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The Energy of Sun Rays

Lee: Fighting Words

They decided to adjourn to Joe and Carrie's townhouse, with Jamie riding in Joe's car. Amanda landed hard in the Corvette's passenger seat. Her hands were already beginning to twist together. "We have problems."

"Do we ever. What happened?"

She gave him a brief recap. "Mrs. Dennis doesn't think this is the first time Jamie's been in a fight, either —"

"It wasn't."

"— she just thinks it's the first time it happened on school grounds or where an adult…wait. How do you know it wasn't the first time he'd been in a fight?"

"That black eye a couple weeks back."

"Why didn't you say something then?"

I tried to. "I'd hoped it was a one-time thing. Most kids get into a fight at least once. Even the quiet ones like Jamie."

"Yeah. I guess so." Out of the corner of his eye, Lee could see that she'd turned her face away, hiding her expression. "She thinks Jamie's acting out about all the changes that have happened, and that it's been building slowly ever since…well, she thinks it started when Joe came back into town, actually. And that it's just kept on building since then. She also said he thinks he can't talk to me about it because I'm just going to tell him that he has to accept all these changes."

"She's not wrong." He glanced over; she was still staring out the passenger window. "But that's also not news, and it's not what's really upsetting you."

"What do you mean, it's not what's upsetting me?"

"Amanda."

"It's upsetting to get called in because my son was fighting!"

"Amanda. Repeating questions back to me, remember?"

She shook her head, keeping her silence, although she accepted his assistance getting out of the car and took his hand as they walked up the sidewalk. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and he'd lay odds that her face was blotchy under her makeup. Her stubborn refusal to answer the question meant he'd hit the mark, though. Unfortunately, there wouldn't be time to figure it out until later.

She caught his elbow on the way into the townhouse's living room. "Thank you for backing down earlier. But don't do it now. You're my husband. He needs to respect that. We'll work on the 'liking' part later if we have to."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to say."

"Joe and I will do the talking. But both you and Carrie need to be here." She sat down on a love seat, pointedly indicating he should sit right next to her. "All right. Why don't we start with you, Jamie?"

"I told you. Bobby Boyd got in my face and wouldn't stop when I told him to."

"That's right," acknowledged Joe. "You did tell us that. You also said he was saying things that upset you. Why don't you tell us what they were?"

His eyes immediately dropped to the floor. "Just stuff."

An awkward silence followed.

"Jamie," said Amanda finally, "we can't decide what we're going to do next unless you tell us why you've been fighting in the first place. Yes," she continued. Lee felt her hand slide into his. "We know this wasn't the first time. Only the first time on school grounds."

Joe picked up the thread. "Mrs. Dennis told us that this Bobby Boyd character is really good at pushing people's buttons, too. Plus, every time someone pushes back, he goes running to a teacher acting like he's the victim. Right?"

"Yeah. Like I said. He's a jerkface."

"That doesn't excuse starting a fight. You still haven't told anyone what he was saying to you. Just so you know, Bobby hasn't either. We also need to know exactly long all this has been going on."

"A while. Ever since —" Jamie broke off, looking around the room. "Why can't I just talk to you and Mom, Dad? Why do they have to be here, too?"

"Because they need to know what's going on. Plus, this is Carrie's house too. She has a right to a say in what goes on here, just like Lee has a right to a say about what goes on over at their house."

He flopped back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, face flaming in what Lee suddenly realized was embarrassment.

"We're getting off track," said Amanda. "What did Bobby say to you?"

Jamie shook his head. "Nuh-uh."

The words came to him in a flash. "Look, chief, if they don't know what the fight was about, your Mom and Dad will have to assume it was something stupid. But if there was a good reason for it, and they know what it is, that could be a reason for them to go easier on you." He paused. "Is your right to silence really worth the maximum sentence?"

That earned him a truly venomous scowl, but Amanda squeezed his hand gently in thanks. "Lee's right, honey. If you were defending yourself or someone else —"

"I was!"

"Who?" asked Joe. "And from whom?"

He clamped his mouth shut again.

Carrie looked at Joe, waiting for his nod before she started speaking. "Amanda, you said this isn't the first fight he's gotten into lately. Do you know if Bobby Boyd is the only one Jamie's been fighting with, or have there been others?"

"Others, most likely," she answered. Her voice was steady, but he could feel rigidity in her shoulders and back. "I don't think Bobby's been at the Carlisles' house in the afternoons, which is the only other place that Jamie should have been going." She lightly emphasized the word should.

