Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
RACHEL
Frankie was quiet the entire journey into the school.
When we got to the main office, she plopped herself onto one of the chairs in front of the reception desk like she’d been there a dozen times before and was used to the process.
The receptionist had greeted me with a warm smile when I came in, but when her gaze dropped to Frankie, the smile twisted into a sneer she didn’t even try to mask.
“Francine Smythe. Skipping school again I see.”
Unlike most kids who would go quiet in the face of an unfriendly adult, Frankie scowled at the receptionist, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. “It’s Frankie!”
“Don’t talk back,” the receptionist snapped. “You’ll be lucky if they don’t hold you back a grade this year for all the skipping you do.”
I could see Frankie getting upset so I stepped between them before things could escalate. “Ms. Carver, I think we can both agree Frankie has missed enough class already. Can I escort her to class or do you need to call down to her teacher?”
The receptionist, Darlene, who I’d met before when other students in my docket attended the elementary school, sat back in her seat with a stubborn scowl. “She knows the way. She can make it on her own.”
And likely slip out any door that might be unlocked and run off again. I wouldn’t even blame her for that. If this was how she was treated by the adults in charge at the school, how likely was it that the bullying was being handled properly?
I didn’t love how Darlene was talking to Frankie, but I felt it was more important to get Frankie back where she belonged before confronting that behavior.
Instead, I kept my voice level and calm.
“I’d prefer for an adult to escort her, if that’s alright.
I’m fine doing it myself. Just tell me which class she belongs to. ”
“She’s in Ms. Judith’s class,” Darlene finally spat. “I don’t have time to walk her myself, so you’ll have to do it.”
“I’ll do that,” I agreed. “Is the vice principal in today? I’d like to speak with him once I’m through.”
The thing with combative people, if you kept an even tone long enough, they usually stopped growling and just got on with what needed to be done.
My refusal to get upset seemed to be enough to force Darlene to settle, her tone more professional when she said, “I’ll let him know to expect you.
Ms. Judith’s class is down the hallway on the right. Her name is over the door.”
“Thank you.”
Beckoning Frankie to follow me, I urged her out of the chair and through the office door so we could head to her classroom.
While we walked, I took a few steadying breaths, wishing not for the first time that I had more leeway in my career to speak my mind.
No adult should speak to a child the way Darlene spoke to Frankie.
Especially an adult Frankie was supposed to be able to go to if she was having trouble.
Frankie still looked upset when we stopped outside her classroom, so I squatted in front of her, giving her a friendly smile. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have been spoken to that way. I’ll talk with the vice principal, see what can be done.”
“It don’t matter,” she grumbled. “Ms. Carver hates me cause I threw a baseball and hit her son in the face.”
My eyebrows lifted slowly. “Can you tell me what happened to cause that?”
She shrugged, lifting her chin stubbornly. “He got in the way. I couldn’t play with him standing there makin’ fun of me, so I told him if he didn’t move, I’d hit him. He didn’t listen.”
I bit back a sigh. It was no wonder Darlene was so combative if Frankie and her son were in conflict.
I didn’t want to chastise her, though, because we were only just getting to know each other and I knew after years of experience with cases like this that there was a lot more going on beneath the surface.
I needed Frankie to trust me if I wanted to figure out just how much.
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that you two don’t get along. I’ll still talk to the vice principal. Everyone deserves a little politeness, right?”
Frankie’s nose wrinkled, but she didn’t comment.
She just studied me with suspicious eyes that told me so much more than she was aware.
Pushing to my feet, I gave her another smile.
“Let’s get you to class. If you don’t mind, I’d like to join you and Mojave for your walk after school.
I want to hear what you learned about today. ”
Frankie shrugged, and she didn’t look enthused by the idea, but she didn’t argue either.
And when her teacher opened the door after I knocked, she slipped inside and went to her desk without a word.
Ms. Judith didn’t comment, just sighed and gave me a polite nod before closing the door again and continuing her lesson.
When I returned to the office, Darlene slid out of her chair and disappeared into the office on the right.
The office on the left was the principal’s office, but I happened to know the school district couldn’t afford a full staff.
The principal of the elementary school was also the principal of the middle school, and she spent most of her time there since middle schoolers needed more attention.
Meanwhile, the middle school had no vice president because they couldn’t afford one.
Teachers took on that role in their spare time.
