I dedicate this story to the wonderful ladies of the VinF&D group whose wonderful feedback encourage me to share this story here.
The drive to the elementary school was tense. Buck had tried to get Chris talking, but now he just prayed that the steering wheel wouldn't break under the force of his friend's grip before they got there.
The message was waiting for them when they got back to the office. The bust had gone off without a hitch, the bad guys were going to jail, and the good guys were planning a quick celebratory lunch at the Saloon.
When they exited the elevator, one of the secretaries was there with the written message. She definitely knew what the note said, because the moment it hit Chris's hand, she quickly fled the scene.
It was from the principal at the boys' elementary school. Both boys had been in a fight during morning recess, and there had been some injuries. Needless to say, all plans for lunch were quickly scrapped.
The Ram was parked haphazardly in the front of the school. The trip to the main office was made in silence. Someone from the team must have called to tell of their imminent arrival, because the principal was waiting for the two men.
Sandra Daniels was not looking forward to this. She had been principal at Four Corners Elementary for eleven years, and had learned to deal with all sorts of situations that imaginative or thoughtless children could dream up. But what she dreaded dealing with were the hysterical or demanding parents that often came with those children. Sometimes it seems like the parents behaved worse than the children.
She watched the two men approach the office. She knew the history of the two boys these men were caring for. It honestly surprised her that there hadn't been trouble before this, considering the life they had been living. The four months the children had been at school had been relatively smooth. JD had been quick to make friends and flourished in his class. After a rough start, Vin was finally making progress with additional support for his learning disability. Both boys were pleasant to have in school and well behaved. Well, until today, that was.
"Gentlemen," Mrs. Daniels greeted them.
Buck flashed a quick smile, but Chris had no time for pleasantries. "What happened? Where are the boys?"
"JD is currently with Ms. Dominquez, the nurse. He received some scrapes on his arms when he fell. Charlie is with his mother in my office. Vin is waiting in the detention room."
"Who's Charlie?" Buck asked. He was reviewing in his head all the children the boys had befriended so far at school. That name didn't sound familiar.
"He is a third grader in a different class than Vin's. He was also on the playground for recess. It seems that Vin hit him."
Chris grunted, "What happened?"
Mrs. Daniels sighed. "I'm not entirely sure. All I have is Charlie's side of the story. JD was extremely distraught. And Vin . . . "
"What about Vin?"
"Vin refuses to speak to me."
Buck watched the muscles twitch along Chris's jaw. "I want to see him now."
"Yes, Mr. Larabee. And Mr. Wilmington, I'll take you to see JD."
Vin heard the footsteps coming closer. He recognized them immediately. Quickly he swiped at his face with his good hand, removing the tears that had been falling. He slid his bruised hand off his lap.
He couldn't help but jump when the door of the detention room opened. He didn't look up, but instead watched as black boots walked up to him.
"Vin, look at me."
The boy looked up at the man who had saved his life. He couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking, but there was no doubt that Chris was not very happy.
"What happened?"
Vin closed his eyes. He knew that he would have to tell Chris the truth. That's all he had been thinking about since it happened. Would Chris understand why? Was he going to send him away now? Take him away from JD?
"Vincent Michael Tanner, look at me. I asked you what happened."
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
When Mrs. Daniels returned to the detention room, she saw the two of them just looking at each other. "Mr. Larabee? Vin? Would you care to join me?"
They followed her into her office. Vin saw Charlie and his mother were already there, the little redhead still holding an ice pack to his face. His mother stood up. "What is he doing here? I don't want him anywhere near my boy!"
"Mrs. Patterson, please sit down. This is Chris Larabee, Vin's caretaker. Mr. Larabee, this is Loretta Patterson, Charlie's mother. We need to talk about what happened today." Mrs. Daniels motioned to the two empty chairs in front of her desk. Vin waited for Chris to sit first, then fell into the other. He slumped down, letting his hair hide his eyes.
"Well, there's nothing to talk about. That boy hit my Charlie. Just look at him!" She snatched the ice pack off his face. Vin winced at the swollen nose and the darkening bruises around both eyes.
"I understand you're upset, Mrs. Patterson. But I need to get to the bottom of what happened out on the playground. Charlie, can you tell us what happened?"
The red-haired boy sat up straight. "Yes, Mrs. Daniels. I was just asking Vin if he wanted to play with us. We needed somebody for our kickball team. He just went nuts! He kept hitting me over and over again." The kid turned back to his mother. "He hurt me, Mommy. I just wanted him to play with us."
