Scary Stories, Rituals, and Urban Legends

A scared teacher part three

As soon as Kyle was asleep, I silently got out of bed and walked into the hallway. I can always tell when he is out cold. His breathing gets super deep. Plus he tosses and turns a lot when he is in a deep sleep.

I inched down the hallway, taking great care not to make a sound. First I had to go down to the kitchen to get the key to the attic. We kept it in the one place we knew Hunter would never look; where we keep the vegetables. The kitchen, along with the rest of the house, was dark and silent. Grabbing the key, I made my way back upstairs.

My eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now. Our attic was accessed by a trapdoor with a ladder that folded down, every time I made a small noise, I cringed, thinking that it would wake up Hunter or my husband. Or perhaps both. But that never happened.

Taking great care not to make noise, I undid the padlock to the attic crawl space and I slowly ascended the ladder. I could feel the air getting heavier as the ladder steps creaked under my body weight. I felt my hand getting sweaty as I tightly gripped the key. Not that I am heavy or anything, quite the opposite. I take good care of myself and work out regularly. As I quietly ascended the steps to the attic trapdoor, I thought about Hunter. There was no way he was lying, and I can tell you exactly why.

Most people don't think about this, but teachers have to be keen observers of people. Kids will try to pull a fast one over you any chance they get, especially in matters relating to school. But here is the trick; kids are shitty liars and they have no idea they are. So its quite simple to watch them.

When it comes to kids in a classroom, you are in arguably the greatest possible vantage point to observe basic human nature. When dealing with kids at a young age and you have the chance to see them in the prime of life, you can see where they come from and where they are going. Especially when you have the chance to see them as they get older. It's a prime opportunity to learn how to observe and read people. Not to mention it is part of what makes an effective teacher.

Either you get with the program and adapt accordingly, or you fail. Not just yourself, but the students. Because what you observe could be a matter of grave importance.

Sadly enough, there have been cases where I've had to contact Social Services because of what I observed from a student. Not in words, oh no. But in a gesture, a look in their eye, a mannerism. The interaction with their parent or parents is also key.

Allow me to let you in on another little secret; at parent-teacher conferences we analyze parents just as much, if not more, as they analyze the teacher. Abuse, especially child abuse, is like a bad blemish on the wall. You can try to pretend it doesn't exist by covering it up on the surface as much as you like, but it's still there. It's just a matter of who can discern it. It saddens me to say it, but if a child is being abused, odds are good that a teacher will be the one to spot it.

By nature, teachers see their students every day for hours on end, so we have a much greater window to see into their lives. We see the ups and downs. When a student who was always so happy turns glum, or one of the best students grades suddenly tank, that's a sign for concern, and the cause isn't too hard to figure out.

Kids are more perceptive than people care to admit. At that age, children have a sense for anything that is out of place, out of the ordinary, or just plain different. It's why they can be so cruel to each other, they can sense something is unusual, they just can't process the reason why and comprehend it. Abuse is no different. . The child instinctively know something is amiss, they just can't quite understand it. So their behavior changes in some fashion.

When a student's behavior at school starts to change, it's usually for the following reasons; problems at home, problems with peers, drugs, or dating issues. When it comes to the students I teach, the last two usually aren't an issue; so that just leaves problems at home or with peers.

Its why when there is a conference and some issue comes up, we inadvertently ask "Is there any problems at home?" The reaction of both student and parent is always quite telling.

That is how I know Hunter truly believed what he was saying about his Dad, that was never in doubt. It was just a matter of the source he was getting it from. Hunter hadn't been acting out or anything, so there was that to consider as well.

Switching the attic light on, I took a look around. Cardboard boxes scattered around here and there, a cobweb or layer of dust decorating the odd bit of furniture, and a lot of empty space where you could see the electrical wiring of the house.

What was I looking for exactly? I had no idea really, I just figured that whatever it was would catch my eye somehow. I slowly took the attic in. Nothing really out of the ordinary here. That's another trick I've learned as a teacher. You learn how to sense things out of place. I looked around for a bit, but found nothing. After what seemed like an eternity, I turned out the light and slowly climbed down the steps again, being as quiet as I possibly could. I felt a mix of relief and disappointment wash over me, which was an odd feeling. Shouldn't I have been happy to have discovered nothing was amiss? Yes, I should be, but I wasn't.

Telling myself that I tried, I climbed back into bed. Kyle didn't move when I got back into bed, as expected. That was also a relief. Part of me expected him to confront me about lurking around in the attic or something. After a few minutes, I felt myself drift off to sleep.

Since the next day was Saturday, it meant Kyle was off to his golf game. He and his friends played golf at the local club every Saturday, and then they had brunch. Of course, there was always the possibility they might do something else after as well. Like watching a football game or something. Not to mention it was also a great way to network and meet clients. A country club is the place to see and be seen. But no matter what, Kyle always enjoyed it. Since it seemed to help him relax, I always supported it.

He left at 10 am sharp and wasn't set to come home until late in the afternoon. I had just finished up with some chores and was relaxing with some T.V. while I was going through the mail. Mostly a couple bills, all the usual suspects; car, electric, and gas. I was just about to put them away when I saw a statement from our health insurance provider. Skimming it, something caught my eye.

They documented that they had covered an office visit on September 15 with a Dr. Neil McFarland. From the looks of it, it was a pretty expensive visit, which meant it wasn't just some random checkup. September 15 was a Friday and I remember Kyle had to leave work early. He said it was a meeting with a client downtown.

I was instantly suspicious. None of us had any such visit to a Dr. McFarland, at least not that I knew of. I tried calling our health insurance provider, but since it was Saturday they were closed. What really had me uneasy, there was also a prescription that was covered. I had no idea what the drug was, so I looked it up. It was a sedative, a really powerful one.

XOXO Jade