Phoenix Inheritance

by Corrina Lawson

  She bet Principal Partnope wouldn’t get the joke. Add that to the old peacoat and her looking ragged because of this morning’s work outside, and she’d earn Partnope’s disdain again. Maybe if she wore designer clothes and shoes like half the women in town instead of her jeans, work boots and her geeky T-shirts, the principal would take her more seriously.

  Steeling herself for yet another confrontation, she opened the front door to the school office. Dorothy, the office manager, smiled at her. “Good to see you, Ms. Black.”

  Dorothy, impeccable as always in a pretty sweater, seemed glad to see her. “Good to see you too. Where’s Charlie? Is he okay?”

  “He’s fine, Ms. Black. He’s been asking for you.”

  “Thanks.” Not for the first time, Renee wished Dorothy ran the school. Charlie liked her and listened to her. “What happened? Where is he?”

  Dorothy pulled a pencil from behind her ear and pointed with it. “He’s in the conference room over there. He promised to draw me a picture of Thor.”

  “Great. Did he mean my dog or the superhero?”

  “You know, I didn’t ask. But I’d love either.”

  Renee turned to the conference room but Principal Partnope came out of his office and intercepted her.

  “I’d like to talk to you first, before you see Charlie. This was a pretty serious incident.”

  “I just want to make sure he’s okay, thanks.” She pushed open the door to the small conference room. Charlie sat there with a supply of crayons and blank paper in front of him. He smiled and ran over to her. She hugged him tight.

  She drank in the sight, smell and feel of her son, his dark unruly hair, his brown eyes, his favorite Batman T-shirt and the whiff of peanut butter on his breath. I love you, kid.

  Yes, she definitely needed this hug before talking to Partnope. She knelt down to look him in the eye.

  “I like your T-shirt,” he said. “Is it new?”

  “Just came yesterday. Along with your new Batman Beyond shirt.”

  “Awesome.” But he stared at the floor instead of at her. He shuffled his feet. “I did something really bad, Mom. But it was their fault. They were mean to me.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I hit Mr. Revis,” he whispered.

  “Who’s Mr. Revis?” she asked.

  “Our substitute teacher this week.”

  “Right.” Mr. Lamoreux was out for several weeks after having broken his leg.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  Charlie waved his hands. “He was really mean. He tricked me!”

  Mr. Partnope poked his head into the room. “May we talk now, Ms. Black?”

  “All right.” Now that she’d seen Charlie, she could deal with whatever this was. “Charlie, I’ll be right back. Are you finishing that drawing for Miss Dorothy?”

  He nodded. “Yes! I promised her I’d finish before school gets out.”

  “Good.”

  Once in the principal’s office, Partnope sat behind his very official desk. He looked like a bureaucrat with his thinning hair, thin red mustache and conservative tie. She preferred Mr. Lamoreux, who sometimes wore loud ties and shirts that broke the mold.

  “Would you please sit down?” Partnope asked.

  Renee thought about standing but decided since Charlie admitted he’d hit his teacher, looming over the principal and taking out her frustration with the situation was the worst thing she could do.

  “That’s an interesting T-shirt, Ms. Black.” His gaze flicked over the shirt. It featured Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, in a red, blue and yellow costume with her energy power blazing at her hands. Hence, Princess Sparklefists.

  “Thank you, it’s one of my favorites.”

  “Interesting.”

  “I think so.” She took a deep breath. She wouldn’t rise to the bait. “Why did Charlie hit his teacher? What happened?”

  “I’m glad he admitted it. A lot of kids don’t.” Partnope laced his fingers together. “First of all, you should know that we take any assault on a teacher extremely seriously.”

  She nodded. “Of course. Was the teacher hurt?”

  “No, I don’t believe he was injured at all. Still, we might have to suspend Charlie.”

  She took a deep breath. She wanted to protest because she was sure Charlie’s impulse control issues had caused him to overreact, but it would be far better to hear this out first.

  “Could you please tell me what happened?” she asked again.

  “Mr. Revis gave the students a surprise quiz today.” He paused.

  She nodded but what she wanted to do was say that didn’t they know Charlie hated surprises? She’d talked to all the school officials about it, including Partnope. Teachers were supposed to give him advance warning of any quiz. “And Charlie failed this surprise quiz?”

  “It wasn’t that kind of quiz,” Partnope said.

  He handed over a sheet of paper that started with Read this over fully first, and included all kinds of instructions about drawing shapes and writing sentences. It was busy work but work Charlie knew how to do. It wasn’t until she reached the last sentence that she knew why Charlie thought they’d been mean to him.

  “It says at the end that no one has to do any of the problems.”

  “Yes. The very first instruction was to read the paper fully and the last instruction is that they don’t have to do any of the work. This is a test we give to make sure students follow instructions and read their papers fully.”

  “How many students in third grade read this all the way to the end?”

  Partnope’s eyes narrowed. “Only two.”

  “And after Charlie did all the work and got to the last sentence and realized he didn’t really have to do any of it, he lost his temper?”

  “Exactly.” Partnope nodded. “He rushed to the front of the class, screamed at Mr. Revis for tricking him, kicked him in the leg and ran out of the room.”

