The Truant Officer Read Free

Treadwell dragged him out. They went to the Gila River Casino on an Indian reservation south of Phoenix, a place Treadwell had lost much of his savings over the years, at least what was left after the drinking and divorces.
    Darren was mesmerized by a beautiful blackjack dealer. Her name was Liliana, but she told Darren that he could call her Lilly. If he could have formed a sentence, he would have. But as time went by, and he continued to lose money, he began striking up a conversation with her. He was impressed that she worked at the casino to put herself through school, with the goal of becoming an English teacher. He was aware that she was occupying him with conversation to break his concentration—typical dealer trick—but he would’ve gladly signed over anything to keep talking with her.
    The only reason the story had a happy ending was because of Treadwell. After another losing hand by Darren, he exclaimed, “Will you please just agree to go on a date with my friend before he ends up homeless!”
    Darren turned red with embarrassment, but it was worth it when Lilly agreed. She then ordered him away from the table with her trademark grin, commenting that he better save his money because she wasn’t a cheap date. Less than a year later they were married.
    The volume in the bar continued to rise as the Yankees game went into extra innings. Treadwell and Kelli seemed too involved in consuming drinks and groping each other to notice. At one point, they began childishly photographing each other with Kelli’s cell phone. Alcohol and pictures never mixed, but Darren agreed to take photos of the inebriated couple. They looked like those photo-booth pictures at the mall, back before everyone had a camera on their phone. Then Kelli decided that Darren should be in the pictures, and convinced a burly Italian guy at the next table to take a group shot of the three of them.
    As the games ended—Yankees a thrilling win, but the local hockey team losing in disappointing fashion—the bar began to clear out. The televisions switched over to the cable news channel GNZ. Darren wasn’t really interested in the latest Democratic primary that was headlining the national news, but his only other option was to watch his mentor make-out with some woman he’d just met. His mind was solely on Lilly, anyway. He checked his phone—no return of his text. He figured that she’d either gone to bed to prepare for a long Monday at school, or was feverishly working on her lesson plan. His watch was still on Arizona time, where it was just past ten.
    The next news story was about a controversial Israeli pop star named Natalie Gold, who was expected to make a highly anticipated arrival in the US this week. Not everybody was thrilled by this, and certain groups had organized protests to greet her arrival. Darren had no idea who she was, or why she was controversial, but Treadwell did. He began singing the lyrics to her latest single in a drunken slur.
    Darren looked at him strangely. “Where’d you learn that?”
    “When you have kids, you pick up all sorts of stuff. Wait until you and Lilly start pushing out some pups.” The grin on his face was permanent at this point.
    Kelli seemed to instantaneously sober up. She grabbed an expensive looking handbag and rose to her feet.
    “Where you going?” Treadwell asked, looking stunned.
    “Kids are complicated. Sorry, I don’t do complicated,” she said and began walking toward the door.
    “I’m divorced,” he yelled desperately to her, holding up his ring-less finger.
    “That’s what they all say,” she shouted back as she stepped out into the rainy April night.
    Darren couldn’t help smiling. “Crash landing.”
    “Very funny,” Treadwell muttered and swigged down the remainder of his Bloody Mary. It was the first one all night that he really needed.
    Darren refocused on the news just in time to hear the anchor state, “In other news, there has been another abduction of a woman in