Chapter 21—Disclosures
1
"I can't believe the pepperoni is all gone," Kira mourned.
"Well, it probably wouldn't be if you kids hadn't been so gluttonous," Roberta pointed out. "Even your parents can't have any of it!"
"Yeah…well…we kinda forgot," Kira atoned.
Roberta made a face at the teenager's skewed reasoning. "Just be a little more considerate next time," she said.
"Okay, Bubbie," said Anya. "Can we go back to the Amusement Park tomorrow?"
"I doubt it," Roberta said, "but you can ask them."
2
"Ask them what?" Callen asked as he and Anna came down the stairs.
Roberta laughed. "They want to go back to the Amusement Park tomorrow."
He shook his head. "Not happening," he told his children. "Plan on something less expensive."
Anya jumped on his words. "We can go somewhere else tomorrow?"
"No," said Anna. She walked into the dining room and sat down.
Callen sat down, too. "Come and tell us about everything."
"Okay!" shouted Anya, and all of a sudden, all four kids were talking all at once.
The three grown-ups did nothing but laugh and listen. When the tales were finished, Callen ordered pizza for dinner. It was loaded with pepperoni and all toppings the kids enjoyed, but, by the time it arrived, they could barely swallow it.
The grown-ups noticed, but they did not say a word to any of the kids. Instead, they enjoyed the frivolous pizza themselves. Not too long after, Roberta bid the family adieu, and went home.
"Papa, we had so much fun today," Anya said, yawning so wide her jaw almost snapped off.
"That's good to hear," he acknowledged. "It's late, so you all need to get ready for bed now."
"Oh, man," most of the kids groaned.
"If you're going to complain, we won't do this again," Anna cautioned. "So, get a move on, okay?" She glanced up at the kitchen clock, which read ten-fifty.
"Yes, Mama," said Kira. "Come on, guys. Let's not mess this up at the last minute, okay, please?"
"Okay, Kira," said Raisa.
The four thumped up the stairs. Not long afterward, no noise was heard from the second floor. The kids were so quiet that both Callen and Anna went upstairs to investigate. They were shocked that all four of their children were already sound asleep!
3
"Why don't we join them?" Callen asked.
"Because we have a big mess downstairs that needs to be cleaned up, please."
"We could—"
"Oh, no, we can't. If you want to do that, then go clean it up by yourself right now. If you want my help, then stop being a jerk, okay?"
He realized that she wasn't in the mood for nonsense, so he pulled himself together, and they got the kitchen and dining room cleaned up quickly. Anna made sure the lights were off, and the doors locked, and then she chased him up the stairs. She pounced on him right inside their door. Callen picked her up, and made sure the door was closed securely.
They spent most of the rest of the night fooling around until they were both exhausted.
Lying on top of him was her most favorite place to be. She buried her face in his neck, and closed her eyes. But that did not stop her from kissing him a thousand times over.
At last, Callen called time out. "No more, baby. I'm as wiped out as you are, so please stop."
She chuckled. "Not a problem, my love." She slid off him into her niche, and then kissed him.
Callen returned the kiss, and settled down. "Good night, baby," he mumbled.
Anna heard him, but she didn't say anything. She simply snuggled closer to him.
4
The third grade parents gathered in the school library for the PTA meeting.
Ms. Horvath was the primary speaker since most of the problems were located in her class. She explained to the parents what she had seen and heard over the past few months, and many were horrified.
Callen raised his hand, and she acknowledged him. "It may be worse than you imagined," he said.
"How so?" asked one father.
"We found drugs in our daughter's room the other day," Callen explained.
"How did you find drugs?" asked a mom. "What exactly did you find?"
"Some cocaine and the straw, and some gumdrops," Anna said.
"Gumdrops?" repeated the mother, who looked shocked and guilty at the same time. "How did she get that stuff?"
"We don't know, which is why we are here tonight. There has to be a very clear and valid reason why our daughter is acting so out of character.
"She has become rude, disrespectful, mean, surly, argumentative, and sneaky, to begin with," Anna added. "She has also begun to lie."
Many of the parents began to rumble and moan. Ms. Horvath interrupted them.
"Parents, you need to remember, the people in question here who are using the drugs, are only eight or nine years old. They are not teenagers or adults. They're third-graders…your third-graders, and this is not appropriate behavior for them. Be honest: How many of you know that your children are using these drugs?"
More than half of the parents' hands went up.
Ms. Horvath took umbrage. "How can you not stop them, if you know that they're using the drugs?!"
