Chapter 34 Lawson
LAWSON
My fingers itched to take Hallie’s hand. I knew that just the feeling of her skin against mine would ease the edginess coursing through me. But I also knew the last thing we needed were tongues wagging about the two of us right now.
I opened the door to the school office and held it for Hallie. She stepped inside, her gaze sweeping the space.
“Hey, Law. Sorry I had to call you in. Know you boys are busy,” Debbie said. There was worry in her expression, maybe even a hint of fear. Two dead bodies in a matter of weeks did that to a town. And as necessary as the public safety announcement had been, it just put everyone more on edge.
“Not your fault,” I said. “Debbie, this is Hallie. Hallie, Debbie.”
Debbie gave her the once-over but had a warm smile. “The nanny, right?”
Hallie nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
“You, too, honey. You guys go right on in. The principal’s waiting for you.”
My gut churned as I lightly knocked on the office door.
“Come in,” Principal Meader’s voice beckoned.
I opened the door and gestured Hallie inside. She made a beeline for Luke, who had an ice pack resting on his knuckles. She quickly lifted it, assessing the damage as she sat. “Are you okay? Do you think you need an X-ray?”
“The only one who needed an X-ray was the boy whose nose he broke,” Principal Meader said with a scowl.
Anger flared, sweeping through me. I’d taught Luke better than this. Taught him to solve his problems in ways other than violence. I stared down at my son. “You broke someone’s nose?”
Luke’s back teeth ground together, causing a tic in the muscles along his jaw. “He deserved it.”
“Luke,” I snapped.
Principal Meader turned his focus to me. “This is not the kind of behavior I expect from the son of our chief of police.”
That muscle beneath my eye began to flutter.
“I didn’t ask to be the son of the chief of police,” Luke muttered.
His words hit, a harsh blow.
Hallie took Luke’s uninjured hand. “What happened?”
“I can tell you what happened,” the principal began.
“I didn’t ask you,” Hallie clipped.
Meader’s eyes widened.
Hallie ignored his reaction and turned back to Luke. “I want to hear it from you.”
Luke’s jaw worked back and forth. “I was supposed to meet Vi at her locker between classes. When I got there, Henry Cleary had her backed against the wall. He was making fun of her, the way she dresses, that she’s so freaking smart.
She was crying. He made a move like he was gonna touch her, and she didn’t want that. ”
Luke let out a shuddering breath. “I pulled him off her and told him to get lost. He got in my face, said some colorful things. But I don’t care about that. Then he tried to make a grab for Vi again. So, I punched him.”
That anger was back, but not at my boy. At this asswipe Henry Cleary.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for violence at this school,” Meader began.
“Good,” Hallie interrupted. “Because it sounds like Henry needs to be expelled.”
He gaped at her. “Luke is the one who punched another student. Henry didn’t hit anyone.”
“Backing a young girl up against a wall, threatening her, trying to touch her, isn’t violence?” Hallie’s whole body trembled, but not with fear. With fury.
Luke gripped her hand tightly, and I moved to her other side.
“She has a point,” I said as I took the seat next to Hallie. “I could bring the boy in for sexual harassment and assault.”
Meader’s face grew red. “And then he could press charges against your boy.”
I shrugged. “True. But if you put Violet Hooper, a pastor’s daughter, on the stand, and she says how scared she was, how upset, I doubt a single jury in this county would come back with a guilty verdict.”
“Well, this isn’t a court of law. This is a school. And I am tasked with keeping the students here safe and healthy,” the principal shot back.
“As you should,” Hallie said calmly. “Then you’ll make sure Violet feels safe. Did you even talk to her?”
Meader shifted in his seat. “She said she felt picked on.”
“She said she was terrified. She was still crying when you got there. Had to call her dad to come pick her up,” Luke snapped.
“She was overly emotional,” Meader argued.
“I can’t imagine the school board would be happy to hear that you called a girl who’d been assaulted ‘overly emotional,’” Hallie said. “I’ll be happy to talk to Reverend Hooper about contacting them.”
Meader’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a threat?”
“No. It’s a fact. If you let young men like Henry get away with things like this now, the cruelty will only fester and grow. What happens when he doesn’t stop there? What happens when he rapes someone? Would you want that on your conscience?”
Invisible claws dug deep into my chest. Young men like Henry, if left unchecked, grew into the kinds of monsters that had taken Hallie.
I couldn’t keep from touching her now. I took her hand, lacing our fingers.
“Hallie’s right.” I tried to keep my voice even and not tell this piece of work how I truly felt about him. “That kind of behavior is incredibly concerning. If you don’t mandate counseling, I’ll be forced to go to the school board.”
Meader glared at me. “And what about Luke?”
My back teeth ground together. “He’ll have consequences at home.”
Luke muttered something I couldn’t make out under his breath.
“He needs to have them here, as well,” Meader snapped. “I can’t have students thinking they can punch whoever they want.”
“That’s fair,” Hallie said. “But nothing that goes on his permanent record.”
The redness was back on Meader’s face and neck. “You don’t get to decide—”
“No, she doesn’t,” I cut in. “But we’ll fight you on anything you do that would leave a permanent mark on Luke’s record. I’m not sure you want people taking a closer look at your record.”
Meader’s face screwed up. “Suspension for the rest of the week. Not on his record.”
“That’s very fair,” I said as calmly as possible.
“Get out of my office,” Meader snarled.
“With pleasure,” Hallie mumbled under her breath.
We all stood, making our way out of the office. Debbie gave me a wide-eyed look as we passed but flashed a thumbs-up. I was sure she’d heard the majority of what had been said in the meeting. I stole glances at Hallie as we walked. I expected her to be shaky, maybe freaked, but she just looked mad.
“You okay?” I asked quietly.
“That man needs to be fired before he does real damage.”
“I don’t disagree with you there.” He’d always been a piece of work, grabbing hold of the little power he had and wielding it like a weapon. I held the door for Hallie and Luke.
We stepped into the chilly sunshine and headed for the parking lot. We came to a stop by our vehicles. I turned to Luke. “I expect you to get all your missed assignments and to stay on top of them. No phone, video games, or TV for the rest of the week.”
I held out my hand for his cell.
Luke stared at me for a long moment. “You know what I did was right.”
I let out a sigh. “I’m glad that you’re the kind of kid who wants to step in to protect those who need it. It makes me so proud of you. But I also know that you could’ve detained that kid until a teacher got there, without breaking his nose.”
“He needed a message, or he would’ve kept doing it,” Luke argued.
I searched for calm. “Maybe that’s true. So, you made a choice. And there are ramifications for that choice you need to be willing to deal with.”
Anger flashed in Luke’s blue eyes, ones so similar to mine. “Mom warned me you’re like this. Said you have a stick so far up your ass you can’t even see when something isn’t a big deal. She said that’s why you keep us from her.”
And just like that, my entire world fell out from under me.