Read With the Headmaster's Approval Online
Authors: Jan Hurst-Nicholson
“Andy knows a photographer who specialises in food photography. He’ll know all the publishers,” Jenna said.
“You could involve the girls in the project and perhaps use one or two of their recipes. It would be a useful work experience for them,” said Adam.
“Perhaps I should think about it,” said Barbara Crook, her face in contemplative mode.
With Barbara Crook’s mind elsewhere, Lisa took the opportunity to sneak the mistletoe into the kitchen and hide it in the bin under some tea bags and orange peelings.
After the break Adam and Lisa took the Christmas gifts to the kitchen staff. They walked in to the unmistakeable Christmas smell of roasting chicken and spicy Christmas pudding and were greeted by wolf whistles and shouts of, “Aye, aye, captain.” “Hello, sailor.” “Ahoy there.” Most of the women had worked in factories and ragging the foremen had countered the boredom of repetitive jobs. Adam acknowledged their comments by raising his cap to them.
He went into Sue Lawrence’s office and
placed the box of gifts on the floor before taking off his cap and placing it on her desk. He ran his fingers through his hair and sat down.
Lisa opened the box
and took out the gift for Sue Lawrence and handed it to Adam who presented it to her and thanked her for her dedication to the thankless task of feeding teenagers.
Then he
went into the kitchen and began handing out the gifts to the kitchen staff and shaking their hands. Winnie Jones was all simpering coyness and dissolved into giggles, which she did even when kindly Fred Smith spoke to her. But some of the women demanded, “Don’t we get a Christmas kiss?” and he laughingly kissed them on the cheek.
At two thirty they had their final assembly and once the girls had settled in their seats the teachers filed onto the stage and each was given a round of applause for their fancy dress efforts. But when Adam got up to give his end-of-term speech and took off his cap there was a chorus of “Aaawww, Sir.”
“Do you want me to leave it on?” he said, in mild surprise.
“Yes, Sir,” they all replied.
He put his cap back on and pulled it low over his brow
as he delivered the speech, ending with a reminder for them to be careful when attending Christmas parties.
The first day of Spring term felt nothing like Spring. The typical January weather had brought blustery snow
that melted and formed dangerous icy patches overnight. Fred Smith was kept busy salting the entrance to the school and everyone was glad to get inside out of the miserable cold and into the warmth of the school where the girls exchanged fur-lined boots for school shoes, and damp coats were hung above the radiators in the drying room giving off an overbearing musty aroma.
The girls spent their time catching up on holiday gossip instead of settling down to work
, but many of them had taken to heart what Adam had said about sex and boys, and there was less bragging about sexual conquests.
In the staffroom they were sharing holiday photographs, most of them family pictures taken round groaning Christmas tables,
or bundled under layers of clothing as they ventured out for walks in the light sprinkling of snow they’d had on Christmas day. Except for Kate O’Brien and her husband who had gone to Italy for a second honeymoon, which had elicited a few knowing winks and hints of babies that Kate had quickly dispelled with, “We want a house before a baby.”
Adam
, however, had returned with a deepened tan and his brown hair a sun-kissed shade lighter. “What about your photographs?” said Barbara Crook.
“Yes, we could do to see a bit of sunshine,” agreed Lauren Mathews
, glancing out of the window at the slate sky.
“You must have taken some photographs,” urged Lisa.
“We did take a few to send to Nicole,” Adam said, reluctantly opening his laptop. They crowded round with jealous ‘oohs’ as Adam revealed a picture of Polly and Jack lounging next to the shimmering palm-fringed swimming pool with the ocean as a back-drop. “My in-laws,” said Adam. The next one showed Adam and another man, both bare-chested and in shorts, posing on a yacht beneath a brilliant blue sky.
“Who’s the hunk?’ asked Barbara Crook.
“My brother-in-law,” said Adam. “We jointly own the yacht. He’s been looking after it while I’ve been away.”
The third picture
had been taken on the beach with Adam emerging from the crashing waves a surfboard under one arm and the other around an attractive bikini-clad girl who was laughing up at him.
“That’s the beach that fronts our home,” he said. “I must say it felt good to be back in the surf and to feel the sand under my bare feet.”
When he didn’t offer a further explanation Lauren Mathews ventured, “Is that your girlfriend?”
He laughed. “No. It’s my youngest sister
, Robyn. She’s the same age as Nicole and they made a terrible twosome when they got together as teenagers,” he added, snapping the laptop shut.
“
We can’t compete with that. You’ve made us all jealous,” sighed Lauren Mathews.
“I can’t understand why you’d want to come back,” said Jenna Murray
, haughtily.
“I have my reasons,” said Adam quietly.
