“Did you talk to him on either occasion?”
“No, we were playing kickball. Besides, he looked mad after he talked to Miss Rossi. His face was all red when he came out and got on his bike. Still, he waved at me, and I waved back.”
Uh-oh,Laurie thought. For JJ to notice Jack was angry was saying something serious. Instead she asked: “How did you do today in school?”
“Fine,” JJ said.
“Any fights out on the playground?” she asked. Aggression was the main complaint the school had communicated, although they were also concerned about JJ’s talking in class, his not following directions, his lack of impulse control, and other symptoms typical of hyperactivity.
“No, no fights,” he said.
“You do know that Miss Rossi is concerned about your behavior.”
“Yeah, I know,” JJ said. “She said if I didn’t get better, I might have to go to another school.”
Good Lord.That was the first she’d heard of a possible expulsion, which raised the stakes. With everything else going on, she couldn’timagine having to look for a new school for JJ. Instead of responding directly, she asked him if he had any idea why he was fighting and why he was talking so much during class.
“It’s Barry Levers’s fault,” JJ said with conviction. “And people talk to me first.”
“Okay, okay,” Laurie said. The little she knew about child psychology told her that it was almost a certainty that a boy JJ’s age would externalize responsibility as a matter of course. Instead of continuing what would have been a pointless conversation, she asked him if he might show her what he had been building that evening.
“Yeah, sure!” JJ said with great alacrity.
After about a half hour of watching him andMinecraftto the point of feeling a little dizzy on top of her exhaustion, she thanked her son, told him she was really impressed with what he had built, and got up from the dining room table. Climbing the stairs up to the top floor, she went into Emma’s room to look in at her daughter. She appeared just as angelic as she had that morning.
Returning to the kitchen, Laurie set out to clean and prepare salad makings and throw together a simple pasta dish. JJ was still at his computer. Caitlin had retired to her own room down on the fourth floor, as was her habit once Emma was asleep. Laurie was about to put the pasta into the boiling water when she heard the apartment door close. Jack bounded up the stairs a moment later. He was in his shorts and T-shirt and his light-brown hair, tinged with a touch of gray over his ears, was plastered to his forehead. There were circles of sweat under both arms. He was in a great mood.
“Greetings to all,” he said gaily. He tousled JJ’s hair, causing him to duck out of his reach without interrupting his play. Jack approached Laurie, but she held up the spoon she was using to stir the pasta to keep him at arm’s length.
“You need to shower,” Laurie pretended to scold. She didn’t haveto pretend too hard, given that she was still irked about the time he spent on the court.
“I believe you’re right,” he responded good-naturedly. “It was a great game tonight. My shots were falling like there was no tomorrow. I couldn’t miss.”
“I’m happy for you,” she said without trying to keep the irony from her voice. “I’ll have dinner on the table in fifteen, so make tracks.”
It was more like twenty minutes later that the food was ready. Jack had shown up dressed in his normal evening apparel, which consisted of a clean T-shirt and sweatpants. JJ had fled upstairs to his own room to avoid being bothered.
“So, let’s hear about Chet’s girlfriend resident,” Jack said as he helped himself to the pasta.
“I have a couple of things to talk about that take precedent,” Laurie said. “First we have to decide what to do about JJ. I feel strongly that we should go ahead and have him professionally evaluated. Not only is it a reasonable idea, but I don’t think we have a lot of choice.” She went on to tell him what JJ had told her the teacher had said to him after Jack’s visit about possibly having to go to another school.
“So, my mini-tantrum supposedly gave Miss Rossi an understanding of why JJ gets into fights on the playground: a chip off the old block.”
“I can’t imagine that JJ would make something like that up,” Laurie said. “You must have really mouthed off.”
“I suppose I did,” he said. “The whole issue irks me to death. He’s just being a normal boy. Hell, I was probably worse if I remember correctly. Boys are competitive with each other. Little scuffles are the norm. I tell you, our child is not going to take Adderall or anything similar. No way.”
“But the school is not insisting he take meds,” Laurie said. “They just want us to agree to have him professionally evaluated, which I don’t have any problem with. Times have changed since you were akid. Same with me. And having him evaluated is not necessarily going to mean meds are prescribed. We’re the parents. It’s up to us if drugs are to be used.”
“It’s the first step in the process,” Jack said, but with somewhat less emotion. “The pharmaceutical industry has cleverly hoodwinked an entire generation of people to believe boys need medication so that they can sit still like girls. Just having him evaluated means that we’re admitting we think something is wrong with him.”
“I disagree,” she said. “I’m sorry, but you are being ridiculous. You’re starting to sound like one of those conspiracists that you’re always railing against. The better we understand him, the better able we’ll be to make informed decisions. JJ’s school handles conflict very differently than when you and I were in elementary school. And your experience isn’t as relevant as you might think. I’m concerned about his impulse control, and I’d like to learn more about it if we can.”
“So, you really think I’m off base here?” he said.
“Yes, I do,” Laurie said. “We will be having him evaluated to see if a professionally trained person thinks he has an issue that can be addressed in any one of a number of ways. We are not agreeing to drugs. Not by a long shot. I don’t think we have much choice. I’m afraid if we refuse, which I don’t want to do, JJ might be asked to leave the school, and unless you want to find another school for him on your own, we have to respect their concerns.”
“Okay,” Jack said, throwing his hands into the air in surrender. “You win. But I have one stipulation. I want the psychiatrist or psychologist who does the evaluating to be a male.”
