Rayne Pov

As I clean the counters, I hear Nick say, "Hello, beautiful." I turn to face him, grinning. I say, "Hello, Nick," bending down to give him a quick kiss. Nick moved here from L.A. six months ago, which is when we first met. He told me he hated city life and all he wanted was a fresh start. "Can we have dinner together tonight? "I would love to take you out," Nick says to me. Sally cuts me off as I turn to respond.

"Ray, the school is on the phone; they need to talk to you," Sally says, and I rush over to grab the phone. I say "Hello" into the phone. "Yes, Miss Cruz, hello. We apologize for troubling you, but we need you to visit the school so we can talk to you. The secretary answers, "Dante has been involved in another altercation." "Yes, I will be there soon," I respond as I end the call. I walk over to Sally. "I apologize to Sal, but I have to leave for Dante's school. He has gotten into trouble. I promise to return as soon as I can." I state.

"I understand; it is okay. I will cover you for the time being." She says I tell her thank you and walk over to Nick. "Nick Sorry, but I am unable to go out tonight. Dante got into trouble at school. I have to take care of that. Possibly tomorrow." I give him a quick peck on the cheek and bolt out the door. I dash over to the truck, hop in, and go in the direction of the school.

I head inside the building and toward the office when I arrive at the school office. Dante is sitting there with a few kids when I get to the office. When he looks at me, his face becomes pallid. He knows he is in deep sh*t. He gets up and says, "Crap." In a terrified voice, he says, "Mom, I can explain." "I don't want to hear it. I say, "Sit down and do not move," and I go to the counter to inform the secretary that I am here to see the principal. I say, "Hello, my name is Ray Cruz, and I am here to speak with Mr. Gates." She assures me that she will let him know that I have arrived.

I approach Dante and lean against the wall. "Mom, I'm sorry. Let me explain what happened, please." His voice is whiny as he says it. I turn to face him and start to say something, but I keep getting cut off. The security says, "Ms. Cruz, Mr. Gates is ready for you." I enter the office and take a quick look around. There is a small window behind the desk, and there is a bookshelf by the door. The office is incredibly boring to look at; neither the wall nor the desk have any pictures.

"Hello, Ms. Cruz, I am glad you could come see me today. Mr. Gates shakes my hand and says, "I am very sorry to have to call you for this reason."

"Hello, I get it. Could you or someone else please tell me what went wrong and why my son is fighting?" I said, glancing around the room at the other two occupants—I did not even realize where they were. "Sit so we can talk," please. Says Mr. Gates.

I sit down and get ready to speak, but again, for the third time today, I am interrupted. "I want that boy suspended. This isn't the first time Cruz has attacked my son for no reason." The woman next to me says it in a nasal voice that makes my ears want to bleed.

"Hold the fuck up, first things first; I want to know what the hell is going on and why our sons are fighting," I say to her and the principal. "Well, Miss Cruz, the other boy says that your son attacked him over a ball today. The other days, both boys said they were just horsing around. So we always let them go with a warning saying that it was okay to play, but hitting was not okay." Mr. Gates says to me in a stuffy tone.

"Have you, by any chance, asked Dante his side of the story about the fighting today, or are you going by the overly privileged child and his stuffy parents?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Well, I'm sorry, Ms. Cruz, but he has to be suspended for a week, and the next time it happens, he will be kicked out permanently. And to answer your question, yes, I asked him about it, and he said the same thing: It was over a ball." He says to get up. I rolled my eyes and head to walk out of the room, but I stopped. "Maybe if your boy had a father in his life, he wouldn't be this way." The lady with a nasal voice said.

I turn around and look at her. "Bitch, you don't know me, and you don't know my history, so fuck off and stop judging everyone around you." I say that and walk out, pausing before I add one last thing. "For the record, he does have a father, an amazing man. There were unfortunate circumstances that kept him from being with us. So before I make you eat your words, I would not mention his father again, or you will look worse than your son." I snarled at her before I let the door slam behind me.

I walk into the main room of the office and motion for Dante to follow me, and we walk out of the school and head to the truck. I get in and slam the door shut. I'm beyond pissed that he was suspended and even more pissed about what the bitch said about my son, and then she brought up Lucas. The twat head has no idea who I am or what we have gone through. Fuck her and her nasally-sounding ass. Maybe she should snort some more Coke.

After Dante is in the truck and buckled up, I head to the house to drop him off with Sarah.

"Dante, we will talk about this after I get off work. For now, get inside with Sarah and go to your room." I say this as we get out of the truck. He shakes his head and goes to his room, and I walk to the kitchen. "Hey, Rayne, what are you doing at home already?" She asks. "I just dropped Dante off; he is suspended for a week. I need to get back to work. Can you watch him for me until I get back?" I ask her. "Yeah, no problem," Sarah says. I tell her thank you and head to the truck. I take my phone out of my pocket and call Aunt Tina.

I dial Aunt Tina's number and listen to the ring on the other end while sitting in the driveway of my house. I silently sit there, waiting, and cry. What am I doing wrong with my son?" I think to myself.

"Hello?" I hear on the other end, and it's Uncle Frank who answers.

"Uncle Frank, I need some help and advice," I say to him. "What is it, dear? Are you okay? ok?" He asks.

"No Dante is now fighting in school, and he was suspended; if it happens again, he will be kicked out permanently," I say, crying, not knowing what to do.

"Well, sweetie, maybe you should contact his father. From what you have said the last few times we have talked, he has anger issues. Maybe now is the time to stop being stubborn and allow him to see his father," Uncle Frank says calmly.

"No, absolutely not. I do not want that kind of life for him, and what if the Russians learn about us coming out of hiding? They will not only come after me, but they will go after my son. I will not have that life for him." I say

I hear Uncle Frank exhale, and then he speaks. "I will be there tomorrow morning with Korey and Caleb; maybe they can help. We will figure this out, but I still strongly feel that you should talk to Lucas." He says. I shake my head, then remember that he can't see me. "Ok, also Uncle Frank, I don't know if Tina told you, but I've been seeing someone for a few months now. I don't know how to bring him around to meet Dante." I say to him:.

"Don't worry about that; he won't be meeting my nephew until he meets me." He says, and I laugh, of course, protective uncle he has always been. "I have to go, sweetie. I will see you tomorrow. I love you." Uncle Frank says it and hangs up before I get a chance to say it. Hmm, strange. I put my phone up and backed out of the driveway and headed to work.