Mending Defects

by Lynn Galli

  “She’s putting them into closets at school and making them sit there all day with nothing to do.”

  Four other mothers agreed audibly as Terry decided what to do. He leaned in to whisper to Jennifer, a bank manager in town. She shook her head and leaned over to whisper to me. “Suggestions?” she asked, clearly passing on Terry’s confusion.

  “Ms. Coleridge? Would you like to come up and go through the changes you’ve implemented?” I hoped my tone didn’t sound accusatory. She should know she had the authority to institute any policy she wanted.

  Lena stared at me for a moment before nodding and rising from her seat. She headed over to the microphone, but Terry waved her up to sit at the extra chair beside me. He introduced her to the crowd for those people who somehow didn’t know we had a new principal and resident of the town.

  “Why don’t you start with what makes a student eligible for suspension rather than detention?” Terry began.

  Lena faced the crowd when she spoke. “Thank you for the opportunity to address everyone’s concerns. As the board members know, during my interview you brought up issues surrounding the carefree disregard of rules by the young men and women in our school. I spent a few weeks observing this very concern before deciding to institute measurable rules. I held an assembly to explain the new rules and consequences. Every student attended and had to sign an acknowledgement stating that they understood and would abide by the rules.”

  Sounded fair to me, but the eruption of noise from the crowd told me I was in the minority on this view. Shouts of “they’re just kids,” or “you can’t hold them to adult standards,” and “give them a break,” came out. I felt Lena go rigid next to me. I wanted to reach out and squeeze her arm in support, but I didn’t know her that well and she might not be a touchy, feely type.

  “These are not just kids,” Lena told them. “They’re young adults. They understand consequences and have the capacity to deal with them.”

  Go, neighbor!I was digging this feisty lady.

  “Thanks to you, Jaden has had one college offer rescinded.”

  “What?” Mitch repeated, effectively doubling the comments he’s made in one year.

  “His suspension went on his record. USC received the updated information and reduced him to the waiting list.”

  That moron got into USC? Perhaps daddy’s money had something to do with it. More importantly, though, had none of his other suspensions gone on his record? What kind of a disciplinary system was that?

  “Suspensions are always recorded.” Lena’s voice was cool. It was good to see she could be more clipped with other people. In fact, she seemed downright warm to me now that I was seeing her in an adversarial position.

  “William never put them on record. The worst he’d do is send the boy home for the rest of the day.”

  “That might explain why your son felt he could get away with some of the things he’s been doing,” Lena said after many people in the crowd voiced their support for our late principal’s system.

  “Don’t you tell me that my son is a problem, lady. Right now, you’re the only problem in this room.”

  “Rebecca,” I spoke up and waited for her fiery eyes to shift to me. Her status as my client and my recent health scare made the glare soften a bit. “As the principal, Ms. Coleridge is able to set and enforce rules. As long as she doesn’t discriminate in the enforcement of these rules, she’s within her duties as principal.”

  “You wouldn’t be saying that if your kid was the one getting blackballed by colleges,” she retorted before her hand came up to cover her mouth. Sorrow entered her expression. She obviously realized that with my condition, I might not be able to have kids. What she didn’t know was that I’d never wanted them.

  Terry tried to step in and smooth things over. “I’m sure this is something that can have a different outcome, right, Lena?”

  My head whipped around to stare at him. Had he really just suggested that? Terry could crumple in a light summer breeze.

  “The student in question violated not one, but three rules,” Lena told him. “He deserved his suspension. In fact, I could have made a case for expulsion.”

  “That’s complete bull!” Rebecca yelled.

  Lena waited for the audience to settle after the outburst. “Your son stripped off a boy’s towel after gym class then shoved him naked into the girl’s locker room, barring his escape while calling him a ‘queer’ over and over. Your son is a bully at best and should be very happy that the victim didn’t want to press charges or have him expelled. He humiliated that boy in front of a locker room full of girls. They were also prevented from leaving until the taunting grew loud enough to be heard by the girls’ P.E. teacher from her office. Be grateful I didn’t insist on expulsion.”

