In six years of quantum leaping, I've been back to school more times than I can remember. I can't remember having to deal with an illict relationship with a teacher.

And on top of all that, Gooshie left us.

Why did you leave us, Gooshie?

Katie Brown gives a slight glare to Sam Beckett as the leaper sits down at Joey Schultz's desk. Jimmy La Palma takes his usual seat, grinning wildly.

"You seem to be happy," says Sam.

"Uh, yeah," replies Jimmy. "Miss Brown's starting class."

"Attention, everyone," says the teacher. "We will begin.."

As Miss Brown teaches the science class, Sam raises his hand several times, but the teacher refuses to call on him. The leaper does notice that Jimmy gets to ask a question or two.

The bell rings.

"Okay, class," says Miss Brown. "Make sure you finish your homework, study, and I'll see you tomorrow."

As Sam walks towards the door, he once again glances at the teacher, who glares at him.

He notices Jimmy walking in a direction other than that where the school cafeteria is.

"Jimmy," the leaper calls out. "Where're you going?"

"I only brought a small snack for lunch," replies the boy. "I need to study in the library."

"Library?"

"My dad and my teachers are telling me we need to study more often. I mean, it's already past Easter and we need to step up our studying."

Jimmy walks off, leaving Sam to eat alone in the cafeteria.

Oooooooo

The last bell rings, and the students in the class are excited to finally get out of school, either going home or going to extracurricular activities that they are passionate about.

Sam walks towards the bike racks. In the distance, among the students there, the leaper sees Jimmy.

"Jimmy!" he calls out.

The boy bikes away faster than Sam can catch up to him.

Oooooooooo

Upon entering the apartment after a Tuesday at school, Sam notices Joey's mom inside.

"You're in," he says.

"I'm off work, the girls are all at work, and I have no dates," says Brenda Schultz. "I might as well cook dinner." She holds up a picket. "you can help Mama make some chili."

"Sure," says Sam.

And so he helps her with the beans and the ground beef and Hunt's tomato paste and the McCormick's chili packet.

"I'm not much of a cook- but at least the chili packet has simple instruction. Soon, the smell fo the chili fills the kitchen.

Finally, Brenda places sour cream and scallions on the chili, and serves it in bowls. The leaper takes a spoonfuil and puts it in his mouth.

"Not bad," says Sam.

"Haven't had a home cooked meal with my boy in weeks," says Joey's mom.

The leaper feels a little guilty about being here instead of Joey, as this would likely be the last home cooked meal he had with his mom, originally.

But the chili tastes so good.

After dinner is over, Sam washes the dishes and Brenda weacthces television while drinking bottled Corona beer and smoking a Camel cigarette, blowing a puff of smoke from her lungs.

"She died of lung cancer in '97," says Al.

Sam looks at the observer's eyes. "Hi."

"Still hard to believe I've been talking about Gooshie's funeral."

"If only I could leap there."

After Sam wipes down the last of the washed dishes, he walks to the couch.

"Hi there," says Sam.

"You gonna watch TV?" asks Joey's mom.

"I noticed that you didn't ask me about school, Mom."

"Why would I? "No principal's called me about no trouble from you."

"I mean, do you know the names of my teachers?"

"I don't remember. If I need to know their names, I could just talk to you or talk to the principal." Brenda leans back against the couch. "Well, you did mention Miss Brown, the science teacher. I met her once,. Smart teacher, even though she looks young. You told me how she helped you with yer studies. That's what teachers are 'sposed to do."

"Yeah. You know my friends?"

"I do remember that boy Jimmy. We went on vacation with him and his parents to San Francisco back in '82. I think we have pictures from that somewhere. I'm sure I'll come across it someday. Please excuise me. Mama needs her TV time. If you're done with homework, there must be some comic books you can read."

Al's childhood memories temporarily displace his grief over Gooshie's passing. His own mother was not there, and eventually abandoned him and his father and his sister for an encyclopedia salesman.

And Joey's mother had abandoned the boy emotionally. She is living in the apartment, paying all the bills.

And yet it is empty relationship.

