Chapter 9 The Circle of Stupid #2
“You’ll be missing the best three players on the team. You can’t do that!”
He whistled sharply. Once the students were quiet again, he glared at each of them in turn.
“I can, and I did. I don’t care who your parents are, how the coach feels, or if you’ve been named the King or Queen of America.
You do not get to disrespect this school and then face no consequences for your actions. ”
He continued, “When you leave this room, you will report directly to in-school suspension. We will call your parents or guardians to come in today to discuss what has just been laid out, but we will not succumb to their squawking, if there is any. Check your emails for homework from your teachers. Each of you can also expect to receive a ticket in the mail from the police, and a court date to determine any additional fines or consequences.”
Ryker stood up, puffing his chest in an attempt to make himself look bigger and badder.
“You may not care who my father is, but you will not get away with this. He will not let you do this to me. And just so you know, I’m not spending one minute in in-school suspension, and I won’t be missing the game on Friday night either. ”
He turned on Elyxandre, his finger pointing at her, stabbing the air in her direction.
The boy had appeared angry from the get-go, but now, he seemed unhinged.
His whole body was so tight, his words so clipped, that he seemed to vibrate.
“And you. You stupid bitch! You think because you’re a woman and you’re new that you can do whatever you want?
Fuck you! You’re going to regret that you messed with me.
You didn’t know who I was, but you will now!
” With that, he rounded the table and slammed the door as he left.
There was a pause as the other students looked around at each other, then one by one, the disgruntled teens left and took a right to the room at the end of the hallway. One of the boys patted Kennedy on the back, whispered something to her, and tears fell from her eyes.
“Well, despite the fact that that wasn’t quite the plan we discussed, it could have been worse.”
He gave off a huff of frustration.
She threaded her fingers in front of her on the table and leaned on her forearms. “Dr. Vaughn, there is no point in having a police liaison in the school if you’re not going to follow her advice.
Tickets are always a last resort, as are fines and legal court proceedings.
Those don’t motivate offenders, unless maybe they're faced with jail time, and even then, it’s not a given. ”
“Your plan was too lenient. They need to learn that there are things they can and cannot do, and that there are penalties for breaking the rules.”
“We discussed this earlier. What changed?” She studied him.
Then it dawned on her. The grumpy look on his face when she passed his office.
He mentioned an email he needed to deal with.
“You got an email. Let me guess. Superintendent Sealy heard his son was involved and gave you some sort of ultimatum? Was that why you looked so angry in your office? News sure does travel fast here.” Although, that didn’t explain his tacking on suspensions, tickets, and court dates.
“No, although I’m sure that phone call is coming, given how Ryker left the room.
The email was from the school board president, reminding me of my duty to the taxpayers, and the board wanted to be assured that the students involved would be held accountable in a manner that they would find acceptable.
Although, who knows how he’s going to react when the superintendent calls him, but that’s not my problem right now. ”
Puzzled, she asked, “Will Superintendent Sealy be pro-Ryker or pro-school?”
“Oh, he’ll most definitely call and try to get me to reverse all the consequences for Ryker, and then he’ll push for me to drop the consequences for any of the others who are athletes, which I will not do.”
“So then why did you veer off the plan and tell them we would suspend them and issue tickets?”
He sighed, running a hand down his face.
“I didn’t plan to. I was pissed as hell that the president thought he could dictate to me how I would run the school.
While I get that I’m answerable to the board, I at least wanted the privilege to make my own mistakes before someone told me how to do things.
That was me unable to hold back my temper, and unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to rein it in. ”
“Well, you laid down the law, so now we have to live with it.”
Lucas slid into one of the chairs at the foot of the table, leaned on his elbow, and rubbed his forehead.
“They did do an extensive amount of damage to the building. They should have to serve as an example to the students as to what happens if they choose to hurt the school.” She could hear the petulance in his voice, but she knew it was more defensive than anything.
“Tell me something,” she began. “Was there a prank at the end of your senior year?”
“What?”
“Did your classmates do a senior prank at the end of the school year?”
“I don’t understand why that’s relevant.”
“Humor me and answer the question.”
