I hope everyone enjoys this little snippet in honor of "Paily Week". Feel free to comment, review or send me feedback if you'd like. I may not reply but I will read it, that I promise.
As she sprints down the hallway Emily is close to having an out-of-body experience. Classroom doors click by as she moves briskly toward the school office. These corridors are so familiar having attended Rosewood Elementary herself years ago. The paint color was the same, the floor tiles were the same, the lockers seemed awfully small, though. How do kids get stuffed into lockers that small?
Her own elementary school years were a mix of teasing and awkwardness just like for every other kid - or at least that's what she tried to convince herself. Emily tried not to dwell on it but as a kid her classmates went straight for her weak spots when they had the chance. Being shy and confused about herself made her the perfect target, especially since she moved to Rosewood after most students her age had been in school together for years. It's so easy to pick on the new kid, she knew.
She rounds the corner leading to the main office and slows her jog to a quick walk. As a kid she never got into enough trouble to be sent to the principal's office so as an adult with an impetuous child she was making up for lost time, still limited to counting this year's incidents on one hand but one more problem might put Dominick in the doghouse with administrators for years to come. He was such a good boy – the image of her wife Paige in looks and personality – but she didn't understand why this year, of all years, was going so badly.
Emily approaches and sees the two loves of her life seated on a couch outside the principal's office both hanging their heads and picking at their fingernails. They are so beautiful, she thinks, so strong, soulful, complicated. Emily always told Paige they gave birth to an old soul and though she never agreed Emily knew Paige is heartbreakingly proud of their intense, introspective son.
God, she really loved her life so her jaw tightens with anger at the thought of anyone trying to mess with her family, pitying that poor soul who misjudges her capacity to defend what was hers. Those who underestimated her always seemed to change their minds the hard way.
With that resolve firmly planted she opens the office door and steps inside. Paige and Dominick immediately vault to their feet, wringing their hands in hesitation for the confrontation to come.
"Hi, Mommy," Dominick says, jumping into her arms. He's almost too big for her to hold this way but she lifts him up and gives him a warm, tight hug. Emily glances toward Paige and gives her a wink over Dominick's shoulder and Paige returns the wink as she peels Dominick away from Emily.
"Quit with the sucking up, big guy," Paige says. "It's not gonna help you one little bit." Emily arches her eyebrow. "Again?" Paige shrugs, trying to keep Dominick from hiding behind her and out of Emily's sight line. "Yep."
Emily gently grabs Dominick's shirt sleeve and kneels, sizing him up. "Dom, what did you do?" Just as Dominick prepares to spill his story filled with larger-than-life details and Emily suspects feats of heroism on his part, Principal Hansen opens his office door and motions the trio in.
They sit on a bench, Dominick between his two mothers. The boy looks to shrink six inches with one glance from the principal and the thought of her son being so intimidated fills Emily with fury. She turns to the principal and waits to hear what happened.
"Ms. Fields..." Paige twitches and Emily puts her hand on her forearm, silently urging her to relax.
"It's Mrs. McCullers."
"I wasn't aware the laws had changed in the state of Pennsylvania about that."
Emily had to remind herself this guy was new in Rosewood. He didn't know their history. He didn't know how supportive the community was toward her little family...he didn't know...he didn't know...
"They will eventually." says Paige. If there was one thing that set Paige off it was subtle, latent homophobia. She had dealt with her anger issues and had come to terms with what triggered her rage over the years. But this one thing - the idea people had the right to question her family's legitimacy and her love for Emily - just pissed her off.
The principal reads the rage in Paige's expression so choosing to move along is wise on his part.
"Dominick has yet again had a confrontation with a classmate this morning. This is his fourth occurrence this semester so it is customary to bring in the parents and try to sort out the issues at hand."
Hansen flicks his gaze above the rims of four hundred dollar glasses to note Emily and Paige's quiet attention as he continues.
"Now, I've spoken with the school counselor and we feel maybe Dominick needs a bit of direction in his life he is not currently receiving. Therefore we are recommending counseling for your son in the hope that he finds more positive ways to express his emotions in the future."
Dominick's head drops almost to his knees in shame and humiliation. It is Paige and Emily's expressions that catch the principal's attention, however: Paige looks mortified and Emily, well, Emily is beside herself, flush with indignation.
"So what you're saying, Mr. Hansen, is our son is acting out because of the way we are raising him?" says Emily. "He is only in 3rd grade…"
"Which is why we think we've caught his issues just in time…" reiterates Hansen.
"Just in time? To what, make him think all these problems are his fault? He's a little boy, a little boy who has been taught to stand up for himself and for others who are being treated badly. He is a good boy with a good heart and good intentions so what I find ironic is you haven't even told me what happened this morning, you are issuing a sentence for my son before I even know what the crime is," states Emily.
