Page 71 of Don't Tell Teacher

‘This sort of discussion … the headmaster wouldn’t stand for it and neither will I.’

‘My son came home with marks on his body!’ I shout. ‘Do you expect me not to be worried? And I found an empty medicine bottle in his school bag. Should I say nothing about that too?’

‘Please calm down or I’ll have to ask you to leave. Your son’s school bag is nothing to do with us. And I hear social services are dealing with this supposedbodily markingsissue.’

I stiffen. ‘This isn’t to do with social services. This is to do with my son getting marks inyourcare. Andtaking medicine into school.’

‘Tom did not get the marks in our care. We’ve explained to you over and over again.’

‘Mrs Dudley, listen to me. Something is happening at school. Tom is … different. He won’t talk to me any more. He’s taking medicine from home. I think this Pauly Neilson friendship could be something to do with it.’

‘Mr Cockrun works very hard to help every child fit in here and achieve our high standards of behaviour. If your son is making friends with children you consider to be unsuitable, perhaps you should ask yourself why.’

I feel like I’ve been slapped. ‘Are you saying there’s something wrong with Tom? He’s new to this school, Mrs Dudley. Coming into fully formed friendship groups. And he’s vulnerable. He’s not going to be picky about who he’s friends with – of course he’s going to pal up with anyone who shows an interest.’

‘All I can say is that as a teacher, Tom’s friendships have nothing to do with his problems.’

‘What problems?’

‘Tom is struggling to meet our academic requirements, Miss Riley. His work just isn’t up to scratch. Is he getting enough rest at home?’

‘What? Tom’s brilliant at school. Naturally bright. He picks up everything so quickly …’

‘I’ve asked the special needs teacher to do a few tests. Just to see if he’s processing things in the normal way. She feels he might have some emotional problems.’

I suck in a breath. ‘He has emotions to deal with. Given our background. But that doesn’t mean—’

‘And Tom’s been getting angry at school too. Struggling to control his temper. Yesterday, he threw his exercise book on the floor.’

‘Tom?MyTom?’

‘We don’t tolerate bad behaviour here. How do you deal with anger at home? Do you have good discipline structures in place?’

‘Tom doesn’t get angry at home. Well, very rarely. He’s a good boy. Usually well-behaved. But when he isn’t, I certainly tell him off. His father used to get angry …’

Memories of Olly flash and burn.

Mrs Dudley watches me for a moment, and I can see the cogs turning.

She’s wondering if I’m lying. I imagine quite a few parents swear blind their home life is perfect, when in fact there are lots of issues.

I feel tears on my cheeks.

Mrs Dudley watches me without a hint of human understanding. ‘We’d really like Tom to spend time with the special needs teacher. Let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this behaviour.’

I sit up straight. ‘Mrs Dudley, I’m going out of my mind, trying to understand how Tom got those marks on his arms. And he’s not himself. I know something’s going on at school. Drugs or something …’ I let the sentence drift away.

It sounds ridiculous and we both know it.

‘There are no drugs here,’ Mrs Dudley says, her voice low. ‘Now, your social worker visited yesterday.’ She eyes me meaningfully. ‘What would she think if I told her you were causing trouble like this?’

I stare, my breathing growing shallow.

‘Steelfield School has an outstanding reputation,’ Mrs Dudley continues. ‘We expect parents to help us maintain that reputation.Act strong, be strong.’

Act …

‘So what are the Neilson boys still doing here?’ I ask. ‘If you want the school to look so perfect?’

---