Despite Rick’s flaws as a parent, the staff at Woodridge Elementary, where William and James attended school, saw him as an involved father. He stood out among the parents of the 900 other students for his willingness to participate.
He volunteered to help teachers with writing workshops and other activities. He came to all the children’s programs from string recitals to Christmas pageants. He attended every school meeting and never missed a summer placement consultation for his boys. He demonstrated the care, concern and love for his sons that educators wanted to see. No one noticed that he was a bit stranger than the average parent.
One spring day in 2001, Charlene spotted Rick McFarland pacing back and forth in his front yard in an obvious state of excitement. He was dressed in navy blue Bermuda shorts, a Henley shirt, a pair of cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. His outfit was comical but his behavior even more so. He bounced around the yard and peered up the street with all the exuberance of a child awaiting Santa’s imminent arrival.
For hours, Charlene made sporadic checks out her window and there was Rick, still keeping vigil. Finally, he was rewarded. Rick’s parents, Mona and Dick, pulled up in front of his home. His outfit and his irrepressible anticipation were all because his parents were coming. How odd.
By the summer of 2001, it was apparent that all was not well at 351 Arcadia. For some time, swim coach Melissa St. John recognized the chaos that swirled around the McFarland boys whenever she saw them with their father. She knew William was intimidated by his dad. She felt Rick pushed his oldest son to excel in areas where William’s only possible response was frustration and failure. But she knew James adored his father, wrapping his arms around him at every opportunity.
One day at swim class, Melissa noticed several small, dark, circular contusions on William’s face. She asked what happened.
He said that his dad wanted to teach him a lesson because he had not been paying attention during his tennis class. So Dad slammed tennis balls at him while making him stand motionless on the court.
Melissa was horrified, but a niggling doubt about the accuracy of the story wiggled in her head—William had lied to her about less important things before. But she looked at the face of the loving and creative boy and she knew what she saw was unusual and not consistent with a fall or with running into something. She said that his dad was wrong to do that and she would call his mother.
William didn’t think it would do any good.
After talking it over with another coach and her supervisor, Melissa decided to report the incident to Child Protective Services (CPS). She hoped to remain nameless but was informed that CPS does not act on the basis of an anonymous report.
Reluctantly, she identified herself and asked if it would be appropriate for her to talk to Mrs. McFarland to make sure that William would not face disciplinary action for speaking to her. CPS told her that it was her decision to make.
Melissa then called Sue McFarland and told her what William had said and informed her about the call to CPS.
Sue doubted William’s story and never saw the marks on his face.
Melissa insisted that she knew what she saw and that the bruises were not fresh.
Sue dropped her initial disbelief and admitted her sense of helplessness to change the situation. She was powerless, she said, to make Rick take his prescription for his obsessive-compulsive disorder and ineffective in overcoming Rick’s objections to getting treatment for their son.
Melissa urged Sue to get help for William right away—once they get to a certain age, she said, you can’t reach them. You have a limited window of time. She also related other problems that had risen with the boys during swim practice and added that Rick knew about all these things but did not seem to care.
Sue was angry that Rick never mentioned any of them to her. She didn’t ask him to do much more than take the children where they needed to go, she said. She could not keep babysitters because they did not like being around Rick and she was afraid to leave him because she worried about possible joint custody, she added.
She had tried counseling, she said, but each one of the professionals gave up when Rick would not take his medicine or follow their therapeutic advice.
The conversation ended on a brighter note. Melissa invited William to attend her art class that fall at First Presbyterian Church.
“I’ll make every effort to have him there.”
Later that day, Rick called Melissa and accused her of causing problems for him with his wife.
Melissa explained that she had a legal and moral obligation to file the report. She then emphasized the need for William to have consistency and focus in his day-to-day life.
That angered Rick even more. Although he did not deny lobbing tennis balls at William, he insisted that she should have reported this to him first.
Melissa told him that he would have to settle the matter with CPS and then she hung up.
The next practice day, William confronted his coach about turning in his dad. Melissa urged William to think about what he would do if the roles were reversed—if he were the adult. After giving it some thought, William agreed that she had done the right thing.
Soon, Rick was up in Melissa’s face, crowding her personal space although he spoke in a soft voice. Threat bubbled below the surface as he questioned her justification for causing him so much grief.
Melissa did not back down. She reiterated her belief that she was obligated to report the situation to the authorities. She added that she wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if it was necessary. Then she turned and walked away.
Melissa was now concerned about her personal safety and asked her staff and select male parents to keep an eye on Mr. McFarland when he was in the pool complex. She also told her assistant coaches to let her know of questionable markings on William’s body in the future.
At the end of the week, William approached his coach again. “I made a mistake about what I said. I just had an accident. I tripped and fell into the sharp place on the tennis ball machine.”
“Did you do that a bunch of times to get all of those bruises?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” was all William could say.
Sue attended swim practice more often and Rick seemed more attentive to his children. Melissa assumed CPS was providing the necessary intervention. It was an assumption she would later regret.