“Absolutely,” I said and bent down to look at Caitlyn. “Thank you so much for doing that for him. You did the right thing. I know he’s upset right now, but he’ll get over it.”
“The kids were really mean,” Caitlyn said.
“I know.”
“I’m sorry,” Joss said. “It’s just a bad deal.”
“You know what, I’ll take him to school today,” I said. “I think I need to have a talk with him and possibly the teacher.”
“If there is anything I can do,” Joss said. “If you want to take him to talk with someone, I can give you some recommendations.”
“I’ll try to handle this in-house.”
“All right, good luck,” she said and patted my arm. “Caitlyn, let’s go.”
“What about Jace?” she asked.
“I’m going to take him,” I said. “He’ll see you at school.”
She looked sad. “Will you tell him I’m sorry?”
“I will and thank you so much for standing up for him. I am glad he has you as a friend.”
“I’ll talk to you later,” Joss said as she ushered her daughter out the door.
I grabbed my phone. I was going to be late to work. I wasn’t sure if Nash was going to be in the office, but I didn’t want him firing me or assuming I quit when I showed up an hour late. I found his contact info and was hoping the call went to voicemail.
“Hello,” he answered. “Saige?”
“Uh, yes, sorry, I thought it would go to voicemail.”
“I’m in the car,” he said. “What’s up?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m going to be about an hour late.”
“Why?”
I bit my tongue. I couldn’t tell him it was none of his business. He was my boss. “I need to take Jace to school.”
“That takes an hour?” he questioned.
“There’s been an issue. I need to take a few extra minutes to deal with the teacher.”
“He’s getting bullied?” he asked with concern.
“I have to go,” I said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I hung up before he could ask me anything else. I didn’t know what I was doing with him, but I wasn’t going to involve him in Jace’s life any more than necessary. Joss had been right. It wasn’t fair to Jace. I couldn’t drag Nash into this.
“Jace, let’s go. I’m taking you to school.”
He came out of the bathroom. “Is Caitlyn here?”
“No. I’m taking you to school. Your breakfast is on the counter. Eat while I get my stuff together.”
I would talk to him once we were in the car. He couldn’t run away and slam a door then. It was only a little diabolical. I quickly finished getting ready and stuffed my briefcase. “Are you done?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said and tossed his plate in the sink.
Once we were on the way, I made my move. “Jace, can you tell me what happened yesterday?”
“Mom,” he groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I know, but we are going to talk about it. I want to know what happened.”
“They were saying dumb stuff,” he said.
“Like they always do.”
“But it was different,” he said.
“How?”
“Because the other kids were saying it too,” he said.
I squeezed the wheel. I wanted to kick all their little butts. They all needed a serious timeout. I wished I could go to the parents. I would shake them. I wanted to know why they were raising little monsters.
“Why are you mad at Caitlyn?” I asked.
I knew why, but I wanted to hear his side of things. This was not a conversation I wanted to have. I remembered when I was pregnant. I had so many hopes and dreams. I imagined skinned knees and a little boy climbing trees. I envisioned girls calling and his graduation. I never imagined I would be dealing with this kind of thing.
“She pushed one of the kids,” he said. “She told them to leave me alone. Now they all think I’m a girl because my best friend is a girl.”
“Oh Jace, I’m so sorry.”
“They hate me, Mom,” he said.
I almost cried. I could hear the hurt in his voice. “They don’t know you,” I told him. “I know it’s hard to believe it, but they would love you if they knew you.”
“Why won’t they leave me alone?”
“They will eventually,” I said. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it does get better. They will forget why they don’t like you. I promise, this doesn’t last forever.”
“I don’t want to go to school anymore,” he said in the smallest voice I ever heard. It cut right through me.
“Caitlyn is there. She is your best friend. She’s a girl but that doesn’t matter. She stuck up for you because she is your friend. Again, I know it doesn’t seem like it, but that is a good thing.”
“She embarrassed me,” he pouted.
“If she was a boy, would you be mad at her?” I asked him.
“No.”
“Then you should not be mad at her. She was doing the right thing. If someone is picking on her, I would expect you to stick up for her.”
“No one picks on her,” he said.
“But if they did, would you be her friend and tell them to leave her alone?”
“Yes,” he answered without hesitation.
“Then why are you mad at her for doing the same thing?”
He blew out a long breath. “I’m not mad,” he pouted. “I’m embarrassed.”
“And those two things can get messy. You get embarrassed and that makes you mad. Unfortunately, that often makes you mad at the wrong person.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I got mad at Caitlyn.”
“Yes, you did. She’s your best friend. What do you think you should say to Caitlyn?”
“Sorry,” he said in a small voice.
“Yes. You need to tell her you’re sorry.”
“Is she mad at me?”
“I don’t think so. I think she is sad that you were upset. I think she might be a little sad that you were mad at her. Did you say anything mean to her?”
“No. I just got mad.”
That was a relief. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if Caitlyn and Jace had a falling out. It was terrible to put so much pressure on a relationship between children, but if they were at odds, there was no way Joss and I could remain close friends. Our friendship was partly based on the friendship between our children. We spent our off days together because it benefited our kids.
I pulled into the drop-off line and tapped my fingers against the steering wheel. “Do you want me to talk to the teacher?” I asked.
“No.”
“I think it might be a good idea for me to let the teacher know it’s still a problem. I don’t like these kids picking on you. It isn’t nice.”
“I’m okay, Mom,” he said.
He wasn’t okay. That was what was really pissing me off. He was not okay, and it was only getting worse because of a few bad apples. “Jace, I love you. I love you and you are such a strong young man. You are very much a boy. I saw you fishing and doing great at it.”