Donny reached out and squeezed my hand. I knew he was proud of me, but I was still focused on Mrs. Matsuda. She closed the folder and gave me a thoughtful look. “You say that Mrs. Wilson gave your paper on Catcher in the Rye a D minus?”
I nodded as my face flushed with heat. I felt like I was ratting out Mrs. Wilson.
“May I see that paper?”
I dug through my backpack and fished it out. Mrs. Matsuda took it and began to read. It took her a few minutes because it was about five pages, but at the end she folded it up and set it on top of the manila folder. “Maddie, I must apologize to you. It seems that you have not been afforded the standard that all people in this country have as their right, which is the assumption of innocence until proven otherwise in a court of law, not the court of public opinion. I don’t know if you had anything to do with the death of those two young people, but I’m inclined to believe that you didn’t. It’s clear to me that you have a special and incredible talent, and that talent has brought you a world of hurt and misjudgment. Bullying at this high school—or at any school within my jurisdiction—is intolerable. And anyone who actively ignores—or through inaction promotes—such behavior will be swiftly dealt with.
“It’s clear to me that you’ve been bullied. What isn’t clear is who’s responsible. I’ve heard your claims that Principal Harris knew of the extent of this behavior and did nothing about it, and I’ve already discussed the matter with Miss Langley, but I would like to take tomorrow to interview a few of your other teachers, including Mrs. Wilson. While I’m conducting my investigation, I’d like for you to take the day off from school. I’ll make sure your assignments are delivered to your home tomorrow evening with specific instructions from all your teachers, and I will be reviewing your work along with your teachers to ensure that you are fairly graded.”
I felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Mrs. Matsuda was going to help me. Donny squeezed my hand again and offered me an encouraging smile. He was pleased, too.
Shifting her gaze to Donny, Mrs. Matsuda added, “And I will be suspending Mr. Anderson and Mr. Rossi, and I’ll also give Mr. Guttman a stern warning and two weeks’ detention so that the next time he sees something like that going on, he’ll think twice about not reporting it.
“Additionally, Mr. Fynn, at this time I am not going to grant your request to bring suit against the school, but I will make sure that Maddie is reimbursed for her bicycle. And when she returns to school, her safety and well-being will be given the highest importance.”
Donny nodded and stood up to shake her hand. “Thank you, Mrs. Matsuda. I appreciate your time, and I think your solution is a good one. Please let us know what your investigation turns up.”
And then we were leaving. It took me several minutes to process what Mrs. Matsuda had said. “She’s going to give me money for my bike?”
Donny nodded. “Yeah. I’ll take you to the bike shop tomorrow to pick out a new one, and we’ll keep the receipt to make sure they reimburse you.”
When we got to the car I said, “What’d she mean, you couldn’t sue the school?”
“In this country you have to get permission to sue the government,” Donny explained. “I had to submit a motion to sue through the superintendent.”
“That’s crazy,” I said. “Why would they ever give you permission to sue them?”
Donny grinned. “They almost never do, but they also realize that we could take all this to the press and things could get ugly for them, so they pay attention to stuff like this.”
“The bike store should still be open,” I mentioned, excited by my sudden change of fortune.
“We can’t. We have another appointment with a colleague of mine.”
“Who?”
“You’ll see,” Donny said, and I could tell he wasn’t going to elaborate.
I sat back in my seat, still thinking about my change of luck, which is why I didn’t press him on it. As Donny was backing up the car I happened to catch a glimpse of Mr. Chavez walking through the parking lot. I saw him stop at a pickup and pull out his keys. I blinked. The truck was one of those big, older models, the kind that makes a lot of noise when it’s moving.
A tickle of fear snaked its way through my stomach as I watched Chavez unlock the door and prepare to get in. And then, as if sensing he was being watched, he paused, turned toward Donny’s car, and stared hard at me. I saw his shoulders stiffen along with his expression, and I knew he could see me driving away in my uncle’s BMW. The tickle of fear grew tentacles that inched up my chest and spine, and I pulled my face away from the window, slumping down to hide in my seat.
Donny was too busy trying to dial his phone and drive at the same time to notice me. And I didn’t know what to say to him even if he had been paying attention. I’d already mentioned how mean Mr. Chavez had been toward me to both Donny and Mrs. Matsudo, and I hadn’t actually seen Mr. Chavez in that truck sitting idle outside my house—the same one that I was convinced had tried to follow me around the park. But Chavez scared me. There was something dark about him. Something mean. It wasn’t anything I could point out directly other than what I’d already said to Donny and the superintendent, but I did wonder if he was capable of chasing me into the park after dark. And yet he was a respected teacher. Was I was wrong to suspect him?
Still, I was happy that, for the next few days, I didn’t have to see him.
“Okay, we’ll be there in ten,” Donny said, nudging me in the arm and pulling my attention back to him. “This could be good news.”
“What?”
“Remember I told you I was having someone check something out for me?”
I thought back. “Vaguely.”
“Well, that was my private investigator. He found something that he thinks might help us.”
“What’d he find?”