Chapter Eleven

Bobby clung to Jaron as they sat in the elementary school's office and Jaron felt like doing the same. School held a level of panic he didn't expect to feel, and he wasn't even the one going. Because it was his kid, made it even worse, though. His chest tightened and he tried not to picture Bobby getting bullied. It didn't matter the reason for the bullying. Jaron's mind still conjured up the images.

"How do you handle bullying?" Jaron gave the principal a pointed look.

"We have a zero tolerance for it district wide. I can't say in never happens but when it does, an adult mediates a verbal exchange between all the children involved. Our goal is to empower the student to stick up for himself."

Jaron narrowed his eyes. He wasn't about to believe that right away. She had a lot to prove. The entire Pickleville school district did. "When I went here, teachers didn't do anything about it."

She nodded and smiled. "I taught kindergarten at that time, so I wasn't sure what went on at the high school. But I'm aware of your situation Mr. McAllister. Since you've graduated, we've added a zero-tolerance policy and I know there is a gay-straight alliance at the high school. My son is a part of it. I can reassure you, bullying for any reason isn't something we take lightly. Not anymore."

Jaron nodded. He'd never expected that. "Who started the alliance?"

"Miss Larson. And I personally am grateful she did."

Jaron smiled for the first time since walking in. Some of the tension went out of his shoulders and the panic eased.

And then Bobby scooted closer to him.

Jaron might as well have found a pirate ship and made Bobby walk the plank with sharks swimming at the bottom, anticipating the tenderness of such young lunch. Bobby would find that a better experience than starting school.

Jaron looked down at those blue eyes. They pleaded with him to not make him do the dreaded thing.

Don't cave. "You'll make so many friends and have fun. You'll see."

"Okay, Mr. McAllister. We need you to fill out these papers. If you'd like, I can take Bobby to his class."

"No Papa." Bobby's grip on his leg tightened.

Bobby's lip quivered and his eyes filled with tears. Then Jaron met the school principal's gaze and shook his head. "He won't go with you. I'll take him and then come back to finish these."

Her smile suggested she'd had experience with clingy children and emotional parents before. "It's Ms. Larson's class. Two doors down on the right."

"Ms. Larson is Bobby's teacher?" Lucky break.

The principal smiled. "That's right. When she got her certification in elementary education, the school district moved her over to a kindergarten classroom. At her request."

Jaron didn't know or care what kind of hoops Ms. Larson had to jump through to teach younger children. He was just glad she did. "She was my favorite teacher."

"I'm sure she'd like to hear that."

"I'll let her know then. Thanks." He pried Bobby's hand off his leg and held it as they walked out of the office.

"Do I have to go in there?"

Jaron fought the urge to chuckle. "Yes, you have to go in there. There are other kids in there to play with."

"So."

"So, the teacher is nice too. She taught me when I was in school, and now I know all kinds of stuff."

"I don't care."

"Yeah, I get that. But I do care. I want you to learn and get smart, so someday you can take care of me. I want a yellow mansion and a blue sports car and a green dog that I'm going to call Booger."

Bobby laughed. "How am I gonna get that?"

"You learn how to read and write and add numbers."

"Then what?"

"Let's start with those three things, okay. One step at a time."

"That's what I'm gonna learn in there?" Bobby pointed to the door, looking at it as if it was a big disgusting pile of dog crap.

"Yep. It'll be fun."

"I don't think so."

"Just try it."

"Why can't you teach me?"

"Bobby," Jaron sighed in exasperation. He met Bobby's gaze. "So here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna knock on the door, and we'll both go in together."

"I have to?"

"Yes."

Bobby took a deep breath, shoring up his courage and nodded. "Okay."

Thank God. A small step but still in the right direction.

Jaron knocked, avoiding the colorful poster taped to the door that read Ms. Larson's class is cool.

Ms. Larson stood there, smiling at them. Seven years hadn't aged her much, but then she wasn't that much older than Jaron if how she appeared was any indication. "You must be Robert."

Bobby clung to Jaron's leg again and turned his head in the opposite direction. "That's not my name."

"We call him Bobby."

"Why don't you both come in? For the first few minutes of the day, we have free time, which means you can play wherever you'd like." She met Jaron's gaze. "You're welcome to stay for the day if you'd like."

Jaron had to practically pry Bobby off his leg to enter the classroom. Once they got inside, he clung again, but hearing the other kids playing around the room piqued his interest. His body slowly relaxed until he merely leaned against Jaron with his thumb in his mouth.

Jaron decided to let Bobby settle in on his own. Not focusing on Bobby's negative reaction wouldn't highlight it and bring it back to the surface again. Instead, he met Ms. Larson's gaze. "I don't know if you remember me."

She nodded. "Jaron McAllister. I remember."

"Lucky break for Bobby that you're his teacher."

Ms. Larson chuckled. "I'm glad you think so. And I'm glad you're back in town."

"Thanks. Being back has been…surprisingly great."

"I bet, since you received the brunt end of the bullying in high school."

