Mafia and his Angel

Family

Kelly

I love my job, I love moulding the minds of children, I work as a school teacher at Whitehall Primary school in stockport. Primary school teachers are involved with the social, emotional, intellectual, physical and moral development of the pupils in their class. They ensure that children have good numeracy and literacy levels before going to secondary school. I’ve been here for about 5 years now and when I started I was given a year 5 class because they're previous teacher had a heart attack and couldn't return to work. I followed those kids to year 6 and saw those students go off to highschool and I was so proud of them and myself for getting them through it. 

Once those kids left school i was given a new reception class, so i started teaching 4 year olds which i obviously never done before and at first i was sort of winging it but now they’re in year 3 now and are a bunch of amazing little people, they have the most amazing personalities and i couldn't imagine doing anything else. 

“Miss Peters?” a little voice shouts me from the back of the room, i look up to find a little hand waving in the air for my attention. I walk over to the little girl with blonde pigtails

“Yes Darcy?” i crouch down at the table she's sat at

“I don’t understand these fractions” she points to her paper that i had given them at the start of the maths class. 

“Ok is anyone else having trouble?” I said to the whole class. I have about 35 children in my class that I teach. Almost all the class put their hands up to say they are struggling with the test paper. We started fractions at the start of the year and it did take us longer than it should have to figure it out but they managed to get it. This is the first time i have tested the children with them though

“Right everyone, let's have a quick recap. If we have 4/8ths can we make that into a smaller fraction?” i ask, they all stare at me with wide eyes  

“Yes we can, we can half it so that would be 2/4’s and then we can half it again so ½. Now you can make this into a decimal, does someone know what that is?” i look out at the children, Nick puts his hand up and i point at him

“0.5?” he answers

“Well done Nick exactly.” I smile at him and he beams at me, this is why I do it. To get the satisfaction that they learn something new everyday and they take it and become amazing adults. 

“Does everyone understand?” I ask again, lots of little heads nodding up and down. “Ok everyone try and finish your test” 

They all look back at their papers and start writing, they obviously just needed a reminder of how to do it. The children this year are very clever, everything I've thrown at them has been accepted head on and they take on every challenge I give them and they never disappoint me. Of course I have my naughty kids and my trouble makers but even they are picking everything up. Their personalities are so fascinating and it's such a treasure to watch them all grow and glow. 

The school bell makes me jump out of my thoughts, I stand up in front of the kids who have already started to get their coats on.

“Ok kids. Hope you all have a lovely weekend and I'll see you all again on monday'' I wave bye to my kids and watch them run up to their parents and caregivers and leave the school grounds. 

I pick up all the kids' tests and stack them in my folder, I'll take them home to mark them. 

“Hey Kelly” my fellow teacher Katy walks into my classroom “are you coming to the pub with us?” She asks me every Friday and I usually always say no but there's only a few more weeks left at school, I can afford to let my hair down for once. 

“Sure, let me just clean up my classroom and i’ll meet you there” i reply, her eyes light up and she smiles at me then she starts cleaning up my classroom with me

“If i help you’ll be done quicker and then we can both leave together. I can drive us there and then drop you off home”

“Thanks, you don't have to i can just walk or get a taxi”

“Its ok and this way i can make sure you actually come to the pub” she chuckles, we tidy up quickly and leave the school. I get into her beat up polo and she drives to the pub. It's right around the corner from the school and not too far from my flat. I’ve never been here but I've heard it's nice inside. Now I'll find out. We walk in and find a couple of our colleagues already at a table near the bar, they wave us over

“What are you drinking kelly?” I look at Katy, I don't drink much but a few can’t hurt. 

“Gin and lemonade please” i grab my purse but she bats it away

“This is the first time i get you to the pub so i’m not going to let you pay”

“Thanks” I grab my drink and go sit with the others. I look around the table at the other teachers I'm sitting with, there's Katy who started the year before me. Jenny who started last year after she finished university then Dean and Bryan who’ve worked there for more than 10 years. Me and Katy are close and we meet up for lunch at least once a month on a sunday usually, and she's always at my flat eating my food and drinking wine. Not my wine, I can't stand wine but she always brings a bottle, says it's for us and then drinks it all and has to sleep in my spare room. 

The conversation around the table flows easily, we're all teachers so we stick to safe topics like what antics our kids get up to or what our plans are for over the summer. 