During the
next few days the school settled back into a routine. On the following Monday Neil phoned Lisa to say he would be late so Adam offered to give her a lift home. He was driving slowly through the throng of girls spilling out of the gates when he brought the Jeep to a sudden stop. Before Lisa could ask any questions he leapt out and strode hurriedly towards a boy who was in an intimate conversation with a redheaded senior girl. Suddenly grabbing the boy’s lapels he threw him up against the fence. “Empty your pockets,” he demanded. When the boy didn’t immediately respond Adam gripped him even harder, almost lifting him off his feet. “I said, empty your pockets!” He turned to the girl, “You. What’s your name?”
“
SssSandra Atkins, Ssir,” she stuttered.
“Be outside my office first thing in the morning. Do you understand?” She nodded, her eyes wide with fright.
The boy began emptying his pockets, but he was taking his time and a crowd was gathering. Adam put his hand in the boy’s blazer pocket and found what he was looking for – several small packets of tablets. “Aspirin, I suppose,” he said, transferring the packets to his own pocket. “What’s your name, boy?”
“Danny Jackson.”
“Danny Jackson – what!”
“Danny Jackson, Sir.”
Adam took out his phone and punched in a number with his thumb and waited for the call to be answered. “Don, I have one of your boys here. Danny Jackson. I think you should deal with this. I’m outside the school gates. OK. Five minutes.”
Danny
wore a sullen expression and looked ready to run, but Adam had the boy’s upper arm firmly in his grasp. Lisa had seen three men watching from a car parked across the road. The car doors opened and the men climbed out. They looked to be in their twenties. They sidled across the road, edging through the gathering crowd towards Adam and the boy.
Lisa jumped out of the Jeep and ran to warn Adam. “I think we’ve got trouble. Look over there.”
The men approached Adam and stood menacingly in front of him. The tallest was at least six feet, almost as tall as Adam and wore a ‘don’t mess with me’ expression. The other two were short and stocky and stood either side of the tall one, like bodyguards.
The tall one pushed his face at Adam and with his jaw thrust out he snarled, “Hey, Yankee teacher boy, you can’t put your hands on one of the school kids. That’s assault.”
“He’s not one of my students – I’m making a citizen’s arrest. Do you have a problem with that?”
But they did seem to have a problem and the other two also muscled up to Adam, like snarling dogs circling their prey.
Oh, Adam,
thought Lisa,
please don’t provoke them.
The tall one pointed an accusing finger at Adam. “Are you going to let my brother go?”
“No. I’m handing him over to the head of the boys’ school. He can deal with him.”
It all happen
ed in a blur. The tall one took a swing at Adam, but he was too quick and nimbly side-stepped the punch. He still held Danny by the arm and the blow landed in the boy’s stomach. He groaned and doubled over, sinking to the ground.
“You fucking Yankee,” the tall one spat o
ut, bending down to his brother, “Danny - you all right?”
Don Shaw hurried over wearing a harassed look that said he’d seen it all – and more. Danny was on his knees vomiting. “God, Adam, you didn’t hit him, did you?” he said, the fear of the legal repercussions revealed in the horror on his face.
“No. His brother did,” Adam replied. “I’ll leave you to sort this out for now.” He took the packets of tablets from his pocket and handed them to Don Shaw, “But we need to set up a meeting to discuss it.”
Danny’s brother stood menacingly over Don Shaw. “That Yankee bastard put his hands on my brother. Everyone here saw it,” he said,
turning to the onlookers for confirmation, who started backing away not wanting to get involved. “I’m gonna lay a charge of assault.”
Don Shaw recognised Danny’s brother as Brendan Jackson, a former pupil – a pupil who had always spelled trouble.
“Adam, be careful,” he began as Adam confronted the older brother.
“Do you really want the police scrutinising your family? All sorts of unsavo
ury matters could come to light,” Adam said.
Brendan Jackson
glared at Adam, but hesitated while he considered his options. Appearing to think better of his threat he came up with another one. Prodding Adam in the chest he said viciously. “You’d better watch your back, fucking Yankee teacher boy.”
“You tell him, Brendan,” put in one of his stocky friends.
Adam’s fists were balled, his lips set tight. Lisa knew that with his martial arts training he could take them on, but she put a restraining hand on his arm. “Adam, don’t. It’s not worth it. Everyone’s taking pictures with their phones.” She had visions of tomorrow’s headlines: ‘
Head Teacher in brawl outside school’.
“Take your brother home,” said Adam. “As you well know he’s underage and unlikely to be prosecuted. But if I catch you anywhere near this school I’ll bring a world of hurt on you,” he said, prodding Brendan in the chest, and then
he turned and strode angrily back to the Jeep, Lisa hurrying to keep up with his long strides.
“Screw you,” Brendan called after them
in a voice ripe with revenge.
Adam drove
Lisa home in white-knuckled silence, sweeping into her driveway and coming to a halt in front of the garage.
