Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MOJAVE
“My desk was next to Hayden and Mason, but they kept buggin’ me, so now I sit by Myra and Nadine. They only talk to each other, but at least they don’t bug me.”
Frankie’s chattering voice was a little distant, but I tried to keep up with what she was saying.
I was feeling uneasy lately, more on guard than usual, and it made it hard to focus.
Maybe it had something to do with Battle’s crew finally showing their faces and threatening our own.
I was on edge. All I could think about was Frankie and Rachel being where I couldn’t see them, and I couldn’t do anything about it if something went wrong.
Chewing on the side of my thumbnail, I tried to force my attention back onto Frankie. She didn’t need to know all the shit that was going on with me right now. She was just a kid. I didn’t want to have to explain why I was so off lately. I was just grateful neither of them had noticed yet.
A loud thud in the hallway had my head whipping around, my arm automatically reaching for Frankie and pulling her behind me, my muscles tightening in preparation to launch out of the chair Frankie had sat me in.
My eyes darted for the exit, wondering how much time I had to get her and Rachel out before someone showed up, when a book slid into view like someone kicked it and a harsh whisper broke through the pounding in my ears.
“Hunter! Stop kickin’ the book! I told you to pick it up!” someone hissed.
“It was an accident,” the kid replied with a whine as he stepped into view, standing over the book. “It’s too heavy!”
Frankie leaned on my shoulder, unbothered by the whole situation.
I didn’t think she even realized I’d been protecting her.
She used her position to her advantage, using me as a resting post as she watched the little boy’s mother come into view, grabbing his arm and growling at him about how he needed to act better.
The woman looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her right away. Not until Frankie spoke up.
“That’s Hunter. He’s a jerk. But his mom works in the office, so he gets away with it,” she commented.
I was standing before I’d made the conscious decision to move, heading for the hallway where the mom was still yelling at her kid.
I knew that name. That was the kid that Frankie said threatened to pull down her pants in front of the school.
When she straightened, I recognized the mother as the teacher from the other week, the one who’d brought Frankie outside crying.
It only pissed me off more, my tone cold as I asked, “Is that your kid?” while pointing at the kid beside her.
“Yes. Why?” she asked suspiciously.
“He’s been bullying Frankie. You need to keep him away from her.”
Her mouth fell open in shock. “He has not! She’s the one who’s always hitting him! She’s the problem child here! My Hunter hasn’t done anything wrong!”
“Your Hunter is a fuckin’ pervert,” I growled. “Flippin’ girls skirts and threatening to expose Frankie. You want to know the problem, you should be lookin’ closer to home.”
She looked outraged by my comment, and she didn’t stop for even a second to consider any other side of the story.
She was obviously one of those parents who thought their kid could do no wrong, even if their kid was a little shit.
“Who even are you?” she screeched, cupping her kid’s head to block his ears.
“What kind of person would say that about a little boy? What’s wrong with you? ”
“What’s wrong with me is that your kid is makin’ Frankie miserable. Keep him away from her or we’re gonna have problems,” I snapped.
“Mojave,” Rachel interrupted, putting her hand on my arm. “That’s enough.”
Jerking to look at her, I frowned. “It’s not enough. She shouldn’t be afraid to go to school. Someone needs to stick up for her.”
“And we will,” Rachel reassured me. “I’ve already been speaking with Mr. Castillo, the vice principal, and Ms. Judith. They’re doing everything in their power to keep the kids apart.”
That wasn’t good enough. Frankie still acted like going to school was the worst thing in the world most days, and clung to my hand until I walked her to the door.
No kid should be that upset about school.
She should’ve been learning, not having to defend herself against little shits who didn’t know how to keep their hands to themselves.
I shot a dirty look at the kid in question, who stared up at me with wide eyed terror, wishing he was a grown man so I could actually do something about it. He was just a kid. It was his parents’ job to teach him better.
“Maybe it’s best that you wait outside,” Rachel suggested. “I can finish up conferences myself and–”
I wasn’t going anywhere without Frankie, especially with that little shit around. I offered her my hand, pulling her to my other side and away from the bully before brushing past them without a word. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt like I was suffocating in this place. I needed some damn air.