  My mouth had nudged from ajar to wide open. That poor boy and those poor girls must have been so uncomfortable. Jaden had rocketed past being a mild pain in the ass to a sociopath in my opinion. Lena was right. He’s damn lucky he didn’t get expelled or even jailed for his actions.

  The crowd had grown quiet upon learning what had gotten Rebecca’s son in trouble. New admiration for Lena seemed to grow from the others, especially the board.

  “You’re exaggerating. Boys play pranks. My son wouldn’t hurt anyone. He certainly doesn’t belong in your storage closet prison cell.”

  “Rebecca,” Jennifer started, clearly shocked by what Lena had said. “I’m sure that Jaden didn’t think it all the way through, but I have to agree with Ms. Coleridge’s assessment and punishment. If something like that had happened to my daughter, I don’t think I’d stop the sheriff from arresting him.”

  “He’d never do something like that to a girl, of course. My son is a good boy. He and his friends were having a little fun at the expense of another boy. That’s just high school. Everyone feels picked on.”

  “My job as a principal is to make sure that everyone is treated equally and with the respect that every person deserves,” Lena said with confidence. “I clearly communicated that I wouldn’t accept mistreatment of any kind. Every student understands the rules I’ve established and has signed off on them.”

  “How can you justify sticking a child in a closet for nine hours a day?” Rebecca shot back. Even though she’d lost some of the crowd with what her son had done, many of them looked to Lena for her response.

  “It’s seven hours in a vacant supply room. They have a chair and a desk with two breaks and lunch taken outside. Suspension shouldn’t be a vacation from school where kids stay home and play video games all day. My suspensions are the high school version of a time out. They have nothing to do but think about what got them stuck in there. Believe me, very few kids end up suspended again after staying in my time outs.”

  No, ma’am. I wouldn’t imagine any kid could stand to spend seven hours a day doing absolutely nothing.

  “But it’s not safe for them,” Inez, mother of six sons, spoke up from her seat.

  “We have cameras monitoring the rooms. My vice principal and I are just across the hall from them. The kids are well cared for. They’re bored out of their minds, but they’ll think twice before they decide to get into trouble again.”

  “It just seems so harsh,” Lois, another of my clients, spoke up. “For being tardy? Can’t you just put them in detention?”

  Lena leaned forward and spoke in a softer tone. “I do. They get detention for three, again after the fourth and fifth. At that point, detention is no longer a deterrent, but suspension is. Since your daughter was placed in suspension for a day because of it, not one student has been late to class. The few students who interrupt their teachers by clowning around or talking back have been model students since spending a day in suspension. My policies work. Your kids just need time to adjust.”

  “Terry?” Rebecca pleaded.

  He looked torn for a moment. “I guess we could call a vote, but it does seem as if your son deserved the punishment he got.”

  I started forwa
rd, completely flabbergasted by his suggestion. “We’re not voting. That’s not the role of the board. We’ve hired an extremely qualified person after an exhaustive search to make all the decisions she wants about her school.”

  “But,” Terry began then realized he didn’t really have an argument just a swell of displeasure from a crowd.

  “No, Ms. Coleridge is doing the job we hired her to do.” I glanced over at Lena and realized I hadn’t gone far enough. “And for the record, I completely support her decision to place those students in suspension and believe the new method is far better than letting the kids have time off from school.”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” Terry decided to agree. Or maybe he noticed that his favorite show was on in five minutes. He disbanded the meeting with a crack of his gavel.

  A rush of people moved up to catch us before we could leave. Thankfully, no one seemed to want to chat with me. Perhaps they knew they couldn’t change my mind.

  “You’re on the board.” Lena turned to me with a raised brow. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew who I was that first night?”

