“Ms. Taylor, this is Principal Pirogue. I’m calling you about Kevin.”
April rolled her eyes. As if his name didn’t show on her phone and she had no idea why he’d be calling. It sure wasn’t to invite her to meet the wife and go yachting. She set her elbows on the desk, spread her fingers, and pressed her forehead against her fingertips.
“Yes, Principal Pirogue. What is it this time?”
He’d called her countless times to tell her Kevin was daydreaming in class again, or had too many timeouts for talking during quiet time (that was a big one—Kevin used quiet time to practice his stand-up comedy routine, it seemed.) and that he wouldn’t have the ‘privilege’ of recess for another week—which of course only made the problem worse. A kid like Kevin needed to run off his excess energy at least twice a day. Most boys did. So she’d fought to get his recess reinstated.
Principal Jackass sighed. “I’ll get right to it. Kevin punched another boy on the playground today.”
April bolted upright. “He did what? Wait, are you sure? Kevin’s a handful, but he’s not a fighter.”
Pirogue’s voice sounded measured, practiced. “It always comes as a surprise to parents to find out their child has oppositional defiant disorder?—”
“Oh, you stop right there, Pirogue. Who’s the other kid? Was he bullying my son and he was defending himself?”
“Revealing the identity of the other party would be violating the privacy laws laid out in the student handbook. Which, you would know if you read it.”
April closed her eyes.Lord, grant me the strength not to throttle this jackass in his office after he?—
“I’ll need you to come into my office as soon as possible.”
April mouthed the predictable words as he said them, a sneer on her face. When she opened her eyes, she saw Sonny standing in the office doorway. She wondered how much he’d heard. Judging by the look in his eye, probably most of it.
She put on a fake, sarcastic smile that seeped into her tone. “Of course, Principal Pirogue. I’ll be there right away.” She hit disconnect, wishing he’d called on the landline. “Swear to God, if kids these days knew how satisfying it is to slam down a receiver, they’d toss their smartphones. “It’s a totally underrated pleasure.” April rubbed her temples.
“Do they even use ’em as phones anymore?”
“I have no idea. Kevin will be at least thirty before I let him have one.” April swiped her phone off the desk, stood up, and searched around for her purse. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough to call bullshit.”
April gave her dad a grateful smile.
“What?” he asked, spreading his arms. “It’s like you said—my grandson’s a handful, but he ain’t violent or a bully. If he took a swing, the other kid deserved it.” He watched April pick up her purse and drop her phone into it. “You got any idea who the kid might be?”
“Yes, I do.” She gritted her teeth. “HRH Regis Sumner.”
“Shoulda guessed that myself. Regis Sumner,” he scoffed. Sonny turned sideways to let April pass him in the doorway. He had a big frame and was still in pretty good shape after a career in the military, so she squeaked by and continued marching down the hall to the front of the store. She glanced around at the still-empty tables as she pulled her keys out of her purse.
“You got the seltzer ordered?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“The newsletter’s written, just upload the photos off the desktop and hit send.”
“Aye-aye.”
“Thanks.” She reached out to open the front door. “We’ll be back after Kevin’s out of detention. Maybe about an hour if we’re lucky.”
“April.”
She stopped and turned around. Sonny covered his heart with his hand and tapped it as rapidly as a beating hummingbird’s wing. His special sign to his daughters that he loved them forever.
April returned the gesture, hoping she could keep the prickling in her eyes from turning into tears.
Of course,principal Jackass had waited to call April until school was almost out—inflicting maximum humiliation as she’d have to walk past a host of moms waiting to pick up their kids. She was suspicious that the rumor mill was already going at full speed, and that was reinforced when she saw the way other moms looked at her right after they stopped whispering to each other. Though not all of them. Diane Andrews, whose daughter Laurie was one of Kevin’s friends, gave her a warm smile and a wave. April waved back, then kept her head held high, serene smile on her face as she walked past the others. She’d had years of practicing her poker face, after all.
Her other suspicion—about the bully’s identity—was confirmed when she saw Regis’ mother standing in the secretary’s office.
