She sighs deeply, as if she has been having a great thought this entire time. “Mr. Ross, I'm so sorry I had to bring you in this way.” She looks at me again, my blood beating at least twice as fast as she catches and holds my gaze. “The truth is that I don’t want to expel Maddie. She’s bright – maybe the smartest kid in this class. And she’s got a toughness to her. But she can’t go around beating kids up, no matter what they say about her family.”
I pause, trying to think of an interjection, something to argue with. But her calm, peaceful energy has reminded me of where I am and the expectations I'm supposed to have for Maddie. Is this what real parenting is?
I lose my words, instead nodding at her as she continues. “I want to help her stay here. But Principal Western is insistent that she be expelled. However, I talked to her about an alternative. It’s a program here at Washington Elementary where she will be placed in a specialized classroom with a behavioral aid supervisor. I will send her homework there and monitor her progress. If she doesn’t cause any issues, then she can return next quarter.”
“Miss Springer, I don—”
She holds out a small hand towards me, “Michelle. It’s Michelle.”
I avoid shaking it. The last thing I want to do is touch her. “Michelle, I don’t think you get it. This wasn’t Maddie’s fault. She was defending her mother’s honor. She had every right to beat the shit out of that kid.”
“Mr. Ross.”
I mock her, holding my hand out to her, “Cal. It’s Cal.”
She rolls her eyes and then stands. She’s had enough of me. “Cal, I get that you think it’s okay that Maddie nearly kill someone. According to her, that’s something she learned from you. But in this school, it’s not okay. And if she were to, I don’t know, get a job, she would be expected to do the same there, in the real world.”
She’s getting snarky. This little tart of a woman with her calm and cool impression is actual one bitter mouth. I stand, towering over her. “Are you saying she isn’t living in the real world?”
“From what she’s told me about her life with you, I would say it’s far from the picture of an ideal home.” I can tell by the way she's slowly moving her jaw that there’s some fear holding her back. She’s got lots to say to me about how I raise my daughter.
But I’m not going to hear any of that. Who is she to judge me? I raise my voice even louder, almost shouting over her, “Lady, you've got no fucking idea what the real world is. You sit here with your perfect folders and your perfect desks and you think you know what it’s like. But you haven’t got a goddamn clue. And by the sounds of it, you don’t like that my daughter may know more about it than you.”
She doesn’t shout. She doesn’t even shy away. Instead, she keeps her voice as even as can be, “That’s fine and well with you, but you don’t have an option. You can either accept my solution or take Maddie out of this school. But I've got a feeling that if you do take her out, there’s not gonna be anyone there to teach her anything other than how to wear a leather jacket and change a bike tire. Am I right?”
I point my nose square in her face as I exclaim, “Fuck you. Fuck this school, too.” I turn on my heel and storm out the door. I hear it slam as my fist connects to the wood.
I’m about halfway down the hallway when I hear her call back at me, “Mr. Ross! Cal!” I turn reluctantly in my place. She's standing in the doorway, her body resting against the wood. Her arms are crossed tightly against her chest. She yells towards me, “I expect to see Maddie here tomorrow morning at 7:30 to pick up her homework and report to Mr. Rosemont’s room. And I expect to see you here in two nights for a follow up conversation about her progress.”
I turn, not giving her the satisfaction of an answer. Instead I walk away, twisting my head on my neck, stretching out the kinks. My hands curl and flex as well as I imagine running back into that classroom, laying her down on that wooden desk, and forcing my cock into her wanting body. She deserves it.
Chapter 4: The Other Side
MICHELLE
No parent has ever spoken to me like that – and I’ve had to deal with some pretty shitty parents. How anyone could think what he did was acceptable is beyond me. My hands are shaking; he has rocked me to my core. I have no idea how I managed to sit down calmly next to him while he screamed at me like that. And the profanities…ugh! At least now I can see where Maddie gets that foul mouth from (along with plenty of other things).