Conklin’s secretary, Lacy McKnight, had taken a liking to Daniel. She told him he reminded her of her baby brother. Unlike the other delinquents who’d spent time in front of her desk, Daniel found her a pleasant presence in a school full of antagonists. She was powerless to change school policy or suspend detention, but would often sneak him cookies and tell him about the latest escapades of her little brother who was in the Navy and stationed in Italy. That someone was standing in his corner made the trip to Conklin’s easier to bear. Ms. McKnight treated him like family. Daniel would be sure to include her in his Oscar acceptance speech for Best Animated Short. Noticeably missing from the acknowledgments would be Clyde and Rita. Missing today was the jovial smile Lacy always greeted him with, an understanding that no matter what he did it was small potatoes in the world of great events and that everything would be okay no matter how much Conklin blustered. She shot Daniel a worried look as he approached. Daniel half felt he should turn around and run for his life. Raised voices emanated from the principal’s office.
“Look at you,” she said with a trace of mother hen.
“I’ll be fine.”
Lacy shook her head. “Go in.”
Conklin was talking to Jim Grundy and Darlene Lebeaux, his nemeses’ parents, and the local sheriff, Ed Maher, who wore his hat and sunglasses indoors and was, coincidently, the principal’s third cousin. Mr. Grundy had yet to reach thirty-five, but looked like he was pushing fifty. He wore a few days’ growth on his face and his emaciated thinness was emphasized by the stringy mullet he chose for his coif. Darlene was slightly older, but had a body as nubile as a woman half her age, which she tried to contain in the miniskirt she pulled on constantly because it was one size too small. Darlene was legendary among the boys in town. It was rumored that once a year she picked a graduate headed for military service and gave him a poke for good luck behind the strip club where she danced.
The parents sat on the couch, facing a chair reserved for Daniel. Conklin sat to his left, the sheriff to his right. Daniel realized he was on trial. Somehow, in the middle of this whole mess, Daniel had the wherewithal to realize that Darlene wasn’t wearing any underwear.
“S’that the little fucker?” Jim Grundy asked. “Sure’s hell took you long enough.”
“I had a test. Why am I here?”
“Why…? You whupped my boys!” Darlene said.
“There, there, Darlene,” Conklin said. He reached forward and patted her on the thigh. “Don’t get excited.”
“They attacked us,” Daniel said.
Conklin gave him a skeptical look. “Did you walk away from a conversation the Grundy boys were having with Adrian Lutz and then come back with a two-by-four post, which you then attacked them with?” he asked.
Reality had become skewed with that interpretation. A placid mood suddenly befell Daniel, like a shore when the tide withdraws before the onslaught of a tsunami. Daniel retreated to his mental battlement and took up arms. “Only if by conversation you mean Tony Soprano chatting with someone who’s late on a payment.”
Sheriff Maher chuckled.
“Smart-ass,” Grundy said.
“Look, none of this happened during school time or on school property,” Daniel added.
“The Grundys are planning a civil suit against you and your parents,” Conklin said. “They came here to talk to Adrian, and to get your personal information. I called this meeting because I am disturbed by this incident, Daniel. This school has adopted a zero-tolerance policy. Certain behaviors have to be noted in this day and age, as the incident at Columbine clearly demonstrated. I have decided to suspend you until such time as we can determine whether expulsion is appropriate. It’s for the safety of the other students.”
Daniel only half heard what came after “civil suit” and “parents.” He was numb. Clyde was already in a frenzy over the desks. “This is ridiculous,” he said. He couldn’t contain the quiver in his voice. “I am not a bully. Adrian will back me up.”
The parents and Conklin looked at each other. Darlene shifted her legs and Daniel caught a peek of her shaved privates, which he was in no position to truly appreciate at that moment. The four adults said nothing.
“What?” Daniel asked.
“Adrian has stated that the Grundy boys are friends and that they were only horsing around,” the sheriff said. “You know, joshing him… nothing serious.”
The battlement took a hit. Someone brought a trebuchet to a sword fight. Daniel’s innards sloughed down to the bottom of his gut; he was light-headed. A hundred thoughts flashed across his mind in anarchy, and he struggled to relate to what was happening right now. His friend Adrian was a coward who feared the Grundys coming after him when he wasn’t around. Daniel pulled what wits he had left and said, “But, he was crying.”
“He was laughing…,” Darlene retorted. “You overreacted. Now my poor baby needs new teeth.”
“Adrian was screaming because your goons were-”
“That’s enough,” Conklin cut in. “Darlene, Mr. Grundy, we’ll handle things from here.”
On the way out, Jim Grundy shot Daniel a look that reminded him of Clyde. Darlene’s glance made it clear Daniel would never get a poke, even if he won the medal of honor.
“Ed?” the principal said.
The sheriff didn’t look happy. “Don’t much like the direction of this, Roscoe. Boys will be boys. We all got into scraps when we was young. And them Grundy boys ain’t exactly angels.”
“When we was young, students didn’t blow away their teachers and schoolmates with AK-47s. These are different times. Ed, bottom line, the boy assaulted two people with a deadly instrument. Are you gonna do your job or not?”
The sheriff put his large hand on Daniel’s shoulder and patted him up. “Let’s go, son. We’ll go to the hospital first and check your injuries.”
As they walked out, Lacy looked on the verge of tears. A cell was probably the safer place to be. It was when Clyde showed up to bail him out that concerned Daniel. Clyde would kill him over this.
The period bell rang; just in time for the whole school to come out and watch Daniel get escorted to jail.
CHAPTER 11
1
“Jesus Christ, Cal, she’s pumped us full of psychotropic drugs or something,” Cat MacDonnell said. They sat opposite each other at the kitchen table, squared off like gunfighters at a high-stakes poker game. Cat’s second mug of Irish coffee quivered in her hand. The woman Cal considered as solid as they come was one snowflake short of an avalanche. It pained him to see her like this.
On the other hand, another part of him felt better than it had in more than thirteen years. It was the first day of spring, and a window in his mind had been opened. Memories, like the scent of spring’s first blossom, blew in on the breeze feeling both familiar and new. At the same time, any joy was countered by the seriousness of his failure to conduct his assigned mission.
It was 6:00 A.M., the sun was just breaking the horizon. Seth was dozing in the corner with an empty beer can in his hand, and Lelani was playing with Bree in the living room.
“You don’t really believe you’re some sort of knight from a feudal world?” Cat continued.
“Cat…”
“Erin is dead! Your career is in jeopardy. People are trying to kill us… there’s no time for this fantasy shit!”
