Lee “Scarecrow” Stetson
After Mrs. Dennis gave her the backpack, Amanda landed hard in the Corvette’s passenger seat. Her hands were twisting together. “We have problems.”
“Do we ever,” agreed Lee. “What happened?”
She gave him a brief recap. “Mrs. Dennis doesn’t think it’s the first time Jamie’s been in a fight, either —”
“It wasn’t.”
“— she just thinks it’s the first time it happened on school grounds or where an adult…wait. How do you know it wasn’t the first time he’d been in a fight?”
“Don’t you remember that black eye a couple weeks ago?”
She shook her head. “Neither he nor Tad ever changed their story.”
“So they lied to stay out of trouble. I’d hoped it was a one-time thing. Most kids get into a fight at least once in their lives. Even the quiet ones like Jamie.”
“Yeah. I guess so.” Out of the corner of his eye, Lee could see her turn her face away to look out the window. “She thinks Jamie’s acting out about all the changes the past couple months, and that it’s been developing slowly ever since…well, she thinks it started when Joe came back into town, actually. It’s just kept on building since then. She also thinks he can’t talk to me about because I’m just going to tell him that he has to accept all these changes.” Her voice had begun to shake again.
“She’s not wrong.”
She was still staring out the passenger window.
“But that’s not news,” he continued, “and it’s not what’s really upsetting you.”
“What do you mean, it’s not what’s upsetting me?”
“Amanda.”
“It’s upsetting to get called into the school because my son was fighting!”
“Amanda. Repeating questions back to me?”
At that, she shook her head, lapsing into an uncharacteristic silence. She kept her face turned away from him, answering him in monosyllables when he tried to re-start the conversation. Her shoulders were shaking, and he thought he heard a sniff a couple of times. Unfortunately, traffic had picked up for rush hour which kept him from pursuing it the way he otherwise might have done.
Despite her obvious feelings, she accepted his assistance getting out of the car after he’d parked in a visitor space near Joe and Carrie’s townhouse, and even took his hand as they walked up the sidewalk.
Lee perused her profile. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her face appeared flushed under her makeup. He’d bet it was also blotchy. Something had hit the mark, although he wasn’t sure if it was the situation or the question she’d refused to answer.
He felt his own temper rising. He’d been trying to let Amanda deal with things in her own time, but it wasn’t working, especially if he also considered the questions he’d gotten from a number of people around the Agency. Although he dreaded doing it, he was going to have to confront her, and soon. Unfortunately, there wouldn’t be time in the next few minutes. He made a mental note not to forget about doing it later.
As they entered the living room, Amanda caught his elbow. “Thank you for backing down earlier,” she murmured, as if she’d read his thoughts. “But don’t do it now. Joe was right: you’re my husband and Carrie is his wife. Jamie needs to respect that. We’ll work on the ‘accepting’ and ‘liking’ parts later if we have to.”
He sighed, releasing as many of his own churning feelings as he could. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.”
“Joe and I will do the talking. The important part is that he sees you and Carrie with us when we do.” She sat down on a love seat, indicating he should take the place right next to her. Around them, the other family members had also settled into seats.
“All right,” began Amanda. “Why don’t we start with you, Jamie?”
“I told you. Bobby Boyd got in my face and wouldn’t stop when I told him to.”
“That’s right,” acknowledged Joe. “You did tell us that. You also said he was saying things that upset you. Why don’t you tell us what they were?”
His eyes dropped to the toes of his sneakers. “Just stuff.”
An awkward silence followed.
“Jamie,” said Amanda finally, “we can’t decide what we’re going to do next unless you tell us why you’ve been fighting in the first place.” Lee felt her hand slide back into his. “We know this wasn’t the first time. It was only the first time on school grounds.”
Joe shot them both a look, but Lee shook his head. His eyes narrowed, but he kept his voice even as he picked up the thread of conversation with his son. “Mrs. Dennis told us that this Bobby Boyd character is really good at pushing people’s buttons, too. But I’ll bet that every time someone pushes back, he goes running to a teacher acting like he’s the victim. Am I right?”