  I smiled, leaning in so that no one else would hear. “I thought we’d hired someone named Beatrice. I expected a tightly wound, bun wearing, librarian type.”

  Her mouth quirked into a smile before her head shook and ruefulness leaked in. I would have questioned it had I not been distracted by how great she smelled. Fresh like springtime in a rose garden. I could almost feel her skin touching mine and had to fight not to fall completely against her.

  “You weren’t in the interviews.”

  “I was out of town.”

  She eyed me up and down, the gaze palpable on my skin. “You were the third vote.”

  My mouth popped open. She shouldn’t have known that the vote was 3-2. That would only serve to make her feel inadequate that it wasn’t a unanimous vote. Which of my idiot co-board members would want her to feel like that? It had to be Mitch or Joel, the two no votes. Although, looking at Terry or Jennifer, I could believe they’d want to make themselves look good in her eyes. I really needed to quit this board.

  “I’m sorry someone felt it necessary to tell you that. You have our complete support.”

  Her eyes gained a faraway look. “I wonder if I do.”

  Before I could assure her again that the board stood behind its initial decision, she stood and walked out of the room. I wanted to follow, but my exit got delayed by two clients who were more concerned about their tax refunds than their kids’ status in high school.

  From the Journal of Lena Coleridge:

  I cannot believe Glory didn’t tell me she was on the school board and the reason I was hired. She was probably gloating the entire time we’ve talked, knowing she held my fate in her hands. Showing up tonight without telling me she was going to be there. We had coffee together last night. She had to know I’d be shocked. Why hadn’t she said anything?

  She did support me, though. That was a pleasant surprise. Most board members are reluctant to my changes at first. Glory jumped on the bandwagon right away. She seems so unassuming when we chat. Now I know she can be authoritative when she wants. Denial Mom even shut up when Glory spoke.

  What’s an accountant doing on a school board, especially when she doesn’t have kids? Wait, maybe she does. Just because I’ve never seen kids at her house doesn’t mean she isn’t divorced with a co-parenting plan. She’s got to be too young to have a kid in my school. Will she be that supportive when her kid, if she has one, reaches high school?

  I was expecting a lecture from her after the meeting. I shouldn’t have told everyone what that boy did. I could have made my point without embarrassing the boy’s mother. I’ve got to get control of my temper and not let it dictate what I say. Denial Mom was baiting me, and I should have stuck to my script. Instead I made her son’s actions public. That wasn’t smart. Terry was probably rethinking his vote to hire me. I need to be more careful. It doesn’t matter that Glory seems to have my back. I deal with people’s kids. Support will only last until I do something to the wrong precious kid.

  Chapter 9

  White bounding energy came streaking up my driveway and onto my porch before I’d managed to set down my beer. His nose went right into my free hand for a big lick before turning around and waiting for his hiney rub. I placed the beer on the side table and turned my attention to the dog. Out of my periphery, I noticed Lena appear on the street past the cluster of trees edging my property.

  I disguised my smirk with a full smile, happy that she was starting to make this a common stop on her dog walking route. The weather had turned warmer, snow gone from everything but the mountains. I’d be out on my porch every night soon, probably wondering if she’d stop by every day.

  “Kitty wanted to say hi,” she said by way of greeting.

  I nodded at the other chair and grabbed another bottle of beer from the cooler I always brought out in case Spencer or Mei stopped by. Or maybe I just hoped she’d be the one to make an appearance. I was beginning to look forward to these short recaps of our days.

  “Kitty needs a real name.”

  “Like what?” One eyebrow quirked as she reached for the beer.

  “He’s your dog.”

  “I’m partial to Kitty.” Her tone held a teasing lilt.

  “Kitty it is, then.” Two could play at that game. “Any more students thrown in lockup?”

  “Funny.”

