Sonatorrek: Lokasenna - 5

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Amanda and Callisto drop by Don Blake's old school to ask some questions, and uncover a few holes.



Roosevelt Elementary was a very typical looking American public school, if built on a smaller scale. In the town, it was the only school and all of the children in the town had been to school together. It was as good as any place to look into Don Blake’s past. He had grown up here, been through public school and high school here in town. While two would-be bikers might not be the best people to talk to the locals, it was what they had to work with, and Kane had been clear that he trusted them to get the information that his badge prevented him from.

School was letting out as they pulled up on the bike, their presence earning them some looks from the kids, but no hostility - the Valhallas were obviously enough of a feature in town that people were used to them. Hopefully that would make life easier.

"According to the local papers, Don's best mate wound up a teacher here," Amanda remarked softly, knowing Callisto would be able to hear her with her enhanced hearing. "Gotta love the small town mentality."

"Good a place as any to start, I guess," Callisto said, lifting a hand to her cheek and scratching it lightly. She'd taken all of her piercings out an hour before and though the holes had all healed back up, her whole face was tingling gently from the tissue regeneration.

Despite this attempt to 'blend in' a little more and mitigate the potential shock to the small-towners who they hoped to draw out on the topic of Donald Blake, she still however reached for Amanda's hand after they'd unseated themselves from her bike, fingers lacing with hers. "There's meeting folks half-way, and then there's hiding," she commented by way of explanation, tugging her a little off toward the school gates. "C'mon, 'old lady'."

Amanda giggled, a genuine laugh instead of 'Mandy's' slightly air-headed performance. "Any time, babe," she replied as they walked towards the main entrance. Given it was an elementary school, Amanda had toned down her 'biker wife' look, wearing a black t-shirt with the Harley emblem on it and a pair of tight-fitting jeans that had strategic holes at the knees. No actual bare skin beyond her arms and face, at least.

Their boots echoed in the empty hall as they entered the building as the last of the students hurried away down the front steps. "Staff room, I guess," Amanda said, looking around for a sign or other indicator of where that might be.

After a few misses, they finally found the small room, and Dave Erikson looked up from his stack of papers with a puzzled expression when they appeared in the doorway.

"I'm going to take a shot in the dark and assume you're not with the PTA."

"They let all sorts breed these days," Callisto deadpanned, and it was a beat before her slight smirk alerted him to the joke.

"Actually, funny you should ask... Don sent us over to talk to you about the school," Amanda chimed in. "We're looking to move into Aitkins and I'm hoping to bring my kids over here. My mom back East is taking care of them for now." She held out her hand. "Mandy Keaton."

"Dave Erikson." He shook her hand easily. "Not really sure what to tell you. We're a small school, and we tend to have a lot of attrition due to the nature of the local industries. But we do the best we can to create an inclusive community environment." It was a spiel that likely came direct from the handbook. "What was it that you were looking for in specific?"

"This is Cal." Amanda indicated Callisto and grabbed a chair. "Look, you were friends with Don in school, right? How was it for him? Being a biker kid... it's not easy. Did the townies give him any problems?"

"You don't give Deke Blake's son problems. To be honest though, Don was a pretty average kid. Smart guy but a poor student, popular but not in the football star way. I suppose some folks considered him a bad influence, and sure as hell the Valhallas are dirty. But they've always tried to cover it up as a legit bike club. They do fundraisers for the school and the local hospital; kiddie fairs, that sort of thing." He said. "Your kids may have a tough first year, but so long as you're helping and don't mind ignoring the occasional dirty look, they'll fit in soon enough."

"You two friends?" Callisto asked then, from her position, still standing, just behind where 'Mandy' had taken her seat, hands buried in pockets. "You an' Don I mean? What d'you think of this recent... stuff... with him? Think things are in for a shake-up around here?"

"Donny and I grew up together. We were pretty close through most of high school, but once he decided to focus on the club and I went to college, we kind of drifted apart. I ran into him and his girlfriend a couple of weeks ago, and it was pretty messed up. Half the time is was Donny, and the other half it was this 'thee thou' Thor bullshit, with him claiming we had been 'stalwart companions' in the past. And Sylvie was encouraging him." He shook his head. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he was on something. But Donny wasn't ever a drug guy. Odd spliff, liked to drink, but the guy I knew had no interest in anything stronger."

Callisto nodded slowly, perhaps only half-listening, making conversation to be friendly. "So he wasn't a druggy kid, then? What was he into? I mean, did he like Viking legends and stuff, that where this is coming from? Or I dunno, like his favourite movies or whatever?"

"Couldn't tell you. I mean, there's a lot of us whose background is Scandinavian. I've got family in Norway, so we got those stories as kids, but that was about it. There's some racist groups like Stormfront that like to push the whole white pride crap, like we're supposed to be noble Vikings, but I don't know anyone around here who got involved with them." He said. "That's not something that your kids are going to worry about. We're not all that multicultural compared to where you're coming from, but we don't have any skinheads or Nazis in town that I know of."

"Good to know," Amanda said with a bright smile. "It can be hard moving to a small town, and my kids're... well, they're not typical small-town kids." She clasped her hands over one knee. "They've moved a lot, you see. Lots of change. Not like you and Don - I bet there's a lot of history there."

"I don't know. It's a pretty normal place to grow up. Little league, birthday parties, that sort of thing."

"I bet the two of you were holy terrors," Amanda teased. "As well as cutie pies. I can just imagine the two of you as kids." She raised an eyebrow at him. "It's probably a bit forward for me to want to see a photo of you two back then."

Dave paused for a second. "I guess there's school photos of us from grad hanging up. I don't think I have a picture of us when we were that young. Just high school stuff."

"Do you mind if we have a look around? Just to get a feel for the place? Just a quick peek." Amanda gave him a pleading look, doing everything short of batting her eyelashes at him. "If you're busy, we can give ourselves the tour."

"Yeah, here." He scribbled something on a piece of paper. "If anyone asks, give them this and my name and you can go through the halls and the public rooms. If you leave your email at the office, I'll send out some more information about the school."

"Fantastic. You rock, Dave." Amanda took the piece of paper with another winning smile. "We'll leave you alone to get your work done. C'mon, Cal."

"Sure thing." Callisto shot the guy a brief, mirthless smile of her own before following Amanda out.

Amanda waited until they were well out of earshot down the hall, before turning back to Callisto. "We've gotta be quick," she said, her accent an odd blend of English and the put-on American she'd been using for her cover. "I'll take the library, you see if there's a trophy case or something. Photos, trophies... see if there's any pictures or such with this bloke David in 'em, and then see if you can find Don in the same groups. I'll do the same with the yearbooks."

Callisto nodded. "Sure, okay. Um..." She hesitated, as though wondering whether there was anything else she should be asking, but then just nodded again and shrugged lightly, turning to wander the halls.