Page 119 of Good Sisters

‘I’ve called you here today to discuss a serious incident involving Liam.’

Harry looked at me, panic-stricken. Serious incident was bad news.

‘Liam is a really good kid,’ I said. ‘What exactly happened?’

‘This morning, at early-morning training, Liam punched another boy in the face. We don’t believe the boy’s nose is broken, but there was a lot of blood, and we cannot condone violence.’

‘That can’t be right. Liam would never do that,’ Harry said. ‘Are you sure it was him?’

‘Positive.’

‘Who did he punch?’ I wanted to know. Liam was not a kid who went around punching people for no reason.

‘Sebastian Carter-Mills.’

Of course it was. No surprise there. This was not unprovoked. Sebastian had clearly wound Liam up.

‘What led to the incident?’ I asked.

‘Apparently there was a quarrel that, unfortunately, ended up with Liam resorting to violence.’

‘Did Sebastian hit him first?’ I asked.

‘No.’

‘We will speak to Liam and I can assure you this will never happen again.’ Harry was eager to placate the headmaster.

‘What was the quarrel about? I know my son. He did not punch Sebastian without serious provocation.’

‘We have asked Liam to explain his actions, but he insists he has nothing to say. He made it clear that he would rather not discuss what happened. Besides, the question here is not what the quarrel was about but how your son reacted. Violence towards another boy is unacceptable. Mrs Carter-Mills was extremely distressed to see her son injured and has taken Sebastian to hospital to make sure his nose isn’t broken, although the coach, Mr Long, is certain it isn’t.’

I could just imagine the scene Victoria had caused. She’d make our lives hell over this.

‘We will, of course, cover any medical bills and Liam will apologize to the Carter-Mills family,’ Harry said.

Hang on a second, why was he offering them Liam on a plate?

‘While I obviously agree that Liam shouldn’t have punched Sebastian,’ I said, shooting a look at Harry, ‘I would first like to talk to my son and find out more about the incident. Liam is not someone who loses his temper easily. We need to find out what led to the punch. Sebastian must have said or done something awful to provoke that reaction from Liam. There’s more to this than we know at present.’

‘As I said, winding someone up is still no excuse for violence. That is our primary concern here.’

‘Generally, I’d agree with you, but we don’t know what Sebastian’s part in this was and I think that’s a key factor in this scenario.’

‘We will speak to our son, make sure he apologizes and then we can all move on,’ Harry said. ‘We have a semi-final to focus on.’

Mr Henderson cleared his throat. ‘Regarding the semi-final. Mrs Carter-Mills is asking for Liam to be expelled. While that is far too strong a punishment, considering he has been an excellent student up to this point, we have considered suspending him for a week. However, I have spoken to Mr Long and I feel that the best way for Liam to learn from this lesson is to exclude him from the team for the semi-final. We know how much his rugby means to him and by excluding him we believe that he will truly understand that actions have serious consequences.’

Beside me, Harry made a strangled sound. I knew he was devastated.

I had to say something to try to save Liam. ‘I think that’s very unfair. We don’t know the true circumstances. Liam is one of the captains. He has been a real leader for this team and one of the best players. He has put his heart and soul into training and being part of the squad. This semi-final is the biggest moment in his young life. Please don’t take that away from him. Suspend him, by all means, but don’t leave him out of the team.’

The headmaster shook his head. ‘The decision has been made.’

I stood up. ‘I think that’s incredibly unfair and I will get to the bottom of this.’

Harry finally found his voice. ‘Is there any way you would reconsider this decision?’

‘I’m afraid not. Liam will be waiting for you outside themain reception area. I think it best he goes home immediately.’

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