A week later Carly tapped on Tori’s office door. “Sorry to bother you, Miss Sandoval. We have a situation that needs your attention. Marcus was involved in a fight, and Mr. Esquival sent both students to see you, but only Marcus came in. I’ve bandaged his wound.”
Steve saw a glint of worry in the secretary’s panicked expression. “You okay, Miss Westbrook?”
She nodded.
“Would you like me to take care of it?” Steve offered, hoping to put out the fire Fred was trying to light under Tori’s career. “Mr. Esquival didn’t bring both students down?”
“I haven’t seen Mr. Esquival, only Marcus.”
Tori began clearing the table and looked at the young man through the window on the door. “I think we’d better handle this together. Did you see the other student?” She moved her notes to her desk.
“I saw someone run out the main doors to his car and speed off. I assume it was the other student involved, but I’m not sure,” Carly said with a shrug.
“Does Marcus need further medical attention, Miss Westbrook?”
“I believe so. The bleeding is under control as long as he keeps pressure on it, but the one gash is pretty deep. I sent the office assistant to the coach’s office for an ice bag.”
“Call his parents. See if one of them can get here to take him to the clinic. If not, we’ll have to call an ambulance,” Tori instructed. She moved from the table to her desk. “Go ahead, Steve. I’ll take notes.”
“Should I send him in now?”
“Yes, please,” Steve said, moving one of the chairs across from Tori’s desk.
As the boy made his way past Carly Westbrook, she reminded Marcus to keep applying pressure to his cut. “I’ll get you some clean gauze. Which parent should I call?”
“Oh, man, you don’t have to call them, do you?” He slammed a fist against the door.
Steve stepped closer to the young man. “Drop the temper, Marcus. It’s only going to make matters worse. According to the law, we have to inform parents if their child is injured or involved in a fight. You may need stitches. Miss Westbrook, call both parents. Let them decide who can come.”
“They’ll ground me for a month, and it’s gonna be your fault,” he said, looking at Tori.
“Your choices brought you in here today, Marcus, not me. Why don’t we sit down and talk? Miss Westbrook, would you see if Mr. Esquival can join us please? I believe Ms. Chavez has planning this hour. See if she can cover his class.”
After Steve had asked a couple of questions, he determined that Marcus probably wouldn’t have been cut if Mr. Esquival had followed proper procedures.
“Were there others involved in this argument besides you and Miguel?” Tori interrupted.
“No, it’s a family matter between him and me.”
Mr. Esquival entered the office and Tori took a deep breath. Steve wanted to handle this matter, and it looked like it was killing her to remain silent.
Steve jumped right in before Tori had a chance. “Mr. Esquival, were you aware that Miguel had a knife?”
Fred looked horrified. “No. It was just a fistfight.”
“Was there any specific reason you didn’t escort them both to the office?” Steve said calmly, giving Fred plenty of clues that he’d better have a very good reason for not doing so.
“Class was just starting, and I was concerned that the whole class would get riled up.”
“I see. Did they?”
“No, because I was there to take control.”
“So there are no further issues we need to deal with immediately?”
Fred shook his head.
“Can you confirm for us who the other student involved was? He never made it to the office.”
Fred named the same student that Marcus had. “Please go back to class, Mr. Esquival, and we’ll speak with you again during your planning hour. We need to finish talking to Marcus before his mother arrives to take him for medical attention.”
Without a word, Fred left. Tori jotted notes on her electronic organizer while Steve asked more questions. “Marcus, what started the argument?”
The kid looked at the floor, ignoring their question. “None of your business.”
“You made it our business the minute you two started fighting on school grounds. Who started the fight?” Again, silence. After several more attempts to get answers, Steve informed him that he would be suspended from school, and they would let him know the duration after they talked with Miguel.
“I started it,” he said, puffing his scrawny chest out. “I warned him to stay away from my sister.”
“Did he hurt your sister?”
