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  “Actually,” Seth said, carefully picking his words, “it technically means an uneducated Jewish person from Eastern Europe. It was a term developed at Ellis Island, as many immigrants were unable to sign their names.”

  Seth nodded to Oscar.

  “Yeah, so? Looks like a kike, walks like a kike — it’s a kike,” Oscar said. “That’s what you are, O’Malley. Just is what it is.”

  “Well, if we’re looking at accuracy, Rachel’s father and mother are Catholic, as I am Catholic, as was my mother,” Seth said, primly. “If you’re referring to my father, he and his parents were born in New York. None of his family was descended from anyone from Eastern Europe. So the use of the word is inaccurate.”

  Oscar gave him a confused look.

  “So, what?” Oscar asked, with a shrug. “Once a Jew, always a Jew.”

  Just as Seth felt compelled to tell this man that Islamic terrorists believed that all Christians were Jews, Helen cleared her throat. He bit his lip in the hopes of not jumping up and strangling the man.

  “The point here is that the word is ugly and a put-down,” Helen said. “We don’t allow put-downs or any kind of bullying at the Marlowe School.”

  “Bullying?” Oscar asked. “Calling a spade a spade is bullying?”

  “Calling a child a disgusting name is a put-down,” Helen said.

  “Are you trying to pussify my son?” Oscar asked.

  As if he’d proved something, his face shifted into a smug sneer. Helen and Seth stared at the man.

  “I won’t have my son turned into some artsy-fartsy, politically correct pansy,” Oscar said.

  Seth cleared his throat.

  “Be that as it may,” Seth said. “I respectfully ask you to ask your son to stop using the name. My granddaughter is terrified of him.”

  “Good,” Oscar said. “She should be.”

  “Why is it good that Rachel is afraid of your son?” Helen asked.

  “There’s too much politically correct bullshit going around now,” Oscar said. “I’d rather have my son be strong and able. I want him to grow into a man, like me. My son should call a spade a spade. When he sees a Jewess, he should call it what it is.”

  “I’m sure that’s true, but . . .” Seth started.

  “My son will be a white man,” Oscar sneered at Seth. “A white Christian man.”

  Seth cursed himself. His father, Bernie, had told him to expect this kind of response, but Seth had refused to believe that this vile racial hatred still existed in 2016. Rather than give this bully the satisfaction of his anger, Seth nodded to Helen and got up.

  “I believe you have some things to discuss,” Seth said.

  “You know, I never wanted my kid to go to this pansy school,” Oscar said. “That was the ex-wife’s doing. She gets it free from her job, so I haven’t complained. Why is Rachel here?”

  “Her father is Aden Norsen,” Helen said.

  “Who’s that?” Oscar asked.

  “The CEO of Lipson Construction,” Helen said.

  “Oh, I see,” Oscar said. “The rich get what they want, while real men like me have to bend over.”

  Oscar sniffed at Helen. He got up from his chair and left the office. Helen looked at Seth.

  “We’d better follow him,” Seth said.

  They raced after the man as he stalked down the hallway. He reached the room where Rachel went to class. With Seth and Helen just behind him, he grabbed a little boy’s arm.

  “We’re leaving,” Oscar said.

  “He’s not the custodial parent,” the teacher yelled as Oscar dragged the child out of his seat.

  The children in the room started to scream.

  “Did you know that?” Seth asked Helen.

  “Yes, but his mother arranged for the father to be here,” Helen said with nod. “She wanted the child’s father to hear this.”

  The security guard came into the room behind them. Oscar, with the child in tow, ran right into Seth. Seth looked down at the boy. His dark eyes were wide in absolute terror. His entire body was shaking.

  “You can’t take the child,” Helen said.

  “What’re you going to do?” Oscar asked with a sneer at Helen.

  Oscar moved close to Helen, and Seth shifted her behind him. Oscar laughed at Seth and pulled a handgun. The teacher screamed for the children to get to their hiding places, but the children in the classroom were too terrified to listen. The security guard responded by pulling his gun. Seth raised his hands.

