When His Dreams Take Flight Read online

  "Hmm, that’s good. Damn, my head feels like I got hit with a baseball bat."

  "I know, I know. The tequila will do that. My papa would drink too much tequila, just like you, Mr. Nick. I would wake him up in the morning and he smelled like piss. In Juarez, many fathers drank the tequila and did not take care of their children. Good thing you got no children, Mr. Nick."

  "I never knew, Eduardo. I'm sorry that you grew up dealing with that."

  "Gracias, Mr. Nick. I turned out okay. I have a good job and I have my kids and my sweet wife. I take good care of them and I stay away from the tequila.”

  "Good man, good man." He leaned back against the couch, lacing his fingers over his head.

  "Mr. Nick, it’s no good that you are here at school. You shouldn't come to your old office like this and sleep and piss on the couch."

  "You're right about that, my friend. I don't even know how I got in here."

  Eduardo pointed at an open window. "You came in through that window. But you shouldn’t be here, since the school board, they fired you.”

  “I got suspended, not fired.”

  "But Mr. Nick, this morning you come here and you do all this. The school board is not gonna like that you are here. Then they will fire you.”

  "You’re right. Then I know you’ll keep this between you and me, okay?”

  "You know me; I’m good at keeping secrets.” He drew his fingers across his closed lips and smiled. “My lips are sealed tight. I know that boy, that Laskin boy you hit. He is bad for this school. I know that he say things to you and not give you respect. I see him yell and hit on the smaller boys. He is no good, Mr. Nick. I think he should be the one who is fired from school, not a good principal like you.”

  "Thanks, friend." He tried to stand up, but fell back down on the couch. The room spun around him and when he closed his eyes, stars fluttered across his lids. Eduardo stood up and grabbed his arm.

  "You stand up too fast, Mr. Nick. Your head is hurting bad, yes?"

  He shook his head. "Yeah, it’s bad, but I'll be fine." Eduardo released his arm and moved his chair away from the couch.

  "Mr. Nick, you can’t do this again. You want to come back to school and be principal, yes? All the people here, they want you to come back."

  "I’ll be back, Eduardo. Just gotta get this thing fixed. The school board knows I do a good job, that’s why they asked me to take over this school." He stood back up and put his hand on Eduardo's shoulder. "I've got some extra clothes in my locker, so I'm going to change. Do you mind cleaning up this couch for me?"

  "No problem, Mr. Nick. I make it all clean for you."

  "Thanks, thanks for being a friend. And you’ll keep this little thing between us, right?"

  "Yes, sir. Eduardo is good at keeping secrets.”

  He changed clothes and walked out the front door of James Thomas High School into a chilly, but sunny morning. Time for coffee at Pat's, eggs, and some aspirin. He patted his coat pocket and pulled out his phone. Shit, four messages from Gene. Didn’t need a lecture today. He tapped the voicemail button.

  "Nick, you gotta call me. I heard what happened with the school board. Call me back. You know you want to talk to me. Don't slide back, man."

  -Delete-

  "Okay, it’s me again. Don't piss me off by not calling me. You gotta buck the fuck up and not fall down again.”

  -Delete-

  "Hey man, you gotta call your buddy Gene. This is stupid. I'm worried about you. Don't screw with your sponsor like this. I'm gonna rally some guys from the group and we're coming over. You better be home."

  -Delete-

  "Nick, you messed up. I came over at midnight and you were gone. Saw the bottle. Call me when you wake up. We can get this back on track. I'm here for—“

  -Delete-

  ***

  Pat's coffee helped. He closed his eyes and leaned over the cup and inhaled.

  "Suze, you got any aspirin under the counter?"

  "Sure, Nick. Did ya have too much fun last night?" She smiled and brought out a large bottle of aspirin from under the counter.

  "Nah, just a little stressed lately. I'm sure you heard."

  "Yep, sure did and I’m really sorry. You got plans?"

  "I'll get it fixed. Just lost my cool. I'll work it out with the board."

  “I heard it was the Laskin kid. Is that right?”

  “Yeah, it was.”

