Mr. Randall talked about different lesson plans with the other teachers as his students tested. It was just a few years ago when he participated in this competition. Mrs. Tyson remembered him. They fell into a lengthy conversation about his past and his future.

Devanté felt he was on good pace during his test. He had another hour left and a little fewer than fifty questions left to do. His nerves had calmed; he was in the moment of his earlier anticipation. The test he had prepared for the last two months was now being taken.
When Devanté got to the last question he picked his head up, looked at the clock, and saw he had ten minutes left. He took a solid minute to exhale, another minute to complete the last answer, then he used the remainder of his time to check his answers.  After turning in his test he felt he did everything Mr. Randall told him to do. Devanté especially felt that he used his time wisely.
It was now 11:30 and Devanté regretted telling his mother not to come until 2 because his stomach was growing. He wasn’t even thinking about lunch money this morning. Not sure but hopeful snacks would be provided Devanté made his way to the food court.

Tracie was on her lunch break from work when she decided to use one of her Victoria’s Secret’s gift-card she got for Christmas. One of her mother’s aunts was obviously out of the loop being that she sent the gift-card and a Christmas card that said ‘enjoy that new husband’. Yet that aunt might just be ahead of the pack.
Ever since, Tracie and Marcus attended the revival together their relationship has been different. They have been more like friends than husband and wife. Tracie wanted to rebuild their relationship’s foundation slowly. She wanted to fall back in love slowly.
Even though falling back in love was the easy part; the hard part was given Marcus back her trust. Trust is something that is hard to restore, even more so when restoring it in the same person. Tracie parked in the parking lot and was surprised to spot Marcus’s car. She couldn’t wait to accidently bump into him; she thought about calling him decided not to.

Devanté turned the corner to the hallway that led to the food court. His stomach was making all kind of noises; he prayed he would be able to answer its growls. When he sought out for Mr. Randall his eyes lit up like a child seeing Santa Clause. His walk became swifter nearly jogging he approached.
“Mom, how long you’ve been here?” Devanté asked.
For about five minutes. I was wondering if you had lunch money.” Ms. Williams replied.
Devanté would’ve normally been embarrassed to have his mom ask that question in front of his peers, but today he was too hungry for that.
“Nope and I am starving!” Devanté confessed.
“Take this and whatever you get, get two. Mr. Randall over here needs to eat too,” Ms. Williams said as she handed her son a twenty dollar bill.
“I can’t allow you to do that,” Marcus rebutted. Ms. Williams cut her eyes at him then looked at her son, who was still standing in front of her, “what you still doing here?”
“Oh my bad,” Devanté said then walked off abruptly.

Marcus began to laugh as he followed Ms. Williams to her seat. “It’s always good to see a boy fearing his momma,” Marcus stated.
“I wouldn’t have another way. If he isn’t scared then I’m going be scared of him. I won’t be scared of my own child,” Ms. Williams replied.
Marcus was seated directly across from her. “That’s true; well I know I am scared of my momma. My dad is more of a mental kind of a guy he wants to know where your mind is at. My mom on the other hand is quick with the hand. She used to smack in advance,” Marcus reminisced.
“Well you know how you boys are. I had Devanté when I was fifteen. His father was a good man just in the wrong line of work. The kind of work you retire in a box or in a cell. He retired in a cell nearly ten years ago. Before his daddy got locked up I honestly didn’t believe anything was wrong with that life.
“Phillip Morris makes plenty of money off of tobacco. Pharmacists make a killing on all kinds of addictive drugs, but when they locked him up Devanté had to live through it. His daddy wanted him to see everything; he didn’t want him to see the glamour without seeing him in the slammer. He gave him a classic example of what not to do,” Ms. Williams vented.
Marcus listened affectionately then commented, “well I believe his mother and his father still did a great job. Devanté is going to be something special.”

Tracie had finished shopping in Victoria’s Secret in five minutes; it wasn’t hard to spend twenty-five dollars there. She decided to browse around in hopes to find Marcus. When she walked pass the food court she was a little shocked.

Ms. Williams grabbed Marcus’s hands, “Don’t be foolish. My son is going to be special because a stranger became his role model and showed him that a man is smart. A man is more than being hard or cool. Mr. Randall I just personally wanted to say thank you for saving my son.” Ms. Williams started to cry but smiled the entire time.

Tracie was applaud she couldn’t believe what she was seeing from afar. Here she was buying lingerie hoping her husband would once again play that role, but he was here cheating again. She looked for the nearest exit sign; she didn’t even care if it was the same door she came in she just wanted out.

 

 

 

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