Chapter 28: Don't Fight It

Thursday morning at school Mia was feeling more down than usual. She approached her locker with Carly at her side and Carly was at a loss because she didn't know how to make her best friend feel any better about everything that had happened over the last few weeks.

Jenna Foster spotted Mia at her locker and led her friends in Mia's direction. "So Mia," Jenna sneered, "How is sex with your brother going? I can't believe your prostitute mom wants to bring Coach Bills down. Isn't there any loyalty between your mommy and daddy?"

Mia attempted to remain calm, but as usual Jenna's words cut her to the quick.

"Mind your own business Jenna," Carly snapped. "You're the biggest whore in school, everyone knows that."

"Oh fuck off Carly," Jenna quipped, "So how was having sex with your brother Mia? I mean was it extra special having a family tie with him?"

Jenna and her friends were having a great time ridiculing Mia and they laughed among themselves.

Mia had endured Jenna's ridicule for days and finally something inside of her snapped. She couldn't take it anymore. She dropped her books to the ground and whirled around to face Jenna, "Why don't you shut the fuck up!"

Jenna grinned because she finally achieved the reaction she was looking for. "Make me! You good for nothing slut! You're probably just like your mother. A prostitute through and through, no wonder Riley wanted to date you; he wanted to know what it was like to be with a real slut. What a loser he is, having sex with his own sister."

Before Mia could stop herself she lunged at Jenna and grasped her throat, pounding Jenna's head against the locker repeatedly as she attempted to strangle her. "I'm sick of you!" Mia raged.

Everyone around them stood back and watched as Mia attacked Jenna. Jenna's hands flew up to her throat in an attempt to pry Mia's hands away from her throat but she couldn't loosen Mia's grasp so she reached out and grabbed Mia by the throat and began to choke her in return. Both of them were locked in a stalemate with their hands around each other's neck. They wrestled against each other with their hands outstretched for awhile and both of them could barely breathe.

"You cunt," Jenna managed through clenched teeth as her face began to redden.

"Fucking whore," Mia spat as her head throbbed from the pressure of Jenna's grip. She wasn't sure where her ability to say these ugly swear words was coming from. It wasn't like her. On the other hand, it was Jenna's regular manner of speech.

"Stop it! Carly urged helplessly and attempted to break them apart.

"Jenna!" One of Jenna's friends warned helplessly, "You better stop before a teacher comes along."

But neither girl could be persuaded to stop. They were releasing their pent up vengeance on each other as they continued choking each other. Mia felt a great sense of relief as the adrenaline rushed through her body and she was finally able to take out her frustrations on Jenna after all the days of teasing she had endured.

The fighting lasted several minutes as the crowd in the hallway continued to gather. Carly and others continued to plead for them to stop fighting and finally Father Elliot and Sister Agatha showed up. Father Elliot rushed forward and pulled the two girls apart. "Enough!" He said sternly looking at both of them, and then he shooed away the crowd of students that had gathered. Sister Agatha and Father Elliot escorted Jenna and Mia to Father Joseph's office.

Both girls sat on chairs outside Father Joseph's office waiting. As Mia began to cool off she began to realize what this fight might mean for her. She knew Father Joseph would call her grandparents and they would be very angry that she had gotten in a fight at school. Anytime she violated the rules it was not good.

Jenna's mother arrived at the school before Mia's grandparents did. First Jenna's mother went into Father Joseph's office alone and then Jenna joined them. Mia could hear some of what was being said behind Father Joseph's door. Jenna's mother denied that her daughter had done anything wrong. When Father Joseph told Jenna's mother that a three day suspension was mandatory and that he was going to insist on a week of after school detention for both girls in addition to that, Jenna's mother was appalled.

"It's that filthy Pirelli girl's fault," Jenna's mother raged. "My husband is on the city council and this will mar his public image. There is no way my daughter is going to pay for what that filthy Pirelli girl caused. It's not Jenna's fault." Jenna's mother fumed insisting that her daughter not be suspended and allowed back in school.

The discussion was a heated one and when Father Joseph wouldn't back down, Jenna's mother made threats about how she was going to withdraw her money in support of the school. Mia could only hear bits and pieces of what was said from Father Joseph because his voice was muffled, but Jenna's mother's voice was loud and clear. The entire staff in Father Joseph's office could hear her shrill voice. But Father Joseph would not back down.

Finally Jenna's mother emerged from the office in a huff, "Jenna's not allowed to cheer at this week's football game," she said angrily, "I can't believe this."

Mia wanted to crumple up and die when she saw them come out of Father Joseph's office. Her grandparents still hadn't arrived. She knew her best hope was for Claudia to pick her up and not Martin, but she also knew how uncomfortable her grandma was in these situations and it was likely that Martin would be the one who would eventually come and pick her up. One thing she knew for certain was that her grandparents would never dream of arguing with Father Joseph the way Jenna's mother had. They respected authority and taught Mia to do likewise.

As Jenna and her mother walked past Mia, Jenna sneered at her in disgust. Jenna's mother stuck her nose in the air as if Mia wasn't even in the room. Mia knew how much they looked down on her as so many of the people in town had done her entire life due to her heritage. She wanted to die. In a matter of days it had only made things worse for her when everyone found about Coach Bills. He was a well respected citizen of the community and no one wanted to believe he had done this or see him fall.

