Lina presses “Accept” and puts the call on speaker.
I glare at her. She glares back.
I clear my throat. “Afternoon, Mr. Daniels. How can I help you?”
“Hello, Oliver. Just calling to give you some updates,” his slimy voice says over the phone.
“Did you get the letter to file I faxed over this morning?”
Lina scoffs. I shush her.
“Yes, and that’s what I’m calling about. I’m really glad you did that, Oliver, that you got me the paperwork so quickly.”
“Why is that?”
“Well,” he begins cheerfully, ignorant of Lina’s and my panic, “That dad called my office again this morning. Mr. Jones wanted to know the resolution of my investigation. I told him you handled it, and that Ms. Baker was being written up for improper conduct.”
“Yes, that’s correct,” I intone. “Was he pleased with the outcome?”
“Yes, very pleased,” he says with glee. “He said it came at the perfect time. Apparently, he’s going down to the precinct today to press charges against Ms. Baker. For assault. He’s going to use the letter to file, plus all the other letters to file that I found on her record as evidence to support all her inappropriate behavior.”
My heart sinks. He keeps talking, but I don’t hear him over the ringing in my ears. I drop back into my chair. I look helplessly at Lina, who has also taken a seat, her head in hands.
“—if she’s found guilty, it’ll be up to you to use that case to fire her and strip her of her license. Then we can get a new teacher in there, stat, and you can come up here and work for me.”
I hang up the phone.
Lina and I look at one another.
I speak first. “I have to go see her,” jumping out my chair and moving towards the door.
Lina blocks my exit. “Sit down, Oliver. That is not theright move right now,” she is saying, shifting her body whenever I try to move around her.
“I have to let her know what’s happening.” My mind is racing through the infinite possibilities of how screwed she’s going to be.
She shoves me away from the door. “I will not letyou, theleaderof this school building, during the school day, run up to the classroom of the teacher you are having anillicit relationshipwith. What are you going to do when you get there, huh? Drop to one knee and beg her for forgiveness in front of thirty eight-year-olds? Are you insane? Sit. Down.”
Lina’s comments resonate like a record scratch in my head. Ripping my hair out of my head, I sit back in my chair.Breathe.
“I have to come up with a plan,” I say out loud.
She nods. “Plans are good.”
“Plans are dependable.”
“Let’s make a to-do list, Oliver. First thing on the list—text Georgia to come see you after school.”
I do just that, and I get organized.
THIRTY-SIX
Georgia
I’ve hada healthy twenty-four hours to spiral about a lot of things.
He didn’t mean it. I know he didn’t. It was all for show, a way for us both to keep our jobs in the face of the man who is both of our boss.
But the letter to file is real. And something I’ve spent this entire fucking school year trying to avoid. And now, it has the very real potential to fuck me. But he wouldn’t, would he? And the things he said… they… I don’t know. They seemed really real. He said… all the wrong things. Apologizing for me, brushing me off in front of more powerful people. Making decisions for me.