“What are you doing over the summer Dean?” i ask

“Me and the wife are finally taking that trip to the states, 6 weeks of touring america, we have it all planned out. Every stop, every hotel, every tourist attraction we can think of. Plus a few beaches in there to keep the wife happy about all the driving.” he laughs “if she gets a tan shell be happy. What about you?” he asks me

“Same as always, i’ll spend a few weeks reading and doing nothing then i’ll spend the rest doing my lesson plans”

“You work too hard Kelly” katy replies

“I know, but I just really love my job. Is it really work if I love it so much and enjoy doing lesson plans?” i laugh

“I suppose not” she hufss “but you need to get a life, this is the first time in 5 years i’ve got you to the pub. You need more of a life, be adventurous or your going to die alone and get eaten by cats”

“Why eaten by cats?” i stare at her, she shrug her shoulders and laughs at me

“Its what happens to spinsters who die”

“I am not a spinster, i’m not even 30 yet” I protest but i know what she means, i don't go out, i don't socialise. I don't really have any friends anymore, they all moved away or we drifted apart when I was doing my PGCE. Doing that took a lot of my time up and i didnt have any left to see friends, some stuck around but were not that close anymore. Maybe I should reach out to some of them and try to make plans. “Anyway, what are you doing this summer?”

“I’m going on a 4 week cruise with Grant” she acts all smug but I pull a face at the mention of her boyfriend Grant. He hasn't done anything wrong. I just think she can do better, so much better. Grants a personal trainer and has issues with Katy eating any food that he hasn't prepared himself, he's so controlling and rude but she loves him. Maybe I only see the bad side of him.

“That sounds fun Katy” Jenny replies

“Yeah, me and Grant are super excited about it. Just 4 weeks of quality time together. We’ve both been working so hard that we deserve this” she smiles. I nod my head and finish my drink. 

“Are you ready to go Katy?” I ask, she downs her drink and grabs her coat “Bye guys have a nice weekend” I wave at the others, Katy hands out hugs and kisses and then we leave the pub. I get into her car with a small buzz. It was nice to let my hair down and hang out with some friends. I’d forgotten what it was like to enjoy life. Maybe I should start doing it more often, maybe I'll accept Katy's offer of going to the pub more often. 

“Kelly?” i snap out of my thoughts, i look at Katy and she looks concerned

“What's up?” i look around and notice we've arrived at my flat “Oh we’re here. Thank you”

“Wait” she grabs my hand “who's that?” She points to my front door. There's someone standing on my porch, their face is half covered and they’re slouching a lot. They're wearing a thin blue coat, distressed blue jeans and some heavy boots. I try to look at the face more closely and try to recall where I know this guy from. He seems familiar but I'm having a hard time remembering. I open the door. Katy grabs my arm and pulls me back

“It’s fine, I'm just going to see what he wants. You can wait here until you know i’m safe” i smile

“Fine,” she nods. I get out of the car and walk up to the figure on my porch. The figure turns towards me as I approach my porch and I get a better look at the face. My brain short circuits at the person standing in front of me. What the hell are they doing here? They look as terrible as I remember them.

“Hey cupcake” he smiles at me with barely any teeth left in his mouth. That voice sends a shiver down my spine. 

“What do you want, John?” i fold my arms

“Can’t I just come to see you?”

“No, you can't.” i huff at him, why the hell was he here? We had a deal, he would stay out of my life and I would pay for his rent.

“Can we talk inside?” he asks and I glare at him, if i let him in, he might not leave or he might steal from me. It's happened before. “Please” he gives me sympathetic eyes and 10 years ago they would have worked but i’m immune to them now. I need to get rid of him and I know he won't leave until he comes in and says what he needs to say.

“Fine, let me just tell my friend she can leave” i turn and walk back to the car, she rolls down the window 

“Everything ok?” she asks, she looks really concerned and i would rather not tell her about my dad but i guess all good things come to an end.

“Yeah everything is fine” i smile

“Who is that?” she asks

“It’s my dad” I hear her gasp at me. I don't speak about my family for good reason. The sorry state of a man who is standing at my door is my father. “I’ll call you tomorrow” I smile and walk away from the car. I faintly hear her say I better and then she drives off. I get my keys out,

“Come on, let's get this over with” I say as I let him into my flat.