School.
'I've tried so hard to forget it, to leave it in the past.'
Dexter Morgan pulled over by the side of Astor and Cody's school, at Rita's request.
There'd been a call by the principal that Cody had been in some trouble, fighting with a classmate, and Rita had asked Dexter to go in her place.
She was tied up at work, helping Miguel's wife with real estate things and Dexter had an opening in his busy schedule which he'd usually fill with coffee, or at least that's what he told Deb.
In fact, he was preparing some long awaited field work as he searched for his next victim to devour.
Only this time, as he was driving his car to the school, he was eating a pork sandwich; his favourite.
'To digest it and move on to the next meal.'
Dexter put the car into a neutral gear and pulled his handbrake up, with his sandwich clenched between his teeth.
He shut off the engine and put on his sunglasses, before he glimpsed into his left mirror, got out of his car and locked it by pressing a button on his key.
The sun was shining hot and brightly in yet again another warm and sunny day in Miami, and Dexter was wearing a light green shirt, with sweat stains on his back and armpits.
He sighed, preferring to spend his time doing something else, but he knew Cody would be waiting for him.
He looked up at the windows of the school and reminisced about the past.
'I spent my childhood as the loneliest kid in class, whom even the bullies didn't mess with.
'Kids have always been the best at sensing one's inner thoughts, and although I always tried to be like on of them, pretending I was normal, somehow they knew I was different.'
He crossed the street and approached the entrance to the primary school with ease, as he casually finished his sandwich and tucked his car keys into his trouser pocket.
"Hey buddy!" Dexter said when he found Cody sitting outside the principal's office.
The small boy ran towards him and almost jumped into his arms.
"Where's mom?" he asked as Dexter lifted him up into the air so he could be carried in his arms.
"She couldn't make it," Dexter answered sadly as he looked at the boy. "She would have if she could, you know that right?"
"Yeah," Cody said.
Dexter lifted him up into the air again subtly and briefly so to adjust the boy's position in his arms.
"So?" Dexter asked. "Are you going to tell me why I'm here?"
Dexter tilted his head and gazed at him with his wide, well-trained, kind, but piercing eyes.
Cody was embarrassed.
"I gave Glenn a black eye, but I didn't start it!"
"Did too!" a small kid, who sat two chairs away from Cody, suddenly spoke.
"Did not!" Cody yelled back.
The boy was bulky, had freckles, curly hair and blobby arms, and he was slightly bigger than Cody, but all of that didn't distract Dexter's eyes from the blue bruise around his swollen eye.
"I take it that's Glenn," Dexter said.
"My dad could kick your ass!" little Glenn said to Dexter, but he merely smiled at him with his polite smile as his eyes turned glassy.
'Your dad can have a long nap underneath my rubber sheets.'
"My mom's going to make sure Cody will be expelled from school!" Glenn said.
'Spoiled little brat.'
"If you'd have another black eye you'd look like you had permanent sunglasses," Dexter said jokingly.
Cody laughed and Glenn grunted as he folded his arms and looked away.
The door to the principal's office suddenly opened and a tall, seemingly strict, brunette came out the door and she glanced at Dexter as if she was looking at a very annoying green jumper.
"That's his mom," Cody whispered into Dexter's ear.
The woman glimpsed only once at Dexter, before she took her son's hand and escorted him out of the school.
Dexter then put down Cody and gazed into the eyes of the principal.
Dexter had imagined her as female when he drove here, and his imagination had turned out to be correct, if only in that regard.
Hispanic, but darker, she looked slim in her dark, grey suit and white collar, and with her recently manicured nails.
"Hi," Dexter said and he quickly reached out a hand towards her. "I'm Dexter Morgan."
He shook her hand half frantically, because he somehow had the urge not to insult Cody's principal and treat her with all the respect she deserved.
"I'm Rita's fiancée."
"Dexter?" she said.
"That's me," Dexter said nervously as he wiped his sweaty hand on his leg.
Unfamiliar in these sorts of situations, he waited for the principal to call the shots and tell them what would happen next.
"Please, do come in," she said to him.
"But you wait outside," she added, pointing at Cody who eagerly wanted to remain at Dexter's side.
'I've never been inside a principal's office before, not even when I was a kid.'