“Not yet, but he’s a two-timing waste of—”
“I get the idea, Marcus,” Steve said before the kid had the chance to finish the insult. From there on Marcus answered his questions without hesitation. The discussion with Marcus’s mother went well, and they scheduled another appointment for later in the week to set up disciplinary action.
After they left, Steve looked to Tori and shrugged. “How’d I do?”
“Great,” she said, offering a couple of suggestions. “Unfortunately, this problem is far from settled. We have Miguel to find, Fred to reprimand and a young girl to counsel before Marcus’s fears become reality.” Tori jotted more notes, then lifted her head. Worry lines replaced the smooth skin of her forehead and he wished he could erase them for her.
“I’ll call Miguel’s parents, ask if they’ve seen him since the incident. Since that probably won’t get us very far, I think we should call in the sheriff. Let them find him. With this snowstorm rolling in, I don’t want any of us out on the roads. Aunt Elaine says we already have six inches at the ranch. And since Miguel had a knife, it’s an automatic expulsion, anyway.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Authoritative, decisive and up on the law. Very impressive.”
He stood, trying to keep his mind off how he’d like to thank her for the compliment. He tipped his head, and she smiled. “I’ll call the police,” Steve said. “Do you want to be there when I talk to Fred?”
The smile disappeared. “Not especially, but this is a serious enough issue that I need to handle the discussion. It has nothing to do with your capabilities, understand. I can’t avoid a letter in his file for this one. Three strikes.”
“You mean you’re going to fire him?”
She shook her head and looked out the window. “That depends on Fred. If this insubordination continues, that’s a definite possibility.”
Steve had been ready to leave, but closed the door again and picked up the phone. “Let me call the sheriff real quick, then let’s talk.” He looked at his watch as he waited for the dispatcher to transfer his call to Luis. “Why don’t we eat in here? Fred’s planning hour is right after lunch.” Sheriff Martinez came on the line and Steve explained the incident.
While he discussed the situation with Luis, Tori went to Carly’s desk and called her grandparents to see how they were doing, not surprised that things were running smoothly there. She apologized that she wouldn’t be able to come by after the lunch hour. Then she called the café and ordered four daily specials, requesting that they be delivered to the main office at the school.
“Miss Westbrook, Mr. Remington and I are going to be discussing this morning’s incident over lunch, and barring another emergency, we…”
Carly pressed her lips together, trying not to smile. “I’ll take messages for you.”
“It’s a business meeting.”
“Surely I’m not the only one who thinks you would make a cute couple.”
Tori looked in the teacher lounge and out in the hall. “I would not know about that. There is nothing personal between us,” she said, noting the disappointment on Carly’s face. “And won’t be while we’re working in the same school. Professionally, it would be suicide.”
Carly shrugged, a smile sneaking back into her expression. “Doesn’t seem to matter to the staff. I hear that Daria’s even backed off of Steve. Apparently she’s been chasing him since he started teaching here last year.”
Tori tried to contain her surprise. “I’m not accustomed to choosing dates by popular vote, but thanks, anyway.”
“You don’t have a date for Homecoming, do you?”
“I hadn’t planned on one, either. How did we end up with Homecoming in November, anyway?”
“They postponed it, hoping Dr. Waterman would be better.” She pulled out her notebook. “You do know that the staff helps the parents’committee serve the dinner, don’t you?”
“No, that’s new, isn’t it? In my time couples went into a restaurant in town before the party.”
She nodded. “Yeah, but parents felt this would cut down on accidents and well, accidents. Fund-raising covers a steak dinner in the cafeteria. I’m in charge of staff assignments. You’ll help, won’t you?”
“Sure. How’d you get the job if it’s organized by the parents?”
Carly smiled. “I’m the staff liaison.”
“Luis will call us when he’s contacted Miguel,” Steve said as he walked out of her office. “Want me to go get us a couple of plates before the bell rings?”
The delivery person from the café drove up to the school. “No thanks. Lunch is here.” Tori rushed outside before the delivery girl got out of her car. Steve followed, holding the door open for her. Tori took two containers and asked that she deliver the other two dinners to the white house across the street, handing her an additional tip.
