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Thaddeus Duke · (02-23-2021)

Sherman Elementary School || Old Saybrook, Connecticut || 12:24 PM

Today mostly pisses me off. Between what little information I was able to pull from Brad Wallace to finding out Jim is dying to having to make this stupid meeting with Frankie’s school principal over him getting into a fight recently, I really just kind of need this day to stop. The news and the documents I got from Jack Reed should have made everything else trivial in comparison, but having Cart Blanche to kill my enemies means a little less when your best friend is dying and when your foster son felt he needed to protect you by getting into a fight in school.

Most days, I’m ready to go. Ready to take on anything and everything that comes my way. The vast majority of it I don’t really show to the world at large because more often than not what I do in my personal life is a lot of hurry up and wait. That, in and of itself, tends to create a lot of frustration.

On the plane ride from hell, Frankie and I were about to play some video games and just chill together which we hadn’t been able to do much of in the preceding couple of months while I was champion. In conversation with Liz I found out he’d gotten into a fight in school and was wearing aviator sunglasses to hide his own black eye from me. I blamed myself. I have a hot temper with a hair trigger and he’s seen me blow my lid more than once. Who else could I blame? Whether I want him to or not, he looks up to me. To him, I’m some kind of hero and while its so gratifying to be viewed in that light by this young man, I’m no hero. I never really have been. Whatever good things I’ve done in my life I’ve also managed to do a lot of bad as well. I can only assume that trend will continue.

”Thad?” Frankie calls out to me as I steer the car into a parking spot outside of his school.

”Yeah?”

”Why are you crying?” he asks and I didn’t realize I was even doing so.

”Uhhhh,” I say, searching for an answer as I wipe my eyes. ”I don’t really know buddy,” I lie to him. I’m an open book more often than not, but I haven’t even had time myself to process what I’ve learned today and it’s not really a burden that I want to thrust onto him just yet. Sooner or later he’ll need to know because at some point Jim will no longer be here and it’d be a little embarrassing if at some point the kids like ‘hey whatever happened to Jim?’ and I had to reply with ‘well son, he went to live on a farm.’

”That’s bull and you know it,” Frankie fires back.

”We’ll talk about it soon,” I offer, trying to get him off the topic. ”Right now, I have to go and save your skinny little ass from getting expelled. God damn Mike Tyson over here,” I joke with a smile.

”Thad,” he says with a smile. ”Thtop it.

“Anyway I lost.”

”Yeah lets go, Iron Mike,” I say as I exit the car. Frankie follows my lead, naturally. ”Even the best fighters go down sometimes. Trust me on that one.”

Resting my hand on the nape of his neck as we head inside his school, I start to think about what I’m going to say to his principal in order to get her to back off. One silly little fight isn’t that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. Surely I understand the need to have a conference over such a thing in order to stop it from becoming a recurring issue, but sometimes kids just fight.

Inside the building, I sign in with the secretary and wait patiently… I lie… I’m not a patient man… thanks for that dad. We don’t wait long though so at least one thing can go right today.

”Mr. Duke,” says the principal as she exits her office. ”I’ll see you and Francis now,” she says as I look at her from my position near the wall. Frankie and I enter her office and notice a mother, a father, and a giant kid… presumable the other boy and his parents.

”You mind calling him Frankie, Mrs...” I pause, waiting for her to fill in the missing information.

”Jones,” she politely answers as she sits behind her desk.

”Yeah nice to meet you,” I say with a bit more sarcasm than I meant to. ”Just call me Thaddeus, and I insist you refer to him as Frankie. He doesn’t like being called Francis.”

”I guess we can all tell where he gets his entitled nature,” the rotund mother interrupts.

”And you are?” I say in her direction.

”Thaddeus, this is David and Sarah McLaughlin, their son David Junior.”

”No relation,” Sarah interjects with a smile, as if I’d somehow think that was the case.

”Lovely to meet you all,” I say, this time with intended sarcasm.

”Okay if you’ll have a seat, we can begin,” Mrs. Jones offers as she points to the chair behind me.

Looking first at the chair behind me then back at his principal, ”No I don’t think I will.”

It’s a tactic. Standing while everyone sits is a power move.

”Thaddeus what we’re looking at is expelling Francis,” she begins before correcting herself. ”Frankie for the rest of this school year and requiring him to attend anger management counseling.”

”And what of Buster Douglas over there?” I ask, throwing my thumb in the other boys direction. ”Is he getting the same treatment?”

The principal scoffs in my direction and leans back in her chair. ”Frankie attacked David, Mr. Duke,” she offers.

”Thaddeus,” I insist.

