She headed upstairs to the master suite and stripped off the sweat suit she had been wearing, gladly putting it in the hamper where she would have normally of worn it another day or two at least these days. That wasn’t like her; she was normally a fastidious woman. An over-achiever and a person who didn’t allow her emotions to hold her in bondage, she knew it would take time, perhaps a lot of time to overcome the pit of emotion she had fallen into, but she would do it, she would figure out some balance at least to hide it from the children. As she showered she realized she desperately needed a spa treatment, her skin was a mess, she had practiced poor health hygiene, and she felt gross from realizing the depths she had sunk into. She shaved and realized how stupid it was to have the money she did and not have this unsightly hair removed. As she put on her anti-perspirant and then combed out her hair she realized it had been a long time since she had even gotten a haircut. That wasn’t like her at all. All these abnormalities in her life began to become clearer and clearer as she primped. The woman who had entered the master suite was not the same one who emerged. She was wearing a power suit, her makeup was impeccably done, her hair was long and luxurious if uncut and styled, but on Alice it looked pretty, very pretty. Mrs. Fernandez could sense the change in her employer’s attitude at first glance; it made her sit up and take notice from where she was sitting in the kitchen watching her soaps.
“Where is Nan?” Alice inquired quietly; the voice was back, no more the dejection or the hint of giving up in it. The command was back, the questionable quality that had unnerved Mrs. Fernandez in the past was back.
“She is out back on the play set with Emily,” she answered promptly and respectfully.
Alice nodded in reply to acknowledge the information as she made her way out the patio doors and down to the pool. She skirted the tennis courts and entered the side yard where the play set was in. Nan too could spot the difference in Alice’s demeanor; the power suit alone set her apart. It screamed money, but the woman inside it also screamed power and something else, something indefinable.
“Nan? I’m going out, there is something going on with Kit and the principal called. Sean’s bus comes about 3:30?” she asked, not because she needed to know, she knew exactly where her children were and their schedules for the most part. It was an opening ploy.
“Yes ma’am,” Nan murmured respectively her arms pushing Emily on the swing.
“Mommy, mommy! Look at meeeee,” Emily cried interrupting them. Alice noted she was no longer Momma A, it was always mommy now, and no longer did Emily even ask about Kathy. Pictures were all over the house, Sean and Kit talked about her occasionally but not Emily who was too young to realize or comprehend their immense loss.
Alice smiled and nodded to acknowledge her daughter’s cry. It struck her with the blow that was almost physical that this was her daughter. Biologically it was her daughter, physically it was her daughter, but genetically it was also Kathy’s daughter. None of this would have been possible if Kathy hadn’t wanted children so bad. Alice hadn’t thought about ever having children, Kathy had and Alice had just wanted to please her, to make her dreams come true, what had become their dreams.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be but if something comes up, please call me,” she raised her cell to show what she meant and Nan nodded.
It was odd, Alice never informed her employees about her whereabouts but over the past months she hadn’t really gone anywhere. Not to anything at the school, not to any business meetings, not out of the house at all. For her to include Nan in her decision and inform her of what was going on there was more here than what she was telling her and Nan read a lot more into it and wondered if she was in trouble somehow for Kit’s behavior.
As Alice drove her Porsche to the middle school she realized it was time to get a new one, this one was very old in Porsche years. She had normally traded in her cars in the past every three years. This one was eight years old, she had bought it a couple of years before meeting Kathy, her sister had purchased one similar because there had always been a subtle sibling rivalry between the two of them. She realized now that her sister’s death had never touched her the way Kathy’s had. She realized now that she had actually experienced love for the first time in her life with Kathy. In fact, Kathy had brought the love of children into her life too and this had been so unexpected and brought so much joy she couldn’t imagine her life without the children. What had she been thinking before she met Kathy? What could have become of her? She knew the answer to that and it wasn’t pleasant.
The middle school was an elegant building but with the amount of money in this section of Los Angles it was to be expected. It was almost a private school with the exclusive communities of Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, and Rolling Hills sending their children to it. The money from their taxes alone helped more than this small middle school in Los Angeles County. Alice parked her Porsche, not an uncommon sight in this parking lot and walked confidently into the front doors. Because of Kathy’s participation in parent teacher events Alice knew where the principal’s offices were and made her way to the front office.
“Ms. Weaver!” the receptionist exclaimed in surprise. Alice looked terrible. Large circles under her eyes indicated that she had been in mourning a long time. If the receptionist hadn’t been expecting her she wouldn’t have known her right off, instead her surprise was at Alice’s physical appearance. She looked worn and tired if elegant and…powerful.
“I believe Mr. Langston was expecting me?” she answered coolly not willing to exchange pleasantries.
“Of course, I will let him know you are here, would you like to take a seat?” she gestured at the plastic seats lining the front wall and then to cover her embarrassment reached for the phone.
Alice’s look at being offered such a seat had intimidated the woman immediately but it was when her eyes fastened on Kit that they altered and now it was Kit who was squirming in her seat. She walked the few feet separating them and looking down on the slumped girl asked quietly, “Want to tell me your side of things before I go in there?”
