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“Mark, if you know anything, please tell me. The rest of the weekend will be little more than a torture chamber of waiting and wondering and worrying. I’d much rather just know what I’m dealing with.”
He sighed, rubbed his hands together and then sat back, facing her. “I had a call from the superintendent today. He intends to recommend you be dismissed.”
Her stomach dropped, but she tried to rally.
“On what grounds?”
He leaned closer, his expression compassionate. “It doesn’t matter tonight, Meredith. Get some sleep and we’ll talk about this on Monday.”
“On what grounds?”
“Mental abuse of a child, for one.”
She couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t breathe. The room was warm and yet her skin felt frozen. “My entire life is about helping children.”
“I know. I told you we should do this later.”
She stared at him. “How is later going to make this any different?” she asked him, her throat raw. “I’d never, ever abuse a child. That’s ludicrous. I spoke with Tommy’s mother. Period. I never went near him, never talked to him about any of this. If he’s suffering, it’s because of what his parents did with the information I gave them.”
“I know,” he said again, and she couldn’t tell if he was attempting to placate her or not.
“Don’t humor me, Mark.” She heard the edge in her voice and was relieved to know she had some fight left. She felt completely lethargic, beaten, and she wasn’t sure she’d have the energy she required if she tried to stand.
“I’m not.” His tone, the straightforward look in his eye, convinced her. “And I don’t think that charge will stick,” he added. “But the second one might.”
“And it is?”
“Moral turpitude.”
Tears sprang to her eyes and Meredith blinked them away. “What base act did I commit?”
“Making false statements.”
“They were true.”
“According to Larry Barnett, they’re false.”
“I said that I felt his son was being abused. How can he, or anyone else, stand in judgment about what I feel?”
“You told his wife that Tommy was suffering from emotional abuse,” Mark said. “You have no proof that that statement is true.”
She had said that. Because she knew it was true.
“The superintendent’s in a tough place, Meredith,” Mark said, and she tried to listen to him, although she didn’t give a damn about the man’s predicament at the moment. “He’s under a lot of pressure to make a decision here and all he has to base that decision on are the facts he has before him. He thinks the facts show you making false statements.”
“That means that if enough members of the school board agree with him, I’ll be getting a letter to that effect.” She’d read the statutes when she’d been hired as a teacher. And again that afternoon.
“You’ll have no less than twenty days before a hearing is called, at which time you’ll be free to present your reasons for nondismissal.”
“And then the board votes.”
He nodded.
She’d wanted to know. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why.
“It’s completely out of your hands.” Not that it mattered. He’d agreed with Barnett from the beginning.
“Not entirely.” Mark’s speech was slow, drawn out. “I’ll put together a folder similar to the one I handed out at the parents’ meeting, with the more sensitive material included as well, and I’ll see that it gets to every member of the board.”
