Sweetie's Diamonds (17 page)

Diane turned the pages one by one, quickly scanning the stories and pictures for anything that looked familiar.
 
She found it on page 14.
 
It was a quarter-page story and there was a picture of Lucy Luv from the late seventies.
 
The headline read “CHICAGO SUBURB MOM AND TEACHER WAS PORN STAR.”
 

Her heart pounded as she read through the story.
 
She was identified as Diane Boston of Lincoln Grove, Illinois.
 
She was a teacher at Lincoln High and the story even included the bit that she was once Teacher of the Year.
 
The facts were correct regarding her divorce from Greg Boston and that she was the mother of a thirteen-year-old boy.
 

Thank God they didn't print his name
, she thought.

The story went on to speculate how her name was really “Dana Barnett,” and that she had used the screen name of “Lucy Luv” when she had made porn films for the Erotica Selecta company in the late 1970s.
 
Lucy Luv had disappeared in 1980 and many people in the industry suspected that she had been murdered.
 
The mob had been heavily involved in the pornography industry at that time, and still was, but there was much more criminal activity associated with it then.
 

The story ended on a somewhat positive note that “wished Mrs. Boston the best” and that the
Enquirer
was “pleased to learn that Lucy Luv was indeed alive and well.”

Damn, damn, damn
.
 

She took the paper to the counter and paid for it, then went outside to look at it again.
 

They've got it all wrong.
 
How was she going to correct this horrible mistake?
 
How were they going to react at school?
 
Could she lose her job?
 
What should she DO?

One thing was certain—she was no longer safe.
 
Diane knew that
they
would come after her as soon as the word got out that “Dana Barnett” was still alive.

D
avid watched from his bedroom window as the TV van pulled out of the driveway and parked on the street in front of the apartment buildings.
 
The crew didn't go away, though.
 
The female reporter and her cameraman gathered materials for a second assault on the house and after a few minutes they went to the front door to ring the bell.
 
David was too terrified to answer it.
 
Instead, he got dressed and went into the kitchen.
 
Attempting to go through the motions of a normal day, he got out the Rice Krispies and fixed himself a bowl of cereal with milk.
 
He sat down to eat at the counter but wasn't very hungry.
 

A few minutes later he heard the garage door open and the Honda drive inside.
 
After the car door slammed, he heard his mother scream, “I told you to get out of here!
 
I'm calling the police!”

The key turned in the lock and David's mother came in carrying the
Enquirer
.
 
He could see that she had been crying, for her eyes were red and her cheeks were flush with anger.
 

She saw him at the table and stopped, struggling to tell him something.
 
He decided to prompt her.

“What's going on, mom?”

“Oh, David,” she said.
 
She came closer and put a hand on his head.
 
He allowed her to hold him to her stomach for a moment, and then she released him and sat down in the other chair.
 

“I guess I have something to tell you,” she said.

“I think I know what it is,” David admitted.

She looked at him curiously.
 
“You do?”

He nodded and looked at the floor.
 
He didn't want to get Billy in trouble so he skirted around the whole truth.
 
“When you were gone one day, I, uhm, was looking at some porn sites on the computer.
 
I found this one site that had your picture on it.
 
It said you were in some movies.”

Diane sat back in the chair.
 
“I see.”

“I'm sorry, mom.”

“I know, honey.
 
Listen, I want you to know something.
 
That's not me in whatever you saw.”

“It's not?”

“No.
 
I know it… it looks like me,” she said.
 
David eyed her closely but she wouldn't meet his eyes.
 
“It's someone else.
 
I've been protecting her for over twenty years.
 
I always hoped that I'd never have to reveal this terrible secret.
 
It's been a heavy burden for a long time.”

“Who… who is she?” David asked.

“Honey, there are some things in your mother's past that have come back to haunt me.
 
I'd like to keep all of it secret but it doesn't look like I'll be able to.
 
But I'm going to try until I'm absolutely forced into revealing everything.
 
I have to ask you to trust me and believe me.
 
It's not me.”

David didn't know what to think.
 
He didn't want to say that he doubted what she was saying.
 

“Okay.”
 
He shrugged.
 
It was all he could come up with.

“David, did you tell anyone else about this?” she asked.

David looked at the floor, not knowing what to say.
 
Should he tell her about Billy?
 