Kit looked up and realized Alice wasn’t going to yell at her, instead she was looking at her compassionately, sympathetically, and for this the girl was relieved. She had been terrified when Mr. Langston had called Alice knowing how her anger scared people. Rarely directed at her own family and especially her kids it still frightened anyone who had seen the change in her. Her cat-like eyes were narrowed but beautifully made up and not intimidating, at least not at this time. “I don’t know,” she shrugged carelessly looking down, “I just can’t concentrate on it anymore.”
Alice was annoyed but she refused to show it. She understood more than Kit was willing to tell but she wanted to help and hearing that Kit was on academic probation and had apparently been for a while was news to her and this lack of information annoyed her. She had a few questions and she wanted answers. “Kit,” she waited until the teen looked up, “Why didn’t I know about this ‘academic probation?’”
Kit squirmed a little more in the seat as she realized she was caught, good and proper. “I hid the letters,” she mumbled.
Alice’s excellent hearing heard her though, it was as she thought. Kit had been hiding things from her but how much of that was really her fault, after all Alice realized she hadn’t really been aware of things herself. She did realize that Kit needed help, more than Alice might be willing or able to give her and she needed it now.
“Ms. Weaver?” the receptionist called, “Mr. Langston will see you now.”
Alice nodded as she reached to squeeze Kit’s shoulder reassuredly much to the girl’s surprise. Alice wasn’t a huggy feely kind of woman but Kit loved her despite this lack and was grateful for the gesture realizing it meant that Alice was on her side.
The tall spare man rose as Alice walked into his office his hand held out. Alice shook it with a firm grip, he measured her as she did so, it was a grip he was used to getting from men but he immediately re
alized she thought she was his equal. He didn’t really remember meeting her in the past but then her wife had been the one he dealt with on the committee’s and events. “Please have a seat Ms. Weaver, may I call you Alice?”
“No,” she said and that was all. In the uncomfortable silence that followed she sat down in a leather covered chair.
Mr. Langston couldn’t remember anyone answering that question with a ‘no’ and he was momentarily at a loss. He quickly recovered as the well-dressed blonde sat down and crossed her legs showing off a nice tanned and firm leg waited patiently for him to begin. He sat down and opened the file he had before him to hide his momentary embarrassment although he already knew what was in the file and just pretended to read. He cleared his throat betraying how uncomfortable he had been made to feel and gathering his office around him as an invisible cloak he looked up and began, “We have a problem with Kit here and I seriously recommend that perhaps she stay home for a while to cope with her,” he paused here and looked down at the paperwork before continuing, “Troubles.”
Alice listened but she sensed the man was weak and unsure. She felt officials should remain officious and she hadn’t liked how familiar people became when they used parents first names. This ‘let’s be friends’ attitude had annoyed her endlessly. They weren’t and never would be friends. They were hired by the district to do a job and that was all. When he mentioned Kit’s ‘troubles’ she felt it was just double talk and asked, “What troubles are you referring to?” her right eyebrow rose in question but her face remained impassive.
Mr. Langston looked up quickly to see if she was being cute or smart alec, something he had a lot of experience with dealing with teens and pre-teens such as her daughter. “Well I am referring to her attitude, her grades, and her attendance of course.”
“Let’s deal with this one thing at a time then,” she said coolly, not intimidated by the office, the man, or the position he obviously thought she was in. “Her attendance?” she inquired first.
“Yes, she is missing a lot of school…” he began but Alice interrupted him.
“May I see that?” she asked pointing to the file.
“Well it is her official school record,” he protested and then realized she was intimidating him with her cold and demanding nature. He didn’t know how he had come to feel defensive so quickly but he was adept at turning a situation around and he dealt with hundreds of students and their parents. “I don’t think…”
“Mr. Langston,” she stressed the name and then, “I am Kit’s mother, I have the right to see her ‘official school record’ and if we wish to resolve the problem that you believe exists I need to have all the information.”
“Well her mother,” he began and then realized his error as the woman’s odd cat like eyes narrowed and began to turn, what the hell? Yellow?
“The school system was informed that I am Kit’s mother, I officially adopted her quite some years ago in the event of emergencies. Her mother and I were married and legally, she is my daughter so I have every right to read her file,” she held out her hand and Langston found himself handing it over.
Mr. Langston was quiet as he watched the pretty blonde scanning the pages of notes and official letters and comments. He wondered about her. Not that he hadn’t met lesbian parents before but she was so different from Kathy, who had been warm and outgoing, he wondered what had drawn the two of them together. He had heard of her of course through gossip but he tried to learn the parents on their own merits but having not really met her except around Kathy hadn’t had to deal with her himself. He found himself studying the petite little blonde who controlled portfolios for some very exclusive people if the rumors were true. There was nothing remarkable about her and yet there was something, something indefinable about her, he couldn’t put his finger on it but he knew she was not someone to fool with and he would have to tread carefully. Kit though had been getting worse and worse and he thought she needed to be suspended for her behavior and grades, perhaps shock her into returning to better behavior.
