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Ana tries not to make a habit out of calling her students’ parents in after school hours because, honestly, who wants to come in and listen to their kid’s teacher tell them where they’re going wrong in the whole parenting thing? She certainly doesn’t want to be the one to do that, it’s hardly her place, but there are the odd few occasions in which she has to step in.
And, after an afternoon of trying to disarm Jeremey as he catapults erasures across the classroom, dealing with Bethany and her weekly tantrum, and cleaning up two lovely helpings of vomit, the last thing Ana needed was Christopher (the angelic little boy who she can quite honestly call her star pupil) making up blatant lies.
Normally, it wouldn’t be such a big deal (kids embellish the truth all the time, right?) but today they were doing their writing assignments, in which each student had to write about their family and show how they can use their writing skills to portray their loved ones much in the same way that they would with a colourful picture. So, when Ana is skimming over Christopher’s finished page she’s more than a little disappointed.
It wouldn’t even be that big of a deal, not really, if Christopher hadn’t then chosen to lie right to her face. When she called him out on the exaggerated truths in his assignment (because, seriously, Christopher’s written that his daddy used to be a bartender, a ranch worker, was even in the Navy SEALs, before becoming a firefighter and Ana’s met Eddie Diaz, she knows he was an Army medic), he crosses his arms and scowls and refuses to admit that he’s in the wrong. In the seven months that Ana has been teaching Christopher, she’s never seen him so angry.
Even so, it isn’t until Christopher looks her right in the eye and shouts, “You’re the liar!” that Ana makes an executive decision. She’s going to have to call his dad in.
Unfortunately, although not unexpected considering the man’s bizarre work hours, she’s greeted by Christopher’s carer, Carla, when the Diaz’s phone is finally picked up. Ana tries her best to keep her happy-go-lucky tone of voice as she explains that she needs to speak with Mr Diaz after class if it is at all possible for him to get across town in such short notice and, when Carla assures her that she’ll pass the message along, hangs up with a sigh. She can only hope that Eddie can make it; she really doesn’t want this attitude from Christopher to become a regular occurrence.
By the final bell, Ana is just about ready to pack her stuff and go, promises of a warm cup of tea and a lapful of her favourite one-eyed cat, Mr Bobbins, already making her regret the decision to stay late today. But, needs must.
So, she sits at her desk marking through her students’ workbooks as Christopher remains seated too, pulling a book from his bag and reading through it in silence.
Almost thirty minutes pass without any sign of the boy’s father and Ana is considering calling home once more, if only to ask Carla to pick him up, when the classroom door is flung open. It bangs against the wall, almost knocking one of the children’s displays over, and the rude intrusion has Ana jumping in her seat.
When she looks up she’s not entirely sure what she expects to see – an angry colleague, rowdy children leaving Mr Bell’s after school art club, or, hopefully, Mr Diaz himself? What she wasn’t expecting, however, was a completely unfamiliar, golden haired, rosy cheeked, rather panicked looking giant of a man.
Amidst the silence, which in reality has probably only lasted a second but, to Ana, feels more like ten whole minutes, a cry of, “Bucky!” cuts through as Christopher scrapes his chair back and almost topples himself over in his rush to grab his crutches. The stranger at the door is across the room within moments, arms outstretched to catch the young boy before he has the chance to fall. Christopher wastes no time in wrapping his arms tightly around the man’s neck and Ana watches in stunned silence as he then straightens back up and settles Christopher comfortably on his hip. He must be Buck, clearly, the man that Christopher talks about almost constantly (and draws almost as often). The mild panic she’d had over him being so close to one of her students dissipates as she realises that he’s simply one of Eddie’s friends.
That’s when her brain finally catches up with the rest of the world.
“Uh, excus-” she clears her throat, trying again, “Excuse me? If you don’t mind me asking, where’s Mr Diaz?”
The man tilts his head at that, a quizzical expression forming between his brows, and Ana can’t help but be reminded of a confused puppy. She also doesn’t miss how his grip on Christopher tightens just the slightest.
“I did tell you about him, Miss Flores.” Christopher helpfully chimes in but Ana ignores him in favour of saying, “I specifically requested to speak with Eddie. You are not him.” At this point, she’s stood up behind her desk, trying to make sense of this whole situation.
“No, I’m not Eddie.” the guy confirms and Ana is at least thankful that she’s not completely lost her mind. He’s chuckling, though, his amusement obvious, and she can tell that she’s not in on the joke. She might be the joke. Christopher leans in, his hand coming up to cup Buck’s ear as he whispers something to him and the most delighted smile spreads across his face as he listens. “You did? Awe, Superman! I hope you wrote about your Abuela too, though. You know what happened last time.”
Christopher nods frantically, rushing in to explain that, “Yes, Buck, I’m not stupid. And that was all dad’s fault, anyway.”
