The Principal's Office (23 page)

“Mom, I’m driving. I can’t talk.” He looked in his mirror, then remembered the blind spot and glanced over his shoulder to change lanes. Good boy. He was actually doing quite well with his driving these days.

“It can’t be distracting to state simply what happened to that boy. Wally, right?”

He grunted. “Yes, it was Wally.”

She didn’t accuse him. “Did you see what happened?”

“No.” But there was that telltale sullen note in his voice.

“Then why did Principal Torvik say he’d talk to you later?” And why did Rand always manage to see her son at his worst?

“Because he has it in for me,” he said with a sharp edge. “He sees me and decides everything is my fault.” This time he moved
back into the right lane without looking over his shoulder. A car honked.

“You didn’t look, Nathan.” It was her fault; she
was
distracting him. In her need to know, she’d chosen an inappropriate time for this discussion.

“Mom,” he said, almost a wail.

She had to admit she’d attacked as soon as they got in the car and put him on the defensive. Not the right way or the right time to start this conversation. She let it drop.

Until later.

LATER DIDN’T COME. CLANCY’S WAS CROWDED FOR A TUESDAY
night. The food was ordered at one window, then picked up at another, and the eating was family style at long lacquered picnic tables. The huge hall was ringed by old-fashioned pinball machines that were constantly ringing and clanging.

Dinner was an hour of listening to Sherry laugh. She laughed at everything. She was so happy, it was sort of manic. Okay, that was Rachel’s bad mood, but the girl was the antithesis of Gary. Except that she noticed Gary smiled more, even talked more. He’d never liked Clancy’s because you didn’t have your own table or booth. Everyone shared. Even the huge platter of fries in the middle got shared. Well, not with everyone around them, but within their group. The fries were as good as the teriyaki burger, and she ate more than she should.

“Gary says you’re going back to school. That’s exciting.” Sherry was seated opposite between Nathan and Gary.

Rachel gaped at Gary. Did he tell the girl everything? “Yes.”

“What are you going to major in?” Sherry’s puppy-dog brown eyes were bright, as if she was actually interested.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll just take some computer classes to start.”

“I can help you do your homework, Mom.” Justin beamed at her.

The little smart aleck was giving her a bad time. It was kind of sweet. “Thank you, dear.”

“Well, if you ever need to leave Nathan and Justin with me and Gary, you know we’d love it.” Sherry gave her an ever-so-bright, white-toothed smile.

Rachel was speechless. This girl wanted her sons? Rachel looked at Gary. His burger had suddenly become fascinating.

Okay, find your tongue, woman.
“Well, uh, that’s nice. But I’m sure I can handle classes and homework. Nathan and Justin are old enough to be alone for a couple of hours in the evening.” There, they’d both go for that, grown-ups, their mom trusting them to be by themselves for an evening. When she was fourteen, she used to babysit until midnight for several different neighbors.

“It would be easier if they were with us,” Gary finally said, his eyes narrowed.

Us.
She didn’t like the way that sounded.
Us
against
you
. If she started giving them inroads, they’d try to take over. Yet when she’d first broached the subject, he’d pounced on her, saying he wasn’t going to take care of the boys all the time just to convenience her.

“It’s not an issue right now,” she said. “It’s one of those late-start classes and doesn’t begin until April.”

In the intervening weeks, she’d think up a way to make sure Sherry didn’t somehow steal her boys away.

RAND HAD WAITED IN VAIN FOR RACHEL TO CALL. MAYBE SHE
hadn’t needed sex, hadn’t needed him. Though he liked to think it was as hard for her to hold off as it was for him.

Then he’d seen her tonight, on the stairs beside Nathan. Why the fuck did it happen again? Why did circumstance keep getting
in their way? There was some reason, something that needed to be accomplished. Nothing was coincidence. He just didn’t know what that
something
was. It definitely involved Nathan, and probably Wally, too.

Rand fully intended to pull Nathan into his office tomorrow. He’d talked with Wally tonight as the coach cleaned his scrapes. The boy had no explanation for what happened. Rand noted some of the faces surrounding them, and he’d call those kids in, too. Someone would give him the story, but Nathan was uppermost on his list to have a hard discussion with. And Rand didn’t want any blowups with Rachel about it.

