Here we go.
Leo directed me to the only other free seat, beside my mother, while he stood at my back, his hand on my shoulder. “So let’s hear it, what happened?” Uncle Leo demanded when we were all settled.
Principal Lacky shifted nervously. I could tell he was unsure of Leo’s presence in the room—his club cut worn proudly over a greasy T-shirt and stained jeans. It wasn’t exactly meet with the principal attire. “Meyah broke one of our very strict school rules today. Hurting another student is strictly forbidden. We do not condone fighting of any kind in this school. She punched another student in the face, and it looks as though she may have broken his nose.”
I tried hard not to roll my eyes at his dramatics. Fighting? No. Nick took one hit, and he was on the ground rolling around screaming like a little girl.
Principal Lacky leaned back in his oversized chair. “I’m sure you understand that I’ll have to suspend Meyah for the rest of the week.”
Mom’s shoulders drooped. “I’m sure Meyah has already expressed her regret and apologized. But let me say again, we are so sorr—”
“What did the boy do?” Uncle Leo cut in, earning a dark glare from my mom. He ignored her hard stare and focused his on the principal. “What did he do for Meyah to feel like she needed to defend herself?”
Principal Lacky started to blubber, fighting to find words to explain why I’d felt the need to rearrange needle dick Nick’s face.
“He grabbed my ass and commented to his friends about how he was disappointed he didn’t get to stick his dick in it,” I answered for him, my voice utterly void of emotion given it was already the third time today that Nick had made some kind of sexual innuendo or comment, and I’d had enough at that point, given that it was only 10:00 a.m.
Uncle Leo’s fingers dug into my shoulder a little tighter, and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Hadley move her body in front of the doorway so that he couldn’t get out without going through her and her rapidly growing baby bump. Mom gasped, her hand going to her mouth in shock for a very brief second before her anger settled, and she flew from her seat slamming her palms on the desk in front of her.
Principal Lacky jumped almost toppling backward in his stupidly oversized chair. Mom leaned in, the tone and volume of her voice sending a dark chill up my spine. “You better tell me right now that boy has been expelled,” she warned.
I sat a little straighter, my mouth hanging open.
“Because I do not send my daughter to this fucking school so she can be sexually harassed by some little punk ass like him, and then be punished when she defends herself.”
Holy shit.
We all stared at Mom like she’d suddenly grown two heads. My mom was definitely a strong woman, that I didn’t ever doubt, but this was the next level. I could feel the rage burning off her skin.
“Now, now,” Principal Lacky spluttered at Mom’s outburst. His eyes flicked back and forth between my mom, Uncle Leo, and the glass window in his office door where I knew he could see Nick’s parents fussing over their son. Nick came from a well off family, they had money, they donated to the school, and they had rich friends. Basically, they had Principal Lacky by the balls. “Boys will be—”
“I swear to God if you say ‘boys will be boys,’ I will drag you back to the fucking clubhouse and have theboysgrab your ass and tell you how much they want to stick their cock in it,” Uncle Leo hissed, standing to his full height. “If you’re telling me it’s normal for teenage boys to say that bullshit, I’m gonna start to wonder what kind of school you’re running here.”
Principal Lacky’s face instantly went beet red, his mouth dropping open at my uncle’s very serious threat. My mom sat back, I could tell by the way her body sank into the seat, a quirk of a smile in the corner of her mouth, that she was glad Uncle Leo was here.
She didn’t care that he was making threats to my high school principal because she knew if it had of been just her and I sitting here, that we would have been brushed off and shut down, and I’d be walking out of here with at least a week under suspension.
When Principal Lacky didn’t reply, Uncle Leo continued, “How about you let Meyah walk out of here without a suspension, and you do whatever the hell you like to that shithead out there, and we call it a fair deal.”
Principal Lacky huffed, his nostrils flaring as if he wanted to argue. Fortunately, he was a smarter man than that. He knew he might control this school, but the Brothers by Blood MC controlled the town, and they weren’t afraid to use their power to make a point or protect their own. “Deal,” he finally growled letting us all know just how unhappy he was with having to hand over his balls, instead of being the tough man who’s more worried about the school and his own wallet, than his female students being harassed by future assholes.
“Good. I’m glad we got that settled,” Leo said while waiting for Mom and me to get out of our seats before he fell into step behind us. The screeching sound of Nick’s mother’s voice greeted me when Hadley pushed the office door open, and I cringed.
“That little witch broke my son’s nose! I’m filing charges,” she spat as I passed by. She shoved her finger in my face, and I tripped backward trying to avoid her long, pointy nail meeting my eye. Thankfully, Uncle Leo caught me. That was when Mom stepped forward and grabbed the woman’s finger, and I realized I wasn’t the only one done with sticking my head in the sand when it came to these big bad bullies.
“Your son grabbed my daughter’s ass,” Mom warned, low and deadly. “You want to talk about filing charges, let’s start with sexual harassment.”
Nick stood to his feet, his eyes wide, and I saw fear in them. Maybe this would be the moment that shocked him into being a normal, kind, and genuine human being. Maybe it was this moment which would change him for good and make him see that being an asshole just wasn’t the way to get to where he wanted in life.
“It’s her word against his,” Nick’s mom argued as she coddled her son against her chest.
“Actually, there was a hallway full of kids,” I interrupted, gathering my feet and stepping forward. “And they might be his friends now, but if it came to a choice between Nick and telling the truth, so they didn’t go to jail… I bet it will soon be like… Nick who?”
The woman looked at me in disgust. I’d only met her once, and she let me know in no uncertain terms that I was not good enough for her son and that my mom, being a single mother of two, was so far beneath her that we may as well have been in hell.
“Nicholas, go and get in the car,” his mom ordered, her high pitched tone almost making me want to block my ears. She stepped back from my mother, who was staring her down like a lioness protecting her cub and herded Nick, and who I assumed to be Nick’s father, out the office door in haste. It was more than evident who wore the pants in their relationship. I had no doubt her balls were bigger than his, too.
“I hope that woman grounds him and doesn’t let him leave the house for a week,” Hadley mumbled to Leo as they walked in front of me down the hallway. My mom’s clip-clop of her stilettos brought up the rear and also telling me that she was still furious.
Leo shook his head. “Hopefully, he’s not stupid enough to come near Meyah again,” Leo added, slipping his arm around Hadley’s waist and pulling her body against his.
“Oh, it’s not Meyah I’m worried about, the girl can handle herself,” Hadley replied, looking up at Leo with a smirk. I frowned, wondering what the hell she was talking about. “I meant I hope she keeps him locked up for his own safety. Because when Ham gets wind of this…” She let the words hang in the air, but even the mere mention of his name had my stomach flipping all over the damn place, making me feel like I just might be sick.
I was so caught up that I missed a step and flew forward managing to keep my body on its feet but dropping the ice pack I was holding. Uncle Leo stopped to help me gather it back up, taking my hand in his as we returned to our feet. “Need to teach you how to throw a punch,” he said jokingly, but I had this strange feeling that as soon as I felt better, we’d be in the ring, one on one.
And you know what, after the day I’d had, that sounded like a fucking perfect idea to me.