Grace thought of Travis. “Maybe. But so far, we seem to be cursed. Do you think it’s because we’ve eaten too many doughnuts in our lifetimes?”
“If it is, I might stop eating them.” Macy brought the milk and tea to the table and took a chair. “But I think me and Sarah have the mommy itch. We both want a family so bad that we trusted too easily in the relationship.”
“Sometimes kids aren’t...,” Grace started but then her phone rang. She slipped it out of her hip pocket and groaned. “It’s the school.”
She pushed the speaker button and laid the phone on the table. “Hello, this is Grace Dalton.”
“Ms.Dalton, this is Jane Wilson, the secretary at your daughter’s school. How quickly can you get down here? We have a problem.” Her tone sounded frantic.
Grace was already on her feet. “I can be there in five minutes. Is Audrey okay?”
“I just need for you to get here,” Jane said. “There’s been an altercation, and we need your help.”
“I’m on my way,” Grace said as she grabbed her phone and headed for the door. “I knew this was coming. The other shoe has dropped.”
“Yep,” Macy said. “Want us to go with you?”
“I’ll call if I need you,” Grace threw over her shoulder as she cleared the door.
“Call no matter what!” Sarah yelled.
A hundred scenarios ran through Grace’s mind as she drove to the school and parked as close to the front door as she could. She jogged from her vehicle to the principal’s office, where four girls sat in folding chairs: Audrey and Raelene on one side of the room, Crystal and Kelseyon the other. Grace could almost feel the temperature in the room rising by the second from the heat flowing from one set of girls to the other. Lisa and her husband were standing behind Crystal, and Kelsey’s parents were behind her. The odds—four against one—didn’t seem quite fair, but Grace was ready to go to battle for her girls.
This is one time when I wish Justin was here to help with whatever has happened,she thought as she took her place behind Raelene and Audrey. The second thought that surfaced was how she’d feel with Travis beside her. He was a solid guy—stalwart and fair. What would he do if he were right there?
Carlita’s sneer made Grace want to finish the fight that the girls had started. Then Lisa pointed at Grace and said, “Trashy people raise trashy kids.”
Grace looked down and saw blood on Audrey’s arm. That’s when she figured she could take them all on with one hand tied behind her back.
“It would be best if you stayed out of my shop and kept your opinions to yourself,” Grace said, glaring at the whole bunch of them.
All four girls looked like they had barely survived a tornado. Their hair was a mess, their makeup had smeared, and black streaks ran down their faces from tears flowing through mascara. Crystal was sporting a busted lip, and a nice purple bruise was already forming under Kelsey’s eye. Grace caught Raelene’s eye and realized that her arm was bloody, too.
“This all happened because you took that kid into your house,” Lisa shouted at Grace, pointing at Raelene.
“No, this happened because your daughter and her friend are bullies,” Grace said in a normal tone. She wasn’t going to lower herself and get involved in a shouting match, but her hands doubled up into fists. If push came to shove, she was ready.
Mr.Barstow looked up from the other side of his desk. “These girls were fighting in the library. I’ve listened to each of them and have learned that Crystal and Kelsey have been bullying Raelene for quite some time. She has given me a documented account of all they havedone to harass her through just this year, and she assures me that she has more journals at home.”
“The manual says that she is supposed to report that... if it’s true,” Carlita said through gritted teeth. “You can’t punish my child for something that happened in kindergarten.” She patted Kelsey on the shoulder.
“She was afraid if she reported the abuse and harassment that it would get worse,” Grace said and nodded toward Kenneth and Walter, the two fathers. “Your daughters tell around school that since you are on the school board, they can do anything they want and get away with it—up to and including not doing their homework. Raelene was afraid if she took up for herself, she would lose her scholarship for college.”
“You’ve said what?” Walter demanded of his daughter, Kelsey.
Before she could answer, Grace asked her daughter, “What happened, Audrey?”
“Crystal and Kelsey came into the library, where we were working on my algebra. I had just finished the assignment, and now I’ll have to do it all over again,” Audrey said.
“Kelsey grabbed the papers and tore them up, then Crystal threw our lunch on the floor and stomped on it,” Raelene added.
Audrey raised her hand. “I’ll admit I threw the first punch, because when they do that to Raelene, the librarian makesherscrub it all up, and that’s not fair.”
“In her defense, she doesn’t see what they do because they are so sneaky,” Raelene said and pointed at Kelsey. “After they destroyed Audrey’s lesson, Kelsey whipped out a pocketknife and began slashing at us.” Raelene held up her arm. “I got away, but they grabbed Audrey. Crystal held her arms from behind.”
“Kelsey said that she would cut up my face so bad that no one would ever want to be my friend, not even Raelene,” Audrey said. “And she would have, but Raelene jumped on her back, and she dropped the knife. Then the librarian came, and here we are.”
“Is there any truth in this?” Crystal’s father had a horrified expression on his face.
