Michael couldn’t believe his luck. It was the first time he had ever gotten into a fight and the one time he wins, there’s a teacher to see the whole thing. Based on the ass whopping being handed out, the teacher came to the inaccurate conclusion that he started it and sent only him to the office. It wasn’t right but he was in enough trouble, so he would just have to wait for his Dad to come in and pick him up. His mother was always too busy to come in during the day, and this was likely going to be no exception. He sat in the office and waited for quite a long time. Longer than usual which was bugging Michael since patience wasn’t a virtue he carried. Finally, his impatience got the best of him, as he got up out of his seat and walked up to the main desk at the office.
“Excuse me.” he called out, “But is someone coming in here to get me, or should I start walking?”
“Mr. Davis,” The receptionist hissed at him. “We have notified your mother and she informed us that someone is on their way to pick you up.”
“My Dad?” Michael assumed.
“No.” she corrected. “Someone else is coming in, a Mr. Kershaw.”
Michael was confused but didn’t say anything else and returned to his bench to take a seat. He knew Jenny’s last name was Kershaw, but she never talked about her family, so he had no idea who was coming in. Moments later the man arrived. He walked up to the main desk where the receptionist was and introduced himself.
“Good morning,” the man said to the receptionist, “I’m Richard Kershaw. I’m here regarding Michael Davis.”
“One moment please.” The receptionist said as she picked up the phone to call somebody.
Michael thought he recognized the voice but couldn’t place it. Then the man standing at the desk turned around and looked at Michael. The young man could easily tell who it was looking at him. Despite the fact that he was wearing black jeans and what seemed like a really expensive dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, his hair style as well as the pierced ears and tattoo on his neck were a dead giveaway.
“Holy shit,” Michael accidentally said out loud.
Dick recognized Michael out of the three boys that were sitting down, and he smiled to him and put his index finger to his mouth to signal that he wanted him to be quiet.
“I’m Jenny’s father,” He whispered to the young man. “I’ve been asked to come here to pick you up.”
Michael was too shocked to even make a single sound and sat back in his chair and waited.
Moments later, the Vice principal came out of his office and walked over to greet them. “Mr. Kershaw, it’s nice to meet you. I was wondering if we could talk for a moment.”
“Of course,” Dick said as he followed the man into his office. Once he walked in, he quickly took a seat in front of the man’s desk.
“I need to speak to you about why Michael is being suspended so you can pass the details along to his parents.” The vice principal started as he took a seat behind his desk. “This morning young Mr. Davis got into an altercation with another student. When they were finally pulled apart, the other student was for the worse. We had to send him out to be treated for a broken nose.”
“Damn,” Dick said with an impressed look on his face. “That’s some serious damage. Do we have any idea how this started?”
“We do not.” The Vice answered. “The other student said he didn’t do anything to provoke it, and Mr. Davis has been silent since the incident.”
“Well, he does have the right to remain silent.” Dick added.
“Indeed, he does,” The Vice agreed. “But we have no choice but to suspend him for an entire week, including today.”
“Doesn’t that seem a little harsh?” Dick asked.
“What do you mean?” the Vice asked in response to his question.
“Well, if memory serves me right this is Michael’s first suspension.” Dick said as he sat up in his seat. “Is this kind of response normal for a first-time offender?”
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“Well, we broke someone’s nose.” The vice replied.
“And I’d like to know why before we condemn him for this.” Dick challenged. “We should have him come in here and speak with us before we really decide what is appropriate.”
“Very well,” The Vice walked out of the room and called Michael to join them. A few moments later Michael came into the room and sat down in the chair beside Dick. “We would like to speak with you, Mr. Davis.”
“Michael.” Dick said to him with a gentle tone. “Do you understand what you did was wrong?”
Michael didn’t say anything but nodded to acknowledge that he understood and agreed with Dick and what he was saying.
“That’s good.” Dick said. “Now what we need to know Michael is what happened out there. Why did you get into this fight?”
“Bobby called her a cunt.” Michael blabbed out.
“Mr. Davis!” The Vice said with a red face, “That kind of language…”
“Hey, chill.” Dick said as he raised a hand to interrupt him. “We asked him a question and he answered it. Michael, who was this Bobby kid referring to when he used this very bad word?”
“Well.” Michael said as he recalled what happened. “First he used it to describe what he thought of our gym teacher, Ms. Madden.”
