Missing Martha

3

Zoë Flynn sat down on her bed. It had been a long day at work today and she needed a break.
She exhaled, closing her eyes, still in her work clothes.
"Zoë?" Called her boyfriend from the other end of the house.
"Yeah?" She replied.
"Come here." He said,
"Why?" She asked,
"Just come here." He repeated, sounding frustrated.
Zoë concluded that something was wrong, so, reluctantly she pushed herself off the bed and walked into the hall where she saw her boyfriend Alex by the door with three suitcases beside him.
"W-what's this?" Asked Zoë, startled.
"Where are you going?" She asked again.
"This isn't working." Said Alex, bluntly.
"W-what."
"Zoë.."
"Are you dumping me?" She asked, feeling herself well up.
Alex remained silent, looking down.
"Alex are you dumping me?!" She repeated.
"What does it look like I'm doing?!" He yelled. Shocking Zoë.
Zoë took a step back, her eyes watering.
"When did this happen?! Why so sudden?!" She cried,
He just shook his head,
"I've got to go." He said,
"Answer my question! Jesus you can't just leave me like this after being with me for seven years!" She yelled,
"I cheated on you!" He yelled back.
"Y.. you what?"
"A couple of months ago I found a girl and I fell in love with her. She's pregnant. I'm the father. I'm leaving."
Zoë couldn't move, she felt trapped in a cage of abandonment, betrayal and emptiness.
"Who is she.."
"You wouldn't know her."
"Then go away and don't come back." She muttered.
"Zoe.."
"Go." She mumbled, unfocused.
"Zoe please.."
"Go away!" She screamed as tears began to stream from her eyes.
After Alex shut the door she ran to her room and cried, screaming with heartbreak and hatred.

*****

Mr McCafferson stumbled into the classroom the next day. The court session went horribly.. I mean.. it went well but seeing the man who murdered his child made him very uneasy, the temptation to run up to that bastard and beat him up and destroy him was hard to keep in.
Emily was in pieces, she fell apart during the trial, saying that there was no reason for her to keep on living; as soon as she saw the man, that horrible man who killed Martha, she just broke down into tears.
Martin had been sceptical about coming in today, but he didn't want to let the band down.
"Morning sir." Entered Ryan, looking at Martin in a way he'd never looked before after seeing him in the street yesterday.
Cloda followed afterwards, again staring at Mr McCafferson.
"Morning guys." Moaned Martin who stood up from his desk.
"Did you guys speak with Mrs Watson?" He asked.
"Y-yeh.. but if you can't go that's alright." Said Jemma,
"W-why wouldn't I wanna go?" He asked, suspicious of the band. They all looked so different.
Nobody responded.
"Guys have you got something to tell me?" He asked them all, feeling somewhat left out.
"We.. we saw-"
Lucy was interrupted by the entrance of Miss Flynn.
Martin looked round at Zoë, her eyes were bloodshot and dark underneath.
"Morning guys." She said with as much energy as she could muster.
Martin walked over to her immediately, he knew something was up.
"Hey, c'mon lets go to the staff room." He whispered to her, opening up the door again and putting a hand on her back.