  “He’s a bad egg, Nick. Just like the father. Can’t say as I blame you for hitting him based on what he did.”

  “Thanks, Suze. Can’t have a principal doing what I did. It was a bad screw-up.”

  "Maybe so.” A bell dinged. "Speaking of eggs, you’re up." She picked up his plates and brought them to him. "Need anything else?"

  "Hit me with another coffee, Suze.” A phone rang at the other end of the counter.

  "Hold on, Nick. Be right back." He broke the yolks with a corner of his toast and spooned bits of egg onto the toast. His stomach was settling. His head throbbed less. He turned to Suze, who spoke quietly while glancing towards him. She nodded and turned away when their eyes met. She returned with coffee.

  “Someone’s looking for you.” She filled the cup. “Need any more cream?”

  “I’m good, Suze. Guess that was Gene?” She nodded. He bit off the end of his toast.

  ***

  “So, you couldn’t get away from me, huh?” Gene smiled and took the counter seat next to him. Nick stirred his coffee and didn’t look up. “Sure wish you’d call me first. Second time in the last year, dude. Why not ask for help?” Nick brought his finger to his lips and glanced down the counter at Suze serving two other customers. He nodded towards a booth, next to the window. He took his plate and coffee and moved there. Gene followed.

  “Should’ve called you. Just felt like shit, like I was out of control again.”

  “It happens to all of us. Me too, just not in the last seven years. But I think about it every day.”

  “I don’t know, Gene. Last time was when Allison dumped me. It’s harder to control when the shit hits the fan. The crap with the school board, you know. I just sat around all day worrying. The bottle took control.” He held his cup up for Suze to see and then pointed to Gene. She brought a cup for him and filled both of them.

  “It doesn’t happen if you call. You know you can call me anytime. Where did you end up?” He took a long sip of his coffee.

  “On the couch in my office.” Gene coughed and sprayed coffee on the table. “Or perhaps I should call it my former office.” Nick handed him a napkin.

  Gene wiped up the spray, “You passed out in the school? Damn, man. You have got to buck the fuck up and get your shit together.” Suze looked up at them from a booth on the other side of the small diner. Nick smiled at her.

  “Not so loud, huh?”

  “Sorry,” Gene leaned forward. “Anyone see you?”

  “Just Eduardo, the janitor.”

  “Damn, that was lucky.

  “Real lucky. Eduardo knows how to keep a secret. Especially for me ‘cause I’ve kept a few for him. He found me another time at the middle school, never said a word.”

  “How much did you drink?”

  “Most of the bottle.”

  “Listen, Nick, you gotta see how bad this could’ve been.” He looked over his shoulder at the rest of the customers. “I don’t just mean fallin’ down again; I mean the job, the job you want to get back.” He tapped his finger on the table with each word. “You drink, you black out, and you wake up in the school where folks could’ve seen you—“

  “Or smelled me.”

  “Yeah, that too. Then the job is gone,” Gene snapped his fingers, “Poof.”

  “You’re right. Damn Laskin kid. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. Kid pushes my buttons.”

  “The kid’s bad news, just like his dad. Stick’s crazier than a box of frogs.”

  “Does he have some kind of label?”

  “Don’t know what the exact label
is, but the guy is certified crazy,” Gene smiled. “Reminds me of what my old granny use to say, ‘If you mix crystal meth and mental illness, some crazy shit’s gonna hit the fan.’”

  “Funny. I guess your granny was way ahead of her time,” Nick took a long pull from his coffee.

  “Yeah, she was. Especially since she died thirty years before this goddamn meth plague hit. That stuff has wrecked the lives of a lot good folks around here.”

  “So you told me. I’m glad you locked him up. Especially after that bullshit he brought up about you stealing cash from him.”

  Gene looked down at the floor and nodded. “You’re tellin’ me.”

  “So I’m guessing he was a really shitty dad.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. The guy was just tied up with his own problems. Still, the kid is heading down the wrong path, so you better be careful with him. Keep that in your thick, tequila drenched head.”

