Why Me Ima?
Beth gets bullied at school by a mean girl with the same name. March 2028
A/N This is a work of fiction, loosely based on an incident with a friend's grandson. Any resemblance to a real person is purely coincidental. I take no responsibility for your interpretation of the work of fiction.
Ziva rushed into the elementary school's office; after the call that her youngest two had been involved in a playground fight, she'd made record speed to the school. Neither Beth nor LJ were fighters; that was the main reason she was so concerned. Had it been Rivka, she would have sighed and not been as worried.
"Ima," LJ looked up from the plastic chair on which he was seated next to his sister. Ziva nodded to acknowledge her son and turned to the office staff behind the counter.
"I am here to meet with the assistant principal regarding two of my children," she explained to the young woman at the reception desk.
"Please sign in Mrs. DiNozzo; I will let Ms. Stephens know you are here," the younger woman indicated to the computerized visitors' log tablet. She raised the handset on her desk phone and punched in four numbers. "Mrs. DiNozzo is here."
She turned to Ziva and gestured towards the chairs where the two children were already waiting. "Have a seat; she said it'll be about ten to fifteen minutes. I'll let you know when things are ready."
"Thank you." Ziva moved over by LJ and Beth. The two moved apart so their Ima could sit between them. She wrapped an arm around the six- and eight-year-olds as she sat between them. "No matter what Abba and I always love you," she spoke softly to her offspring.
"Ima, it was that mean girl's fault," LJ leaned against his mother. He had no idea what kind of trouble he was in, and since he was only in kindergarten, he had no first-hand experience with the school's discipline system. He was trying to put on his best brave front, but inside the little boy was terrified.
Beth nodded agreement against her Ima's other side, "She is very mean. Same one as always, Ima."
"What happened this time?" Ziva asked for more details.
"It started in science. You know, one of the subjects we have with our partner class. She is in that other class. She took my worksheet that I had just finished from my desk. I was putting away the measuring tools before I put my paper in the drop box." Beth sniffled slightly, trying not to cry. "She said, 'It has my name on it, so it is my work.' She gave it to her teacher."
"I was angry, but Riv had an extra worksheet at her table so she let me copy the answers onto a new paper. I turned that one in for my work, but Ima, that mean girl Beth did NOTHING and she stole my paper. It was wrong of her. She also pulled Tommy's hair twice. She almost made Jessie cry when she scribbled all over Jessie's paper with black marker."
Ziva pulled her daughter into her side tighter; she was livid that her daughter and others had yet again been harassed by the mean child and nothing seemed to have been done about it. Ziva was trying not to slide into 'Mama Bear' mode and lose her cool.
"Today was grades K through 2 open recess; that's why LJ was outside with us," Beth added. She was about to go into more detail when a parent burst into the office.
"WHERE IS MY BABY GIRL?" the woman boomed angrily at the office staff. "WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE LETTING ALL OF THE OTHER KIDS CONSTANTLY BULLY HER?"
One of the older office staff stepped to the counter, "Mrs. Linder, your daughter is in the small conference room. We had to put her in there to isolate her when she started one of her tantrums."
"SHE DOES NOT HAVE TANTRUMS. She has special needs, and she overreacts to stimuli. She is not to be blamed for her behavior when the other kids taunt her. You people KNOW that she is…"
The assistant principal entered the main office area from the hallway that led to her office and the conference rooms. "Mrs. Linder, your child is in the small conference room; I will take you to her. Mrs. DiNozzo, I will be back to take you, Beth, and LJ to the large conference room."
"BETH? Beth DiNozzo?" Mrs. Linder turned to glare at the youngest DiNozzo daughter. She pointed angrily at the child, "THAT is the bully. She is the one who steals my baby's school papers, the one who pushes and pokes her, pulls my child's hair, and teases her mercilessly. SHE is the one who instigates the attacks on my Bethie from the other children. My baby has developmental challenges, so the other children bully her. There's the child with the problems, not my baby."
Ziva bit the inside of her lip to keep from saying something she would regret later. She pulled her two a bit tighter against her torso, protecting her offspring. LJ sat open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the words he'd just heard. That loud woman couldn't be any more wrong about his sister!
Ms. Stephens returned for the DiNozzos and led them to the larger conference room. Ziva sat at one end of the table and motioned for Beth and LJ to sit on the far side from the door while Ms. Stephens retrieved the Linders. Within minutes, the three children, the two mothers, and the assistant principal were seated around the table in the room. The families were at opposite ends of the table with the assistant principal in the center of the side closest to the door.
Ziva watched as the woman spoke; the other Beth was fidgeting in her chair and then started wandering around the room. The child's mother ignored her as she emptied the pens from a cup onto the floor.
"Beth DiNozzo, I understand that you had an incident with Beth Linder earlier today?"
"Yes. ma'am. She stole my science worksheet and turned in my work to her teacher," the youngest DiNozzo daughter replied. "I said she could be my partner for the science lab because no one else wanted to work with her. She also wrote on Jessie's paper with black marker and pulled Tommy's hair."
