Evolved by Elaine Nolan

Author:Elaine Nolan [Nolan, Elaine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: 40 From Now
Published: 2016-09-14T04:00:00+00:00

Part Two

ELEVEN

“Hey,” he called up the stairs. “Your report card arrived.” From overhead he heard footsteps landing on the floor and as he walked into the kitchen, listened to them thundering down the stairs. By then he’d opened the envelope and taken out the report card, the results as expected. Great as usual except for the grade for the foreign language subject that the private school insisted was part of the curriculum. He didn’t really care about the language. In fact, he really didn’t care much about her grades, as long as she wasn’t flunking anything. Still, he played upon the seriousness of what the report card represented.

She stood in the doorway, looking concerned and expectantly at him and he gave her a grave shake of his head.

“What?” she asked worriedly.

“French?” he queried and she raised her shoulders, holding her hands up.

“So I’m crap at French,” she answered, and he handed the card to her, which she scanned with the same intensity she’d always had since she was a child. She’d grown a lot over the years, no longer a waif. Still, she was younger than most of her classmates. Since she’d retained most of her intellectual abilities she’d been placed in a more advanced class than with kids her own age. She chewed her bottom lip as she analysed her results, her long dark hair still damp from her earlier shower. She made a sour face at the only other lower grade on the paper.

“That woman is such an evil cow,” she growled. He didn’t even have to ask, he knew which teacher she referred to, and had to agree with her; her physics teacher, a Ms Winifred. Perhaps having a physics lecturer as her father meant the woman was being unnecessarily tougher, thinking dear old dad helped with, or worse, did her homework for her. Strom spoke directly to the Head about it, and while things were no longer difficult for his child, they remained out of kilter.

“You know she’s just jealous, honey,” he said, giving her a kiss in the forehead, and not having to lean far to do so.

“That witch is going to mess up my college entries,” she complained after him as he left the kitchen. “Oh, and can I borrow the car tonight?” she asked hopefully. “I got good grades,” she added.

“Except for French,” he retorted, “and physics.”

~~~~

Parrish was right all those years ago. Strom hadn’t a clue about raising a child, and the period of adjustment proved difficult for both of them. The move took place at the beginning of the summer, giving them the holidays to adjust, but for Jada the freedom and loneliness were the hardest to come to terms with. For Strom it was getting used to having someone around again, a small and dependant person. He’d avoided any and all personal involvements since the divorce and even then she left him. So having Jada all to himself terrified him. He had a seven year old with no idea what to do with her.

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