Chapter 13 #3
Riley wanted to say more. Wanted Logan to talk to her, but it was obvious he was closed off at the moment. She’d have to find out what was going on from the principal.
“Thanks for coming so quickly. I’m Dr. Leonardo McClain,” the man said, holding out his hand.
Riley wanted to roll her eyes. He was purposely using his title.
She supposed he wanted to make sure she knew he was the important one here, the one with the doctoral degree.
And Leonardo? Not Leo? That seemed pretentious to her as well.
But she gave him the benefit of the doubt. Lots of people didn’t have nicknames.
She shook his hand and said, “Riley.”
“Right.” Leonardo took a seat then gestured to Logan. “We had a major problem here today. Mr. Reed hit Gary Wittingham, another boy in his class, hard enough to leave a bruise on his face.”
“Why?”
The principal blinked.
Riley didn’t break eye contact with him.
“I don’t think it matters why. The point is that we don’t tolerate any kind of physical aggression at our school.”
“I understand that, and I think that’s a very good policy to have. I would still like to know why Logan hit this other kid. Context matters.”
“Actually, it doesn’t,” Leonardo said pompously.
Riley was done with his attitude. She turned to Logan. “Why’d you hit Gary?”
For a second, she didn’t think he was going to answer her. He looked down at his hands in his lap, refusing to meet her gaze when he finally said, “He touched Lacie.”
Riley frowned. “What?”
This time, Logan’s voice was stronger and he looked up at her.
“He touched Lacie. She’s in my class, and she’s fat, so no one really talks to her much.
But she’s been nice to me. At recess, Gary was making fun of her.
Talking about her…boobs.” The last word was whispered, and it was obvious Logan was embarrassed to even say the word, much less actually talk about that part of a girl’s anatomy.
“Then he shoved her against the wall, out of sight of the teachers, and put his hands on her. There. I could tell Lacie was really scared. I told Gary to knock it off, and he asked me what I was gonna do about it. So I punched him. Lacie ran off crying. Gary went straight to the teacher and tattled on me for hitting him.”
Riley saw red. She wasn’t upset with Logan. No, she was extremely pissed that the adults had failed not only Lacie, but Logan as well.
She stood up straight and stared at the principal. “Right, so you’re suspending Logan for protecting another kid?”
Leonardo didn’t even flinch. “No, he’s being suspended for hitting another child. As I said, we have no tolerance for physical violence here.”
“But sexual harassment is acceptable?” Riley shot back.
The principal looked startled for a moment, then he said, “The kids here are too young to even know what that is. Logan should’ve gotten a teacher to handle the situation. Violence isn’t the answer.”
Riley wanted to tear her hair out. “So you’re saying Logan should’ve left Lacie alone with this bully—who was touching her private parts—to go get a teacher? That’s ridiculous! There’s no telling what the kid could’ve done to her in the time it took for Logan to get help.”
“We can’t have kids hitting each other,” the principal insisted.
“You can’t have them sexually assaulting each other either,” she barked back.
A commotion in the outer office stopped her from saying anything else.
They heard the secretary say, “You can’t just—”
Then Porter was there.
He went straight to Logan, just as Riley had, and put his hand on his shoulder. “You okay, Slugger?”
Logan nodded, but his gaze was back down in his lap, refusing to meet his uncle’s.
“What’s going on? I was in meetings and couldn’t answer my phone, but when I had a break, I saw that the school had called several times, as had Riley.
I figured something was up and headed straight here.
I called on my way but your secretary wouldn’t tell me what was going on.
Just that Riley was here and Logan was in trouble. ”
“Please sit, Mr. Reed,” Leonardo said.
“I prefer to stand,” Porter said in a steely tone.
Riley couldn’t help but admire his steadfastness.
“Right, I’m Dr. Leonardo McClain, the principal.”
“I figured that. Can someone please tell me what the hell’s going on?”
Riley saw Leonardo frown, and she assumed it was because he didn’t like Porter swearing. But this was definitely a time for a few swear words , and Porter didn’t even know what had happened yet.
She decided to cut through the crap and let Porter in on the shit-show. “Logan witnessed a kid named Gary touching a girl’s chest, and he hit him. Doctor McClain doesn’t care why he hit the bully, just that he did. So he’s suspending him.” She couldn’t keep the disdain from her tone.
Riley watched as Porter’s entire body locked tight. She could see the muscle in his jaw working.