Rage briefly surfaces, and Al kicks at the counter, and his legs just pass through the holographic projection.

"No wonder Joey went into the arms of an older teacher," he says.

"She's asleep."

The observer looks and sees that Brenda had fallen asleep on the couch. "okay."

"Jimmy's not as talkative as he was yesterday," says Sam. "Whatever problem he had with Joey, it must have started recently."

"I'm gonna go back out to help with the memorial. Get some sleep, Sam." Al opens the Imaging Chamber door, and leaves. Not long afterward, the leaper brushes his teeth and goes to sleep in the partitioned corner.

Oooooooooo

Two more days.

Two more day's 'till Jimmy's going to stab me to death. He's been blowing me off. Is anger against Joey building inside him?

Sam is once again at the junior high school. Jimmy had once again left school without at least saying goodbye to him.

His thoughts once again drift towards Gooshie. He had not seen Gooshie in months, but Al had always mentioned him.

And now Gooshie is gone.

The leaper's grief is temporarily buried by hearing Miss Brown's voice and another teacher's voice.

"...told me he had pictures of you," says a male voice.

"And he showed them to you?" asks Miss Brown.

"No, but I do believe it is true."

"Are you going to go to the principal's office and snitch?"

"No, I have nothing..."

"That's right, you have nothing."

"Listen Katie, it would be best if you resigned, telling the principal you have family issues. The longer you stay here, the more likely it is that you'll be exposed. It'll be a big scandal.

"I've taught here for fifteen years; I don't want my school to be marred by scandal."

"You'd better watch yourself, Jonah."

Sam looks and sees a bespectacled man with a big nose, wearing a sweater vest over a white shirt, walking out.

He walks away and hides himself in a corner. As he peeks out, he notices Miss Brown walking outside the classroom.

He soon gets on his bike to go to Joey's apartment.

Ooooooooo

Once again, Brenda Schultz is not at home. Sam notices an envelope on the kitchen table.

"Working at Harrah's tonight. Here's money for dinner," reads the note.

I know you have to work, but why can't you spend more time with your son?

The leaper hears a door open, and he looks and sees the white rectangular light of the Imaging Chamber door, and Al Calavicci enters.

"How are things?" asks Sam.

"Still sad," replies the observer. "I still sometimes call Gooshie for help."

"How's Joey doing?"

"He's fine. He's enjoying the PlayStation 2."

"What's a PlayStation 2?" asks Sam, confusion in his voice.

"A video game system that only came out last year, my time," answers Al. He pushes buttons on the handlink. "Only the Atari and Coleco are available in this time; Nintendo wasn't released until next year."

"I know I have to expose Katie Brown," says Sam. "I should call Joey's mom at work. She works at Harrah's."

"I can get you the number."

"No, wait. There must be a more direct number." Sam walks around the kitchen. He does notice a slip of paper taped next to the telephone. "There it is, the number for Harrah's." the leaper picks up the telephone and dials the number for Harrah's Lake Tahoe.

"Harrah's Lake Tahoe, Michelle speaking," says a voice.

"this is Joey Schultz," says Samn. "Brenda Schultz is my mom. Is she available. It;'s an emergency."

"Let me check." Sam and Al wait a while. "She's not availble. Are you in danger?"

"Well, no."

"Have you been arrested?"

"Uh, no."

"Are you at the emergency room?"

"No."

"I'm sure you can talk to your mom when you get off work. She gets off at 11 PM. Have a wonderful evening."

The leaper puts down the handset. "I still need to talk to his mom."

He stands up and takes Joey's keys.

"Where are you going?" asks the observer.

"Too see Joey's mom."

Sam unlocks the Schwinn bicycle from the bike rack outside. Soon is he is biking northbound on Pioneer Trail towards the stateline, with All appearing to hover beside him a few inches above the asphalt.

The leaper is surrounded by forest on both sides of the road. Cars pass him at about forty miles per hour.

After roughly twenty minutes, there are retail businesses on both sides of Pioneer Trail. It soon ends at a signalized intersection with Lake Tahoe Boulevard. Noticing the hotel tower of Harrah's Tahoe rising above towards the purpling sky, Sam bikes along Lake Tahoe Boulevard towards the place.

