Chapter 7: Ranger's POV (Tues., Sept. 6th)
Today, I met with a significant client, Vincent Gomez. He is a wealthy business owner whose wife's family has political aspirations. He owns several commercial buildings around town, so if we can get the contract for his home, we also have a good chance of landing the corporate account. I told everyone that I was unavailable during this meeting.
Reviewing his concerns, we sat at his kitchen table when my phone rang. Fortunately, I have it on silent so I can ignore the ring. When the phone starts ringing again, I look at the caller ID and see it's Lester. If it were anyone else, I'd ignore the call, but maybe something is wrong with my Babe.
"Excuse me, Mr. Gomez. One of my partners is calling. I have to take this call. I walk outside, then answer tersely, "Talk."
I hear Stephanie's voice on the other end and the anxiety coming through the lines. I'm listening to what she is saying and getting angrier by the second. I'm glad that everything is being covered between Lester and Stephanie. I tell my Steph that I'll be leaving here in five. Now, to smooth things over with Mr. Gomez.
I walk back into the kitchen, politely interrupting the conversation, "Excuse me, Mr. Gomez, but I'm afraid I must leave now. There is a situation with my daughter at her school. I'm unsure what is happening, but my ex-wife's sister-in-law is causing problems. I need to address the situation. My fiancé is en route, but she is not Julie's guardian yet."
"I understand. You go and take care of your daughter. Call me when we can reschedule. I know my wife would like a female's perspective, so if you can bring one of your female staff members, we may be able to sign with you on the spot." Gomez responds.
"Thank you for understanding. I'll contact you either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning."
I gathered my paperwork, and Slick said his farewell. We head out of the house to the car and jump in. I drive to Julie's school, intent on getting there as quickly as possible. In the meantime, I place a call to my dear brother.
"Javier Manoso," he answers his phone.
"What the fuck is going on regarding Julie's custody? How is Rita being called to her school instead of me? I thought we took care of this." I bark into the phone.
"We did, Carlos, but Rita went to a judge this morning and got the custody changed. She showed the judge the unflattering articles about Stephanie and the rape accusation from Rachel. The judge she went to is new and doesn't know your or Rangeman's reputation. Victor found out about it, called me while he was going to the courthouses, and should have everything straightened out by now."
"But why did Rita suddenly go? Why was there so much silence until today?"
"The clerk who processes the adoption requests is Rita's next-door neighbor. When Victor filed the paperwork for Stephanie to adopt Julie, the clerk immediately called Rita."
"I swear, Miami is just as bad as the Burg," I respond. "Is everything back the way it should be?"
"Yes. Victor called me an hour ago. He said he made an appointment with you this afternoon at 4:30, as you were out of the office all afternoon. Why?"
"Something is going down at Julie's school, and I will get to the bottom. Be on standby in case we need you to file any paperwork."
"Will do, Carlos," Javi answered before hanging up. "Slick, call Tank. Ask him to have Manny run Rita and the assistant principal at Julie's school. He will send all the results to Stephanie, who will review his findings."
"No problem, Boss. Do you want me to wait with you?"
"No, take the car and go to the next appointment. Give them my apologies. When I get done here, I'll try to meet up with you. You did good today, Slick."
We finally arrived at the school. I get out and toss the keys to Slick. I'm glad I decided to take one of the fleet vehicles today. I see Rocco standing at the main entrance and Tommy at Rita's car. I notice two Rangeman vehicles here in addition to Rocco's. I enter the building, showing my Rangeman credentials. I find Stephanie, Lester, Hector, and Victor waiting in the lobby. Stephanie is set to go into rhino mode soon, and I see Lester trying in vain to calm her down.
"Babe, what's going on?" I ask. Steph immediately walks towards me. When she gets close, I wrap my arms around her. I feel her body relax. She takes a deep breath, then explains, "From what I managed to find out from her friends, who snuck out of class to give me a note, Julie got harassed all day. Someone destroyed her locker and all her belonging in there, writing ''whore" on the inside. Then, there is a Socialbook page slamming Julie, saying that she's a slut, a whore, and an outright bitch. There are false accusations about you and me on there as well. To make matters worse, at lunch, one of her former friends pushed her hard into the cafeteria wall while waiting in line to get lunch. Julie defended herself, giving the girl a black eye and a possible broken nose. One of the teachers intervened, sending the other girl to the nurse to be looked at and escorted Julie here. I don't know what is going on beyond that because the assistant principal, Mr. Quintana, refuses to speak to Lester or me. He said that we don't have authority, that only Rita has the power to discuss Julie."
