Chapter 2 At the School
The following morning, Ziva checked Beth for bruises and found two on her arm, one very definitely a hand shape. She took pictures of both bruises and asked Beth about them. Beth thought they were from being grabbed by the arm by one of the teachers, but she wasn't sure which one.
Tony decided to drive the girls to school after Ziva showed him the bruises on Beth. He asked Ziva if she wanted to go with him, but she had to help Anthony get another part of his science project to school. "I will meet you at the elementary school after I drop off Anthony."
Since Tali was driving herself to school, only LJ would have gone on the bus, so Tony told him to get in with his sisters. He drove the three youngest kids to the school and parked in the visitor's space by the main entrance. "Do you want me to walk to your classroom with you?" he asked the girls.
"No, Abba," Rivka was quick to reply.
"We're good, Abba," Beth echoed her sister.
Tony went into the main office and signed the visitors' log. He sat in one of the chairs and waited for Ziva to arrive. One of the office workers asked Tony who he was there to see, and he replied that he wanted to see the principal, Mr. Benton. "He should be in his office in about half an hour. Do you mind waiting?"
"No, I can wait until he has a free moment. My wife is also on the way."
The woman looked at the sign-in log, "Oh, Mr. DiNozzo! I will let him know that you're here. He definitely wants to meet with you."
"Okay, please make sure that he knows that my wife is also going to be here for the meeting." As Tony was responding, Ziva walked in the door. She walked over to Tony, and he turned to her, "We should be meeting in about half an hour."
Ziva nodded and the couple sat back in the waiting area. The bell for the beginning of the school day rang. A few minutes later, the assistant principal came on the P.A. "Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance." Ziva and Tony stood, facing the flag on the wall behind the office desks. They recited the Pledge with the rest of the school and Ziva noted that two of the office workers did not participate. One of them was watching her and it made Ziva uncomfortable.
After the assistant principal had everyone take their seats, she began reading the daily announcements. Ziva turned to Tony, her voice almost a whisper, "Do you see that woman in the back watching me? She did not say the Pledge, and she watched me the whole time. She is watching us now."
Tony took Ziva's hand in his, and glanced around the room. The woman was indeed watching Ziva and him. She glared at Tony and wrote something on a note pad. "She's a bit creepy, if you ask me," Tony whispered back. Ziva nodded her head, and Tony squeezed her hand. "Ignore her if you can; I'm not going to give her a second thought."
"I will try," Ziva turned slightly towards Tony, and leaned her head on his shoulder. Tony watched the woman scowl at them. He thought about saying something in Hebrew to Ziva, just loud enough for the woman to hear, but then thought better of it.
The principal, Mr. Benton, came into the office from his morning stroll around the school. He believed in being visible to the students during the day, walking every hallway in the morning, and having lunch with students in the cafeteria. "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo, I will be with you in about fifteen minutes."
"Thank you," Ziva responded.
The phone on the creepy woman's desk rang; she answered it and then moved to Tony and Ziva. "Mr. Benton asked me to show you to the conference room. Follow me." She spoke to Tony and seemed to be ignoring Ziva. They followed her down a short hallway to the conference room. She motioned for the couple to enter the room.
As Ziva walked past, the woman said, "I'm watching you. I don't like foreigners, you know, especially your kind."
Tony heard the comment and turned to his wife, "Zi, nassi lehishaer regu'ah, tov?" (Try to stay calm, okay?) The woman glared at Tony and then again at Ziva. Tony could see the anger building in Ziva and if it was half of what he felt, God help the woman if she said anything else.
Ziva smiled at the woman as she replied to Tony, "Ken, ani anessah." (Yes, I will try.)
The couple took seats at the conference table side by side. Tony intertwined his fingers with Ziva's and gently squeezed her hand. She looked at him and they spoke volumes with their eyes. Both were too angry to speak in words.
The principal walked into the conference room. "We have a rather interesting situation with the girls." Ziva and Tony nodded their agreement. "From what they told me, I believe they acted in self-defense. From what the teacher involved claims, Beth and Rivka attacked her without provocation. The classroom aide who witnessed most of the incident backs the twins' version. Do you have anything to add before I call in the various individuals involved?"
