Jack Kursed (20 page)

Erica's jaw hung open, and it took a
few seconds for her to find words.

"That...might be the most
inappropriate thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Then you don't get out enough," he
countered, and looked down at Tiffany. "What did I say?"

Tiffany simply beamed at her hero
before her brow wrinkled. She brought her hand to her chin, deep in
thought, looking adorable.

"I don't know. It was too many words.
But I think you called her pretty."

"Yeah, I thought so, too," he said,
and shrugged.

"I don't get involved with my
students' parents."

"I wasn't asking you out,
just being honest. But whatever. It was nice meeting you. See you
tomorrow morning."

The bell had rung, signaling the end
of lunch. Jack wanted to escape before there were screaming
children everywhere. He gestured to Tiffany, and she followed him
to the door.

"Wait, Jack?"

He turned and looked at
Erica. She was struggling with herself, opening her mouth a few
times in a false start to say something.

"You...my scar, you really don't
think...nothing. Nevermind."

"Okay. Goodbye."

They managed to get
through the front door before the mass of children left the
playground and filled up their classes. Jack breathed a sigh of
relief as they headed for his truck. Tiffany tried to hold his
hand, which he allowed for nearly five seconds before pulling it
away.

"What do you think?" he
asked her. "Are you gonna do okay here?"

"I don't want to go to school," she
said.

"I would, if I were in your place.
Your teacher...damn. If I had her when I was your age, I'd pay
attention to every word she said."

"She's pretty," Tiffany said. "But
Victoria's prettier."

"What drug are you
on?"

She giggled. "I don't eat any
drugs."

"Yes, and it will always stay that
way, too."

"What about if I have to go to the
hospital? They give you drugs at the hospital."

"I know, smartass."

"Can we eat lunch?"

He smiled. Jack was doing
that a lot now, just smiling around the child.

"Lunch, it is."

*****

Jack worked over the
stove, making another large breakfast. Cooking was a nice way to
kill a lot of time in the morning. The sun slowly rose as he dipped
some bread into an egg and milk mixture for French toast. The sun
greeting his garden was a beautiful sight. He'd seen countless
sunrises and sunsets in his time.

Tiffany slowly walked down
the stairs, taking one step at a time. Her hair was a mess, her
pajamas twisted. Despite her appearance, he was impressed. He
thought he'd have to shout at her to wake up, or throw water on
her, like in the movies.

"First day of school," he said,
placing the bread in a skillet. "Are you excited?"

"I don't want to go to
school."

"We should tattoo that on your
head."

"I don't want a tattoo."

"Do you want some French toast and
sausage?"

"Yes!"

Jack smiled. He was glad it took just
a little food to get her enthusiasm going again.

The ride to school was
quiet. Tiffany looked nice, finally like a pretty little girl. Her
face was full of color, her hair straight and clean. There was no
way he was going to do anything besides brush her hair for her, but
it looked okay. She had a Spongebob backpack slung over her good
shoulder.

Jack examined the
playground as he parked outside the school. Some children went
directly inside, while others played. Mothers were littered about
the schoolyard, talking and gossiping. Two teachers watched over
everyone, one of whom happened to be the lovely Erica. She covered
up her legs with slacks, but was attractive enough to make slacks
and a simple long-sleeved shirt look good.

He frowned as he circled around the
truck and opened the door for Tiffany. If at any time during his
two-hundred-year life someone told him he would watch over a little
kid, he would never have believed it.

"Hey!" Erica shouted. She
was yelling at the same bully Jack spotted yesterday. "Robert!
Knock it off. Don't make me have to call your mother
again."

"Ooh. I like it when she yells," Jack
said, leaning down to talk to Tiffany. "I want you to stay away
from Robert, okay?"

"Okay."

They walked through a gap
in the fence and crossed the playground. Jack was aware of the
looks the both of them were getting. The mothers were staring and
whispering about how incredible he was. The children all turned
their attention to the new girl, and Jack could feel Tiffany
tensing up next to him.

They approached the only person they
knew. Erica.

"Morning," he said. "I present to you,
Tiffany March."

Erica's eyes lit up, and
Jack saw recognition in them as Tiffany's full name hit her ears.
He almost regretted saying her last name, but Erica would find out
eventually about Tiffany's past.

"Tiffany March?"

"Yes. Take good care of
her."

"I will," she said, kneeling down to
talk to Tiffany. "We're gonna learn, and have a lot of
fun."

Jack was stunned when a
tear ran down her cheek. She looked up at him, her eyes turning
glassy. Her hands trembled slightly.

"I don't want to go to school," she
said for the fiftieth time.

"Why not?" he asked,
kneeling next to Erica. He was more curious than concerned. "What's
wrong?"

"If I don't do good in school, you'll
get rid of me."

Jack and Erica traded
surprised looks. He gently grabbed Tiffany's good shoulder. Her
bruised shoulder was healing, but still tender. It was a shame his
curse didn't come with healing powers.

"Listen to me. I
wanted to save you from a bad situation. And I did, but we're not
done yet. I don't know the future. But when it's time for you to
get adopted, it will be
your
choice. I'm not gonna just get rid of
you."

"But the social workers
come. And they take you and don't tell you why. They make you stay
with a foster-mom like Miss Simmons."

"Foster-mom? Simmons?" Erica said.
"Andrea Simmons? The woman in the news yesterday?"

