Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
I open the door to the elementary school front office, wondering if I’m ever going to have a normal heart rate again. I got a call when I was at work from Kieran’s school, asking me to come in. They didn’t give me any details, just that he was okay.
I immediately see Phillip is here, sitting in one of the chairs, waiting. Again, my heart nearly leaps into my throat. It takes my brain a second to catch up to the fact that he’s not here as my boyfriend but as our caseworker.
And this can’t be good if they called him too.
“Where is Kieran?” I ask the front desk.
Phillip stands, but he doesn’t say anything, and I wait for the woman behind the desk to answer me. “The principal will be right out, I promise, Mr. Rhodes. He’s okay though. Please take a seat.”
It’s nice of her to try to reassure me that he’s okay, but with my eyes not actually on him, I’m not going to believe it. I walk over to the chairs and sit down when Phillip takes his seat again.
“What’s going on?” I ask him quietly.
“I’m not sure.” He looks just as worried as I do. “They didn’t tell me anything.”
“Mr. Miller. Mr. Rhodes. Will you please come with me?” I notice an older woman—the principal I met when I enrolled Kieran and Braylen at this school—has walked out of her office and is standing by the door.
Phillip and I walk to her office, and she closes the door, offering us both a chair and taking hers behind her seat. “Thank you both for coming down here so quickly.”
“Where is Kieran?” I’m losing patience.
“He’s in the nurse’s office. He’s okay, but another student shoved into him, and he has a small bruise.”
“From someone knocking into him?” Phillip asks suspiciously, and I can feel my hands clenching in my lap.
“Well, unfortunately Kieran was shoved into a locker door.”
“Is he okay?”
“He is. He said he didn’t want us to call you, but the student who bumped into him—” She’s choosing her words carefully, I can tell. “Well, to be blunt he’s one of our troubled students. Kieran and Billy both said it was an accident, but a couple of teachers who witnessed it really don’t think it was.”
“And where is this Billy?” I ask through gritted teeth, my rage starting to boil as I start to understand the actual situation.
“I had a talk with him and emailed his parents, but because both parties are claiming it was an accident, my hands are tied.”
My lips are set firmly in a straight line as I try like hell not to lose it. “So he’s being bullied, and what? You want my permission for you to ignore it?”
“No. Of course not. I asked you both down here because I want you to be aware. We’re keeping an eye on it, but Kieran...”
“Kieran what?” Phillip asks calmly.
“Kieran is a sweet child. We adore him here, but he’s quiet and shy, usually reading. He seems to be a target for some of the boys in his class.”
“So what do we do about this?” I ask, my jaw aching from how tense it is right now. Kieran is a sweet kid and almost too quiet. He hasn’t said a word about this, and I wonder how long he’s been suffering quietly. I missed it.
“The teachers have been made aware. We’ve talked to Kieran about how important it is to tell us if anyone is bothering him. And I think it would be good for you to do the same.”
I sigh heavily, racked with guilt yet again. “Can I see him?”
“Yes. Of course.” She makes a call to have the nurse send Kieran here and then hangs up her phone, her face full of sympathy I don’t really want. I want them to suspend these little shitheads. “We’ll continue to monitor the situation. If Kieran gives you any information at all, please let us know. I want you to know that his safety matters to us.”
“Right,” I say maybe a little too harshly. Kids should be safe in school.
The woman from the front office knocks and brings Kieran into the room. The principal leaves us alone for a moment, telling us to call if we need anything at all and telling us Kieran can go home for the rest of the day.
Kieran won’t really look me in the eye when his principal leaves, but I can see a bruise forming on the left side of his face. “Kieran...”
“I’m fine,” he says stubbornly, and I immediately look to Phillip, who looks grim at first, then forces his best smile.
“Kieran, if it wasn’t actually an accident, you can tell us. We aren’t going to let anyone hurt you, and he needs to be reprimanded properly for his actions.”