He crosses the stateline and goes around the property, finally finding a bike rack. After he fastens the bicycle, Sam enters the casino.

He walks along this hallway with a tiled floor, and then passes the registration area which has the registration desk where guests check in for their stays, and a rack has pamphlets that tell visitors about attreactions within an hour's driving distance.

The leaper soon reaches the carpeted casino floor. There are many, many slot machines. The sounds of coins spilling into the steel trays fill the whole chamber. Most of the leather seats are occupied by gamblers. Blackjack, poker, roulette, and craps tables are in one section of the casino floor, with patrons holding various sorts of alcoholic beverages.

Sam reaches the security desk where security officers can watch over a large swath of the casino.

"Uh, hi there,," says the leaper.

"What do ya want, kid?" asks the security officer, a bald man in a long-sleeve white shirt with a patch on the shoulder.

"I'm Joey Schultz. My mom is Brenda Schultz. She's working here now. I just want to talk to her."

"Just stay right here, kid, I'll see what I can do." The security officer picks up a handset. Sam and Al take in the sights and sounds- and for Sam, the smells- of the Harrah's casino floor.

After a few minutes, brenda walks up.

"We can chat for a few minutes," she says to the man who appears to be her 13-year-old son. "Let's walk outside, right by the stateline."

Joey's mom leads Sam through the casino floor and just outside the front entrance, where the California-Nevada stateline is.

"What's troublin' you, boy?" she asks.

The leaper takes a deep breath. "I have to confess something," he says. "You might want to lean against the wall."

Brenda places her left hand against the exterior wall of the hotel-casino. "Go on."

Sam takes another deep breath. "I'm having sex with my teacher, Katie Brown."

Joey's mom's eyes widen. "This isn't a joke, right? You didn't take mama out of work just to tell me a joke."

"It's no joke, Mom. I have naked pictures of her."

She slaps Sam on the shoulder. "My little stud muffin!" she says. "you bagged the teacher. Have you told anyone else?"

"Uh, no."

"At least tell Jimmy. You'll be the coolest boy in school. The girls will think yer a stud; maybe you can teach /em a few lessons about sex."

Leaper and observer are shocked as to what they had just heard to come out of this woman's mouth.

"It's not cool," says Sam. "I'm thirteen years old! It's sexual abuse. How can you say this?"

"You were the one who seduced her, my little man. You know. I take us for a round of drinks right inside, but Mama has to go back to work. I'll buy two six-packs after work and we can have our own little celebration at home."

"you nozzle!" Al yells to her, though of course she can not hear.

Brenda walks back into Harrah's.

Sam just stands there, wondering what kind of life Joey is having. It is so clear why he had an illicit relationship with Katie Brown in this time.

The observer collects himself, after elarnign another bad detail about Joey Schultz's life. "I'm gonna talk to Jimmy," he says.

"Jimmy's too old to see you," notes Sam.

"Not in this time. I'll talk to him in my time." Al holds up ther handlink. "We can center me on Jimmy, to find out more about him."

He presses a button on the handlink, and Sam, and the Harrah's casino, diseappears. He finds himself inside the living room of someone's home.

Looking art the handlink, the observer notes that his virutla location is near the east shore of the lake, in Nevada.

"Jimmy La Palma lives in California," he says.

He then looks at a 36-inch Magnavox television with a ColecoVision plugged in. Jimmy La Palma is playing the game Donkey Kong, Jr.

Also in the room is Miss Brown.

Al looks around. It is a very nicely furnished place, with a fireplace. On a counter he can see two champange glasses and an open bottle of champagne.

Jimmy turns off the Coleco.

"did you enjopy the game?" asksthe teacher.

"Yeah," replies the thirteen-year-old boy.

She unbuttons the topmost button on her blouse. Al instanrtly knows what will happen.

"Gooshie!" yells the observer. "Anyone! Just center me on Sam!"

Al vanishes from Miss Brown's cabin.