Martin arrived a few minutes after Jenna and her mother left and when Mia saw her grandpa she began to shake and tremble. He looked down at her sternly before he went in to speak with Father Joseph alone. Eventually Mia was invited into the office with them. The conversation was short and to the point, nothing like the diatribe Father Joseph had just been through with Jenna and her mother. Martin was informed that Mia was being suspended from school for three days just like Jenna was and that she would be required to complete a week of after school detention upon her return. Father Joseph expressed grave concerns about Mia's failing grades. Mia just sat quietly and stared at the worn carpet on Father Joseph's floor as tears rolled down her face.

The truth was that Father Joseph had a lot of sympathy for Mia, but he didn't feel there was any way he could bend the rules in this situation. As Martin signed the paperwork and agreed to come back with Mia on Tuesday, Mia stood nearby and didn't say a word.

Martin had been thinking a lot about Mia and her situation before he had arrived at the school. Angel coming back had changed everything and Martin never would have dreamed prior to Angel's return that he would be in Father Joseph's office because of Mia fighting at school. Mia had always been such a well behaved child. Mia couldn't bring herself to look at Martin as they both got inside his truck and headed home.

When they arrived home, Martin told Mia to go in his den and wait for him. Her heart raced as she went inside the den and sat on his big leather couch facing his desk. Martin went upstairs and when he returned he was carrying the belt. He gripped it tightly in his hand as he sat on the edge of his desk facing his nervous granddaughter. Claudia was in the living room sitting silently and not getting involved as Martin had requested. When Mia saw the belt she began to tremble.

Martin handed Mia the computer printed grade report that Father Joseph had provided him. It was just as Mia suspected, her grades were a mess. "I know this has been a tough time for you," Martin said quietly.

Mia closed her eyes and willed herself not to cry, but the tears gushed out of her eyes anyway. She wished she could stop bawling, but she couldn't.

"You are on a downward slope," Martin said thoughtfully, "and you are continuing to go downhill. I understand things have been difficult Mia, but that's no excuse for this sort of behavior. You need to pull it together."

Mia continued to sniff and although she didn't want to, she kept looking at the belt in her grandpa's hand.

"Getting suspended from school for fighting is something I won't tolerate," Martin said, "I'm sorry but that's just the way it is."

Mia's bottom began to tingle because even though she hoped he would change his mind and not punish her with the belt, she knew he was going to.

"I have been patient with you because I know what a difficult time you've had; it's been a difficult time for all of us," Martin said slowly. "But one thing you need to understand Mia is that life will always be difficult and you'll continue to learn that as you grow up. Just when you think you've gotten over one hurdle another one comes along to take its place. But that doesn't mean you can stop following the rules."

Mia knew the things she had done in the past few weeks were intolerable in her grandpa's eyes. She had run away twice and disobeyed her grandparents on several other occasions. She had also been rather defiant recently compared to how she had been in the past. She knew she had crossed the line when she got suspended and that she was going to receive a whipping. Her pulse quickened and her mind raced frantically as she thought about it.

"I'm sure Jenna provoked you," Martin said quietly. "There is no doubt in my mind she must have been downright nasty, but you know better than to get in a fight at school."

Mia wished she could tell him the ugly things Jenna had said, but somehow she knew it wouldn't matter. Fighting was wrong; end of story.

Martin had been thinking long and hard before picking Mia up from school. He reasoned that his recent inconsistent behavior was contributing to Mia's confusion. He had gone back and forth with his discipline of her and had not been consistent. He had let her off the hook because he had felt guilty about whipping her, and he had let things go that he shouldn't have. In the days when his children were young it seemed that being consistent had been much easier. If they broke the rules he gave them a sound strapping and that was the end of it. With Mia he had softened considerably. He had not punished her the way he had punished his other children.

"I know your life is difficult right now," Martin continued as silent tears continued to fall from Mia's eyes. She wanted to yell at him and tell him just how difficult it had been, but she couldn't. "It's been difficult for all of us," Martin said and he thought of the people of Argus Falls who wouldn't come to his store anymore because they believed Angel was falsely accusing Coach Bills of something he hadn't done. "The situation with Coach Bills raping your mother years ago has opened up a can of worms in this town and I know how everyone probably looks at you and whispers behind your back."

Mia somehow sensed that even though he seemed to understand he still wasn't going to let her off the hook.

"But like I said, life is full of those type of challenges and just because you are being ridiculed or stared at it doesn't give you have an excuse to get into a fight at school and let your grades slide," Martin sighed. "I want to see you go to a good college, on a scholarship if possible. If you continue to let your grades slip you could lose that opportunity."

Mia wasn't sure she cared about college at the moment, she was only fourteen, but these were the type of values and goals that Martin had stressed to her from the time she was very young and she knew what his expectations were.

"I don't care what people are doing in Argus Falls or at St. Christopher's, we need to get back to normal around here," Martin said calmly. "I'm going to punish you with the belt whether you like it or not Mia and I expect your behavior to change in their near future or we'll be doing a lot of this."

Mia swallowed nervously as a lump formed in her throat. She fidgeted nervously. This was definitely the grandpa she knew. This was the way he had always been with her, not a madman who flew into rages when he punished her, but someone who was calm and took time to talk about things first.

"You are going to begin studying and making up your failing grades," Martin informed her.

Mia's lip trembled slightly.

"I know you hate being strapped with the belt," Martin said quietly, "But unfortunately you've earned it."

Mia swallowed, "You couldn't just ground me?"

"Oh I'm going to ground you too," Martin said sternly, "You won't be leaving this house for the next two weeks and no more phone calls with Carly at night until your grades improve dramatically."

"But..." Mia thought she was going to die.

"But it isn't fair?" Martin asked, finishing her sentence, "I know how you feel Mia but life isn't fair and we're going to get you and this family back on track beginning today."