Page 74 of But For You

“Hi, honey. You’re not calling to cancel on my dinner⁠—”

“If a man just broke Kola’s finger at school, what can I do?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

I repeated what had happened, and she gave me a barrage of quick questions.

“I’m on my way to the hospital now.”

“Which one? Saint Joe?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll call Rick. Either he or someone else will be right there.”

“Thanks.”

“Baby, do you need me there? Dane?”

“No, I’m fine.” I took a breath because who I needed was Sam.

“All right.”

I hung up, held the door of the auditorium open, and had Kola and Hannah walk out before me.

“So, we have to go to the hospital now, okay?”

Kola nodded and leaned into me, head on my hip. “I didn’t throw a fit that time, Pa, I promise.”

“I believe you, buddy, and I’m glad that you know when you do it, and I’m glad that you’re working on it. We just have to⁠—”

“Mr. Harcourt!”

Turning, I saw Mr. Parker charging down the hallway after me. I shoved Kola and Hannah behind me.

“You don’t threaten me! It was an accident,” he yelled as he reached me.

“It wasn’t,” I corrected him, standing my ground. “You hurt him on purpose, and there’s no excuse for that. Like I said, you can talk to my lawyer.”

“Listen, you little faggot,” he sneered, driving his fingers into my collarbone. “You’re not gonna make any trouble for me. That pissant kid of yours⁠—”

“Mr. Parker!” Mr. Michaels yelled—terrified, I could tell—as he came hurrying down the hall to us.

“No! This is bullshit! I⁠—”

“Step back,” I told him, my voice cold and hard. “I’m feeling threatened, Mr. Parker, and I don’t like it. I don’t want you within a hundred feet of either of my kids. So, step … back.”

His eyes locked on mine.

He glared, but really, compared to others I’d known, the man was not scary at all. A few days ago, a man had pointed a gun at me; a man without one was not about to inspire any terror.

After a minute, he took a step back. I whirled around, grabbed Kola’s right hand and Hannah’s left, and walked toward the front of the school. Mrs. Petrovich tried to stop me to talk, but I was too upset and walked straight to my minivan and put them in. As I was driving out of the parking lot, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw all three of them—the teacher, the principal, and the parent—on the front steps.

At the hospital, I went to the emergency room, and within minutes, we were in a room. An adult could wait for hours, but not little kids. Hannah sat on the bed beside her brother, playing LocoRoco 2 on her PSP. She loved it—she sang along to songs that I didn’t think were actually in any real language—and it was mindless. Her brother watched her, doing his damnedest not to get sucked into what he called a baby game, but was really not.

I was not pleased that Dr. Varma thought his finger was broken, not just sprained.

“But we’ll take an X-ray to be certain.” He smiled at Kola, holding his good hand in his. “So, you’ll be here for just a little bit, buddy, okay?”