Chapter 108.
"They were bullying my brother. I had to do something."
Molly glanced up, her expression expectant, "Go on."
"They were bullying my brother," Scott repeated, the words slower and more exaggerated, "I had to do something. Would you like that in writing as well?"
Virgil's shoulders ascended to his ears as Molly put down her tablet, laced her fingers together and scowled, "You're on thin ice, Tracy. I feel the need to remind you that we already have all the necessary evidence to exclude you on the spot. We've got CCTV footage of the assault, upcoming statements from both victims, a testimony from Miss Anderson, and a witness statement from Ms Clements, providing she agrees to give one. I advise against adding disrespectful behaviour to the list."
A dismissive snort from Scott had Virgil wading back in to act as his unofficial attorney, "With respect, Ms Perkins, I don't think you should be so quick to dismiss my brother's claims of bullying. I can attest to the fact that our younger brother, Gordon, has been behaving differently of late. He no longer finishes his dinner, has complained repeatedly of his possessions going missing, and is very anxious on mornings when we have school. Surely this needs to be taken into account as well?'
Molly re-activated the audio feature on her tablet and sighed, "It may provide grounds for a supervised peer mediation session, but I'm afraid we have no evidence to charge Jayden or Levi with the accusation you're levelling at them. Would Gordon be willing to provide a statement to back up your claim?"
Scott and Virgil looked at each other before shaking their heads in perfect unison.
"Then I'm afraid I'm unable to take this conversation further," Molly announced, relinquishing her hold on her tablet and hitting the intercom button, "Justine? Any luck with getting through to the boy's next of kin?"
"I'm afraid not," came the reluctant reply, "Their father's last recorded position was eighty kilometres shy of Venus's upper atmosphere, and their grandmother is currently in the middle of performing cataract surgery. The non-relative emergency contact they have listed is Lord Creighton-Ward of Great Britain, but it's three in the morning there right now."
Molly's expression softened somewhat. She was good enough at her job to not fall into the hole of asking about their mother, "Well, I need someone to escort Scott off the grounds. I'm afraid I can't have him unsupervised after his behaviour today."
"I'll try Lord Creighton-Ward's associate…someone by the name of Aloysius Parker," there was a brief pause as Justine muttered something to herself, "I'll update you as soon as I've made contact."
Silence descended over the room.
"You'll receive a phone call from me in the next twenty four hours," Molly began, inclining her head with an air of finality, "I can't inform you of the exact nature of your punishment until I have reviewed all of the evidence. Please allow up to three working days for a decision to be made, however I would advise you to cease any university applications you may be in the middle of completing. Unprovoked assault of this nature has resulted in permanent suspension in the past, although you will of course be welcome to bring any new evidence to the hearing that will be scheduled at the end of the term."
Virgil felt his composure slip as thoughts of Scott's Oxford application flitted across his mind. His brother had slaved over those two pieces of paper for months, staying up well into the early hours of the morning to cram in as much research and writing as possible. Lucy had been thrilled when he'd made the choice to study in Europe.
It was all too much to bear. Lucy's death, Jeff's absence, Gordon's bullying, and now Scott's imminent exclusion.
"Won't you please reconsider?" Virgil pleaded, gesturing to his alarmingly catatonic brother, "He's got the highest GPA in his class and hasn't had a single detention throughout his entire academic career. Surely those things have to count in his favour? I could get one hundred signatures from people who would vouch for his integrity by the end of the day. By lunchtime, probably!"
Molly shot Virgil a look of genuine sympathy, "I understand your distress, Virgil. And, believe it or not, I understand your lack of a reaction, Scott. But I'm afraid neither of you have any evidence to reinforce your claims aside from each other's statements, and family bias will diminish their credibility."
"I have evidence."
Virgil and Scott had less than a second to assign an identity to the new voice before John strode through the door, Justine on his heels.
"Apologies, ma'am," the young secretary blurted, "He said he had important information to forward to you and that it couldn't wait. The metal detectors didn't pick anything up, so I figured it was safe to allow him through."
"It's fine, Justine," Molly reassured, "Whatever it is, I'll handle it."
Scott opened his mouth to request a reason for John's sudden arrival, but clamped it shut when his redheaded brother tossed his phone onto Molly's desk.