Jamie mumbled something toward the floor.

"What was that?" asked Joe.

He gave an exaggerated sigh. "I said that Bobby's the one who started it."

"But is he the only one who's been after you?"

There was another brief silence before Jamie finally shook his head.

"Who else?" asked Amanda.

"Katie."

"Tad Carlisle's younger sister? Isn't she only in fourth or fifth grade?"

"Sixth. But she's only ten. She got moved up a grade last year."

"What does she have to do with any of this?"

"She's…" he trailed off. "She's sweet on Bobby, since he's about the only one who'll even talk to her ever since she got made teachers' pet. So everything he says, she repeats, and she's good at making up little rhymes and stuff."

"Let me guess. She came up with something and it started going around. Which eventually included Tad, who repeated it to you."

He slumped even further down in his chair, although his arms had dropped down to his sides. "Yeah. And since it's Katie, Tad doesn't like it when I try to get her to shut up. He socked me somethin' good after I got mad and told her it took one to know one."

"One what?"

"A whore."

Joe's eyes opened wide. "A what?"

"A whore," repeated Jamie. His expression had gone from angry to miserable. "I had to look it up, but that's what Bobby called Mom. And Katie, she —" he choked up a bit. "I don't want to say that out loud, okay? But Bobby started singing it to everyone, and when I said it wasn't true, he said Mom must be a really good one to catch someone who drives a car like Lee's."

Lee felt his face flush. "That little —" Amanda squeezed his hand hard enough to hurt. "Look, I'd have hit the punk too!"

"No," said Joe. "You wouldn't have, because you can tell when someone's just trying to trick you into starting something they can use against you later." His eyes flashed a warning, communicating the intent behind his emphasized words. "Jamie, thank you for telling us what Bobby said. It does change things. A lot."

"Really?" Jamie's voice went up. "I did the right thing?"

Now Joe's gaze went to Amanda.

"No," she told him. "You should've gone to a teacher and asked them to call in both Bobby's parents and us. But no, it's also not okay for him to have said that, and I'm going to call the school back tomorrow to talk about it. I'm not going to make you go to school tomorrow or next week since it's a short week for Thanksgiving anyway. But you will have to go back after that, and you are going to have to do your in-school suspension then. I'll also need to cut your allowance in half for…oh, the rest of the year to help pay for your glasses."

"No," said Joe. "I'll help cover that. In-school suspension's enough."

"Actions have consequences, Joe. I'm cutting his allowance."

"That's not fair!" Jamie jumped to his feet. "Dad already told you that in-school suspension's enough! Why do you always gotta be so mean?"

"Do not use that tone with me, James Richard King. Until the end of December, unless I hear about you getting into even more fights. Have I made myself clear?"

"Amanda." Carrie's tone was hesitant. "It's your decision, but…but isn't that awfully harsh? Especially since now Jamie knows what to do if something like this happens again?"

"Oh, for God's sake!" Now she was the one who jumped to her feet, not noticing the shocked looks that had followed her use of the epithet. "I raised that child almost by myself for years before any of you were in the picture. Any of you! And now you're going to try and step in? Now you're going to second-guess me? What gives you the right to any opinion at all? You should have been here earlier if you wanted that. Jamie's my child, do you hear me? The only one I have left, and I will handle him my way! I don't need any of your — your —" she began to sputter as tears rolled down her face. "I'm cutting his allowance, damn it. I am."

"Amanda," said Lee as he, too, got to his feet. "Let's just go home. We'll come back tomorrow night, after there's been a chance to talk to the school again."

"No, I…" but she offered no resistance as he pulled her against him. "No. It's only six weeks or so until the end of the year and less than that until Christmas and I haven't had the time or the energy to decorate or even do any shopping or make other preparations and it's not going to be right anyway because Mother and Phillip aren't here and I can't believe I couldn't tell about those earlier fights and it's just that…that…" her crying became too much for her to continue.

"Shh," he said, stroking her hair. "All of us are tired and upset. Look, Jamie can stay the night here, can't he?" he asked, looking up, and all three of them — Joe, Carrie, and Jamie — nodded. "And Joe can call the school in the morning." There were more nods. "That'll give you the chance for some really good rest. Come on," he continued as Carrie handed him her purse. "We're going home now, but I promise that it's just for tonight. Just for tonight," he repeated. "We'll be back tomorrow." At least, he thought as he tugged her toward the door, he wasn't going to have to confront her about what was really upsetting her. He already knew.