I didn’t see anyone complaining about the missing fruit.
Chapter 15
Saige
My heart was racing when I sat down at my desk. I couldn’t believe I had just said all that to him. I didn’t know where the nerve came from. He’d just pushed me too far. Seeing the way he treated Hal was the breaking point. We were all busting our asses a little harder because he was pushing out staff. He didn’t have to pick up the slack. The rest of us did.
We were all working harder and longer to make up for being short staffed. I had ads out on the job boards, but this was not the time to be shuffling CPAs. He wouldn’t know that. He was in his posh little office doing whatever it was he did. He was worse than the Grinch. He was every villain I had ever seen in Jace’s cartoons.
My phone rang, interrupting my nasty thoughts about my new boss. I really wanted him to go away. “This is Saige,” I answered.
“Miss Conway?”
“This is she.”
“This is Mrs. Link at the school,” she said.
Everything stopped. It was the call no mom wanted to get.
“Yes?” I breathed. I was already on my feet. I just knew I had to get to him.
“We have a minor problem,” she said.
That meant it was a big problem. “What kind of problem?” I asked. I was hoping she would tell me he was sick. I could deal with sick.
“He was involved in a fight.”
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“He is fine, but it would be best if you could pick him up.”
“I’m on my way,” I said and hung up the phone. I grabbed my purse and headed for the door.
Jody stopped me just before I made it to the door. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“I have to pick up Jace. Can you make sure everyone stays on task? We can’t afford to slip up. We have eyes on us, and one mistake can land us in hot water.”
She scoffed. “With the boss.”
“Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow. I have to go.”
“I understand,” she said. “I hope everything is okay.”
“Thanks,” I said and rushed out the door.
I made it to the school in record time. I was probably going to have a nice stack of tickets mailed to me. I didn’t care. All I could think about was getting to my baby. I was envisioning him with a black eye and swollen lip. I was certain he was the victim, and I was going to make heads roll. There were going to be some parents being held responsible.
“Hi, hello,” I said and slapped my hand on the front desk. “I’m Saige Conway, Jace Conway’s mom.”
“Oh, you’re here to see Principal Friend,” she said.
“Yes.”
“Have a seat,” she said.
“Uh, excuse me, I’d like to see my son. Now.”
“He’s in the nurse’s office,” she said with a tight smile.
My stomach dropped. “Then I’ll be going to see him now.”
“Saige,” Principal Friend called my name. “Come in please.”
“I’d like to see Jace,” I said.
He smiled. “Jace is fine. I’d like to talk without him.”
It was crazy that I still felt like I had to listen to the principal. I was a grown woman, and I was still intimidated by the principal. “Fine,” I muttered and followed him into the office.
“Have a seat,” he said, and I did it because I was a good little girl.
“What happened? Is he okay?”
“Jace is fine. Thankfully, eight-year-olds don’t pack much of a punch.”
My eyes widened. “He was punched?”
He slowly nodded. “Once, but I promise you, he only went to the nurse’s office because I didn’t want to send him back to class. He was understandably upset.”
“Jace was punched?” I repeated. “Why and by who?”
“We’re handling the discipline,” he said.
“Good to know, but is it effective?”
“We’ll monitor the situation closely,” he said.
“What happened?” I asked again.
“Jace has been having some trouble with some of the boys.”
“He’s been bullied,” I clarified.
“Yes, he has, and I promise you we are handling it.”
I had to bite my tongue. “Please tell me exactly how you are doing that because I’ve been talking to Jace. This isn’t a first. This has been a problem for months.”
“It is being handled,” he said again.
It was the classic non-answer. They weren’t going to tell me who, but I would find out. They got one chance to fix it, and when they failed again, I would be handling things.
“Fine, I’d like to see Jace.”
“I’m excusing him for the rest of the day,” he said.
“Thanks,” I muttered. “What about the kid that hit him? Will he be here tomorrow?”
He slowly nodded. “Yes.”
My eyes narrowed. “And my son is going to be safe?”
“Absolutely. We’ll keep a very close eye on things. Now that we know there is an issue, we are going to watch the boys.”
“I appreciate that,” I said. “I’ll be in touch.”
It was supposed to sound like a threat. I hoped it landed. I did not like the idea of sending my baby into a dangerous environment. I wasn’t going to be there to protect him. It was going to be extremely difficult to send him off to school.
I made my way to the nurse’s office and found Jace sitting in a chair and reading a book. His legs were swinging back and forth. “Jace,” I said his name. I dropped to my knees in front of him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
I touched his cheek. There was a hint of redness, but it didn’t look too bad. “Does it hurt?”
“No.”
He flinched, telling me it did hurt. “Let’s go.”
“Am I in trouble?” he asked.
“No. Not at all.”
He got off the chair and followed me out of the school. “Why don’t we go get some lunch?” I said in a cheery voice. “We can get milkshakes and chicken nuggets.”
“I’m not hungry. I just want to go home.”
“Are you sure? How about some ice cream?”
“No, Mom!” he shouted. “I just want to go home.”
I didn’t blame the kid. When I was having a shitty day, I wanted to go home and hide from the world. “Okay, all right,” I said. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“No,” he muttered and stared out the window.
I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel. I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. I knew I was in a tenuous situation. This was one of those moments that he was not going to forget. I had to choose my words carefully. I didn’t want to encourage him to fight back, but I sure as hell didn’t want him to lie down and get his ass kicked.
When we got home, I knew I had to say something. I couldn’t say nothing at all. “I’ll make you a sandwich,” I told him. “Go ahead and sit down.”