Hansen pulls a sheet from a pile on his desk and glances through his notes concerning the incident, then turns and runs through what happened.
"This morning Dominick was participating in a flag football game at recess. A girl in his class asked if she could participate but was told by other players they did not want her part of their game. Some shoving occurred but was broken up almost immediately by the recess monitor. After the bell rang and students walked back to their classes Dominick grabbed one of the players who wouldn't let the girl on their team and proceeded to punch him in the nose and shove him into a locker. He then padlocked it and refused to offer the teacher his combination. He was brought to my office soon after and the school janitor had to cut the lock open with a set of bolt cutters. Dominick was placed in the suspension room until my meeting with the guidance counselor was concluded. We called both of you soon after."
Both moms are shocked at their son's aggression. Yes, they've always taught him to defend himself but Dominick had talks with his granddads about how to be respectful and polite, especially when in the presence of authority figures and people who couldn't help themselves. Paige and Emily always appreciated how their dads both taught their son to walk tall with pride in himself and to not let 'haters' bother him so much. Wayne and Nick were a great influence on Dominick but it was a rare occasion though when Paige and Emily needed advice on how to handle their son – they usually had to tell their parents and friends to take a step back and let the two of them handle things, instead.
So when the details of the story emerge they simultaneously find a big information gap and Paige jumps all over it. "So what you're saying is our son is some raging anger nut who just goes off for no reason? I know my son and I can assure you that's not even close to the truth because he does not act out without reason. So here's what bothers me: did you even ask Dominick why he hit the kid, why he mixed it up at recess?"
Hansen shrugs, "We didn't need to because the only information we have concerns the hallway incident, the shoving match at recess was just kids being kids." Paige was about to call Hansen out for being a Kentucky Fried douche but instead she watches Emily turn to Dominick. She puts her hand under his chin urging him to look at her and she softly asks, "Buddy, what happened?"
Feeling for the first time someone is on his side, Dominick mumbles, "We were out at recess playing football. This new girl came over and said she had a good arm and wanted to play. The guys told her no and started making fun of her and calling her bad names. I told them to shut up and they started to push me around until the teacher came. When recess was over a guy said some other stuff and I just got so mad that I hit him."
Something doesn't seem quite right to either of his moms but Paige puts the situation together quickly. "Dom, buddy, what did the other boys call that girl?"
"Momma, I'm not supposed to say those words. Please don't make me."
"It's okay, we need to know," Emily states.
Dominick takes a deep breath – "they called her a lezzie dyke queen."
Shocked silence falls over the room. Even Principal Hansen is taken aback by the vitriolic language the boys used. Emily can tell Paige has hit her limit with her anger so she grabs her hand and laces their fingers together, begging with her eyes for Paige to keep calm. She glances down at Dominick shedding silent tears in embarrassment for what he said. He loves his moms so much and he knows those words hurt them both. Paige sees his broken heart and embraces him, wiping away his tears.
Emily turns to Hansen. "Has the boy who said those things been punished? Let me guess: no."
"I'll have you know we have zero tolerance for bullying at this school. If we knew what was said, of course that student would be held responsible for it."
"But you need more proof, probably, right? Well, look at my son. He stands up for a little girl on the playground because she was being teased and he gets hauled into the principal's office for it; not only that but the kid who started this whole mess gets off scot free."
"No he didn't, Mommy."
Emily turns back to Dominick and rubs his back to calm his silent sobs. "Is he the one you locked in the locker?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"All you needed to do was tell your teacher what actually happened, you didn't have to get physical with him."
"I'm sorry Mommy but I had to."
"Why?"
"Because of what he said about you and Momma."
Emily braces herself for a moment then asks, "What did he say?"
"He said that I just stuck up for that girl because she was a big lezzie, just like my cootie farm mamas."
The phrase is so absurd Emily can't even think of what to say. Paige, however, has a few choice words. "Who the hell is this kid?" she asks Principal Hansen.
"I'm not at liberty…"
"You can take your liberty and shove it where…"
"Paige!" Emily's pleading interjection stops Paige in her tracks, leading her to try a different tact. "You know Dom is just going to tell us who it is when we get home. And besides, I think I have a right to know whose parents have probably already left nasty messages on our voicemail!"
"I have urged the student's parents to let us handle the situation so I think you are safe from hateful phone calls," Hansen assures them.
"Well, buddy, you don't know Rosewood," Paige throws back.
Emily has had enough and needs to get Paige out of that office before something happens they all will regret. "I think we will take Dominick home now," she says. "Do you have his assignments so he won't lose a day?"
Hansen hands her a few books and papers. She tucks them under her arm and motions to Dominick that he should leave. Paige rises and throws him onto her back giving him a piggy back ride out of the office.
