Josh Childs walked into school for the first day and knew his new life had just begun. It was not the move from New Jersey to Georgia or unpacking boxes that made him have this feeling. The whole package of working at West Cole Middle School and the move gave him a chilling sensation of new and fresh. The school hired him over the phone before he had even packed a box which was weird as he wondered if the school was a disaster. Now it was August, and he was walking into a new life and job for the first time.

The sudden death of his great-aunt Lonnie was a shock to the family. He was not close with her and had not seen her since he was about ten. He initially thought either his other great-aunt Sarah was going to get the property and all the assets, but also knew that a big family fight years ago caused them not to speak with each other. The only person that kind of kept in touch was his father but he didn't know the extent of it.

His grandfather was dead and Josh thought that it would go through his father before him too. When he did find out it was him on the will, he wondered if it was going to cause hard feelings in the family as he thought it was a big shock to them too.

He could have stayed in New Jersey and sold the estate that was left to him but selling property that was in the family for over a hundred years would have definitely caused even more strife in the family. The options were to rent it out or live in it. The choice was hard to make as it was a life-changing event he thought, but it felt right to move.

Josh wondered if his great-aunt would have called him since it was her sister that died. Maybe she wanted some things out of the house or would tell him anything about it. It was nothing for weeks until his father called him to tell him that the state of the property was in extremely poor condition. The only pictures he had were over twenty years old and his own memory of the house faded years ago.

The lawyer hired to settle the affairs contacted him and sent all the paperwork needed. The funeral was done before he could even ask about it. He wondered why it was done so quickly until he did hear that his Aunt Sarah was in charge of the funeral. Thinking he would see the property at the funeral now was gone and it was down to pictures. The pictures the lawyer sent showed a house that might have been glorious years ago but was now dealing with needing a major facelift and restoration. The original property was four hundred acres but was now down to fifty. The only thing that seemed to be a bright spot was that it had two paying tenants and three other rentals listed that were empty.

Josh was surprised about the rental properties. The rentals looked like one room shacks built hundreds of years ago. Of the five rentals he could see, the three closest to the house were empty and the two further back ones were rented. There were no pictures of the rented places, but he figured if they looked like the other two, he was just happy they were paying rent.

It did not take long to apply for a Georgia teaching license and box his belongings up. The few items he did keep from the breakup with his girlfriend could easily fit in a U-Haul too. It was just a matter of getting his mind into the idea of living down in the rural South. He did recall being there as a kid and playing with other kids, but not living down there and knowing the lifestyle of the area.

West Cole Middle was something he had never expected. The floors were freshly polished, and the rooms looked clean. This seemed weird because the surrounding area was very poor and economically undesirable. The walls had a new coat of paint, and the ceiling had new tiles, but the structural issues were still evident. Josh was expecting an inner city school or a small country school setting, but it was just a paid back small school set out in a small community.

The principal was Jocelyn Drake and she was a very pretty black lady in her mid-thirties that looked and sounded educated and caring. She gave him the keys and the handbook as they spoke about the differences between the South and the North. It was a pleasant conversation as he got the picture that they needed him as their Math teacher more than he realized.

When Josh got to his classroom, he saw a bare walled classroom that looked like it was cleaned an hour beforehand. The walls were freshly painted, and the floor had an almost mirror finish on it. The teacher's desk looked brand new as well as he thought that this could not be that bad of a school. It had the usual bookcase with books and storage areas for supplies, but it all seemed new and untouched before.

Once in his room, a large black man came strolling in. "Hiya doin'there neighbor?"