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“My dad said I can’t talk or write about us. Not about anything.”
“Why not? Is there something bad going on? Is there something happening that I shouldn’t know about?”
He shrugged, making her heart sink. The posture contained a universe of pathetic hopelessness. Kids weren’t supposed to feel that way, as if the world were weighing down on them. Finally, he drew a spiral on the page. “It’s just that he doesn’t think you need to know anything at all and it’s none of your business. If I tell you one thing, then you just want to know more. When I tell him about this assignment, he’ll think you’re just snooping.”
“Will you let me help?”
“With what?”
“With your father… with whatever you need help with.”
He looked up, and she saw a flicker of emotion disturb his sullen expression. “You can’t. It’s none of your business. Now I have to get to gym, or I’ll be late. I’m not supposed to get into trouble because that calls attention to me.”
“I’ll make it all right. This is important.”
“But you’re paying attention to me, and that’s bad.”
She could see that her attempt to coax him into talking, and even making an offer to help, only increased his stress. To put him at ease, she needed to back off. She grabbed a piece of paper and jotted a note, then handed it to him. “Don’t worry about the assignment. You can go to gym class, but don’t run in the hall. You don’t have to rush. Give the teacher this note—it says that I kept you after class for a few minutes. You won’t be in trouble.”
There was desperation in the way he grabbed the note and ran out of the room, leaving Tessa staring at his paper and the two troublesome words Jimmy had written above the doodled spiral.
“My father…”
In some ways that probably summed up everything going on in his life. Whatever demons haunted Harvey Taylor, he was inflicting them on his son. She had to find a way to help him. If he were being physically hurt, she could call protective services, and they’d see he was protected. That made her think of Jett’s condemnation of that agency. His experience might be an anomaly, but he was a smart, compassionate man. If he was right…
For the restof the week, Tessa continued monitoring Jimmy as best she could. He wasn’t cheerful or outgoing, but he seemed stable. Now that he went straight home after classes, apparently so that his father would know she wasn’t brainwashing him even more than normal, she had to create opportunities for them to be alone together in case he decided to talk. Certain that pushing wouldn’t help and might make him retreat further, she forced herself to bide her time.
On Friday afternoon, Tessa went to the office to hand in grade reports. On the way back to her desk, she found him standing in the hall outside of the classroom he was supposed to be in. “Why are you out here?” she asked.
He winced visibly. “Mr. Affir was talking about something my dad talks about all the time. I couldn’t help asking him a question. It was something I’ve been wondering about, but I think he thought I was just being a smart… well, Mr. Affir got angry and told me I should be out here by myself for the rest of the period.”
“What did you ask?”
Jimmy shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “We’re studying the Patriot Act and the way it helps the police and Homeland Security collect information on potential criminals. Since patriotism is about loyalty to your country, I asked him how spying on people was patriotic. Why should I trust a government that doesn’t trust me?”
“This came from your father?”
Jimmy shook his head. “There are discussions about it in some of his books.” He looked up at her, and she saw he was looking for support. “The question is mine, though, and I really wanted to hear why Mr. Affir didn’t agree, but he didn’t want to discuss it. Just like my father, I guess.”
She put her hand on his shoulder. “Jimmy, it could be that a lot of the things in those books are right and seem sensible. No one has all the answers. I expect that you’re right and Mr. Affir thought you were challenging him and his authority in front of the class.”
Jimmy frowned. “I just wanted to know. You teachers always say there’s no such thing as a stupid question, but apparently some get you in trouble.”
Her heart went out to him. “I do understand. It’s confusing to have a lot of ideas thrown at you, here and at home, and you’re smart enough to see that a lot of them contradict each other. But remember that adults are people and make mistakes. I think if we talked about it with Mr. Affir, he’d see he made one in this case. Would you like me to talk with him?”
“No. I’m worried what my dad is going to do.”
The confession startled her. “Worried? Did he threaten you?”
“No!” He seemed surprised at the suggestion. “All he wants to do is protect me. But after the things Mrs. Turnbull said about the police and child services, he’s afraid the authorities will take me away from him.”
“As far as I know, that isn’t the case.”
“He was planning to take me out of school and homeschool me, but then he decided they wouldn’t allow it.”
“Homeschooling is perfectly legal.”
“I know, but he thinks that because of his political ideas, if he does it, they’ll make up some reason, an excuse to take me away from him. They could use force. Homeland Security has done that before—taken kids by force from their parents.”