Darlene came back out of the office, beckoning me around her desk with a plastic smile. “He’ll see you now.”
“Thank you,” I said politely, stepping past her and into the man’s office. Arthur Castillo looked up when I came in, giving me a wary smile when he noticed it was me.
“Hey, Rachel. Are you here to tell me we’ve got another heartbreaking situation on our hands? Because I gotta say, I very nearly adopted the last one myself. You can’t keep doing this to me.”
Twisting my mouth to hide my smile, I shook my head. “Not so far as I’m aware. I’m actually here to talk about Frankie.”
His brows beetled together and he looked confused until I added, “Francine Smythe.”
“Oh!” Recognition flashed across his face and he nodded, gesturing to the chair across from him. “Yes, I’m familiar with Francine. She’s a good kid, gets good grades, but she has trouble connecting to her peers. Did something happen?”
Sitting in the chair he’d offered, I considered what I wanted to say. If Darlene’s comments were anything to go by, this wasn’t the first time Frankie had skipped class. I didn’t want to make things more difficult for her before I knew the full story.
“What can you tell me about her home life?”
Arthur tipped his head, his eyes lifting to the ceiling as he tried to remember the details. I didn’t blame him. Since our town was so small, all the elementary school kids went to one school. Remembering the details about one specific student wouldn’t be easy.
“Uh, I don’t recall all the details. From what I can remember she’s an only child, two parent home.
She walks to school. Haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her parents.
They don’t show up to conferences, but there’s never been a reason to push since despite her disappearing acts, Francine gets good grades.
I think she’s just testing boundaries, honestly. Most kids do at her age.”
That was true, but unfortunately, that fact often masked real issues that people sometimes missed when they weren’t paying attention.
“You said she has trouble connecting to her peers. Has there been any mention of bullying at school?”
From the shock on his face, he hadn’t been brought into the loop about that. Which made me all the more suspicious that the receptionist was filtering information. If her son was involved in the bullying like Frankie said, she might hide pertinent information to protect him.
“No, I haven’t heard anything. Do you think she’s being bullied?”
Sighing, I explained, “She hasn’t said specifically, but in my experience, kids who skip school usually do so for a reason. Something is either happening here or at home that’s making her want to avoid it. I’d like to get more information, see if I can find out what’s going on.”
Nodding rapidly, Arthur agreed, “Absolutely. If I can help at all, just let me know. We don’t allow bullying here, but if something is going on that I don’t know about it, I’ll do my best to get to the bottom of it. What class is Francine in, do you know?”
“Frankie. She likes to go by Frankie. And Ms. Judith’s class. I just dropped her off there now. She was found at the park a couple blocks away.”
Arthur was a good man, a former high school teacher, and a dad of two teen girls.
He cared about his students. And someone was obviously filtering what information he got because Darlene should have informed him when telling him I was coming that Frankie was brought in when she should’ve been in school.
The horror on his face said the information was new to him.
“I’d also like to talk to you about Darlene,” I added after seeing his reaction. “I’m concerned about the way she spoke to Frankie and I want to make sure Frankie feels safe to speak to the adults at school at the very least.”
His expression hardened. “What happened?”
After I relayed the conversation when I showed up with Frankie, Arthur sat quietly for a moment, his expression tight like he was fighting to express himself.
“I’ve had issues with Darlene in the past,” he admitted.
“Unfortunately, we’re already low staffed.
If I do a full investigation, I’m not sure how easy it would be to replace her. ” He sighed, rubbing at his temples.
I understood the pressure he was under, my office was short staffed as well, especially with the amount of area we had to cover, but it was no excuse for letting a little girl slip through the cracks and be mistreated.
“I’ll speak to her,” he finally said, sitting up and patting his desk.
“I might not be able to fire her, but I can at least make sure she acts appropriately with students. Let me get you Fran–” He cut himself off and corrected himself.
“Sorry, Frankie’s file. I’m pretty sure I got an email when Frankie started at the school saying both parents were working when school got out.
It felt wrong to let a kindergartener walk home alone, but they’re only a few blocks away and she was insistent she could get there by herself.
” He huffed a laugh, shaking his head as he stood and opened the file cabinet.
“She’s incredibly independent. Don’t be surprised if she pushes back a little.
She’s not one to sit quietly and let others take care of things. ”