CHAPTER NINETY-TWO
(part six)

They had all but forgotten about the crazy woman when she appeared with another woman at her side.

“This is Nash’s guardian,” Helen said. “Tell her what you said to me.”

The young woman looked embarrassed. She looked at Helen then back at Sandy.

“Go ahead,” Helen said. “Consider it your first interview for the Marlowe school.”

“What’s going on?” Helen’s husband, and Nash’s supervisor, Jerry asked. He put his arm around Helen.

“Nash needs to be in school,” Helen said. “Why didn’t you tell me that he was the boy you took onto your team?”

“Now Helen, I…”

“Didn’t want to upset me,” Helen said at the same moment Jerry completed, “didn’t want to upset you.”

“Well, I’m upset,” Helen said. “Tell Sandy what you told me.”

“I’m Nash’s Spanish teacher? Over at Smiley? And…”

“Tell her,” Helen said.

“That Assistant Principal? This isn’t the first time there’s been trouble with him,” the woman said. “He’s been written up a couple of times. And…”

“The boy who attacked Nash is in jail right now,” Helen said. “He attacked a girl and it’s on tape. Her parents are suing the school. And…”

“I have email memos going back a couple of years about that Assistant Principal. I don’t think the Superintendent knows about all this trouble, including the boy who attacked Nash. I was there on duty guard when that fight happened. Nash was attacked. And the principal? She just thought that if she got rid of Nash and Teddy, she wouldn’t lose her job. But…”

“You should take this to the Superintendent, Sandy,” Helen said. “I’ll go with you. Nash needs to be in school. And this Teddy too.”

“They are really good boys,” Jerry said.

Helen, Jerry and the teacher began talking all at once.

“Stop!” Sandy said. Jill, Heather and Tanesha moved to stand next to Sandy in a united front.

Helen, Jerry and the teacher stopped talking to stare at Sandy.

“You’re saying that you’re willing to say before the Superintendent that the boy attacked Nash,” Sandy pointed to the teacher. “And you’re willing to provide documents that the Assistant Principal was a problem for years.”

“I also have a petition from two years ago where we teachers tried to get him removed,” the teacher said. “I mean, none of us were surprised that he was arrested for child pornography.”

“Ok,” Sandy said. Pointing to Helen, she said, “You’re saying that Nash can go to the Marlowe school next fall. Can Teddy go too?”

“I don’t know this Teddy but…”

“Yes or no,” Sandy said. “Nash isn’t going if Teddy can’t go.”

“I will personally review him and if…”

“Teddy’s a great boy,” Jerry said. “Tough and smart.”

Turning to Jerry, Sandy said, “You. Teddy and Nash love working. Would you take them after school? And this summer? I’m not going to make this happen if they don’t get to keep working. They love having money and they feel really proud of what they do there.”

“I’d have to talk to Jake,” Jerry said.

“About what?” Jacob asked. “Hi Helen.”

“Nash and Teddy working after school. If we start that we may have a lot of kids working after school,” Jerry said. “Some of our families could use the money and…”

“We can make it work,” Jacob said. “Most of our employees are owners now. By law, their kids can work at businesses they own.”

“But…”

“Gentlemen, you work this out on your own time,” Sandy said. Turning to the teacher, she said, “When can you get me the documents?”

“I can email them to you from my iPhone,” the woman said. “I got them ready last night. I knew that Nash knew Mike Roper. I came here tonight hoping to find someone to help. It’s not just Nash and Teddy that suffer. It’s a lot of kids.”

The teacher sat down in a chair and began working on her phone. Helen, Jerry and Jacob began talking about Nash and Teddy.

“Are you okay?” Jill whispered into Sandy’s ear.

“Pissed off,” Sandy whispered back.

“What are you going to do?”

“Make this right,” Sandy said.

“We’ve got your back,” Tanesha said.

“Damn straight,” Heather said.

Sandy nodded.

“Ok, they’re in your email box,” the teacher said.

“Time to kick ass and take names,” Tanesha said.

Sandy nodded.

“Say something,” Jill said.

“From now on, I’m doing things my way.”

Denver Cereal continues next week…