Patterns of Blues

Chapter 9

Liam felt all funny when he sat down for class. It was difficult to explain, sort of like if a small rodent was running in circles inside his stomach. Like he was listening to a timer ticking until a bomb let loose and destroyed his life. Like---maybe he left the stove running???

No, he hadn't even touched the stove since last night. Maybe consuming expired milk does something to your brain. Or maybe something bad was about to happen and it had nothing to do with milk or stoves.

Shut up, he told himself. None of what just went through his head made a lick of sense. He turned his gaze to his Mathematics teacher, and immediately the door to the classroom opened, and Principal Montgomery peeked his head in. Mr. Basom paused the lesson and approached the principal, and Liam was certain everyone in the class was straining their ears to listen to the quiet conversation being had.

"Liam," Mr. Basom called, gesturing with his forefinger to approach. Confused, he stood up and hesitantly went over to the adults just as someone behind him shouted a loud,

"Oooo, busteddd." He tossed a dirty look over his shoulder as Principal Montgomery led him outside to the now-empty hallway,

"I think having this conversation in my office would be best."

Liam felt something shift inside his gut,

"Can I ask what this is about?"

"We'll get to that," Principal Montgomery assured, leading the way to his office. Liam nodded absently, racking his brain for something he might have done wrong, but came up with nothing.

As he entered the office, Principal Montgomery gestured for him to take a seat.

"Alright, Liam, here's what's going on: I just got a call from Benson Middle School. It seems your younger brother, Harry, has brought up some concerns to a school counselor there, so I'm just going to ask you a couple of questions, alright?" Liam's heart jumped into his throat and then plummeted so far he wondered if kids could get heart attacks,

"W-what did he say?"

"Is everything alright at home?" Principal Montgomery asked, ignoring his question entirely. Liam's gaze darted around the room, trying to find something to focus on that wasn't his principal's concerned face,

"It's not so bad," he replied finally, deciding to try and downplay whatever it was that Harry had confessed. Principal Montgomery nodded silently, taking some notes,

"Would you feel comfortable going into detail?" Cornered. Great.

"Not really. Sometimes Greg'll get upset at one of us, but only if we do something bad, you know?"

"I'm afraid I don't," Principal Montgomery stated smoothly, looking up from his notepad, "Has your stepdad ever physically harmed you or your siblings?" Liam stared blankly, trying to decide the next step to take. That question confirmed that Harry must have fessed up big-time, which likely meant an investigation would happen regardless of what Liam had to say.

"Y-yeah. I guess so."

"Alright, Liam," Principal Montgomery said softly, setting aside his paper and pen and adjusting his head so he could make eye contact with him, "If half of what your brother has said is true, this could mean some serious things could happen. The best thing you can do for everyone is to be completely honest about everything so we can take appropriate action." Suddenly, he felt incredibly pressured, afraid of what he'd need to confirm or deny, and he wanted to yell at Harry and hug him tightly at the same time, knowing how afraid he must have been to admit everything. He was probably a sobbing mess, all alone, having to spill his heart out to a random stranger.