A Sliver of Sun (15 page)

But instead of a desire to laugh, a strange fever filled my insides and worked its way out ‘til my skin tingled hot all over. And as soon as it did, I recognized the feeling. It was the same awful, shameful heat I’d suffered most of the summer—the feeling I’d hoped to never experience again. Only this time it wasn’t on account of what I’d done to Mama or Ginger or Ben, it was on account of what we’d done to Angela.

I
feared it was a bad sign when Mrs. Holloway came back to the room without Angela. But when the bell rang at the end of the day, and Mrs. Holloway asked Ginger and me to stay, I knew we were in big trouble.

She waited patiently while the rest of the kids loaded their backpacks and filed out of the room, then she folded her hands and looked at us calmly. “Sooo …” she said, letting the word drag out far too long. “We need to have a talk about what happened earlier.”

Ginger’s eyes filled with tears, and I knew she wasn’t gonna be much use at all. “Will it take too long?” I asked. “Because we might miss our bus.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve asked your mother to come pick you up. We’ll wait a few minutes until everyone gets here, and then we’ll see if we can get to the bottom of all this.”

Panic rose in my throat. She’d called Mama? What if Ben came instead! I sagged against her desk. “Who else is coming?”

“Angela and her mother.”

“Where is Angela?”

“In the office. She didn’t feel like coming back to class.”

“Mrs. Holloway,” I said, “there’s stuff you need to know about her.”

“I’m sure there’s plenty I need to know, Piper Lee. But it will have to wait until everyone gets here. Now why don’t you girls grab the chairs from the craft table and bring them up here to my desk, please.”

It was probably ten minutes at most, but seemed like an hour before everyone showed up. Mrs. Eversol came first, a small, mousy woman who looked like she’d fall over if you blew too hard. She wore a corduroy jumper and a long sleeved shirt that seemed awful hot for the weather. Angela shuffled in behind, her face closed up and stormy. Seeing her made me feel a pinch less ashamed. After all, she’d brought the whole thing on herself.

Mama showed up a minute later. I could tell she’d come in a hurry on account of the way her hair was pulled back into a pony tail, and she wasn’t wearing lip gloss. She didn’t look happy, but she managed a smile as Mrs. Holloway welcomed her and gestured to the chairs.

“Thank you both so much for coming,” Mrs. Holloway said, once everyone had been introduced. “Experience has taught me that it’s often easier to settle problems if everyone involved gets together at the same time. Hopefully we can find a solution in short order.”

Ginger sat quietly, her hands squeezed in between her knees. But I could hardly stay in my chair as Mrs. Holloway explained our book report assignment, how things were supposed to have worked, and how Angela had thrown a hissy fit in front of everyone. Only she didn’t say
hissy fit
, she said
breakdown
. Then she paused and puffed out a breath. “So, Angela, I know this has been a challenging day for you. But can you please tell your mother and Mrs. Hutchings why you reacted the way you did?”

Angela raised her head and poked a finger toward Ginger. “She lied to me, that’s why. She wrote all the wrong stuff on the book report and made me look like an idiot in front of the whole class. And she did it on purpose.”

“Why was Ginger the one who wrote the report? You girls were supposed to work together on it.”

“Cause I didn’t want to,” Angela mumbled. “But that doesn’t make what she did okay.”

“You’re right,” Mrs. Holloway agreed. “But the fact that you asked someone else to do your work for you isn’t right either.”

“Asked!” Ginger burst out with a force that made everybody jump. “She never asked. She
made
me do it.”

Angela didn’t react, but her mama closed her eyes for a minute like she had a headache and the noise hurt. I figured Angela probably gave her plenty of headaches.

“Tell us more,” Mrs. Holloway said.

Ginger’s breath came short and fast, like a galloping horse. “She told me I
had
to do it. She hit me, and she pinched me really hard. And she said if I didn’t do it she’d flush my head in the toilet.”

Mama jerked back. “What!”

“Angela?” Mrs. Holloway asked. “Did you hit and pinch Ginger?”

Angela looked down at her hands. “I didn’t do it
that
hard,” she said.

Mrs. Eversol briefly touched her knuckles to her forehead before looking over at Mama. “I am so, so sorry,” she said, quietly. “I’m afraid my daughter tends to be a little overbearing when she doesn’t get her way.”