  Renee rubbed the bridge of her nose. Of course, Charlie would see this as being tricked and react. The whole quiz was a trick. Still, he shouldn’t hit anyone. But his reaction was entirely predictable and could have been avoided by letting him know beforehand.

  “What happened after he ran out of the room?” she asked.

  It was Partnope’s turn to take a deep breath. He cleaned off his glasses. “Charlie ran out of the school, toward the road.”

  “Toward the road?” The elementary school was located on one of the town’s busiest streets.

  “He was out the door before anyone could catch him. We did get to him before the road.”

  “How did you get Charlie inside?” she asked, hearing the hoarseness in her voice.

  “Dorothy called to him. He slowed down. Then she asked him to come back and sit next to her for a while.”

  Dorothy. She had no way to repay the woman for this. “And he did?”

  “Yes, he listened to her. And then she asked him for a drawing because she knows he likes to draw. Once your son was settled, we called you. Thank you for coming so quickly.”

  “I understand your concern.” She tucked her hands into her lap, having no idea what to say. She was frustrated at the school for a situation that could have been avoided, worried about Charlie for running outside and just completely sick to her stomach because she had no idea how to stop it from happening again.

  As bad as it had been at school so far, she’d thought he was at least physically safe there.

  “I’m so glad Dorothy was able to reach him, and I understand why you wanted me to come so fast. What now?”

  “As I said, assaulting a teacher is a serious offense, as is running out of the school. Neither of those things should happen. I’ll have to talk to everyone involved and make a decision,” Partnope said.

  Plunge in, she thought. “Isn’t Char
lie’s autism a consideration? If anyone had checked with me about this assignment—” she held the quiz in front of her, “—I could have absolutely told them he’d have a bad reaction. Or they could have looked in his IEP.”

  “Charlie has some control over his reactions or he wouldn’t have stopped for Dorothy. He is quite willful. He’s responsible.”

  “I understand what he did. I’m just looking for the best way to prevent it from happening again.” Renee ground her teeth. Again, she got the feeling Partnope thought all her son needed was discipline. Renee knew discipline. She’d trained her SAR dogs for years. Charlie’s problems were beyond simple discipline. He lacked the ability to think before acting under stress.

  “My son and Dorothy have built up trust over the four years he’s attended school. She notices the little things and knows how to get to him.” Dorothy could have told them not to give Charlie this unnecessary and ridiculous quiz.

  “Charlie’s going to have to learn to respect his current teacher. What does his father say about all this?”

  “I really don’t feel comfortable speaking for his father.” Partnope wasn’t the only obstacle. Daz was resistant to the idea of full psychological testing too.

  Daz only had Charlie two weekends a month, sometimes less if Daz was pulled away by work. That included last month. As a result, Daz hadn’t seen Charlie’s worst meltdowns. Daz thought she worried too much. He didn’t get all the phone calls from the school.

  “In a case like this, we do like to get the opinion of both parents, whenever possible,” Partnope said.

  “Absolutely, which is why I’ll discuss today’s incident with Mr. Montoya.” But she needed to have the conversation with Daz, not the school. Maybe she was paranoid but it sounded like they wanted to go over her head, which meant they didn’t trust her with Charlie. Maybe that was why they kept stalling despite her repeated requests for full psychological testing for special education services.

  All she wanted was for Charlie to get the help he clearly needed.

  “Would Charlie’s father oppose a suspension?” Partnope said.

  The question shredded the last of her self-control.

  “All this talk of a suspension is beside the point,” she snapped. “If I thought suspending Charlie would ensure that this situation would never happen again, I’d be all for it. But I can’t say that and neither can you.”

  If punishment worked with Charlie, she’d be all in with this approach. But it didn’t.

  “I want a full psychological testing for Charlie, as I’ve asked at least six times these last two months. I want to have him classified as special education/autism, and I want an aide who can notice when Charlie is getting agitated so they can teach him to calm down at school before he goes overboard like today.”

  Partnope but his hands on his desk and stood. “I’ll consider that.”

  “You’ve had two months to consider it.” Renee stood too. “If you keep stalling, I will appeal to the Superintendent of Schools.” She’d been tracking all these incidents with Charlie, putting together a case. She knew her legal rights. What she’d been hoping was that Charlie would somehow magically improve or that Partnope would start taking Charlie’s diagnosis seriously. Legal action was a last resort.

  “That is your right, of course.” Partnope gave a quick nod. “But you must explain to your son what behavior is expected in this school. He needs to take all the rules seriously, as do you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to settle some things before the school lets out.”

  He left the room before Renee could say anything else.

  Renee ran her hands through her hair and composed herself in the hallway before going back out into the outer office. Something must have still shown on her face, or maybe it was her demeanor that gave her away because Dorothy called to her.

  “He’s going to be okay, Ms. Black,” Dorothy said.

  “Thanks. I hope so.”

  Renee glanced over at the conference room to make sure Charlie was still happily drawing, then walked closer to Dorothy.

  “Have you asked for full testing for Charlie?” Dorothy asked.

  “Constantly over the last two months. I keep getting put off. Charlie needs an aide to watch over him.”