Ms. Stephens turned to the other Beth, who was picking the leaves off a plant by the window, "Beth Linder, did you take Beth DiNozzo's science work?" She repeated the question when the child ignored her. After being ignored again, the woman addressed the child's mother, "Your daughter has been accused of stealing the assignment of another child and submitting it as her own work. Beth DiNozzo's classroom teacher supports this allegation with first-hand witnessing of the incident."
"My child would never do such a thing; that little thief is accusing my daughter of what SHE is doing to my poor baby," Mrs. Linder jabbed a finger in the direction of the DiNozzos. "And she gets her brother and others to do her nasty taunting and bullying of my Bethie."
Beth looked at her Ima and started to open her mouth; Ziva shook her head slightly to let her daughter know to remain quiet. LJ also got the nonverbal message from his mother. Ziva bit the inside of her lip to keep quiet; let this woman dig her own hole. Ziva watched the girl slink closer to her family as she listened to the conversation.
"Mrs. Linder, we have multiple witnesses that clearly support that YOUR daughter is the one who stole another child's paper. And that YOUR child is the instigator of the altercation on the playground. Two of the playground aides and a teacher clearly heard YOUR daughter telling Beth DiNozzo that her name could not be Beth and that she had better change it or she would pay. YOUR daughter started the physical contact by pinching the other child. Her brother came to defend his sister and was kicked in the crotch by YOUR child," the assistant principal gave the details to all.
"They are all liars. Just because my baby has special needs, everyone picks on her and bullies her. She…"
Mrs. Linder was interrupted by a shriek from LJ.
"If you pinch my son again, I WILL slap your hand," Ziva glared at the child with the unruly mass of curly hair.
"Mommy, that lady pinched me and then yelled at me," Beth Linder started crying and ran to her mother. "Make them stop being mean to me."
"Excuse me; young lady, we do not tolerate lying," Ms. Stephens had also seen the entire incident unfold.
"HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE MY CHILD OF LYING!" Mrs. Linder erupted. "There, there, baby, it's okay. The mean people are bad. You are special and Mommy believes you." She stroked the child's head as she spoke.
"That is enough!" Ziva could keep quiet no longer. "Mrs. Linder, I do not care if your child has all the accommodations in the world, being developmentally challenged is not an excuse for acting like a spoiled brat and a jerk. I saw her pinch my son's neck; it happened too quickly for me to stop her. I think your daughter owes my son an apology for kicking him and for pinching him. Aggravated battery is not excusable." She turned to LJ, "Please stand up and show the others the back of your neck where you were pinched."
LJ did as his Ima asked; the large red welt on the back of his neck was extremely obvious. Ziva was sure he would have a bruise by bedtime. "It hurts, Ima!"
Ms. Stephens continued with the recap of the playground incident, "Beth and LJ, did you tackle the other Beth?"
"Yes, ma'am." Both DiNozzo children confessed to their part in the fight.
"She wouldn't stop poking me in the chest and telling me that I couldn't be named Beth."
LJ added his part, "She pinched my sister and then kicked me. The only way that I could try to get her to leave us alone was to get her on the ground."
"Again, for the parents, we have several witnesses who corroborate the DiNozzo children's version of what happened," the assistant principal made direct eye contact with Mrs. Linder.
"My child does not lie," the woman replied, breaking eye contact. "She is the victim, not the bully. She…" The woman's daughter interrupted her mother with a loud raging scream as she pounded her fists on the table.
"That's her tantrum, Ima," Beth quietly spoke to her mother. "It's not pretty is it?"
Ziva sighed softly; her own child could see that the other Beth had serious problems. LJ looked at his mother with a questioning look. The screaming and ranting scared him; he had never seen anyone act that way.
"Why did she choose me to pick on, Ima?"
Ziva shrugged as she watched Ms. Stephens help Mrs. Linder herd her daughter to the small conference room. "I do not know, yaldati. You have been nice to her and tried to be helpful. You did nothing wrong." She pulled Beth into a hug and then reached over for LJ to draw him into the hug. "Both of you did nothing wrong. You tried to stand up to a bully and did not use force until you had to. It was probably not a good idea to tackle her though."
LJ shifted so he could look at his Ima, "Somebody needs to teach those people to be nice to others. Are we in trouble?"
"We shall have to wait to see what Ms. Stephens says."
"Okay."
The assistant principal returned to the room. She sat opposite the DiNozzos at their end of the table. "I cannot justify any consequences other than one day of missed recess for each of you for the tackling. LJ since this is your first offense ever, you will not have to serve and if there are no more incidents for the remainder of the school year, your record will be cleared.
"Beth, you also have a clean record so far. You will have to miss the one recess, but assuming no further incidents this school year, then you will again have a clean slate. Both of you should know that if you are harassed or bullied, you can always come to me or tell another adult. You both may now return to your classrooms," she added.
Ziva hugged her two and watched them walk towards their classes. She turned to Ms. Stephens, "I know that I cannot legally get any information on the other child, but please can you at least assure me that she will get help?"
"Unfortunately, that is out of our hands now; the mother is withdrawing the child from school to home school her," the other woman shook her head with a sad expression. "At least we do know that she will not bully any other children at this school."