"That I did, Ms. Larson."

"You can call me Beth." Beth's gaze traveled the room in watchful circles over and over again, making sure the kids played safely. "Excuse me a minute. Don't go anywhere." She walked over to a little boy who held a big, waffle type block over his head. She knelt, getting on the kid's level before she spoke to him. She kept their conversation private, but whatever she said made the boy set the block down on the carpet and move to another area of the classroom. Beth came back. "Are you planning on stay in town for good?"

Bobby eased away from him, playing with small blocks on the floor with a dark-haired boy. The other kid handed a red block to Bobby, and that seemed to start their friendship. "I'm making a horse ‘cuz my Daddy just got a new horse for us to ride."

Bobby didn't say anything back, but he gave the other boy his full attention.

"I think so. I haven't decided yet. I suppose it depends on how homophobic the town still is. I don't want Bobby raised around people like that."

"I don't know if you're aware, but I gave Jackson and Brad detention as much as I possibly could."

Jaron cleared his throat as he let that information sink into his soul. The implications of that one thing coupled with experiences with Beverly being so kind changed Jaron's perspective. He also couldn't deny Travis' kindness. "No, I-I didn't know that."

Jaron had seen Pickleville as a dark pit during most of his high school years. He'd had the whole no-one-understands-me thing down to a science. That had blackened his perspective until he'd painted everyone with the same brush.

"Most people around here are decent. And our LGBT community is growing slowly every year. The town is better than before."

"I think I'm starting to see that."

She smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. If you have time some weekend, we could catch up sometime."

Jaron smiled a real, genuine smile for the first time in a long while. He'd almost forgotten how. "I would like that."

"Let me get your number, and I'll call you." She walked over to a short, round table that sat in one corner of the room and grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil. She closed the distance between them again. "I have to get the class started, or I'd stand here talking all day."

Jaron took the paper and pencil from her and wrote his number down before giving them back to her.

"And I have to sneak out of here to go to work." Jaron turned his gaze to Bobby. He had several blocks stacked on top of each other until a colorful wall formed.

Jaron bit his lip and met Beth's gaze again. "Sneaking out is the right approach, right? Or will I create even more abandonment issues." Shit. He didn't know what to do.

"You know your son better than anyone, so you do what you think is best."

While that was a very good answer, it didn't help him at all.

The short, squatty bookcase stood between him and Bobby. He purposefully kept it between them as he spoke. "Papa's leaving. Grandma's going to get off work early and pick you up." As much as Jaron wanted Bobby to ride the bus to the Heath farm, he thought letting Bobby settle into the routine of school for a week or two would prove less stressful for them both. Thank God for his mom. If it weren't for her, Jaron and Bobby would have had a much harder time.

Bobby didn't pay any attention to him. His sole focus was on the wall made out of blocks. He nodded, though, so Jaron knew Bobby had heard him. Jaron turned to Beth. "My mom's coming to pick him up." She already knew that because he had just said it, but his stomach ached at the thought of leaving Bobby.

Beth gave him a knowing smiled. "Bobby will be just fine."

"Yeah. Okay." But what if Bobby started crying and Jaron wasn't there to help him through? "I know."

Jaron waved as he walked out of the classroom, letting Beth get her class started. He sat in the office filling out the rest of the forms, which took a whole ten minutes and handed them to the secretary right before he left the school.

Jaron felt the need to cry down to the bottom of his stomach during the walk back to his mom's house. He waited until after he called Beverly. He had a good ten minutes before his ride showed up. He hoped it was enough time to get it all out of his system.

He grabbed a few tissues from the box in the bathroom before heading out of the door, waiting in his driveway so whoever picked him up didn't have to bother shutting off the truck. They probably had as much work on the farm as Jaron did in the house. He was eager to get started.

He wiped his eyes and blew his nose when a gray truck pulled into the driveway. He didn't know the older man behind the wheel but his status as a farmhand came through in the way he dressed. He had a long-sleeved shirt, and a dirty cap advertising a truck manufacturer.

Jaron smiled at the man as he got in the truck. "Thanks for picking me up." Jaron needed a car in a bad way. Or he needed to take Beverly up on her offer to live there on the farm. Because asking the farmhands to pick him up every day seemed a bit much.

"Don't think I'm gonna be doin' this again. I don't like faggots in my truck."

Jaron tensed, not seeing that coming from someone who worked for Beverly, who was such a kind lady.

The good experience at the school and the way he was into his own emotions was enough not to notice the sneer on the guy's face. If he had, he wouldn't have accepted a ride from him.

He moved as close to the door as possible and looked out of the window, hoping the guy wouldn't speak to him again or do anything violent.

Jaron thought about getting out of the truck, but the guy put it in reverse before he could make up his mind.

The ride remained silent except for the country music coming from the radio.

Jaron couldn't help but wonder how many other people on Travis' farm shared the same attitude.

Between reconnecting with Beth and getting called a filthy name, his day just balanced itself out. All of that paled in comparison to the emotional crisis that was his baby starting school for the first time.