Note: Okay guys, now that we've seen the major changes, the action will pick up, I promise. And the chapters will be longer. The Bohemians will find themselves all connected, but the only ones in this chapter are Roger and a lady Bohemian--and a cameo from Benny. Review please!
Roger shoved the freshly printed syllabus papers into his bag. "Maria! Come on, honey! We need to go."
"I'm here, Daddy," she said, pulling on her shoes. Roger was glad he'd bought her the Velcro shoes. They were running late enough without him having to tie her shoes.
The little blonde tugged her jacket on and took her pink backpack from Roger's hands. Roger waited as patiently as he could for her. When they were finally in the car, he realized he'd forgotten his coffee on the counter. Guess it's gotta wait, he thought.
"Ready for your first day of school?" he asked.
Maria looked up at him, green eyes wide. "Is there gonna be other kids there?"
"Yep. And you guys will play and have so much fun."
"Really?"
"Really."
He pulled to a stop a few minutes later and helped Maria out of the car. She clung to his hand as they made their way down the hall to the kindergarten room. Roger opened the door and coaxed her through. The teacher stood chatting with a few parents in the middle of the room. At least, Roger assumed she was the teacher. That or a very popular mother, it seemed.
"Come on, honey. Let's go meet your teacher, okay?"
She nodded, not saying anything, and let Roger lead her over.
The parents who'd been speaking with the teacher had drifted away. "Excuse me," Roger said, tapping her shoulder.
The woman turned. "Roger?"
"Maureen?"
"What are you doing here?" they said simultaneously.
Maureen laughed. "I'm the teacher. What are you doing here?"
Maria stood half-hidden behind Roger. He tugged at her hand until she stood beside him. "This is Maria. She's starting school today."
Maureen's jaw dropped. "You—you have a daughter?"
"Yeah."
"Oh my gosh, congratulations! I mean, I know it's five years late, but…" she trailed off and grabbed Roger into a hug.
"Thanks."
"Who's the—"
"April. It was a really hard labor, though, and there were complications…she didn't make it so it's just me and Maria." Roger knelt down to face her. "Maria, honey, this is your teacher. And guess what?"
"What?"
"She's one of my old friends."
"Is she nice?" she whispered loudly.
"Very. And lots of fun."
"Hi, honey," Maureen said, kneeling down. "I'm Mrs. Cohen."
"Is you Daddy's friend?"
"Yep."
"Is you my teacher?"
"Yes I am. Why don't we say goodbye to your daddy and then I can show you where your desk is and introduce you to the other kids."
"Is they nice?"
"Yep."
"Okay. Bye, Daddy," she said, wrapping her little arms around his neck.
"Bye, honey. I love you."
"Love you too, Daddy."
"I'll pick you up after school, okay?"
"Okay."
Maureen stood up and smiled at Roger. "We'll see you after class and talk then."
"Sure, okay."
He started to leave and turned back to see Maria already playing with a few of the other kids. Maureen saw him hesitate and smiled.
"She'll be fine. I promise."
Roger nodded and hurried back to his car. His cell phone rang as he reached the car.
"Hello?"
"You missed a meeting."
"Shit! Ben, please tell me you're kidding."
"Yeah, I'm just playin' with you."
"Well normally I'd laugh—"
"Rough morning."
"Something like that," Roger said, shoving his key into the car door.
"I was just callin' to see how Maria's first day started."
"Good as first days go. Oh, you're never gonna guess who her teacher is."
"Then why don't you save us both some time and just tell me," Benny laughed.
"Maureen."
"No way! Mark's Maureen?"
"Yep. Listen , Ben, I'd love to chat but I'm not even at school yet and I've got a class in—" he paused and checked the clock on the dash "fuck! Five minutes ago."
"Damn, I'll talk to you later then."
"Yeah, bye."
"Bye."
Roger hung up and sped down the road, thanking the Lord that the high school was just down the road. Roger ran into the room as the bell was ringing.
"Saved by the bell, Mr. Davis!" a boy in the back called. Roger recognized him.
"Simpson? You in this class again?"
"Nope. This is a different class."
"What?"
"This is music history. I had you for band."
Roger laughed. The other students who knew him chuckled along. "Oh, right. Well, bit distracted this morning."
The students nodded, most looking sleepy and bored. Roger pulled out the syllabuses and started to hand them out.
"Okay, so as you probably know or can guess, my name's Mr. Davis. I'll be teaching you music history. I'm passing around a syllabus now. Do us both a favor and read it over. I hate going over handouts in class. If I give it to you completely written down, it's a waste of time for me to read it to you. Agreed?"
The students nodded, some looking more interested.
"If you guys are here because you think music history is the Beatles and Frank Sinatra, transfer now," he said with a laugh. "There's way more before them and I'm sure you'll find it's much more interesting than any music group we've had in the last century."