“Okay.” Dick replied. “Was that when the fight started?”
“No,” Michael replied. “I punched him when he said that all the other girls in the class were… well, the same thing too.”
“I see,” Dick said as he understood what was going on. “Michael, can you go back out and wait in the other room? I need to speak with this man for a moment and then we’ll take off.” He watched as Michael nodded and did as close the door behind him as he left the room. Dick turned back to look at the Vice in the face. “Well?”
“Well, what?” the Vice repeated back to him.
“I believe him,” Dick replied. “Why else would a first-time offender get so angry and break someone’s nose? I don’t know about you, but the C word would do it for me. Especially if he was talking about someone I liked.”
“So, what are you saying?” The Vice asked.
“I think it’s time to re-negotiate Michael’s suspension,” Dick said, sounding rather confident in himself. “I think seven days is overkill considering what happened. Even though I applaud the kid for smacking someone for being rude, Michael still needs to learn that hitting people is bad. Three days.”
“Excuse me?” the Vice said back, somewhat angry.
“Not right now.” Dick said as he stood up. “Not only are you going to lower this to three days, but I also expect you to give that other kid a three-day ticket home for calling women in his school cunts.”
“Or what?” The vice challenged.
“Or I’ll use this cell phone to contact my attorneys.” Dick said as he pulled out his blackberry and scrolled over to a specific number in his contacts list. “I don’t have a single lawyer but an entire firm on retainer, ready to jump at my beacon call. This is a first-time offense and as long as people aren’t calling teachers or girls in class the c word, I have a feeling this isn’t going to happen again. So, you can accept my terms, or you can explain this to my attorney on speaker.”
“You’re bluffing!” the vice boldly proclaimed.
“You think so?” Dick said with a smile. He hit a button on his Blackberry, and they could hear the phone ringing.
The line picked up. “Johnson, Williams and associates.”
“Yes, I’d like to speak with Mr. Williams, please.” Dick called into the phone that was lying on top of the desk.
“I’m sorry, he’s in a meeting right now.” The voice replied.
“Tell him this is Dick calling.” Dick informed her.
“One moment, Sir.” The receptionist replied.
“Thank you.” Dick said, as the line was put on hold.
A few seconds later another voice came on the line. “Dick, this is Jed Williams. Is everything all right?”
“One moment, Jed.” Dick hit a button and put the lawyer on hold. “I’ve got one of the senior partners at this firm on hold. Shall we tell him what’s going on or should I send Jed back to his meeting?”
“Alright.” The Vice conceded. “Three days but if he does something like this again, it’s a week!”
“Deal,” Dick said as he took the phone and hit a button. “We’re all good here Jed. Thanks for having my back.”
“Anytime Dick.” Jed replied. “Call if you need me again.”
“Will do,” He hung up and shoved the phone back into his pocket. “Take care of that Bobby kid. I don’t want to hear that word being said by anyone in this school anymore. I doubt you do either.”
“You are correct,” The vice answered. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you very much.” Dick said as he offered a hand to the Vice. After shaking it he walked out of the office and grabbed Michael on his way out. “Good news and bad news, sport.”
“Okay.” Michael said, “What’s the good news?”
“I managed to talk the Vice out of suspending you for seven days based on what you told us.” Dick replied. “But you still got three days.”
“Ah man.” Michael said as he followed Dick down the hall. “My Dad is going to kill me for this.”
“I doubt it. We’ll talk to him about it.” Dick checked his watch. “As a matter of fact, I’m supposed to meet him for lunch in a few minutes. You might as well come along. We’ll smooth this all over a burger and fries.”
“You know, for this strange moment I thought you were someone else.” Michael said as he walked out the front door with Dick. Outside the school was an enormous, stretched limousine and a driver in a black suit waiting for them.
“Dave’s Diner my good man,” Dick said as the driver opened the door.
“Yes, Mr. Mitchell.” The driver said.
“Oh, my gaud!” Michael screamed out loud when he heard the driver. “Did he just call you Mr. Mitchell?”
“Yes, he did. But don’t you dare call me grandpa.” Dick said as he slipped into the limo and sat beside him. “I have a reputation to uphold. Understood?”
“Okay.” Michael said as he couldn’t believe what was going on. Now more than ever he couldn’t wait to see his father.