She always saved her calls for him until after ten-thirty. He was usually in bed, naked, waiting. Tonight, he sat in the big leather chair in his office. He’d often imagined having her in this chair, bending her over it and taking her from behind. Tonight, though, was about something different.

He took the offensive and phoned her. On the fourth ring, he wondered if she might refuse to answer. Then her voice was simply there, and his heart rate spiked.

“What happened?” she said. She was usually soft, seductive, dreamy. Tonight, her voice was cold.

Well, hell, he hadn’t expected anything else. She was Mama Bear protecting her young. “I don’t know. I didn’t see.” He’d been too busy looking for her. “Tomorrow I’ll interview some of the kids present.”

“Didn’t the boy tell you what happened?”

The boy. “Wally,” he supplied. “He didn’t say much. He’s not a big talker.” Wally had repeated various iterations, in his usual threes, that he was fine. He liked to listen to band practice, and apparently his mother had been late picking him. Rand made a mental note. There was sometimes a key that helped unlock an autistic child’s mind. Perhaps music was Wally’s.

“Is he all right?”

It seemed three questions too late. “Fine, fine, fine,” he said softly, imitating Wally.

“Maybe he just fell.” Her voice held a helpful note.

“I’ll learn more tomorrow.” Then he got to the reason he’d called. “I will be talking to Nathan.”

“He said he didn’t have anything to do with it.”

He waited a beat. “I’d like to hear his version.”

She sighed. Christ, he’d so wanted to hear her sigh, but not like this. “What time do you want me to be there?”

“I don’t want you there, Rachel.”

“I’m his mother.”

“I’m not going to railroad him. I’m not even going to accuse him.”

“Then what are you planning to do?” She was suddenly snappish.

“I’ll let him tell you about it tomorrow.”

“Tell me now,” she insisted.

“Rachel, I’ve been doing this a long time. Parents are not always helpful in these situations. There are resentments.”

“He resents
you
, Principal Torvik, not me.”

He accepted the verbal slap. She was worried and pissed. He could understand that. “I’m going to offer him some after-school activity. Two hours a week.”

“Doing what?” Wariness made her voice harsh.

Trust me.
He didn’t say it. “I want him to tell you, Rachel. If you’re there, he’ll feel ganged up on. We already did that. Now it’s time for something different.” He was actually curious if Nathan would tell her about his plan at all. “Will you give me that latitude?”

“If I were the parent of another child in your school, would you consult me first?”

He had to ask himself if Nathan was the special case. Or she was? With another parent, he might handle it differently. The fact
that she’d been having sex with him distracted her. She worried what Nathan would figure out. She worried about siding with him against her son. He wasn’t sure she could view the situation without their extracurricular activities getting in the way. God forbid he should say that, though.

So he lied. “I’d write them a letter.”

“But you don’t know that he actually did anything.”

As of right now, he didn’t have any evidence to accuse Nathan. He had only suspicion. Nathan might not have done anything, but he did know what had happened. Rand wasn’t sure he’d ever get it out of him. “Let’s put it this way. He doesn’t have any sports in the spring, so he’ll have extra time and we’ll put it to good use.”

The phone was silent for long moments. The grandfather clock in the hall chimed once for the quarter hour. “All right,” she huffed out. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“I’ve already told you that you’re never going to regret anything we do.”

“This is
you
, not we.”

She was right. So he finally said it, “Trust me, Rachel.”

“Famous last words,” she whispered.

FOR THE THIRD TIME IN AS MANY WEEKS, RAND HAD NATHAN IN
his office. “Wally could have been seriously injured, a broken arm, a broken leg. You saw what happened, Nathan. I need to know.”

Nathan sat mute in the chair opposite.

Earlier this morning, Rand had summoned the four kids he’d seen in the circle around Nathan. Molcini and Franchetti had not been among them. Very suspicious. Those two had simply vanished from the scene, but Rand had noticed them inside the gymnasium earlier. The kids he interviewed, a boy and three girls, claimed they’d seen Wally at the bottom of the stairs, but not how he got there. Wally’s mom had tried asking as well, but he hadn’t changed his mantra of “fine, fine, fine.”

