Chapter 1

“Well, I'm here,” Joyce Heckmer announced when she arrived at her cousin's home. She was spending some time with her cousins in an effort to get away from her hectic job. Joyce wasn't married and she thought it was nice to just get away and spend time with family. Joyce was a woman in her late thirties about five foot ten and 125 pounds. She had short wavy brown hair with bangs as is the case with many women her age. Joyce considered herself cute but she was being a bit hard on herself not that it mattered. She had never gotten married. And wasn't particularly looking for a long-term relationship. Marriage just wasn't that important to her. She had several boyfriends throughout her life, but nothing very serious by her own design.

Joyce had decided to spend the time with her cousin, Marcia Lyles. Marcia was the daughter of his mother's sister. She was a pretty woman about two or three years younger than Joyce. Marcia had blonde shoulder-length hair with much darker roots which were parted in the middle. She was five foot five a height that she thought was adequate enough to not need heels on a daily basis. She was a hard-working person who has had jobs since she was in her early teens but still kept time for her family. Marcia and Jimmy had been married for eighteen year and they had three children.

Their oldest was a sixteen-year-old girl named Dylan. Dylan was a thin girl who has about her father's height of five foot eight. She had dark brown straight shoulder-length hair, it was probably the original color of his mother's if she would let her roots grow out. Dylan was a typical sixteen-year-old girlie-girl, in that she loved to wear makeup and preferred prettier clothing. She sometimes wore skinny-jeans and leggings, but most often she was in a skirt with a pretty top. Her shoulders may have been a little too broad, her breasts were small and her hips were narrow, but she made the most of what she had with makeup and apparel.

Dylan was a nice enough girl, Joyce thought, but she could get moody. On the times when Joyce offered to help the girl with her schoolwork, or makeup tips, etc. the girl would say she already knew it all and refuse to 'study' with Joyce. But eventually, the girl would calm down, and once working she would stay on track until they were done. Joyce was impressed that distractions like phone calls and texts didn't sidetrack the girl once studying had finally begun.

Marcia also had two younger children, Jason and Sofia. Jason was a rambunctious eleven-year-old and Sofia was a cute four-year-old. Jason had brown hair like the rest of the family. It wasn't as dark as Dylan's but it was also much shorter, extending to a couple of inches above his shoulders. Sofia was the only one in the family whose brown hair was curly.

Joyce who was now a computer programmer had spent several years teaching high school. Marcia had asked her to help Dylan with a state exam she was taking the next day. Joyce was happy to help her cousins out especially since they were being so nice to let her stay the entire week. But when Joyce arrived, Dylan insisted that she already knew all the stuff.

“Look, I am here. Let me help you,” Joyce implored.

“I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help I know it all.”

Joyce had downloaded an old exam from the State's website. Her plan was to have Dylan take the test and then go over it with her. But Dylan wasn't having it. After some intense discussion (shouting) Dylan left the room.

It was about two-thirty and Jimmy who was home with a bad cold went to pick up Jason from school. Joyce went along since forcing Dylan to work wasn't going to happen.

“So, why aren't you at work?” Joyce asked.

“I have had this cough for weeks now. I just couldn't breathe. I went to the doctor instead today.”

“If your sick, don't get me sick.”

“It's not catching.”

“How do you know?”

“The doctor said so.”

“How did you get it?”

“I got it from Jason a few weeks ago.”

“I thought you said it isn't catching.”

“It isn't.”

Jimmy pulled into the school grounds and the two waited for Jason to get out. It didn't take too long. Jason got into the back seat. At the high school, the students only came in for midterms, but for the elementary school where Jason was in the fifth grade, it was a regular day.

“How was your day?” Jimmy asked.

“It was OK, I guess.”

Joyce and Jimmy returned to their discussion of Jimmy's cold and that Joyce didn't want to get it. While they were discussing it, Jason told them, “I don't know if Mommy told you, but Mommy's doctor said she has something that makes her repeat herself.”