If he did so then it would come out that he had seen one of the movies and that Billy had provided it.

“No,” he lied, and he immediately felt a sickening flush flow from his chest into his face.
 

“You promise?”

David wasn't sure what to do.
 
If his mother could lie, why couldn't he?
 
She was obviously lying about the porno stuff.
 
It
was
his mother in the tape he had seen.
 

He nodded.
 
“I promise,” he said.
 

His mother frowned and said, “Well, someone else found out about it.
 
I have a feeling it might be Billy's father but I can't prove it.”

David was alarmed.
 
“Mister Davis?”

“Maybe.
 
I don't know.
 
This could be a very serious situation.
 
I have to think about what to do.”

The two of them sat silently for a good three minutes until Diane broke the stillness.
 
“Well.
 
Come on, we both have to get to school.
 
Are you going to finish your cereal?”

“I'm not hungry.”

She sighed.
 
“I don't blame you.
 
Come on, let's get ready to go.
 
I'll take you.”

David stood as she took his bowl to the sink.
 
He felt as if he could cry.
 
He had never lied like that to her before.
 

Diane washed out the bowl and put it in the dishwasher.
 
She turned and saw him standing there.
 
“You all right, honey?” she asked.

He went to her and threw his arms around her waist.
 
“I love you, mom,” he said.

She embraced him in return.
 
“I love you too, honey.
 
Don't worry.
 
We'll get through this.”

W
hen she got to Lincoln High, there was a message in her mailbox to see Principal Morgan.
 
Diane looked up at the clock on the office wall and saw that she still had twelve minutes before her first class.
 

The butterflies returned to her stomach and the constriction in her throat was worse than ever.
 
Nevertheless, she held her head high and moved toward Jim Morgan's office.
 
She reminded herself that he was a good guy.
 
He was a little older than she was and he seemed to like her.
 
Morgan had told her on several occasions how good it was that the students responded so well to her.
 
Surely he would support her through this.

“So what's next, Diane?
 
Jerry Springer?”

Peter Davis.
 
He was behind her, collecting his own mail.
 
She decided to play dumb.
 

“What are you talking about, Peter?”

“You mean you don't know?”

“Know what?”

“There's a very interesting article about you in the
National Enquirer
,” he said as if it were some kind of holy revelation.
 

“Is that so?
 
Oh, that's right, I forgot that rag
is
the most appropriate material for your reading level, Peter.
 
I wouldn't want you to attempt anything more challenging.”

He glared at her but she walked on.
 
Before she rounded the corner to the administrative offices, she saw Davis leave the office and join the senior, Heather, in the hallway.
 

Why was he always hanging around that girl?
Diane wondered.
 
She watched them through the glass wall for a moment.
 
Davis obviously told her what had just occurred and Heather laughed.
 
Heather placed her hand on the older man's arm in an affectionate manner—but Davis was quick to subtly remove it.
 

Jerk
, Diane thought as she moved on.

Sylvia, the principal's secretary, appeared nervous when she saw Diane.
 
“Oh, Mrs. Boston.
 
I'll tell Jim you're here.”
 
She picked up the phone, punched a button, and spoke softly into the receiver.
 
When she hung up, Sylvia said, “You can go on in, Mrs. Boston.”

“Thanks, Sylvia.”
 

Diane knocked on the door and heard Principal Morgan call for her to enter.
 
She did so and found him at his desk, looking at a copy of the new
National Enquirer.

“Close the door, Mrs. Boston,” he said.
 

She shut the door behind her and said, “My, news travels fast.”

He gestured for her to sit down.
 
“I'll stand,” she said.
 
“I have to get to first period and it's over in J hall.
 
Uhm, you wanted to see me?”

“Diane, I don't normally read this rag but it was brought to my attention this morning.
 
What's the meaning of this story?”

“It's not true,” she said.

“It's not?”

“No.”

“Then why are they reporting it?”

“Sir, that's the
National Enquirer
.
 
That should be enough to raise your eyebrows.”

He looked at her for a long time and then said, “Fine.
 
We'll discuss it later.
 
You need to get to class.
 
There is an emergency school district board meeting after classes tomorrow in the teachers' lounge conference room.
 
Your attendance is mandatory.”

“I take it that the agenda concerns me?” she asked.

“That's right.
 
You can do your explaining then.
 
That's all, Diane.
 
Thanks for coming in.”