Ruins 3

Ruins 3

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Numb by Niia

Confusion.

Connections.

Surprise

Anger

I weaved through each emotion trying to navigate the depths of them. I was trying to stay focused as my classroom filled up with my students.

I was distracted.

I began to think about the case. The developments that happened around that time still remained vivid in my memory.

I assigned some group work to my students and I sat back at my desk.

The class worked as I sat there and wondered.

Questions flooded my head.

“Could it really be his son?”

“How?” “Why?”

 That boy was a beautiful boy. You know how certain people tell new parents that their children are cute but it isn’t always so.

This boy had a smile that would captivate any heart. So carefree and honest, it was a shame that he came to represent pain, sadness and loss in my life.

I couldn’t help but imagine if he was somehow connected to the killer, Carlos.

I began to imagine, how would he feel if he lost what mattered to him the most too?

Revenge thoughts have filtered through my head over the years but I had always been able to push it aside but today, I was feeling it in me.
Could it have been fate that caused me to end up meeting the boy?
Was I entitled to reacting?
Any feelings I had towards the boy were not his fault; they were Carlos’.

Even though Carlos was arrested that night around the crime scene and he ended up in jail, it was not because of the murder.

They somehow could not tie that to him. It seemed like everyone knew it was Carlos that did it but nobody had any proof.

He was eventually busted on a felony drug charge a few months after his release. I was not satisfied with it but I viewed it as some form of closure.

Like the universe was ensuring that I would not go away empty handed?

Carlos was serving 10years but for the murder, he could have been put away for much more. Potentially 25years to life in prison but that didn’t happen.

I spent many nights wishing him dead and hoping that everyone in his family would never know peace but there was his son. Or so I thought he was.

I rolled over the mouse on my table and the laptop came alive.
I logged on and headed for the school’s database.

The database was double locked with a unique user id that stored your information whenever you logged in.
I searched his name and it came up. I pulled up his EIR (Enrollment Intake Record), this was a form that every student had to fill out at the beginning of every school year.

It had parent’s names, addresses, allergies, emergency contacts and other information like immunization records and such.
I line where it said

“Father’s name”

And it was blank.

Fuck!

I looked at his mothers name and it was filled out with her address and phone number.

I immediately copied her name and went to google.

I typed in her name

“Yzabella Domingues married to…”

And one of the web pages pulled it up. It read

“Yzabella Domingues and Carlos Reira married…”

That was it for me.
I got chills running down my spine. I

had the child of the man that murdered the love of my life somewhat in my care but I couldn’t do anything about it.

I was still surprised and somewhat confused when an emotion very familiar to me came over me.

Anger and then I went numb.

.     .     .     .     .

That Friday, with everything that was going on, I left work earlier than usual because it was a minimum day.

The students got out of school that day at 1:30pm instead of the usual 2:50pm. I headed into the parking lot and there was Michael standing next to his car.

He was in town for a few days.
We had planned to grab lunch before the things I had discovered and even though my mind was not in the best space, I felt that I needed to keep the “date”

After all, I figured that I might actually feel better from spending time with him and talking about things other than my current situation.

He gave me a big hug and said with a huge smile on his face

“You look even better every time I see you”

I smiled back as he held open the door for me to get in. I sat down and he shut it.
In the car, we began to catch up.

“How was your day?”

He asked with his left hand on the steering wheel and his other hand floating around from his lap to his beard and back.

For a quick second, I actually recognized that Michael was very attractive.

He was self assured, confident and always seemed to smile.

I guess I truly had a thing for men with beautiful teeth and accompanying smiles.

“My day was…. Ummm interesting to say the least”

As I remembered my interaction with the kid and my discovery

My phone buzzed. It was an email from the school.

I got tons of those all the time so I ignored it. After all, my weekend had begun.

He glanced over, smiled again and said

“I can imagine, working with all those kids.

I actually commend you; I assume it must take a lot of work to be an educator. Props to you”

I nodded as I soaked in the compliment. A bit more of small talk and we were pulling into the restaurant parking lot.

For whatever reason, I was just a bit more observant.

Ladies know what I’m talking about.

I was looking at his nails, his beard, the way the words flew off his tongue, his overall presence.

Something had clicked.

I remember clicking back into the moment as he finished calling out the order to the waitress.

“We’ll have the avocado rolls and the some water with lemon for the lady…”

I smiled and thanked him for calling the order.

We continued to talk as we waited for our food. The food arrived and we dug in.

The talking reduced as we ate, I remember him teasing me about always wanting to eat of other’s plates as I asked to try his food.

We had just finished the food when he sat back and said

“So… Tiffany, I asked you out today because I obviously wanted to get to stare at your beautiful face but I also wanted to discuss something kinda important to me.”

I looked at him expecting something drastic like he was expecting a baby or something and then he said

“I’m moving back.”

I smiled sheepishly not really knowing what that meant and he looked at me and smiled, then he said

“My company is branching out into providing top tier tutoring and mentoring services for youth. So we have bought a few programs in the area. The plan is to streamline the programs to serve all ages and even college services too. And I am in charge of getting it all going”

I wasn’t sure what it all meant but I was proud of him

“Michael, that’s really cool. Congratulations.

Wow, I’m so proud of you. You’ve always been the driver of great things anyway”

The waitress came with my glass of wine I had ordered and placed it on the table as he said

“Thanks dear. But that’s not all”

I looked at him like “what else?”

He smiled and said

“One of the biggest factors that allowed me to take the job is you. I want this… us.. to become more. I want to put more effort and time into being here for you”

I was smiling but I was nervous on the inside. It was a very sweet gesture but the truth was that I was hesitant because it meant that I had to let go of Tony.

I wasn’t sure I was ready for that just yet.