“Repeat herself?” inquired Joyce.

“Yeah, she keeps telling me the same thing over and over.”

“Oh, she does?”

“Yeah.” Joyce didn't know what Jason had heard at Marcia's doctor's office, but Joyce knew that Mom's telling their kids over and over to do something wasn't any disease. It was a fact. Joyce knew this and she didn't have any kids. Joyce liked kids, that was why she had become a teacher a while back. But she didn't want to be a parent. The best thing about kids she thought was that they went home.

When they returned to Marcia's house about half an hour later, Dylan had been working on the test. But once she saw them, she quit almost immediately. “I know this stuff already.” But when Joyce checked the test (it was multiple choice at least the first part) she saw that half the questions were wrong. Joyce knew she needed her help. But getting Dylan to do the test and then work on it afterward wasn't going to work. Joyce decided to go over an old test that Dylan had worked on. They went over each problem. Joyce discovered that even though several of the answers were right, Dylan couldn't explain why. This took about another half an hour before the girl became frustrated again.

In the meantime, Joyce had told Marcia that she wanted wings for dinner and Marcia was going to Buffalo Wild Wings to get them. Dylan hearing this went into Marcia's car. She wanted to go, but this wasn't acceptable since she had studying to do.

“Look, let's not get into a shouting match with Dylan,” Joyce suggested. “Let's take my car and deal with her when we get back.”

Joyce led Marcia to her car and they both got in. Dylan was sitting in Marcia's car when the two left.

“I don't know what I'm going to do with that girl,” Marcia told Joyce.

“I don't know either, last time, she said she had a headache and couldn't study. The test is tomorrow and she won't do it today either. She does know something. She'll never get a hundred, but if she puts in a little time, she can pass.”

“I've told her a thousand times.”

“Jason said you saw a doctor and that you repeat yourself a lot.”

“He said that?”

“Yeah.”

“I don't know what he is talking about. I have to repeat myself with him. He doesn't do what I say. At night it's tough to get him to bed and in the morning he is never ready for school. Dylan may have her problems but she is always ready to go to school in the morning. I have to tell Jason to get dressed, brush his hair, brush his teeth. I tell him over and over.”

“I don't know what to tell you. I don't have kids. I like kids, but actually, I'm glad I'm not a parent.”

“He doesn't understand. If he did what I tell him the first time, I wouldn't have to repeat myself.”

The conversation continued about her kids, family, work, and many other topics until they returned home. By that time, Dylan had returned to her test. She hadn't done many problems, maybe about twenty but a few she had totally skipped, and some others she had narrowed the choices but hadn't arrived at only one answer.

After the wings, Joyce got down to studying with Dylan again. Dylan wanted to buy some sneakers and Marcia had promised her. But not until after they had finished studying. The place was open until nine so as long as they finished at eight she could drive her. In the two and a half or three hours in between, Joyce helped Dylan. They looked at the test together. Dylan would work on the problem and Joyce would guide her to the correct choice and give explanations as necessary. With Joyce by her side, the time actually flew by.

Marcia was satisfied with Dylan and took her to get the sneakers she wanted. But before leaving, he suggested that Jason and Joyce play Jenga. Joyce liked to play games with her younger relatives. There was a small strategy to Jenga that Jason didn't pick up on. Joyce knew that if she really tried she could always win the game. But she didn't play that hard to win although she wasn't a pushover. Bricks could be moved that made it harder for the next player. Jason didn't know how to strategize to make it harder for the next player. You didn't have to remove a whole piece, just move one a little bit off-center. Maybe when he got older he could, but not yet.

Jason, Joyce, and Jimmy all played. Four-year-old Sofia sat on Jimmy's lap and help Jimmy pick which brick and thought she was playing, but really wasn't. Jason won the game.

“Wow, you're really getting good at this,” Joyce enthused.