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She nods and takes off like a rocket.
“Sir.” Mosley calls. When I look back, he’s precariously carrying the basket in one hand and has his phone up with the other. “I just received a message from Jenny. She’s having some vehicle trouble and will be a little late.”
“Noted.”
He nods and returns to carrying the basket with two hands.
I don’t move.
He pauses. “Is there something else?”
“Buy her a new car.”
“What?”
“And going forward, have José drive all of Yaya’s interpreters to her events.”
“Sir?”
“I can’t have Yaya’s interpreters not showing up in the future. Please ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
“Y-yes sir.”
Slipping a hand in my pocket, I catch up to Yaya.
As we pass Talia’s classroom, I look in and notice my niece sitting alone at her desk. Sunlight forms a little halo over her golden hair and pink shirt.
But she’s a lone angel.
Big blue eyes stare longingly at the other girls who are pooling their tables together and forming their own cliques. Her despondent expression rips my heart out of my chest.
Yaya’s waving hand steers my attention away.
She signs. “Come on. We’re be late.”
I leave Talia behind and walk into the administration office with Yaya beside me.
The secretary gives me a starry-eyed look as she ushers us inside.
Like the rest of the school, the principal’s office leans cold and clinical. The color scheme is all beiges and dark woods. It reminds me of a boarding school. Or maybe a cold Catholic orphanage. Certificates line the walls. Pictures of the principal with wealthy parents and donors crowd the surface above her cabinet and desk.
Principal Morris shoots to her feet and extends her hand to me. “Mr. Sullivan, what an honor. Truly, what an honor. Do have a seat. Oh! Is that basket for me? Here, Miss Abbot. Put that somewhere everyone can see it.” She plops the basket unceremoniously into the arms of Talia’s homeroom teacher.
I give Miss Abbot a nod of acknowledgement.
She gives me a pained grimace in return.
“You must be the famous Yaya Williams. I watched that interview with you and Mr. Sullivan. Splendid! Did you know we have a deaf student here as well? Niko Sazuki. Do you know the Sazukis? Very famous family. It’s such an honor to have her enrolled here.”
Yaya smiles politely, nodding along as if she understands.
A prick of misgiving hits me. Before I can ask for us to pause the meeting and wait for Jenny, the principal makes another high-pitched exclamation.
“Mr. Sullivan, you’ve met Miss Abbott, yes?”
“We met last week regarding Talia’s… uh… incident.”
“Oh, yes, well,” the principal squirms, “a gross misunderstanding. Truly.”
