Chapter14
Mary Margret sat behind the desk with her elbows on the marble and her face in her hands. How could she let Emma talk her into doing this again? She got so stressed out last time she thought she could go on a murderous rampage. She had to admit, she had a new found respect for what Regina did here.
She glanced up at the wall, as soon as the minute hand reached 9:00 AM, the phone started ringing. "Mayor's office," She answered as pleasantly as possible.
"I need to speak with Mayor Mill's," the woman on the other end said.
"I'm sorry she's still out. I'm the acting mayor until she returns. Who is this, maybe I can assist you," Snow replied.
"When will she be back," the lady asked?
"Umm Monday, I think," the short-haired brunette was feeling as though the woman didn't want to talk to her.
"I'll talk to the Mayor on Monday then," the woman said hanging up.
As soon as Mary Margret sat the receiver down, the phone rang again, "Mayor's office."
"Can I speak with Mayor Mills, please," a familiar voice asks?
"Blue, Hey, Mayor Mills is still out of the office until Monday. I would be glad to assist you with whatever you need," Mary Margret said.
"Thank you Snow, but this is something I must discuss with the mayor herself. Thank you anyways," the woman said before hanging up.
What in the world was going on? Did she suddenly get the plague or something? No one wanted to talk to her.
A knock on the office door pulled her attention as she sat the receiver back down on the base. She looked up and saw the two large gentlemen that the blue-eyed stranger had sent. "Mr. Smith said he called this morning?"
"Yes, he did. He said you were ready to install all the glass," it was somewhat a question?
"Yes ma'am," one of the men answer with confidence.
"Well don't let me keep you, and thank you," Snow smiled.
As two men disappeared to retrieve their tools and the glass, another man appeared in the doorway. "Is the Mayor in," he asked?
"No, she'll be back on Monday," the brunette smiled.
"Well I am the painter, Robert Johnson," he said.
Mary Margret looked up confused, "Painter?"
"Yes ma'am, I am going paint the building," the man stated.
"No one cleared that through me, and I don't have a work order for paint," Snow said looking around the papers on her desk.
"It has already been taken care of," the man smiled and walked out.
Snow had just gotten the job. She had to call and ask Regina about this before the other woman thought she couldn't handle it. Picking up the phone she dialed the Queen's number.
"Hello," came the voice.
"Hey, Regina. I have a quick question for you. Did you happen to hire a painter to paint the building, by chance," the younger woman asked?
"No, why," came the concerned replied.
"Well, a man just showed up here. I think he said his name was Robert Johnson, and he said you paid him to paint the building," Snow said uneasily.
"I certainly did not. I got a quote from him last month and he was entirely too expensive," Regina almost yelled.
Snow narrowed her eyebrows, "Well he said it was already paid for."
"What the hell is going on," Regina asked?
"Don't worry, I'll get Emma to dig into it," the younger woman said before hanging up.
Suddenly, with the talk of money, Snow remembered the missing files. She leaned down and opened the drawer. To her surprise, the drawer was full. How did they get back here she wondered?
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Henry leaned over his book scanning the pages for the answers on his worksheet. A piece of paper hit him in the back of the head and he turned around only to see Jason with a cocky grin on his face, "Momma's boy."
Henry rolled his eyes. He wasn't in the mood for this. He had much more important stuff on his mind. He turned back to his work and said nothing.
Jason was sitting with two other boys, which were cheering him on. Jason spoke again in a loud whisper, "You must be a real pussy having two moms and no dad."
Henry swallowed the anger that was starting to rise. He had to get this assignment done and this boy was totally not worth it. He didn't want to cause any trouble for his mother, well either of them, they both had enough to worry about.
"I heard what happened to your mom, whoever did that was a lucky bastard," the other boy said.
Henry tensed and clenched his fist, but the other kid continued, "Your mom is hot. I would totally do her. Don't you think so?" The text book bounced off of Jason's face, and before he could register what had happened, Henry was in his face. He grabbed the other boy by the shirt and jerked him out from behind his desk. "You want to talk about me, fine, but you say one more word about either of my moms and I will punch your face in."
The other boy, along with his friend, stood wide-eyed. Henry released the kid and turned around only to be greeted by the teacher. "Mr. Mills, you get a first class ticket to the principal's office, as do you Mr. Tanner."
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"Emma I tracked the west forest all night, he isn't there. We have to look somewhere else," Ruby said in frustration.
"Damn it, we have looked everywhere else. He has to be there," Emma's voice raised.
"He has to be moving and he is good at covering his tracks. I don't know what to tell you," Ruby threw her hand up.
Emma pinched the bridge of her nose, another headache was knocking. Suddenly her ringtone went off in her pocket. She grabbed the phone and answered, "Sheriff Swan."
"Ummm Sheriff, this is about your son, Henry again," the timid woman said.
"Please tell me he didn't skip again", she said with a sigh.