"Files eight through eleven contain audio recordings of Gordon's interactions with both Jayden and Levi on five separate occasions. File nine in particular includes them threatening him with blackmail if he discloses the full extent of his ordeal to anyone. Files twelve, thirteen and fourteen contain video footage I shot of them accosting him during lunch and in the corridors between lessons. Twelve might be of particular interest to you, as it shows them confiscating a number of articles from his pockets and rucksack. Scott hasn't seen the footage, but should be able to provide you with a list of all of the stolen items regardless. That alone should act as evidence for his bullying claim."
Molly's face barely shifted, but she turned to Scott nonetheless and motioned for him to carry on from where John had left off.
Buoyed by the arrival of his ginger brother, Scott re-entered the fray, "The items that I seized from Jayden's bag earlier included a blue and pink plush seahorse with Gordon's initials written on the manufacturer's label, a maths workbook with Gordon's name on, three Fibre One bars that you can lift Gordon's fingerprints from if you feel so inclined, a starfish-themed ruler, and a brand new packet of colouring pencils with the nine dollar price tag still attached."
Pen met paper as Molly scribbled down the file names John had quoted and the items Scott had listed. Her expression was still unreadable, but she seemed to be taking them seriously.
"Would you be willing to provide a witness statement?" she quizzed, fixing John with her over-the-glasses stare.
The redhead gave a firm nod, "Absolutely."
"Very well," Molly scribbled something at the base of the page before sliding it over towards the three brothers, "I need you all to sign there please. Copies will be made available if you request them, but I must reiterate that this is still very much an open case. I will review the new evidence you have presented and incorporate it into the action plan I'll devise, providing both of your accounts marry up. In the meantime, you are all dismissed until morning registration tomorrow. John, Virgil, I'll expect you in classes as normal. I am unable to comment further on your case, Scott, but can offer the reassurance that your suspension will not be carried out if this new evidence backs up the statements you and John have made. I will notify you when I have finished my review, but until then, you are on temporary suspension with full student status. That essentially means that this event won't form part of your permanent record unless we discover the new evidence to have been fabricated. You may use your suspension time to continue work on your university applications."
Virgil and John went limp with elation, while Scott felt his eyes well with relief.
"Hospital and then bed, Tracy. Dismissed."
-x-
It was a very nervous Gordon and very grouchy Alan that met the eldest three at the fountain later that afternoon.
"Where have you been?" Gordon demanded, his caramel eyes engulfing half his face, "I couldn't find any of you at lunch!"
Scott didn't have the energy to answer. Alan seemed traumatised by the packet of peas he was holding against his wounded eye, and he simply didn't have the resilience for a second sleepless night.
"Big kid stuff," Virgil replied, fishing his car keys out of his pocket and steamrolling his way towards the carpark, "Nothing for you to worry about."
"Not any more, at least," John muttered, shepherding the youngest two into line as Scott strode ahead and dumped their bags into the boot of Virgil's Jeep.
The drive home was surprisingly quiet, but in a comforting kind of way. Virgil was looking forward to not being on parent duty the following morning. Scott was looking forward to a well-deserved early night. Alan was looking forward to showing off the Lego figures he'd made during art class. Gordon was looking forward to his evening swim lesson, and John…John was looking forward to simply getting on with his life again.
It was a significantly happier Gordon that polished off his dinner later that evening before curling up on the sofa with a movie. Scott had cancelled their swim session and gone to bed early, leaving him with the entire evening free. He'd completed all his homework and given it to John to check over, picked out his clothes for the following day, and even managed to sneak a chocolate biscuit. All in all, he was feeling happier than he had done in a while.
Gordon was no fool. He'd made the connection between Levi and Jayden's absence and Scott's busted face. He didn't need an adult to tell him that his eldest brother had well and truly taken his bullies off the map.
When his teacher gave him the task of writing an essay on his hero or heroine the following day, he chose his subject without hesitation.
-x-
A sharp yip from Celery jolted Gordon out of the memory he'd been immersed in.
"I dunno, girl," the aquanaut mused, biting his lip as Virgil and John began tracking Scott and Kayo across the ice like a pair of dingoes, "I reckon we need to cut Mr Flyboy over there a break, or at least hear his side of the story before we kick his butt into the middle of next week."
Somewhere in an Arizonian farmhouse, across the realms of time and space, his middle school self nodded in agreement.
"Whaddya say?" Gordon asked, peering down at his doggy daughter, "Fight the good fight, or go get snow cones?"
Another yip, accompanied by a tail wag.
"Excellent choice. I'll get my skates and ukulele."