  “I know. Got lucky. Won’t happen again.”

  “But you know that it—”

  “Okay, Gene, listen,” he put his elbows on the table, “I wanna pass on the lecture this morning. I deserve it, but I don’t have the head or the stomach for it.” He turned back to his plate and continued eating. Gene drained his coffee and held up his cup. Suze came over with the pot and refilled it. Nick waved her off his cup. “Gotta head out. I’ll take the check.”

  “Nick, I got it. No lecture this morning. But I’m coming over tonight with some dinner. I’ll be at your place at six-thirty.”

  “You don’t need to do that. I’ve got to—”

  “Nonsense. I’ll be there. Don’t skip out on me again.” Gene stood to leave.

  Nick reached for his elbow, “You know how you told me that story about how you could have crazy dreams when you tied one on?”

  “Sure. Had some real doozies. Can still remember a few.”

  “Well, sit down for another minute and listen to this, ‘cause it happened to me last night. I dreamed I was flying.”

  Gene sat down, “You mean like flying a plane?”

  “Nope. Flying like flapping my arms, except more like gliding. And it felt spectacular. I’ve had these flying dreams before, but this one was better. I could really turn and rise and fall.

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “It was but it got weird. I was flying over this elementary school and I could see everything going on inside the school.”

  “How did you know it was an elementary school?”

  “I flew over the sign at the front of the school. It said ‘Baptista’ or something like that.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “Batistica, that’s it. Batistica Elementary. And it was warm and there were palm trees underneath me. Really beautiful. But all of a sudden, it got shitty. I watched this guy walk into the school with guns and I tried to yell to stop him. But it was like I was frozen because I couldn’t move toward him. Then the guy goes into a school bathroom, changes clothes. While he’s in there, a teacher walks in, and he shoots the teacher. God, it was terrible.”

  “What happened after that?”

  “Woke up.”

  “Interesting. Flying through the air and then a school shooting. So you never had any kinda dream like that before?” Nick shook his head. Gene removed his John Deere cap and ran his fingers through his thinning gray hair. “Do you think the dream means anything?”

  “I doubt it.”

  “I’ve have dreams that are wild and crazy, especially after I had tied one on, but I’ve never had one where I was flying. Dreams are always screwy anyway because you can’t remember most of what happened.” He stood up.

  “That’s for sure. Weird how that happens with dreams.”

  Gene put his hand on his shoulder. “Don’t forget about tonight. I’m here for you.”

  “Thanks man.”

  ***

  He unlocked his apartment door and the smell of tequila wafted into his nostrils. There were many times when he’d have a couple of margaritas the morning after a big one, just to clear the cobwebs out. This could easily be one of those mornings. But his head no longer throbbed, his stomach was full, and so he grabbed the empty bottle and threw it in the trash. Had to keep his head on straight if he was going to get this problem fixed. Damn Laskin kid. It was time to rise above, to get things straightened out. The kid had been trouble all year. Fights. Insults hurled at staff members. One suspension. The kid got under his skin. Should’ve seen it coming.

  He lay on the couch and kicked his shoes off. The blanket he used to cover the fifteen year old couch was spotted with stains and smelled like a locker room. He pulled it on top of him and closed his eyes, trying to clear his thoughts. The morning after a big one, the main thing on his mind was sex. Unless he got relief, he’d spend the entire day distracted. He called it a ‘hornover,’ a nickname left over from a marriage that had ended seven years earlier. His ex-wife was always eager to celebrate his condition. He’d been mostly sober since then, only falling off the wagon four times.

  Allison floated into his thoughts like a sexual pixie, dropping fairy dust all over his body. She had gorgeous long, auburn hair, big green eyes, and freckled skin. She also had the loveliest heart-shaped ass he had ever seen and she enjoyed prancing around his apartment in just a dress shirt, or maybe nothing at all, just to catch his eye. Something she never failed to do.

