⌜ chapter four ⌟

"No, Joyce, please don't put that in your mouth." Letty rushes over and takes her hairbrush away from the toddler. "Go play with your toys." She turns her in the direction that Faith's in, and she walks away from her.

The phone rings then and the teenager walks over and answers it. "Ms. Black?"

"Oh. Hi, Mr. Feeny." She greets. "Did you get that copy of my paper that I sent you?"

"Yes, I did. It was very well written, some of your best work." He tells her. "I especially liked the title — Beautiful Tragedy. I rather admire the way you've found the light in the dark."

"Thank you." She smiles. "Hey, Faith, no hitting!"

"Is now not a good time?"

"I'm watching the girls." She tells him as she holds the phone between her ear and shoulder so that she can turn on the tv for the twins. "Hope and Jason are both at work."

"I need to talk to you about Shawn."

"Look, my babies, watch Bear." She sets them down with their fruit, and they both stare at the tv as she walks a little ways away. "Sorry, Mr. Feeny. Is everything okay?"

"No, unfortunately everything is not okay. I had to suspend Shawn from school today." He tells her, and her eyebrows furrow.

"What?"

"He's been skipping class, and he was mouthing off to me." He says. "I didn't have a choice."

"No. Yeah, I, uh... Mhm." She nods. "I'll talk to him."

"I do hope you understand."

"No, of course. I understand, Mr. Feeny. I'm not upset with you, I know that you were just doing your job. I'm angry with Shawn." She tells him. "I have to watch the girls until Hope gets home, but I'll talk to him tonight."

That night, Letty walks into the boys' apartment, and Eric and Jack look up from where they're sitting on the couch, watching tv. "Hey, come sit." The former moves over to make room for his girlfriend.

"Can't." She shuts the door and moves past them and heads for the steps. "Shawn!"

"He's not here." Jack tells her just as the door opens again.

Letty turns, and the younger boy sighs when he sees her. "Nope." He turns to head back out, but she grabs the railing and jumps over it before crossing the room faster than he moves. Her hand shoots past him and she shuts the door, leaning against it so that he can't reopen it. "Lay off."

"Suspended." The brunette takes a step back, and he turns to look at her.

"Yeah. So?"

"So." She scoffs. "So, it's your Senior year of high school. You can't be cutting class and mouthing off to teachers. You can't get suspended, Shawn."

"You're not my mother. You can't tell me what I can and can't be doing."

"No, I'm not your mother. But unlike her, I'm actually here." Letty says, and he starts to turn away from her. "Not to mention your dad gave me the papers to file for guardianship last week."

Shawn stops suddenly and looks back at her. "He what?" He questions, and she sighs.

"He didn't tell you." She shakes her head. "Yeah, Shawn. I'm taking the papers and going down to the courthouse later this week. I have to wait for Jason's day off, so that he can watch the girls while I go. That's why Feeny called me, I've been having things transferred since I'm gonna be your guardian, and you're living here with Jack."

"So, my parents don't want me. That's great." He tries to leave, but she shuts the door again.

"Don't do that." The brunette sighs when he just stands there, his back still to her. "You and I both got the raw end of the deal when it comes to our parents, but your dad does love you. He just doesn't think that he's what's best for you. That's why you're living here, and he's giving guardianship to me. When he came and saw me, he said that I was always able to get through to you in ways that he never could. He thinks I'm better for you than he is."

"Why can't he just try harder?"

"Some people just aren't meant to be parents. It's sad, but it's true." She tells him. "But I'm still here. Every time you blow up a mailbox, try to join a gang or a cult, every time you do anything that'll hurt your future, I'm gonna be right here to do everything in my power to set you back on the right path." She says, and he turns to look at her.

"I was going to a philosophy class at Pennbrook, and I was actually understanding the material, but I got an F on the paper that I turned in. I don't understand. I'm no good in high school, I can't do college. What's gonna happen to me?" He asks, and she takes a deep as she steps back, removing her hand from the door.

"Shawn, you can do college, but you have to graduate high school first. And you do that by attending classes, and listening to your teachers." She says. "I know that things get tough, but you have no idea how lucky you and I have been. You think we're the only ones with problems at home? No, but we are some of the few who have had teachers like Feeny and Turner, who've understood and looked beyond what's easy to see. If you had turned any other teacher's house into a bed and breakfast while they were out of town, they would've had you arrested. Mr. Feeny, on the other hand, recognized how well you ran it, and only took the money rather than busting you."

"I guess I really screwed up this time, didn't I?" He asks, and she nods. "What do I do now?"

"You're gonna go talk to Mr. Feeny, apologize for your behavior in class and how you spoke to him, and then you're gonna ask him for another chance." She tells him. "I think you'll find that he's more understanding than most. And take your paper with you, see what he has to say about it. He gives better feedback for improvement."

"Okay." He nods.

"You're gonna be just fine, Shawnie." She says. "We all hit bumps in the road."

He moves forward suddenly and wraps his arms around her; it takes her by surprise at first, but she hugs him back. "Thanks for never giving up on me, Scarlett." He says, and she smiles.

"I never will." She promises.

—

"So, how'd it go?" Letty asks as she sits up on the couch, and Shawn looks at her.

"You've been waiting up for me?" His eyebrows furrow as he shrugs out of his jacket. "Don't you have classes tomorrow? And work?"

"I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to hear what Feeny had to say." She tells him, and he walks over to sit down beside her. "Is he letting you go back to school tomorrow, or do you have to wait for your suspension to be over?"

"He's letting me go back before then." He says, and she smiles. "And he read my paper."

"The one that you wrote for the college class that you were crashing all week?" She asks, and he nods. "And to think we can barely get you into the classes you're supposed to go to."

"This was a lot more interesting." Shawn argues, and the older girl chuckles.

"So, what did he think?"

"I still have to fix some of the basic stuff that I'm supposed to know already." He tells her, and she shrugs.

"We all struggle in different areas. You'll get there."

Shawn smiles as he looks at his sister, never quite surprised, and always happy by the amount that she genuinely believes in him. All his life, he's never had anyone fight harder for him than her, especially in pushing him to fight harder for himself.

"He thinks it's college level apart from those things." He tells his sister. "My interpretation of the material and what I had to say about it. He thinks that I'd do well in college."

"Well, I already knew that much." Letty says with a smile. "You can do anything you put your mind to. You just don't like the work that comes with it."

"Yeah. I can't exactly argue with that, can I?" He asks, and she shakes her head. "You think college is for me?"

Letty pauses as she looks at her younger brother. "The more important question... Do you think college is for you?" She asks, and he takes a deep breath as he thinks it over.

"I think it could be."

"Good. So, make sure that you keep it as an option." She tells him. "Do your work, put in a little more effort, graduate. We'll see what the future holds for you eventually. Whatever it is, it's bound to be interesting."

He smiles as he looks at her. "Thanks, Scarlett."

"Always."