Lesson Learned {Student Teacher Romance}

Chapter 27

Who else can I call? What do I do when I find her? Where could she possibly be?

So, I call the only other person I know that understands what I'm going through. Will picked up right away. 

"Well hello!" 

"Hi Will," I reply. "I need your help."

"What's wrong?" Will's friendly voice morphs into concern. 

"I think my mom is high or she's trying to score," I tell him everything I know so far. "Will, I have to find her and get her home. Please, I need your help."

"Of course, I'm getting in my car now," he says urgently. "Are you at work? I can be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Yes," a relieved sob escapes my lungs.

"Sit tight," Will assures me. "I'll be there soon. We'll find her Moira."

Immediately I feel guilty about whatever I am taking Will away from. He might even be about to teach a class for all I know. 

I don't even know where to start looking for my mom, let alone what I'd say to her if we found her.

Mike gave me the rest of the day off, so I waited for Will at the front of the diner in my coat.

As soon as his Volvo pulled up, I bolted out the door and into Will's car.  

"Where to?" He asks while I buckle my seatbelt. 

"I don't know," I scour my mess of a mind. "She used to go to a place called The Blue Dart a lot."

Will searches for the establishment on his phone and pulls up directions to my mom's favorite dive bar. 

We weave our way through town until we're in familiar territory. We're driving through the wrong side of Auburn. 

Will's car skids to a halt on the loose gravel outside the bar. We hop out and run for a rusted green door guarded by two intimidatingly large men. 

The mountainous gentlemen size us up within seconds as one of them pushes off the exposed brick wall to talk to us. The bouncer looks like he'd sooner eat us than talk to us, but that doesn't seem to affect Will's quiet confidence.

"ID" he barks at us through his beard. 

My fingers creak like frozen twigs as I dig through the narrow slits of my wallet. Embarrassed and afraid I hand it over as he studies it for all of three seconds before nodding for us inside.

For the record, I never want to go back to The Blue Dart. 

It smells like stale booze and sweaty cigarettes. Plus, the air is thick with smoke and faded country music that nags at your thoughts.

We made our way to the dented bar to try and get someone's attention. 

A barrel-chested man in leathers came lumbering toward us.

"What can I do for you?" The bartender asks incredulously. 

"Have you seen Nancy Stavros?" I plead.

"Yeah. This morning," he answers with a blasé shrug. "She left a while ago."

"Was she here with anyone?" Will steps in.

"Sure," the bartender's enormous hand stabs past my face, pointing to a dimly lit table in the corner. "She was with Manny." 

"Thanks," I turn to follow the meaty finger.

I don't wait for Will, but somehow I know he's only a few steps behind me as I pick my way through the maze of busted old chairs and tables. 

A blobbish figure buried behind a table with two dark holes for eyes emerges out of the smoke and I'm pretty sure I've found who I'm looking for.

"Manny?" I inquire stepping up to his table. 

"Who's asking?" The blob growls.

Manny's face is glistening with sweat, despite the chill in the bar. He fixes his beady eyes on mine and rolls a toothpick over his chapped lips.

"I'm Moira, Nancy's daughter?" I answer carefully.

"No shit!" He explodes into a wheezy cackle. "Your Nancy's kid?"

It's impossible to hide my surprise.

"Wow, you're quite the looker," his beady eyes rake my body openly. "Like your mama." 

"Excuse me," Will steps forward to block Manny's leering. "Nancy was here this morning. Do you know where she went and when she left?"

"She said she was walking home," Manny shifts to scratch his disgusting belly. 

"But it's freezing outside!" I gasp.

"Listen, Manny, this is important," Will says, his voice low and threatening. "I can only assume you're Nancy's dealer, and unless you want a lot of problems, you'll tell us what you sold her."

Manny's face clouds with rage as he leans over his table. 

"Are you threatening me, boy?" He flicks spittle through his wicked sneer.

"No," Will answers. "I'm telling you that there are people out there looking for Nancy right now, and when we find her, the cops are going to ask where she got her stuff."

"Nancy wouldn't rat me out," Manny scoffs and sits back.

"She would if it reduced her sentence," I snap from behind Will. 

"Your mighty brave when you're behind your boyfriend," Manny taunts with a murderous glint in his eyes. "I sold her a few Codeine. Now, fuck off."

We took Manny's advice and got the hell out of The Blue Dart.