He huffed again and folded his arms over his chest, his tweed jacket pulling tight across his body.
“The boys in the auto shop took apart a car and put it back together in our commons area. They rigged it so the headlights flashed on and off nonstop, the radio blasted heavy metal music you couldn’t turn off, and the horn went off periodically. ”
“Unoriginal, but effective. You and your classmates, you loved it, didn’t you?”
“Of course we did.”
“And everyone knew who did it, right?”
“Yes.”
“Did any damage occur from the prank?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “There was some chipping of the marble floor.”
She nodded. “Fixing a marble floor isn’t cheap. I imagine the principal wasn’t amused by the prank or the bill to fix the floor.”
“I wouldn’t know,” he admitted.
“Oh, really? Why was that, do you think?”
“It was a long time ago, Officer Hookstead. Kids these days are very different. I’m sure those boys back then were caught, punished, and learned their lesson.”
Rising from her seat, she chuckled. “I bet you’re wrong.
I bet everyone knew which students were involved, but I highly doubt they were punished.
And I’d bet you dinner that they didn’t learn a damn thing from the whole situation except that for one day, they were considered badass to every one of the two thousand kids in this building. ”
“So we should just let the kids do whatever they want, and let the taxpayers pay for the damages?”
“I didn’t say that. But what is far more important than covering the repair bill is that these kids learn to value the school like it’s their personal property.
The fact that they felt justified in vandalizing their own school is the root of the problem.
We need to change the narrative because issuing tickets, fines, and court appearances just perpetuates the current one—that adults, especially school-related adults, are out to get them. ”
They sat in silence for a moment. When he looked at her, his lips twitched, showing he couldn’t quite hide the humor he was feeling. “So you raided the enemy at homecoming, huh? Such a deviant in your youth.”
Her brain flashed back to her ex-husband’s email—on the word “deviant,” and then she squashed it down.
“Tell me, Officer E, were you a part of your senior prank?”
She loved that he used the students’ nickname for her. It made their working relationship feel much friendlier and gave her a slight tickling sensation in her belly at the intimacy of it.
“I planned the damn thing,” she admitted.
His eyes widened, and the smile kicked into full gear. “Oh, really? What naughtiness, pray tell, did you dream up?”
“Nothing damaging,” she admitted. “Although I do think it was rather original. We borrowed some tires from a construction company—with their permission, as long as we returned them—and put them over the flagpole.”
He broke out in laughter. “That flagpole is thirty feet high.”
Grinning, she leaned back in her chair. “Like I said. Original.”
“What happened?”
“Physics teachers took their classes out to try and figure out how to get them off the flagpole without cutting them.”
“Did they succeed?”
“Nope. The construction company came and got them that night. Had to use a crane to do it.”
He squinted at her. “But you and your friends didn’t use a crane to get them over the pole, did you?”
She shook her head.
“How did you do it?”
“I’m not telling. I just might help some seniors do it this year. Can’t give away all my secrets,” she teased.
“No,” he said reflectively. “Somehow, I didn’t think you would. You surprise me more and more every day.”
The tickling sensation was back.
A knock at the door broke the moment. “Come in,” she called.
When the door opened, it was the boy who’d been last out of the room, the one comforting Kennedy.
Lucas stood. “What can we do for you, Judah?” he asked.
“Dr. Vaughn, is there any way you can avoid calling Kennedy’s father? It… well, she’s going to get in a lot of trouble if she gets an ISS. And an OSS? It could be really bad.”
“Perhaps she should have thought about that before involving herself in the raid last night.”
The young man ran one of his hands through his hair. “Please, sir. I’ll take her punishment. Double the days of punishment and let me pay her ticket. Just… just don’t call her dad.”
Elyxandre took a step toward the boy. “Is Kennedy in danger, Judah?”
His eyes went wide as if he realized what he’d given away. “I—”
“It’s okay, Judah,” she said gently. “No one will know that you told us.”
He swallowed and nodded. “Kennedy’s dad. He drinks. A lot.” He flashed a look at the principal. “Ever since her mom left them. I mean, he wasn’t really a prize to start with, but he pretty much treats her like she’s his wife.”