He looked at me and said

“You obviously don’t have to make any type of decision right now but I just wanted you to know before anyone else.”

I thanked him for the courtesy.

Then he said

“Oh! Remember Tony’s partner, Chris, we are working closely with him too.

Word came out the other day through the grapevine that some of the policymakers had hired people and paid bribes to prevent Tony and Chris’ programs from coming into voting back then.

Some of them are on indefinite suspensions while they are investigated.”

That changed my mood but I tried not to think about.
Maybe Carlos was one of the people hired by the policy makers? Was Tony murdered to prevent his work from going into effect?

I began to think about it because Tony’s work was actually put on hold for over a year after his murder.

That would answer the motive question perfectly after all these years but I still had no proof.

So it was all in my head.

Michael said

“Tiffany, you okay?”

I shook myself back and said

“Yes.. yes.. I’m good”

I actually flashed a smile. Somehow, this man was growing on me. I was worrying less when I was with him.

.    .    .     .     .

I have had a very emotional and overwhelming week. Been hugely in my feelings as I come to terms with certain realities and decisions I have made.
This has been my outlet. Writing for you all has given me something to look forward to. I hope you enjoy Ruins 3 and please comment. Your interactions keep me going. I swear.
it means so much to me. Thank you guys for sticking with me through it all.
#WhatTheHeckMan Crew

AT THE END OF EVERY SERIES, I WILL PLACE A DROPBOX LINK TO ALLOW ALL OF YOU TO DOWNLOAD THE SONGS. 
Download the songs for Ruins 1-3 here.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/os1d7o0zqtsu58c/AAByAbt-sw1U0UGCS_-dK-t3a?dl=0

.     .     .     .     .

There was nothing special about this Monday. I had seen Michael again, the day before but that was about it.

My regular trip to the cemetery and I was on the way to work.

I got off the bus at my usual stop; a block from the school.

I turned into the coffee shop where I picked up a cup once in a while. About 5 minutes later, I emerged with my cup of white mocha.

The sun was out very early that day and it was very comforting and inspiring since we rarely got a lot of those in the area. I had Tony’s scarf was tied to the corner of my purse.

I walked into the school campus as I weaved through the cars and students being dropped off by various guardians and school buses.

I remember scanning my keycard to get into the back of the building. This side was only accessible by staff.

Up the stairs and I was standing in front of my class as my students flooded in. Faces glued to their cell phones and devices, I just watched in amazement as well all waited for the bell to go off.

The bell rung and phones began to disappear as their heads raised and they glued their eyes to me. I greeted the class as I said

“good morning class. How are you doing today?”

Many responded while some others were still glued to their phones.

“Okay let’s put everything away and get to work.

Kyle, please put your phone away.”

I said as I walked towards the window to open one of the blinds properly. The phone in the classroom rang, I turned and looked at it as the eyes of the students followed and glued to the phone.

These calls were usually to report that a student was running late, or coming through the hall to class, so that the teacher could look out for he or she till they made it to the classroom.

 “Everyone please pull out your history books while discuss the causes behind World War II”

I continued talking as I walked to the phone.

I picked up the phone and said

“Hello”

The voice on the other end was the principal

“Good morning Ms. Sanders.

Could you please come down to the office, there are some people here to talk to you”

“Oh okay. Who will be standing in for me here?”

I replied to him

“Ms. Beale is on her way there.”

He responded

I said okay as I placed the phone back on the receiver.

“Everyone, Ms. Beale will be here for a little while. I have to run down to the office to handle some stuff. Keep working on the WW2 project”

Right on cue as I turned to my left, Ms. Beale was standing in the doorway.

We exchanged pleasantries and I was on my way to the office.

I arrived at the principals office shortly after and as I walked in, I noticed two gentlemen sitting down in front of him.

They all stood up as I walked into the room. I noticed the men were dressed in suits and they introduced themselves.

“Detectives Walsh and Matherson”

I shook their hands as I sat down.

“Ms. Sanders, we are here because we wanted to ask you some questions regarding the recent incident that led to one of the students here, Albert Reira ending up in the hospital over the weekend. It was classified as a poisoning“

I just sat there and said nothing as he continued to explain. I glanced at the principal and then back at the detective speaking

“Due to the connection between the student’s father Carlos and your unsolved murder case of your fiancé. We looked into you a bit. And we noticed you accessed the student database to look up the student shortly before the incident
The fact that you also work so closely with the student, given the circumstances, you are viewed as a person of interest.

So we would like if you could come downtown to answer some questions for us. If you don’t mind”

The principal was now staring at me as if to say

“defend yourself!” but I had nothing to say. There was nothing really that I wanted to say. They already had their mind made up about me, so I decided to leave it in that moment.

Or maybe I was just confused and taken aback by the whole situation. I sat there silently for a minute and then said

“Can somebody bring my purse from the classroom and can I leave with you all from the garage?

I do not want any rumors started by leaving through the front of the school”

I wasn’t hand cuffed nor was I followed from behind. The detectives walked in front and beside me as we approached the car in the garage. Some teachers were already outside and watching, I believe they were on their breaks and someone from the front office had told them.

I sat down in the back of the car and I placed my head down. I couldn’t tell you why it happened but the looks on all the faces of the other teachers said it all and you know it too

All I could say was. #WhatTheHeckMan

Did Tiffany do it?

If you had been the one in her shoes, what would you have done?

You want to know what happens next? Download my #WhatTheHeckMan Rants. Trust me, you will not be sorry.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b0lworlfd32wm16/%23WhatTheHeckMan%20Rants%202%3A18.mp3?dl=0

“RUINS” 

I really hope you enjoyed it and please continue to comment. REMEMBER, your feedback is EVERYTHING TO ME.

Thank you all!

Love.

Check back on Saturday for Part 4.

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