“Whatever.”
“Thanks for doing this with me. I think it’s always good for kids to hear a lawyer’s take on some of these issues. The queer kids need to know there are resources for them, and the bullies need to know someone will hold them accountable—even if the school won’t.”
Blayne placed his laptop in his attaché case, and they left through a side door. The heat and humidity were still pretty bad. Blayne immediately loosened the tie around his neck.
The two walked along the sidewalk, saying nothing to each other. A car on the other side of the parking lot suddenly lowered its window, and the same jerk from earlier leaned out and yelled, “Fag!” before the car sped away. Blayne rolled his eyes.
“Want to tell the principal?” Kira asked.
“I’ll shoot him an email when I get home. At least that way, it’s documented.”
“CYA behavior. Always a smart move.”
“CYA?” Blayne questioned.
“Cover your ass.”
Blayne pulled out his key fob and clicked the unlock button to open the doors on his Prius. He’d been able to buy a used one the previous summer for less than twenty-thousand dollars. The car was his pride and joy and he kept it in pristine condition. He heard the click as the car unlocked. He opened the back door and laid his attaché case on the floor behind the driver’s seat.
“Blayne,” a voice yelled, “do you have a minute?”
Blayne looked up to see a kid he knew all too well.
“Hey, Jamie. What’s up?”
“Hi, Jamie,” Kira added before giving the young guy a brief hug.
“Sorry about that jerk in the meeting,” Jamie said, looking down at the ground.
“We’ve faced worse,” Kira noted. She gently grabbed Jamie’s chin and raised his eyes to hers. “What’s wrong?”
Jamie had been a perpetual victim of bullying at Pennington High School. In fact, this bullying had led the school district to mandate the school-wide training that afternoon. Usually, Kira and Blayne didn’t talk to high school students about queer issues and bullying. Still, when Blayne’s professor, Dr. Madeline Reich, had asked if he would do this for her, he had to agree.
“I was thrown into my locker yesterday…again. I told the principal, but he said I was ‘making stuff up again just to cause drama,’” Jamie said in an imitation of the principal’s gruff voice.
“Have you told your mom?” Blayne asked.
“What’s she going to do? She knows what’s going on and has done everything she can to stop it, but the kids keep getting away with it.”
“How often is stuff like this happening?” Kira questioned.
“Well, if I’m not being called queer, fag, gay-boy, fairy, pillow-biter, fudge packer—well, you get the idea.”
Kira’s eyes narrowed. “And the principal knows this is happening?”
“Yes and no.”
“Explain,” Kira demanded.
“Well, I tell him it’s happening, but he says if he doesn’t see it himself, or if another teacher doesn’t see it, there’s nothing he can do.”
“And of course,” Blayne started, “these bullies know this, so they make sure none of this happens in front of an adult.”
“Pretty much,” Jamie said, looking down at the ground again, kicking at the pavement.
Blayne looked over and noticed Kira’s mouth was set in a hard line. She was pissed. Blayne had been friends with Kira long enough to know exactly what was going through her mind.
He turned to her and asked, “Shall we?”
