Telephone

Telephone

J. A. Hopewell

jasonhopewell@icloud.com

George hits accept on the center display while waiting at the light on Main St and Lutterloh Rd. “Hey Teresa.”

“Hey George. Did you hear what happened?”

“Pertaining to the incident at work?”

“No, no. The incident at the high school.”

“No. What happened.?”

“There was a fight between two girls in the lunchroom. One of the vice principals stepped in and pulled the girls apart. Apparently, one girl started assaulting him. Then the other girl joined in, and they beat the principal up.”

“Wow, kids these days, right?”

“I guess. The resource officer ended it and took the girls to the office. Not sure if they arrested them.”

“I hope everyone is alright. Why do girls’ fight?”

“Typically, a crush or social status. With social media, status changes are abrupt. You know how quick humans are to violence when they feel cornered, even girls.”

“Yeah, boys, it could be anything. A girl, status threat, high testosterone day, a misinterpreted eye movement. I don’t miss puberty.”

“Ha, ha. Me neither. I gotta go, George. Talk to you later.”

                                                               …

George turned from Main St. to Eighth St, pulled into the parking lot and left the engine running. The end of August in Texas should bring the end of one-hundred-degree days, but not today.

George tapped ‘Beautiful’ in contacts to call his wife Crystal.

“Hey beautiful, has Stacey called about an incident at school?”

“Yeah, she text me. Not sure what she was saying with all the acronyms and no punctuation. I guess a girl beat up a principal, and the cops were there. I haven’t had time to investigate further.”

“From what my sister said. Two girls beat up the principal and the resource officer had to break it up and detain them.”

“Oh wow, what’s that all about?”

“Not sure, probably social media and hormones.”

“Why? Because they’re girls?”

“Nooo. Because they’re teenagers.”

“Hahaha, I kind of miss high school now. Except for that part.”

“Yeah, right. If you get any new info, let me know. I need to get back to work.”

“Ok, I’ll see what I can find. Love you handsome.”

                                                               …

Crystal tapped end and brought up messenger.

Crystal:          Did you hear about high school incident call me.

Mercedes:      Call in 5

Crystal opened the high school administration page on Facebook. No post from the school but a few posts from parents asking about what happened, concerned about the safety of their kids.

One parent stated he heard a male principal put his hands on a female student. There was no context to the statement. Why would he make such an open statement without justifying it? That could lead to serious accusations.

Crystal answered the phone. “Hey Mercedes, did you hear anything?”

“I don’t know what’s going on. I’m getting text and social media posts that are very confusing. The information is sketchy. I don’t think anyone has the entire story. What have you heard?”

 “I heard two girls assaulted a principal, and the resource officer probably arrested them. Someone in comments on the school page posted the principal put their hands on one girl. My question is, where did this happen, and what happened first?”

“Oh great, a chicken or the egg moment,” Mercedes lamented. “Rumor has it the incident started in the cafeteria. But why would a principal do something nefarious in a public space? That doesn’t sound right. I only heard one reference to the cafeteria. Maybe it wasn’t there.”

“I don’t know,” Crystal said, frustrated. “I’ll monitor the Facebook page and see if anything pops up. Maybe I should text Stacey and tell her I’ll pick her up at school. You never know when something can escalate.”

“True. Can you pick up Nina and drop her at her abuela? I don’t want her stuck in anything and I can’t get out of here this afternoon. We’re too busy.”

“You bet. I’ll text Stacey to make sure they meet out front.”

“Thank you, carnalita. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”

                                                               …

“What! Why! Was it a pervert thing?” The man in the cowboy hat and boots was a regular customer. Mercedes collected his plant order and brought it to the counter. “Hold on Joe. Thank you, Mercedes, they’re beautiful. My mother will love them.”

“Your welcome Mr. Pots. Have a blessed day.”

