Adam Blake - 36. Chapter 36

When I stopped at the diner, I didn’t even get out of the car when he was opening the door. “How did you get here?”

“I ran. I’m sweaty and Ann didn’t want to see me. She said I stink.”

“Women just don’t understand. How long did it take you to run here?”

“I don’t know I didn’t time it. Tomorrow I’ll time it. How was school?”

“Interesting, Johnny said hi. I gave him your address so he could keep in contact. When you’re out of school and come to the cabin, he can visit.”

I envy Bill and Jen, I can’t wait to have my children. I hope they turn out as well as Billy and Scotty. Thinking that as I pulled into the driveway, Scotty was on me as soon as the car door opened. “Uncle Adam, I caught a fish today.”

“You did? Who took you fishing?”

“Uncle George, he gave me a fishing rod and showed me how to fish from the side of the lake.”

“Well, we’ll have to get a boat so you can fish from the middle of the lake. Maybe this weekend we can go fishing.”

"Yeah", he yelled as he ran into the cabin.

As I entered the cabin, I got a hug and a kiss on the cheek from Mom, Jen hugged me and then I saw Marie hiding behind both of them. I got a big hug and a kiss from her. I could get used to this. Marie was a charming woman, she was smart and had her profession that was different from mine. I remembered when I told Billy about the type of girl I’d like, Marie, fits that profile.

Dinner was fun, I told them a little about my day, they told me about their day and Marie told us about her day. Billy told us about his day and run and Ann’s reaction. Scotty told us about catching his fish and that we were going to go fishing this weekend in a boat.

Dinner was fun, I knew I’d miss this when they were all gone.

I turned in early because I wanted to run before leaving to drive to school.

I awoke very early, Mom was up as well, I guess she heard me. The coffee was ready, there was toast and orange juice. “Mom, I’m going for a run, I’ll grab something when I get back.”

“I headed off a very fast clip after finishing my warm-up. I ran for 30 minutes very fast and then a cool-down run for thirty minutes. Cooldown finished, final exercises I was ready for a hot shower and getting dressed for school. Mom had a scrambled egg sandwich for me and a thermos of coffee. I drank another glass of orange juice and headed to school.

I arrived at school early, 30 minutes before school began. Walking to my office, I took a detour to the cafeteria and got a cup of coffee. I noticed several students having their breakfast. A few from yesterday's lunch waved, I waved back.

Arriving at my office, leaving the door open I began to review the applications for secretary. It didn’t take me long to find the one Jane had said was the one to see how daring I’d be. I looked at their scores or grades, read their reviews and recommendations. I’m very comfortable with myself and my gender, I prefer women and one in particular. I wouldn’t be offended or on the defense if I had a male secretary as long as he was competent. About an hour later, Jane came into my office.

“Have you reviewed the list of applicants for your secretary position?”

“Yes, did you start a lottery concerning who I’d pick?”

“Yes, and I think I’ll win.”

“Why do you think you would win?”

“You appear not to be a clone, you are your own person and I think you aren’t afraid of breaking a mold.”

“Ok. so who did I pick?”

“My money was on James Butler. So who did you pick?”

I took one of the applications and acted as that was my selection. Jane could see the name and her face dropped. “I picked this one, I handed her James’s application.”

It took her a while to register what I said. I’m sure she figured it was the one on the top of the stack of applications. I watched as my words sunk in, then the smile. “I think working here just got more interesting. You can expect a visit from Dr. McMillan.”

“I’m not afraid of Dr. McMillan. I have an iron-clad contract and what appears to be some very important friends.”

“She has received several letters from the parents of our students indicating that they are glad “you are here. Evidently, they have read your book. Didn’t you promise me a copy?”

“I did, I have some extra in my car. I’ll get you one at lunchtime.”

I made a note to call my publisher and see how sales were going. I was just glad people were reading it let alone any profit from the sales. That money was going to buy me a new car.

The morning went very well. I finished reviewing the list of students that represented the top and bottom academically. Now, I wanted to meet the students on the bottom of the list to try and determine what problems they are experiencing.”

I met Jane for lunch, “Are you going to eat in the cafeteria again?"

“Yes, I plan on eating there every day unless we have a guest for lunch. Come with me and I’ll get you a copy of my book.” We walked to the car, a few boys waved to me, I waved back. Jane started to laugh again. “Why are you laughing?”

“I believe you’re the first teacher who has the students waving at you and you waving back. You’ll start a revolution.”

“It’s not my purpose to start a revolution. In my opinion, this school exists for students and not staff. We have a job to do and that includes not only imparting knowledge but also make sure that they constructively use that knowledge. We set the example, it’s all in the book.”

When I walked into the cafeteria with Jane, there were two more secretaries there. Jane went over to talk to them, I went through the line getting my salad and fruit. I stopped and picked up a cup of coffee. As I turned to look for a table, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The boys had put together several tables and one seat was left open. It was at the head, I went and asked the boy who sat at the center if he would change with me. He smiled and took the head seat while I took his.

Each boy introduced themselves. I acknowledge them and asked questions, do you participate in any sports, do you play a musical instrument, what are your hobbies, I had a list of general questions and made sure I did not ask any questions about classes.

The boys were enjoying themselves, they stayed even after finishing their lunch. When I was finished, I thanked the boys for an interesting lunch discussion. How could any teacher pass up this opportunity to interact with their students outside of the classroom is beyond my understanding?