Authors: CJ Simpson
Kat quickly
showed Daniel the crafts they would be helping the kids make that week. She
held up the models she and Rhonda had made so Daniel could see what the crafts
looked like in completed form. She explained that for the various grade levels,
classes are kept to twenty minutes. They would be working nonstop until break
time an hour and a half later. Daniel listened with great interest and by the
time Kat was finished, she felt he was ready. Her remaining two helpers had
arrived by then and introductions were exchanged.
When the
children entered the classroom, Daniel led them to their seats and made sure
each child had a craft kit.
The first class
consisted of first and second graders. Most of them already knew how to write
their names and seemed capable of following simple directions. When a little
boy raised his hand, Daniel quickly went to the child and offered assistance.
During the
second class, Kat and her teammates were impressed with the ease at which
Daniel seemed to have when working with children. When the kindergarteners
became a bit rambunctious, Daniel expertly shifted their focus to the crafts in
front of them. When class ended, Kat praised him on a job well done.
“Ready to go
home yet?” she joked.
“No way!” Daniel
chortled. “I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun!”
“Come on,” said
Kat, “join us at Midtown for snacks. We have thirty minutes before our last two
classes begin.”
Daniel followed
Kat to the kitchen where her fellow parishioners were busy serving plates to
the volunteers. After they received their plates, they joined their teammates,
Janice and Betty Jean, at a table near the New York Harbor backdrop.
“So what do you
think of it?” Betty Jean asked Daniel.
“I’m enjoying
myself so far. I can’t believe how fast time goes by here. We’ve been busy
nonstop, it seems.”
Everyone
laughed. Janice chimed, “We’ve got the older ones next so it should be somewhat
less chaotic.”
Daniel smiled
and turned to Kat. “How long have you been doing this?” He was referring to Kat
being a leader.
“This is my
third year. All crafts. I really enjoy it and so does Tyler.” When he looked at
her questioningly, she said, “Oh, Tyler is my son.”
The foursome
chatted throughout the break, sharing stories and past experiences with
vacation bible school. It was obvious to Kat that Daniel was sincerely enjoying
himself as he took a liking to everyone he came in contact with. When Betty Jean
asked Daniel how he came to volunteer here, Daniel stated that he was attending
a Baptist church before he moved. He found Piney Grove through the Internet.
When break
ended, the Crafts team went back into their classroom to prepare for their next
group of students. Third, fourth, and fifth grade students worked on a craft that
was entirely different from the first two groups. It was an advanced craft, one
that involved painting. They had to glue together a church birdhouse.
The last class
of the evening was Tyler’s class. He was in the pre-K group and it was a large
class. Their activity focused on singing one of three songs that they would
later perform for the congregation on Sunday services.
When Daniel met
Tyler, he stared at him in awe. At first, Kat thought his behavior was a bit
odd, but she dismissed this as nothing more than someone who genuinely liked
kids. This was confirmed after class when Daniel had a wide grin on his face.
“When I was a
teenager, I used to sing like this with the kids in summer camp.” Daniel said
proudly.
“Ah, that
explains it, then.” Kat said. “I wondered how you knew what to do with all of
the kids we had tonight. You’re really good with them.”
Daniel seemed
embarrassed by Kat’s admiration. “Nah, they’re really good kids. Besides, I’ve
had a lot of practice.”
“Yeah? You have
kids of your own?” Kat inquired.
“No, I don’t,
but I would love to have them someday.” He smiled at her.
When Daniel left
with the promise of returning the following evening, Kat reflected on the way they
initially met. She felt very foolish now at the way she had acted in front of
him.
He was just trying to be a gentleman and I acted like a coward,
she
thought.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem like the kind of person to hold a
grudge. He really is a nice man.
A few minutes
later, Kat turned off the lights in the classroom, closed the door, and headed
for Blair’s classroom to get Tyler.
Kat woke up
unusually early the following morning. She slept restlessly throughout the
night and woke up several times during the night. She didn’t know if it was her
nerves due to the upcoming self-defense class in a few hours or due to her
problem student or a combination of both.
Maybe it’s the stress of vacation
bible school
, she thought, as she got out of bed.
As she ate a
simple breakfast of toast and fruit, she thought about Tyler’s Taekwondo class
the other night, when Dottie taught the stranger danger part of self-defense
against strangers. She remembered feeling squeamish. It was all part of the
curriculum, she knew, and she was grateful for that, but why did she feel so
nervous about it? It hit a little close to home and brought back dark memories
of a night she vowed never to relive. She recalled Pastor Cullen’s words to
her. Maybe it was time for her to face her fears once and for all.
She also had a
nagging feeling that her troubles with her former student wasn’t over. While
she knew he wouldn’t be able to find her, she was worried anyway. She had
disgruntled students in the past, but none of them compared to Darryl Baker. He
seemed so very angry despite her attempts to help him understand she was only
following school policy. The matter was out of her hands.
Perhaps I’m
being paranoid
,
she thought.
I seem to be letting the smallest things bother me lately.
After pouring
another glass of orange juice, Kat decided to go upstairs and check her email.
While she normally checked her email after she put Tyler to bed, she decided to
check it anyway while he was still sleeping. She knew she would be jittery for
the rest of the day otherwise.
Once she was
logged into her faculty email, she saw that she had a message from Academic
Affairs. At first, she was alarmed, but relaxed once she finished reading the
email. Apparently, her student reported her to administration when she had
written that she would no longer converse with him in regards to his final
grade standing. The email assured her that she had followed policy in full and
that it was standard procedure to investigate all correspondence between her and
the student. Their findings showed she had acted professionally and
appropriately. There was no further action required on her part. According to
the university, the student had been suspended indefinitely and no longer had
access to his classroom forums or student email account.