  She took a sip of her beer, forcing my eyes to her neck. I imagined licking the long, enticing column, devoting hours to the rich supple skin. Wrong thought to have when sitting inches away from a woman who had no interest in the licking. I barely knew her and we were neighbors. I really shouldn’t be having these thoughts. With a pinch of my thigh, I got my mind back where it belonged.

  “How many of my parents are your clients?”

  My head tilted back against the chair. She was asking a semi-personal question? Covering new ground tonight. Too bad I had to shut it down. “I keep that confidential.”

  She acknowledged that with a tip of her head. “I just wondered if that was why they backed off so quickly last week.”

  “They backed off because everyone knows Jaden is a troublemaker, but no one guessed he could be a sociopath. Is the other boy truly okay?”

  “It’s hard to say. High school boys, you know.”

  “Yeah.” Even if he hadn’t been completely humiliated, getting him to talk about his feelings probably wasn’t going to happen.

  “I thought I’d get lucky and not have these kinds of problems in a smaller town, but I guess teenagers are the same everywhere.”

  I turned and studied her, hoping she wasn’t regretting her decision to move. “Something tells me that having clear and understandable boundaries in place may make them behave a little better.”

  “Intolerance is something they usually pick up at home.”

  Nodding, I couldn’t really argue that point. We didn’t have much diversity here. That tended to influence attitudes. When I first moved here, I’d been shocked to find out that many of my new classmates had never met anyone of a different race or religion before. The influx of tourists since then has helped widen horizons, but we were still fairly homogonous in appearance and unadventurous in when it comes to point of view.

  “We’re going for a hike on Saturday,” Lena announced, changing the topic. “We need a guide.”

  I smiled and rubbed Kitty again. “Sounds fun.”

  “Baked goods will of course be required.”

  I laughed this time. “Any requests?”

  “Whatever you can make.”

  Not a picky woman? I could get used to that. Hiking, not so much, but an hour with her away from everything would be worth it. “Time?”

  “Better wait till the afternoon to give the sun a chance to heat things up a bit more.”

  “There’s a nice trail just out back here.” I pointed toward a gap between the trees. The hill beyond my property limits provided some nice v
istas of town and Ajax.

  “Oh,” she said, disappointment pinching her brow. “I thought we’d try Snowmass or Buttermilk.”

  A mountain? I couldn’t do a mountain. I was good for ten minute spurts on steep inclines, but I wouldn’t make it very far. Damn if I’d tell her why, though. She was the only person I knew who didn’t worry about my condition, didn’t know about it, or feel like there was something wrong with me.

  “The resort is still making snow. We better stick to the lowlands.”

  “This summer, then.”

  “Sure.” I’d figure out a way to get out of it later. I didn’t want anything to dampen my excitement at being alone together. I knew it was fruitless to get excited. Even if she was gay, and I doubted Ms. Private here would share something like that with me, she’s still my neighbor. Neighbors had the ability to keep watch on you and your actions. It could become stalkerish really fast.

  “See you Saturday.”

  It’s a date. With my straight neighbor, but still a date. I hadn’t been on one of those in a while.

  *

  Weather wise, the day was as close to spring as it would get with snow patches still in sight. All I needed was a zip fleece, t-shirt, and jeans to stay warm on the trail. I’d packed light, knowing my staying power, but it was filled with the lightweight baked goods that would dazzle my companion.

  Lena had shown up at my door, two dogs in tow and a backpack that looked like it would carry all the clothes she’d need for a month-long backpacking trip through Eastern Europe. Excitement glittered in her brown eyes. At that moment I recognized her for the true outdoorswoman she was. She wore the look almost as well as she wore the multitude of creative hairstyles. Even today’s simple ponytail looked flawless on her.

  Up ahead, she walked at a brisk pace not bothered by the incline on the trail so far. It would have been difficult to keep up if I were in shape. With my condition, I would be lucky to keep her in sight once we hit the steeper parts.

  “Look, raccoons.” I stopped, pointing off to the side.