A Most Unusual Passage
Copyright© 2026 by J&J
Chapter 4
“You have any more news for me, Everett?” I asked.
Everett shook his head, and then said, “No, not really.”
I looked at him for a moment, and then said, “Where you keeping this lady, anyway?”
He answered, “She’s staying in town; the School Board is renting a house for her for the first year, as part of her contract.”
As I thought about it, I remembered the lady moving into the old Curtis place. “She’s staying at the old Curtis place?”
Everett’s head snapped up, and with a startled look on his face, he answered, “How did you know that?”
I chuckled, “Everett, I’ve lived here all my life. There’s not much I don’t hear about that goes on around here.”
I paused a moment, and then thought I’d needle him a bit more, “That includes knowing about you and the board looking for a new principal.”
His face turned pale, but he only nodded his head in reply.
“Well,” I said to myself, “there’s not much sense in beating this horse anymore than I already have, and I still have a school that needs attending to.”
I stood up and grabbed my hat off the wall. After I jammed the hat on my head, I said, “Everett, when you planning on introducing this young lady to me?”
He looked up from where he was seated, “Probably tomorrow morning.”
“I see,” I responded, “Now, does the young lady have a name?”
Everett looked a bit sheepish and then said, “Yeah, its Elizabeth Manigault.”
I nodded my head and then said, “Well, I’ve still got a school to take care of.”
There was still fifteen minutes before first bell when I arrived at the school. As was my usual custom, I made my rounds through the hallways, making my presence known to the kids. It always seemed to me that it kept down the mischief, if they knew I was somewhere close by.
After the class bell sounded, I made my way to the office.
“Good morning, Fancy!” I said, as I walked into the room.
“Morning, Marcus,” she said, without taking her eyes off of the computer screen on her desk.
I made my way into my office, placed my hat on the coat rack shelf, and then took off my jacket and hung it up. As a concession to the school board, I’d agreed to wear a coat to work, but most days, I did without a tie. It always made me uncomfortable to wear one. Besides, with only eighty-three kids, it’s not like this was some big city school.
Fancy, as usual, had made a pot of coffee for me, and I grabbed the cup off my desk and made my way to the pot. I’d always felt guilty because she’d make coffee for me before I arrived in the morning. When I’d informed her she didn’t need to do that for me, her reply was, “Don’t get used to it!”
“Damn,” I thought, “when was that, twenty years ago?”
By the time I’d settled in, Fancy had the roll for the day.
“Well, we’re only missing the Cummins boy and Rachel Cross,” she stated, as she walked into my office and handed me the attendance sheet to sign.
I answered, as I signed the paper, “Well, neither one of them is having trouble that I know of, but it’s unusual for Rachel to miss a day. You might want to give Henry and Marcie a call and see if she’s all right.”
“Sure thing, Marcus,” she answered, taking the paper from my hand.
I finished up some odds and ends, mostly purchase requests that needed to be forwarded to the School Board for approval. Not that it would do much good; most of them would be denied, but I’d always felt that if you didn’t ask, you’d never get anything.
It was a little after ten when I found myself with a clean desk. I got up, grabbed another cup of coffee and then decided that I’d better let everyone know I was retiring. Not that they probably didn’t know already. Secrets were in short supply around here.
I figured I’d better give Martha a call and let her know what was going on. It was better she hear it from me first than some second hand gossip. Small town people have big ears, and bigger mouths. God only knows what she’d hear via the rumor mill.
I picked up the phone from my desk and dialed my home number.
“Hello,” I heard Martha answer,
“Morning beautiful lady.”
As expected, I heard her giggle on the other end. I’d used that phrase more times than I could count over the years. It always elicited the same response too.
“Marcus, what’s the occasion for the call. Is everything OK?”
I answered, “Well, I guess it depends on your definition of OK. During my talk with Everett Miller this morning, I was notified that I should retire. Actually, it sounded more like a demand.”
There was a pause on the end of the line, and then she said, “What did you say to him. I mean, isn’t this kind of unexpected?”
I actually laughed, before answering. “Martha, I’ve been hearing things on and off for the past three years about me retiring. So no, it was not all that unexpected. But I have to tell you, there’s also something funny going on too. I can’t put my finger on it, but something just doesn’t seem right.”
Martha and I talked for a while longer, and agreed that it would be better to discuss this later this evening, at home.
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