The Gift by Kate Anslinger

Author:Kate Anslinger [Anslinger, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-01-01T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Bridgeton High School appeared to be as old as the town itself, the structure of the building lopsided as if it were literally dropping into the cemetery that sat across the street, sealed off by a black wrought iron fence.

Bridgeton School District always took long Christmas breaks, but they used the school for activities during the time classroom learning was on hiatus. The idea had actually been something that Grace herself had spearheaded during one of the meetings designed to keep kids busy and away from drugs. While some of the teachers weren’t too enthused about the extra hours they’d have to volunteer their time staffing arts and crafts and cooking classes, the program was a hit with the parents.

It was nearing four o’clock, so Grace wasn’t sure she would have any luck in getting a principal or staff member who wasn’t rushing out the door eager to get on with their lives away from a bunch of kids. Surprisingly, about ten cars still sat in the small staff parking lot. A couple of little girls came flying out of the building in a tornado, their cheeks pink like roses and each with their arms wrapped around what appeared to be some type of paper-mache animal.

She pulled into the staff lot next to Miss Smith’s white minivan and placed the parking tag on her rearview mirror, the red print affirming her stature as town police facing outwards. On a weekly basis, Grace spent several hours at the school working with the teachers of the incoming freshmen, assisting with anti-bullying policies and giving informative sessions on drug and alcohol abuse and crime. She even had to spend five hours a year training the faculty and staff on the proper protocol for dealing with a school shooting. It was necessary training, but heartbreaking at the same time. When did the world become so tainted with crime in innocent environments like schools, malls and movie theaters? The big crime news when Grace was growing up was mostly associated with gangs and small, targeted groups involved in drugs. Her boots crunched on the salt pathway that led to the main entrance of the building.

“What brings you hear during Christmas break, Detective McKenna? Don’t they ever let you off the clock?” Mr. O’Neil’s gentle voice came out in perfect pronunciation as he stopped next to her on his way out of the building and toward the parking lot. Mr. O’Neil had been an economics teacher for as long as Grace had been alive, and he was compulsively on time to trainings and meetings, always the first one in attendance sitting in the front row waiting patiently. He was a nice man, dedicated to his career in a way that one without a wife or child normally is. Every time Grace ran into Mr. O’Neil, she couldn’t help but wonder if one day she would be like him, married to her career and absent of a family. She imagined he had been one of the first ones to volunteer to staff the Christmas break activities.

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