“I thought we agreed it’s Dutch from here on,” Steve said once Tori stepped back inside and stomped the snow from her dress boots. She’d obviously heard the weather report, as she was wearing a long black wool skirt and a Native American-motif wool blazer over a cashmere turtleneck.
“It is, and you owe me four dollars.” She walked into the office, turning her head in his direction. “Could you get me a can of tea from the refrigerator in the teacher’s lounge?” While he was gone, Tori had made room for their meals, moving the piles of files and papers to the floor behind her desk.
Steve looked at the desk, then at the round table just a few feet away. “Why don’t we sit over there?”
“Because that looks ‘cozy’and this looks ‘business’ and maybe, just maybe, it will help us keep it that way.”
Steve took a seat across the desk from her, disappointed that she’d drawn a definite line between them. “We don’t have much time, so what are you thinking in regard to Fred’s actions?”
“I’m thinking I should have written this letter after the teacher meeting. And I wish I could find out if Jerry had problems with him. If he did, there’s no evidence of it in his file, but Brody alluded to the fact during our initial meeting for the job. There has to be record of it somewhere.”
“You think Jerry’s too soft?”
She looked up from her green-chile-topped tamales and nodded. “But that’s not the issue now. If we let this slide, Fred’s not going to ever take me seriously. And the other teachers won’t, either.” She set her fork down and spun the chair around, looking across the parking lot to her grandparents’ house. “I finally felt as if I’d gained the teachers’ trust. If I fire Fred, they’ll think I’m a ruthless dictator. Do you think it’s too soft to put him on principal-directed goals?”
Steve hesitated, then took another bite to think a little longer. “I think so. You can’t forget that his dereliction of duty could cost the district if Marcus’s parents sue. You have to take a firm approach, Tori. Everyone is watching to see how you handle him. After the incident at the teacher meeting, he’s lost a lot of respect from his peers. And I’m not sure if you’re aware that yesterday morning, he told your story in the teacher lounge.”
She closed her eyes. “I can’t believe he’s doing this.”
“You sure you didn’t slit the tires on his car or something more than tell him you didn’t want his lousy A?” Steve smiled.
“Nothing. It’s almost like he’s trying to get me fired. And right now I’m so on edge, I don’t even care if it’s him or me.”
Tori heard Carly telling someone that Tori was in a meeting. Seconds later Fred Esquival barged into the office. “I should’ve figured. Cozy lunch, trying to plot how to get rid of the old man again. Let’s get this over with so I can see my lawyer.”
Tori stood. Noticing the wide-eyed teachers peeking around the corner from the teachers’ lounge, she walked over and closed the door. “If that’s your attitude, Fred, maybe it’s best we reschedule this meeting until you’ve had time to calm down and bring a representative with you. Save us all some time.” She sat on the corner of her desk.
“One mistake and you’re canning me?” He ranted on as if he really thought tenure could protect him from losing his job over a lawsuit.
Tori waited several minutes to see if he was ready to listen, then lowered her voice. “No one wants to fire you, Fred,” she said with a quiet emphasis on the word want, though he probably didn’t notice anything with the steam he was blowing out his ears.
“Today’s incident isn’t the first since I’ve arrived on the job, but it was a serious mistake that legally I can’t overlook. Escorting students involved in any kind of conflict to the office is not a new policy. It’s been common practice since I attended here. So maybe you’d like to explain again why you didn’t follow policy?”
“I felt it was more important to keep my class under control,” Fred yelled, his voice cracking. “I told you, there’s no respect in this building. Kids think they run the place.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Some juvenile delinquent sets off the fire alarm and you did nothing, just like you used to mouth off sixteen years ago, and no one did anything to put you in your place.”
Tori froze and Steve stepped between them. “You’re way out of line, Fred.”
Fred picked up the small statue of the school mascot from the shelf behind him, stepped aside and pitched it at Tori. She ducked, and it knocked the shade from the hinges and broke the glass insert on the oak door between Tori’s office and the main office.