Callen volunteered, "We didn't know until a few days ago. We were determined to find out why our daughter hasn't been her normal, fun-loving self, so we went through her stuff."
"You don't see that as an invasion of her privacy?" one dad asked.
"No, not with something so critical and dangerous."
Anna interjected, "Sir, we were determined to find out why our daughter has been behaving so peculiarly, and the downside is that we did find out why. It's because of the drugs she's been using."
A rumble of voices broke out into laughter.
"Hey, isn't your kid the dummy?" one man called out.
Callen flew out of his chair, but Anna was able grab him by his belt.
"No!" she shrieked. "Sit down!"
5
With a huge effort, Callen managed to sit down.
Anna understood how upset her man was, but she did not want him to get in trouble with the law, and told him so. Callen subsided when she told him that. Switching back to English, Anna stood up and addressed the gathering.
"Our daughter is no dummy, as you all seem to call her. She is a straight A student who happens to have some difficulties with math. I had a hard time with math when I was a kid. Nobody called me a dummy, but I did cheat off the kid next to me. Raisa doesn't cheat; she just isn't very good at math.
"Your children seem to enjoy taunting her by calling her dummy. I don't understand why. All it does is hurt her feelings. We know for a fact that some of your children have trouble reading on grade level, but nobody calls them names. Why is that?"
6
The meeting became rowdy after Anna spoke, but Ms. Horvath quieted the parents. She reminded them that Raisa's family was determined to find out why she wasn't behaving properly, and that they should also look into their own children's behavior.
"Someone in my class is passing out the drugs to the other children. When I learn who it is, that child will be expelled from the school. What could possibly be missing from his or her life that they need to turn to drugs for help?"
"Quick money!" one man answered.
"Oh, no!" cried another mother. She began to cry, and finally confessed that it has been her son who was distributing the drugs.
Many of the parents became enraged, but Callen opted to disagree vehemently. He pointed out that none of the parents seemed concerned enough to confront their children and put a stop to it.
"We are going to speak to our daughter about it; she won't be hiding this anymore. We want her to be her, not some impolite monster that we don't recognize. Don't you all miss having your own carefree children playing around instead of worrying where their next fix is coming from?"
"I want my baby back," Anna added. "She might be nine years old now, but she is still my baby. Someone addicted to dope is not who my daughter is. She is someone who still enjoys playing with dolls and her little brother, and that is who I want in my family!"
Several of the parents applauded Anna. Then Ms. Horvath spoke up. She asked that the parents who had been supporting their children's drug use to please come forward. She and the other administrators wanted to talk to them.
"They were just in it for the money," one mom objected. "What's the harm in that?"
"There is no harm in earning money. The harm comes from the drugs that were passed to your children. Some probably did use the drugs; others probably did it for fun. I don't know, but I do know that it will stop in the third grade, and especially in my class!"
Ms. Mahoney spoke up. "Parents, please get on line and take a few minutes to speak to the police officers who have attended our meeting tonight. Nobody is going to be arrested, but they do want to know that there won't be anymore drugs passed out in Ms. Horvath's class."
Some of the parents groaned and grumbled, but they all cooperated. The officers did speak to David's mom about the hidden dangers of the drugs, and she agreed to go through his belongings. They also cautioned her that if he were caught away from the school selling the drugs, he could be arrested for real. Hearing that upset her a great deal, so she promised herself that she would be a lot more active in her son's life.
7
"Oh, boy," Callen moaned when he got in the car.
"Yes, but please don't talk right now, okay?" Anna laid her head back and closed her eyes.
He put his hand on hers. "Okay, baby."
The ride home was silent; both occupants were exhausted. Being mentally drained did not help.
He pulled into the driveway, and gave her a hand out of the car. After he gave her quick hug, Callen escorted her into the house and up to their room. All Anna wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sleep. She latched onto Callen as soon as he was in the bed with her. In response, he cuddled her, and gave her a quick kiss. They slept soundly until mid-morning.
8
Callen sat bolt upright. "Oh, my God! The kids!" he yelped when he saw the little clock.
He was so loud that Anna woke up. "What's wrong?"
"The kids! The kids have to go to school!"
"At eleven o'clock in the morning?" Anna questioned.
"Yes. It's eleven, and we're still in bed! Kira can't drive—"
"Oh, boy," Anna said, getting up and getting dressed quickly.
Callen got up just as quickly, and he raced after her, down the stairs where they got the shock of their lives. Sitting at the dining room table was Arkady.
"Arkady!" Anna exclaimed. "What happened?"
"Nothing, daughter," replied the nonchalant Russian. "Baby called me, and I took her to school."
