Part III


      It was break time and Jan stayed in the class while Dodi went to make the rounds. In the office, Allie, the science teacher, was hunched over some paperwork. 

      “Allie, dearest, how are you anyway?” Dodi grinned broadly. 

      Allie started and glanced up. Her eyes darted back down to the paper. 

      “Ah, good, Dodi. Things are good, how about you?” she continued working. 

      “Oh, busy, this and that.” Dodi sighed dramatically. “Just trying to keep up with everything.” She laid a long, red-lacquered fingernail on a paper on the desk. Allie glanced sideways, an annoyed expression on her plain face. Dodi was perched on a corner of the desk, legs crossed casually.

      “Oh, yes. You know I sell real estate, don’t you?” The paper spun slightly from side to side. Allie paused in what she was doing and studied the piece of paper.

      “I think I heard something about that,” she answered vaguely.  

      “Yes, and funny. It’s just the smallest world,” Dodi chirped and lifted her finger off the paper. “I ran into someone you may know. Mr. Smithers, the Vice-Principal at your old school.” She laughed lightly. “Isn’t that funny?” 

      Allie’s neck began to get pink. She tugged at her cotton collar. 

      “Yeah, small world. Right. Mr. Smithers.” 

      “So, I was showing him a house. Him and his wife, you know. And it is so funny about the way people talk and go on and on…” Dodi glanced down at Allie and readjusted her huge shoulder bag. 

      Allie was looking up at Dodi now. Her hands lay still on top of her desk. 

      Dodi was smiling. “And he mentioned the oddest thing.” She paused. 

      Allie said nothing. 

      “He seemed to think that you had left the middle school because of something to do with your credential. Not finishing some coursework or some such. I don’t know about these things. Credentials, blah, blah.” 

      Allie’s face went completely red. 

      “Oh, well,” Dodi waved a manicured hand. “It was just a passing remark. I doubt he goes around announcing that to the world. Oh,” with great flare she looked at her watch. “Look at the time, got to get that coffee and get back. See you.” 

     Allie sat very still, palms down on her desk, like a swimmer about to launch from the blocks.  She was breathing in and out. Slowly she got up and went into the teacher’s lounge. Dodi was still there stirring a cup of coffee with a wooden stick. 

      “Ah, Dodi. That thing about the school…” 

      Dodi turned and looked at Allie. There was a bright glossy rim on the edge of the cup. It had a perfect lip impression from Dodi’s scarlet lip gloss. Allie stared at the cup.

      “It was a bad time for me. I was on a conditional credential. I got pregnant and was having problems. Then, I had to take a really hard math class and was having trouble with that…. Couldn’t get everything done on time….” 

      “Oh, of course.” Dodi was sincere. “It’s just I was a little confused is all. I thought you told everyone here you had finished all your coursework and the credential thingy. Guess I got that wrong.” She sipped her coffee.

      “No, I’m almost done, just have a few more things ….” 

      Dodi reached over and patted her arm. “No harm done, I’m sure.” 

      Allie stammered. “It’s just…well…I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention…” 

      “Oh, pish! Don’t think of it.” Dodi turned to leave. 

      “Oh, by the way. I’m having an open house this weekend on a cute bungalow. I know you said you and your husband were looking. Why don’t you drop by? I’ll leave the flyer on your desk.” She grinned again and left the lunchroom. 

      Allie sank into a white plastic chair and stared into space. 

                                                          # 

      Later that week, Dodi was in the office and took time to  poke around Jan’s desk. Jan was not scheduled to be in that day. As she rummaged about, Manuel, a handsome young Hispanic teacher, one desk over, turned to look at her. 

      “Is there something you need, Dodi? Maybe I can help.” 

      “No, no. I was just looking — for something.” Her voice trailed off. 

      He smiled warmly at her. 

      Dodi turned to Manuel. 

      “Is it really true you’re on an asylum visa from Central America?” 

     Manuel never stopped smiling. “Jes, is very true.” 

      “I just wondered, is all. I mean, don’t they have enough engineers in this country already?” 

     “Ah,” Manuel replied sadly, “apparently there is a shortage in my specialty.” 

      Dodi pursed her lips which accentuated her wrinkles. 

      “But,” he replied cordially, “I myself am going to walk over to HR now to check on some little things. Maybe you would like to come along and see these documents for yourself. Could be an interesting experience.” 