Tori stepped behind the desk. “This meeting is over, Mr. Esquival. I think you’d best take a few days of personal leave to think about your future as a teacher.”
“I’m not taking any personal leave. You want me out of here, fire me!”
Tori sent him a calculated warning. “I will be contacting the school board, and I think it would be wise for you to contact your teachers’association representative.”
She watched Steve escort Fred out of the building, then took a deep breath. Tori opened her file drawer and pulled out the substitute teacher list. She had no sooner picked up the phone to start making phone calls than several teachers filed into her office.
“Are you okay?” Angelia Casale offered Tori an unopened can of pop. “Need something to drink?”
Tori smiled, but shook her head. “Thanks.”
“I have last hour free. I’ll cover his class,” Jason Hunt offered. “And if you have trouble replacing him, I’ll volunteer to give up my planning hour to teach his American history classes. That was my minor, so I’m already certified.”
She thought Jason had been a cohort of Fred’s. “Thanks, Mr. Hunt, but he hasn’t been fired yet.”
“What do we need to do to make it final?” Daria asked, crossing her arms across her plush bosom. “I’ve taught next to him for twelve years, and I can vouch for the fact that it’s long past time someone get him out of here. He’s cancer to this school’s future.”
“You have our full support,” Jason added.
“Thank you,” Tori said, fighting tears. The bell rang.
Angelia gave Tori a hug. “Let us know what we can do, seriously.” The teachers turned and headed back to class.
Tori looked at the calendar. It was Thursday, and Monday was an all-day teachers’workshop. If the staff could cover Fred’s classes today, find a substitute for tomorrow, hopefully the board would have a decision in time to locate a permanent sub for the remainder of the year.
“Miss Sandoval?” Carly peeked around the corner. “Steve, um, Mr. Remington said he’d be back after his class. Would you like me to call the custodian to replace the window?”
Tori smiled. “Yes, thank you, Miss Westbrook.” She started picking up the larger pieces of glass when the phone rang.
“It’s Brody Remington for you, Miss Sandoval.”
Tori stood and dropped the pieces into the trash can. “News travels fast. I’ll take it in my office. Would you see if the janitor is available to finish picking up the glass?”
“Hello, this is Tori.”
“I warned Steve that you were a heartbreaker. Guess I should have made it a public announcement, huh?” Brody had the nerve to laugh. “Guess we’d better get our ducks in a row, hadn’t we?”
Tori turned her back to the mess, hoping the snowflakes drifting to the ground would soothe her nerves.
“I’m sorry, Brody. I didn’t see this coming. I thought he was just pushing to see how far I’d bend. I didn’t know he had it in for me. For the record, which version have you heard, Steve’s or Fred’s?”
“Neither. Your secretary called me in a panic as the mountain lion hit the window. Anyone hurt?”
“Physically, no.” She rubbed her forehead with her hand. “While you’re sitting down, did you hear about the knifing that led up to it?”
“The what?” There was no humor in his voice now.
“Why don’t I finish typing up my notes on the report and I’ll e-mail them to you. We have Sheriff Martinez looking for the student who injured the other kid.”
“The sheriff was called? Why wasn’t I informed earlier?”
“We’ve been a little busy with damage control.”
“Sorry,” he said. “Joking aside, is there anything I can do?”
“Tell me where I can find Fred Esquival’s real file. I have four staff members up in arms to have him fired on the spot, but there’s nothing in his record for at least the past five years. Somehow I don’t believe he could have held his temper for that long.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“No, Brody. There’s no need coming here now. My office is a shambles, there’s no privacy to talk and the teachers are upset. Even Jason Hunt has cut all ties with Fred. He’s volunteered to cover his classes for the remainder of the year. I’m calling a staff meeting after school. What do I tell them?”
“You tell them that the school board will stand behind you. We’ll take immediate action. In the meantime, don’t let anyone touch a thing in the office. I think we’d better file another report with Luis.”