Spoken like a true social worker. I want to tease Phillip about it, but I know he’s just doing his job. Still—Kieran is a Rhodes. He’s not snitching. It’s not how we were raised, and we learned from a young age not to trust authority. “Are you okay?” I ask him, kneeling down to look at him.
“I’m fine. I just want to go home.”
I nod, seeing he isn’t going to talk about this, but wishing I could make it better. “Let’s go home then,” I say, planning to talk to him more about it when we get there.
But after signing him out and walking to the parking lot, it’s clear the universe is ready to go into full fuckery. It seems I missed two calls from the high school when I was busy at this school. “Shit,” I curse, and it gets Phillip and Kieran’s attention. I listen to the voicemail and hang up, my eyes on Phillip. “I have to go to the high school now. Cason got into a fight.”
“Shit,” Phillip repeats, his eyes wide. “Do you want me to go with you?” He checks his phone and doesn’t seem to have a message.
“Do you mind taking Kieran home? I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I can do that.” He looks wary and moves a little closer to me. “Please stay calm.”
Calm? Not a chance. What the hell is happening today? But I can see how worried he is, and I don’t want him to feel that way. And I can’t blow up at Cason in school or it will cause more paperwork for my boyfriend. “I will,” I assure him, and I tell Kieran I’ll see him at home before we part. I drive to the high school, my hands gripping the steering wheel tight.
How the hell could he do this? He knows everything is on the line right now. Things were going well, even if he’s still pretty sure I’m going to fuck everything up. It’s like he’s accepted that I’m his best option. We were getting along, damn it.
I try to keep my cool as I walk into his school, heading to the office, but I feel like I’m going to blow a gasket. Kieran is being bullied, and apparently, Cason is being a bully. Fucking great.
I notice Tatum is here when I walk through the office doors. “What are you doing here?” He was supposed to be covering for me at work—so our boss is going to be doubly pissed now.
“They called me when they couldn’t reach you.”
My eyes sweep around the room, and I see Cason sitting in a row of chairs, an ice pack on his face. Okay, so it wasn’t just him doing the hitting. I notice his knuckles are bruised. There’s a scrawny kid next to him, holding broken glasses and has an ice pack on his eye. Seriously, Cason? What the fuck? But then I zone in on Blake, who’s sitting two chairs down.
His knuckles are also bruised, and he has a fat lip. What the fuck happened here?
I look at Tatum, who just shakes his head grimly—saying he doesn’t have a clue.
“What happened?” I walk over to Cason—who looks a little guilty—actually shrinking back for the first time.
“That fucker was talking about Rae.”
I look over at the scrawny kid with the black eye and then back at Cason. “I’m assuming you’re talking about Blake.” I don’t even bother looking in that little prick’s direction. Cason nods. “Liam just got caught in the middle.”
Poor kid.
Before I can find out more though, the principal walks out into the waiting room. He looks to be about my age, dressed in a nice suit and tie with his dark-frame glasses and nicely styled hair. He’s wearing a kind smile, though I doubt it reflects how he actually feels. “Mr. Rhodes, you can come in.” He startles when he looks to my right though, looking pale like he’s seen a ghost. “Tatum?”
Tatum stands up from his spot, towering over the principal. “Remy?”
“Wait. You know the principal?” I ask, dumbfounded.
Tatum looks sick and nods his head slowly at me. “Yeah. We were in the same foster home.”
The principal—Remy, apparently—clears his throat. “Um, we need to chat before the other parents get here.” He’s talking to me, I realize, but he’s still staring at Tatum. O-kay... this is weird. “Mr. Rhodes?”
“Sure,” I say and follow him into his office, while Tatum stays in the waiting room but looks dazed. I take a seat, and Remy does too, clearly not unaffected by his reunion with my best friend. “You know Tatum?”
I’m not sure why I’m asking. I’m here to talk about Cason being a moody impulsive little shithead and getting into a fight, but I can’t help but be curious. “I do. From a long time ago, but I... We really need to talk about Cason.”