Nathan was the only one Rand could possibly get anything out of. Yet the boy had been a nonverbal specimen in his damn chair for the past five minutes.

“All right. You leave me no choice.” Rand almost laughed at his own dramatic words.
Yeah, blame the kid when you feel helpless.
“I’ve decided you need something to occupy you after school. I’m assigning you to two hours per week in the special education lab.”

Nathan jerked his head up. “What?”

“The special ed lab. You will provide an hour of tutoring after your last class. Tuesdays and Thursdays should work.”

“You can’t make me do that.” He gaped at Rand. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Think of it as community service. We’re short on tutors. They need you.” Rand thought it was a perfect solution. He’d found that you couldn’t continue to bully someone once they became humanized in your eyes. As he got to know the kids in special ed, Nathan would learn a little compassion.

“I don’t know how to tutor.” Nathan shook his head, spread his hands.

“There are teachers in the lab. They’ll help you while you help the kids.”

“But—but—” Nathan stammered.

“But what?”

“Everyone will make fun of me,” he blurted out, his eyes almost wild, as if he were a cornered animal.

Nathan’s fear was the crux of the matter. “Then you’ll know how it feels and have some empathy for Wally.”

“Principal Torvik”—a whine crept into Nathan’s voice—“you don’t understand.”

“Then explain it to me.”

Nathan’s mouth gaped like a fish. Then he shut it, and shut down. “Nothing.” What he’d been about to say was gone.

“What, Nathan?” Rand knew the opportunity had already passed.

“Fine,” he said morosely. “Tuesdays and Thursdays for one hour.” Then he glared at Rand. “One hour and that’s it.”

“That’s all I ask.” Though Rand could sure as hell hope for a lot more.

And part of the
more
was Nathan’s mother.

RACHEL HAD PROMISED TO TAKE NATHAN DRIVING FOR AN HOUR
after dark. Justin wanted to stay home to finish his homework. She had her cell phone. He had his. He was thirteen. He could handle being home alone for an hour. She was not going to be overprotective. She did not need Sherry to look after the boys.

It had also given her an hour alone with Nathan. But, dammit, during that entire hour, he hadn’t said one word about his meeting with Rand earlier in the day. She couldn’t ask because she wasn’t supposed to know.

Damn Rand for putting her in this position. She should be able to talk to her own son. What was she supposed to do if Nathan never mentioned the meeting or the after-school activity Rand had assigned him?

A piece of her just wanted to cry. She felt helpless. The worst part was that if Rand weren’t Principal Torvik, she would have started talking to
him
about her issues with Nathan. And Gary. And Sherry.

Trust me.
That’s what Rand had said. Yet while she trusted him with her sexuality, trusted him not to put her video on the Internet or expose her affair to her son, to give her a hot rape fantasy without ever hurting her, she didn’t trust him emotionally. She couldn’t tell him about Gary and Sherry, or that she was terrified of losing the boys. She couldn’t expose all her fears. Hell, she hadn’t even told him about the massage. That said something important, the fact that she was incapable of sharing her most humiliating moment with him.

By the end of the driving lesson, she was utterly exhausted. She pushed the remote as Nathan pulled into the driveway. Thank
goodness it worked without an issue, otherwise she might actually have screamed. “All right, you can take the minivan into the garage.”

So far, she’d always had Nathan get out, then driven the minivan in herself, but he had to learn sometime. She kept her mouth shut as he maneuvered the vehicle into the garage. It was big enough for two cars, but there was a support beam in the middle. She breathed a sigh of relief as he made it past with plenty of room, not cutting too close on either the passenger’s or driver’s side.

“Good job,” she said, her hand on the door.

“Mom.”

She felt something, a mother’s sixth sense. This was important. “Yes, honey?”

“Principal Torvik sentenced me to two hours a week of detention in the special ed lab for what happened to that kid last night.” He paused, then tentatively asked, “Can he do that without any proof?”

“What do you mean, two hours of
detention
in special ed?”

He grimaced, the expression clear in the overhead garage light falling through the windshield. “I have to tutor those kids. I don’t see why. They’ve got teachers in there.”