Michael blinked over as he caught sight of me walking into his office.
“John,” he said, trying to smile, but something was bothering him and wouldn’t allow him peace.
“Everything okay?” I asked, coming over and dropping Claudia’s backpack on his desk.
I dropped my backpack on the floor. His office was quite big, much larger than the other assistant principal’s. The library hallway where Claudia and I had spent our time on the ledge and the class we had hidden an entire period was just around the opposite corner.
The office had a nice view of the back courtyard. It might have been a teacher’s classroom at one point from the size of it. I could easily imagine student desks lining the empty spaces.
Distressed, Michael dropped his head forward and hunched over his desk. I neared. Will he tell me what’s bothering him?
“Sir, are you okay?” I asked again. His blue eyes bore uncertainty, while his preoccupied stare found me stepping up to the front of his desk.
“Where’s Claudia?” he asked, not finding her alongside me.
“She stepped over to the lady’s restroom. Is everything okay? Did you talk to Mr. West?” I asked, once more examining him as he blinked back.
“Yes, I spoke with him.”
“Well?” I probed for more information.
“Can I be honest with you, John? I beg you to keep this between us for now, until I sort this out and figure out if, and when, I will tell Claudia.”
It sounded important. “Sure, sir, you can confide in me. That is, if you don’t mind taking the opinions or advice of a seventeen-year-old?”
He smiled. “John, if I can depend on you to keep Claudia safe and have confidence enough to come ask me for permission to date her, I trust and will take your opinion over anyone, any day. Besides, I’ve never seen grades like yours.”
He had checked me out.
I gave him a slight smile. “You checked my grades, didn’t you?”
“Well, you’re going to start dating my adopted daughter, I had to make sure you’re keeping up with your grades.”
I laughed lightly. “Fair enough.”
To be honest, I didn’t expect to hear much of anything. Perhaps, I’d hear that yes, this stranger was nothing, but a creep and that Mr. West had broken one or two laws. I was ready to offer Michael some much-needed legal advice. But, of course, I let Joseph say that to him. What could a kid like me offer him, right? He wouldn’t believe me, but then again, my father was a very well-educated man, so I might’ve fooled him.
“Well, it’s true. All of it,” Michael said, offering nothing else.
I had to ask for clarification. “True? What’s true?” I came to the front of his desk, so I could see his face better.
“The man from today,” he began, “he is Claudia’s uncle.” There was sadness in his eyes, like he had just lost her to someone else.
I considered the same loss myself. I still didn’t believe his claims, even if Michael had heard it from an attorney. I had my doubts for many reasons, but mostly because I didn’t like the man upon first meeting him. Something didn’t sit right, and I was usually right about vibes.
“I’m still in shock, but it’s true,” he said once more as if he was trying to reassure himself.
“Seriously? Are you sure? I mean, just because some attorney said so?” I said.
“No,” Michael whispered, looking down at his hands like they were foreign things to him.
“Then, what? Did he show some papers or documents to prove his claims?” Not that it mattered. Anyone could forge documents. Joseph and the Company forged them all the time. Take my situation for example …
“Yes,” Michael whispered. “And … letters.”
“Letters?” I asked with a frown. I didn’t understand but it looked like he was about to explain. Taking a seat at the corner of his desk I only moved when I realized what I was doing. Instead taking the seat in one of the empty seats in front of his desk. Unlike Joseph’s décor, the chairs were covered in white fabric.
“A letter from Neil,” Michael explained. “They were corresponding back and forth.”
“Dr. Edwards and this man, you mean?” I asked to clarify.
He nodded.
“So, what’s this man say? That he has letters from Dr. Edwards that prove what?” I asked, clearing my voice, rising, and walking over to the windows of the office. The whole situation he was revealing was making me uneasy for many reasons. I just didn’t believe this man. Glancing out the window to distract myself, I noticed a small courtyard with a few benches and a pond. The place gave the school a sense of normality and tranquility. I must take Claudia there at least for a lunch period sometime.
“It’s not what he said,” Michael’s voice drew me back into the conversation before I completely drifted away. Our eyes connected as I turned back around.
“Then, what does he claim, sir?” I came back over to his desk; he was far more enthusiastic. The mug with coffee on his desk was old and cold. He pushed it aside and nearly spilled it. I grabbed it before it tipped over the side of the desk. Michael glanced up at me.
“Quick reflexes, John.”
