Bombs & Bullets | Cricky [C]

53 | Apples

| Devin's POV |

With the November snow falling fast outside, I was so happy we were going on a vacation soon. This cold weather is getting to me. Sadly Bella isn't coming with us. She's staying here in Scranton and Ryan-Ashley and Balz are going to watch her. They opted not to join us on the trip, so it'll just be my husband and I and Ricky and Chris. As much as I hate leaving Bella, I'm glad to have some alone time with Shiloh. We don't get much of it. 

It's Thursday and we're leaving late Friday night. I was in the middle of packing when I heard the house phone ring. Shiloh was in the kitchen making lunch and managed to get to the phone before I did. Moments later he walked into the bedroom, still on the call.

He put his hand over the speaker as he murmured, "It's the school."

That only made me wonder more about what was being said on the other end of that phone. Why was Bella's school calling? Oh fuck, I hope she didn't have another asthma attack. That was when she was in Kindergarten. Now, she's in first grade and a different school. This school isn't as nice as her old one and they have yet to meet me... I'm afraid of the day I have to go in there. From the sounds of it, that might be today. 

"Both of us?" Shiloh asked whomever was on the other side of the phone. "Yes, ma'am. We're both home right now. We'll be there in about twenty minutes." 

He said a proper goodbye before hanging up. Shiloh groaned as he set the phone down on the dresser. I looked at him with worry. 

"What's wrong?" I asked. 

"The apple doesn't fall from the tree. That's what's wrong." He spoke somewhat scolding me, but saying it in a lighthearted way. "Bella got in a fight at the playground."

I sighed. "Why?" 

"I don't know. They want us both to come down there to talk to the principle." He said. 

"That doesn't give me much time to put on makeup." I replied jokingly. 

Shiloh giggled. "At least put on your eyebrows so you don't scare any children." 

"I think that's inevitable." I snickered as I went towards our shared bathroom. 

Shiloh beat me in there and leaned over the sink to throw on a little foundation, even though his skin was flawless. I stood behind him and used this as an opportunity to get a little ass. He giggled as I got as close to him as possible. 

"Baabe! Not now! We're supposed be being good parents." He laughed sweetly. 

I smiled while I drew on my eyebrows. "We're getting called into the principle's office and she's only in first grade. I think the good parent ship has sailed." 

"You're the one that starts fights. She learned that from you." He reminded me. 

I couldn't get mad at him because it was true. Shiloh was the kind of person that broke up and stopped fights, whereas I started them. It's been the biggest problem of our entire marriage. He hates that I start shit, but I never do it when it's not justified. I'd like to hope my daughter follows the same logic. She is only five, going on six. I don't expect her to know right from wrong to a perfect degree.

~~~

Am I seriously nervous about walking into a principle office? Yes, yes I am. I haven't been in a school since I was a rotten high schooler, and I got called down to the office a lot. I guess Shiloh is right; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. 

Obviously I wanted to make a good first impression so I pulled my hair back and wore decent clothes. Shiloh did the same. Neither of us put on much makeup. We couldn't hide the tattoos but this is the best we could do as far as making ourselves look presentable. I think we look fine just the way we are but the teachers might not find it nice. 

The principle was judging us the second we sat down in his office. Wonderful. Bella obviously knew she was in trouble by the look on her face. She sat quietly and let us handle adult matters. 

"Where are the other parents?" Shiloh asked. 

"I've already met with them." Mr. Lion replied. "They were far from happy about the situation."

"I can't say my opinion because you haven't told us what happened." I grumbled. 

Shiloh set his hand on my arm to signal to me to behave. He was more of the good cop and I was the bad cop. It's how it always goes when we're in sticky situations.

"From what I gather, one of our other students was discussing the religious views his parents teach him, and Bella hit him." He stated, then cleared his throat. "Now, discussing punishment. Because this was a first offense I'll let her off with a warning, but if it happens again, she will be expelled." 

Religious views... Ooohhh... You've got to be fucking kidding me. 

"Excuse me, but what do you mean by religious views?" I asked in the hopes he'd be honest, but I knew he wouldn't.

"That is personal towards the other family. I don't believe I should discuss that." 

"No, let's discuss it." I growled. "I know what exact went on here and I'm not happy that my child is being charged as the criminal in this case. Another kid was gay bashing because his parents taught him that was okay, and my daughter stuck up for what was right."

Shiloh sighed. "Though I don't agree violence was the answer, you cannot say it's alright for a child to insult a culture like that. Equality should be encouraged, not bigotry." 

"We cannot get in the way of religious values." He said. 

"You'd rather enforce the right to believe in a mystical being that teachers people to take away human rights than teach these kids about equality?" I gawked. "You don't have to worry about expelling her. We're pulling her out of this school."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lion, but we won't allow our daughter to be in this kind of environment." Shiloh stated as we both stood up. 

I offered Bella my hand and I smiled down at her as she grabbed my fingers. There was no way we were going to put up with this shit. I was surprised how easily Shiloh agreed with me, but he even knows where to draw the line. I'm raising my daughter to be accepting of people. It's not my fault the rest of the world hasn't caught up to basic human rights.