Miracle at Augusta by James Patterson & Peter de Jonge

Author:James Patterson & Peter de Jonge [Patterson, James & Jonge, Peter de]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316410977
Amazon: 0316410977
Barnesnoble: 0316410977
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2015-04-06T05:00:00+00:00

37

THE NEXT MORNING, I put on my most presentable blazer and one of my few pairs of shoes that don’t have spikes sticking out the bottom and drive to New Trier Township High School. Since Elizabeth graduated a decade ago, I’ve only been back to vote. In fact, pulling a lever in a high school gym every four years is the sum of my input as an American citizen, and that makes coming here to this well-lit administrative office on behalf of a student I barely know all the more unsettling.

Behind the front desk is a human roadblock, whose placard reads: LAURA SKELLCHOCK.

“Laura, good morning. My name is Travis McKinley. I need to talk to someone about a student who’s being bullied.”

“That’s Reece Halsey, our assistant dean. She’s out of the office till Friday.”

“Can’t I talk to someone else?”

“I’m afraid she’s the one you need to talk to.”

“It can’t wait that long, Laura. The kid is getting beat up every morning. He could be dead by then.”

“How do you know him?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t, and that’s all the more reason why you should take me seriously.”

“I am taking you seriously, Mr. McKinley.”

“The only thing I know about him is that he shoveled my driveway and he did a good job and he’s a nice kid and he was nice to my son. But even if he did a lousy job on the driveway and was a snotty kid and was mean to my son, he still shouldn’t get beat up every morning.”

Skellchock responds to this last rhetorical flourish with an eye roll.

“Isn’t there a way I can get in touch with his parents? The student’s name is Jerzy Solarski. I could also help identify the kids who are involved. The incidents occurred at the bus stop at Downing and Parade. Less than a dozen students get picked up there. It shouldn’t be hard to figure out who they are.”

The way Skellchock’s smile congeals tells me there’s something impatient in my tone. The shadow that falls across her eyes bears a frightening resemblance to the one I saw at the Department of Motor Vehicles when someone was insane enough to ask why the line was moving so slowly.

“Aren’t you the person who got into the fight with one of our parents?”

“That was unfortunate, but there were no charges.”

“Lucky for you, Mr. McKinley. And didn’t another fight get you suspended from the Senior Tour?”

“That was also unfortunate.”

“Sounds like you’re the bully, Mr. McKinley.” Then, as suddenly as it arrived, the shadow lifts and her smile softens. “Mr. McKinley, as I’m sure you can appreciate, we can’t share information about our students to every nut job who waltzes in here. What I can do is pass your number to Jerzy’s parents. If they want to reach out, they will.”

“I appreciate that, Laura. Truly.”

“My husband’s a golfer,” she explains.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.