The principal's office was small, but manageable, with a big wooden desk front and centre and two grey cabinets on either side.
'I managed to stay out of trouble and get through school with straight A's, so I could wreak havoc during the night time.'
On top of one cabinet he could see the stuffed remains of a beautiful owl standing proudly on display.
'Sometimes I miss killing those simple animals in the dead of night.'
Dexter sat down opposite the principal's chair and noticed the picture of a happy, loving family posing to the camera during a cosy barbeque on their small, but tidy front lawn.
'I used to bury them out back, where no-one would ever find them…'
"Can you give me some ID?" the principal asked.
Dexter raised his eyebrows at the woman he know knew was named 'Constance', which he read on the professional and fancy nameplate on her desk.
"Sure," Dexter said as he reached into his pocket, pulling out his leather wallet, before he handed over his driver's license.
She nodded as she looked at it with analytic eyes.
Dexter waited patiently, placing both elbows on the desk.
"Thank you," Constance asked. "I hope you understand I had to check."
"I totally understand." Dexter said politely.
Constance smiled kindly at Dexter, for the first time since she opened that door, when she looked at him.
"You never know these days, with all those lunatics and perverts walking around in the streets these days, and all the things you hear on the news."
'Tell me about it.'
"Not that I just compared you to a pervert," Constance quickly added. "I'm just happy we haven't had something like that happening at this school, at least not during my reign."
"So…" Dexter said, playing with his thumbs.
Constance smiled.
"You're right," she said. "I called you here for a reason, and you must be pretty busy so I thank you for coming."
"Anything for Cody," Dexter said.
'Please don't ask what I do for a living.'
"You probably already guessed what happened," Constance went on.
'Thank God.'
Dexter sat up straight.
"Or Cody must've told you," she said. "Needless to say, he got into a fight with one of his classmates. A boy named Glenn Beckermann, who is now the proud owner of a fashionable black eye."
With any other woman or person, Dexter would've probably laughed, or chuckled at the least, but his instinct was telling him not to.
Not with her.
Again, he waited.
"We're here to make sure this never happens again."
Dexter would've nodded, but now his own feelings got in the way.
He waited, but this time Constance wasn't going to say anything.
"So, that's it?" he asked. "No details?"
"What do you want to hear?" Constance said.
"Well, for starters, who started the fight and why?" Dexter said nervously as he tried to think like a child. "Who threw the first punch and who's taking the fall?"
"No-one's taking the fall," Constance said.
'Right…'
"They will both be punished according to school regulations," Constance said, who started to get a bit agitated. "And as principal I am obligated to call the children's parents and inform them about their actions."
"And, do we get a say in this?" Dexter asked.
"Of course you do!" Constance said.
"Well, then can I ask…" Dexter started, but then Constance interrupted him.
"If you were Cody's real father," Constance said.
Dexter noticed the gleam of sunlight which reflected off Constance's wedding ring.
"I don't understand," Dexter said, glancing over his shoulder at the small boy who was waiting for him outside this office.
He could see him through the dirty window.
"Cody's real father died about a year ago and I'm marrying his mother in about…"
"Mr. Morgan, please," Constance said. "Cody is a bright and intelligent kid. Kind, funny, but fragile. This incident will enter his file, and we will bring this up when I talk to the teachers during meetings discussing his progress reports."
"But did he start the fight?" Dexter asked.
Constance took a deep breath.
"Are you really going to put this in his file, because some snotty, little brat was picking on him, and he decided to fight back?" Dexter asked.
"Mr. Morgan, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Constance said. "I'll talk to the boy's mother when she has time to see me."
Dexter was baffled.
"Will you at least tell me how you're going to punish him?" he asked as he stood up from his chair.
"Don't worry," she answered as she played with a pen in her hands. "There aren't beatings. He's young, so we let him off with an essay. Three hundred words on why fighting is wrong."
Dexter put his arms in his sides.
"Good day, Mr. Morgan," the principal spoke with a curt nod, before she continued with her paperwork.
Dexter stepped out that door, feeling as if he had just been hit by a house.
"Dexter?" Cody asked. "Are you mad?"
"No," Dexter said.
Dexter stretched out his arm to the kid and let him jump into his arms again.
He was heavier than he expected him to be; the boy grew bigger and heavier each day.
"Am I in trouble?" Cody asked.
