164 School Board Meeting 2 (1/2)

Mrs. Atkins stood up and walked to the table, facing the five. ”Hello, even though we know each other, I feel like it's only proper I introduced myself for all to hear.”

Gerald nodded, then sat down. ”The floor is yours.”

Mrs. Atkins faced the crowd. ”Hello everybody. My name is Mary and some of you may know me from the pta meetings. Or maybe your sons play baseball with my sons. Or you may even know me and my husband, Wayne, from our real estate agency. We're active in both the school and the community. This is our home.” Her look became serious. ”As some of you know, Wayne and I, are foster parents. Every so often we get a request to take in a child and help them adjust. Early this month we received a similar request, except with more strenuous circumstances. Another high schooler.”

Mrs. Atkins smiled at me in front of the crowd. ”Jake is our newest addition. He's a bright young man who excels in math and likes to play baseball with my other sons. In spite of a rough start in life, he's powered through and made tremendous progress. He's an abnormally quiet kid, but that doesn't make him a bad teen. It doesn't make him a scheming, manipulative child like Jane Golladay has portrayed him to be. I've asked for this emergency meeting today to remove her from not only my sons life, but from our school. Someone who can spit such vile words to a young boy should have no reason to be a school counselor.”

Most of the crowd started to clap. Mrs. Atkins smiled up at them. ”Thank you everyone, and let me also thank you for your time. First off, this is Wayne, my husband.” Mr. Atkins got up and joined her up front, giving the group a wave. ”And we brought our family friend and lawyer, George Pickens to present our thoughts to the board.” Mr. Pickens got up and joined them. ”And last, but not least, Jake. Come on up.” She waved for me to come.

Noah pushed me up, off the bench and to his mom. I slowly made my way to them, feeling over a hundred pairs of eyes on my back.

”Just give them a quick wave and then you can sit.” Mr. Atkins whispered.

I gulped. I slowly turned to face them, lifted a hand, then immediately turned my back to them.

”Bambi!” A few of the guys from the team whooped. They got loud and I felt even more embarrassed. I quickly sat down next to Mr. Atkins, who had sat on the end.

Mrs. Atkins gave my shoulder a light squeeze before taking a seat next to me, leaving Mr. Pickens on the end. Mr. Pickens placed his briefcase down in his spot, but remained standing.

He waited until the gymnasium quieted down before addressing the school board. ”As Mary has said before, my name is George Pickens. I've known the Atkins for the last two decades and have been their lawyer just as long.”

”You know this isn't a court case, right?” Sally, the woman on our far right said.

Mr. Pickens nodded. ”It's not one yet, but has potential. Not just against Jane Golladay, but against the school board as well.”

”On what grounds?” Sally frowned.

”Failure to protect a child. Gross negligence. And willful misconduct.” Mr. Pickens walked to stand between the two tables, still facing them. He raised his voice for all to hear. ”These would be my top three. Depending on how this meeting goes.”