“No one knew,” I replied. “That is part of the problem.”
Susan asked Maya to explain. To her credit, she did not interrupt or defend the school. She listened as Maya described the comments made about Liam and the way certain students continued harassing both of them.
When Maya finished, Susan folded her hands on the desk.
“Taking scissors to school was unsafe,” she said. “You could have injured yourself or another student.”
Maya nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry.”
Felix leaned forward.
“We are not asking only about the scissors,” he said. “We want to know why children are being repeatedly humiliated while adults keep calling it teasing.”
The room became very still.
I reminded Susan of every earlier complaint we had made about Maya. Then Maya repeated the things children had said to Liam.
Susan wrote everything down.
