He nodded and came to stand beside me.“I am sorry Sam and her cousins were treated this way.It is not okay.”
“Thank you,” I whispered as Gabrielle went to the front door and hammered her fist against the wood loud enough to wake the dead.
The commotion on the other side of the door, along with the three vehicles parked in the driveway told us the house wasn’t empty.The question was, would they open the door when they saw through the peephole who was on the other side?
“I want to open it,” came the demanding, grating voice of a child.Well, “child” was a generous term.A “demon in a child-like form” was more accurate.
“I want to open it!”Clyde screamed.
The door swung open to reveal Clyde and Principal Pickford standing there.Otto looked properly surprised, and Clyde looked immediately bored.
“Who are you?”Clyde demanded.His gaze landed on Tom.“You’re the donkey man.Is your donkey back?”He poked his head out a little to swivel it around and check to see if Piñata was back wreaking more havoc.
“No, he is home,” Tom said calmly.
Clyde rolled his eyes.“Boring.”Then he turned around and ran down the hall, screaming like a firetruck at the top of his lungs.I resisted the urge to plug my ears.
Otto was a tall man with a big gut, and the fact that he was a step up into his home gave him even more of a height advantage on us, but Gabrielle didn’t seem to care.She stepped forward and looked him square in the eye.“Did you threaten our children today, Otto?”
“It’s Principal Pickford.”
“Answer the question,PrincipalPickford.Did you threaten to expel our children today?”
“I warned them that if their behavior continued, there would be consequences.”
“What ‘behavior’?”Gabrielle asked.
“Their lies.Their bullying.”
“And what ‘lies’ and ‘bullying’ are you speaking of?Examples, please.”She crossed her arms over her chest.
“They said Clyde kicked sand in their eyes, which is just not true.”
“Andthatis grounds for expulsion?”
“Thenyourdaughter,” he directed this next bit at me, “the disruptor, the problem child, she called Clyde and my entire family bullies.That’sbullying.Those are lies.And they will not be tolerated at my school.All of your children are just …” He shook his head.“This is what happens when kids are raised bysingle mothers.When they don’t have a father figure around to set some boundaries, some rules, and lay down the law.”
Gabrielle smirked.“Right.”
“And ever since your cousin and that McEvoy brother took up together, it’s only gotten worse.Both of your families are full of troublemakers.Disruptors.”
My cousin crossed her arms over her chest and lifted a brow.“So, let me just get some facts first, Principal Pickford.Your grandson, Clyde, kicked sand in the eyes of several members of my family.Then, you proceeded to isolate these children in a room separate from their teachers, and did not feel the urgency or responsibility to call us—their parents—then proceeded to threaten them, berate them, and insult them?Is that correct?”
“Clyde didn’t kick sand in their eyes.He is a good boy.It’s your children who are the problems,” Pickford said, his nostrils flaring.
Gabrielle was so calm, so collected, as she nodded her head slowly.Inside, I was a volcano ready to erupt, and I think Tom knew that because a second later, I found his fingers laced through mine as he gave my hand a gentle squeeze.I squeezed it back, but didn’t let go.
“Okay.Let’s just say, for hypothetical sake, that our childrenarelying.Why would they make this up though?Why would theysayClyde kicked sand in their eyes?”
“Because they are troublemakers.Disruptors.To get Clyde in trouble.”
“But he’s your grandson.So it’s virtually impossible for him to get in trouble.This is something they’ve already witnessed through his countless other indiscretions toward them.Their words, their pleas for help go unanswered.So why would they make it up?Why bring attention to themselves like that if it wasn’t true?”
Color filled Otto’s already red, patchy cheeks, which just matched the redness of the burst capillaries on his nose.“I don’t know.I don’t know what goes through the heads of children.”
“But you should havesomeidea.Given that you are an administrator.You are a principal.”
“I don’t know what goes through the heads ofyourchildren.The fatherless heathens.”