”We have it on tape.”

”I told you to destroy the evidence,” I joke toward Frankie.

”Sir, this is no laughing matter. We take this kind of violence very seriously and...”

”Do you?” I ask in an accusatory tone of voice.

”Excuse me?”

”You’re treating this like a pattern of behavior, instead of what it really is and that’s nothing more than an isolated incident.

“Look lady, I’m not about to let Frankie get railroaded by a bunch of self righteous assholes because he chose to stand up for someone he loves rather than put up with hatred and bigotry… or is that what this school tolerates from its student body?”

”Mr. Duke I really don’t appreciate your tone or your accusations...”

”You have the little egghead in advanced classes...”

”HEY!” Frankie interrupts, objecting to the term egghead.

”He’s a great kid, a smart kid, that gets along with everyone… except that one there,” I say, again throwing my thumb in Junior’s direction. ”Yet this is the first time anything like this has happened and you don’t stop to question why?”

”This is ridiculous,” Mrs. Jones fires back.

”Is it? Because what’s ridiculous to me is you looking at a damn tape and thinking that answers all the questions. Thinking that the tape gives you the whole story when it doesn’t.”

”What makes you think we didn’t ask Frankie for his side of the story?” she asks.

”They asked David for his story Mr. Duke, I’m sure they asked your little menace over there for his...”

”Shut your piehole lady, because if you ever refer to him like that again then I promise you, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

”I’ve heard just about enough out of you,” the also rotund David Senior says as he grunts up out of his chair.

”Sit down man,” I say to the man and he slowly retreats back to his chair.

”Mrs. Jones, I think it’s clear as day that Frankie gets this sort of behavior from him. We came in here wanting to work things out and move on and this is the kind of thing we’re getting from his...” Mrs. McLaughlin turns her head to me. ”Brother? What are you to him exactly?”

”His foster dad,” I answer her.

”Far too young and immature to be an actual dad.”

”Ma’am, do you really think this would be going the way it is if Frankie wasn’t being railroaded?”

”Sir, I really don’t appreciate these accusations. Why would you think we’re trying to railroad him? What he did was...”

”What he did was justified, Mrs. Jones,” I interrupt, adopting a more even tone of voice. ”You’d know that if you even talked to him and asked him questions rather than reading him the riot act and threatening a ten year old boy with expulsion,” I pause briefly.

”I know you didn’t ask him questions because he told me you didn’t. Strange as it may seem, but Frankie has never lied to me. About anything. Ever.

“And I know you’re railroading him because innocent little Junior over there is your nephew.”

Silence.

”You know who I am Mrs. Jones, did you really think I wouldn’t find that out?”

”Be that as it may, Mr. Duke, fighting on school property...”

”Yes we know, fighting is bad and you should use your words and… if you’d have asked Frankie anything, you’d know what words little David over there used that kicked off this whole shit storm to begin with.”

”What are you talking about? What words?”

”You’re right ma’am,” I say, turning my head to face Sarah. ”I do have a temper. I in no way want Frankie to adopt my temper and I will try to do better in that regard, but whatever issues I have raising a ten year old boy I can guarantee you that hate speech doesn’t occur under my roof like it clearly does under yours.”

”Now that’s a wild accusation,” David Senior says from his aching chair. ”Hate speech doesn’t...”

”Ask him,” I say to his principal, cutting off David.

”Frankie,” she says with a sigh, relenting under the pressure. ”Did David say something to you that caused you to react violently the way you did?”

Frankie kicks his leg against the leg of his chair nervously and looks up at me. Navigating my way behind him, I place my hands on his shoulders and lean into his ear. ”I got your back buddy, always. Just tell the truth,” I whisper.

”Yeah,” he answers quietly.

”Did he call you a name?”

Frankie hesitates for a moment, but shakes his head no.

”What did he say to you then?” she asks of him, in a reassuring voice. ”It’s okay in here.”

”I...” he cuts himself off with a sigh.

”This is ridiculous,” big momma says as she starts to get up.

”Sit down Sarah,” Mrs. Jones insists of her sister. Hesitantly, Sarah sits back down as Mrs. Jones returns her attention to Frankie. ”Frankie, you can say it in here, no matter what it was.”

”I don’t feel comfortable saying that word,” Frankie says to Mrs. Jones. ”It was the F word.”

”Really?” Sarah interjects with a roll of her eyes. ”All of this because a kid swore at him? Kids swear all the time when they think no one’s looking. We don’t like it but it’s just...”

”I thought the same thing, Sarah,” I interrupt her, but more kindly than previous interruptions. ”I thought the same thing. You can ask him yourself, I was pretty mad that he’d get himself in a fight over a kid saying some variation of fuck… but I was wrong just like you are ma’am.”