“Right,” I agree—though still really damn curious. “What happened?”
His eyes are on the waiting room, even with the door closed, but then looks back at me. “It seems Blake was saying something Cason didn’t like, and a fight ensued.”
“Cason threw the first punch?”
He nods. “According to witnesses, yes, but they’re both being suspended for fighting. Liam is the only one who it’s clear was just caught in the crossfire, so he’s going home but isn’t in any trouble.”
“I’m sorry. There was an incident with our sister and Blake...” I stop because Raegan doesn’t want me to say anything. I don’t want to betray her, but I don’t want Cason in big trouble. I know he shouldn’t have hit Blake—but come on, he did have it coming.
Remy’s lips form a straight line—totally impassive—he’s good at this job. “Is your sister okay?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. She says she is, and she doesn’t want to officially report anything, but Cason—hell, both of us—we’re still angry.”
He seems to soak that information in for a moment, letting out a deep breath. “I understand. But we do have a no violence policy.”
“I understand,” I say honestly. “How long is he suspended?”
“One week. If it happens again, he’ll be expelled.”
“It won’t happen again,” I promise, even though it’s not something I really can promise. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Okay. If your sister needs anything, please let me know.”
“I will. Thank you.” I shake his hand and then walk out to Tatum and Cason. Tatum is looking behind me at his blast from the past , but they don’t say anything. I collect Cason, and we all walk out to the parking lot.
I keep quiet until we reach my car. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“If you would have heard what he was saying, you’d be in jail, Kellan,” he says firmly, not looking away from me. “It was vile.”
I believe him. I can see it on his face, and I don’t want to know because he’s right. Just knowing what he said, I’d probably go back into that school and rip his head off. “You can’t get into fights though. You just can’t. You do realize we have to tell Phillip.”
“Why?” he asks, his attitude coming out in full force. “They didn’t call Phillip.”
“I was with him when I saw the voicemail. He knows.”
Tatum looks freaked the fuck out, his eyes going wide. “You were with the social worker?”
I forgot Tatum knows about my relationship with Phillip and thinks I just admitted to it with Cason. I try to convey to him that he needs to shut up. “He was at the school when I went to get Kieran.”
I can see the relief on Tatum’s face, and I can tell that keeping this secret is actually proving not so easy for my best friend. I hate that he’s been dragged into this. “Oh. Is Kieran okay?”
“What’s wrong with Kieran?” Cason looks at me, his worry clear.
“Some shithead is bullying him at school.”
“What the fuck?” Cason snaps.
“He’s fine. He’s with Phillip at the house, and I need to get back there to talk to him, but you and I are not done discussing this either.”
“Fine,” he says, climbing into my car and crossing his arms over his chest with a pissy attitude.
I sigh and turn to Tatum, who says, “I gotta get back to the shop. You going to be okay?” He’s watching me carefully—the way he does when he’s waiting for me to relapse.
Drinking and drugs are the last things on my mind right now, but I do feel like I’m about to snap in other ways. “I’m fine. Just, you know, my whole world going to shit in one hour.”
He puts a firm hand on my shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. Phillip is home, right?”
I like the sound of that—calling my home Phillip’s, even though it’s not, and after today, he might run away screaming. I mean, I want to. “He is.”
“Okay, let him help.” His eyes are giving a no-nonsense vibe, and I nod my head, not arguing. I owe Tatum so much.
“I will.” I grab my keys out of my pocket and start to walk to the driver’s side but stop and turn to look at Tatum. “Hey. What was that about with the principal?”
His face goes solemn now, gritting his teeth. “That was a lifetime ago. The first person I ever truly let down.”
That’s cryptic...
But that’s all he says before he waves and gets into his own car to head to the shop, and I have to go deal with a whole lot of other shit or I’d probably press him on it more.
Whatever that was—I wouldn’t say it’s totally over, like he’s implied.