      Dodi goggled at him a moment. “No, no. Not necessary. I was just going. Ah, thanks.” She glanced back at Jan’s desk then turned and walked quickly away. 

       Manuel turned back to his math calculations and shook his head. 

      “Uno poco loco, that one,” he said quietly to himself. 

                                                          # 

       Jan was back at work and getting lesson plans ready for class. She cast about on her desk for sticky pads and found the remains of an old pad. Damn it. Class was about to start soon. 

      “Allie, you have any sticky pads I could use?” 

      “Yeah, sure. On my desk, I’m not using them.” Allie got up and headed out to class. 

    “Thanks, Allie,” Jan said to the retreating back. 

      She scooted her roller chair over to Allie’s desk. She rummaged for a minute and found a pink pad. She was about to return to her desk when the spine on the overturned book caught her eye. Curious, she picked it up and looked at it. “Toxins from Living Plants,” was the title. 

      Hmm, odd. She knew that Allie taught a science course to nurses so maybe… She turned to the open page. The title at the top read Poisons. Jan shivered a little and put the book down. Too much information, she thought and went back to her desk. 

                                                       # 

      Classes continued with Jan and Dodi. Dodi kept nitpicking and criticizing Jan’s teaching. Jan worked hard to ignore the comments. It all boiled over one night when Dodi went over the top with her comments. 

      “You can’t do that, it’s not part of the curriculum,” she spat like an angry snake in Jan’s face.  

      “This is my class; Dodi and I will do it if I think it is needed.” 

      “You can’t. I’m going to report you.” 

      “Go ahead,” Jan sneered, “that’s what you have been doing all along isn’t it?” 

      The students in class got very quiet, eyeing the two women.

      Jan realized they were becoming a spectacle and announced, “Break time.” 

      The students all got up and quickly left the room. 

      “This isn’t over, Jan,” Dodi snapped at her and left the room. 

      Jan practiced breathing slowly and sought to get her pulse under control. She was going to have to talk to her immediate super tomorrow about this. Enough was enough. 

      After break, the two women avoided each other like a pair of junkyard dogs. When the group moved to the computer lab, Jan let out a sigh of relief when Dodi announced she had a ‘toothache’ and had to go home. 

      “Thank God,” Jan mumbled to herself and turned back to help a student. 

                                                               # 

      The next day, Jan was not scheduled to be in class, but she packed up her materials anyway and went to have a tete-a-tete with her supervisor. She pulled up in front of the school and was amazed to see two black and whites parked by the front door. Cautiously, she went in and approached the teacher’s office. Cops were standing in Dean Nancy’s office. 

     “Oh, my God,” Jan scooted over to her desk and sat down. She whispered to Allie, “what has happened?” 

     “It’s something about Dodi,” Allie whispered back. “It’s bad. I think she might be dead.” 

     “Dead!” Jan looked shocked. “How?” 

      Allie shrugged her shoulders.

     A few minutes later, her supervisor, Diana, came bustling up. Her short, motherly frame almost quivering. “Oh, good…you’re here. The police need to speak to you both in the conference room.” 

     “Why?” Jan asked.

Diana shook her head, one hand covering her mouth. She looked ready to cry.

     “Better get going,” Jan rolled her eyes at Allie.

     Jan and Allie both got up and made their way to the conference room. Jan was relieved to see other teachers also there, lined up against the wall. They all eyed each other quizzically and waited. 

     One of the nursing teachers, Jack, was leaning against the wall close to them. 

      He spoke quietly, “I heard her husband found her in the driveway late last night. Thought she was passed out drunk behind the wheel. When he tried to wake her, he realized she was dead as a mackerel.” 

     The two women oohed at him. 
     
     “From what?” 

      “They don’t know. Heart attack maybe?” 

     “How old was she?” 

     “58-59. She just looked older because she smoked.” 

      “Ah,” they chimed together. 
 
     Allie got called in and then Jan. 

      It was an unnerving experience. They kept asking Jan questions because apparently, she had the ‘closest working relationship’ with the deceased. 

      “But surely it was heart attack?” Jan asked. 

      The two beefy cops glanced at each other. 

       One spoke. “We still have some questions about that.” 

      Jan was mystified. They let her go. As she was gathering up her purse, she saw a young cop carefully picking through items on a desk. He wore thin blue gloves. He stopped and opened a slim volume and started to read. Jan realized with a shock that it was Allie’s desk. That book looked familiar. Hmm. Time for her to get home. She was starting to imagine things. 

                                                #

Continued Part IV