As Kat leaned
back in her chair, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. She didn’t know why she
let her student’s antics bother her so much. Her gut told her this wasn’t the
end, and her gut had never failed her in the past. However, Kat decided she was
being silly and needed to grow a thicker skin.
I can’t let what happened
that night dictate the rest of my life. I can’t continue to live in fear.
Kat decided to
put the matter to rest and focused her thoughts on the self-defense class she
would be attending in a couple of hours. While she was looking forward to it,
she also felt nervous. As much as she tried to forget the night of the rape,
Kat knew she would carry that horrific memory for a long time to come.
Perhaps
if I had self-defense skills back then, the outcome would have been completely
different. Then I wouldn’t have had Tyler, either,
she thought.
Speaking of
Tyler, it was time to wake him up. He would be playing with Eli while she went
to her class. Rhonda had returned Kat’s message from the night before to confirm
the boys’ play date. She was going to take them to Bounce World, an indoor
playroom that housed inflatable play equipment. She and Rhonda had taken the
boys there before and they had had such a good time. They had jumped and rolled
and laughed. Kat was forever grateful to have Rhonda in her life and knew she
could depend on her to watch Tyler when she needed her to.
Tyler was sound
asleep in his bed with Froggy wrapped tightly under his arm. He had his thumb
in his mouth and one foot peeking out from under the covers. Kat stood there
watching her beautiful child sleep and marveled at how fast he seemed to be
growing. She sat down on the bed and lightly kissed his cheek the way she
always did when she went to wake him up.
Tyler groaned
and lay still. “Tyler, wake up.” Kat coaxed, gently shaking him. He didn’t
budge.
She rubbed his
back for a minute before pulling the blankets back. “Would you like to go to Eli’s
house today?”
Tyler opened one
eye, yawned, and stretched his little body. Then he sat up, clutching Froggy as
he looked at her sleepily. “What time are we going there, Mommy?”
“We’re going to
leave in about an hour.” Kat replied. “Mommy has a Taekwondo class and Miss Rhonda
said you could come over to play with Eli.”
“Yay!” Tyler suddenly
stood up and jumped on the bed. Kat laughed. He bounced back down and slid off
the bed. As he ran across the hall to the bathroom, Kat went over to the
dresser to pick out an outfit for Tyler to wear. She selected one of his
favorite sets, a Red Sox shirt, and a pair of navy shorts to match. She pulled
out a fresh pair of underwear and socks, closed the drawer, and exited the
room.
By this time,
Tyler had gone downstairs and turned on the television. He was lying on the couch
waiting for her, and when he saw her enter the living room, he sat up and
clapped his hands. “I’m going to Eli’s house today!” he beamed.
“Yes, you are!”
Kat motioned for him to stand on the floor so she could help him get dressed.
He was still wearing pull-ups at night although he rarely wet them. After Tyler
removed his pajamas, he began to dress himself. Kat helped him put on his socks
and sneakers then instructed him to go into the kitchen to eat. She had made
his favorite breakfast, waffles.
Half an hour
later, Kat and Tyler left the house. She dropped him off at Rhonda’s and headed
for her self-defense class.
There were nine
women, including Kat, who arrived for the self-defense class. All of the women
stood around talking to one another waiting for Dottie to begin class.
“Before we
start,” Dottie opened, “There’s someone who would like to say a few words.” She
motioned to a young woman from the back of the room to come forward. “If you
would all take a seat on the floor, we can begin.”
When the women
were seated comfortably, they gave their full attention to the brunette who was
now at the front of the room. She stood tall and held her head up high. She
quickly glanced at Dottie before speaking.
“My name is
Sarah and I was raped four months ago.” She stopped abruptly, her lower lip
quivering. A hush befell the room while the women watched Sarah struggle to
maintain composure. Kat felt her pulse quicken as a hard lump formed in her
throat.
Sarah continued,
“It happened while my husband was out of town on business. In broad daylight. I
had gone for a walk in this park and a man came out of nowhere. He grabbed me
from behind, put his hand over my mouth, dragged me to where his van was
parked, threw me in the back of it, and raped me.”
She paused to
take a deep breath, her face turned upward toward the ceiling. Kat stared at
the woman with such compassion that she thought her heart would break.
“When he was
finished,” she said disgustedly, “he practically shoved me out of his van. He
said he would kill me if I told anyone.”
The women in the
class looked at Sarah with grave concern and gave her encouraging nods. Their
hearts were breaking for her, too.
Sarah regained
her bearings, pointed to Dottie and said, “I am so grateful to this woman for
being here for me. As most of you probably already know, Dottie is a police
officer by day. She was one of the first responders when I called 911.”
“Why am I
telling you this? Because I don’t want anyone to ever have to go through what
I’ve gone through.” Sarah’s voice cracked as she went on. “Despite what my
attacker said, I called 911 anyway. I gave them a description of him, which
wasn’t much, because he had on a mask. I only got part of his license plate but
no matches came up with the type of van he had. He also had a foreign accent
which suggested that he wasn’t from the area.”
A woman named
Marsha piped up, “Girl, you are one brave soul.” She got up and walked to the
front of the room where Sarah was standing and hugged her tightly. It was a
very emotional moment for all of the women in the room, especially Kat. She
felt a very strong and immediate connection to Sarah.