Bones Don't Lie (Morgan Dane #3)(49)

“Exactly what did Ava ask you to do?” Morgan asked.

Mrs. Sloan lifted her chin. “She wanted me to make Bret stop tugging her hair.”

“Did she use the word tug?” Morgan settled into cross-examination mode.

“I don’t recall her exact words.” Mrs. Sloan sniffed.

“How did you address the issue?” Morgan leveled her with a steady gaze.

Mrs. Sloan shifted in her chair. “I told him to stop. Kids will be kids. Your daughter needs to develop a thicker skin.”

“Keeping one’s hands to oneself is a simple concept all children can master,” Morgan clarified. She was having none of those boys-will-be-boys excuses.

Bret’s mother humphed. “I’m sure Bret was just being friendly.”

Morgan ignored her. The woman obviously had no clue what her son was up to.

“Did you follow through?” Morgan asked Mrs. Sloan. She pictured a distracted teacher, irritated by what she considered to be a trivial interruption.

“I don’t know what you’re getting at, Ms. Dane,” the principal chimed in. “Your daughter admitted to kicking Bret. End of story.”

“Oh, no it isn’t. That isn’t even close to the end,” Morgan said. “You have a responsibility to protect my daughter while she is in your care. You didn’t do that. You forced a six-year-old to defend herself against a much larger child. Bret ripped out a chunk of Ava’s hair violently enough that her scalp bled.”

“I . . .” Mrs. Sloan leaned back from the table.

When the woman appeared to be at a loss for words, Morgan continued. “This boy is older than Ava. He’s twice her size, and he was clearly bullying my daughter. You didn’t make him stop. He should be in trouble, not my daughter.”

The self-satisfied smile fell away from the mother’s face.

Were some kids born mean or did they learn it from their parents?

It didn’t matter.

Not all children were nice. Not all people were nice. It was a fact of life, which was the reason Grandpa had made sure all the children in his family could look out for themselves.

“We always punish all participants in a physical fight,” the principal said in an end-of-discussion tone. “Our school has a zero-tolerance policy. I have no discretion. Both children will receive a two-day suspension. Today is Wednesday. Ava can return to school on Monday.”

“You’re suspending my daughter from school? She’s six!” Disbelief flooded Morgan. “Bullying is a permissible activity?”

“I have no choice,” the principal said. “Bret will be punished as well. Those are the rules.”

“Bret threatened and physically attacked Ava,” Morgan said. “If an adult committed these acts against another adult, they could be charged with assault and battery.”

The color drained from the principal’s face. “They’re just children.”

Morgan leaned forward a few inches, her gaze locking on the principal’s. “If I reached over and yanked out a handful of your hair, what would you do? Would you consider that trivial? Would you brush it off? I’m taller and stronger than you. I could do it easily.”

Morgan let three heartbeats of silence pass. “So you wouldn’t tolerate that behavior for yourself, but you expect my daughter to toughen up? Seems to me she is plenty tough.”

“I didn’t know he had actually hurt her.” Mrs. Sloan’s voice weakened.

You didn’t bother to find out.

“If children are afraid to stand up for themselves, then your policy protects and enables bullies.” Morgan turned to the principal. “Did you know I used to be an assistant district attorney, and now I’m a criminal defense lawyer?”

“No.” The principal looked as if that information made her physically ill.

Morgan addressed the boy’s mother. “Did you know that parents of bullies can be sued?”

Bret’s mother’s mouth hung open a full inch. Sadly, the only thing that appeared to get the woman’s attention was the thought of the incident costing her money, not the fact that her son had hurt another child.

“Now you do.” Morgan stood. “You can all expect an e-mail summing up today’s discussion. Since this is a district policy issue, I’ll copy the school board and superintendent. But as far as I’m concerned, my daughter handled the situation admirably.”

No one responded, but then Morgan hadn’t really expected them to. She also didn’t expect that Bret would bother Ava again. Not that she had any faith in his mother’s ability to discipline her son. It was Ava’s well-placed kick that had earned Bret’s attention. Most bullies didn’t pick on kids who fought back.

“Goodbye.” Frustrated, Morgan left the room.

Ava sat up. “Am I in trouble?”

“No, honey. But you’re going to have a couple of days off from school. Maybe you and Gianna can do something fun.”

“But I want to go to school.” Ava’s eyes filled with tears, and she sagged back against Lance.

“I know, honey. I’m sorry.” Morgan touched her daughter’s head. “But you did the right thing. You can always defend yourself.”

Lance shot Morgan a tight-lipped look. He stood with Ava still wrapped in his arms. “Let’s get you home.”