“Principal Greear, Miss Vargovich is here to see you.” The school secretary called through the open door.
“Send her in!” Principal Greear got out from behind his desk to greet his guest. “Kathy,” He welcomed her with hands outstretched. “How are you?”
“Dale! So good to see you again. It’s been what? Two, three years?” She shook his hand, smiling warmly. If he hadn’t been a married man, a few years back he would have dated her. Instead, they maintained a warm friendship, despite what typically brought them together.
“Not since the Jackson case. What brings you here today?” He waved her into the seat across from his desk.
“Gene Thomas. I found him in a parking lot this morning. He’s a student of yours, isn’t he?”
“Yes. A parking lot?”
“Funny, that. He fell asleep right in front of my car. Considering the weather we’ve been having, he’s lucky it’s only a little fatigue along with the residue of a beating keeping him in the hospital. And maybe some finessing on my part.” She grinned conspiratorially. It was a look he hadn’t seen on her face in a long time.
“Beaten?” Dale exhaled heavily, feeling world weary. “I suppose is shouldn’t surprise me. He must have run into a gang and gotten into a fight.”
“I don’t think so. From what little I’ve been able to get him to say, it’s more likely his father did it. What’s more, a judge put in a request for verification a couple of days ago. We’ve been so backlogged it might have gone unanswered for days if I hadn’t got the ball rolling from my end.”
A cold shiver went down Dale’s spine. He’d failed in his duty to one of his students.
At the time, he’d marked it down as simply one of the odd incidents that happens when a principal becomes friends with troubled kids. Gene himself said the story was fiction. It certainly read like it. But now, he wasn’t so sure.
“There’s something I think you should read.” He reached into his drawer and pulled out a file. In it was the story Ben Hammacker wrote. He started to give it to Kathy, then hesitated. If the part about Gene was true, then the part about Mrs. D might also be true.
There was only two days left in the school year. Two measly days. Then he could safely deal with Mrs. D and any other teacher who might have lost her flipping mind. In those two days he would watch over both boys. Surely that would be enough.
“Let me make a copy of this. Then we should get together after you’ve read it and have a little talk.”
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To see what Ben Hammacker wrote, refer to these episodes of Suzie’s House:
Suzie’s House 80: In Comparison
Suzie’s House 83: Heavy Weighs the Crown
Suzie’s House 98: One Handshake Away
Suzie’s House 99: Breaking Point II
Suzie’s House 100: The Reign of Insanity
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