”What are you talking about?” David Senior asks.

”He doesn’t like saying the word David, because it’s kind of not at all a secret that I happen to be a member of the LGBT etcetera community and little… well young David over there… decided to use that knowledge in order to try and bully Frankie by referring to me as a fCENSORED.”

Another moment of silence falls over the room as Sarah jerks her head in her sons direction.

”David is that true?” she asks of the younger boy.

”Of course it’s not true,” Senior answers emphatically. ”We don’t talk like that in our house and...”

”David please,” Mrs. Jones hold up her hand toward her brother in law before turning her attention to her nephew. ”Honey be honest,” she says to him. ”If you said that then we will find out because it was right in the hallway. We’ll ask around so if you’re not being honest...”

”I said it,” the boy says sheepishly.

”DAVID ANTHONY!” his mother shouts at him.

”That stuff has no affect on me,” I offer up. ”I get that and much worse from losers all over the world, especially on the internet. To expect a ten year old to be able to brush that off when he’s being raised to be strong and brave and to stand up to those that want to hurt you or someone you love… it’s a little unrealistic.”

”Please accept our apologies on...”

”I’m not interested in apologies,” I interrupt him. ”I just told you it doesn’t affect me. No, fighting isn’t okay and especially in school. But I’m not raising Frankie to back down from unnecessary hate. Next time he feels he needs to bust someone in the mouth for shit like this, you better believe he’ll be ready for it.”

”Why would you say something like that?” Sarah asks of her son.

”I kept asking Frankie if I could come over so I could meet him,” he says, pointing his head in my direction. ”He knows I watch XWF and he kept saying no and it made me mad. I dunno, it just kinda slipped out.”

”Well now you met me. Was it everything you thought it’d be?”

”Frankie can return to school on Monday,” his principal says, getting us back on topic before turning her attention to her sister and brother in law. ”In light of these developments, I now have no choice but to consider expulsion for David.”

”Laurie,” Sara pleads. ”You can’t be serious!”

”Don’t expel the kid,” I interrupt. ”Sometimes kids do stupid things. I don’t think this rises to the level of effecting his education for the rest of the school year by putting him behind the curve.”

In response to my quick defense of their idiot kid, Sarah points at me then waves incredulously at her sister. ”Thank you, I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

A few minutes later as Frankie and I head back to the car, he cuts me off and throws his arms around my waist.

”What’s that for?” I ask him with a gentle hug in return.

”For being there for me like you always are,” he answers before peeling himself from my waist.

Placing my hand on the side of his head as we walk, I really can’t stress enough what it feels like to earn the love of a child that came into your life by complete accident.

”But like, could you not just start throwing hands when you’re angry?” I ask him, causing him to look up at me. ”If you’re gonna throw hands every time someone pisses you off Frankie, you’re gonna get in a lot of fights and I’m not sure if you noticed but those other kids are a hell of a lot bigger than you.”

”Are you really gonna teach me to fight?” he asks with a bit of a worried look on his face, as if I was actually going to hit him back or something.

Opening his car door and letting him climb up in before answering, ”Yes.” He sighs a little in response as I close his door and around to the other side. ”We’ll start you off with professionals kiddo. Get some self defense under your belt. Maybe same karate classes or something,” I offer him as I start the car.

”Then move you on to boxing lessons or something.”

”Why are you so cool about this?”

”What you did was misguided and I blame myself for that,” I answer him. ”But I’m never gonna come down on you for defending others. But if you’re gonna fight people now and then, which I’m not at all in favor of, then your little ass is gonna be prepared to win next time.

“And you’ve been through a lot in the last eight or so months, so maybe getting some of this anger out of you in a healthier way will do you some good, ya know?”

”Thad?” he calls out softly as I start to back out. ”Do you really hear that kind of stuff all the time?”

”Yeah.”

”It doesn’t bother you?”

”Nah not really,” I answer with a pause. ”It’s low hanging fruit and literally the laziest attack they can hit me with. It says more about them than it does about me or what I do in my private time.”

”Why are people such jerks?”

”They know not what they do, kiddo. You remember when we first met and I told you not to lose your empathy trait?”

He nods.

”It really is disappearing rapidly.”

After leaving the school, I take Frankie to get a milkshake and just chat with him. We haven’t had a ton of time recently to be together and just shoot the breeze. My life is hectic on a slow day and unfortunately paying him undivided attention sometimes takes a hit. I don’t like it and neither does he. Somehow, I need to find a way to rectify that… and soon.

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