  Dorothy patted her arm. “The school just doesn’t want the expense of an aide. Keep pushing. You’re right.”

  Renee smiled. “Thank you for that and for what you did earlier for him.”

  The older woman shrugged. “Part of the job. Charlie’s drawing is enough payment for me.”

  Charlie ran out of the conference room and presented his drawing, which featured Thor the German Shepherd and Thor the superhero together. Dorothy thanked Charlie profusely and pinned it to the corkboard in the main office.

  Charlie beamed.

  He was such a great kid. She had to find a way to help him.

  What did she do from here? Keep Charlie out of school? Homeschool him? What was the best way to treat this?

  She put her hand on Charlie’s shoulder.

  “Ready to go? We need to get home before we get caught in the storm.”

  Renee’s hand-knit scarf rippled in the wind as she wrestled the last patio chair toward the open garage. The sky overhead had already turned from bright blue to a foreboding shade of gray. The colorful fall was now more like a moving, shifting Ansel Adams photograph.

  Charlie trailed behind her, but she kept watch on him all the same, especially since he was particularly afraid of storms. She didn’t want him panicking inside while she was busy outside.

  “Almost done,” she said.

  “Can I help?” Snowflakes dotted his dark hat and he looked so sweet in that instant that she wished she could bottle it. He was a great kid. There had to be a way to help him cope. There had to be.

  “Nah, I’m good. Just keep me company and remind me next time not to buy such heavy patio chairs.” She’d bought them so the winds wouldn’t knock them around. She’d forgotten about the part where she needed to drag them inside for the winter.

  She glanced at the huge oak trees that dotted the borders of her yard. Their branches were still laden with leaves, making them vulnerable to the weight of the falling snow.

  Charlie tugged at her sleeve. “When will it be time for hot chocolate?”

  “Right about now, soon as we get the chair set and go inside.”

  “Great.”

  Thor and Loki barked from the inside of the house. They didn’t like her being out without them. Silly boys. Too cold for them to romp outside now. The temperature must have dropped twenty degrees in the last two hours.

  She turned the corner and slid the chair into her garage. There. Done. Nothing left now but hunker down and hope for the best.

  Her son tapped her hip and pointed. “Mom! Look! The cat’s back! I have to get him!”

  Not that stray cat again. “He’ll be fine. Cats can survive storms.”

  “But he says I have to come get him. He wants my help.”

  The problems at school were bad enough. She’d hoped this insistence on talking to animals was just a phase. Could he really be hearing voices?

  “I’ll walk over there to see how he is. You stay here,” she said.

  “No, he said I have to come!”

  Renee reached out to grab Charlie’s sleeve, anticipating what was coming, but he was too fast for her and she missed. He took off at full speed across the lawn, toward the trees and the edge of the forest. She sped after him, yelling at him to stop but he ignored her. She ran full out, the cold air stinging her lungs.

  Just before she caught up to Charlie, her feet slipped on the wet leaves. She stumbled, went down to one knee and saw him plunge into the woods, helpless to stop him.

  “Wait!” she yelled again but the only response was the sound of leaves crunching far ahead. She scrambled to he
r feet.

  Oh, God, oh God. There was a nasty drop-off only about ninety yards into the trees. Visions of Charlie going over the edge had her stomach in knots. She might have thrown up if she wasn’t so busy running after him. Here she’d been pissed at the school for letting him out of their sight and she’d made the same damn mistake.

  She leapt over a bush and hit the brambles at a run. Branches swatted her face and prickers grabbed at her pants. The snow fell harder and faster. The trees seemed to all meld together, obscuring visibility. She couldn’t see Charlie at all, and she wasn’t sure she heard him anymore either. She wanted to rage, to slam against the nearest tree in frustration.

  But panicking would be the absolutely wrong thing to do. She halted.

  “Charlie!”

  Her throat was so closed up in fear that her yell came out as a whisper. She drew a deep breath and tried again. This time, his name came out as a scream.

  Still no answer.

  Everything she’d learned in her search-and-rescue work told her panicking would get her nowhere. Yeah, that training worked awesomely when it wasn’t her own kid. She cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed his name again. Answer me!

  Silence. Where could he have gone so fast? She had visions of him going over that edge and hitting the bottom hard. She blinked away tears.

  “Mom! Help!”

  Oh, God. That came from the direction of the drop-off.

  “Coming, Charlie!” She tried not to run because she couldn’t see more than two feet in front of her, but the fear in her son’s voice drove her.

  “Mom, I’m gonna fall!”

  “I’m right here!”

  Her lead foot pushed against empty air. She grabbed the nearest branch before she went over the edge, only just halting her fall.

  “Charlie!” Where was he? She dropped to her knees to peer over the edge, trying to see through all the fat, wet snowflakes. This was the only place he could be. But where? All the way to the bottom? No, no. Dammit…

  “Mom!”

  The voice came from directly below, and she finally spotted him. He smiled, but she fought not to collapse in terror. The only thing keeping him from plunging to the bottom was that he was hanging on to the exposed roots of a white birch tree that was growing half sideways out of the cliff.