Emily turns to leave but pauses. "Thank you for your help in this matter, Principal Hansen. I think we all have a better grasp of the situation now so while I appreciate your concern there's no way in hell I'm letting you stick my son in counseling. Good day."
She closes the office door quietly behind her and takes Dominick's hand as they leave the main office and head toward the exit.
"Twenty bucks says it's Noel Kahn's kid, that little shit. They should have named him Genghis," Paige whispers into her ear. Emily gives Paige an elbow to the stomach and says, "You are hateful, don't let Dom hear you say that because that is the very thing he got in trouble for."
Paige rolls her eyes and once they reach the parking lot she unlocks their van. Dominick climbs inside and buckles in as Paige and Emily stop outside to talk for a moment.
"What the hell are we going to do?" Paige asks. She looks at their son and her eyes fill with tears. No one wants their kids to feel abused or hurt at school because school is a place they should feel safe to just be themselves, learn all they can and try to have fun doing it. She has never felt so disgusted with Rosewood until this exact moment.
"I just don't know," Emily says. "I think we have to find out more and not jump to conclusions, for Dom's sake. You can't tell me this is the first time someone has said something like that to him."
Paige looks down, hating that Emily is right – again. Emily places her hands on Paige's shoulders and gives them a sympathetic rub.
"But between the two of us, I'm pretty amazed with our kid," Emily says.
Paige's brows knit in confusion – "Why?"
"Because those lockers are really, really small. I can't believe he got a whole kid in one and still managed to lock the door."
Paige smirks and gives Emily a quick peck on her cheek. Smiling, she gets into the van while Emily looks at the school in revulsion. "Should sue their asses off," she says under her breath.
The trio arrives home and Dominick vaults out of the van running to the front door hoping he can make it to the bathroom. As he enters Emily and Paige follow him inside and kick their shoes off on a nearby mat. They walk into the kitchen and Emily drops Dominick's books on the table then thumbs through his worksheets and lessons. Paige opens the fridge and removes two bottled waters, opening one and placing it in front of Emily who smiles and gives her a brief kiss before turning her attention back to the papers in her hands.
Wrapping her arms around Emily's waist, Paige props her chin on her shoulder and exhales. "What the hell are we going to do?" she asks, repeating her question from in front of the school.
Emily sighs. She always heard of people's kids enduring horrible taunts because their parents are gay. She even tried to figure out how to deal with it herself before they had Dominick. Now all the advice and self-help articles won't fix what's wrong. Her son deserved more than some experiment, he deserved action.
The door bell rings putting their conversation on hold. Paige moves to the door and looks through the window as she says, "Better get twenty bucks from your purse." Emily sees Paige has ushered Noel Kahn, his wife Vicki and their son David into the foyer. The three look about as uncomfortable as one would expect but Noel smiles and offers his hand to Emily as she approaches. She takes it and they shake.
Emily could always depend on Paige for a little sarcasm and she doesn't disappoint. "So – Noel. How's your day been? Ours has been peachy, thanks for asking."
Noel sighs and pushes David in front of him. "I heard some stuff went down at school today and I – we wanted to talk with you about it."
"Dominick!" Emily shouts. He comes running from the back of the house and slides to a halt next to Paige. Seeing the Kahns he glares stubbornly at David causing the other boy to cower behind his mother. "That's enough," Paige says and grabs him under his arms to pull him in front of her.
"Look, we know Dominick was the one who gave David this wonderful swollen nose and we also know he was the one who shoved him in a locker," Noel states.
"About that –" Emily says but Noel holds up his hand so he can finish what he came to say.
"But we also know what David said that made Dominick so mad. When the kids started school together I told David he needed to be nice to Dominick since other kids might make fun of him. I had no idea he'd use that talk against him later. So, this is my fault and I wanted to bring David over so we can both apologize for what he said."
Paige and Emily stand stock still – this can't possibly be the same Noel Kahn they grew up with. Vicki chooses this moment to chime in. "I trained him good, didn't I?" They all smile and push the two boys together. "Dom, tell David you're sorry," Paige says.
"Dave – I'm sorry, I shouldn't of hit you and put you in the locker. That was bad." Paige rolls her eyes at the most prepared, insincere apology she's ever heard but the time to talk about genuineness can come at a later time.
"I'm sorry for saying that stuff about your moms. I don't even know what it means anyway." David reaches out and shakes Dominick's hand which – under different circumstances – would drive Emily and Paige into a teenage giggle fest.
"We're really sorry this happened and please let us know if you all run into any problems with David again," says Vicki. At that, Noel nods to Emily and ushers his family out the door.
Paige gives them a wave before closing the door behind them. She puts her hands on her hips and tips her head as she turns to Emily, trying to look at everything from another angle because the one she's seeing is completely upside down.
"Can someone explain to me just what the hell happened?" she says.