A Lie Unraveled Read Online Free PDF Page A

upset. I sent her to the principal. He called her mother and she came to get her, but by the time she arrived in my classroom to collect Sophia, the child said she was sick and started to cry. Well, I just had to tell her what Sophia had said to me.”
    Justin looked down at the notes regarding the incident. “That’s when Destiny, the mother, got really upset with you and the school?”
    “Yes, it is. I told her, and the principal told her that what Sophia had said was a breach of the school rules as was her constant refusal to do homework. Destiny said that the child had a point. It was kind of the truth that there was a lot of time wasting in schools today.”
    Justin could feel himself getting worked up. He had already read the rest of the incident and how Destiny had made a complaint to the board. It was bad enough when a child was rude but to know that that child was not exactly being reprimanded for her behaviors at home but she was being taught to behave that way by her mother was even worse. “What else would you say was a concern?”
    “She doesn’t get along with the other kids. I have encouraged them, sometimes quite sternly to allow Sophia to join in their games but she isn’t happy unless she’s running whatever game it is. If they call her on her bossiness, she will ruin the game for everybody.”
    “How does she do that?” He was finding himself quite worried about Sophia, this kid had issues.
    “She’ll throw the ball up on the roof, or she’ll break something. I told her mother she was doing this and she said the children just didn’t understand her. She was highly intelligent and it wasn’t in her nature to be subservient to other children.”
    “In your opinion is she gifted?” Maybe that was the problem, he thought. Gifted children have been known to have trouble fitting in and bore easily.
    “It doesn’t look that way, not on paper. It’s hard to tell really, if she’s not being difficult, she’s almost asleep.”
    “The child is tired?”
    “Oh yes, she’s extremely tired. The mother doesn’t believe in setting bedtimes. She prefers to let Sophia decide when she’s tired enough to sleep.”
    Justin rubbed a frustrated hand over his face. At this point he was feeling sorrier for Sophia and very angry with her mother. What was she thinking? It wasn’t just the child who was in need of some discipline in her life. Destiny needed someone to pull her into line too. “Is there more?”
    “She can be a little mean in general. Sophia clearly thinks she’s better than the other kids and she isn’t backward in telling them so; she doesn’t hold back. Then there’s the issue with the make-up. What nine-year-old needs to come to school with make up on?” She rolled her eyes. “I asked her one morning to go to the bathroom and wash it off. Next morning her mother was waiting for me. Apparently I destroyed her self-esteem and took away her right to make herself feel comfortable in her own skin.”
    “Okay, where do we go from here, that’s the problem? If I can convince Destiny, the mom, I’d like to try and get Sophia back to school and at the same time help her to make some changes that would help her be a happier, more attentive student.”
    “If you think you can achieve that, it would be great.” Candace said. “I think underneath she’s probably a nice kid really, she just needs to learn how to relax and be a kid; do as she’s told and let the adults worry about the adult stuff.”
    Justin was stumped. This Destiny was a long way from the Destiny he had fallen in love with so long ago. Sure she could get a little bratty when she didn’t get her own way. Only children who had been spoiled by their parents tend to be that way sometimes. “I agree with you; we just have to find a way to make that happen. Tell me, do you think it would be helpful to get the dad involved?”
    “There isn’t a dad as far as I know.”
    Justin looked up from where he’d been making