Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Caspian took a deep breath, working the man’s words around in his mind. “I remember bein’ envious. She poured so much time into y’all… so yes, I remember you. You were the other man…”
Their gazes hooked as Caspian leaned forward.
“I had an entire list of questions memorized in my head, but I think I want to go a different path. Can I just cut right to the chase?” Caspian asked, clasping his hands.
“Mmm hmmm.”
“Why didn’t you and Mrs. Florence have any children of your own?”
“She couldn’t keep no pregnancy down.” He grimaced. “Thangs would be fine the first few months or so, and then she’d miscarry. I can’t remember how many times my wife was pregnant. We’d lost count. Each time she lost a baby though, a little bit of her soul died wit’ it. Got to the point we stopped tryin’. She was sick of bein’ disappointed. That’s when she got more homed in on y’all. Her students. She told me, ‘If I can’t birth my own baby, that means God will give me children another way. He gives us the desires of our heart. Sometimes, we just got to find His answer and not the one we think it should be.’ She was smart that way… It took me a while longer to accept it, but eventually I did. She loved her students.”
“And we loved her. I didn’t have a teacher like her before meeting her and haven’t had one like her since. I’ve gotten many degrees and accreditations. Not once have I stumbled across another Mrs. Florence. Not in high school. Undergrad. Master’s program. Nothin’. By the way, the other two boys of the Brother Disciples were my friends. One of them, Legend—the skinny one who liked to fight. He’s just become a father today actually, his first child. I just left the hospital where I went to see the baby. And the other one, who had problems with his father and anger issues, is Axel. All three of us have our own business ventures and by most standards, we’re successful. We owe it to your wife. She saved our lives.”
Tearing up, the old man grabbed the napkin and dabbed at his eyes. “Well, that’s a real nice thing to say, but not surprisin’. Congratulations on furtherin’ your education,” he said with a nod, then opened his bottle of water, nice and slow.
“Thank you. Mrs. Florence encouraged me to pursue journalism. Writing. The news. She knew that’s where my passion lay. In particular, crime stories.”
“Like I said, son, I ain’t too good wit’ names. My wife told me a lot about a lot of different folks that passed through her classroom, but y’all,” he pointed at him, his eyes narrowed, “…y’all changed her forever. I remember it. She was dedicated to makin’ sure y’all ended up okay. Now I know part of it was because she knew she was sick, and she wanted to help y’all reach your goals. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but she saw the three of you as her children, as if she birthed you herself. She’d cry over y’all… upset if one of you was hurtin’. She’d be excited when you achieved something, too.”
“She was, in some ways, the mother we never had. So yeah, Mrs. Florence did in fact have children. Three Sons. She treated us as such. So besides the fertility problems, and us being troubled, why do you think she focused so much on me, Axel, and Legend?” He smoothed out his shirt and took a deep breath, feeling a bit warmer than what was comfortable.
“She said smart kids do incredibly bad things if left unattended.” He could feel the vein throbbing on the side of his head. “She said the three of y’all scored real high on your tests, ’specially the ones that were geared towards academic achievement. Testin’ aptitude. Did you know my wife was one of the first Black women here in Kentucky to get accepted into Mensa, Caspian?”
“No… I didn’t.”
“Mmmm hmmm, well, she was. Smartest damn woman, person, period I’d ever gotten close to.”
“May I ask about your own education? Is that what drew you two together? The love of learning?”
“Oh, no, no, no.” The old man chuckled. “I’m just a blue-collar man. I’ve worked hard my whole life. Moved here from Tennessee wit’ my pappy, mama and six brothers ’nd sisters when I was eight. I was the youngest. The brawn. Millicent was the brains. She wasn’t no jerk about it though. Never tried to show me up or embarrass me. Never threw her smarts in my face. Sometimes it was hard bein’ married to someone so smart, regardless, though. So observant. Couldn’t get nothin’ past ’er, I tell you that much!”
“Where did you work while you two were married?”
“I worked in factories our entire marriage. Made decent money at some of ’em. Enough to take care of my wife and me just fine. She was in school while I worked. She’d get scholarships, grants, and thangs like that. We didn’t have much expendable income, but I always tried to help and make sure she got ’er books. I figured it would be our way outta poverty—and it was. Gettin’ her education, and me supportin’ her as she did. Learnin’ was so important to Millicent. She wanted to travel, you know? And we did a little. Went to England one time… what a thrill.” He grinned. “She wanted to learn new languages and to help children most of all, encourage them to live the life she wished she’d had. She taught about the past, Caspian, but she did it to help with y’alls future. History ain’t always just history.”