Nolan by Kathi S. Barton

right ahead,
young man. But I’m not leaving this meeting.” Katie sat down and huffed before
continuing. “You should be more afraid that my future granddaughter-in-law is
going to kick your bottom all over this room if you don’t behave yourself. I
never liked you anyway, you overbearing pig of a man.”
    The principal cleared his throat and asked to
speak first. “It is my duty to inform all that these proceedings are being
recorded. It’s school policy that when there is a meeting between two families,
things need to be recorded.” He sat down. “That being said, I do hope we can
resolve this soon. It’s disruptive to the other classmates to know this is
going on behind the scenes, so to speak.”
    A sheet of paper was passed around that all
of them were required to read and sign, and then the meeting began. Chris had a
feeling that Walter Simpson was not going to like the outcome of this meeting,
and his dad was going to be even more pissed off. She was going to love every
minute of it. The Simpson lawyer started out by handing out paperwork.
    “These are copies of the affidavits from
fellow students stating that my client was the injured party in this incident.
And there are others’ statements stating that not only has Mr. Cole provoked
this fight, but has been bullying Mr. Simpson for months now.” Chris took hers
but didn’t bother reading it. She knew what it was. A forced document that had
no more bearing on the case than anything else that this man had in his little
bag of tricks. “My client and his family are only asking for restitution as
well as a formal apology from Mr. Cole stating that he takes full
responsibility for his actions and what has happened prior to this one.”
    “No.” Chris was glad now that she’d made it a
point to shake each of their hands before this thing started. The lawyer
thought this was stupid and felt it was well beneath his expertise. The young
man, Walter, was afraid of his father. He’d beaten him three times already
since he’d found out that not only was Shane younger than him, but also
considerably smaller. The man, Victor, wanted to grind Rylee into the dirt, and
had tried to bring a gun in the building, only to be thwarted by the guard at
the front door.
    This building, like the others that she and
Joey owned, was protected. They didn’t need any metal detectors, but relied on
the magic of the people at the doors as well as what she’d surrounded the place
with to keep them safe. She was glad now that they’d used one of their
buildings for this farce of a meeting and not the school building, as was
suggested.
    “I don’t understand.” The lawyer looked at
his client, then back at her. “Perhaps, Mrs. Bentley, you could explain what
you mean by no . You mean you’re not going to pay? You’re not going to
have your client apologize to mine? There are a lot of things you can say no
to, my dear woman. Would you mind narrowing it down so that we can discuss what
actions you are going to take?”
    “I mean no to them all. My client is not
going to pay for any hospital bills. From what I know of your client and his
father, there are a great many things going on in that household that shouldn’t
be, but that’s beside the point. There will be no apology either. Not only did
my client not do anything wrong or provoke Mr. Simpson, but I have a great many
more affidavits than you do that state that Mr. Walter Simpson is a tyrant and
a bully.” She tossed three thick files on the desk from the pile she had. “These
are made without making payments of any kind to the victims of your client.
There is also, for each person, a bill from the hospital and an accounting of what
was stolen or taken, if you wish, or just plain destroyed by your client when
he had turned his anger on them. Did you think that we’d not find the reports
filed by the families when you had the sheriff put under investigation as a
threat?”
    No one said a word. Chris had cautioned