Page 27 of Soul

“Excuse me? That doesn’t matter, but she clearly disrespected me,” Mrs Kingston exclaimed.

“Actually, it does matter. Because if you lied, and Maci was calling you out on it and was within her rights to. The context matters,” I retorted.

“Well, I never,” Mrs Kingston stated.

“Indeed, I’m sure you’ve never.” I left the meaning dangling and faced Maci as Mrs Kingston grew puce. “Explain, honey.”

“Mrs Kingston said that bad children go to hell. That’s a lie,” Maci explained. My jaw dropped open.

“What?”

Maci repeated her words and added, “Mrs Kingston said I should get used to that idea.”

Lost for words, I turned to Mrs Kingston, who scowled.

“Was that before or after you called her a liar?” I finally asked.

“After.”

“What did she lie about?”

“Mrs Kingston was telling Mrs Knight that who she slept with was none of Mrs Knight’s problems…” Maci started, and my eyes bugged out. “She said Mrs Knight was a jealous, dried-up old hag. That’s a lie. Mrs Kingston then said she wasn’t having an affair with Mr Kane, which was also a lie. And she said Mr Kane didn’t do her favours, which was another lie.”

I held my hand up. “Thank you, baby. Can you go back to class?”

“Sure. Love you, Mom.” Maci tilted her head for a kiss, which I dropped on her. As Maci left the office, the tension in the room could be cut with a knife. As soon as the door shut behind Maci, I exploded.

“Are you telling me you dragged me down here to deal with a fucking lover’s tiff that my daughter overheard?” I shouted.

Mr Kane began spluttering. “The issue is Maci—”

“Maci called Mrs Kingston out for being a liar, which she clearly is. And that conversation is no way appropriate for a school where small ears can and did overhear. What the hell are you running here? No action will be taken against Maci. However, I’ll be making an official complaint that my daughter knows Mrs Kingston is banging Mr Kane!”

“You can’t—”

“What? Tell the truth? Maci is seven years old! What on earth makes any of you believe that a conversation like that should be held in school? And should it happen, it shouldn’t occur in front of kids! I’m completely and utterly disgusted. Maci is to be removed from Mrs Kingston’s class immediately, and she is not to have contact with either of my children. Should I discover Mrs Kingston is even spotted near them, I shall be contacting lawyers. My seven-year-old daughter knows what an affair is! Christ!”

“Mrs Bright—Miss Teague. I’m sorry. Please let me try to resolve this in-house,” Mr Kane spluttered.

“What’s that meant to mean?” Mrs Kingston demanded.

“I don’t know, but this is going to the school board. Fuck me!” I exclaimed and walked out. The office was much fuller than before, and most of the people looked amused. I noted the name plaque in front of the receptionist’s desk. Mrs Knight. The receptionist was blushing deep red.

“Yeah, I’d be ashamed if I were you,” I sneered at her and stormed out.

I couldn’t believe I had been called up the school for that pile of shit. I drove home in a right snit and braked heavily on my drive.

Soul had been working on his bike outside when I arrived, and I nodded at him.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked, his head popping over the fence. “You look pretty mad.”

“Mad?” I exploded and spewed what had just happened all over him. At first, Soul looked pretty amused, and then it faded as he heard exactly what had happened.

“Damn!” he said when I finished. I was breathing heavily and shoved my hair out of my eyes.

“Can you believe the bare-faced cheek?” I demanded.

“In all honesty, no. That’s rather shocking.”

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