Today it was career day at school. Zoey, Shawn and Cory were standing inside Mr. Turner's class, discussing something until they saw Mr. Matthews walking into the classroom.
"Hey, Cory, it's your dad. He's doing career day. All right." Zoey said.
"It's not all right. Today we find out I'm not a basketball player's son. My dad is a grocer. I'm a grocer's son. I'm a son of a grocer." Cory complained.
Mr. Matthews then approached the three nervously. "Hey, Shawn, Zoey, um... Guess how many different kinds of rice we have?"
"Oh, no." Cory groaned.
"Come on, Shawn, Zoey, guess." Mr. Matthews insisted.
"Ten?" Shawn guessed.
"Six?" Zoey wondered.
"Ten, Six." Mr. Matthews scoffed. "Twenty one, and that's not even counting the short grains. Throw them in... Forget about it!"
Zoey gave a small nod as Mr. Matthews turned around and walked away from them.
"Cory?" Shawn called.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"I'm glad I'm not you." Shawn told him.
"I love your family, Cor, but I second that." Zoey agreed.
"Hey, boys." A familiar voice called. Zoey turned around to see her mother approaching them, wearing her café uniform. "How are you kids doing?"
Cory smiled. "I'm fine, Mrs. Francis."
"Yeah, I'm jolly." Shawn responded.
"That's good. Can't wait to speak in front of everyone." Lucy said nervously before walking to the front of the class where all the parents were at.
"First all off, I would like to say thank you to the parents for being her." Mr. Turner began as the three sat down at their desks. "After they speak, you guys should have a better idea what kind of vocations interest you." Shawn raised his hand. "Let me guess, Hunter - summer vocation?" Shawn nodded and lowered his hand. "Find some new material, will ya? Our first speaker is Topanga's father, Jedediah Lawrence."
Zoey clapped for Topanga's father as he approached the desk with a guitar.
"Thank you, Mr. Turner. I think I should begin by telling everybody what I do... I'm a luthier." Topanga's father said.
"And I'm a Presbyterian, but to each his own, I say." Shawn spoke.
"A luthier makes musical instruments." Topanga's father explained.
"No offense, sir, but that's got to be the nuttiest religion I ever heard." Shawn responded. Topanga's father than turned to Mr. Turner in confusion.
Mr. Turner laughed nervously. "Don't worry, it's not you."
"Daddy, forget about all that. Tell the who called last night." Topanga insisted.
"Oh, they don't want to hear about that, Tippy." Jedidiah replied.
"Tippy?!" Shawn, Zoey and Cory exclaimed.
Topanga turned around in her seat and growled at them.
"Tippy's nice." Cory said.
"It's my new favorite name." Shawn added.
"I love it." Zoey said with a nervous smile.
"Well, it's really no big deal, but... Bruce." Jedediah answered.
"Bruce Springsteen?" Mr. Turner asked.
Topanga nodded. "Uh-huh. I took the call. He said 'Hey, little girl, is your daddy home'?"
"So you make guitars for a lot of big rock stars?" A student asked.
"Most of them." Jedediah answered. "But I guess my real love is playing these things."
Jedediah began to play the guitar amazingly. Zoey's eyes widened and mouth parted in shock at how good he was playing.
Shawn, Zoey and Cory looked over at Mr. Matthews and gave him a thumbs up which he gladly responded back to the three of them.
"He's toast." Zoey and Shawn said in unison.
"He's toast." Cory agreed.
When Jedediah finished playing the guitar, a bunch of kids got out of their seats and went up to Topanga's father.
"Please... sit down, sit down. Come on, plenty more show." Mr. Turner told the kids. "Okay, let's see. Our next parent is..."
"Please no, please no, please no..." Cory begged quietly.
"Mr. Alan Matthews!" Mr. Turner announced and Zoey softly clapped. "Cory's father is a grocer. Now, you probably think that all he's going to talk about is how many different types of rice he stocks. I'm sure there's a lot more to it then that. Alan?"