Shuffling my feet, I set the mug on the window ledge. A tugging sensation raced up my arm from Claudia. She floated into my mind almost instantly. The name Alex kept coming up. She must be talking or thinking of her.
“It was Neil who found him. It was Neil who wrote the letters and found him, Isabella’s brother.”
I knew the story quite well from reading Dr. Nicholson’s notes, even as Michael was trying to explain it to me. Isabella, Claudia’s mother, had a brother. But the details described him as missing in action.
“It seems Isabella’s mother died while giving birth to fraternal twins, Isabella and Christopher. There’s no record of their father. They were put up for adoption and separated. One family adopted Isabella while another adopted her brother, Christopher,” Michael said. “According to Neil’s notes, Christopher had joined the military at eighteen, straight out of high school, and he was shipped to Iraq when the war began. He was presumed dead. Neil never mentioned this to me. I never knew until now. I guess he didn’t tell me everything.” Michael sounded betrayed as he continued.
Dr. Nicholson had sent me all the information I was required to know about her family history. Nothing more was necessary since she wasn’t my assignment, only a tiny part of it. I now sensed there was more to the story. For example, how did Christopher suddenly turn up when he was presumed dead?
“He had school records and the family name of Vega, but there was nothing else regarding the adopted family.”
According to The Company records, Christopher Vega was deceased.
“I don’t think Isabella ever knew him, and if she did, she never shared it with her family.”
How does Dr. Edwards know then? I didn’t believe he was alive. I didn’t believe one word of it. I was surprised Michael did.
“It’s him,” Michael whispered. “I’ve seen Christopher’s picture from Neil’s old photo albums, and he looks just like him. There’s no doubt about it.”
There was definitely uncertainty in Michael’s eyes. Strange that he believed the man looked like the picture. The man I had seen hardly looked like the picture in the documents or records Dr. Nicholson had provided.
Michael seemed to be going through a possible struggle of his own, just like Claudia had. And just like Claudia, he wanted to believe.
“Photo albums?” I asked. The Company had high school photographs of Christopher. He was a skinny kid with very dark hair and piercing dark eyes. It said in the notes that the last-known pictures of Christopher were the few of him in uniform as a grown man, muscular and vigorous. It appeared Michael and Dr. Edwards might had only high school pictures to make the connection.
“I found Neil’s notes. I found old photographs. I don’t know how he found this information, how he knew, but he found him, and he was comparing old photographs he had with those now.”
Has Dr. Edwards been doing some investigating of his own? Has he discovered something that troubled him enough to find himself comparing old photographs with those of the present? I was starting to wonder whether there was more I had missed.
I had only brief, basic information regarding Claudia. I wondered if there was any current activity on Christopher Vega, I could get my hands on. I had to get with Joseph on that, maybe our contact could get us the info. Joseph had said he would still investigate this guy.
Then, Michael said something that stopped me dead in my tracks. It didn’t look like he needed further convincing. “I’ve invited him over for dinner,” Michael said. “I want Claudia to get to know him.”
“What? Sir, do you think that’s a good idea? Let’s do more research. Maybe my father and uncle can help by hiring an investigator to check this guy out. Just to be sure before you invite a stranger to your home, near Claudia. I don’t think it’s a good idea, sir. What do you know about this guy?” I asked, standing over him.
“I know you mean well, John,” he growled at me, “and it makes me happy to know that I used good judgment allowing you to be with Claudia, but I’m her guardian. I get to say what’s best for her. I know he’s Claudia’s uncle and I want her to get to know him.” He rose to his feet.
Speechless for a moment, I realize I had overstepped my boundaries. Michael calmed and became apologetic. He was right, though. He was her guardian.
Michael’s eyes softened, and he gave a remorseful smile as he stepped over to put a hand over my shoulder. “I appreciate the concern, John, but this is my job. Neil entrusted me to make these decisions.”
“I’m sorry if I overstepped my boundaries, but just let me be there for her, that’s all I ask. I care about her and you, sir …I don’t want anything bad to happen to her.”
He nodded. “You’re a good kid, John. I’m glad Claudia has someone like you in her life.”
That felt good, that Michael trusted me with her. It also made me feel worse knowing I was lying to him about who I truly was. I wouldn’t hurt Claudia, that much I could assure him at least.
“But you know,” he said once more, “she has to know him.”
“Know who?” A voice said from the entrance.
We both turned. Claudia was standing there at Michael’s office doorway.