I feel my blood start to boil, and I look at Victor. "I was able to contact Ms. Gonzalez. She was at a meeting at one of the sister schools. She is on her way here. She has no idea what is going on, and once she arrives, she will bring me into the office to straighten out the legalities. Ranger, you have full residential and legal custody of Julie. As of this morning, Julie's adoption by Stephanie is in the works. Both of you are named her legal guardians. I also filed a restraining order against Rita."
"Good. How much longer will Ms. Gonzalez be?"
"Based on our conversation, she should be here in about five minutes." I turn to Hector. "¿Puede mostrar la información de seguridad del casillero de Julie y la cafetería hoy?" (Can you bring up the security feed today of Julie's locker and the cafeteria?)
"Sí, necesito cinco minutos," Hector responds. (Yes, I need five minutes.)
"Do I want to know, Carlos?" Victor asks.
"We have a contract with the school to provide security."
"Perfect. So everything is legal. Good, it makes my life a little easier."
"I hear we have an appointment this afternoon."
"We did, but I don't think it's necessary now," Victor answers.
At that moment, Ms. Gonzalez enters the building. "Mr. Lopez, Mr. Mansoso, I'm sorry for the confusion. I will have everything straightened out right away. Mr. Manoso, you showed me paperwork last week naming you as Julie's father and Ms. Plum as her guardian. Mr. Quintana informed me that Ms. Komer has paperwork signed by a judge that contradicts what you provided. If you don't mind, I'd like to ensure everything is legal before I speak to you or Ms. Komer. Can you give me about ten minutes to figure out what happened today before I speak with you?"
"That's reasonable, but I expect answers," I tell her.
"So do I, Mr. Manoso." She replies. Good answer.
We spent the next few minutes pacing the halls, trying to figure out what Rita's game was. She wanted custody of Julie, but I'm not sure why.
"Maybe it's all about money," Steph said.
"What do you mean, Babe?"
"Rita probably figures that you would continue to pay for Julie so she could reap the benefits of your money. I'm sure she'd do what Rachel and Ron did: buy the bare minimum for Julie, treat her like a third-class citizen, and use the money for herself."
Now that Steph mentioned it, that seems entirely plausible. Shit. I've created a fucking monster. Victor walks back into the lobby with us. "I took care of all the paperwork with the courts. Rita has no say in Julie and has been barred from ever trying to gain custody of her again. She gave false documents to the court, perjuring herself. Everything is straightened out here, so you are again listed as Julie's emergency contact. Ms. Gonzalez would like you both to come to her office to discuss today's incidents."
We follow Victor to Ms. Gonzalez's office, seeing Julie and the assistant principal, Mr. Quintana, who are already there. Rita has been removed from the school.
"Papi, Stephanie, you're here," Julie exclaims, jumping out of her seat to hug me and Stephanie.
"Princesa, what happened today?" I ask. I know that for her to hit someone, something terrible must have happened. She has my control when it comes to acting out.
"What happened is that she broke the nose of another student in an unprovoked attack," Mr. Quintana stated.
"Mr. Quintana, I respect your position in this school, but you do not know my daughter like I do. She would never attack anyone without provocation. She has black belts in three different forms of martial arts, all of which teach their students only to use the skills as self-defense. I would like to hear my daughter's side of the story first. If she did indeed attack without reason, then whatever punishment you have planned would be fair and just. However, you need to modify your position if there was cause for her reactions." I state. I see him back down slightly when Ms. Gonzalez glares at him.
Ms. Gonzalez addressed Julie kindly, "Julie, please tell us what happened today."
"When I got to school today, everything was fine. After the fourth period, I went to my locker to drop off my books before gym class. When I opened my locker, I found something sticky poured all over my stuff. I looked at my mirror and saw the word 'whore' written on the inside of my locker. My other books had paint poured all over them. I slammed my locker shut and hurried to the gym. I didn't want to be late. When I got to the gym, I sat in the bleachers since I could not participate in class. I saw many kids looking at their phones, then pointing to me, laughing. I didn't know what they were looking at until Sara showed me what they were looking at. There is a page set up on Socialbook that has lies written about my father and me. I sat in class and did nothing. When I went to the cafeteria for lunch, I stood on the lunch line, considering my lunch was ruined because someone poured paint on my lunch bag. While waiting in line, Ashley Iafrate slammed me hard into the wall. Well, after everything that happened, I turned and punched her. I know she and her crew, my former friends, had to be behind the vandalism and the website."
"Mr. Quintana, did you look into these accusations?"
"No."
"Why not?" Ms. Gonzalez asks.
