Dorsai - Full Circle

Put that way, she was giving me a lot to think about. And she knew it, because she promptly shut up and left me to do just that: think.

I was still mulling things over when we went to bed that night, and picked it up again the next morning. It wasn't until we took a break for some lunch that I told her "Okay, Kelly – you're right. We do need to help the special ones, precisely because they are special. Invite them over, and we can start getting to know them. But we take it only as far as is safe, right?"

"Right. I don't want to put our kids and our lives in jeopardy any more than you do – less even, I think", she replied, then continued by telling me "I can call Jan and have her tell them to meet me after my next class, and set things up with them then. I'll tell them that if any of their parents have any questions or anything, they can call us, okay?"

I smiled and answered "Of course. Kelly, I'm sorry if I made you think that I didn't want to help them. It's just that we have a family, now, and I don't want to risk that life any more than is absolutely necessary."

Kelly smiled back at me and said "I know, Dan. I'm not willing to put our family in danger, either – but that doesn't mean that we have to stop helping these kids."

With that out of the way, both of us leaned forward to share a kiss before finishing our lunch. When we got back to the office, Kelly made the phone call to Jan and got an assurance that the girls would be there after Kelly's next class.

The next week, Kelly got back to the office and told me that she'd gotten things scheduled with the girls – they would be at our place around 5:00 the following Saturday. At our house, Saturday mornings were devoted to cartoons, with early afternoons dedicated to a few hours at a nearby park for the whole family. That left the late afternoon and evening free for other things.

That Saturday, Marilyn took the kids to see a movie so that Kelly and I would be able to devote our time and attention to our visitors, without having to worry about the kids interrupting things.

It was just a minute or so before the scheduled time when Mabel, my home automation and control system, let us know we had visitors – a quick check of the video camera at the front door let us know that it was our guests. Kelly went to let them in, and then led them into the den where I was sitting. I stood up to greet them as Kelly introduced us:

First off were Crissy and Sheri Rigney – identical (or appearing so, at first meeting) redheaded twins. Both were probably 5-8, medium-framed, and nicely curved.

They were followed by Evelyn Galvan – a slender black girl, 5 feet 6 inches tall.

After her was Bonita Delgado – Hispanic, she was the tallest of the bunch at 5-10 and noticeably more buxom than the others.

Last, and certainly not least, was Claire Li – Chinese, slender, and no more than 5-6, with a smallish – but still noticeable – bust.

Since my class at the school was more popular with the boys – just as Kelly's was a favorite of the girls – I didn't recognize any of the names or the girls. But I was politely friendly with all of them, and asked them to have a seat. All of them seemed exceptionally nervous – the feeling I got was that they were all more than a little in awe of me. I was still (in)famous at the school as the person that had gotten the previous administrator fired after involving the Bishop and threatening to sue the church. Nobody at the school knew quite what to make of the fact that the Bishop and I had gone on to become friendly, or that Kelly and I were teaching classes there.

When they were seated, Kelly went to get some drinks for all of us – sodas for the girls, coffee for me and her – as I chatted with them, trying to get them relaxed. When they realized that the rumors they'd heard about me just might be a trifle exaggerated, they settle down considerably. By the time Kelly got back, I'd even managed to draw a laugh from them.

Once everybody had something to drink available, Kelly was the first one to speak up by telling them "I know the five of you are probably a little nervous about being here" – getting nods from all of them – "but there's nothing for you to worry about. I know Dan has a little bit of a reputation at the school as some kind of big, mean monster – but you've probably already figured out that he's not like that. And you already know what I'm like."

The five of them shared a look before Evelyn told us "We were a little scared about being here – I mean, we've heard about what Mister Marshall is like in classes, but we also heard about him and the Bishop and everything, so we didn't know what to believe." She graced me with a smile and added "I think I believe the things I hear from the kids in his classes more than I do the rumors – I think he's pretty nice."

Kelly smiled and told them "That's right, he is. That's why he's here – because he agreed when I asked him if WE could be the ones that you talk to about all the things that you told me about last week."

I added something to the conversation by telling them "You don't have to call me 'Mr. Marshall' either. None of you is in any of my or Kelly's classes, so you can just call us Dan and Kelly. I think that would be easier on all of us, if we're going to have the kind of talks that I expect we'll be having."

Bonita spoke up then, telling me "I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, Mr… I mean, Dan, but the things that we wanted to talk to… Kelly about were, uh, pretty much girl kinds of stuff."

Kelly answered for me by telling them "You don't have to be afraid of talking with Dan. In fact, I think you'll find out that he's one of the best people you can talk to – about anything. In fact, he's the one that I went to, to help me learn about the same kinds of things that you were asking me."

Seeing the looks of doubt on their faces, she told them "Really, its true. When I was your age – and going to the same school! – there were several of us that were having the same problems and same questions you do. It was because Dan was the adopted uncle of one of those girls that the rest of us were able to meet him. Before that, though, he helped that girl start learning things – and she began telling us. So by the time we met Dan, we already had a pretty good idea of who he was and what he was like." Kelly laughed, and continued "It wasn't a good enough idea, though – he still surprised the hell out of us by the things that he said; and more importantly, by the things that he did. All of us started thinking about what he'd said, and finally decided that he was right. Once that happened, all of us were willing to ask him all kinds of things because we knew that he wasn't going to laugh at us, make us feel stupid, or anything like that. If you think that I'm smart, and really understand what's happening with you now, its only because Dan helped me get this way. So you most certainly shouldn't be afraid or embarrassed about having him here. Besides, from what you said to me, a lot of what you want to know is about boy-girl stuff; can you think of anybody better to ask about what a guy thinks than a guy?" That last part made all of them smile a little bit.

I followed what Kelly had told them by adding "The only rule about what happens here between all of us is that it stays between all of us. Kelly and I aren't going to talk to anyone else about what anyone here says or does, and we expect you to keep that trust, too. You can talk about it with each other, but no one else. If you can't do that, or don't think you can, or you don't think that's fair, then Kelly and I will ask you not to come back again."

Again, the five of them looked at each other before Crissy (Sheri?) spoke up, telling us "I don't have any problem with that, Dan and Kelly. If you're willing and able to talk to me, and answer questions and such, then I'm not going to do or say anything about it to anyone else. Besides…"