Callen sank into a chair. "Say what?"
Arkady's eyes twinkled. "Baby called in a panic. She asked me to take her to school, so I did. I also took other babies, even the little one."
"My gosh! You took all four to school?" Anna asked, incredulous.
"Yes, I did, daughter. By myself, too. No pretty lady."
"Thank you, Papa," she said, giving him a bear hug. She held onto him for a moment.
Arkady noticed. "Boy, is she okay?"
Callen nodded. "Yaa. We had a rough evening, and it wiped us both out. But we're okay."
"That good to hear," Arkady replied. "I brought some bagels for you," he added. "All kinds. Even bald ones."
Anna laughed. "Bald bagels?"
"Yes, daughter. They are skin and bones with no seeds on them."
Callen laughed, too. "I think I'll have one of those," he announced.
Anna snatched an everything bagel from the bag, and devoured it as quickly as Callen had eaten his.
9
Not too long after, Arkady took his leave. Anna hugged him, and they both thanked him profusely for taking the kids to school.
Then Anna said, "I want to lie down."
"We just got up!"
"So? Go lie down on the couch, but drape your legs over the arm."
"Are you crazy?"
"Probably. Just do it."
So, Callen lay down on the couch with his legs hanging over the arm. Anna lay down opposite him and hung her legs over the other arm.
"Isn't this a little silly?"
"Maybe, but how about you covering us with the afghan?"
10
Several hours later, Roberta brought all of the kids home. She dropped them off, but did not stay.
"My God! What is that?" Kira squawked when she saw the figures on the couch.
"Kira, it's not anything," Anya said wisely. "It's Mama and Papa being silly."
Raisa walked around the couch with the intent of ripping the afghan off her parents.
"You better not!" Kira cautioned.
But Raisa wasn't listening. She took a wad of the afghan in her hands and yanked it off her parents as fast as she could. But they didn't move.
"You might as well put it back," said Anya.
"Why? They're not supposed to be sleeping now!" Raisa objected.
"Yes, they are," Callen responded, sitting up. "Especially when they're tired."
Anya laughed. "Boy, you're in trouble now!"
Anna leaned over and picked up the afghan. She shook it out, and then tossed it at Callen, but missed. He picked it up and draped it over her head. Anna lay down again without a sound.
Kira and Anya laughed, as did their father.
"Guys, go find something to do and leave us alone for a little while longer, okay, please?" Callen said to them. "We'll join you shortly."
"Okay, Papa," Kira said. "Let's get some snacks!"
11
"What are you doing, Callen?" Anna asked him. She punched her fingers through several of the holes in the afghan and lifted it up. "Enough already!"
"Not a problem. I wanted some extra time for them to settle down, and for us to have a few more minutes of quiet. That's all."
"Okay," she conceded, turning onto her side. She wiggled around so that she could kiss him.
He was surprised, but he returned the kiss and then got up. "Come on, baby. It's time to meet the natives!"
Anna laughed and agreed. She got up, too, and together they folded the afghan and draped it over the back of the couch.
"How come you were sleeping like that?" Anya asked.
"Why not?" replied her father, taking his seat at the table.
"Mama, what are we having for dinner tonight?"
"Anya, enough. Give us a minute to think," Anna snapped.
"Oh, no! Don't start," Callen cautioned her. "Guys, we had a very bad night last night, so we're both over-tired. Please leave Mama alone, and we'll figure something out. Okay?"
"Okay, Papa," Kira answered.
12
"What happened?" asked the persistent Anya.
"We went to a meeting at Raisa's school last night, and it was a very ugly meeting," Callen answered. "We are not discussing it, so please don't ask."
"One of you needs to think up dinner," Anna said, "Because I am not cooking or fixing anything."
"Okay, Mama," piped up Nikolai. "How about we have hotdogs and chips and soda?"
Callen shrugged. "I don't see why not, but Nikolai, no soda on a school night. You know better than that."
"Oh, man, Papa," Nikolai groaned before he burst out laughing. "I tried to trick you, Papa!"
"Yes, you did, little boy. How about you guys having juice instead of milk tonight?"
There were rumblings and grumblings, so Callen added, "Water instead? Your choice, kids!"
Since nobody volunteered anything else, the family had hotdogs and chips for dinner. With all of the pizza they'd been having, the hotdogs were a welcome relief for everyone.
Soon after dinner was cleaned up, the kids were all sent to bed, and their parents followed suit.
"Parents don't go to bed early!" Raisa objected.
"They do when they're tired," Anna told her. "That's one of the fun things about being an adult. We don't have bedtimes."