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I blink, wondering what some boy could have been saying to cause Ella to lash out with her fist. “Are you sure that’s all it was? Teasing?”
“How’s Ella’s home life?” Ramirez asks. “Have there been any major changes lately to her schedule? Kids sometimes act out due to other factors that have nothing to do with the actual bad behavior.”
Now, I’m getting annoyed. “Mr. Ramirez, has Ella gotten into any other trouble before today?”
He shakes his head.
“And have her grades fluctuated at all?”
He shakes his head again.
“So, it’s safe to say this seems like an isolated incident?”
Ramirez considers this before nodding. “Most likely. But I have to ask. It’s my job.”
I nod. “And I appreciate that, Mr. Ramirez. I do. But Ella’s happy. She’s doing great at home and until today I would have said she’s doing great at school too. Like you, I want to figure out why she would act so out of character. Do we know what the other boy was saying to her?”
“Violence is never a proper response to harsh words!”
Ramirez and I both shift to look at the person who just spoke. As soon as I see the woman standing in the doorway, I feel my annoyance spike. Hillary Mitchell. What the hell is she doing here?
“Mrs. Thomas,” Ramirez says with a small smile in Hillary’s direction. “Please come in. We were just discussing today’s incident.”
Thomas. That's must be the name of Hillary's last husband. I thought we were each going to meet with the principal alone. Isn't that what the dragon-lady out front said? I bite back my words of protest, knowing they won't help. Hillary smiles over at Ramirez, all teeth and fake southern charm before taking the chair beside me, effectively blocking off my exit from the small office.
“If by ‘incident’, you mean the assault on my son,” Hillary says, “I’m all ears.” She turns to glare at me. “Care to tell me why your daughter has such a thirst for violence.”
I can feel my blood pressure rising at her insinuation that Ella is somehow a horrible person based on whatever happened today. But I do my best to remain calm.
“Mrs. Thomas,” Ramirez says, pulling her attention back to him. “We were just discussing the events leading up to the incident.”
Hillary looks indignant. “It shouldn’t matter why she hit him. Violence is never the answer.”
Ramirez dips his head in acknowledgment. “I agree. Violence is never okay. But we need to make sure it’s not going to happen again. When a student acts out of character, we like to get to the bottom of why it happened. That's why I called you both here today.”
Hillary looks irritated, but she remains quiet as Ramirez speaks.
“Now, I’ve spoken with a few of the kids who saw the incident,” Ramirez says. “And they all had a similar story. They all say that Ella was playing with a group of friends when Kyle and two of his friends approached her group. Kyle said some things to Ella that she didn’t like. When she told him to leave her alone, he persisted and continued to say inappropriate things to her. After several minutes of this back and forth, Ella threatened to ‘make him leave her alone’ if he didn’t stop. Kyle continued to antagonize her. Which is when she hit him. In Kyle’s defense, he didn’t retaliate against her physically. To be honest, I think he was too stunned. Ella’s a good deal smaller than he is.”
I let Ramirez’s words play through my head again, but I can’t get past one thing he said.
“What inappropriate things was Kyle saying to Ella?” I ask.
When they both turn to me—Hillary in outrage and Ramirez looking sheepish—I know it’s probably not something I want to hear. The possibilities of what might constitute ‘inappropriate’ for eight year olds is probably nowhere near as bad as what I can conjure. But I can still feel my blood begin to boil at the thought of what this boy said to my daughter.
“Well,” Ramirez says. “I’d rather not repeat it.”
“It shouldn’t matter what he said,” Hillary sputters. “Kids say all sorts of things. It’s no reason to become physically violent.”
I hold up a hand. “While I agree with the sentiment, Hillary, I also don’t think it’s okay for anyone to pick on someone. Your son was asked several times to stop taunting her and he didn’t. She was wrong to hit him, but your son started it.”
“Now, now,” Ramirez says. “There’s no need for pointing fingers and assigning blame. Both students have been reprimanded and will face their punishment.”
“Kyle is the victim—”
“I understand,” I say, cutting off whatever Hillary was about to say. “Ella was wrong to hit Kyle and she will face her punishment for that act. But I need to know what was said to provoke her into hitting someone. That’s not like her.”
“I really don’t see the point—” Hillary begins.
