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life.
    Deidra, however, would talk to anybody.
    "You've heard, every agonizing detail," said Kate.
    "I've heard all right. I just thought your take on it might be…interesting."
    "It was an accident. I tripped on my heels. The caught in the carpet."
    "You don’t have carpet.”
    “I tripped on a crack in the tile floor.”
    “Yep. Tripped with your fist balled up and swinging. I can see that right now.”  
    Kate felt her toes begin to dance inside her shoes. “Don't you have students somewhere?"
    "They're in music. Got another twenty minutes."
    "I really don't care to talk about it."
    Deidra sat next to Kate. She placed her elbows on the table and put her folded hands beneath her chin. "It's not like you'll be fired or anything."
    "No?” said Kate. “This could become a mother of a legal battle. Did you teach Willie Harrold?"
    Deidra nodded. "I did at that."
    "He peed on the floor," Kate said. "Peed, Deidra. Stood there and just let it go.”
    “Pee washes up, you know.”
    Kate groaned.
    “Okay, so he peed?”
    “And I punched him. He sliced his face on a desk edge and bled like a stuck pig. Let's add some blood to the equation, and see how it adds up."
    "Call the Southampton County Education Association rep yet? That’s what they’re there for. You are a member."
    "I’m a member. But I haven’t called. I'm not sure how to explain it. It's bad, it’s really bad."
    "There’s worse things in life."
    Kate rubbed her eye. “Possibly. But you know the bottom line of this whole thing? I don't want to explain it. I shouldn't have to explain it. This was Willie Harrold, Deidra. Saying his name should be enough."
    "You could quit." Deidra perked up. "Turn in your resignation. You don't need this do-do, pardon my French. I were you, I'd quit in a heartbeat. It's not like you…." She stopped herself and then got up to get a pack of Van-O-Lunch cookies from the machine by the Pepsis.
    "Not like I what?" asked Kate.
    "Kate," Deidra sat and dumped out two of the little rock-hard cookies, “you never seemed to really enjoy this place very much, is all I'm saying. You work so hard and yet you seem so miserable. You could be doing anything else. Having teas for the socially elite of the county. Golfing in Emporia. Raising horses or poodles and showing them in New York. Painting, quilting, learning to stain antiques. Getting all prettied up for your lawyer husband when he comes home. He’s a great-looking man, hon. Why you think this is the place to spend free time is beyond me."
    “I got a teaching degree because I wanted to help people. I wanted to make a difference.”
    “What did you do before you were a teacher? You did something with your time.”
    “I have a son, don’t forget. And I did some charity work. Giving cans of food to the food bank, giving clothes to the Salvation Army, that kind of thing. I was active. I like to make a difference, Deidra.”
    “Is teaching the only way to make a difference? You have to ask yourself if it really is the path for you.”
    Kate took a sip. The soda was as bitter as dandelion juice.
    “Your husband’s family has been in Southampton County forever,” said Deidra. “Hell, some of my great-greats were slaves to his great-greats.”
    “Sorry.”
    Deidra shrugged. “I’m not looking for that. What I’m saying is that the McDolen’s owned most of this county one hundred fifty years ago. They’ve sold off a good amount, but still, in the minds of the locals, they are the lords of the land. You married into that. You married into money, honey. Hell, if I were you, I’d be doing something else.”
    Kate took another drink, and held it in her mouth until it warmed. She put her can down. “I’m not a quitter.”
    Deidra chuckled. “Quitting is in the eye of the beholder. Chose your battles. I wouldn’t chose to go down in a brawl with the Harrolds if I had other options.”
    "I care about kids."
    "I didn't say you didn’t.”
    "Kids cuss constantly, Deidra, in case