“And what is it you think you’re going to do?” he asked.
I didn’t know. But I knew what I wasn’t going to do—and that was nothing.
Chapter 45
My meeting with Jake’s boss was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. We both had conditions. Mine was that Jake not be there. Jake’s boss’s condition was that I give the FBI the flash drive. I promised to bring it with me to our meeting, but that didn’t mean I was going to hand it over to him. I wanted something in return. I wanted them to re-open the investigation into the Russians.
I had just gotten onto the freeway on my way to LA when MJ’s school called. They requested I come to the school as soon as possible. The assistant assured me MJ wasn’t hurt, but that’s the only information I could pry out of the woman. I pulled off at the next exit and drove directly to the Winston Academy.
When I arrived in the lobby of the administrative building, I found MJ sitting on the sofa watching a video on his phone.
“What happened?” I asked. He had no visible bruises and there were no bloodstains or rips in his school uniform khakis or white button-down shirt, so I didn’t think he’d been in a fight. He just looked upset.
MJ slipped his phone into his pocket. “Sorry, Grace. I messed up.”
I sat down next to him. “Messed up how?”
Then the door to the head of school’s office opened, and Anna Cooper stepped into the hallway. “Good morning, Ms. Hughes, I’m glad you could come on such short notice. Let’s talk in my office.”
“Okay,” I said and stood up. I still had no idea what we were supposed to be talking about.
MJ stood up too, but Ms. Cooper told him she wanted to speak to me alone, so he sat back down.
I waited until Ms. Cooper had shut her office door and sat down behind her large mahogany desk before I asked, “Would you mind telling me why I’m here? All your assistant would tell me was that I needed to come to the school right away.”
“There’s been an incident,” she said calmly and with authority. I could see why the Winston Academy Board of Trustees had hired her.
“What kind of incident?” I asked.
“An altercation. MJ verbally abused his teacher and another student in class this morning.”
I assumed “verbally abused” was a private school euphemism for cursed at. “You mean he used the F-word?” I wasn’t sure even I was allowed to say the word on campus.
Ms. Cooper nodded. “Among other things. I’m not going to repeat what he said. I’ll let you discuss that with MJ directly. I asked you to come here today so we could discuss the situation and to inform you of the consequences.”
“Detention?” I asked, hopefully.
“We’re putting MJ on probation. If he has another outburst like today’s, then we will ask him to leave the school.”
“You would kick him out of school over an argument?” I had to wonder if there was some racial profiling going on here. I doubted if Olivia Baylor cursed at a teacher, they’d consider booting her from the school.
“It was more than an argument, Ms. Hughes, it was a verbal assault. And I will say out of character for MJ. I realize he’s only been with us a few months, but until today, his behavior’s been exemplary. I want to believe today’s outburst was a reaction to his distress over the upheaval in his living situation. My hope is once that’s been resolved, his behavior will return to normal.” When I didn’t respond, she said, “You are aware he’s leaving his current foster home?”
“Yes,” I said, “but I didn’t think MJ knew yet.”
“He found out this morning. His homeroom teacher said she could tell he was upset when he arrived, but when she asked him what was wrong, he wouldn’t tell her. After the incident with his English teacher and the other student, our security guard brought him to my office. I insisted he account for his behavior and that’s when he told me.”
This was my fault. I’d intended to ask Aunt Maddy about fostering MJ and Sofia again on Sunday, but then Deena called and all my plans went out the window. What I couldn’t figure out was why Tim and Richard had told MJ without at least giving me a heads up. “MJ’s current foster parents are great,” I said, “but they just adopted a baby and they’re a bit overwhelmed.”
Anna Cooper nodded. “It was MJ’s social worker who told him. He was very upset, understandably, and even more so because he heard it from his social worker instead of his foster parents. I think he felt betrayed.”
Jesus, I really messed this up for everyone. “Let me talk to him. It wasn’t their fault. It was mine.”
“It’s not just that,” she said. “His new foster home is in Solana and the bus doesn’t go that far. I told him if transportation was the only issue, we would work with him to try to find a solution. But we cannot tolerate these kinds of outbursts. It’s not fair to the teachers and the other students. I’ve spoken to our school counselor. She thinks MJ would benefit from outside counseling to help him deal with his emotions in a more constructive manner.”
“I’ve offered to get him a therapist before, and he wasn’t interested. But I’ll talk to him again. I’ll tell him it’s a condition to him staying at the school.”
“That would be helpful,” Anna Cooper said. “We’re all very fond of MJ and would like to see him remain at the school, but we can’t ignore his behavioral issues.”
I nodded and Anna Cooper stood up. She walked me back to the lobby where MJ was waiting. As soon as he spotted us, he put his phone away and stood up. MJ raised his eyebrows but didn’t speak.
“We’ll talk in the car,” I said, and he followed me out of the building.
We walked through the school parking lot in silence. MJ waited until I drove out of the school parking lot and onto the main road before he spoke. “Are you mad at me?”
“No,” I said. His behavior was unacceptable, especially at school, but he had every right to feel angry, including with me. “I’m just sorry we’re in this situation.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Actually, it is. Partially. I’m the reason Tim and Richard didn’t tell you.”
“You knew?” he asked, his voice rising.
“I found out Saturday. The only reason they didn’t tell you was because they were hoping you and Sofia could move back in with me. Thank you for not telling them about my suicide attempt, by the way.”
He shrugged. “I thought it was a secret.”
“It was, but not anymore. I explained the situation to them and told them I had to talk to my aunt. I’m one hundred percent sure that’s why they didn’t tell you themselves—they were waiting for me to get back to them. So, if you’re going to be angry at someone, the person you should be angry with is me.”
