Free Soil by Jamie Kornegay Page B

rather pessimistic generalization for Mrs. Puckett. Sandy smiled in the awkward silence and considered her options. She had to take her father to the doctor at 3:30, otherwise she could have run her errand after school. Regardless, this was an appointment she couldn’t put off any longer. It was the first order of her new action campaign.
    â€œOh, but aren’t you lucky?” Mrs. Puckett said at last. “I nearly forgot, there’s an assembly after lunch. Tell you what, I’ll keep my eyes on your bunch in the auditorium. You’ll still need to get back as quick as you can, before the program ends. I’d hate for anybody to worry something has happened to you.”
    â€œWithout a doubt,” said Sandy, relieved. “Thank you, Mrs. Puckett.”
    â€œYou’re welcome, my dear.”
    There was an edge to her voice, a growing distrust. Last year Mrs. Puckett had been Sandy’s greatest advocate, but there was no denying she’d cooled toward her this semester. And she wasn’t the only one. Maybe this was how some women were treated after leaving a husband. Another teacher had warned her, after Sandy won first-year honors, “They’ll be gunning for you now.”
    She returned to her classroom, and sure enough there was a commotion in progress. Sitting in the front row, red-faced and humiliated, Myla Robbins straightened her white blouse while Scotty Dawson behind her gave himself away with a sneer.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” she demanded. “Scotty? Myla?”
    The girl tucked her head. “He was trying to turn my shirt around backwards.”
    â€œYou did what, Scotty?” Sandy marched over to confront him.
    â€œMs. Mize, that wasn’t none of me!”
    â€œIt was too! That boy done lied!” cried Balivia.
    â€œMs. Mize!” Scotty pleaded.
    â€œScotty, out of my room!” The class drew in a breath.
    He feigned shock. “Ms. Mize, what’d I do?”
    â€œI don’t accept that.”
    A knock at the door drew everyone’s attention. The gaunt rat face of Principal Reynolds hung there.
    â€œJust the man we wanted to see!” cried Sandy.
    The principal’s beady gray eyes betrayed no emotion. He dodged his authority by stating flatly, “Ms. Mize, this police officer is here to see you.”
    Her first thought, always, was for Jacob. A montage of tragedies cycled through her imagination. The classroom broke out in scandalized whispers.
    She swished into the hallway, where she was surprised and then relieved and finally mortified to see, leaning cool against a row of lockers, the deputy Danny Shoals. He wore a tight blue T-shirt with the words “Clean Living” rippling across his hard chest and abdomen. He shot a glance back at Reynolds’s hunched silhouette slinking away and then straightened to attention. “My Lord, girl, you look pretty today. Didn’t nobody tell you smoking aint allowed in school?”
    She felt his eyes moving hungrily over her. He was the aggressively friendly deputy with whom she had shared the awkward dinner date some two weeks prior. Since then he’d turned up so frequently she feared he might be stalking her.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” she demanded in a whisper.
    â€œI was invited to give an assembly about the dangers of drugs.” He laughed like it was a joke between them. “Anyway, I thought I’d stop by and give you and your class a free preview.”
    â€œI don’t think so, Danny, I’m—”
    â€œOh, come on, I want you to see how these kids react to me. You’ll love this.”
    He walked around her and entered the classroom, clapped his boisteroushands and launched straight into his spiel. “All right, listen up! I’m Deputy Dan. You can call me County Dan, Doctor Shoals, whatever. I’ve been asked to give you this warning—there’s a killer on the loose, in this very school. He’s