“You too mam.” As he turned to leave. He continued his conversation. “Joe, I heard there was a fight. Was it the girls defending themselves? Did they just attack him for no reason?” The bell on the door rings as he opened it. “So, we don’t know. Somebody better find out quick. This little town won’t put up with a man putting his hands on our little girls…”

                                                               …

Mercedes tapped Rose on her phone and waited.

“Hello Mercedes. How are you?”

“I’m doing well, Ms. Rose. How are you feeling?”

“Much better thank you. Moving well now. Takes longer to do anything at my age, especially heal an injury.”

“That’s good to hear. I hope to see you at church soon.” Rose returned the sentiment. “I need to ask, have you heard about a principal being in an altercation with two female students at the high school?”

“No, I haven’t. When might this have happened?”

“Around lunchtime, I guess. Allegedly, it happened in the cafeteria. But there is some indication the principal started it by touching the one girl.”

“Oh my. I hate to hear that. What other information do you have? This doesn’t sound like much.”

“Information is vague and disparate at best. No one is sure how it started or where it started. I heard another person indicate the vice principal did something perverted.”

“Yes. Unfortunately, these things happen. What happens more is rumors get retold over and over before the factual information comes to light and becomes the narrative people won’t let go of. Rumors can destroy a reputation without cause.”

“So how do we know?”

“We have to wait for the facts. We also have to make sure they investigate and not hide anything.” Rose paused for a moment, then added. “Let me call my son. His husband is a vice principal at the high school.”

                                                               …

Rose called her son but couldn’t get through and left a message to call back. She thought for a moment, then tapped Celia in contacts.

“Rose, how are you?”

“Hi Celia, I’m well. How are you doing?”

“At our age everyday above ground is a blessing, honey.”

“Yes, it is. The reason I’m calling. I’ve had several people call me about an incident at the high school. Every person has a different version of the story and I’m afraid this is going to fester into something out of control. I just wanted to let you know. I’m sure Jeremiah is aware of the incident but may not be aware of the public story that’s building.”

“Oh my. I know something happened. He went to the high school and said he may be home late.”

“Ok. I’m trying not to add to the rumor mill by just listening, and yet the unfounded rumors are collecting.”

“I understand. I will let Jeremiah know. The school board will want to get ahead of this. Thank you for letting me know Rose, I appreciate it.”

“Your welcome Celia, I’ll let you go, talk to you later.”

                                                               …

As Rose reached to hit end, another call came in. Oh no, she thought, squinting to see the circles and what they said. Randomly, she touched a circle and got lucky, ending the call with Celia and beginning the call with her son.

“Hey mom. Sorry I was in a meeting. Are you ok?”

“Yes, my love. Sorry to bother you at work. People have been calling about an incident at the high school and I wanted to know if you’ve heard anything and make sure Salim is ok.”

“Oh. I don’t know. I’ve been in meetings all day with clients. He hasn’t left a message. I’ll text him and check. What have you heard?”

“It’s all rumor and innuendo. The only solid information so far is an assault took place against a principal at the school. It’s unclear why or where. Some have suggested two girls were fighting in the cafeteria, others say the male principal put his hands on one girl and they defended themselves. There’s even a suggestion the resource officer arrested someone.”

“Hmmm. I need to check on Salim and make sure he’s ok. Thank you for letting me know. If I find something out, I’ll let you know.”

“Ok, my love. I’ll talk to you later.”

                                                               …

A sinking feeling came over him after he hit end. Tad brought up messages to text Salim.

He heard Connie, a fellow sales rep, on the phone outside his office.

“Are you sure, Crystal? Wow, that’s not good. Who did they arrest? It sounds like they should’ve arrested the principal. There’s no excuse for a man to put his hands on a girl.”

Connie stepped into her office. Unable to hear the rest of the conversation, Tad sat back and let out a deep breath. He text Salim to call as soon as possible.

He knew Salim would never put his hands on anyone unless absolutely necessary, especially one of his students. Who could they be talking about? He and Salim felt generally safe here. But this was still a very conservative bible belt Texas town. If Salim was involved, some people could insert an extra layer of unnecessary and unwanted narrative.