“I think you’d better come in and calm down before driving home,
” she said. Her house had almost become his second home as his friendship with Neil had strengthened through their bond of sailing. She and Neil had recently bought the bungalow after Neil had been promoted to Projects Manager for his engineering firm. They were still in the process of decorating and buying furniture. Adam threw himself down in the familiar armchair he always sat in next to the fireplace. “I can’t believe they are so brazen with their drug dealing.”
“What are you going to do about Sandra Atkins?” called Lisa from the kitchen
, setting out tea cups and filling the kettle.
“I’ve told her to be outside my office in the morning. I’ll have to tell her parents. Can you get their contact details first thing? I should interview her in their presence.”
“I’m surprised at her. She is one of the last girls I would have suspected to be involved with drugs,” said Lisa, carrying the tray into the lounge and setting it on the coffee table.
Early the following morning Lisa took a call from Faye Rawlings
and reported to Adam, “Faye says the local newspaper heard about the fracas yesterday. They want her to do a story on the drug problem in the school. They know Faye is Erica’s aunt.” When Adam looked doubtful she added, “Apparently public opinion is on your side. Faye says she can put a sympathetic and truthful spin on it. She might also be able to keep any pictures out of the paper.”
“All right,” agreed Adam. “Have her come to see me.”
Adam had two interviews that day, the first with Sandra Atkins and her parents. After a lengthy and tearful discussion it emerged that Sandra did not use drugs herself but had been bullied into being a go-between for some of the senior girls, whose names she refused to divulge.
“I warned you that I wouldn’t tolerate any drug taking in the school,” he said to Sandra. Then turning to her worried parents he said, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to suspend her. If you think I’m using her as an example, you’re right.”
“But what if she gives you the girls’ names? Would you consider dropping the suspension?” pleaded Mr Atkins. He said to Sandra, “C’mon, Sandra, love. Tell Mr Wild their names.”
Sandra’s mother took her hand. “Mr Wild won’t let them bully you, love. He’s going to sort out all the rot in the school. Aren’t you Mr Wild?” she said, looking at him for reassurance.
“I’m certainly going to try,” Adam said, and waited while Sandra Atkins screwed a damp handkerchief into her eyes.
“They started whispering about me and spreading rumours
,” Sandra said between sobs. She turned a tearful face to her mother. “Mum, they told everyone my clothes were second-hand.” Mrs Atkins’ eyes began to tear up and Mr Atkins’ face was set like concrete. “They told everyone not to speak to me. Someone sent me text messages saying no one liked me. They said the boys think I’m ugly because I’ve got red hair. Then they said I could join their gang, but I first had to go through an initiation.”
“And passing on the drugs was the initiation?” asked Adam.
Sandra nodded.
“I see,” said Adam, leaning back in his chair.
Lisa’s heart went out to the girl. She remembered what it had been like to be bullied, but when she was at school it had been nowhere near as bad. She had a good idea who was bullying Sandra, but unless the girl confirmed it there was no proof.
“Are you going to tell me who ‘they’ are?” asked Adam gently.
She shook her head.
“Please tell Mr Wild, love,” urged Mrs Atkins. “He can’t do anything about it unless he knows who’s doing the bullying.”
“I can’t. It would only make things worse,” she pleaded.
“Then I’ll have to find another way to get to the bottom of this,” he said.
“Do you really have to suspend her?” asked Mr Atkins.
Adam twisted
his pen between his fingers as he watched Sandra burst into another fit of sobbing.
“Everyone knows Sandra was caught attempting to receive drugs,” said Adam. “I told the girls right at the beginning that anyone caught with drugs would be suspended, so I can’t go back on that. But this is what I’ll do. I’ll suspend her for one week, but there will be no record of it on her report. I’ll arrange for her schoolwork to be emailed, or for a friend to deliver it to her. She won’t miss out on any of the class work. It might even be beneficial for her if she is not at school for the next week.” He turned to Sandra. “Do you have a friend in the same class who can help you with the work?”
Sandra nodded. “Erica Rawlings and I are friends and she lives quite close to me.”
Adam and Lisa exchanged glances. Perhaps Faye Rawlings would be able to talk to Erica about it.
“But what about the bullying?” asked Mrs Atkins.
Sandra had her head down, twisting the sodden handkerchief between her fingers. Adam leaned forward on his desk. “Sandra, look at me,” he said.
When she didn’t respond Mrs Atkins nudged her until she looked up at Adam.
“I
’m sure your parents will have told you that you’re not ugly, and I’m equally sure that you think they’re prejudiced and therefore whatever they say doesn’t count,” he said. “But I’m telling you that you’re far from ugly and you’re going to grow into a beautiful young woman. Some of the world’s top models were also told that they were ugly when they were at school. And some of the top celebrities were bullied. One of the well-known chefs was taunted because he had ‘special needs’. But what you’re unlikely to find is a celebrity who admits to being a bully, whether that’s because they won’t admit it, or because bullies don’t grow up to amount to very much, I don’t know.”