Angela made a little hiccupping sound and glared at her mother. “How come you never take my side?”

“I’m not taking anybody’s side, Angie. I’m just stating a fact.”

Angie?
It wasn’t near as fancy as Angela. It made her sound more like a normal kid.

I could tell Mama had no idea what to say. She turned to Ginger with a helpless look. “That bruise on your arm a couple weeks ago?”

Ginger nodded. “I only said Piper Lee did it ’cause I was scared of what Angela would do if I told.”

Mama reached over and touched my knee. “Oh, honey. You took the blame for it?”

I gripped my chair so I wouldn’t float off it as I swelled with pride. Too bad Ben wasn’t here, after all. Now he’d have to hear about my good deed second hand, and it wouldn’t pack as good a punch. “It’s okay,” I said with as much sincerity as I could muster. “I thought it would help Ginger.”

“I wasn’t aware of any of this,” Mrs. Holloway said. “I’m so sorry.”

“You have twenty children to keep track of,” Mama said. “I don’t see how any of this is your fault.”

“How long has this been going on?” Mrs. Holloway asked.

“Since school started,” Ginger said. “At least, since you assigned us the books to read.”

Silence closed in. Now that the buses had gone, the only sound was the loud ticking of the clock above the door, and scattered giggles drifting in from the playground. Mrs. Holloway twisted the gold ring on her finger. She shook her head. “You know, girls, there are a lot of different types of bullying, and none of them are acceptable. What you did, Angela, was the physical kind. There’s no excuse for that at all. And Ginger, even though I understand why you did what you did, it was hurtful in its own way.”

Ginger looked stricken. “But it was Piper Lee’s idea. She said we needed to teach her a lesson.”

My cheeks flamed as everyone turned my direction. “I only did it ’cause you didn’t want anybody to know.”

Mrs. Holloway leveled her gaze at me. “And what exactly were you trying to accomplish, Piper Lee?”

What
had I been trying to accomplish? Why would she ask such a crazy question when the answer was as plain as Angela’s big nose? “We … we just wanted to teach her a lesson. Make sure she knows you can’t just run over people for no good reason.”

Mama made a little sound in the back of her throat and gave me a disapproving look. “So how do you think you
should
have handled things?”

“Me?” I squeaked. “I dunno, Mama. Ginger was the one getting picked on.”

“Exactly. That’s why even if she was too afraid to speak up, you should have.”

Even though her voice was gentle, I felt like she’d slapped me. I couldn’t believe I’d gone from hero to criminal in thirty seconds. “You think this whole thing was my fault?”

“Of course not,” Mama said. “But whose idea was it to write a false book report?”

Angela perked up, like she’d gotten a toehold and knew it. “She’s also the one who made a mess in my uncle’s store, just so I’d have to clean it up.”

Mama’s eyebrows peaked. “Scuse me?”

I wrapped my feet around the chair legs and tried to think of something to say. I thought for sure she’d tattle on me after it happened. But I hadn’t heard a word. Now I knew why. She was waiting for the perfect time to pounce … and this was it.

“You deserved it,” Ginger said. “Piper only did it ’cause you were being a jerk to us. The same reason she came up with the idea to write the wrong stuff on the book report. She was only trying to help me.”

I smiled, I couldn’t help it. Ginger had never stood up for me before. I wanted to hug her.

Mama still looked totally baffled. “What store are we talking about, and what did you do?” She asked hesitantly, like she wasn’t quite sure she wanted an answer.

“My Uncle Griffon’s lumber store,” Angela said. “She kicked cow poop all over, a whole bag of it.”

“A little itty-bitty bag,” I said. “Besides, thought it was only garden dirt.”

“And you called us Southern hicks,” Ginger added, “and told us there was no popcorn just ’cause you knew we wanted some.”

The adult’s heads swung back and forth like they were watching a ping pong tournament. Finally, Mrs. Holloway cleared her throat to break up our banter. “The school year is still very new. And I’d love for you girls to move forward with a fresh start. Would y’all agree to that?”

We all nodded and mumbled agreement, but none of us sounded too convincing.

“We have a school counselor who’s very good. I’d like you girls to meet with her, first as individuals, and then possibly all together.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Mrs. Eversol said.