"He didn't look into them because he wouldn't let me explain what happened. Instead, he told me to be quiet, and he called Rita, even though I told him he was supposed to call Papi, Stephanie, or Uncle Lester."
"Robert, go look at Julie's locker. Take Mr. Santos with you. Do you know the site where the information was posted?"
"Ms. Gonzalez, I had my men look at the security footage. I can show you what they found. We have the identity of the person who vandalized Julie's locker and the events leading up to the fight in the cafeteria. Would you like to see them?"
"Yes, please, Mr. Manoso."
"May I?" I ask, pointing to Ms. Gonzalez's computer.
"Of course," she replies as she logs into the system. I open the security footage, finding the time Hector indicated I should start watching. We watch a girl walk over to Julie's locker and open the lock with a key. She then takes something out of her bag, what looks to be a bottle of syrup, and begins to pour it over all of Julie's books and belongings in her locker. She then dumps a paint bottle in Julie's lunch bag and all over the outside. We then observe her using a marker and write "whore" on Julie's mirror. I'm getting angrier and angrier as the video progresses, and I'm glad Ms. Gonzalez is having a similar reaction. Finally, the girl turns to face the camera.
"That's Gabriela Di Rizzo. Can I see the cafeteria feed?" Ms. Gonzalez asks.
I pull up the feed from the cafeteria. It shows Julie entering the cafeteria, heading straight to the end of the line. She doesn't interact with anyone. Then, Ashley comes into the frame, pushing Julie into the wall behind her. I watch as Julie plants her feet and then swings. She makes contact. Then Ashley pulls on Julie's hair. I'm shocked Julie got such a strong punch in on her nose. Finally, I see the teacher come over, separating the girls. I observed the rest of the students starting to get rowdy, so he did well by removing them both from the cafeteria.
"Carlos, there are kids who recorded the incident. It's probably already posted online." Stephanie said.
I look at the footage more closely and see about twenty students with their cellphones out, clearly recording the incident. Fuck.
"I will take care of those students with the cameras. Don't worry. I will also be discussing with Ashley."
"My computer expert found the page on Socialbook that's slamming Julie. Lucy Conner has instigated all of the posts. Here are the posts, and as Stephanie predicted, the fight has already been posted."
"Mr. Quintana, retrieve Miss Iafrate, Miss Conner, and Miss Di Rizzo from their classes and bring them here. They are to sit in the main office, separated, until I call them in. They are not to talk. You will wait outside with them. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he answers, clearly defeated.
"Mr. Manoso, I am sorry that Julie was harassed here at school. We strive to make this a welcoming place where the students feel safe. We failed where Julie is concerned, and I want to offer my sincere apologies. While Julie's actions against Miss Iafrate were justified, we cannot condone fighting for any reason. Therefore, Julie will be receiving two days of in-school suspension. She will sit in our ISS room, complete her work, and eat lunch there. Once her time is served, she will return to class as normal. I will be suggesting that Miss Iafrate be expelled for her actions. Miss Conner and Miss Di Rizzo will also be suspended, but they will be on an out-of-school suspension for two days. I would also like to apologize for Mr. Quintana not contacting you immediately. I'll look into that situation and inform the entire staff that you, Ms. Plum, Mr. Santos, Ms. Manoso, and Mr. Guiterrez are the only ones we are to speak to regarding Miss Martine and Mr. Goodwin. Are Mr. Pesce and Mr. Morgan still permitted to pick up the children?"
"Yes, they are. Thank you for confirming everything." I answer.
"Ms. Gonzalez, I am appalled at Mr. Quintana's actions, and I will speak to the Board regarding his disregard for the safety of the children in his care. I will be pushing for his immediate removal."
"I understand, Mr. Lopez. Do what you need to do. You will receive no pushback from me."
"Thank you for your assistance. Julie, you are coming home with us now. Ms. Gonzalez, can you please have someone bring Tommy to us so we can take him with us?"
"Of course. I'll have Tommy brought to the lobby right away."
We exited her office and waited for Tommy in the lobby with Lester and Hector. "Babe, I'm going to meet Slick at the appointment. Can you bring Julie and Tommy back to the headquarters? I'll be back around 1630."
"No problem. Sorry to pull you away."
"Don't be. This was more important. Love you, Babe."
"Love you too." I kiss her gently as Tommy comes running to us.
"Hi! Is everything okay?"
"Yes, Tommy, everything is fine. You have all your stuff."
"Yup. I'm good to go."
We walk out of the building together. Lester, Steph, Tommy, and Julie head back to headquarters. Alex and Tommy follow in their car, and Hector and I take the third vehicle to meet with Slim. Hector will return this car to headquarters once I meet with Slick.