"No, ma'am. I'm afraid this is a more serious offense. He was in a fight," the woman said.
"A fight? Henry Mill's? Are you sure you have the right kid? Mine's pretty much the nicest one you could ever meet," Emma said in a surprised tone?
"Yes, I'm sure. The Principle is going to want to speak with you. Actually, he wanted to speak to Mayor Mill, but Henry begged me to call you instead," the woman explained.
"Thank you for calling. I will be there as soon as I can," the blonde said before hanging up.
Ruby's eye brows were in her hairline, "Henry got into a fight?"
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Emma sat in the waiting area in the school's office. Suddenly, she felt nervous. It like she was back in school herself. She'd sat in front of a principal more times than one could count. Regina was so going to blame her genes for Henry's behavior.
A tall slender man walked in and up to the front desk, "I'm Mr. Tanner. I was told my son was in a fight?"
The timid voice from the phone now had a face. "If you'll have a seat Mr. Tanner, the principal will be with you in a moment."
Emma watched the man sit on the opposite wall as her. He seemed both concerned, and nervous.
The door to Emma left opened and a balding older man poked his head out, "Sheriff, Mr. Tanner, you can come in?"
Emma glanced at the man, who was looking at her as they stood up and his eyes were wide. The blonde was not entirely sure what his new expression was about, but she followed him into the office.
Once they were in the office, both boys were sitting in chairs that were on opposite sides of the room. The boys 7th period teacher stood near the desk with his arms crossed. She only knew the man because the boy had begged her to come to open house with him and the Mayor. She remembers not caring for him much.
"Sheriff and Mr. Tanner, if you don't mind," the bald man motioned towards the chairs in front of his desk.
The two parents briefly looked at one another, then sat down.
"It appears that both of your boys were involved in a fight with one another," the principle said.
Emma's palms were sweating now. This principal made her feel like she was a teenager again, and she didn't like it.
The teacher uncrossed his arms and pointed towards Henry. "This one assaulted Mr. Tanner."
Henry said nothing he kept his eye on the teacher. "He threw his book at him, and then he grabbed Mr. Tanner by the shirt, and threatened him."
Emma narrowed her eyes at the teacher, "Did the other kid hit him first?"
"No Sheriff, He did not," the anal retentive man answered.
"What did the other kid say to him," she asked looking at Henry, then back to the teacher?
"I don't see the relevance of that, Sheriff. We have a no tolerance to fighting here," the man said in know it all tone.
The father stood up, and looked at his son, "What did you say to him, Jason?"
Jason's head popped up cockily, "Nothing worth getting a book thrown in my face."
Henry said nothing, his gaze seemed to zone out. Mr. Tanner stepped closer to his son. "Jason Mitchell Tanner, you have two seconds to tell me what you said to Henry"." tThe man's eyes zeroed in on the teen, and his tone was deadly, "and knock that stupid ass look off of your face."
The boy's face became more serious, "I was just joking with him like I always do."
Emma looked at Henry, "What did he say to you?"
Henry shook his head, "It doesn't matter."
"I want to know word for word what happened," Emma said, her eyes moving from one boy to the other.
The teacher sneered at the Sheriff, "Tell her Mr. Cooper, that it doesn't matter, this is a no tolerance policy."
Emma whipped her head around to the teacher, "You are very close to being escorted from this room. Did you hear the conversation before the fight began?"
"Some of it," he said pouting.
Jason's father walked over to his son," If I have to ask you one more time, I will kick your ass all the way back to the house."
Henry stood up, "He said I was a pussy first, but I ignored him, he says stuff like that all the time."
Mr. Tanner leaned over and popped Jason on the back of the head making his hair fly up. Emma put her hands on her hips and looked over at the teacher, "So, what have you been doing to stop this bullying?"
"Sheriff Swan, kids are kids, they say things all the time. It doesn't mean they should turn to violence", the teacher said.
She clenched her fist, but looked back at Henry, "What did he say after that? "
Henry looked Emma in the eyes and saw tears. "He said he heard what happened to mom and that whoever did it was lucky, and then he said he would do her."
Mr. Tanner reached over grabbing his son by his ear, "Are you kidding me? Why in the hell would you say something like that?"
Emma kept Henry's gaze for a second, as she watched the tears fall from his eyes. She then turned back to the teacher, "You mean to tell me, that you heard the things being said and did nothing to stop it?"
The man held his chin up, "Like I said, Sheriff Swan, kids will be kids. Words are just words?"
Emma stepped closer to the teacher. "Look here, you candy ass piece of shit. I know for a fact that the school handbook has an entire page on no tolerance of bullying. Yet you witnessed bullying, and did nothing?"
Mr. Tanner stepped towards the principal's desk, "Is this how you run your school? I could have stopped this, had I been told what was going on."
Mr. Cooper looked a little shell shocked. He turned to the teacher, "Is this true Mr. Goff? You heard and seen the bullying taking place and you failed to report it or stop it?"