"Well, uh... Uh, thank you for that, uh... intro." Mr. Matthews said rather nervously. "I don't... I don't know a lot of rock stars, but, uh... I do know this... I take... pride in what I do. Everybody needs groceries. I'd like to think we do more than sell lettuce and pickles and potato chips and bug spray. Umm... we sell... dreams."
"What aisle?" A student asked.
Mr. Matthews went on and on about the supermarket and now was currently passing out coupons out to all the kids in the class.
"All right, who didn't get a coupon? Have a couple left here." Mr. Matthews said and they were all silent. "This one... this one's for liquid soap. I guess I'll leave them here."
"Thank you very much, Alan. Thank you. That's took guts." Mr. Turner told him.
"Shawn, Zoey, was that as bad as I think it was?" Cory asked.
"No..." Zoey sarcastically trailed off.
"Not for me. I got sixty cents off Apple Jacks." Shawn answered.
Mr. Turner clapped his hands together. "Okay, let's see. Our next parent is...."
"Sorry, I'm late." Chet Hunter apologized as he walked into the classroom. "Uh, actually, I was out in the hall having a smoke. Don't endorse it, don't deny it."
"Dad!" Shawn called, standing up from his seat. "I thought you were gonna be outta town?"
"Oh, if anybody asks, I am." Chet replied before walking up to Mr. Turner. "Hi, Teach, Chet Hunter."
"How are ya?" Mr. Turner asked, taking Chet's card. "Okay, everyone, let's welcome Shawn's father."
"Chet Hunter." He introduced himself to the class.
"Shawn, what does your dad do for a living?" Zoey asked.
Shawn hushed her. "I want to find out."
"What do I do for a living?" Chet questioned. "You've go one man here who makes things with his own two hands." He motioned to Jedidiah. "You've got another one, puts food on America's table." He motioned to Mr. Matthews, who looked down. "And my hat's off to both of them. Me? Well, it's kind of hard to put your finger on what I do."
Zoey looked over to Shawn and noticed that he wasn't breathing.
"Shawn, you're not breathing." She told him.
"Sorry." He rushed out, covering his mouth.
"Mostly I buy and sell things." Chet continued. "Sometimes a refrigerator, sometimes a car. Why, once I even sold an entire nation. What I sell best are ideas. That's what I am - I'm an idea man. A few years ago, I had an idea for an all-news TV station. Going all the time, all over the world."
"You invented CNN?" Topanga asked.
"That's exactly what I called it. CNN - Chet's News Network. But I made the mistake of yapping to a southern fellow 'bout it on an elevator." Chet said before turning to Mr. Turner. "What did you say your last name was?"
"Turner. No relation." Mr. Turner answered.
"Wow, he's something." Cory told Shawn.
"Yeah, somethin'..." Shawn trailed off.
"By show of hands, how many of you have a microwaves oven?" Chet asked and the majority of the class raised their hands. "You're welcome."
••••
At lunch, Shawn, Zoey and Cory currently sitting at a table in the cafeteria, eating their lunch.
"Remember that world series game where the first baseman let that easy ground ball go under his legs, and his team lost and he was humiliated in front of the entire world?" Cory asked his friends.
"Yeah?" Shawn and Zoey answered in unison.
"I envy his son." Cory responded.
Zoey huffed. "Oh, come on, Cor. Your dad wasn't that bad."
"The cantaloupe is your friend?" Cory questioned, repeating his father's words.
"Okay, that part was bad." Shawn said and Zoey nodded.
"Your dad... he was awesome. Everyone loved him and he told great stories." Cory told Shawn.
"Yeah, stories, it's all he has." Shawn replied. "Why do you think we live in a trailer park?"
"Listen, at least no one's laughing at him." Cory said.
"Your dad did fine. It's all in your mind." Shawn responded.
"Hey, Matthews, look!" A kid from across the cafeteria called, holding a cantaloupe. "I'm eating your dad's friend."
