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Not quite the truth, but not quite an untruth, either.
“I see,” she said carefully. “Has anything specific happened at the school that we need to be aware of?”
My brows rose at that. “No.”
She sighed. “A lot of the students find Mrs. Graydon very strict. It’s been something that we’ve been discussing as a department for some time now.”
Good. At least they wouldn’t be totally bombarded with surprise when shit went down.
“Strictness isn’t a bad thing. Is it?” I asked curiously.
I knew that she didn’t want to go into detail. But I could practically hear the way her brain was warring with her common sense.
“Well.” She hesitated. “Students feel she’s not very forgiving. That she’s tough, expects perfection, and is always harping on ‘rules’ and not taking into consideration the kids’ different personalities, or their learning styles.” she said. “This isn’t anything you wouldn’t learn at a school board meeting if you were to attend,” she hastily added.
My lips quirked. “I’ll be sure to come to those from now on.”
“That would be great,” she said. “You’re quite the local hero, Mr. Westfield. And don’t think that we didn’t notice that hefty donation you made to the kids’ playground equipment last Christmas.”
Dutch kicked me under the table, causing me to roll my eyes.
So I was a softy when it came to kids.
Sue me.
“If you ever feel like you need to talk about anything, let me know,” the principal continued. “And I do mean anything.”
With that, she hung up and left us sitting there in silence, looking at the congealing cheese.
“This is impressive,” she said as she tried to dunk a small, broken chip into it. The cheese didn’t budge. “What do you think?”
“I think that we’re getting closer,” I admitted. “How close, I don’t know. But between my guys, Sunny, and that teacher… I think we have the good people on our side.”
The real question was, when would the dam break? When could we get that woman out of the school and away from the children?
What would it take?
CHAPTER 28
Don’t stop. Be leaving.
-Unwelcome mat
DUTCH
The breaking point came when Lolo needed to go to school for a test or she’d fail her class.
“I’ll take you,” I offered.
Lolo looked up, excited to have someone on her side.
“Really?”
“Really,” I said. “I don’t have any patients until two. I had two cancel on me this morning. Meaning I’m free to drop you off, wait, and take you with me so Dayd can grab you from the beach.” I hesitated and looked at Wake. “But, you know, this would all be solved if you’d allow her to have my car.”
The car that I’d been pointing at every time he brought up the issue.
“Your car is a piece of junk,” he repeated himself for the umpteenth time. “And I’m gonna get her one. It’s not my fault that the stupid market is so hot right now. I had the freakin’ car on order for months.”
That was true.
But, in the meantime, he could let her use my old one.
It wasn’t like it didn’t just sit in the driveway now, unused, anyway.
So it was a teeny, tiny little car.
It would be okay.
It got me around.
“Dad’s scared because when he was younger, he had a girl in his high school that had almost your exact replica of car. She was driving down a back road that was about sixty miles an hour,” Lolo explained. “A Ford—one of those big ones with the big, rounded fender wells—swerved into the girl’s lane to avoid a tree falling and they hit head-on going sixty-plus miles an hour. Dad said that girl’s car folded up like an accordion. They were finding pieces of her in the back seat. Meanwhile, the guy in the Ford walked away as if he hadn’t been in an accident.”
I blinked. “Wow.”
“It wasn’t a good scene,” Wake admitted. “I just don’t like the idea of a small car, even if they are cheap and affordable and easy to get insured. My kid’s not riding in one.” He looked at me more seriously. “And honestly, I don’t think you should be either. But, again, I’m not your father, so I can’t really control what you do and don’t do.”
I looked at him with an almost comical expression on my face. “Wasn’t it you who, just this morning, told me not to walk to the taco place down the road again because it was too far, and there were too many alleyways for me to be drug into?”
“I don’t really feel like that is too much to ask.” He crossed his arms. “I’m protective of the things that are mine. So what?”
I patted his arm as I went to walk by him, and he caught my waist and turned me until I was front to front with him.
“You’ll take her,” he said. “But y’all won’t do anything crazy. And when you’re done, you’ll call me immediately. Keep me updated while you’re in there, too.”
