Love Is Not Enough

Chapter 1 - A Failed Plan

"Ma'am I really, really apologize for his behaviour. I know he gets violent when he's mad, but you see I'm kind of helpless about it. Still, I'll make sure that he will never do that again." I mumbled for the third time, trying my best to sound really apologetic.

"Mommy! Don't lie to her! I will do it again if I have to!" I heard Nate whine.

This was not the time to argue, Nathaniel!

I wasn't feeling apologetic at all. It had become old news for me, and I always expected a phone call from my son's school, with a new complaint for a new day.

"Miss Hayes, I understand. I know being a single mother and handling such a short tempered, ill mannered son is not a child's play, but—" She continued rambling on but only one thing was going on in my mind.

Oh no.

She shouldn't have said that. She should've had known that the short temper was something that little guy got from me. Now that she hadn't been smart enough to keep her useless thoughts to herself, I was bubbling up with rage and what you could call a maternal defensive instinct, the same instinct that made mothers forget all the shit they had to go through for their baby.

"Excuse me, Ma'am, but what exactly do you mean by an ill-mannered child?" I hissed into the phone, too tired to raise my voice. "I am very well aware that he has a short temper, but that does not mean that my son is ill-mannered. Wasn't it the other kid who started the pissing fight? Why are you blaming Nathan?" I was probably scaring her off as I spoke harshly into the phone, the protective mother inside me wanting to rip her tongue off for calling my son ill mannered.

"Yay! Mommy!" I heard another voice pipe in, overjoyed that his mother was defending him.

This boy needed some grounding.

"I apologise, Miss Hayes, but-"

"But what, Ma'am? I understand you are a teacher and you have to ensure the safety of your students, but it doesn't mean that you would blame my son just because he knows how to throw a mean punch." I defended.

"But Mason has a bleeding nose and a deep cut on his knee because of your son's...uh...violent tendencies!" The woman scrambled for words.

"Mommy! It was just one punch, I swear!" Came a squeaky voice as I held the phone tightly, ready to throw it and smash it against the wall.

I rolled my eyes, "That Mason kid has a bleeding nose and whatever, but it doesn't mean that he isn't the one at fault here. I know my son was wrong too, but Mason should have known better than to mess with Nathan. I mean, I know my son has a pretty badass reputation when it comes to fighting."

I knew my son; he never behaved badly unless it was someone harming him or someone he loved dearly.

Just like him.

My son had violent tendencies - he was not a bully though - but he always believed that he did it only to protect me. He just couldn't hear a word against me.

Still, hitting someone was wrong.

It was very obvious that a single woman with a child still raised whispers among people, while they kept guessing the back story. Was she dumped? Did she dump her baby daddy? Did someone cheat? Was it a sperm donor? Even though my neighbours were extremely supportive people, there were still many who just loved gossiping and digging through dirt. Unfortunately, their children picked their words and their habits. It was all fine when Nathan didn't understand anything, but now he had grown up and he was becoming a victim of the gossip as well.