My footsteps slowed when I noticed Frankie practically running to keep up with me, but my body was still practically vibrating with a need to get out.
I made a beeline for the main doors, my heart pounding in my ears and sweat gathering at my temples.
I grimaced at the tightness in my chest. I couldn’t fall apart right now. I had to stay calm for Frankie.
“Wanna go to the park?” Frankie asked, looking up at me with big innocent eyes. “We can lay in the grass and look at the clouds.”
No, not really. But I couldn’t say that to her.
I let her pull me over to the cross walk and kept her close to my side as we crossed, checking constantly for any more of her damn bullies in case they were around too.
This whole town was full of little shits trying to give Frankie a hard time.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep my cool if more tried to stir up trouble.
Frankie found a spot far enough away from the play area of the park that we wouldn’t risk getting trampled before tugging me down onto the grass next to her.
A part of me wanted to argue, but she wasn’t really giving me a chance.
She pushed me to lay down and laid next to me, wriggling until we were shoulder to shoulder before pointing up at the sky.
“That one looks like a gorilla butt.”
Her statement made me blink and I glanced up at where she was pointing, frowning at the puffy white cloud. “Why do you think that?”
“Just look. It’s got too round parts, like a butt, but it’s way too big to be a people butt. Gorillas have big butts.”
I couldn’t help the huff of laughter that escaped me.
“No, they don’t.” I frowned after a second.
“Do they?” I wasn’t actually sure I’d ever seen a gorilla before outside pictures.
There wasn’t a zoo around here and my parents couldn’t afford a trip to the city for something like that. “Don’t they have small red butts?”
Frankie cackled. “No, silly. That’s baboons!”
Slowly, I felt my heart rate settle as we argued about different kinds of animals with big butts.
It was a stupid conversation, but maybe that was why it worked so well.
It was hard to focus on everything else when a little kid was asking if a giraffe butt was bigger than a gorilla butt. How would I even answer that?
RACHEL
“That man is a criminal! He never should’ve been allowed in here!
” Darlene’s screech could probably be heard all the way in the middle school, she was so loud.
She’d been yelling since Mojave left, threatening to call the police because Mojave threatened her son.
Ms. Judith had needed to call Arthur down to join us because she wouldn’t settle down.
“Miss Carver, please calm down,” Arthur said, his tone filled with exasperation. “While I understand the confrontation with Frankie’s guardian was unpleasant, he’s gone now and the hallway is hardly the place to discuss this. If you’d join me in my office, we can discuss–”
“He’s not her guardian! He’s not even a parent at the school! He’s a gang member and–”
“I think that’s enough,” I interjected, making sure my voice was firm enough that Darlene would stop shouting enough.
“We aren’t discussing this any further with an audience.
If you’d like to discuss the confrontation, we can, but I’d also like to address the allegations Mojave brought up about Hunter.
Mojave is right. No one should be afraid to come to school. ”
Just like the last time we tried to discuss Hunter’s behavior, Darlene shut down any attempts at pointing the blame at her son.
She took Hunter’s hand, dragging him down the hallway shouting insults and threats Arthur and I knew she wouldn’t follow through on.
If she did, she’d have to face that Frankie wasn’t the only problem in this equation, and she wasn’t willing to do that.
Arthur sighed once she stormed out of the building, scrubbing his hands over his face. “What do you think is the likelihood that she’ll punish me for not siding with her by being more careless in her work?”
“Has she done it before?”
He grimaced. “Unfortunately, yes. You’re not the first person to point out Hunter’s behavior.
I recommended him speaking to the school counselor, but she threw a fit at even the insinuation that Hunter was at fault.
” He cast me a sidelong glance. “She’s not wrong about the confrontation, though.
If the man was threatening children, then I can’t allow him on campus. ”
Blowing out a breath, I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s how he meant it, but I’ll talk to him. He’s protective of Frankie, which I can understand, but he needs to realize there are limits.”
Arthur dipped his chin. “I’ll leave that to you, then.
