The Mender

Troubles

Ada's English teacher and another teacher from a nearby classroom came running out to the stairwell in time to see the large boy holding his arm, blood dripping on the floor and Esri holding the bloody flint. Brad and his friend saw the teachers first and immediately stopped fighting. Esri and Luka, with their backs to the teachers, continued to flail and kick at the boys until the teachers grabbed them from behind.

"Drop that weapon. We're calling the police," said one of the teachers. Esri dropped the flint. It shattered into several pieces. "Meanwhile all you kids are going to the office."

Brad said, "You saw. We were just standing there and they started pounding on us. They're a bunch of psychos. You should expel them."

Ada's English teacher said, "Save it for the principal, and the police. You three," pointing to Ada, Esri, and Luka, "and you two," pointing to Brad and his friend, "come with us. The rest of you, go on about your business," he said to the large crowd of students that had gathered. He turned to the boy with the cut arm. "We'll get someone to take you to emerg to get that looked after."

A short time after they arrived at the principal's office, two police officers came, a man and a woman. One of the vice-principals drove the injured boy to the hospital. They put Esri, Ada, and Luka in a room separate from Brad. The principal and the woman officer interviewed the students one at a time starting with Brad. The other police officer ensured that there was no further trouble.

Ada was devastated. She could hardly speak, choking on her tears. "I'm so frightened and now you are in terrible trouble . . . and my family."

Luka was completely wound up. Esri tried to comfort Ada, and calm down Luka, all the while horrified by what she had done. The boy was a complete jerk but she had stabbed him. That was beyond overreacting. She should have tried to push him away until the teachers came, but seeing what he was doing to Ada and the look on her face, what was Esri supposed to do? She would certainly be charged by the police, probably kicked out of school. Oh God, her Dad.

And Flat Rocks, her dreams would stop she was sure. The Disruptors did their job. How could she be so stupid, so impulsive? Whoever chose her to be a Mender chose poorly.

Esri was the last to be called into the principal's office. Before she went in, she turned to Luka and Ada and said, "You two go on. Don't wait for me. Luka, if I'm not home by 5, pick up Jilly at Farhana's. Please don't say anything, just that I was delayed at school. My Dad will be home by six. I'll try to talk to him as soon as I can."

Once seated in the office, the Officer Calvino spoke first. "Young lady, you could be charged with aggravated assault with a weapon and I could haul you out right now, book you, and put you in a detention center pending your trial. Your principal here tells me you've never been in any trouble before, are a good student, and, if anything, tend to be a peacemaker. She thinks we should be lenient with you. I want to hear what you have to say."

Esri took a deep breath. She thought about Clea. Not that Clea would ever stab somebody, but how Clea would expect Esri to face up to what she had done, and what she could try to do to fix this mess.

"I did a terrible thing. I want to tell you what happened and why I did it. I know that doesn't make it right or excuse what I did. It's really hard to do nothing when you see someone you care about, who's been good to you your whole life, who's one of the best people you've ever known being hurt and threatened. But what I did was wrong. I know that." Esri struggled not to cry.

The principal's phone rang. "Let me get that. It's probably my VP phoning from the hospital," she said. "Hello. Ian? Tell me about the boy . . . no stitches? . . . that's good. How is he?"