  Out of nowhere, a black-and-white cat jumped onto Oscar’s arm. The cat viciously scratched Oscar’s arm. He let go of his child, and Helen snatched the boy away. Distracted by the cat, Oscar dropped the handgun. The weapon hit the ground hard and fired into the wall. The security guard grabbed Oscar. Seth put his foot over the gun.

  As fast as the entire event had developed, it was suddenly over. The security guard escorted Oscar out of the room. Sheltering the child, Helen brought him to the office. Seth went out into the hall to wait for the police. An hour later, Seth checked in with Helen before leaving.

  “What was that thing?” Helen asked.

  “What thing?” Seth asked.

  “Something scratched Oscar’s arm,” Helen said. “I didn’t ask because I was glad he let go of his son.”

  “You didn’t see anything?” Seth asked.

  Helen shook her head.

  “You?” Helen asked.

  “I saw a cat,” Seth said.

  “You think it’s another ghost?” Helen asked.

  “Probably,” Seth said. “The best kind of ghost — one that protects children at all costs.”

  Helen looked at the ceiling and the walls.

  “I love this old building, but . . .” Helen nodded. “It’s kind of a trip, you know?”

  Seth grinned at her. He held out an arm and gave Helen an open hug.

  “If you need me, you know where to find me,” Seth said.

  “You’re in town until Sandy and Aden get back,” Helen asked.

  “I am,” Seth said. “I’ll be here this afternoon to pick up Rachel.”

  “Good,” Helen said.

  Seth raised a hand in goodbye. He was in the car when he realized that they hadn’t talked to the child about calling Rachel names. He almost called Helen back. Shaking his head, he decided that he’d ask Rachel about it later today. This kind of thing is never ended on the first try. He started the car and headed for home.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Tuesday mid-morning — 10:05 a.m.

  “Blane?”

  He looked up when he heard his name. He had given Aden’s secretary the week off because he was just holding the place together, not changing anything. When no one appeared at his open door, he got up and went to the door of Aden’s office. The controller was standing next to a woman, who was on her knees. When the woman looked up at Blane, he could see that she was hysterically crying. He gave the controller a concerned look.

  “He’s here,” the controller said.

  The woman looked up at the controller.

  “Would you like me to tell him?” the controller asked.

  The woman nodded her head.

  “There’s been an incident at the Marlowe School,” the controller said. “Jen’s ex-husband had some kind of misunderstanding with Seth O’Malley. Then, he went to their child’s classroom to take the child. In the process, he discharged a handgun in the classroom.”

  “Was anyone hurt?” Blane asked.

  “He has some deep scratch marks on his arm,” the controller said. “He’s saying the shooting is justifiable due to the scratches and the altercation with Seth.”

  “A conversation with Seth O’Malley caused someone to become violent in a classroom?” Blane asked, his voice filled with surprise. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to indicate that you’re lying. I just can’t imagine it.”

  The controller nodded and shrugged.

  “Why don’t you come into Aden’s office and we’ll sort this out?�
�� Blane asked.

  He leaned down to help the woman to her feet. With the controller on one side and Blane on the other, they guided the woman into his office. Once she was settled in a chair, Blane gave Jen a box of tissues and took his time making tea for everyone. By the time he sat down in Aden’s chair, the woman had stopped crying.

  “How can I help?” Blane asked.

  “Jen is one of the women we hired from the women’s shelter,” the controller said.

  Blane nodded that he remembered this initiative.

  “She’s worked here for . . .” the controller looked at Jen.

  “A little more than a year,” Jen said.

  “She is an entry-level accountant,” the controller said. “She’s been going to school through our accounting program. She has a real aptitude for it.”

  Jen gave Blane a watery smile.

  “I really love my job,” Jen said. “It’s the only thing that keeps my son and me off the streets. We’re just starting to get on our feet when this . . . this . . .”

  Tears ran down Jen’s face.