Mama nodded. “Yes, it does.”

“Angela,” our teacher continued, “you probably already know this, but I’m going to have to give you a zero on your book report. And also …” she paused and twisted her ring again before raising her eyes to Mrs. Eversol. “I’m sorry, but there’s a zero tolerance bullying policy here at the school, and according to our student handbook, any act of bullying has to result in a school suspension.”

Mrs. Eversol didn’t act a bit surprised. “I understand,” she said. “For how long?” “Two days. And then after that, I’ll arrange the visits with our school counselor.” She paused and looked at each of us. “I hope you’ve learned something from this, and that it doesn’t happen again.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ginger said.

“Yes, ma’am,” I echoed, sounding as remorseful as possible. But inside, I was leaping for joy that Angela was getting kicked out of school. I didn’t think two days was near long enough, but it was better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Mrs. Holloway stood, and the rest of us rose too, like it was the signal we’d been waiting for. But when Mama got half way up she winced and put a hand on her belly.

“Are you feeling all right?” Mrs. Holloway asked.

Mama gave a little laugh. “Oh, I’m dandy. I just get twinges now and then.” She straightened the rest of the way and nodded to Mrs. Eversol. “It was nice to meet you, and I’m sorry for whatever role my girls played in causing trouble.”

Mrs. Eversol gave her a grateful smile. “It was nice to meet you as well.”

It miffed me that she didn’t apologize for Angela. She’d played a lot bigger role in the trouble than we did.

“If you could wait just one more minute,” Mrs. Holloway said to Angela’s mom. “I have a paper I need you to sign.”

“Of course,” she said, and sat back down.

I followed Mama and Ginger out of the classroom and across the parking lot. I felt like skipping, I was so pleased. I gave Ginger a playful nudge in the ribs. “See, I told you it would all work out okay.”

Ginger nodded with a hesitant smile. “Yeah, just so she don’t come back after the two days and beat me up then.”

“Don’t be such a worry wart,” I said.

Mama turned to us with a sharp look. “I don’t wanna hear you girls joking about this. I’m feeling ashamed of both of you right now, especially you Piper Lee.”

I felt like I’d been blindsided. I shook my head, sure I must’ve heard her wrong. “But, why?” I finally managed.

We’d reached the car by then, and Mama made me wait for an answer until we were all inside and headed out of the parking lot. “On account of I thought I raised you better, that’s why,” she said. “I mean, honestly, it took a lot of scheming to come up with the idea of falsifying a book report. And I wanna know more about the lumber store shenanigans, why in the world didn’t Ben say anything to me?”

I swallowed. “I dunno.”

“Well, I definitely intend to ask him as soon as we get home.”

I felt a sinking sensation in my stomach. “Okaaaay,” I said, “but he don’t know about it.”

Mama heaved an exasperated sigh. “How could he not know? You girls were with him, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I admitted quietly. “But it happened right as we were leaving.” I could tell Mama wasn’t one iota convinced, but I didn’t have the heart to argue. How could she not see that this whole thing was Angela’s fault? How could she be
ashamed
of me, after all my efforts to stand up for Ginger?

If Mama didn’t think I’d done right, maybe Ben wouldn’t think so either. Maybe he wouldn’t be proud or thankful at all … maybe he’d be angry.

T
he ride home gave my brain plenty of time to come up with all kinds of crazy, worst case scenarios—all the new reasons Ben would have to be angry with me. I’d kept Ginger’s secret about Angela, I’d convinced her to fake the book report, and I’d gotten us in trouble at school. How could any of that stuff make Ben
like
me? What in the world had I been thinking? By the time we pulled into the driveway, I was a shivery puddle of doubt.

Ben was fiddling around beneath his truck, his long legs sticking out past the piece of plywood he was laying on. I guessed he was changing the oil, from the black and yellow bottles of Pennzoil Supreme scattered around.

I prayed he’d just ignore us, but of course, my prayers were hardly ever answered. As soon as Mama turned the car off and we climbed out, Ben scooted out as well. He sat up on the board and gave all three of us a once over. “Well,” he said, “I see nobody went to jail.”

Mama gave an impatient sigh. “No, but someone
did
get themselves expelled from school for two days.”

Ben’s eyes widened with alarm and then darkened into a stony look that settled right on me.