The phone buzzed on his desk.

“Hey Lidia. What's up?”

“Hey Tad. Are you ok?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

“Oh good. I saw a post that said a male principal put his hands on a female student and they arrested him. Someone suggested it was the gay principal.”

“Oh man, here we go.” Tad sat back in his chair and let out a slow sigh. “One of his friends from the school would’ve called me if that happened, I’m sure.”

“So, you haven’t talked to Salim?”

“No. I text him. He’ll get back to me when he can.”

“Ok. Let me know if you hear anything. I’ll keep any eye on the socials and see if this thing gets out of hand.”

“Ok. Thank you.” I think, Tad said in his head.

                                                               …

Lidia said goodbye and ended the call. She reloaded the high school admin page looking for new comments or a post from the administration.

Lidia tapped contacts, then Mercedes.

“Hey girl.”

“Hey Mercedes. Did you hear what happened at the high school?”

“Yes. What have you heard?”

“I heard they arrested someone. It might be Salim. I talked to Tad, and he hasn’t heard from Salim all day.”

“That’s weird. I heard they arrested the girls who beat him up. This story keeps changing. All I know is someone needs to sort this out. The only thing that is consistent is two girls, a principal and a fight.”

“Wow, Jeremiah just posted an emergency public school board meeting at eight o’clock tonight.” Lidia paused, then added, “The cretins in this town weren’t happy when we elected an African American school board president. They’ll be out in force at the meeting. Are you going?”

“Yeah, Jeremiah will need the support. Crystal is picking up my daughter after school. Hopefully, the girls will know something more.”

“Careful. You know how teenage girls are. They get into their cliques and embellish what they think they heard or saw. It’s a vicious rumor mill.”

                                                               …

Crystal pulled into line in front of the high school. Five more minutes before the bell rings.

She swiped down and reloaded the school admin page. A post from the school board president announcing a public emergency meeting.

The phone vibrated, and she answered.

“Lidia, how are you?”

“I’m good. Are you going to the school board meeting tonight? Mercedes and I are going.”

“I just saw the post. Yeah, I’ll go with ya'll. We need to find out what happened. It’s not looking good for anyone right now. Plus, the crazies may be out at this one. Our friends on the board my need people who will speak out with a rational voice.”

“That’s for sure. I’ll see you there.”

As Crystal hit end, the last bell rang. A few minutes later, Nina appeared at the door, followed shortly by her daughter Tara. They climbed in the car while talking about a science project and saying their hellos.

Crystal pulled away from the school behind a long line of parents.

“Why are there so many parents here picking up their kids?” Nina asked.

“Because of the fight.”

“The fight?” the girls said in chorus.

“That was barely a fight,” Nina stated. “Poor Mr. Salim. I saw him in the hallway. His lip swelled.”

“So, he wasn’t arrested?” Crystal asked.

“No! Why would they arrest him?” Tara asked, concerned.

“Ok, where were you when this happened?”

Tara answered. “Nina and I were eating lunch. Tana and Paris were at the end of the table. They started arguing about Paris, saying something about Tana’s crush on a Tick Tock video. Tana threw a fry at Paris. They both jumped up and started grabbing and kicking at each other. Mr. Salim tried to get in between them. Paris accidentally kicked him trying to kick Tana and Paris thought someone was attacking her and elbowed him in the mouth. Ms. Presilla grabbed Paris and Ms. Diana the resource officer grabbed Tana and they walked them to the office.”

“Mr. Salim limped for a minute, but he walked it off. He wasn’t limping when I saw him in the hallway. His lip is puffy. It looks weird. He has such a pleasant face.” Nina added.

Crystal thought for a moment, then asked. “So that’s it? That’s all that happened?”

And with only the condemnation a teenager can muster in the face and voice, Tara answered. “Yeah!”