  Too bad she wasn’t prancing around now. But then again, she had broken things off with him the last time he’d fallen off the wagon. It was better she didn’t know. He slid his hand under the blanket and unzipped his pants. This would be a solo event. His favorite fantasy involved her in the starring role as the naughty school girl…

  She was wearing a plaid mini-skirt with a white dress shirt unbuttoned to her navel, revealing a black pushup bra. Her nipples were visible through the sheer fabric. Her hair was pulled up in pigtails. She had on black penny loafers with long white socks. After she stepped into his office, she lowered the shades and locked his door. “Oh Principal Nick, I’m afraid that I’ve been very, very naughty. I hope that you won’t be too upset with me…”

  ***

  “Nick, wake up,” Gene punched his shoulder.

  Nick forced his eyes to open. “What, uh, oh shit. Gene, umm, what time is it?”

  “It’s four o’clock. We gotta talk.” Nick rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. He sat up on the couch and ran his fingers through his hair. Gene paced in front of him.

  “What the hell are you doing here? We’re not meeting up until later.”

  “I know, I know. The door was open, you didn’t answer. You got me a little worried, you know. But we gotta talk. Something bad went down today, while you were sleeping. I’ve never seen anything like this. This is some bizarre—“

  Nick held up his hand. “Slow down, man.” He pointed at a chair, “Sit down. You’re moving too fast for me. What’s up?”

  Gene sat down. His feet tapped the floor. “School shooting in Florida. Couple people dead.”

  “Yeah, so aren’t we all getting used to that? You gotta wake me up for that?”

  “No go, Joe. This is too messed up, even for an old guy like me. This shooting was at a school called Batistica Elementary.”

  “Hilarious, man. Make fun of the hungover alcoholic.”

  “I shit you not, my man. Not only did it happen at the school you said was in your dream, but also the first person shot was a teacher who had walked into a bathroom where the shooter was putting on his gear.”

  Nick shook his head. “What? Gene, this isn’t funny.” He stood up, brushed off his pants, and walked into the kitchen. “You want some water? I’m dry as the desert.”

  “Yeah, bring me some.” Nick filled the glasses and Gene switched on CNN. He handed over a glass and sat down.

  They both watched as the details of the shooting were discussed. The first person killed was a teacher who had walked into the bathroom where the shooter was doing his prep work. From there, the shooter had turned into the near
est classroom, a fourth grade class, and opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon. Two students dead, three injured. Two teachers surprised the shooter from behind and were able to subdue him. While being held in the classroom, the shooter took his life with a gun hidden in a boot holster. All of the normal discussions were taking place: Why did this happen? Who was the shooter? Who were the victims? The anchors struggled to provide answers. There would be a police news conference shortly. The governor was in route.

  Gene pointed at the TV, “I wasn’t messing with you. Your dream came true! I’m in my car, listening to Public Radio, and bam! There’s no other school in the country with the name Batistica Elementary. I looked it up on the internet. And remember the palm trees? It’s Florida. God, at least it looks like it wasn’t as bad as Sandy Hook. That goddamn freak in Newtown killed twenty-six people, most of ‘em just little kids.”

  Nick closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch. His dream had come true? What the hell had happened? His mind rushed through the pieces of the dream he still retained. Bits flashed behind his closed eyelids, a gun, a bathroom, a school building below him, and the sign. That’s all there was, fragments. Like everyone, the memory of the dream seemed to disappear just as quickly as the dream itself.

  “Nick? Are you hearing me?” Nick opened his eyes. Gene was standing over him.

  “Sorry, Gene. Give me a minute on this.”

  “Has this happened before?”

  “Never. Well, I mean I’ve gotten shit-faced before and had some weird dreams, but nothing has ever come true.”

  “It’s really freaky. I could say something like it’s just a coincidence, but the details you described were so specific. Like the school name, ‘Batistica.’ I mean, if you dreamed about some school named Jones, or Smith, or Van Buren, or something like that, and then there’s a shooting, well, that’s just interesting. But this is different. You saw this thing and you told me about it before it went down.” Nick nodded and took a long drink from his glass. “Two kids died. Fourth graders. When is the bullshit going to stop? Columbine? Virginia Tech? Little kids dying at Sandy Hook?”