Free I’ll Become the Sea by Rebecca Rogers Maher

somebody. Now stop. I want you both up here at recess today. You’ll get your lunches and you’ll come right back up here with me. Understood?”
    Both boys looked at her stonily.
    “Do you understand me?”
    Tyrell blew out a breath. “Yes, Ms. Elliott.”
    She looked to Raymond. He nodded. A tear streaked down his face and he hurried to brush it away.
    “Go to the bathroom and wash your face, Ray. Meet us on the way down.”
    She led her students in two lines down the stairs to the lunchroom. They whispered to one another, slowing in patches, stretching the class along the length of the hallway with empty spaces between them. She stopped them at the staircase, waited in silence for them to realize why they were standing still.
    “Shh!” Lisa turned to hush the students behind her. Others followed suit, fingers to lips, turning to gesture at the kids behind them.
    Jane stood, hands clasped behind her back, watching them snap and hiss in their serpentine lines. “You’re making more noise shushing each other than you would if you just remained silent.”
    She waited until each child turned, faced forward and became still. Raymond shuffled down the hallway to meet them, joining the end of the boys’ line, keeping his eyes on the ground, the hood of his jacket up over his head.
    “Remove your hood, Raymond.”
    She waited while he pulled it off, then gestured for the class to move forward down the first flight of stairs.
    At the lunchroom, the students lined up for their meals.
    “I’ll be here,” Jane told Raymond and Tyrell. “Get your trays and meet me.”
    They dipped their heads, passing her, lining up at the counter. She went to the stairs to sit down.
    She’d stayed calm at least. She’d defused it; that was what mattered. No one had been hurt.
    Her boys came through the lunchroom doors and walked with her up the stairs, carrying their lunch trays.
    “Thank you for being quick.”
    “It’s all right, Ms. Elliott.” Tyrell began climbing the second flight.
    Raymond held his lunch in both hands. His knuckles were stiff and white around the cardboard tray.
    “Me and Raymond’s okay now.”
    “That soon?” She looked at Raymond. He kept his eyes on the staircase. “What happened?”
    “Tell her, Ray.”
    Raymond shook his head.
    “Look,” Jane said. “I’m glad you guys made up. But that doesn’t change what you did. You know there is no fighting allowed. Never. For any reason. I’m going to have to call your parents and let them know—”
    “But that’s just it, Ms. Elliott. You can’t call nobody for Raymond. Nobody to call.”
    Jane stopped walking. “What?”
    “His grandma, she’s in the hospital.”

Chapter Eleven
    Jane was leaning against the school wall when David pulled up in his truck. A light wind blew strands of hair across her face. She chewed a fingernail and tapped her foot against the pavement. Headphones blasted music into her ears. She tugged them out when he opened the passenger door.
    “Hey.” She smiled at him and climbed in. “Thanks for picking me up. I was wondering how I was going to get there.”
    “Where’s your bike? I mean, hi.”
    “Hi. It’s up in the classroom. I’ll just take a taxi in tomorrow.”
    He nodded. “Any more news?”
    “No, just that she’s there. Raymond went home to his auntie’s house. He’s staying there for a couple of days. I think they might have brought him over to see her after school.”
    “Okay. What do you think? Should we stop for some flowers or something?”
    She took in the faint scent of his leather jacket, the dark red collar of his shirt, the gray jeans. The muscles moved in his thigh and hand as he shifted gears.
    “That’s a nice idea. There’s a florist on the way.” She listened to her own heart beating as he drove.
    *  *  *
    Jane led the way down the corridor. The air was close and sweet, a mix of antiseptic and dry heat.
    They turned the corner into Mrs. Johnson’s room. She was awake,