Free The Candy Shop by Kiki Swinson Page A

Every part of me wanted to crumble to pieces, because I figured, how in the world was I going to face this question head on? But, then I realized that I was only in the company of him, so my respect and dignity wouldn’t be affected that much. Katherine was the only person who had the power to rip that part of me to shreds, and since she was not there to humiliate me, the hell with both of their asses. My shit was already packed, so what could they do to me? Nothing! And when I finally got my thoughts together I said, “I beg your pardon!”
    “I asked you why you didn’t tell me you had a drug problem too.”
    “I’m sorry, Steve, but I’m not following you,” I replied sarcastically.
    “Faith, let’s cut to the chase,” he said, walking closer in my direction. “Your drug screening came back positive.”
    Trying to shield myself from degradation, I went into a state of denial and responded by saying, “There must be some kind of mistake.”
    “Faith, let’s not do this.”
    “Let’s not do what?” I replied nonchalantly.
    “Come on, let’s take this into my office,” he urged me.
    “Steve, I’m not up for going into your office right now. So, whatever it is we need to discuss, let’s do it right here.”
    “But, what we need to discuss wouldn’t be appropriate to do it here.”
    “Steve, just spill it out,” I demanded.
    Steve looked into my eyes and said, “You know I’m going to have to let you go.” Then he paused for a moment and said, “But I will allow you to give me a letter of resignation if you fax it to my office by morning.”
    I stood there speechless. My mouth wouldn’t move. So, Steve continued on to say, “Now, is that feasible enough for you?”
    Humiliated to the tenth power, I somehow held my head up and said, “I can handle that.”
    “Well, that’s great!” he said, patting me on my shoulder. “Because I really didn’t want to fire you.”
    “Everything’s okay,” I assured him.
    “Well, I’m glad to hear that. But, let me say this.”
    “Go ahead. I’m listening.
    “You’re a very bright and intelligent young woman. And with your credentials, you can go so very far, so please don’t let those drugs take over your life.”
    “It’s just marijuana. And I only do it sparingly.”
    “Faith, I don’t care what it is. Just don’t let it take your life from you.”
    Respecting what Steve had to say, I took it in and pondered on it for a moment, but then all of a sudden I realized that I had bigger fish to fry. Finding a way to tell my husband that I no longer had a job was one, and trying to recondition myself to accept what I couldn’t change was the other. So, everything else was water under the bridge.
    Now before Steve walked off, he told me he had a couple of other people he had to send packing. So, I said, “Wait, there’s more?”
    “Yes, there is.”
    “Who?”
    “Let’s just say that Mr. Evans, the biology teacher; and Mrs. Templeton, the music teacher, aren’t as righteous as they appear to be.”
    Stunned by Steve’s response, my eyes protruded instantly. But, I refused to make a comment. It would’ve been very hypocritical of me. So, with little effort on my part, I just shook my head in disbelief and waved him a goodbye.

Taking it to Another Level
    It had been a week since I’d become unemployed, and I had to admit that it didn’t feel half bad. Speaking of which, I showed Eric the resignation letter I faxed it to Steve. So, there was little convincing on my part that it was solely my decision to make the transition, and telling him that my decision to leave had a lot to do with the strain our marriage was under, was like putting icing on the cake. So, trust me, he ate it up. But during the day while he was at work, I made it a habit to hang out at Teresa’s place. Now, there was always something unusual going on over there, and believe me, today was no different.
    “Girl, you aren’t gonna believe what I am about to tell