than usual. He sat at his desk with his backpack zipped up and ready. He had on a thin blue coat that wasn’t warm enough for this weather and was staring off. Patsy had left because of “reasons”, and it was just the two of us.

“You got anything planned when you get home?” I asked him, casually, trying to get a picture of what his home life was like.

He shook his head, his voice quiet. “No.”

“What do you do the moment you get home?”

“Colour.”

“What do you colour?”

“The sheets you give us,” he said.

I glanced at the print outs sitting on Patsy’s desk. I gave the kids something to colour in every morning before their first lesson. Today it was a pirate ship with a treasure chest full of gold alphabet letters. It was pretty cool, though it made Patsy roll her eyes because she was an asshole.

The fact Lenny had only these papers to colour threw me off. I played on through, keeping the shock at bay. “Oh, really? I can give you more if you want?”

His eyes lit up. “Yes.”

My heart clenched. “How about you tell me something you’d like to colour in? I can check to see if I can get that printed out for tomorrow.”

He went quiet, thinking. “Can you get a picture of a dinosaur?”

That was the most he’d spoken in one go all day. I smiled as he fiddled with his fingers. “That’s a great idea. I like dinosaurs.”

He looked up at me, his dark eyes meeting mine. His lips flinched up a little. “What’s your favourite?”

I didn’t know a thing about dinosaurs, but I’d seen Jurassic Park once. “Raptors. Yours?”

Now he broke out in a big toothy smile. “T-Rex.”

Okay, what little boy didn’t say T-Rex? “I like T-Rex, too. Imagine if dinosaurs were still around.”

His eyes widened. “We could ride them.”

I let out a surprised laugh. “Yeah, you know, that’s actually a good idea. Instead of cars, we’d ride dinosaurs around.”

He smiled at the thought, and my heart pinched.

I decided I wasn’t going to print out a freaking T-Rex picture. I’d get him a colouring book of dinosaurs. He would love that. I’d have to smuggle it into his backpack in case Patsy is a dick about me giving a kid a colouring book and lecturing me about treating all kids equally.

Lenny wasn’t like the other kids.

I heard fast footsteps just then. I poked my head out of the classroom. Lenny’s mother, Tammy, was hurrying down the hall. I frowned at the state of her. She was always unkempt looking, but today something was more off than usual. She didn’t meet my eye as she breezed past me. She never tried to talk with me. Being the TA, I wasn’t technically the teacher, so she didn’t have to play nice like she did with Patsy.

“Hey,” I said, forcing it out nicely between my lips.

She might have said a hi, I didn’t know. She blew a breath as she grabbed Lenny’s backpack and told him to get up. He did. She waited for him to grab the backpack, looking antsy. “Come on, Len. Hurry up.”

He put the backpack on without her help and then she went to leave. She didn’t grab his hand, didn’t ask him how his day had gone, nothing. She just expected him to follow. I studied her closely, noticing how hurried she was. Her lips were pursed into an angry scowl. She was particularly off today. Or maybe this whole picking up her kid from school thing was such an inconvenience.

“He’s got library day tomorrow,” I said, causing her to stop mid-step. “If you’ve read him the last book he took out, he can bring it back.”

Her head automatically shot to where I was standing, and then she quickly nodded, her answer flippant. “I read it. I’ll bring it back.”

I couldn’t help pushing it. “What was it called again?”

“I don’t remember, but I’ll have it in his bag.”

---