Page 13 of A Simple Mistake
“When the girls started complaining about Manville, a few of us decided to drop in to watch,” she said.“We thought he just needed—”
“A shot across the bow?”
“Exactly.That’s why nobody mentioned it to you.”
Jack made a noncommittal noise.He’d met most of the parents since Nico and Daniel had enrolled in the school.He’d vetted quite a few of them, too, but he still much preferred his own observations.Especially since—in his opinion—most people closed their eyes to what didn’t affect them.
“We thought only the girls were in danger,” Melissa told him in a low voice once the class was underway.“Listening to tales from the previous years, you know?Nobody thought he’d grope the boys, too.”
Jack wondered how Gareth—so much better at the interpersonal stuff that baffled Jack—might respond.Would he say something soothing or placating that would make Melissa feel better about herself?
Jack didn’t flannel, but he also knew that not everybody had his background.Not everybody knew how predators operated.Women dealt with inappropriate behaviour all their lives.They’d learned to watch out for each other.It might not occur to them that boys could be in danger, too.
“Predators aren’t necessarily after sex,” he explained in as calm a voice as he could manage.“Or notjustafter sex, I should say.They want the power rush they get from inflicting fear, pain, and damage on someone smaller and weaker.Some exclusively target girls.But boys are just as vulnerable.”
She held his gaze, even though her cheeks were pink.“Noted.”
They watched the class in silence and Jack took careful note of every sidelong glance Barrington Manville sent their way.The man knew why he and Melissa were there and put on a show.
Smiling.Reassuring.Supportive.
Creepy in the extreme.
Daniel stayed as far from Manville as he could, and Nico and Carol had positioned themselves so they could interfere if necessary.They weren’t the only ones to arrange themselves in small teams of protection, either.
“Can you see it?”Melissa asked him halfway through the class.“Not that Manville’s doing anything with us here.”
“I see it.Did you teach them?”
“No.Your Nico did that.He watches out for everyone, or so I’m told.”She considered him over the rim of her fashionable glasses.“That can’t be easy for you.”
“We got them as teenagers and knew nothing about parenting.We handle things as they come at us.”And Jack would rather teach Nico to fight and worry about him than have him helpless.
“I can only hope mine turn out as well as your two,” Melissa said as Manville started the last waltz of the afternoon, and Jack made a mental note to tell Nico.
“We’re out of lemon curd,” Jack said as he dropped Daniel off outside Rachel’s deli.“And that herb-coated ham you brought home the other day is almost gone.”
Daniel waved him off.“Don’t worry.I have the shopping list.I also know what I’m cooking.”
“Does Gareth?”Jack called after him, but Daniel had already slammed the car door and trotted up to the deli’s entrance.
Nico climbed over the centre console and settled in the passenger seat, pulling the seatbelt across.“What are we doing?”
“We need to get paint and a few other supplies,” Jack told him as he pulled into traffic.“And there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
“Okay.”Nico asked nothing else.
Jack negotiated the Friday afternoon rush while making lists in his head.This close to the end of the day, few customers wandered the aisles of the local builders’ merchant.Jack grabbed two iced coffees at the concession stand while he waited for Nico, who’d gone to fetch one of the large trolleys.
“Here.”He handed one drink to Nico.“I’ve just spent an hour listening to Mrs Farnway singing your praises.She’s impressed that you’re watching out for everyone and teaching them how to keep each other safe.”
Nico blushed.“She said that?And she doesn’t mind what I’m doing?Dawn is convinced her mum doesn’t believe her.That she thinks it’s just so much drama.”
“Well, she does and she doesn’t,” Jack summed up the conversation.“She believes that Manville is creepy.But just… normal creepy.The opportunistic kind that stops when someone’s watching.”
“And you don’t think that?”
“No, Nico—youdon’t think that.And she’s maybe a bit embarrassed that you had to organise the class into teams to protect the girls and then got in trouble yourself.”
