Tallulah I heard her scream. I was numb now, though. I’d faced it. Taken the hard road instead of the easy. It would have been much less complicated to lie. Ignore it. But I couldn’t lie. Not anymore. I was scared of him. It was time I dealt with all the r epercussions and told the truth, before he took it too far. My mother’s hand squeezed mine as she held it tightly. The police officer called in was Officer Mike. I’d known him since I was a kid. He was Santa in the town square during the holidays. He gave out candy at the station on Halloween dressed as Superman. He was the one who always did the safety seminars in the school auditorium. Everyone knew Officer Mike. When he had walked in the counselor’s office where my mother and I waited, I had been relieved. Somewhat comforted. “I’ve had some records pulled on Dace, and it appears this isn’t the first time. He left the last school after whispers began to circulate that he was having relations with one of his students. However, her parents never filed a complaint, and she never came forward.” He paused and lifted his gaze from the file in front of him. “It’s a brave thing to do, Tallulah.” I didn’t feel very brave at the moment. I was sick with fear. I didn’t know what would happen next. If I was going to be expected to speak to a judge, or go to court, or face Mr. Dace again. I didn’t want to. Not now.
“Why didn’t the school check into that before hiring him?” My mother was upset. She was fighting back tears, and I knew controlling her emotions was difficult for her. Officer Mike shrugged. “I don’t know. I will say it took some digging. With no actual complaint filed, it wasn’t easily accessible. But I knew the right people to call to find out.” Mother pressed her fingers to her temple and closed her eyes. “His wife,” she said with a tight voice. “What she must feel.” She opened her eyes again. “You said they had a child. How old is she?” “Three.” “Jesus,” my mother muttered. “He’s a sick man, and he has a daughter. How would he feel if this happened with his daughter one day? Tallulah’s just a child herself.” Officer Mike gave a slow nod. “Yes. But men like Dace see a woman.” Mom shot up from her seat and began to pace the room. “She’s seventeen. He is ten years older than her. She’s naïve. She’s sweet and kind. She worries about her grades.” All of this really had no relevance, but to my mother it did. “I’ve got everything, Tallulah?” Officer Mike asked me. “This is it? All of it, or were there any other incidents you need to tell me about?” I shook my head. “Just those two. The other times he had been friendly. Maybe too friendly, but he had never done anything. Not until last week.”
Officer Mike stood. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t st ep foot in a school system again.” “Good!” my mother said, her eyes filling with tears again. With that, Officer Mike left the room. Mrs. Milly, the school counselor, st epped back inside. She looked from me to my mom. Then she stuck her glasses that were perched on her head back on her nose. “You’re free to go now. I’m suggesting that Tallulah take a day to settle her nerves before returning to classes.” My mother nodded. “Yes. She will. Thank you.” Mrs. Milly turned to look at me. “I had been watching him. I’d seen his gaze going where it shouldn’t. I know coming forward with this was hard. But it was for the best. Men like him, they don’t get better.” I didn’t know how to respond to that. Too much had happened. My head hurt. My chest ached, and I never wanted to walk back into this school again. Because I knew that although the adults believed me... not all the students would. My mother took my arm and held it tightly, as if I needed her strength to walk. I wasn’t falling apart. She might be, but I was just scared of all the things I would face now. I hadn’t been damaged. I hadn’t actually been frightened until this morning. Mr. Dace had pushed too hard. The kiss had just startled me, made me uncomfortable. But today he’d seemed more unstable. I walked with my mother into the hallway. She was quiet, and so was I. From the moment I told Principal Haswell, “Mr. Dace has been making advances to me. Once before, a week ago, and today. I didn’t want it, and I told him to stop,”
everything changed. Pam had been sent to the office to wait to speak to the counselor before going to class. I had been taken to the assistant principal’s office, while Mr. Dace had been taken to Principal Haswell’s office. My mother had arrived first. Principal Haswell had called her. Then Officer Mike. I didn’t know what Mr. Dace was claiming. I knew he wasn’t telling the truth. It was going to be my word against his and possibly Pam’s. She was the only witness. I already knew she wasn’t going to side with me. She wanted me to have been in the wrong. The girls who loved him wouldn’t want to believe he was wrong. The guys on the football team would be angry that I was accusing their coach of something that could have him fired. I knew all this when I told the truth. But I wasn’t going to lie. I scanned the hallway to see if anyone was out here. I didn’t want to face a student before I left. The rumors would be bad enough already. My gaze landed on the one person I wasn’t expecting. The one I didn’t want to see, yet I couldn’t stop thinking about. The guy who had crushed me and would now hate me. Nash. He stood there silently in the hallway. His backpack over his shoulder. The Lawton Lions duffel bag he’d carried when he played football in his left hand. That was odd. Why would he be carrying his football gear around? I lifted my eyes back to meet his, and there was disgust there. Even hate. It felt ice cold and painful as it sank in that he knew, and he didn’t believe the best. He assumed the
worst. I had hoped of all students he’d be the one to believe in me. To know I’d never do what I was going to be accused of. But even Nash thought I could do it. If he didn’t believe me, no one would. How would I come back here and face this? Being made fun of because I was fat hadn’t been easy, but I could acc ept it. Live through it. But being accused of something like this... I just didn’t know if I could. “Ignore that,” Mother whispered beside me. If only I could. If only I didn’t care. If only I didn’t love him.