Mrs. Patterson hugged Charlie. "Oh, my poor baby."
Vin chanced a look at Chris. The man was looking at Charlie and his mother and he looked real mad. Vin fought the urge to cry. There was no way that Chris would let him live with him now. He had hurt Charlie, hurt him bad. Chris was going to have to take him to jail now. That's where bad people went. And he did something bad.
"Vin? Is that what happened?" Mrs. Daniels asked.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"She asked you a question, Vin. Answer her."
Vin swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Yes, ma'am."
"No! Tell her what he said!"
Everyone turned to see JD and Buck standing in the doorway. The man was holding the little boy in his arms. SpongeBob Band-aids covered both of the squirming boy's elbows. "Tell her, Vin!"
"JD, be quiet!" Vin growled.
"Come here, JD."
Buck let him down and the first grader walked over to the principal. His face was red and blotchy, but dry now from any tears.
"Can you tell me what happened on the playground?"
"Yes, Miz Daniels. I was showing Vin a cool bug I had found under the slide. It was black and fuzzy and it had little feets and it was tickling my hand and . . ."
Mrs. Daniels smiled. "That sounds like a nice bug, JD. Did you show the bug to Charlie, too?"
The little boy frowned. "No. I don't like Charlie. He's mean."
Mrs. Patterson opened her mouth, but the principal spoke first. "Why do you say that?"
JD looked at Vin. "Vin says I don't hafta like mean people. Right, Vin?"
Vin could feel everyone's eyes on him. He sunk lower in his chair.
"Vin's right. You do not have to like mean people. But why is Charlie mean?" Buck wanted to know.
"This is ridiculous," Mrs. Patterson blurted. "That monster hurt my son, and I want him expelled!"
Vin felt like the room was closing in around him. He didn't know what that word meant, but he understood it was something bad. He could feel Chris tense up next to him.
"Vin's not a monster! You can't spell him! He don't like spelling!" JD shouted at the woman.
"JD, calm down. We know that Vin is not a monster. Mrs. Patterson is just upset," Mrs. Daniels explained. She turned to the mother. "We do not allow name calling in our school, Mrs. Patterson, and we expect everyone to adhere to that rule."
The mother looked surprised at the reproach. "Uh, of course. I'm sorry."
The principal turned back to the little dark-haired boy standing next to her. "Now, what happened after you showed Vin the bug?"
"Well, he said it was cool and he wanted me to put it back under the slide and I said I wanted to take it home and show Miz Potter and Chris and Buck and he said that it had to go back to his family. Then Charlie came over and wanted to know if Vin wanted to play kickball and I said I wanted to and Charlie said that babies can't play kickball and I said that I wasn't a baby and Charlie said that I was a baby fish poop! That's when Vin told him to shut up. But Charlie said I was a fish poop again and Vin hit him. I tried to stop him, but he pushed me away and I felled and I hurted my elbows. But I'm 'kay now and I don't like Charlie 'coz he's mean and he called me a fish poop."
It took a moment for the adults in the room to filter JD's story. Mrs. Daniels recovered first. "He called you fish poop?"
"Yes, ma'am. He called me a bass turd."
"JD!"
JD looked at his big brother. "What?"
"Don't say that!" Vin demanded.
"Is that a jar word?" The little boy's eyes widened. "I didn't know! I didn't mean to say a jar word! Are you gonna spell me, too?" He started to cry.
Mrs. Daniels nodded to Buck, who quickly crossed the room and picked up JD. While the little boy was being consoled, she looked at the others in the room. Chris was glaring at the redhead. Mrs. Patterson looked confused. Vin had returned to his slumped state, his chin touching his chest.
"Vin, can you explain to me what a jar word is?"
Without lifting his head, he answered, "We got a jar that you hafta put money in when you say a bad word. Buck usta say jar words all the time, but he just says it when he hurts himself, like this morning."
Buck had the good sense to look embarrassed. "Yep, that's right, Junior. I stubbed my toe and said something I shouldn't have. I put a whole dollar in the jar."
"Did Charlie call JD a jar word?"
Vin nodded.
"I know this is going to be hard, but I want you to tell me what jar word Charlie said." Mrs. Daniels requested.
The little blonde looked up, shocked. "I can't!"
Chris finally spoke, "Vin, it's OK to tell her. You won't get in trouble."
Vin couldn't believe it. Chris wanted him to say a jar word! In front of the principal! He looked over at him. Did Chris really want him to say it? Could you go to jail for saying a jar word in front of the principal? Maybe it was a test, to see if he would do it.