"That's it!" Cory exclaimed. "I've gotta move to another school district."
"I'm telling you, man. I've got business here." Chet told Mr. Feeny as the two of them walked into the cafeteria, gaining Shawn, Cory and Zoey's attention.
"Listen, I'm not gonna say this again. If you're not faculty or staff, you have no business on this campus." Mr. Feeny said.
"Hey, leave me alone, pal." Chet said. "I'm George Feeny. I'm the principle of this here high school."
"And you're not George Feeny!" Mr. Feeny exclaimed.
"I'm parked in his spot, ain't I?" Chet asked.
Shawn got out of his seat and walked over to the adults. "Mr. Feeny, I can explain."
"Please do." Mr. Feeny said.
"Mr. Feeny, this is my dad." Shawn introduced.
"Oh." Mr. Feeny said before he shook Chet's hand. "Yes, well, uh... we're very proud of Shawn."
"I'm surprised to hear you say that." Chet said.
"So am I." Mr. Feeny responded before he walked out of the cafeteria.
"Hey, Shawny." Chet greeted, patting Shawn on the back before looking at Cory and Zoey. "Shawn's friend and wife."
Zoey's mouth parted in shock at the words that left Chet's mouth. Wife? Why would Chet think that Zoey was Shawn's wife?
"So, Dad, what's goin on?" Shawn wondered.
"Uh... look buddy.... Did you... did you kiss your mum this morning?" Chet questioned.
"Uh-huh." Shawn replied.
"Good. 'Cause it's gonna have to last you for a while." Chet told his son.
"Why do you mean?" Shawn asked, confused.
"Your mother... she took off." Chet explained.
"Oh, just go home and wait. She always comes back." Shawn replied.
"Oh, not that easy." Chet said. "This time she took the house. See, that's the problem with having a mobile home. It's uh... uh.. You can move it."
"Maybe she went to get it washed." Zoey suggested.
"Yeah." Chet said quickly.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Shawn asked his father.
"We're going to go after her. You still got that keen sense of smell?" Chet wondered.
"Dad, I can't just ditch classes. I mean... I can, but shouldn't I tell somebody?" Shawn questioned.
"Okay, but I gotta run before that little guy with the mustache has a duck." Chet said before he looked down at Cory. "You. Your father, the cantaloupe man... He's good people. Mark my words."
And with that, Chet had walked out of the cafeteria. Zoey looked up at Shawn, who had a slight worried expression.
"Shawn, you okay?" Zoey asked.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Shawn questioned. "Oh... you mean because my mum drove our home away?"
Shawn scoffed and walked out of the cafeteria. Zoey sighed, feeling sympathy for her best friend.
••••
Next morning Shawn and Zoey were over at Cory's place. The three sat in Cory's room, tossing a ball back and forth. Shawn and Zoey sat beside each other on Cory's bed, while Cory sat near the window.
As they threw the ball Shawn had told them that he had spent the night over at Turner's place.
"So where you staying tonight?" Cory finally asked.
"Uh, motel's fine. At least 'till my dad gets back." Shawn replied. "Why don't you come over tonight? We could skateboard in the pool and they've got cable."
"We've got cable." Cory told him.
"Not like this place." Shawn said.
"Skateboarding is too good to resist." Zoey sighed with a small smile. "But you can't just live in a motel."
"Why not? At least you know it's not gonna drive away." Shawn remarked.
"Listen, you know you could have crashed here last night." Cory told him, making his way over and sat on Eric's bed.
Shawn nodded. "I know, I was fine."
"We know you're fine, we're just... saying. I don't know, just... remember we're your friends." Zoey said, reaching over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it softly.
"I know." Shawn said, gripping onto her hand. "It's okay, guys, you don't have to worry about me. Really."
"Hey, Shawn, come on down, son!" Chet's voice was heard from downstairs.
