Marked

The events of the day had Rosario’s mind wheeling. Starting at midnight it seemed like things had gotten really strange really quickly and only escalated from there. She wanted desperately to feel like she was taking control of the direction of her life, but it seemed like the universe had another plan entirely. Was being normal really too much to ask? She just wanted a regular job, a regular house, and a regular family. That’s it.

Rosario idly fingered the small white beads of the rosary hanging around her neck, trying to make sense of the unnatural direction her life had moved into so quickly. With a sigh she tucked the necklace back into her loose black muscle shirt and stepped out of her old pickup. She wore black converse knock-offs that had faded to a dark grey over time, and above that were cut off jean shorts that loosely fit her thighs. Her dark, wavy hair hung free today, the gentle breeze picking up stray strands and playing with them. The day was still just as beautiful as before, but there simply wasn’t enough time for her to stop and be able to appreciate nature.

The heavy truck door slammed with a sense of finality. Rosario drew up proudly, gave her head a little toss, and started towards the big double doors that led into the foyer of Westbrook High School. Today she would make the first adult decision of her life and she was confident it would be the right one, though she knew many would disagree. However, Rosario was determined to prove them, and everyone else who had ever doubted her, very wrong. First she just had to take charge of her own life.

With a sense of purpose Rosario stepped up to the front desk of the school office, and the lady behind it immediately turned a frown her way. “Miss Santos,” the curt woman asked with a hint of displeasure, “What can I do for you?” Mrs. Nelson was familiar with Rosario and her situation because it often caused problems with her schooling. The woman had dealt with many unpleasant situations involving foster parents and incidents, which left her rather unfriendly toward the one she considered the cause of such inconveniences.

Rosario practically smirked at the woman as she nonchalantly stated, “I’d like to withdraw from school. Can I have the paperwork, please?”

Mrs. Nelson blinked with surprise before she began shuffling around in her drawers to retrieve the packet. “Withdrawal? Are you sure? You’ll have to speak with your student councilor, of course,” she prattled on, “She’s in her office right now if you’d like to do so. You’re in your senior year, Rosario…”

Taking the proffered packet, Rosario simply smiled at the woman and walked away without another word. She went further into the group of offices until she stood outside her student councilor’s door, which was open, but the heavyset woman inside was staring intently at her computer screen. She didn’t notice her thick glasses had slid down to the end of her long nose and now balanced there precariously. Rosario cleared her throat and knocked quietly on the door.

Mrs. Robins jumped a bit in her chair and blinked up at the student standing in the doorway after she pushed her glasses back on. She let out a surprised laugh and waved Rosario in eagerly, chirping, “Sit, child, sit!” Once she was settled in the woman asked her, “What can I do for you, Miss Santos?” Rosario simply placed the withdrawal packet on the desk and slid it over to her councilor. The woman stared at the first page for a few moments, sighed, and steepled her long fingers in front of color stained lips. She was all business now as she scrutinized the teenager sitting defiantly in her office.

“I can’t say I didn’t see this coming,” Mrs. Robins said, her tone very even, “I know you have had a rough time staying focused on school because of your personal life, and no one blames you for that. Things have been tough and I understand. But you don’t need to throw away your future just because you’ve turned eighteen and feel powerful.”

Rosario instantly felt a mixture of pride and anger flare in her chest, but she tried to keep her eyes from narrowing. It was a struggle to keep her voice light as she replied, “I understand, Mrs. Robins, but this is my decision. I’ve thought about it for a long time and I feel like this is the right thing for me to do.” It was difficult for her to feel normal in this school, where students and faculty both knew her story and treated her differently because of it. She wanted to leave her previous life behind and get a fresh start, but she couldn’t do that if she remained in this school.

Staring at her for a few hard moments, Mrs. Robins finally dropped her hands to the table and leaned back in her chair. “I would normally make it much harder for a student to drop out, but I understand that your situation is different. Just do one thing for me, Miss Santos? While I do my half of the paperwork I want you to go and speak with Mr. Everidge, see what his take is on the whole situation. Come back here afterwards and let me know if you still want to go through with this.”

That was the opposite of what Rosario hoped would happen. Roy Everidge was Westbrook High School’s auto shop teacher, Rosario’s mentor and shoulder to lean on, and… well, he was married to Linda, her social worker of eighteen years. His opinion would be difficult for her to hear, especially because she’d been listening to his wise albeit unusual advice for many years. Roy was retired from the Army and had an entirely different outlook on life than most people, but he was able to connect to the girl in a way no one else had. He was practically her father figure and had taken on the role with a sense of pride, as he and Linda had no children of their own.