Sandra had stopped snivelling and was listening carefully to Adam.
“Sandra, no one can make you feel inferior without your permission. You have a choice. Do you realise that?”
She gave a reluctant nod.
“Life is not about what happens to you, but how you deal with it. What’s the most insulting thing you can do to anyone?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “I don’t know, Sir.”
“Ignore them,” said Adam. “Nothing is more insulting than to be ignored. That’s what I want you to try to do with the bullies. They’re often insecure themselves and if you don’t respond they might lose interest. Do you think you can do that?”
“I’ll try,” she said.
Adam then turned to Mr and Mrs Atkins. “I hope that Sandra will let me know if it happens again, but in the meantime I’ll discuss it with the staff and see how we can deal with it.”
“Thank you, Mr Wild. You’ve been very fair with our Sandra,” said Mr Atkins.
When he’d shown them out he said to Lisa, “It’s Glenda McKenzie and her group of followers, isn’t it?”
“That’s what I was thinking,”
she replied.
“God, I’d no idea girls could be so mean and cruel. I can’t remember my sisters experiencing anything like this.”
Lisa knew it would be unlikely that his sisters would be bullied. Everyone wanted to be friends with a girl who had a handsome older brother. “It’s hard to recognise this type of bullying,” she said. “It’s not as if the victims have bruises, or you see them fighting. The girls look as if they are happily chatting to each other; meanwhile one of them is being horribly picked on. We can’t even keep an eye on things as they can do their bullying in the toilets.”
Adam banged his fist on the desk. “I will not have drug dealing in this school, and I will not condone bullying – of any sort. Why don’t any of the other girls stand up to them, they must know what’s going on?”
Lisa sighed. “It’s complicated. It’s a popularity power game and it takes a very brave girl to risk being alienated herself. I know, I was bullied, and then I was accepted by the group, but I’m ashamed to say I never stood up for the other victims for fear of being cast out again. It was easier to do nothing.”
Adam ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
“How are you going to deal with it, Adam?”
“If we knew it was Glenda McKenzie doing the bullying we could speak to her parents, but we can’t do anything unless we know for sure. I’ll sort the drugs out first,” he said, picking up the landline and dialling a number. While he was waiting for the call to be answered he said to Lisa, “Please arrange a meeting with Don Shaw, I think this needs a combined approach. A talk by a drug counsellor might help, or a reformed drug addict. I’ll also get in touch with our foundation in Hawaii and see what they can offer. And I s
uppose I’d better speak to the governing body before they see it in the newspaper. We don’t want the school to lose any funding. I also need you to get all the teachers in the staff room at morning break. I want to have a quick meeting to discuss this bullying problem.”
When all the staff were present and had poured their tea or coffee, and Barbara Crook had handed out the latest of her biscuit experiments
, Adam apprised them of the bullying situation. “I don’t know if you have any ideas on how to deal with it, but I don’t want any girl in this school – any girl, to believe that she’s ugly. Building up their self-esteem is one of my priorities.”
When no one could offer a solution he turned to Jenna Murray. “Miss Murray. I believe you give
the girls advice on make-up. Would you consider taking Sandra under your wing and giving her a make-over, and perhaps Andy could take some studio photographs. If we can make her see how attractive she really is it might help her deal with the bullies.”
“But wouldn’t that look as if you’re rewarding her for drug-dealing?” she said.
“There’s no need for anyone else to know. It’s for her own self-esteem, not to show off.”
“I’ll speak to Andy and we’ll make the arrangements,” agreed Jenna.
“Send the bill to me,” said Adam.
“I don’t think there
’ll be a charge. I know a hairdresser who will do it for free if he knows the circumstances,” she said.
Later that morning Adam had a lengthy interview with Faye Rawlings and promised to do a follow up interview after he’d spoken to Don Shaw and they’d come up with a plan
about the drug problem, and Faye promised to see if she could find out from Erica who was bullying Sandra Atkins.
The following
day, when the girls arrived for school, they were surprised to see a police van in the car park, and a few of them exchanged worried glances when they saw Adam and Eleanor Stannard with the dog handler going through their lockers. Although nothing was actually found, the dog had indicated the presence of drugs.
But after assembly the dog and his handler were stationed by the
hall door and each girl’s bag was checked as she left. The dog responded to a few bags, including Glenda McKenzie’s, but after a search again nothing was found. The dog was then taken into the hall. It sniffed a few chairs before sitting down in front of one, indicating it had found something. When the handler lifted the chair he discovered a small packet of tablets had been stuck underneath with chewing gum. It was in the row in front of where Glenda McKenzie and her friends sat.
Two days later
Faye reported to Adam that she felt Erica knew who was doing the bullying, but was afraid to say anything.