such a thing.
Yet, as she entered the principal’s office and observed her son sitting in a chair, head down with downcast eyes, she knew he was in a world of trouble. They shook hands. The principal’s name was Sandy Wilton. Clumps of mascara pasted on her eyelashes, eyebrows, and jowls like freshly pressed wallpaper. She dressed in a casual brown suit, and her skirt was hiked up just above her knobby knees.
She sat across from Meredith behind a long horseshoe shaped desk, oval, a half semi-circle.
“How are you doing, Mrs. Brewster?” she said, pulling in the chair.
“Not so well. What did Morgan do now?”
“Do you know why I called you?”
“Please tell me what’s going on,” Meredith implored, glancing at Morgan and at Sandy. “If my son had done anything, you can be certain he’ll be disciplined.”
The principal picked up a pencil and scratched something on a notepad. “I don’t think this can be fixed by punishing your son. I’m afraid your son cannot come to our school anymore.”
“What? What did he do?”
“He didn’t do anything, except cut another child’s lip.”
“That can’t be the reason why he’s being expelled,” Meredith stood up. “Tell me, what happened here.”
Sandy watched Morgan play with his fingers. He tapped his open palm, rattling his fingers like the legs of a spider. Sandy forced down the fear cracking to break out. Earlier the previous week, she had been infested with spiders under the skin. They worked their way into her blood veins, protruding the vessels as if they were boiling in hot water. The pain was unbearable—the same pain that was besieging her now. She stopped doodling and scratched her hands.
“Your son is dangerous.”
“Like I said, what did he do?”
“Under penal code 860, it’s illegal for your child to cause harm or threaten the safety of others. If by any reason, the public’s safety is in danger, that danger must be removed.”
“My son, a health risk to others?” Meredith asked in disbelief. “No, you’re wrong. This isn’t grounds for expulsion. You can’t do this.”
“Mrs. Brewster. Your son was levitating. He was three feet off the ground. A number of teaching staff saw this. And so did I,” Sandy said calmly.
She had something in her. She itched. She scratched her skin, running her long fingernails across, breaking the skin and spurting blood. A thin trickle sprouted like a flowing streamer. There was black infestation under that skin, burning up the arteries. It hurt, dear God. It was worse around the boy.
Meredith gestured to Morgan. “My son is not dangerous. What you’re saying is beyond credibility, makes me wonder what kind of environment my son has to endure. We’re leaving now.”
“Yes, you do that. And don’t ever come back.”
“You’ll hear from me again,” Meredith warned. “And from the school board advisors.”
The Brewster family left, and Sandy brooded. She would not leave the school premise tonight.
V
She hung herself. She looped a belt around her neck, tightened it, and knotted it around the ceiling fan. The assistant principal found her the next day, swaying, as though there was a light breeze in the room, but all the windows were closed.
Inside the walls, between the insulation and plaster, she heard a skittering.
Chapter four
The noise from outside woke Embry, hazy snatches of his nightmare lingering in his mind. It was his wife falling in a hole, except… it didn’t feel like a dream. It felt real, an amalgamation of fiction and reality. His sister in law was missing and in his dream the woman who jumped shimmered between his wife and her sister, which added to the intensity of the dream. In reality, Embry’s wife was beside herself with worry and had been badgering the police, without success, to investigate the interior of the hole to see if she had happened to fall in. There were more lingering memories from his dreams, all of which seemed to revolve
Yet, as she entered the principal’s office and observed her son sitting in a chair, head down with downcast eyes, she knew he was in a world of trouble. They shook hands. The principal’s name was Sandy Wilton. Clumps of mascara pasted on her eyelashes, eyebrows, and jowls like freshly pressed wallpaper. She dressed in a casual brown suit, and her skirt was hiked up just above her knobby knees.
She sat across from Meredith behind a long horseshoe shaped desk, oval, a half semi-circle.
“How are you doing, Mrs. Brewster?” she said, pulling in the chair.
“Not so well. What did Morgan do now?”
“Do you know why I called you?”
“Please tell me what’s going on,” Meredith implored, glancing at Morgan and at Sandy. “If my son had done anything, you can be certain he’ll be disciplined.”
The principal picked up a pencil and scratched something on a notepad. “I don’t think this can be fixed by punishing your son. I’m afraid your son cannot come to our school anymore.”
“What? What did he do?”
“He didn’t do anything, except cut another child’s lip.”
“That can’t be the reason why he’s being expelled,” Meredith stood up. “Tell me, what happened here.”
Sandy watched Morgan play with his fingers. He tapped his open palm, rattling his fingers like the legs of a spider. Sandy forced down the fear cracking to break out. Earlier the previous week, she had been infested with spiders under the skin. They worked their way into her blood veins, protruding the vessels as if they were boiling in hot water. The pain was unbearable—the same pain that was besieging her now. She stopped doodling and scratched her hands.
“Your son is dangerous.”
“Like I said, what did he do?”
“Under penal code 860, it’s illegal for your child to cause harm or threaten the safety of others. If by any reason, the public’s safety is in danger, that danger must be removed.”
“My son, a health risk to others?” Meredith asked in disbelief. “No, you’re wrong. This isn’t grounds for expulsion. You can’t do this.”
“Mrs. Brewster. Your son was levitating. He was three feet off the ground. A number of teaching staff saw this. And so did I,” Sandy said calmly.
She had something in her. She itched. She scratched her skin, running her long fingernails across, breaking the skin and spurting blood. A thin trickle sprouted like a flowing streamer. There was black infestation under that skin, burning up the arteries. It hurt, dear God. It was worse around the boy.
Meredith gestured to Morgan. “My son is not dangerous. What you’re saying is beyond credibility, makes me wonder what kind of environment my son has to endure. We’re leaving now.”
“Yes, you do that. And don’t ever come back.”
“You’ll hear from me again,” Meredith warned. “And from the school board advisors.”
The Brewster family left, and Sandy brooded. She would not leave the school premise tonight.
V
She hung herself. She looped a belt around her neck, tightened it, and knotted it around the ceiling fan. The assistant principal found her the next day, swaying, as though there was a light breeze in the room, but all the windows were closed.
Inside the walls, between the insulation and plaster, she heard a skittering.
Chapter four
The noise from outside woke Embry, hazy snatches of his nightmare lingering in his mind. It was his wife falling in a hole, except… it didn’t feel like a dream. It felt real, an amalgamation of fiction and reality. His sister in law was missing and in his dream the woman who jumped shimmered between his wife and her sister, which added to the intensity of the dream. In reality, Embry’s wife was beside herself with worry and had been badgering the police, without success, to investigate the interior of the hole to see if she had happened to fall in. There were more lingering memories from his dreams, all of which seemed to revolve
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