Feeling much more deflated, Rosario walked slowly to the old warehouse garage that served as the school’s auto building. She tried not to drag her feet and let her head hang, but it was hard not to feel like this battle was over when it had hardly begun. She knew what Roy would say, along with some infinitely wise and unconventional reason why it related to her life. It was hard to deny his logic when he always seemed to be perfectly able to connect it to her personal situation.



“Wait, that’s it?” Rosario asked incredulously.

Roy nodded his head simply and said, “Yep.”

Rosario stared at the closest thing to a father she had ever had and tried not to look as surprised as she felt. Roy Everidge was a tall, solid man who remained in fairly good shape despite being in his late forties. He enlisted in the Army at seventeen and retired twenty-six years later after seeing active combat and numerous tours overseas. It left him with a few odd habits and an outlook on life that differed from anyone Rosario had ever met, which was why she respected him so much. He understood that bad things happened you couldn’t control and sometimes you experienced things that left you changed and scarred.

Roy had enjoyed collecting his pension for several years before boredom drove him out of retirement to do two things he loved – work on cars and help young people find their place in life. As an experienced leader in military service he had been able to affect many young men and women’s lives in a positive way and help them grow as people. He missed it, and decided that teaching high school would give him the opportunity to continue helping shape the younger generation. Being married to a social worker with the same passion gave him a unique opportunity to take part in some of his less fortunate student’s lives, and Rosario had been one of those people.

Roy was tanned and leathery from years spent in the sun and his broad shoulders had a look of strength to them. His hazel eyes held kindness and had a friendly way of crinkling up in the corners when he smiled, which was often. His full head of hair was dark black once but now was beginning to show signs of graying, and his 5’oclock shadow had traces of salt and pepper coloring in it. Roy’s hands were calloused from work and usually grease stained along with the pair of coveralls he wore to keep his regular clothes clean. He and Linda were opposites, but had a marriage so beautiful, loving, and balanced that it made Rosario smile just thinking about the two of them.

Rosario had explained the situation and her reasons behind it to Roy, expecting him to rebuff her and convince her to finish out her remaining year in school. Instead he had simply listened silently, nodded for a few moments to himself, and told her that he supported her decision entirely. “I thought you would tell me to stay in school,” Rosario mumbled, ashamed that she was feeling a bit betrayed by his haste to side with her.

Roy offered a gentle smile and put a large, reassuring hand on her small shoulder. “I may not agree with your decision to quit school,” he rumbled in a deep voice, “but I understand that this is something you need to do. I had to beg my dad to let me join the Army, and since I was seventeen it was his signature that got me in. He knew it was something I had to do and it ended up being the best decision I could’ve made for myself.” He paused for a moment and brought his hand to rub thoughtfully at the whiskers growing on his face. “This may not be the same thing, but if you think you need to do it then who am I to tell you no?”

Affection welled up in her heart for the grizzly man and Rosario couldn’t help but throw her arms around him in a tight hug. He pat her back gently for a few moments before she pulled away, smiling. He seemed a bit embarrassed at the hug but covered it quickly by asking, “What do you plan on doing?”

“Well,” Rosario hastily replied, “I’m going to get a job and find a place to live. I can stay in my truck until then, it’s not a big deal.”

His brows furrowed together in concern at the excitement in her voice. She had no job, no money, no family, and no where to stay. “Do you have any interviews lined up?”

Rosario could’ve come up with the name of any place, but she didn’t want to lie to the man. “No,” she stated simply.

“Wait here for a minute,” Roy said as he stood up and left the room.

At least fifteen minutes passed of Rosario twiddling her thumbs and looking around the currently empty classroom awkwardly. She wondered if maybe he changed his mind and decided she should stay in school. After all, anyone would be able to see that she was ill prepared for the entire situation. Finally he came back and sat on top of his desk, giving her a firm look.

“I worked with a kid in my last tour to Afghanistan. He was tough, a good soldier, and he became a great man in the thick of it over there. Anyways, he took over his grandpa’s car shop here in town when he got out of the service. Says he could use the help if you’d like to work there.” Roy said it so nonchalantly, like he hadn’t just done her a huge favor. He did have the decency to look a little abashed, though, as she thanked him profusely and gave him another hug.

Rosario had a place to start and it was easy for her to forget all about the weird events of the day while she was driving to meet her new boss.