"Tiffany," Jack said, ignoring Erica.
"No social worker is coming. I promise you. I won't let then come
and take you away."

Tiffany lunged forward and
hugged Jack around the neck. He winced and tensed up, not enjoying
the contact at all. His first instinct was to pry himself away, but
decided he'd let Tiffany have this one moment.

"It's okay," he said,
awkwardly patting her back. "You have to go to school. I want you
to try your best and behave for Erica...Miss Hernandez. But either
way, no one's coming to get you."

"Even the monster?"

"Nope, not even the
monster."

The bell rang, and
students filed from the playground to the open double-doors not far
away. He heard some of their snickering and remarks. Someone even
called Erica
Scar-Lady
. He didn't bother hiding his scowl, and some of the children
looked away in fear.

"You have to go," he said.
"Your lunch is in your pack. Right when you get out of school, I'll
be waiting by the truck on the side of the road there."

She kissed him on the cheek before
turning and running into school. Jack couldn't help but wipe it
away as he rose to his feet. Erica stood next to him,
staring.

"What?" he
said.

"She lived with that woman I saw on
the news yesterday?"

"Yeah. It's a long story."

"You'll have to fill me in
sometime."

"Sure."

She gave him a smile,
which was much better than the look of horror he received
yesterday. Her eyes drifted for a second, looking over the simple
jeans and tee shirt he wore. A different look than the shirt and
tie from the day before. He could see in her eyes she liked what
she saw.

"Erica?" he said. "Don't you have a
class to get to?"

Her face turned red, and
she brought her hand up to cover her scar. Jack tried not to laugh.
Obviously nervous gestures of hers revolved around her
scar.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. You have a good
day."

She vanished into school, giving him
one last smile.

*****

Jack relaxed throughout
the day, listening to music, working on his garden, watching TV.
Just killing time. But these time-killing sessions were a little
different, as he had something he was looking forward to. He
wondered how Tiffany was doing in school. Was she making friends?
Did she fit in with the other kids? Was she giving Erica a hard
time? Was she learning anything?

He glanced at the
clock as he watched Judge Judy. Checking the time is something he
rarely did. Most mortals probably didn't even realize it, but their
lives centered on sleep. Their day-to-day activities, work, meals,
entertainment, sex, bathing, all came down to
How much time do I have to squeeze in as much as I can before
my body shuts down, and I have to sleep
.
Jack did not have this problem. Time was meaningless to
him.

But now that Tiffany was in school, he
had a reason to look at the clock.

He arrived at school a
little early. Like in the morning, mothers loitered the playground
and sat in their cars, waiting for school to let out. He left his
truck and waited by the fence, admiring some of the attractive
women glancing at him. It had been a while since his last
one-nighter, but he had other things on his mind.

Children stormed the
playground after the bell rang. Jack laughed as the scene reminded
him of storming the beach in World War II. They ran to buses, the
swing-sets, their parents. One kid in particular just ran in
circles, screaming with his arms in the air. Jack didn't remember
having that much fun when he was young.

He spotted Tiffany and walked to meet
her. Her body language immediately tipped him off that something
was wrong. Hands in her pockets, her head low, kicking at the dirt
when she walked.

"Hey, Tiffany. How was
school-?"

She didn't respond, or
even stop. She marched past him, not looking him in the eye. He
spun in place and watched her leave the playground and climb in the
truck. Jack stood there for a minute, watching her sulk, before
someone stopped next to him.

"Hey," Erica said.

"I take it the first day of school
wasn't so great?"

"She was doing really
well. Quiet at first, looking like a caged cheetah. But by
lunchtime she was more relaxed, and was even laughing at my little
jokes. She didn't raise her hand to answer any questions, but she
was at least engaged. She even took a few pictures of the
class."

"She’s a photography nut.
She’s taken a thousand pictures of my kitchen. I’ll talk to her
about it," he said. A slow smile crossed his face. "You tell jokes
in your class?"

"Yeah. Good ones, too. Anyway, after
lunch, she was different. I'm not sure she heard a word I
said."

"Thanks. I'll see what's going
on."

He walked away, but Erica
stopped him by calling his name. He turned to give her his
attention.

"I think it's incredible what you're
doing," she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Picking Tiffany
up from school?"

She laughed, the sexiest thing he ever
heard.

"No. Taking care of
Tiffany, giving her a life she's obviously never had before. I can
see she looks up to you."

Jack reflected on that. He couldn't
remember the last time someone gave him a compliment.

"Thank you. You're doing a good thing
yourself, being a teacher."

She rolled her eyes at the
generic compliment. "There are twenty other teachers in this
school."

"Yeah, but you're
different. You were disfigured when you were twenty-one. How old
are you now? Twenty-nine? Thirty? So you've only been teaching a
few years. You chose to put yourself in front of a classroom of
kids, knowing you'd be studied and laughed at. But you did it
anyway. You're single, probably taken yourself out of the dating
game. That's a shame, given how gorgeous you are. I'm guessing you
can't have kids?"

It was a reach, but it
made sense from what Jack had observed. The body language didn’t
lie. He’d seen the faraway, jealous looks Erica gave some of the
other parents. She said nothing as a range of emotions played
across her face. Surprise, pain, fear, sadness. His words obviously
hit a nerve, maybe a few nerves. She reeled herself in and simply
gave him a small smile.

"You definitely like to speak your
mind, don't you?"