  “Jen’s afraid that she will lose her job,” the controller said.

  “For something your ex-husband did?” Blane asked.

  “Because she told him to go to the appointment,” the controller said.

  “I’ve been telling him that he can’t use racial slurs around our child,” Jen said. “I thought if he heard it from someone else, he might actually listen.”

  “Makes sense,” Blane nodded.

  “So it’s all my fault,” Jen said. “My son is . . . I mean, I didn’t know he was calling little Rachel names. I know Aden would be furious, and . . .”

  “You’re afraid Aden is going to blame you for what happened?” Blane asked.

  Jen nodded.

  “They just moved into an apartment of their own,” the controller said.

  “If I lose this job, we’re back on the streets,” Jen said.

  “Or they have to move back in with her ex,” the controller said.

  Chapter Four Hundred and Forty-two

  About that

  “It sounds like your ex-husband is going to be tied up with the courts for a while,” Blane said.

  Jen looked at the controller.

  “He always manages to get out of the things he does,” the controller said. “When he gets out, he takes his rage out on Jen or her son.”

  “I see,” Blane said with a nod. “It sounds like we have three problems. First, your son is intimidating Rachel. I happen to know that she’s terrified of him. We need to fix that.”

  Jen nodded.

  “The second thing is whether or not this incident will affect your job,” Blane said. “I can’t tell you how Aden will respond. But as far as I’m concerned, the only reason to be fired is over issues with your job. I’m pretty sure Jake would say the same thing. I can ask Aden when I see him tonight.”

  “Thank you,” Jen nodded. She took a breath and started to look a little less desperate.

  “The third issue seems to be your security and legal issues,” Blane said. “We take that kind of thing very seriously here. In fact, I’ll contact our attorney and have him look into what needs to be done next.”

  Jen and the controller didn’t say anything.

  “Did I miss anything?” Blane asked.

  “School,” Jen said in a low voice. “The Marlowe School is a great opportunity for my son. He’s had such a hard time that . . . He’s just starting to read.”

  “I have not heard from Mrs. Siegle, which is a good sign,” Blane said. “She’ll probably want to talk with you. Usually what happens is that they make up a plan of action to help your son learn not to call other children names. That’s what we did when my son, Mack, was hyper in the classroom.”

  “What did they make you do?” Jen asked, her face a mask of horror.

  “It wasn’t too hard,” Blane said. “I was in the hospital for a month. My wife was pregnant and had Mack. He wasn’t getting enough activity. So, now we make sure that he gets more physical activity in the morning and at night, and that he doesn’t eat too much junk. It’s a lot easier now that I’m home.”

  “Can you speak with Seth?” the controller asked.

  “About what?” Blane asked.

  “About being sorry for causing all of this,” Jen said. With the words, Jen looked like she was going to start crying again.

  “Sure,” Blane said. “In fact, why don’t we call him together?”

  Blane dialed the phone on Aden’s desk and pressed the conference option.

  “I’ve never figured out how to do that,” the controller said, when it was ringing.

  “I’ll show you later,” Blane said.

  The controller nodded.

  “O’Malley,” Seth’s voice came through the speaker.

  “Seth?”

  “Hey, Blane, what’s up?” Seth asked.

  “I’m sitting with our controller and one of her entry-level accountant, Jen,” Blane said. “She’s the mother of the boy Rachel’s been having trouble with.”

  “Her ex-husband brought a handgun to the classroom this morning,” Seth said.

  “Yes, she’s very upset about all of that,” Blane said. “She wants to apologize for her ex-husband.”

  “Why would she apologize for someone else’s actions?” Seth asked.

  The tinkling sound of piano keys could be heard in the background.

  “She told her husband to go to the meeting in hopes that someone else saying that his language was inappropriate would make an impact,” Blane said. “She feels like it’s her fault that things got out of hand today and that her son has been harassing Rachel.”

  “Oh, well, the harassing has got to stop,” Seth said. “But, if he hadn’t harassed Rachel, today could have gone much worse.”

