Page 59 of Scorched

“I have cheer practice every day after school,” Ashley said. “Someone threw a brick at your car?” The young woman turned to Elise, her forehead creased in a frown. “I might have been mad at you, but not that mad.”

“It wasn’t them.” A tall Hispanic man with a heavy accent, pushed Caesar Valdez through the door, his hand clenched around the boy’s collar. “Tell them.”

Caesar, his chin tucked into his chest, scuffed his toe on the tile. “I threw the brick, Ms. Johnson. I’m sorry.”

Elise couldn’t stop the gasp, but when Paul tensed beside her, she put out a hand to hold him back. She nodded at Ashley and her mother. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow, Ashley?”

Ashley’s gaze shot from Caesar to Elise and back. She looked like she wanted to stay for the show.

“You two have a lot to talk about at home.” Elise followed them to the door, ushering them out. “Goodbye, Ashley, Mrs. Finch.” She closed the door and turned to Caesar, her heart pounding against her chest. “Surely you knew that throwing a brick at my car could hurt me, maybe even kill me.”

“I wanted to hurt you.” He threw back his head and glared at her. “I’m tired of school. It’s a waste of time. If I wasn’t stuck in class, I could get out and get a job now.”

“A job paying no more than minimum wage for the rest of your life. You can do better than that. You can do better than me.” The man beside Caesar stuck out his hand. “Raul Valdez. Caesar’s father.”

The man’s large paw engulfed Elise’s small hand, the rough calluses from hard physical labor scraping against her softer skin.

“What Caesar isn’t saying is that he’s having trouble with all of his classes, and he wants to give up,” hisfather said. “He wants to quit school, so he’s acting up in all his classes, hoping they’ll kick him out.”

Elise stepped forward. “Caesar, you can’t give up.”

“When will I ever use stupid history? How will it help me get a job?”

“There are teachers all over this school who want to help you. All you have to do is be willing to try. We have after-school tutoring for every subject. I have early morning help in my class. Some of my students tutor.”

“I spend enough time in this hellhole. Why would I want to spend more?”

“Because you’re an intelligent young man and you can do anything you set your mind to,” Elise said.

“I’m not. I barely get by in this class and I’m failing in others.”

Elise laid a hand on his arm. “I’ll help you.”

“Why do you want to help me?” He stared at the hand on his arm. “I threw a freakin’ brick at your car.”

“Yes, you did.” Elise’s lips pressed into a line. “And you’ll pay to have it replaced. But to keep me from filing a report to the police, you’ll come to my class early every morning and study with me. Bring whatever subject you’re having difficulties with, and I’ll help.”

Caesar stared into Elise’s eyes, his brown ones brooding and suspicious. “Why?”

“Because, though you might think all teachers are here to torture you, we do care about our students’ futures.” Elise smiled and removed her hand from his arm. “And once upon a time, I didn’t think I could doanything with my life,” she said softly. “But I was wrong.”

All the years of marriage to Stan Klaus. How he’d controlled her life, how he’d insisted on her being a stay-at-home mom. Not so much for the sake of her boys, but because he didn’t want her to be smarter than him. He didn’t want her to go out into the world and be more important than he was.

“I want you to be successful, Caesar. I want you to know you can do better than pushing people around who are smaller than you. But you need to know that I won’t tolerate you threatening me or any other student ever again.”

“I understand if you want to press charges. He deserves it.” Caesar’s father glared at his son. “I also want you to understand that I raised him better, and he will make it up to you if you give him a chance. I’ll see to that.”

Elise raised her hands palms up. “It’s completely up to Caesar. Will you show up every day and work hard without complaint?”

Caesar sucked in a deep breath and let it out, thinking about her offer for a long minute. Finally, he shrugged. “Okay.” His father nudged him hard with his elbow. “Yes, ma’am.”

Caesar’s mouth twisted and he rubbed his ribs. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll see you in the morning, then.” Elise grinned. “And Caesar, bring your books.”

The Valdezes left her room and Elise stared after them.

Paul gripped her shoulders and leaned her against him. “Tough day?”

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