"That you are," Dexter answered as he carried him through the school's corridors.
Everyone had already gone home.
School had gone out hours ago.
Everything seemed to be moving slower as he walked through the empty corridors, towards the exits, passing the cleaners and janitors who were still cleaning up, and teachers who were grading tests and preparing the lessons for tomorrow.
Dexter was lost in thoughts for a moment, but then looked curiously at Cody.
"Did you throw the first punch?" he asked.
"No!" Cody said. "Glenn pushed me! He picked on me! He always does that!"
"So you punched him in the face?" Dexter said.
'What did I do back there?
'Why did I defend Cody without knowing if he was actually guilty or not?
'Do I really care that much for him?'
He smiled at the little boy, who was touching the teeth in his mouth.
'Maybe I will be a good father.'
Dexter opened the door and stepped outside, where he found himself without Cody in his hands, standing next to his father, and everything around him seemed to be glowing.
The sun was shining just as it was now, but only brighter and happier, and kids were playing wildly in the green patches of grass, running around and teasing each other with water pistols.
"You're not like other fathers, Dexter," Harry said to his son.
"How could I forget?" Dexter replied.
"I'm telling you, Dexter," Harry said as he stepped in front of him and gazed directly into his eyes, whilst at the same time stepping backwards down a small step, on to the green grass. "If you get your lives mixed up, who knows you'll end up killing."
Dexter tried to ignore him, but Harry wasn't done yet.
"You should be careful when you care for these kids, Dexter," he said to him. "It's a fact that there will always be more bullies, more fights, and more enemies."
Harry pointed at Cody, who was running across the green patch of happy grass, chased by three boys who were soaking him with water pistols.
"How far will you go to protect your children?"
All of a sudden, Dexter felt a presence at his side, and he looked down and saw a small boy with red hair, gleaming in the afternoon sun as he joined Cody in their little game, and the three bullies saw him and glanced at each other knowingly.
"It's just water, dad," Dexter said.
"No it isn't, Dexter," Harry spoke. "Just look at that woman, Constance. She'd have Cody expelled after one more fight, even if Glenn was the one who started it!"
"Bullies never change," Dexter spoke. "They never stop preying on the weak, stalking their victims in the dead of night…"
"You're right, Dexter," Harry said. "They'll all end up on your table anyway. Why not just kill them now? Nip it in the bud, before the evil spreads!"
"Assuming you'll keep doing this after twenty years." he added. "Fifty years. A hundred years."
Dexter was stunned, and Harry knew it.
"You're life is going to change, son." he said to him. "You can't ignore it. Some day you will have to make a choice."
Dexter then watched how Cody and his unborn son were playing happily.
They waved at him from where they were standing: Cody, with black hair, slightly taller and older than his unborn son, who had red hair and was wearing a small version Dexter's favourite brown shirt.
They gazed up at Dexter as Cody licked his ice cream, and Dexter junior played with a piece of string within his gloved hands.
"You'll make the same mistakes I did, Dexter," Harry said.
"No," Dexter said. "I'll make brand new ones."
Dexter put Cody back on his two feet and unlocked the car's door so he could enter.
He reached for his cell phone and called Rita when he opened his own door and sat down in his seat.
Dexter glanced at Cody, who was putting on his seatbelt, and smiled.
He placed one hand on his steering-wheel and in the other he held his phone.
"Hey, it's me," Dexter said, after hearing the beep.
Rita hadn't picked up her phone so Dexter left a message on her voice-mail.
"I've picked up Cody and I'm going to bring him home. Colleen and Astor are there, right? When you get back I'll tell you about this charming conversation I had with the principal. She told me she'd contact you as well. Anyway, I'll see you later, okay?
He sighed, as he was about to say the most rehearsed and awkward, normal words a man had to say to his fiancée.
"I love you."
He closed his phone and gazed out in front of him, at nothing, for a few seconds.
Disturbed, troubled and tormented, Dexter's face was mysterious and dark, before he looked up at the reflection of his own eyes in the rear-view mirror.
He changed his attitude, remembering Cody was sitting beside him.
"Dexter?" the boy asked.
Dexter smiled and ruffled his hair, before he put on his seatbelt and started the car.
"Let's go home," he said to the boy, as the sun burned his eyes.