Zoë sat down on the sofa beside Martin,
"What's going on?" He asked her,
"It's nothing- I'll get over it.." she said,
"Hey it's obviously something." Said Martin, looking at her red eyes.
"Crap do I look that bad?" She tried to laugh, wiping her eyes before she finally said it.
"I-I know it's a bit stupid.. my boyfriend cheated on me after seven years.. I know.. but it just irritated me."
"What a moron." Remarked Martin, knowing that this must be how Emily felt when he divorced her.
"It was all going great until yesterday when he showed up with suitcases telling me he got a girl pregnant and had to go.." muttered Zoë.
"Wow. I'm sorry." Said Martin, genuinely horrified by this woman's ex. "You can take the day off you don't need to stay."
Zoe shook her head, "no. Honestly it's alright. I think the thing i need is some crazy music to clear my head."
Martin smiled, he hadn't smiled in a while.
"Well stay as long as you like in here." He said, standing up.
"Thanks, Martin." She said, looking up.
"Anytime." He replied, walking back into the classroom.
"Is she alright?" Asked Jemma.
"Yeah just... just be kind to her." Said Mr McCafferson, sitting on a table in front of the band.
"Now, come on, stop chatting. If you're gonna go on this tour you've gotta be able to play your songs." He told them, wanting a bit of time to think.
"Sir; are you alright?" Asked Ollie, picking up his guitar.
"That's a big question, Ollie." Martin replied, looking down and walking back towards his desk.
"It should be simple." Continued Ollie. "Yes or no."
"Ollie just play your bloody song!" Snapped Martin, logging onto the computer.
Martin knew he'd been harsh, he also knew that the band were suspicious of him, but these teenagers were his pupils, not his friends. He needed to remind himself of that.
"Sir we're worried about you." Said Jemma.
That confused Martin, no one was worried about him, never mind his pupils.
"Guys I'm fine. Please what is up with you all today?!" He asked, getting irritated, the band never irritated him before.
"You've changed." Said Ryan.
"Yes Ryan, I have." Said Martin,
"Why?" Asked Cloda.
"Change is inevitable. It just happens. Please leave me alone." He said,
"We just care about you sir, you're one of the good ones." Added Ryan.
Martin looked down, "I'm sorry guys.." he took a deep breath, "it's just been tough."
"Let's talk about this tour." He said, changing the topic and pulling out a notebook.
"I reckon we'll get the euro tunnel into France, stay there a while, go on to Germany, maybe Switzerland then onto Italy?"
The kids started smiling.
"You all got passports?" He asked them, seeing Miss Flynn walk back into the room.
"Miss Flynn we were just arranging our route for the tour- you coming?" He asked her, giving off a smile.
"Oh my gosh I'd love to." She exclaimed, walking over to the band and Martin who had a map of Europe in his hands.
Everyone crowded round the desk beside Martin.
"How long will we be gone for?" Asked Jemma as she brushed her blonde hair behind her ears.
"A good two or three weeks, I'd say."
"Where will we stay?" Asked Cloda.
"Since the cost for the trip will be very little overall, I'm going to ask Mrs Watson if we can hire a huge camper van or a bus or something like that to travel and stay in."
"Oh my god that sounds amazing!" Exclaimed Lucy,
"Well you guys research some bus or van hire stuff in Wales and I'll talk to Mrs Watson." Said Martin, looking down at the map.
"We could go down through Switzerland into Italy and then make our way back up." Suggested Mr McCafferson, feeling excited.
"Or we could go to Through France down into Italy first, then go up through Switzerland and Germany then into the Netherlands and get the ferry home." Offered Miss Flynn, pointing to the corresponding countries on the map.
"Actually yeah your idea is so much better than mine." Laughed Martin before his mobile started to ring.
"-sorry!" He laughed, looking at who was calling him.
His smile faded when he saw that it was the police.
"Sorry I've gotta get this." He said, walking towards the window and answering the call.
"Hello?" He answered, nervous,
"Hi is this Martin?" Asked Someone,
"Yeh- is everything okay?" He asked,
"Are you the husband of Emily McCafferson?" Martin didn't want to complicate things because of the divorce so he simply said,
"Y-yes is she okay?" He was aware of everyone staring at him, but saw the crowds of the other juniors of the school outside the classroom. Here was better than anywhere else.
"Mr McCafferson I don't know how to say this to you..." the man on the phone began,
"Emily was found hanging from a rope in the entrance to your house. It is understood that this was suici-"
Martin dropped his phone on the ground in shock.
His mouth dropped almost completely.
"Martin? Martin are you alright?" Asked Zoë who felt she needed to speak for the students who were traumatised by their teacher who hadn't moved a muscle since the phone slipped out of his hand.
Cautiously, Miss Flynn walked up to Martin whose hand was pressed against his lips.
She picked up his phone from the ground that now had a small indentation.
"Martin.." she began,
"I- I need t-to go home.." he mumbled,
"You need to sit down." She told him,
"I need to get home.. I've got to get home." He said again with urgency. Taking his phone from Zoë's hand and running towards his desk.
Shaking, he picked up his keys and jacket before running towards the door.
"Martin!" Whispered Zoë, putting her hand on his arm.
He looked at her with huge red eyes before telling her the truth,
"My wife just killed herself."
Zoë took a step back in shock as Martin ran on out of the school.

"What the hell just happened?" Asked Ryan, as Zoë turned around to them all.
She shook her head, her eyes wide as she sat down on the seat.
"God he's in such a horrible place right now." She sighed, feeling awful about moaning about her situation with her boyfriend this morning.
"His wife committed suicide.." she sighed making all the children's mouths drop.
"I think it's best we don't talk about this." She told them,
Everyone nodded, before leaving the classroom.