Ziva scrolled through the pictures on her phone as Tony spoke, "We have pictures of hand-shaped bruises on both girls' arms. I also have a voice recording of some things your office aide said to my wife this morning. Based on Rivka and Beth's comments to us last night, I believe there's more than just some harmless pranks going on here."
Ziva showed Mr. Benton the pictures of her daughters' arms with the bruises. He asked her to send them to him via message, which she promptly did. Tony pulled up the voice recording he had made while he and Ziva were being escorted to the conference room. Mr. Benton asked Tony to forward the voice file to his email.
"I want an explanation for the comments made to my children," Ziva spoke for the first time. "I also want to know why some adult grabbed both girls hard enough to leave bruises."
Tony added, "I also want an apology to my wife for the comments made this morning and to my daughters for the comments made to them about my wife." Tony was livid, but tried to remain calm. Ziva squeezed his hand in hers, showing her support for his requests. "Legally, I am not sure if there are other avenues we can pursue, but I do want something on the record about the comments from the teacher in question and the office person to my family. It is unacceptable to me to have my family treated with disrespect."
"I agree with you, Mr. DiNozzo. Mrs. DiNozzo, I apologize for the comments and tell you that those types of comments are unacceptable to me and I will deal with the individuals involved. Let me call in the aide first. The principal went into his office and called the aide to the conference room.
A few minutes later, a tall man walked into the conference room; Tony and Ziva both rose and shook his hand.
"Tony DiNozzo."
"Ziva DiNozzo."
"Jeremy Mason."
They all sat at the table and Mr. Benton asked the aide to tell his version of what had happened. The man's version corroborated that the teacher had made the first contact with Beth, grabbing her by the arm as she walked past. He had also heard the evil twin comments and the other nasty words. Tony and Ziva both thanked him for coming forward to give a witness statement.
"I just want the truth to be told and to help the twins. They are two of the nicest and most considerate students in the fifth grade. I wish we had a lot more like them. You should be proud of your daughters, Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo."
"Thank you," Tony smiled at the man.
"Yes, thank you. We have tried to be sure all of the children show respect to everyone." Ziva explained.
Mr. Benton thanked the aide and opened the door for the man to leave. He called the next teacher in to the room. The male teacher had a student with him. The girl looked at the adults seated at the table with wide eyes, shrinking back slightly. Tony and Ziva stood and shook hands with the teacher.
"Ziva DiNozzo."
"Andrew Light."
"Tony DiNozzo."
"This is Kaelyn Hadad. She came to me this morning to tell me what she saw and heard. Mr. Benton asked me to bring her to this meeting."
Ziva held her hand out to the girl, "Hi. Thank you for speaking up. I am Mrs. DiNozzo." The girl shyly reached out and shook Ziva's hand.
All of them sat back down at the table, and Kaelyn told what she had seen and heard, corroborating the twins' version of the events. "And Mrs. Griffith said the mean words to Beth loud enough for the whole class to hear. She has called them and me 'little terrorists' in front of the whole class many times before. I don't understand why she says those things."
"You are brave and strong, Kaelyn. Do not let the name calling by one ignorant person change who you are," Ziva smiled at the girl, giving her a thumbs' up gesture. "Thank you for telling us this information."
Mr. Benton also thanked Kaelyn for speaking up and sent her back to her class. He turned to Mr. Light, "Thank you for encouraging her to speak out. Would you please tell Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo what you saw and heard?"
Mr. Light's version of the altercation also corroborated the twins' story. Tony and Ziva made eye contact as the principal went to his office to call Beth and Rivka from class.
"I think the pattern is quite clear at this point," Ziva spoke quietly to Tony. "This teacher has a problem that begins with bigotry."
Tony nodded his agreement, "She's not the only one, and it seems to be directed at more than just our kids. I wonder if it's more than the twins and Kaelyn currently. Tali and Anthony may also be able to tell us if others in their classes were treated similarly."
A few minutes later, Rivka showed up alone and in tears. "Where's Beth?" Tony asked.