I’m going to go onto the job websites again and see if someone has applied recently to a secretary position.
If I can find a replacement for Darlene, then at least we’ll be able to discipline him properly in school without her showing up to argue against it.
Any time he’s forced to miss recess for his behavior, it’s a whole production. ”
I didn’t envy him the job and patted his arm before heading for the front doors.
Ms. Judith was already in another conference, she couldn’t wait around all afternoon when she had other families to meet with, and I planned to coordinate a phone conference later next week so I could discuss more about what we could do to help Frankie thrive.
For now, I went looking for Mojave and Frankie, assuming correctly that they hadn’t gone far.
Mojave’s bike was still parked across the street near the park and when I went in that direction, I found them laying in the grass, pointing up at the clouds and in deep discussion with each other.
“Which is bigger, pig butts or horse butts?” Frankie queried.
“Horse,” Mojave answered. “But if you’ve ever had pot roast before, you’ve probably eaten pig butt.”
“Ew!” Frankie giggled. “You’re lying!”
Mojave shook his head, still looking up at the clouds. “Not lying. That one looks like a goose.” He pointed at another cloud, and Frankie stopped laughing long enough to agree with him. When he noticed my approach, he sighed, sitting up with a deep frown.
“Hey,” I greeted. “Can I sit?”
He gestured to the grass beside them, eyeing me when I curled my legs to the side and sat down next to them. When I raised my eyebrows at him, he looked away, his expression tightening as he explained, “Sorry. I’ve been feeling… off lately. I overreacted. I don’t regret standing up for her though.”
“No,” I agreed. “It’s good that you care enough to stand up for her.
But Mojave, you can’t threaten little boys.
Hunter was terrified and so was his mother.
You scared everyone involved. I know you wanted to help, but you’re only making things worse saying things like that.
And it can get you into a lot of trouble too.
As it is, I think it’s best that you avoid going into the school right now.
Stick to pick up and drop off. Unless you’re willing to apologize? ”
The flat look he gave me was answer enough. He wouldn’t apologize because he still saw what he did as necessary. He was thinking about Frankie. He wouldn’t take that back, no matter how much trouble it caused in the end.
“Can I ask about you feeling off? Is there something you want to talk about?”
I didn’t notice Frankie moving around while we were talking until I felt a gentle tug on my hair, interrupting the conversation before Mojave could answer.
I glanced over my shoulder, watching as Frankie held out a strand of my hair next to Mojave’s.
She looked up with a triumphant grin. “I was right. Miss Rachel’s is longer. ”
Mojave didn’t even blink at her comment.
He settled under her attention, letting her play with his hair like it was a regular occurrence.
He might’ve gotten a little gruff in defending her, but he was a good man.
She obviously trusted him if she was so unafraid that she’d play with his hair without asking.
“My hair might be the longest, but yours is the shortest,” I pointed out. “Who wins?”
Frankie’s face scrunched as she thought about it before offering, “Maybe a tie?”
I smiled as she came to sit between us. “Sounds good to me. Was it my imagination or were you two talking about butts when I arrived?”
“Yup!” Frankie said brightly. “I saw a cloud that looked like a gorilla butt.”
“Well, it’s a good thing it didn't rain, then,” I teased.
A light chuckle drew my attention to Mojave.
He looked better than he had before, less anxious, and his expression was soft as he watched us chat.
He was unfairly handsome when he smiled.
It was rare, but it knocked me off kilter whenever it happened.
It softened his whole demeanor and watching him being so patient and kind to Frankie only added to the appeal.
Deep brown eyes lifted and locked with mine for the first time all week. I felt my breath catch, feeling like he was somehow staring straight into my soul with a look like that. It wasn’t until Frankie popped up between us that I managed to look away.
“What’re you doin? Are you having a staring contest?”
I blinked, feeling my cheeks flush at being so caught out by a seven year old. Mojave rolled with the question, though, nodding at Frankie. “Yep. Rachel lost.”
“I want to try!” she demanded, spinning to look at me and widening her eyes. “Ready, set, go!”