“Yeah. Like I said. He’s a jerkface.”
“That doesn’t excuse starting a fight,” his father replied. “You still haven’t told anyone what he was saying to you. Just so you know, Bobby hasn’t yet, either. We also,” and his voice became firmer, “need to know exactly how long all this has been going on.”
“A while. Ever since —” Jamie broke off, looking around wildly. “Why can’t I just talk to you and Mom, Dad? Why do they have to be here, too?”
“Because they need to know what’s going on. Besides, Carrie lives here. She has a right to a say in what goes on in this house, just like Lee has a right to say what goes on over at your mother’s and his house.”
“What house? We’re still staying at his apartment!”
“Jamie,” warned Amanda, but Lee felt himself stiffening. The kid had a valid point.
Now, though, Jamie flopped back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. His face flamed in what Lee suddenly realized was embarrassment.
“We’re getting off track,” said Amanda firmly. “What did Bobby say to you?”
Jamie shook his head. “Nuh-uh.”
The words came to Lee in a flash. “Look, sport, if they don’t know what the fight was about, your mom and dad will have to assume it was something stupid. But if there was a good reason for it, and you tell them what it is, that could mean they’ll go easier on you.” He paused. “Is your right to silence really worth the maximum sentence?”
The boy responded with a truly venomous scowl, even as Amanda squeezed her husband’s hand gently in thanks. “Lee’s right, honey. If you were defending yourself or someone else —”
“I was!” he burst out. Then he closed his eyes, shaking his head.
“Who?” asked Joe. “And from whom?”
He clamped his mouth shut again.
Carrie looked at Joe, waiting for his nod before she started speaking. “Amanda, you said this isn’t the first fight he’s gotten into lately. Do you know if Bobby Boyd is the only one Jamie’s been fighting with, or have there been others?”
“Others,” she answered immediately, and Lee dropped his shoulders in relief. Hers, though, had become more rigid. “I don’t think Bobby’s been at the Carlisles’ house in the afternoon, which is the only other place Jamie should have been going.” She lightly emphasized the word should.
Jamie mumbled something toward the floor.
“What was that?” asked Joe.
He gave an exaggerated sigh. “I said Bobby’s the one who started it.”
“But is he the only one who’s been after you?” his father continued.
Jamie shook his head.
“Who else?” asked Amanda.
“Katie.”
“Tad Carlisle’s younger sister? Isn’t she only in fourth or fifth grade?”
“Sixth. But she’s only ten. She got moved up a grade last year.”
“What does she have to do with any of this?”
“She’s…” he trailed off. “She’s sweet on Bobby, since he’s about the only one who’ll even talk to her since she got made teachers’ pet. So everything he says, she repeats, and she’s good at making up little rhymes and stuff.”
“Let me guess. She came up with something, and it started going around. Which eventually included Tad, who repeated it to you.”
He slumped even further down in his chair. “Yeah. And since it’s Katie, Tad doesn’t like it when I tell her to shut up. He clobbered me somethin’ good after I got mad enough to tell her it took one to know one, and I wasn’t about to take that, so I hit him back. He finally admitted she doesn’t know what the word means and was just bein’ stupid, but he also told her not to say it again.”
“What word?”
Jamie sighed again. “Whore.”
Joe’s eyes opened wide. “What?”
“Whore,” repeated Jamie. His expression had segued from angry to miserable. “I had to look it up, but that’s what Bobby called Mom. And Katie, she —” he choked up a bit. “I’m not gonna say that one out loud, okay? Bobby started singing it to everyone, and when I said it wasn’t true, he said Mom must be a really good one to catch someone who drives a car like Lee’s.” His eyes met Lee’s own. “Then when you drove me in this morning, he started in again and…well, you know.”
