Chapter 8: Unbreakable Bond

Otis and Beulah returned from their seven-week world tour to a completely refurbished and deep-cleaned home. In appreciation for their generosity, Chad—at the suggestion of his new love—spent several weeks repairing or replacing older appliances, recarpeting, painting the interior, and having a landscape crew revamp the outside. Their home had undergone a complete makeover, and they stared in amazement as they stood beside the limousine that had delivered them from the airport. A decorative wrought iron fence now encircled the entire property, offering secure privacy from curious neighbors and onlookers. Their newfound wealth was still fresh in the public’s minds, and Chad ensured they were sheltered from the media and prying eyes.

He moved in with Jessica, who had room for him, Bobby, and Elvis. Her ground-level condo was lavishly appointed, and Bobby was ecstatic to be able to swim whenever he desired. He was smitten with the crimson-haired woman who treated him like her own. They grew thick as thieves and spent hours together. She joined him at the roller park with her inline skates—making him the most popular kid—and spent hours teaching him tumbling, wrestling, and self-defense. She was his equal at the gaming console. His custody visits with his father made up for the depressing times spent with his mom and Uncle Frank. He enjoyed his counseling sessions with Ms. Dillard and showed tremendous progress.

The one downside to his young life was school. Despite efforts to shelter the boy from the divorce proceedings, nothing spared him from the cruel environment of public education. The imminent court proceedings became public knowledge as the hearing approached, and the local news spread the story. They did not paint Molly or Frank in a favorable light, and Bobby became the target of cruel jokes, pranks, and cutdowns. Returning home to his “cheating slut mom,” “gold-digging whore,” and “brother lover” was unbearable.

Chad met with his homeroom teacher and student counselor numerous times regarding his son’s complaints about unfair treatment and a hostile learning environment. His concerns and efforts to stem the situation fell on deaf ears. Whenever Molly was called regarding the boy’s behavior or declining grades, she abruptly referred them to her ex. It grew to the point where Chad considered pulling Bobby from school. His efforts were thwarted by Molly and her attorney, who filed an injunction blocking him from any unilateral decisions regarding their child’s welfare. It was a spiteful move, serving only to give his mother the satisfaction of gaining a small win in court.

It all came to a head one day when Bobby was set upon by four older boys who cornered him behind the school’s multipurpose room. They teased and shoved him, tore his backpack off, and tossed it into a dumpster. One of the boys produced a small paper sack and pulled a used bloody tampon from it by the string. They laughed cruelly as he waved it in front of Bobby’s face.

“Here, you little pussy,” the older boy mocked, “You dropped your tampon!”

The others grabbed him by his arms and forced him against the wall while the aggressor grabbed a handful of his hair with his free hand. “You shouldn’t litter, pussy. Now you’re gonna eat it!” he laughed. The others chanted nasty words, including, ‘Who’s your daddy?’ as the boy tried to shove the bloody tampon into the smaller boy’s face.

A violent fight broke out when Bobby defended himself against the four bullies. He reacted by headbutting the boy in front of him, shattering his nose. The bully on his right released his arm in shock, and he struck the kid to his left, stabbing him in the throat with a rigid hand kite. The taller boy staggered away, holding his neck and gasping desperately for air while his counterpart gawked in disbelief. Bobby turned as the kid made a wild swing, blocking it with his forearm and kicking out with his opposite foot. Air rushed from the kid’s lungs from the sharp impact to his solar plexus, and he collapsed at Bobby’s feet in a fetal position. The last bully charged without thinking and tried to grapple the smaller boy. He collided with the brick wall as his adversary spun away. When he fell back dazed, Bobby grabbed two handfuls of his hair and pulled his head downward, where it impacted his rising knee, destroying the cartilage in his nose and fracturing his cheekbone.

It was over in under a minute, but the screams drew the attention of the school faculty. His mother was called and bluntly told the school to contact his father. By the time Chad and Jessica arrived, the final bell had rung, and the halls were empty. They found Bobby in the Principal’s office holding an ice pack to his left arm. He glanced up

The principal, Mr. Presley, was a tall, thin man with receding gray hair combed across his balding scalp. He sat dourly behind his desk, wearing a charcoal gray suit, with several folders before him. A chubby middle-aged woman with a sour complexion sat nearby, her hands folded in her lap. She reminded Jessica of Professor Umbridge in Harry Potter.

When Bobby saw them enter the office, he leaped up and rushed into Jessica’s arms, sobbing. She shushed him and assured him everything was okay. Chad stood in the middle of the room, glancing expectantly from the man behind the desk to the woman. Seeing his distressed child soured his disposition, and he towered over them menacingly.

