Solemn Oath. Hannah Alexander

straight brown bangs out of her eyes, glanced out the window, then back at Tedi. “I thought you said your dad was locked up.”

      “He is. He’s in detox up in Springfield.”

      Abby scrunched up her face, pushed her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose and turned to point out the window. “That sure looks like him to me.”

      Tedi caught her breath and stiffened, refusing to look. “That’s not funny.” Mom and Grandma had both said Dad was supposed to be locked up for a long time.

      “So who’s that?”

      Feeling the darkness of an old nightmare, Tedi turned slowly and looked in the direction Abby pointed. A man stood in the shade beneath the trees that surrounded the playground. His hands were in his pockets. Looking down with his shoulders slumped, he didn’t look as tall as Dad, and his clothes weren’t silk and wool with ties and dress shoes. But the shape of his head and the line of his face, even at this distance, were too familiar. Abby’s mom said Dad looked like a blond Pierce Brosnan, but Tedi had seen pictures of Pierce Brosnan, and he looked a lot nicer. He didn’t look like the kind of man who would try to kill his own daughter.

      For a minute Tedi thought she was going to throw up. She tightened her hands into fists and took some deep breaths. It couldn’t be. Was she having another bad dream? She couldn’t take her gaze from the intruder as he watched the kids spill out of the school building onto the grass. When they quit coming, he turned and looked directly toward the windows of Tedi’s classroom, as if he knew she was there.

      She gasped and stepped back. “What’s he doing here?” Her voice shook. Her whole body shook. “He’s not supposed to be out of—”

      “Girls?” Mr. Walters called. “Aren’t you finished with your papers?”

      Tedi turned and looked hard at her teacher, at his wide middle and thick shoulders. “Yes, we’re finished.” He looked safe and calm as he gathered up papers and stacked them and turned to erase something from the chalkboard. One time he had stepped between a kid and an attacking dog and saved the kid from being bitten. He wasn’t going to let anyone hurt his students. “Go out and enjoy the sunshine while you can,” he called over his shoulder. “The rest of the week is supposed to be cloudy.” Which was another way of saying he wanted some time to de-stress and straighten the room. He’d told Tedi that once when she stayed behind to help him collect papers.

      Tedi almost asked if she could stay and help him with papers again, but Abby nudged her. “Why don’t you just go and find out what your dad wants, dummy?”

      Tedi shoved her friend’s arm away. “Why should I? If he wants to talk to me he can go see the principal first. He’s not even supposed to be here. No strangers on the playground, remember?”

      “He’s not a stranger. He’s your dad. Come on, let’s at least get out of here.” She nudged Tedi again.

      Tedi allowed herself to be pushed out the door and into the wide hallway. Together they walked to the side exit, where both of the double doors stood open to let in the cool late-September air. Maybe he would be gone when they got outside…or maybe it wasn’t even him. It just looked like him.

      But when they stepped around the corner of the building in view of the broad, grassy playground, he was still in the same place in the shadows, hands in his pockets, head bowed.

      Tedi felt her heart pound, the way it had that night when he shouted at her and raised his hand and hit her so hard it knocked her out.

      “Don’t you want to find out what he’s doing here?” Abby demanded, nudging Tedi again with her elbow.

      Tedi jerked away. “Stop it!”

      “Gosh, Tedi, it’s no big deal. Just go talk to him.”

      “You don’t know anything about it. You never saw him drunk.”

      “He’s been in detox, hasn’t he? He won’t be drunk.” Eyes flashing with curiosity behind shiny lenses, Abby nudged her again. “Go on and find out what he wants. I’ll watch from here, and if he looks like he’s going to get close to you, I’ll run back in and get Mr. Walters.”

      “Oh sure, and what’s Mr. Walters going to do, sit on him and crush him to death?”

      Abby fell silent, giving Tedi her most stern look of reproach. Tedi stared back, hands on hips.

      “Chicken,” Abby muttered.

      “Shut up. I am not. I’m just not stupid.”

      “Don’t you trust me, Tedi? I won’t let him hurt you.”

      Tedi snorted. “Oh yeah? What are you going to do if he grabs me and runs?”

      “Chase him down and kick his rear. Maybe throw a rock and hit him in the head, and you know I can do it, too.”

      Tedi held her friend’s steady gaze for another few seconds. Abby had given Graham Kutz a black eye the other day for picking on her little brother and sister. She could also throw a ball better than anybody in the school. And she was a loyal friend, even if she was pushy and had a big mouth.

      Tedi sighed, and Abby grinned triumphantly. “Knew you’d go. I’ll watch from here. Don’t worry.”

      For a moment, Tedi couldn’t get her feet to work. She did not want to go talk to her father. She didn’t even want to think of him as her father. But she wanted to know what he was up to. It would be better to do it now, with Abby standing by, ready to conk him in the head with a rock, than to wait for him to catch her when she wasn’t expecting him.

      When Abby pushed her again, she went, walking slowly, as if sneaking up on a dangerous animal. And he was dangerous. Tedi reached up and fingered the fading scar on her neck where the surgeon had cut into her throat to save her life after Dad had damaged an artery in his drunken rage. He’d also embezzled money where he worked. Everybody in town knew about him. Tedi knew the kids at school talked about her behind her back, and she hated it. She hated what he did to Mom and the way he’d threatened to ruin Mom’s practice again if she tried to get custody. And the only reason he wanted custody was because Mom had to pay so much child support. Tedi would never go back to live with him. She would rather die first.

      Her heart was beating so fast now she could barely hear the sound of wind flipping the leaves around on the trees. Breathing hard, yet trying not to make noise, she stopped about ten feet from where he stood, and she studied him.

      He looked different. Of course, he wasn’t drunk now, but he looked different from the way he had this spring even when he was sober. He looked smaller somehow. His blond hair looked more gray. He had more creases in his face.

      “What are you doing here?” She said it, then held her breath, arms straight at her sides, anger and fear mingling within her. If he moved toward her, she would turn and run.

      He swung around, and his pale blue eyes widened, his lips parted slightly in surprise. “Tedi.” He breathed the name. He did not move a muscle, but stood staring at her as if she were a bird he was afraid would fly away.

      Her gaze darted toward the kids on the playground, and at the teachers refereeing, and at Abby watching from the door of the school building, hands clenched at her sides, gaze fierce, as though she were getting ready to thwack a baseball.

      “I’m sorry, Tedi. I didn’t come here to scare you.” Dad’s voice drew Tedi’s attention back to him, and his blue gaze held her, roving over her face, as if he was studying it. “I wasn’t even going to let you know I was here. I just wanted to see you again. I thought you’d be out on the playground with the rest of the kids.” He sounded hoarse, as if he hadn’t been talking much lately and wasn’t used to it.

      He wouldn’t stop looking at her.

      “But why are you out?” she demanded.

      “The judge released me.”

      Tedi felt a fresh surge of anger and fear.