"See? My dad's back and everything's great." Shawn said as he got up and began walking down the stairs, Zoey and Cory followed him down into the living room where Mrs and Mr. Matthews, Mr. Turner and Chet stood. "Hey, Dad, did you find mum?"
"I did." Chet replied. "I did find her, but... she gave me the slip again. You gotta respect that. Now, to that end, I have something on my mind - which is why I'm here."
"I thought I was why you're here." Shawn said, sounding disappointed.
"You are!" Chet exclaimed, pulling his son into a side hug. "You are, you little Slim Jim. That you are. This is all about you. Shawnie, look... Uh... this is hard to say. I ain't always been the perfect father..."
"Dad, it's okay." Shawn reassured him.
Chet then turned to Mr. Matthews. "Adam, I consider you a friend...."
"Alan." Mr. Matthews corrected.
"I respect you. Yes, sir, you are the heartbeat of America. People can count on you. You got roots. I like that." Chet told him.
"Where's this heading?" Mr. Matthews asked.
"I need a favor. My wife, Verna, she's... she's out there. And my heart's out there with her. Not to mention my wallet and major credit cards. But she is my wife and go after her I must." Chet said.
"And the favor?" Mrs. Matthews wondered.
"Take care of my boy. Now you don't have to answer right now... Well, yes, you do." Chet answered.
"Stay here? That would be great." Cory stated, standing beside Zoey, who had already been standing next to Shawn, holding onto his hand.
"Dad, why can't I just come with you?" Shawn asked.
"Oh, come on. The road's no place for a boy. Especially with your mama out there driving on it. Nah, your place is here. In school, with Teach over there." Chet said, pointing at Mr. Turner. "In this house, in the company of these fine people." He turned to the Matthews. "No pressure."
"Chet, shouldn't you be asking Shawn what he thinks?" Mr. Turner questioned.
"Whatever. It's fine with me." Shawn answered.
"We're only talkin' a few days. Couple of weeks, tops! I'll call in every night." Chet told his son before turning to the Matthews. "So, what's the verdict, Your Honor? Mrs. Honor?"
"Shawn, you know we'd be very happy to have you stay." Mrs. Matthews said. "Alan?"
"Of course. Shawn, you have a room here as long as you need it." Mr. Matthews agreed.
"See, if my boy can't be with his own father, I'm glad he can be with a good father. And you, sir... Why, you're are a good father." Chet told Mr. Matthews.
Eric's friend, Jason entered the house, followed by Eric who had a bad nose bleed.
"He's fine... he's fine! Don't panic, it's just a little nosebleed." Jason assured.
"How long has that tree been out there?" Eric questioned as he and Jason walked up the stairs, leaving the living room.
"Well, anyway, Alan..." Chet continued. "If I can kick in to the house kitty, why, you let me know."
"I think we can handle it 'till we get coupons." Mr. Matthews replied.
"Even better. Shawn, what do you say we go move your stuff? Oh, wait, it's already movin'. Let's go get you a toothbrush and a new shirt." Chet said before he nodded at Mr. Turner. "Teach..." He nodded to the Matthews. "Ma'am... Mr. Matthews.." He then turned to Zoey and Cory. "It's Corky and Zory, right?"
Zoey chuckled. "Yeah."
Cory turned to Shawn, excited. "Hey, we're gonna be roommates, huh? How great is that?"
"Think we're gonna find out." Shawn answered.
"I'll go get some clean sheets for your cot, Shawn." Mrs. Matthews said, running up the stairs.
"Uh, Chet?" Mr. Matthews called. "You're gonna be back in a couple of weeks, right?"
"Texas women couldn't keep me from here." Chet replied, leaving with Shawn.
"You know, Alan, Chet was right about one thing. You're a good man." Mr. Turner told him.
"I second that." Zoey added before she turned to Cory just as she was about to walk out the front door. "You have a great father, Cor. Never lose sight of that."
___________________
PUBLISHED: March 28, 2018
WORDS: 2750