Eight

I climbed the concrete steps to the door of the Elcott School. Adriana stood on the landing at the top, waiting for me.

“You should have gone inside,” I said. “It’s cold.”

“Not alone,” she said.

“Where’s Catherine?”

“One of us has to work.”

“That’s okay. We’re in this together, right?”

“If you say so.”

We entered the school at a staircase. The old-school smell of varnish and paint met us as we climbed stairs worn down by a century of little feet. The hallway to the office sported bright graffiti-like paint and paper decorations. Maria sat on a bench outside the office with a woman sitting next to her. The woman had light brown skin, pearls, and a gray jacket. She stood, stuck out her hand.

“I’m Assistant Principal Marks,” she said.

We all shook. Made introductions. Maria watched.

“Please step into my office.”

We stepped into her office and sat in front of her desk, Maria between Adriana and me. She hadn’t said a word.

“You mentioned an incident,” I said. “Maria seems okay.”

“Are you okay, Maria?” asked Ms. Marks.

“Yes,” said Maria.

Ms. Marks kept looking at Maria as she spoke to us. “Apparently, Maria has been using her social media account to spread pornography.”

“That’s ridiculous!” said Adriana.

“We’ve had several complaints,” said Ms. Marks.

“Yes, we know about this,” I said. “She was life ruined.”

“What?”

“Someone broke into her Facebook account and did this to her.”

“Did this to her?”

“Yes. It’s cyberbullying.”

“According to the other parents, Maria was the one engaged in cyberbullying.”

“We called them and apologized.”

“This is on top of Maria’s other bullying.”

“Other bullying? What other bullying?” I said.

Adriana looked at her hands.

“Maria, what—”

Ms. Marks broke in. “Maria has been sent home with several Think About It Forms.”

“Think About It Forms?”

“Yes. Three TAIFs. The last two were sent home. And Maria called Ms. Rizzo in front of a staff member. I have all the paperwork here.”

I had never seen anything called a Think About It Form, but then again, I wasn’t really her father. Adriana continued to stare into her lap, as if she were the one being disciplined. Maria maintained eye contact with Ms. Marks.

“Mr. Tucker, as one of Maria’s guardians, you should have seen this form.” She handed me a sheet of paper.

“I’m not one of Maria’s guardians,” I said, taking it before she changed her mind.

Maria’s neat penciled handwriting answered questions.

What did you do? Please be specific. Start with I.

I called Gustav fat.

What was wrong with what you did? Who did you hurt? How did you know you hurt them?

I made Gustav cry.

What problem were you trying to solve? Did you want attention? Did you want to be left alone?

I wanted to be left alone.

I looked up at Ms. Marks. “She wanted to be left alone?”

“Yes, she wrote that. But it seemed to me that she copied the answer.”

“Maria, why did you call Gustav fat?”

Maria shrugged. Adriana sat back in her chair, crossed her arms.

“Can we talk without Maria here?” I asked.

“Maria, please go wait on the bench.”

Maria got up, eyes down. She opened the office door, stepped out, and closed it behind her.

“You know she’s been through a lot,” I said.

“We’ve all been through a lot,” said Adriana. “Now this.”

“I recognize the situation, Mr. Tucker.”

“Please just call me Tucker. I hate being called mister.”

“I would rather keep this formal,” said Ms. Marks.

“Fine.”

“Maria is too young for Facebook.”

“We’ve had this conversation in our house,” said Adriana, glaring at me.

“Even Facebook says she’s too young. Their policy is thirteen years and older.”

“She’s precocious,” I said.

“That does not make her thirteen, Mr. Tucker.”

Even with my father’s honorific, she made it sound like I was the one sent to the principal’s office.

“Okay, well, she’s off it now, so let’s move on.”

“Light dawns on Marblehead,” muttered Adriana.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“We need to talk about consequences,” said Ms. Marks. “This is a serious offense.”

“Consequences?” I said. “She didn’t do anything. She’s the victim here.”

“The real victims here, Mr. Tucker, are the children who were exposed to age-inappropriate content. And their parents, some of whom had to explain the pictures.”

“It was just a porch swing.”

Ms. Marks held up her hand, traffic-cop style. “Let’s not get into details.”

“It was not Maria’s fault. Gustav’s brother did it.”

Ms. Marks and Adriana stared at me.

“What?” Adriana said.

“Do you have proof?” asked Ms. Marks.

“No. Not proof as such.”

“Then why would you say that?”

“He’s a twenty-year-old man who lives with his mother and spends his day on the computer.”

“And so this makes him a hacker.”

“He had motive.”

“If you had been reading the TAIFs we sent home, and if you knew about all the times we didn’t fill one out, you’d know that half of Maria’s class has motive.”

“Why?”

“I hate to label, but she is a bully.”

“Chip off the old block,” said Adriana.

“Me?” I said.

“Not you. I mean my brother, Sal.”

That sunk in. Sal was out of the picture, but he’d taught his child well.

“Mr. Tucker, Ms. Rizzo, Maria needs to see there are consequences for her behavior.”

“She … was … tricked,” I said, slowly so it would sink in. “It’s not fair to punish her.”

“We don’t punish.”

“No, you consequence.”

Ms. Marks gave me a cold stare.

“She’s a kid,” I said.

“Yes. You should have thought of that before you allowed her on Facebook.”

“The other kids were on Facebook too.”

“Mr. Tucker, stop. This was Maria’s account. She gave away her password and her classmates were hurt. She is suspended.”

“For how long?” asked Adriana.

“The rest of the week.”

“This is crazy,” I said. “And unjust.”

“And for Maria’s own good,” said Ms. Marks. “This needs to blow over. Next week is school vacation. In ten days, everyone’s emotions will have settled down and she can start over.”

“Start over what?”

“Start over by being nice to her classmates.”

“But what if—”

“Also, she should go back to counseling.”

“Counseling?” I asked. “What counseling?”

“Her grief counseling.”

I turned to Adriana. “Maria was in counseling?”

“Yes,” said Adriana. “Six sessions.”

“Only six?” asked Ms. Marks. “Why only six?”

“That’s all our insurance covered,” said Adriana.

“Insurance,” I said. “You should have come to me if you needed money.”

“We don’t want your charity.”

“It’s not charity! It’s—”

Ms. Marks stood, stuck out her hand. “Good day.”

“But—”

Adriana stood as well. Shook. “Thank you, Ms. Marks.”

“But—”

“Shake her hand, Tucker. We’re going home.”

I shook Ms. Marks’s hand. Did not say thank you.

We gathered up Maria.

“What happened?” asked Maria.

“You’re suspended,” said Adriana.

Maria’s face crumpled for the second time in two days. The tears started. She cried the whole walk back.

Peter was going to pay for this.