He.
Was.
Not.
Happy.
“Look at me, Logan,” Porter ordered his nephew.
Reluctantly, Logan lifted his chin and looked up—way up—into his uncle’s eyes.
“Is that what happened? You were protecting that girl?”
“Yes, sir.”
Riley hadn’t ever heard Logan call his uncle “sir,” and it was obvious how terrified Logan was that he was in trouble.
Porter squeezed Logan’s shoulder again gently, then looked at the principal. “So you’re suspending my nephew because he hit someone who was assaulting one of your students. What’s happening to the other kid? I’m assuming that’s him sitting out in the other room.”
“His father is coming to pick him up and take him to the hospital to make sure he’s not hurt worse than our nurse thought,” the principal said.
“And?” Porter barked.
“And he’s going to have to apologize to the girl in question.”
Riley thought Porter’s eyes were going to bug out of his skull. “You can’t be fucking serious.”
“I’m going to have to ask you to watch your language,” Leonardo said.
“You aren’t kidding,” Porter said with a shake of his head.
“You’re seriously going to make this little girl—who was probably terrified when Gary touched her—face her abuser and accept his forced and insincere apology.
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
What are you going to do about protecting her and other girls from this jerk from here on out?
And I’m assuming your lame reasoning means the other kid isn’t being suspended? ”
“He didn’t hit anyone,” Leonardo said a little less sanctimoniously.
“Right. He just touched a girl inappropriately without her permission. That’s so much better. How long is Logan’s suspension?”
“A week,” the principal said.
Porter nodded. “Come on, Logan. We’re done here.”
Riley could tell Porter was barely hanging on to his control, but she couldn’t help respecting him more than she had already. He wasn’t going to hang around and let the pretentious Dr. McClain talk down to him for another second.
Logan stood. His shoulders were slumped and it was obvious he was dreading being alone with his uncle. Porter kept a hand on his shoulder as he walked him out of the principal’s office.
Gary still had a smug look on his face as he sat against the wall, and Riley could tell that Porter hadn’t missed it. But he didn’t say a word as he headed for the exit. His stony silence was a little intimidating even to Riley, and she knew without a doubt that he wasn’t a violent man.
It wasn’t until they were outside the building that he spoke. “You’re coming with us,” Porter told her.
Riley didn’t question it. She’d figure out how to get her car back to the apartment complex later. It wasn’t as if she went out a lot, she could go without it for a while. She just hoped the school wouldn’t have it towed.
Proving he was as alert as ever, Porter said, “I’ll get one of the guys to bring your car home.”
Riley simply nodded.
Porter opened the car door for Logan and waited for him to climb inside. Before he shut the door, he said, “I’m gonna talk to Riley for a sec, Slugger. Just hang tight.”
He waited for his nephew to nod before shutting the door. Then he took Riley’s arm and led her around the back of the car. He stopped when they were directly behind the vehicle—then he pulled her into him so fast, Riley’s head spun for a second.
But she didn’t hesitate to latch onto him. She could feel Porter shaking as he held her.
“Porter?”
“I’m okay,” he said. “I’m just really pissed off right now.”
She kept her mouth shut, not sure what to say to help him. All Riley could do was hold him tight.
It didn’t take long for Porter to get himself under control. He lifted his head and said, “Thank you for getting to him as fast as you did. I’m sorry I wasn’t reachable.”
“It’s okay. That’s why you put me down as an emergency contact.”
“This being a parent is a lot fucking harder than I ever thought it could be. I’m not sure I’m gonna survive it,” he admitted.
“You will,” Riley said.
He sighed. “Okay, Logan’s freaking out, and I need to get him sorted. Thanks for coming with us.”
“Of course.”
Then Porter took her hand in his and led her around to the passenger side of the SUV. He waited until she was situated in the seat before going back around to the driver’s side. Without a word, he started the engine and pulled out of the lot.
Riley thought they were going straight home, but she realized pretty quickly that wasn’t Porter’s destination. She had no idea where he was going, but she didn’t say anything.
She was pretty shocked when he pulled into a strip mall and parked right in front of an ice cream shop.
After Porter turned off the engine, he started to climb out. “Come on, don’t just sit there,” he said, when neither Riley nor Logan moved.
Confused about where Porter’s head was at, Riley did as he asked and got out of the car.
He led them into the shop, bought them all huge bowls of ice cream, then found a small table at the front of the store.