"Kids say things like that all the time, they don't mean anything by it," the teacher said.
Mr. Tanner punched the man in the nose, "Report that. You have put all of the children in the school at danger, including my own son." He turned to the principal, "As long as he is teaching here, my son will not be attending."
Mr. Cooper turned to the teacher, "I agree with Mr. Tanner. You have twenty minutes to gather your belongings and leave the school premises. You are no longer employed here."
Mr. Goff stared wide eyed as he held his bleeding nose, "You're firing me, all because the Mayor's kid got called a few names?"
"Good day Mr. Goff," The principal snapped.
"There is a mandatory two-day suspension", Mr. Cooper added.
Mr. Tanner spoke to his son, "Jason grab your bag and say good bye to all friends. Say goodbye to anything electronic, because you won't be seeing any of then for a long while."
The boy nodded, now afraid after seeing him punch the teacher. He stood following his father out.
After the door closed the principal looked at Henry, "I still need to speak with Mayor Mills on this topic. Technically, she is your primary guardian."
"Please no, Mr. Cooper. My mom has been through enough, she can't handle anymore," Henry pleaded.
"Look, Mr. Cooper, I promise we will deal with this, but right now it has to be between us. Regina is not ready for any more worry," Emma explained.
Mr. Cooper sighed, "All right, but I will be in touch with you Sheriff. The suspension starts tomorrow."
"Thank you very much," Emma said as she and Henry took their leave.
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Emma killed the engine to the bug outside the apartment, but didn't get out. The whole ride back had been silent. Henry hadn't said anything. Emma didn't want to push him. She figured he would talk to her when he was ready. She totally understood when it came to losing one's temper.
"Are you going to be able to put on your poker face," Emma asked her son?
He took a deep breath and then blew it out, "I am going to try."
"We need to talk later when you're ready, okay", she said?
He just nodded and gave her a weak smile, before he opened the door and got out. Emma followed. She had that nervous feeling in her stomach. This would have been the second time in two days she'd kept something from Regina. Not to mention everything Henry was been dealing with. The blonde wished her son would have told one of his mother's sooner about the bullying. She knew why he didn't, and she knew if she were in his shoes she wouldn't have either.
Emma followed her son into the apartment. Regina stood in front of the stove stirring something. She turned to say hi to her son, but he headed straight for the stairs to his room.
The Queen looked at Emma with a worry, "What's the matter with Henry?"
Emma put on a fake smile, "Oh him, he's just tired. It's been a long day."
Regina looked at her for a moment then when back to cooking. The blonde didn't want to seem awkward so she said, "It smells good, what's for dinner?"
The Sheriff walked up behind the brunette to see what she was cooking. As she peered over the older woman's shoulder, Emma pressed her breast into the mayor's back. Of course the blonde didn't notice at first until she heard the other woman gasp.
Emma stepped back and swallowed, "Sorry. I didn't mean to," she didn't finish the sentence. Instead, she changed the subject, "I'm going to get out of your way and go chill on the roof until dinner."
The Sheriff opened the refrigerator and took a beer from the bottom shelf. She was a little embarrassed, so she avoided the brunette's eyes as she retreated to the roof. Once she was outside she let out the breath she had been holding, and opened the bottle in her hand.
Tossing the cap onto the little table, she plopped down into the nearest lawn chair. What a day. She had spent the whole day traipsing through the forest, and still no Robin. Now her kid gets into a fight, because some idiot has been bullying him.
She took a long swig of the cold beer. Oh, responsibilities do suck ass, she thought to herself.
She heard the door behind her open, but she didn't have the energy to turn and see who it was.
She watched as Henry walked passed her to the edge or the roof. For a moment he just stared off, then he turned and sat on the ledge facing Emma.
"I really tried," he said.
Emma knew what he was talking about, "I know kid."
He looked down at his shoes then back at her, "I don't care what they call me, but I couldn't let him say that about her." His voice cracked.
Emma sat the beer down on the table, walked over to him, "I know. It's hard. Why didn't you tell us, Henry, before this happened."
"Because before it didn't matter. I don't care what those idiots say about me, they've called me names for as long as I can remember," Henry said.
"You said he called you a pussy. Why" she asked as she now stared down at the street.
"Because I have two moms and no dad," Henry said. "It didn't make me mad that he said something about you and mom being together. But when he talked like it was okay for Robin to hurt her. Then to make disgusting comments like he did, I couldn't take it, he had to shut up."
Henry was now sniffling, and Emma pulled his head into her chest, "I know kid, I would have done the same thing.
"If mom finds out, she will be so upset. I am so sorry Ma, if she finds out you kept this from her, she will be so mad at you. It could ruin everything you guys have been working towards", He said sobbing.
"I'll handle your mom kid. If she gets mad, I'll just beg for her forgiveness. But I do agree with you, it's probably not a good idea for her to know this right now," Emma said squeezing the boy gently.