Lee felt his face flush. “That little —” Amanda squeezed his hand hard enough to hurt. “I’d have hit the punk too!”
“No,” said Joe. “You wouldn’t have, because you know when someone’s just trying to trick you into starting something.” His eyes flashed a warning, communicating the intent behind his statement. “Thank you for telling us what Bobby said. It does change things. A lot.”
Lee took several sharp breaths before nodding his agreement, reminding himself that it wasn’t about what he himself would or wouldn’t have done. The point was that Jamie shouldn’t have started the fight.
“That changes things? Really?” Jamie’s voice went up. “I did the right thing?”
Now Joe’s gaze went to Amanda. After all, she was the one who had been insulted.
“No,” she told him. “You should’ve gone to a teacher and asked them to call in both Bobby’s parents and us. And if that didn’t work, you should’ve told one of us directly. But you’re right that it’s not okay for him to have said that, and I’m going to call the school tomorrow to talk about it. I won’t make you go for the rest of the week or even next week since it’s a short one for Thanksgiving anyway. But you’re going back after that, and you’ll do your in-school suspension then. I’ll also need to cut your allowance in half for…oh, the rest of the year, I think, to help pay for your glasses.”
“No,” said Joe. “I’ll cover that. In-school suspension’s enough.”
“Actions have consequences, Joe. I’m cutting his allowance.”
“That’s not fair!” Jamie jumped to his feet. “Dad already told you in-school suspension’s enough! Why do you always gotta be so mean?”
“Do not use that tone with me, James Richard King. Until the end of December, and I’d better not hear about another fight, or it’ll be longer. Have I made myself clear?”
“Amanda.” Carrie’s tone was hesitant. “It’s your decision, but…but isn’t that a bit harsh? Especially since you told Jamie what to do if something happens again?”
“Oh, for God’s sake!” Now she was the one who jumped to her feet, not noticing the shocked looks that followed her use of the epithet. “I raised that child almost by myself for years before any of you were in the picture. Any of you! And now you’re going to try and step in? Now you’re going to second-guess me? What gives you the right to any opinion at all? You should have been here earlier if you wanted that. Jamie’s my child, do you hear me? The only one I have left, and I will handle him my way! I don’t need any of your — your —” she began to sputter as tears rolled down her face. “I’m cutting his allowance, damn it. I am.”
Jamie, visibly quaking, sat back down. “I’m, ah, I’m sorry, Mom. I — there won’t be any more fights. I promise. And you can take my whole allowance if you want.”
“No,” said Joe gently. “She won’t. Amanda, why don’t we have something to eat and talk about it later?”
“No!” she cried. “I don’t want to eat. I don’t want to calm down. I want — I just want — oh, dear God, I just want —”
“Amanda,” said Lee as he, too, got to his feet. “Let’s just go home. We’ll come back tomorrow night, after you’ve had a chance to talk to the school again.”
She shook her head but offered no resistance as he pulled her against him, instead beginning to ramble. “It’s only six weeks or so until the end of the year and less than that until Christmas and I haven’t had the time or the energy to decorate or even do any shopping and it’s not going to be right anyway because Mother and Phillip aren’t here and I can’t believe I didn’t know what was going on with my own son and it’s just that…that…” her crying became too hard for her to continue.
“Shh,” he said, stroking her hair. “All of us are tired and upset. Look, Jamie can stay here tonight, can’t he?”
All three of them — Joe, Carrie, and Jamie — nodded.
“And Joe can call the school in the morning, if you’re not feeling up to it.”
There were more nods.
“That’ll give you a chance for some really good rest,” concluded Lee. “Come on. We’re going home now, but it’s just for tonight. Just for tonight,” he repeated, wanting his meaning clear before she started to argue. “We’ll pick this back up after you’ve gotten a chance for some sleep.”
She mutely accepted her purse when Carrie handed it to her, and listlessly let him tug her out the door. At least he wasn’t going to have to confront her to find out what was really upsetting her. He already knew.