Alice finally looked up. It wasn’t as bad as they had made it out to be. Kit had had great grades for years, partly due to Kathy’s home schooling and keeping on her daughter about her schoolwork. Alice realized some of this was her fault for totally avoiding some of her parental responsibilities. That would end now, today. “I see where I never got these letters but her past history should account for something, I don’t understand why I wasn’t called sooner so that we could address the problem?”
Langston didn’t like it when parents didn’t take responsibility for their children; it was not the schools fault when children failed. His dislike of this position that many parents took and the fact that he felt Alice was trying to put the fault on the school made him sound a little snippy when he responded, “Well we did send them…”
Alice held up a hand, “I’m sure you did, in fact Kit told me she hid the letters; I will deal with that later. In the meantime, her past record indicates a good student and that should account for something. I would like to request that the school psychiatrist or psychologist be made available for her; perhaps talking to a professional will help her. It’s fairly obvious that these troubles began with the death of her mother. I see no mention of the grief counseling that I requested?”
“That would be in a private file and I do not have access to it,” he found himself explaining, feeling a little out of his element.
“Are parents able to read their children’s file on that level? The counselor’s file?” she asked.
“I will have to find that out, that is in another office and I will speak with her counselor, Mrs. Kroner will have to inform me on the protocol for that but I believe they are private for the child’s sake.”
“Mr. Langston, as Kit’s legal guardian and parent I believe that I have the right to not only see Kit’s files, any files that exist about her, but I would like to meet with this Mrs. Kroner and perhaps we can work things out between us and Kit won’t come to your attention again.”
Not used to having the problem taken out of his hands so expertly and still certain she was looking to blame the school he looked at her suspiciously before the logic of what she was saying penetrated his angered mind and he nodded numbly. “We could…” he began musingly.
“Good,” Alice said decisively, “That will be a start; I will work on making sure her homework is done satisfactorily and I agree perhaps the ‘scare’ of being suspended from school might work with her, how long did you have in mind?”
He was genuinely shocked at her suggestion. She had turned it around on him but agreed with him at the same time. “I thought perhaps the rest of this week?” he was sounding weak and he knew it but his surprise and her personality were conspiring against him.
Alice nodded as she stood up and placed the file back on the desk, “That’s good,” it was Wednesday afternoon, “Kit will be back on Monday with a better attitude I assure you,” and she held out her hand to be shook again. “You will make arrangements for me to talk to the counselor or should I find her myself?”
Langston found himself shaking her hand and, “I’ll arrange it,” then she left. He stared at the door almost wondering what had happened. She had agreed with him but he felt he hadn’t come out ahead in this encounter.
Alice walked into the outer office and said quietly to Kit, “Let’s go to your locker and get your books.”
Kit popped up out of the plastic seat, “Why, what happened?”
Alice waited for her to get the door with her and held it open for her, “You are suspended and we are going to get your books because while you are out of school you are going to be studying and catch up on all the work you have missed.” She began walking and realized Kit had stopped dead.
“I’m suspended?” her eyes opened wide as she realized the implications of it.
Alice nodded and said, “Yes, where is your locker?”
Kit stood there in shock but the question finally penetrated
and she pointed the opposite way that Alice had begun walking and Alice corrected her direction pulling at Kit’s elbow. “I know it sounds a bit harsh but you did it to yourself.”
“But my mom died, I’ve been trying…” she began lamely.
Alice turned her so quickly it almost gave the teen whiplash and pushed her against the wall looking into her face fiercely, her cat-like eyes began to narrow and turn yellow, almost orange, “We all lost your mother, we all have to cope with it, I loved her, you loved her, your brother and sister loved her, we are in this together and I am sorry you are hurting, but so am I,” she was surprising herself at what she was revealing to this rebellious teen but she had felt it too and Kit’s words and actions had gotten on her last nerve, “I am here for you, I hope you know that,” at no time did she raise her voice but the concern Kit heard surprised her.
“You’ve been gone too you know,” Kit began defensively and tears sprang in her eyes as her facade crumbled.
Alice nodded and said, “I know, and I’m sorry, but I’m here now and we are going to correct this before it gets out of hand. I loved her as much as you did and I love you, I want what is best for you and you’ve let yourself down with your behavior, your actions, and we are going to correct it.”
Kit was cowed, the fact that Alice had said she loved her impressed her more than if she had been yelled at by her. She knew she had been rude to the principal and she wondered what they had spoken about behind that closed door. She didn’t know what Alice had promised and planned but she felt Alice was on her side. She headed to her locker.
Alice insisted she take everything and leave nothing behind in case she needed something later. As they drove home the silence stretched out between them. As they pulled into the garage Alice turned to her, “I expect you to catch up on each and every subject, you know what ones you are behind on, I also expect you to get ahead in any subject you possibly can so that this does not repeat, ever. You have four and a half days and you are not to leave the house, you are not to use the phone, you are not to watch television until you can show me where you are at now and where you have caught up or ahead on. Do you understand me?”
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