The principal cleared his throat. “Oh, I’m sorry, miss, but everything is certainly NOT okay.”

Jess turned her head and gave the older man a withering look that stopped him. “Then please enlighten us, Mr. Presley,” she growled.

“Well ... erm. There was an incident this afternoon between young Mr. Hartley here, and another boy,” he stated awkwardly.

“There were four of them!” Bobby blurted.

“You’ll wait your turn to speak!” the chubby woman snapped at him. She cowed under Chad’s withering glare as he approached the desk.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

“I am Margaret Jennings, Assistant Vice Principal,” she replied haughtily, gazing nervously at him.

Chad turned back to the principal. “Did he fight another boy—or four other boys?”

The principal looked down and shuffled the folders on his desk. “Allegedly, other boys were involved,” he said hesitantly, “but one lad had to go to the hospital with severe facial injuries!”

“Oh?” Chad looked back at Bobby, who was nursing his arm, “Where are the other boys?”

“Well ... they were sent home.”

Jessica snorted, “How old were the other four boys?”

“That is not important,” Mrs. Jennings stated, “the issue is the unprecedented violence caused by this young man on school property.”

“They were all 9th graders,” Bobby muttered angrily.

“Really?” Chad turned back to the frowning Principal. “So, four teenagers—from the high school across the street—fought my 12-year-old, and you called us to—” he looked at them both expectantly.

Mr. Presley cleared his throat and looked down at the folders again. “Well, as Mrs. Jennings stated, your son’s behavior is well outside the school’s standards, and we must discuss it.”

Chad pointed at the desk. “Are those the records of the boys involved?”

The principal nodded.

“Good. We need their names for the police report.”

All their heads turned to see Jennifer step into the office. Her expression was ice cold as she glanced at the boy and the two administrators.

“I’m sorry—” Mr. Presley stammered, frowning at the interruption.

“Yes,” Jennifer quipped, cutting him off, “I’m sure you are.” She held out a business card. “I am Jennifer Bradley, one of Mr. Hartley’s Attorneys. I will be representing him and his son in the upcoming litigation.”

Chad felt a deep sense of satisfaction at the shocked expressions of the principal and his assistant. They gawked back at the sharply dressed woman with wide eyes and open mouths. She moved closer to the desk and produced a small packet of legal forms.

“I have here an injunction ordering the preservation of all evidence regarding my client’s assault on your premises,” she said firmly. “The police will be here momentarily to collect it and begin their investigation.”

“Wa—wait! That is not the purpose of this meeting!” Mr. Presley stammered, standing up behind his desk. His face reddened angrily as his meeting spiraled out of his control. “There is no need to involve the police!”

Chad turned back expectantly. “You seem awfully certain of my son’s guilt in all this.”

“Another child was seriously injured, Mr. Hartley!” Mrs. Jennings declared, “This cannot go unanswered.”

“And what is this?” Jessica snapped, gesturing at Bobby’s arm.

“That’s just a bump!” the vice principal said defiantly, her expression betraying her apprehension at being outnumbered.

“Yet you needed to apply ice?” Jess asked angrily. “Has the school nurse seen it?”

“Um ... no,” the principal stuttered, “Mr. Hartley was brought straight here.”

Jennifer lifted the icepack and helped him pull up his sleeve to reveal an ugly bruise that discolored the outside of his forearm. She looked up angrily, “So, you two determined—in your professional opinions—that Bobby’s arm is not injured sufficiently for medical attention?”

“Now, wait just one minute!” Mrs. Jennings cried out, standing abruptly.

Chad cut her off, “Tell me, was this ‘incident’ caught on video?” he asked the older man.

“I ... I am sure it was. But it’s district policy that—”

“That evidence will be included in the preservation order.” Jennifer declared, nodding to her sister and Chad.

“If you will excuse us, we’re taking my son to the emergency room to get his arm checked by a ‘professional,’” Chad added, herding his family out of the office.

X-rays revealed a spiderweb fracture in the middle of Bobby’s ulna. He described lifting his arm to block the older boy’s attack before kicking him in the stomach as Jess taught him. Chad was proud of his son and hugged him tightly. Even Jessica beamed at him. Sadly, they had to return him to his mother and Frank, where he went to his room and stayed. A day later, Chad received a call from his hysterical ex, telling him to come and get ‘his’ son immediately.

“You can have him!” she screamed over the phone, “and keep him!”