The man could tell the boy was troubled. "I know you're not supposed to say words like that, but Mrs. Daniels asked you to tell her. You are just repeating what was said. You won't be in trouble for telling her what Charlie said."
Vin thought about it. Chris always told him the truth. The least he could do before going to jail for hitting Charlie was tell them what he said.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he looked at Mrs. Daniels and said, "He called JD a baby bastard."
She nodded her head. "That's what I thought. Charlie, did you call JD that word?"
The redhead suddenly found the floor of the principal's office very interesting. "No."
Vin flew to his feet. "Yes you did! You called him that two times. But he's not. He had a mama and a daddy, but they're dead. Now he's got me and Buck and Chris. He's not a bas . . . he's not that word."
"Do you know what that word means?"
"Yes, Mrs. Daniels. A lady I stayed with once told me that I was . . . that. She said that I didn't have no daddy. She said it to me all the time. But I do now. Chris is like my daddy and Buck is like JD's daddy. We're a real family now. Even if I go to jail for hurting Charlie, we're a real family. We're not bastards!" Vin yelled.
Then he realized what he just said. He spun around to Chris. "I'm sorry. I said it on accident. Do I hafta put in a whole dollar like Buck? I don't got a dollar."
"We'll talk it about at home."
"I'm not going to jail?"
"No, honey, you're not going to jail." Vin looked at Charlie's mom. He was surprised to see she had tears in her eyes. She leaned over and touched his arm. "Little boys don't go to jail for hitting other little boys. I'm sorry that Charlie said that word, but you do know that you shouldn't hit, right?"
"Yes, ma'am, I know hitting is bad. I'm sorry I hurt Charlie. But saying that word is bad, too. He hurt JD with that word."
"Yes, he did. And he hurt you, too. Charlie, you need to apologize to JD for calling him that name."
"But Mom, Dad says it all the time."
Mrs. Patterson blushed, but continued, "That may be true, but that doesn't mean you should have said it. It's not a nice word to say. You apologize right now, young man." She pushed him out of his seat.
Charlie walked over to where Buck was still holding JD. First looking back at his mother, he turned back and mumbled, "Sorry."
JD sniffed. "Am I a fish poop?"
"No, Li'l Bit, you're not a fish poop."
"Now, apologize to Vin."
Charlie had moved back towards his mother. "But Mom, I didn't do anything to him."
Mrs. Patterson crossed her arms. "You might not have hit him, but you did hurt his feelings and made him angry."
The redhead stood in front of Vin. "Sorry I made you mad."
"Sorry I hurt your face."
"It doesn't hurt that much."
Mrs. Daniels stood up from behind her desk. "Well, it seems that all the appropriate apologies have been made. Vin, you are suspended for the rest of today and tomorrow for hitting Charlie."
"Is spended like spelling?"
The principal couldn't help but smile. "No, Vin. Suspended means that you have to stay home for a couple of days."
"Can I stay home, too? I want to be spended with Vin."
"No, JD. You need to come to school and pick up Vin's work that he'll be missing. Do you think you could do that for him, so he doesn't get behind?"
"Okay, Miz Daniels."
Vin was thinking that staying home for two days was not a real bad thing. He knew that he wouldn't be spending it having fun, though. One look at Chris told him that he would probably be cleaning out the stalls until they were spotless. Maybe going to jail wasn't such a bad idea . . .
"When Vin returns to school, he and Charlie will join me for the next few days during recess time to discuss our school policy of name calling."
Charlie looked like he wanted to protest, but his mother stopped him with a quick shake of her head. She spoke up, "And I will have a discussion with my husband about what words will be spoken around Charlie."
"Is he gonna get spended like me?"
This time all the adults smiled at the blonde third grader. "No, honey. We're just going to talk about what words to say and what words not to say."
It was decided that Charlie would go home with his mother for the rest of the day. Despite his strong objections, JD was returned to class. There was no doubt that by the end of the day, the entire school would know exactly what happened on the playground. The adults shook hands and walked together out of the office.
Vin watched Charlie and his mother get in their car and drive away. Thinking about what happened in the principal's office, he looked up at his guardian walking beside him. "Chris?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry I said that word. And . . . I'm sorry that I hurt Charlie."
"I know you are, Cowboy." He put out his hand and Vin placed his little one in it. "Let's go have Nathan look at your hand and then we'll go home and talk, OK?"
As he walked with Chris and Buck to the truck, he couldn't help but smile. Home. That was one word he didn't mind hearing over and over again.