The man laughs again, bright and loud, and drops a kiss to Christopher’s head. “Yeah, I know you’re not, kid.”
Ana crosses her arms over her chest, clearing her throat, because she’s quite honestly had enough of being left in the dark and would rather appreciate an explanation. She can tell the action has its desired effect, when Buck jolts upright and suddenly looks like a naughty schoolboy under her hard stare.
The man carefully settles Christopher back onto his feet and ruffles his hair before handing him a set of keys. “Hey, buddy, why don’t you get yourself strapped in? Your dad’s truck is right outside. I’ll be out in a minute, okay?”
Christopher doesn’t even seem fazed by the request, simply taking the keys with a determined nod and then turning to gather his things.
Ana frowns. “You can’t seriously expect him to get into a vehicle by himself.” she practically scoffs. It’s dangerous and too demanding for a child like Christopher and Ana honestly can’t believe that this guy doesn’t seem to realise this.
However, as Christopher is already making his way to the door, the guy stiffens and sends a levelled glare her way. When he speaks, his voice is steely, “He’s perfectly capable.”
Ana flails her arms, “But he’s-”
He takes a step towards her. “A very talented kid who doesn’t let anything, or anybody, decide what he can and can’t do.” At that, Ana swallows any further arguments. “Now,” he continues, his whole demeanour shifting back into that warm stranger from earlier, “I should apologise for my lateness. We were out on a call and it wasn’t until we got back to the station that I got Carla’s message. Otherwise, I would’ve been here right on time.” He offers her a sweet smile and, if it wasn’t for the performance only a minute ago, Ana would’ve fallen for his charm. Taking a seat on one of the student’s desks, he cocks an eyebrow at her. “So, what seems to be the problem?”
Ana sighs, considers her options for a second, and decides that this guy can quite easily relay the information along to Christopher’s dad, being his friend and all. “Christopher was acting out in class earlier, arguing about an assignment they’d all been given. I told him he couldn’t lie in it, especially not so obviously, but he resisted and shouted in my face. I honestly didn’t want to call his father in but I can’t have this sort of behaviour persisting throughout the rest of the year.”
Buck frowns, wetting his lips before asking, “May I ask what, exactly, he lied about?”
So Ana explains to him about the many career paths his father has supposedly taken, pointing out that one person couldn’t possibly have done that much, and finishing by confirming that she’s actually met Mr Diaz and she knows, for a fact, that the only two jobs he held before becoming a firefighter is an Army medic and, during his teenage years, a local baker’s boy. She remembers because she can recall the way he’d laughed as he told her that, actually, he’s a useless cook and had somehow managed to almost burn the place down – twice – within his first week of working there.
“He wasn’t lying.” is all Buck says and Ana wonders if it’s possible to put grown adults in detention too.
“What do you mean? Of course he was! Eddie hasn’t possibly done all of that.”
The man across from her shakes his head, lips pursed, and he crosses his ankles as he leans further back against the desk. “No. He hasn’t.” he confirms, and Ana wants to throw her arms up in the air. “But I have.”
And now Ana wants to throw her entire being into the air. To just float away and deal with all of this another day because her brain can’t possibly handle any more confusion.
Her obliviousness must show on her face because Buck sighs, “I’ve done all of that. I was a bartender straight out of college, well, I dropped out of college but it’s the same thing. I worked on a ranch in Texas for a while after that. And, yes, I even tried it with the Navy SEALs but that wasn’t really for me. And, now, I’m a firefighter.” He shrugs, as though that explains everything.
Ana pinches the bridge of her nose, trying desperately not to let her frustration show through. “Okay, that’s fine. But, what isn’t fine, is Christopher still lying and saying that his dad did all of those things.”
“Again. Not a lie.” Buck says, voice less warm now. He pushes himself away from the desk, not looking very impressed, and begins to make his way towards the door. Which Ana finds rather rude, actually, considering this conversation is far from over! Spinning on his heels, just as he reaches the doorway, Buck raises an eyebrow at her and says, very matter-of-factly and eerily calm, “I’m Christopher’s father. I have been since long before I married my husband, Eddie, who isn’t here by the way because you only asked for Mr Diaz and, as I just explained, that’s as much me as it is him. If you’d bothered to read over Christopher’s file, you’d have seen that, and we could have all avoided such a misunderstanding. I’m more than happy to let it go, though, since I understand you have a lot of children to care for, but I will be expecting you to make an apology to my son tomorrow morning, as well as explain to the rest of the class that it’s wrong to make assumptions about somebody’s family.”
And, as quickly as he appeared, he’s gone.
Ana sinks into her chair, mortification threatening to swallow her up, and supposes that, with a revelation like that, the conversation is over after all.
And, if she sneaks Christopher one of her favourite muffins when the kids are rushing out for lunch, well, nobody has to know.