Susan knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Even at ten years old the child was…she did not know what she was. She was simply like no other child she had ever seen. She had a way of looking at you. It was equal parts knowing contempt, mischief, and…love. There was no other word for it.
When she wasn’t being a weretiger, the child could purr in a way that most eventually found endearing. Except Dickens. She got a sour twist in her stomach whenever she thought of that man. He got his position by being able to keep a school slightly below budget.
He did this by cutting wherever he could. The music department had held on at Koenig High longer than at most. It was her pet department. She held on as long as she could.
Until Dickens. She thought the job was hers. And by all rights it ought to be. Dickens knew it too. He liked to do little power plays like this morning – just to show he was the man. She tried not to enjoy the warm feeling that came over her whenever she thought about how effectively she had surgically removed and served him his own testicles.
She just wasn’t that good of a human being. She laughed. She wondered when they would grow back to a sufficiently large enough size to call her into his office again. He couldn’t get rid of her and they both knew it.
She figured two weeks.
And she didn’t know if she could do it. Mathilda had an unerring knack to see what might bother you the most – and then delighted in stabbing you with it if you crossed her. Susan wondered what kind of home life she might have. It was difficult for her to believe she had parents that knew how to control her either.
She would see. In the meantime, she had a field of battle to prepare. The kid was smart but inexperienced. And after all these years of teaching and the few short years she was in administration she had a rule that was seldom broken.
Youth and wisdom are rarely seen together. She would use this to her benefit.
Susan grinned, undid her bra, fished it out with one hand, tossed it onto the couch. It had been a long time since she tutored a child.
This was going to be fun. If the damn thing didn’t eat her in her own home.
She figured she had better than even odds. After all:
She had music on her side.
