Page 42 of The Mentor
“All your big talk about non-violence and then you kick me.” I was grimacing and rubbing my shin.
“I thought you preferred this instead of my boring you to death with my words.” Kya threw the words over her shoulder as she stomped off, while Marco was laughing next to me.
After rubbing my shin some more, I straightened up and smacked him in the back of his head. “Don’t you fucking take her side.”
“I’m not. But you gotta admit that was funny.” He was still laughing when the kids started running back to us to show us their ten leaves.
Solomon and Mila were the first to come back, and he quickly listed the different sorts while she stood quietly beside him.
“That’s only nine,” I pointed out and saw Solomon’s eyes wander.
“Mila.” I bent down to look into her beautiful blue eyes. “Did Solo let you help, or did he do everything himself?”
She wrung her hands and nervously looked down to the ground. “I tried to help,” she said softly.
Straightening up again, I faced Solomon. “This is supposed to be a group effort. How much do you think Mila learned?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.” His gaze kept roaming the area and locked in on its target.
Turning my head, I got my answer to why he had been in such a hurry and hadn’t taken the time to make it a team effort. Willow. The beautiful tanned girl was slowly walking, with her long, toned legs and curvy hips, in our direction while talking with her partner, Plato. Her brown hair was blowing in the light breeze and when she pulled it back, it was easier to see her green eyes sparkling with laughter from something Plato told her.
I let out a sympathetic sigh, and dropped the subject for now. In all honesty, it was a fucking miracle that a boy like Solomon could think straight enough to find nine leaves with a distraction like Willow around.
“Marco,” I called. “Make sure every group has ten different leaves. I’ll meet you back at the school.”
He raised his hand to signal he understood and I took off, jogging in the direction I had seen Kya go in.
With my fast pace, I quickly caught up to her.
“What do you want now?” she asked in annoyance but kept following the trail through the forest leading to the school.
“You gotta do something about Willow.”
Kya gave me a sideways glance. “Can you be more specific?”
“Tell her to cover up. Those shorts she’s wearing…” I paused. “It’s fucking distracting.”
Kya spun on me so fast that she took me by surprise. “Willow’s a child, Archer, and if you can’t concentrate because she’s wearing shorts then you are far more disgusting than I thought.”
“Hey, if you’re accusing me of being sexually attracted to a twelve-year-old then you’re a fucking moron,” I said defensively. “Iknowshe’s a child! But she is only a year and a half younger than Solo and the poor kid can’t concentrate on anything else than where she is, who she is with, and if she might like them more than him.” I didn’t tell Kya that I knew exactly how painful that situation was. I didn’t want her to know that she was my Willow.
“So, he has a crush on her.” She shrugged. “It’ll pass.”
“I fucking hope so,” I grunted. “But until it does, can you tell her to cover up?”
Kya lifted her chin. “No, I won’t tell her to cover up. Willow has as much right to wear shorts as any other child in the school and the boys’ ability to concentrate is not her responsibility.”
I scowled at her. “How am I supposed to work with you when you’re being such a stubborn mule?”
“Stubborn?” Her eyes widened. “I’ve bent backward to accommodate your ways of teaching. I’m staying out of it when you shout at the children, and I participate in the fight training despite the fact that it violates everything I stand for. And the way you teach math is completely illogical to me, but I trust that you know what you’re doing since your boys seem to get it.”
“My way of teaching math is fucking brilliant.”
“Maybe, but your physical punishment is not! It’s horrible and it’s breaking their spirit.” She had been talking fast and took a deep breath before she continued. “You think that you’re the one making all the compromises here, don’t you?”
“Because I am,” I claimed forcefully.
Kya made a sound of frustration. “Don’t forget that I’m asking you to go along with things you considersilly, while you’re asking me to go along with things that are for most parts illegal where I come from. If I’m asking you to move a step then you’re asking me to move a mile.”
