Page 60 of Only Temporary

“What’s going on?” I ask him quietly.

“I’m not sure.” He looks just as worried as I do. “They didn’t tell me anything.”

“Mr. Miller. Mr. Rhodes. Will you please come with me?” I notice an older woman—the principal I met when I enrolled Kieran and Braylen at this school—has walked out of her office and is standing by the door.

Phillip and I walk to her office, and she closes the door, offering us both a chair and taking hers behind her seat. “Thank you both for coming down here so quickly.”

“Where is Kieran?” I’m losing patience.

“He’s in the nurse’s office. He’s okay, but another student shoved into him, and he has a small bruise.”

“From someone knocking into him?” Phillip asks suspiciously, and I can feel my hands clenching in my lap.

“Well, unfortunately Kieran was shoved into a locker door.”

“Is he okay?”

“He is. He said he didn’t want us to call you, but the student who bumped into him—” She’s choosing her words carefully, I can tell. “Well, to be blunt he’s one of our troubled students. Kieran and Billy both said it was an accident, but a couple of teachers who witnessed it really don’t think it was.”

“And where is this Billy?” I ask through gritted teeth, my rage starting to boil as I start to understand the actual situation.

“I had a talk with him and emailed his parents, but because both parties are claiming it was an accident, my hands are tied.”

My lips are set firmly in a straight line as I try like hell not to lose it. “So he’s being bullied, and what? You want my permission for you to ignore it?”

“No. Of course not. I asked you both down here because I want you to be aware. We’re keeping an eye on it, but Kieran...”

“Kieran what?” Phillip asks calmly.

“Kieran is a sweet child. We adore him here, but he’s quiet and shy, usually reading. He seems to be a target for some of the boys in his class.”

“So what do we do about this?” I ask, my jaw aching from how tense it is right now. Kieran is a sweet kid and almost too quiet. He hasn’t said a word about this, and I wonder how long he’s been suffering quietly. I missed it.

“The teachers have been made aware. We’ve talked to Kieran about how important it is to tell us if anyone is bothering him. And I think it would be good for you to do the same.”

I sigh heavily, racked with guilt yet again. “Can I see him?”

“Yes. Of course.” She makes a call to have the nurse send Kieran here and then hangs up her phone, her face full of sympathy I don’t really want. I want them to suspend these little shitheads. “We’ll continue to monitor the situation. If Kieran gives you any information at all, please let us know. I want you to know that his safety matters to us.”

“Right,” I say maybe a little too harshly. Kids should be safe in school.

The woman from the front office knocks and brings Kieran into the room. The principal leaves us alone for a moment, telling us to call if we need anything at all and telling us Kieran can go home for the rest of the day.

Kieran won’t really look me in the eye when his principal leaves, but I can see a bruise forming on the left side of his face. “Kieran...”

“I’m fine,” he says stubbornly, and I immediately look to Phillip, who looks grim at first, then forces his best smile.

“Kieran, if it wasn’t actually an accident, you can tell us. We aren’t going to let anyone hurt you, and he needs to be reprimanded properly for his actions.”

Spoken like a true social worker. I want to tease Phillip about it, but I know he’s just doing his job. Still—Kieran is a Rhodes. He’s not snitching. It’s not how we were raised, and we learned from a young age not to trust authority. “Are you okay?” I ask him, kneeling down to look at him.

“I’m fine. I just want to go home.”

I nod, seeing he isn’t going to talk about this, but wishing I could make it better. “Let’s go home then,” I say, planning to talk to him more about it when we get there.

But after signing him out and walking to the parking lot, it’s clear the universe is ready to go into full fuckery. It seems I missed two calls from the high school when I was busy at this school. “Shit,” I curse, and it gets Phillip and Kieran’s attention. I listen to the voicemail and hang up, my eyes on Phillip. “I have to go to the high school now. Cason got into a fight.”

“Shit,” Phillip repeats, his eyes wide. “Do you want me to go with you?” He checks his phone and doesn’t seem to have a message.

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