Her dad agreed. “She’s right, Sharon. While some of the student population is different in the different schools, all schools have the same problems because all of society has those problems.”
“Exactly!” she nodded. “Drugs, teen pregnancies, hormones, parties… all of these things are present throughout all of society, therefore are represented in the schools.”
Her mother huffed. “I’m not saying they’re not, but at least at St. Vincent’s, the class sizes are smaller. They aren’t overcrowded like at North Central.”
“True, but I feel like I’m making a difference there and have no intention of jumping ship just because of a little incident.”
Her mother opened her mouth, but Colm placed his hand on her arm. Sharon smiled and leaned over to hug Caitlyn. “Okay, dear. I know when I need to hush. Come on, Colm, we’ve got some shopping to do.”
Saying goodbye, she leaned back against the solid wood after closing the door behind them. Sighing heavily, she pushed off and grabbed her coffee cup, taking another sip of the caffeine nectar. Her thoughts were in turmoil and the dull ache in her face didn’t make her situation any better. A knock on her door startled her. Throwing it open, she smiled.
“Margaretha, good morning.”
“Hmph, by the looks of you, it’s not such a good morning!”
Margaretha Rossi, her landlady, pushed her way in. At only a little over five feet tall, she was wiry and energetic. At eighty-two, she wore her white hair long, the waves hanging down her back, and colored a stripe in purple right next to her face. Her closet was full of velour athletic pants and matching zip-up hoodies, and today’s ensemble included a fuschia set paired with a pale pink t-shirt. Her makeup was on, slashes of pink on her cheeks and lips. Despite her garments, she always wore a pair of pearl earrings given to her by her late husband, the explanation being, “My mother always said a lady wore pearls.”
Her eyes narrowed as she peered at Caitlyn carefully then reached up to grab her chin, tilting her head to the left and right, inspecting the damage. “Quite a shiner, dearie.”
“Yeah, well, you should see the other guy.”
Margaretha laughed at Caitlyn’s quip and shook her head. “Breaking up a fight at school?” At Caitlyn’s nod, Margaretha nodded. “Hmph. Probably over a girl. Boys can be such dumbasses.”
A snort of laughter erupted. “So, what brings you up here this morning?”
“Saw your parents come early. Saw your parents leave. And I may have had my window open and heard your mom grumbling. Figured something was up.”
“You’re quite the sneaky one, aren’t you?”
“Nothing sneaky about it! Just sitting at my window, enjoying God’s beautiful morning, and ascertained something was afoot at your place.”
Caitlyn barked out a laugh. “Afoot? Who talks like that?”
“I do, for one. That’s part of the problem today. Young people just use slang for everything.” Margaretha sat down on Caitlyn’s sofa, accepting the cup of tea brought to her. Nodding toward the Penelope’s bag, she said, “My scones are better, you know. So is your baking.”
“Yes, I know. But lacking your culinary delights and not feeling the energy to do anything myself, I had to make do with the next best thing.”
Margaretha’s face crinkled into a hundred creases as she laughed, and Caitlyn delighted in the sight and sound of her landlady’s mirth.
Finally, Margaretha leaned forward and patted her leg. “You should take up kickboxing. Or some of that tai-kwan-doey stuff.”
“I’m not sure I can use martial arts in school to break up a fight.”
“Hmph,” Margaretha huffed again, settling back on the sofa cushions. “Well, what are we doing today?”
Before she had a chance to tell her that resting was all she had planned, another knock on the door sounded. This time she opened it to Terri and Bjorn Sorensen, the downstairs renters. Stepping back to let them in, she was surprised when Terri pulled her into a hug. Terri was about the same height as Caitlyn while Bjorn towered over all of them. His white-blond hair hung to his shoulders, and he was wearing his typical tie-dyed t-shirt. He was only in his thirties, but she could have sworn his soul belonged to the hippies of the 1960s. Terri’s long brown hair was braided and hung to her waist. She was much more casually dressed in jeans and a green T-shirt, but her wrists were decorated with bangles and leather bracelets, making noise as her hand patted Catilyn’s back.
“I just knew something was wrong. Bjorn said he saw you come home late yesterday, and even though the hall was shadowed, he felt something was wrong with your aura.”
“No, it’s more like something was wrong with my face,” Caitlyn said, grinning at Margaretha over Terri’s shoulder.
Bjorn patted her shoulder and said, “We brought you some of our special tea. This will make you feel so much better.” He hustled into her kitchen and, seeing the kettle already warm, looked up and smiled. “See, you knew tea was coming and your subconscious was ready.”
“You two are nutty,” Margaretha said, but her smile indicated she cared for her tenants.
Sitting down to Bjorn’s tea, Caitlyn inclined her head toward the cup. “So, is this your new venture?”
He laughed and clapped his hands. “Of course! T&B tea to go along with our T&B candles, potpourri, incense, and jewelry!”
“I told him it was good we’d named our business T&B because to have B&T tea, would sound like we were selling piss!”
Caitlyn and Margaretha spit out their sips of tea at the same time, laughter filling the air. “You two really are nutty,” she said, repeating Margaretha’s description.
The foursome chatted about Terri and Bjorn’s new line of tea to sell along with their other items. They sold online, went to a local market, and Caitlyn had taken some of the scented candles and potpourri to school to sell for them as well.
The conversation came around to the empty apartment, and Margaretha simply beamed. “I have someone in mind, but they haven’t committed.” She sat up straighter and glanced at her watch. “Oh, I hate to run, but RoseMarie is picking me up soon to take me to the golf course.”
Caitlyn blinked, ignoring the pain in her eye at the motion. “I didn’t know you golfed.”
“I don’t yet. But RoseMarie met two gentlemen that said they’d teach us.”
Caitlyn’s teeth worried her lip, but Margaretha smiled and patted her hand. “Stop fretting. It’ll give you wrinkles before your time.”
“I just don’t want you to get fleeced by two men who prey on ol… um… more mature women.”
Margaretha cackled. “Oh, honey. They’re older than RoseMarie and me. But she said they still had some swing in their hips! I think that should help with their golf game, don’t you?”
Having no response other than to offer wide eyes toward a giggling Terri and Bjorn, she nodded. Kissing the older woman’s cheek before she left, Caitlyn then said goodbye to the others. “I’ll come down sometime this weekend and help you pack up some of your candles and potpourri if you’d like.” Between their online sales and direct deliveries, they stayed busy, and Caitlyn sometimes helped them box their products and they gave her free samples. Considering she loved the scents, now that they were adding tea, she was hoping to be a taste tester for them as well.