"She was not allowed to come with me," Rivka explained to the adults. "Mrs. Griffith said that if we were allowed to leave together that we would blow up the school or kill people or worse. Why did she say such a mean thing?" Rivka's tears ran down her face as her Ima hugged her.
Ziva sighed, "I wish I knew yaldati." Tony rubbed Rivka's back with his hand. He was too angry to say anything, but he knew he could at least provide a comforting touch to his number two ninja.
"I'm going to get Beth myself," Mr. Benton moved to leave the conference room. "Mr. DiNozzo, would you come with me, please? We'll be back as quickly as possible." He and Tony walked silently to the fifth grade wing. They got to the classroom and entered, looking for Beth. Tony didn't see her at her desk or anywhere in the classroom, for that matter. "Where is Elizabeth DiNozzo?" the principal asked.
Mrs. Griffith looked at him with an angry look in her eyes. She said nothing and glared at Mr. Benton, Tony, and the students in the room. Several of the students fidgeted at their desks and kept glancing towards the closet in the back of the room. Tony noticed their eyes shifting and followed to where they were looking. He strode angrily to the closet and tried to turn the knob. It was locked.
He turned to the boy sitting nearest, "Is my daughter in here?" pointing to the closet. The boy nodded and tried to speak.
"If you say one word, James Washington, you will be disciplined for speaking without permission," Mrs. Griffith glared threateningly at the boy. James looked among the adults, confused and scared.
Tony moved by the boy's side, "It's okay, James, you won't get in trouble, I promise. Is Beth in the closet?"
"Ye-e-es, sir," James spoke almost in a whisper. "SHE," pointing to the teacher, "made Beth go in the closet for punishment when Rivka left to go to the office. Please don't let her put me in there too."
"OPEN IT NOW!" Tony shouted at the teacher as Mr. Benton moved to get the key from the woman. Tony tried to control his temper, knowing that going into Papa Bear mode would not be helping matters any.
"ABBA, help me," Beth cried from the closet, her voice muffled. Tony could tell she had been crying. He was also glad that Ziva had stayed behind with Rivka in the conference room. One angry and upset parent in the classroom was one too many, although if Ziva had come with them, she probably would have picked the lock already. Tony looked over the door, noting the hinge pins were on the outside. He would tear the door off its hinges if he had to do so to free his daughter.
Mr. Benton passed by Tony with the key and unlocked the door. Beth ran to her father, "Abba!" Her tears ran down her face as Tony hugged her to him.
"It's going to be okay, Beth…" Tony rubbed her back with his hand and placed a kiss on her head. "Come with us to the conference room; Riv will be glad to see you." Tony steered his number three ninja towards the door of the classroom, his arm firmly around her shoulder.
Mr. Benton told James to follow the two and sat down at the teacher's desk. He called the assistant principal on the phone to have her come to sit with the class, telling her that he would explain when she got there.
Tony walked back to the conference room with Beth and James. He asked both of them about punishments involving the closet and being locked inside. Both kids confirmed what Tony suspected; the teacher used confinement to the closet as punishment with certain children in the classroom.
James hesitated, then blurted out, "She puts kids she calls names in the closet, sir. She calls me and Jasmine 'cotton picker slave descendants,' Riv, Beth, and Kaelyn 'terrorists in training,' and Amy Ly and Jason Fong 'Asian dogs.' Why does she do that, Mr. DiNozzo?"
Tony suspected that she called them worse names and the boy didn't want to repeat the names. He wanted to go back and slap the stupid out of the woman at the boy's words, but he stayed calm. "I don't know why some people are so bigoted, James. Thank you for helping Beth and for telling me this."
Tony opened the conference room door and motioned for the two children to go inside. Ziva spotted Beth and ran to hug her daughter. She stroked Beth's hair and wiped tears from her face. "Are you okay, yaldati?"
"I am now, Ima," Beth hugged her Ima and waved to her twin.
Ziva looked at James and then at Tony with a questioning look. "I'll explain when Mr. Benton returns," Tony looked into Ziva's gaze, letting her know that he had a lot more to say with his eyes. Ziva could see the anger in his face and eyes. Whatever had happened had brought out an anger in Tony that Ziva had only seen a few times before.