“Cherry bombs.” I repeat.
“Any weapons.” he answers firmly. “Unfortunately, I can’t extend Chris anymore chances. If his behavior wasn’t getting progressively worse with each incident, then I could think about suspension. However, it’s clear that he’s not getting the guidance he needs outside of school hours in order to modify his behavior.”
Well, that does it. “Listen, Mr. Vaughn. It’s one thing to drag me in here from work and try to make my kid sound like he’s a school shooter for throwing some cherry bombs in a toilet, ok? But, it’s quite another when you decide to insinuate that I’m not pulling my weight as a mother. If you bothered to look at that file, you’d see that a little over a year ago, when my husband died, I became a single mother. I don’t expect you to use that as an excuse for Chris, but it might explain his escalating behavior a bit. Maybe if you’d ever bothered to send him to the school counselor, you’d know that too. So, instead of sitting there judging my parenting skills, maybe you should be analyzing your supervising practices a bit.” I stand up, breathing in deep into my lungs. My transformation back to adulthood is complete and I’m ready to take my kid and go. Enough of this garbage. I turn on my heel and head toward the office door when Mr. Vaughn clears his throat.
“Ms. Brickman, before you go, we need to discuss the matter of financial compensation for the damages.”
So much for my dramatic exit.
12
Lauren
2014
“It’s no big deal, Mom.” Chris slumps into the passenger seat and buckles himself in. “Mr. Vaughn is such a dick. I mean, he’s had it in for me all year just cause he caught me kissing Hannah. He’s a total douche.”
I don’t disagree.
But that stays in my head. There’s zero chance I’m sharing that information with my son. What I personally think about his principal doesn’t change the fact that my kid is expelled from school and I have no where I can put him.
At nine, he’s much too old for daycare and too young to legally look after himself. With only a few months left in the school year, there’s no way I can just get him back on track in another school. We’re basically screwed. I’m screwed on child care; Chris is screwed on having any hope of passing the fourth grade. What a mess.
Fucking Vaughn is a douche.
“Listen, I don’t want to hear it. And don’t you dare talk about your principal that way.”
“Ex-principal,” Chris corrects me.
Lord, give me the strength to keep my hands on the wheel so I don’t smack my child. I know it’s been nine years and I’ve never hit him, but I swear, I’m losing my patience.
“Do you think this is funny, Chris? Do you have any idea how badly you’ve messed this up? You’re expelled, Christopher. That means I’ve got to try to figure out how I can get you back in school. In case you haven’t noticed, I have a job I need to go to every day so I can keep food in your mouth, but now I’ve got to use my breaks to call around so I can get you back in class. And if that doesn’t work, you can look forward to being the oldest kid in your fourth grade class next year!” The skin underneath my fingers pinch as I tighten my grip on the wheel.
I glance over at Chris, he’s emotionless and staring out the window. I want to shake him and hug him at the same time. I want to soothe him and tell him I know how hard it’s been for him since he lost his father.
Well, Joel wasn’t his biological Dad, but Chris didn’t know that. He was only two years old when Joel and I started dating. Joel had tried to pursue me before that, in his own awkward way. However, after spending the first year of my nursing program with a belly full of baby, I was in no hurry to find another man.
While the rest of the girls in my program were going out and getting drunk on the weekends, I was living with my Ma and big sister, studying from two types of books. Nursing text books and What to Expect in your pregnancy and beyond books.
The hard work and sacrifice paid off though, because I graduated the top of my class and had my little boy cheering me on at graduation.
When Joel and I both landed our first jobs fresh out of college at the same hospital, I started to see him in a different light. And I don’t mean the nasty fluorescents that line the hospital halls either. He wasn’t the most exciting guy, or the most handsome, but he was kind and respectful. He knew that Chris was Mack’s boy, but he never treated him like anything other than a son.
When Chris turned three, we had a small wedding. Joel adopted Chris and it all felt so perfect at the time. Of course, six years ago, I had no way of knowing that Joel would be killed in a car accident and that Mack would move back to Colorado.