He called his son’s therapist, Ms. Dillard, who agreed to accompany him in retrieving the boy. They arrived at his old house and found Bobby waiting, sitting on the porch step. His left arm was in a sling, and two large bags were beside him. His cheeks were reddened and moist from crying. He jumped up to hug Ms. Dillard, sobbing into her shoulder. After a moment, she handed him off to his father and asked them to wait in the truck as she knocked on the door. Chad took the bags and led his son away. He heard nothing but witnessed an angry exchange between the counselor and Bobby’s mother. After several minutes of heated discourse, Molly slammed the door, and Ms. Dillard angrily returned to Chad’s truck.

Chad was granted sole and uncontested custody of his youngest child the next day. When asked, Bobby admitted to losing his temper at home and breaking some expensive things. His counselor agreed that keeping him in the same school wouldn’t be beneficial, adding that it would be more harmful. It turned out to be academic.

The school district suspended Bobby pending an investigation into the incident. Paul sued the school and its administrators for harmful neglect, resulting in physical and mental harm to a minor. By court order, the video recording of the incident was subpoenaed and promptly leaked, showing the four-to-one attack on Bobby and the severe ass beating suffered by the four older boys at the hands of the 12-year-old. Any news surrounding the family was prime-time material and became public fodder. The school board was flooded with angry calls and had to cancel an open-to-public in the face of the community outcry.

The parents of the four bullies were traumatized by the media attention. All four were charged with aggravated assault and expelled from school. The community backlash was harsh and impacted the jobs of their parents. The penalties, fines, and legal expenses were an impossible burden for the parents facing litigation for their errant offspring. When Paul filed lawsuits against them for monetary remuneration, they were looking at financial ruin.

To expedite the process and mitigate legal expenses, the four families agreed to a single trial for all four boys. Just before the trial began, Paul presented the ‘carrot,’ and all four families decided to settle their civil case. Rather than pay restitution to the Hartleys, they agreed to a press conference on the courthouse steps, where each of the boys would humbly apologize for their actions and accept the court-awarded punishment without contest. During the criminal trial, Paul asked that each boy be fined $1,000 and receive 50 hours of community service. When the defense accepted the conditions, it was ordered.

An arbitration hearing was scheduled with the board of education, but Chad was contacted by the school district via his attorneys before the date and asked to settle. He agreed to drop the suit if the school formally apologized and lifted Bobby’s suspension. They refused to admit fault but lifted the suspension. Chad told them collectively to go fuck themselves and pulled his son from school. The suit became bogged down in bureaucracy.

None of this came as a surprise to them, and they had long since decided that private tutoring was the answer. To this end, Chad and Jessica researched the field and discussed options they felt best suited the boy. Since he was technically ‘penniless,’ Jessica hired a full-time tutor for her ‘son’s’ private education. She also began instructing him and his friends Mikey, Johnny—as well as her nephew in Karate.

Finding suitable candidates for Bobby’s tutor took time. Apart from his education, Chad and Jessica discussed their future together and how it would revolve around the boy and his upbringing. They agreed on extensive travel, so they wanted a person detached enough to accompany them and serve as a teacher and nanny. They also agreed the candidate had to be female, as he bonded better with women.

They decided to hold the initial interviews at the law office to keep them formal and professional. Once a candidate was interviewed and vetted, they would be invited for a less formal meeting, which Bobby would participate in to get a feel for the candidate. The process went smoother than expected and ended abruptly with the second candidate.

After an awkward meeting with the first prospect, Genevieve Guidry entered the conference room like a breath of fresh air. She was a 19-year-old foreign exchange student from Marseilles studying adolescent development and child psychology. A polymath and gifted linguist, she was fluent in English, French, German, (European) Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. She had mixed racial features—dark olive-toned skin, slightly European facial features, and shoulder-length reddish-brown hair. Her athletic, graceful body had modest C-cup breasts and a slender waist. Her striking steel gray eyes and smile stood her apart from her predecessor and the other prospects they had identified. She spoke clearly, with precise elocution and a slight French accent. She had markers of piercings on her nares and eyebrow, though the jewelry was absent.

When she greeted them, she carried herself with confidence and humble gratitude for the opportunity. Once the introductions were made, Chad sat back in amazement as Jessica began the interview in French. He had no clue how the rest of the meeting went, but the two women got along famously. After several moments of scrutiny, it dawned on him that if she had lighter skin and redder hair, Genevieve (her friends called her Evie) would be a mirror image of Jennifer. Their conversation continued with laughter and exclamations. Then they stood and clasped their hands warmly.