  “What?” Jen asked. “How could it be worse than shooting up a classroom?”

  “It was only one shot,” Seth said. “And it went into the wall.”

  Jen started to cry again.

  “Your ex was attempting to remove your son from the classroom,” Seth continued. “Cleo scratched him pretty bad. If her son hadn’t been mean to Rachel, Cleo wouldn’t have been there to save the day.”

  “What’s a Cleo?” the controller asked.

  “She’s a cat,” Blane said.

  “A cat?” Jen asked.

  Rather than explain, Blane moved on.

  “We’re setting her up with legal care,” Blane said.

  “And her job?” Seth asked. “She shouldn’t lose her job because her ex went nuts.”

  “She’s secure in her position,” the controller said.

  “Good,” Seth said. “Anything else I can do?”

  Blane looked at Jen, and she shook her head.

  “I’m picking up Rachel after school,” Seth said. “Why don’t we meet a little early so we can talk? Say 2:30? At the coffee shop on the corner? I’m buying.”

  Jen blushed.

  “She’ll be there Seth,” the controller said.

  “Good. Then it’s settled,” Seth said. “See you tonight, Blane.”

  Seth hung up the phone.

  “Does that feel settled?” Blane asked. Jen nodded. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off?”

  The controller nodded.

  “I can’t afford it,” Jen said.

  “On the house,” Blane said.

  He looked at the controller, and she nodded. The controller smiled her thank-you’s to Blane, and the women left his office. Thinking he should call Mrs. Siegle, Blane got up and closed the door after them. He had been sitting down at the desk for only a moment before Aden’s intercom buzzed.

  “What’s up?” Blane asked.

  “Can you come and take a look at this?” the voice on the other end asked.

  Blane grinned. The glorious chaos of Lipson Construction continued. He was glad to be healthy enough to take it on.

  “I’ll be right there,” Blane said.


  ~~~~~~~~

  Tuesday mid-morning — 11:02 a.m.

  When Frankie leaned forward in his seat, Wanda leaned back. She looked at her parents who were sitting across from her. Her mother’s body had started swelling from the babies that lived inside her. Her father’s body was slimming due to his new workout program. Their faces were set to worry. In an effort to support them, Sam Lipson was sitting next to her father. He caught Wanda’s eye and gave her a soft smile. She smiled back at him. They were the only ones sitting in this waiting area.

  They waited another five minutes before the nurse came out of the door.

  “Wanda?” the nurse asked with a smile. “Is this your family?”

  Wanda nodded.

  “Good,” the nurse said. “The doctor is waiting for you in her office.”

  When Wanda stood up, Frankie hopped to his feet. He casually put his arm over her shoulder, and she backed into him. They went through the door first, followed by Wanda’s parents and Sam Lipson. They walked down a long hallway and turned right. Her doctor’s office was near the back of the building. Wanda vaguely wondered if she’d ever find her way out of this place.

  She glanced at Frankie. His love for her gave her confidence.

  She could be what she wanted to be.

  At the doctor’s office, she took a seat in the back. After all, she and Frankie were the children. Sam Lipson insisted that she and Frankie sit next to the doctor’s desk. Her face flushed, but Frankie smiled.

  “Thank you, sir,” Frankie said.

  He was always more polite than she was. She sat down, and he sat next to her. Her father and mother sat on her side and Sam Lipson sat near the back.

  “I apologize for the wait,” her doctor said. “I was waiting for our entire team to be available. We want to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible.”

  “Thank you,” Wanda’s father, Erik, said.

  “Because of your age, Wanda, I have to ask you a few more questions,” the doctor said.

  “Okay,” Wanda said. She felt her phone vibrate. Taking out her phone, she said, “My friend Sissy wanted to be here.”

  “Good idea,” the doctor said. “I must say that you have a remarkable way of creating community, Wanda.”

  Not knowing what that meant, Wanda focused on turning on her phone. Sissy’s bright smile made Wanda smile.