Kendra...

"I can't believe you ran away from him," Iris said, arms raised in disbelief

We were at the office, about the leave our desks for our lunch break.

"I didn't run away, I had to leave," I answered

"You're really going to use your son as an excuse? That's low Ken."

It's been a few days since the event and I hoped that was the last I saw or heard of Josh. But he had called Iris and told her that I ran away from him.

I sighed in defeat "Ok, I ran away."

Her disappointment in me was all over her face.

"Couldn't you have just given him a chance? He's a really nice guy," she said

"I was willing to," I admitted "But I found out who his father was."

"Governor Rogers? Why would he change your mind?" she asked in confusion before her eyes widened "Are you a Republican?" she whispered

"What? What does that have to do with anything?"

"I mean, why else would you not like a Democratic Governor?"

"No, that's not the reason why."

"So, a difference in policy has nothing to do with it?"

"No. And I don't hate the man...I just..."

Iris didn't know much about my past, and she wasn't going to. Not now at least. This was just one of those things I kept to myself. The only people who know are my mother and the therapist she made me see when it all happened.

Kyle didn't know anything, but I knew at some point, he would want to know what really went down. "Your daddy had to go away" held no more weight. I often wondered if I would tell him the whole truth. Did he have to know about the money? The money that still came at the end of the year and that I never touch?

Iris stood there staring, waiting for an answer. And I stared back, trying to come up with a good excuse. But then my phone rang, saving me the mental energy.

I grabbed it from the desk and quickly answered.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Wright?" An unfamiliar voice said on the other end

"Yes, this is her," I answered, ignoring the need to correct her

"I'm calling from Winston Elementary. It's about your son, Kyle Wright. We need you to come down to the school immediately," the woman answered

"Is he OK?" I asked, worry settling in

"Your son is fine ma'am. Just get here as soon as you can."

"I'm on my way," I said before hanging up

I quickly grabbed my bag and placed my cellphone in it.

"Wait, where are you going? This conversation isn't over," said Iris

"Kyle's school just called. There's something wrong."

"Oh," she said, her anger quickly disappearing "Go, I'll talk to Mr. Copper"

"Thanks," I said and headed to the elevators

It didn't take that long to get to the school, traffic wasn't as bad as it usually was. I was let into the principal's office by the secretary, who I then realized was the one who called. In the room sat the principal, my son, two other boys and four adults who seemed to be their parents. One couple was white, the other black.

"Ms. Wright is here sir," the secretary announced me

Everyone turned to look at me, except my son. He sat still, facing forward. That was when I noticed one of the boys had a busted lip. By the way Kyle wasn't looking at me, I figured he was the cause.

"Ms. Wright, thanks for coming," the old Caucasian silver-haired Mr. Thompson said.

I nodded in response, not sure what I should say. I've never been called to the school for my son before.

"Now we can begin," Mr. Thompson said

"Good, cause I would like to know why my son has a busted lip," the blonde women said, her face was rigid and she moved her arms around while she spoke.

She was going to be a problem.

"The boys got into a fight in gym class and we're here to find out why. Would someone like to explain?" the old man said, looking to the boys

The busted lip boy was the first to speak.

"Kyle was rubbing in our faces that he was coach Greg favorite and when we stood up for ourselves he hit Myles and punched me in the face."

"Yeah," the other, I assume Myles, agreed

"That's not how it happened!" Kyle yelled

"Did you not punch my son in the face?" the blonde mother asked

Did she just raise her voice at my baby?

"Yes, but that's not how it happened."

"Well that's all that matters, you punched him."

"Does my son not deserve to share his side?" I stepped in "Are you sure your son wasn't the one who initiated things?"

"Are you accusing my child of lying?"

Yes!

"No, I'm saying we need to hear both sides."

Kyle wasn't the kind to just beat up on people. He would only do so if he was provoked.

"It doesn't matter who started it. The fact is, there was a fight on campus, and your sons were involved," Thompson said "And for that, they are all getting suspended for a week."

"What?!" "Are you serious?" "My son did nothing wrong!" We, the parents, erupted

"I'm sorry, but those are the rules," he said "You can leave now." He seemed done with all of this, even though we still hadn't gotten to the bottom of how it really happened.

The other parents left with their sons, Miss Drama Queen mumbling under her breath. We were about to leave the office until Mr. Thompson stopped us.

"Mr. Wright," he said getting my son's attention "This was your first time coming to my office for this, but I am well aware of your scuffles at my school."

I looked over at Kyle with surprise. He had gotten into fights before? Why am I now knowing about this? Was my son not as innocent as I thought he was?

"Now I know being the new kid in school can be challenging," he continued, "But you have to start behaving better because we don't accept that here. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," he answered, his head bowed in shame

"I'm very sorry for his behavior Mr. Thompson," I said "It won't happen again."

"I hope so."

Kyle and I left the office and walked past the secretary's desk. I was about to open the door to the hallway when I heard voices on the other side. Both female.

"That Kyle boy finally got sent to the principal's office huh?" the first voice said

"Yep," the second answered "Lauren just told me that they all got suspended for a week"

"It's about time. He just got here and he's causing all this trouble."

"You know his mother is a young single mom right? That's why he's been acting out, he doesn't have a father. That boy needs a male figure in his life to teach him how to be a man and control his anger."

A stew of emotions went through me. Did Kyle hear what was said? I was afraid to turn around and look at him to find out. I hid the emotion as best as I could and sucked in an angry breath. I opened the door and was greeted by the sight of two teachers. One of them taught my son. A bit of fear and embarrassment appeared on their faces when they saw me. I sent them a glare, letting them know I heard everything that was said.

I walked out and right past them. Kyle, who had followed, picked up his pace and began walking beside me. As we made our way down the hall towards his class to get his things, he kept looking my way. He had heard what they said and was probably checking on me. He was worried about me, I could tell by the look on his face.

This sweet boy couldn't be getting into fights right?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The drive home to our apartment was silent. He was probably preparing for the punishment he was about to get. I, on the other hand, was busy trying to process it all.

As soon as I got home I called my boss, letting him know my situation. I was grateful that he allowed me to take the rest of the day off.

After getting off the phone, I went to Kyle's room, where I had sent him to wait. He was sitting on the bed, looking down at his hands as he dwindled his fingers. I walked in and took a seat next to him.

"Want to tell me what happened today?"

He stayed silent for a few seconds then he spoke.

"They were picking on me and making fun of me. So I fought them."

So he was being bullied.

A lot of things were starting to make sense.

"Why were they picking on you?"

"I did really good at basketball tryouts and coach told me I did the best. Then he told me that I'd be the only rookie playing in the first game."

My eyes lit up at the news.

"You're playing in the first game?" I asked in excitement

"Focus mom," he said, trying to get me back on topic

"Sorry, continue."

"Brad and Myles found out, and got mad that I got picked and they didn't, so..."

"They started picking on you," I finished

"Yeah," he sighed

"Do they do that often?"

"Yeah," he answered, looking down at his hands "Since the first day of school."

"Why didn't you tell me you were being bullied, sweetie? I could have done something about it."

"That would only make it worse mom. They'd think I'm weak for telling you."

"Then why didn't you tell the teacher?"

"They would think the same thing. Plus, Brads and Myles' parents are big shots who donate to the school. Everyone would believe them over me"

Well, that explained why that mother was acting the way she was.

"Then why didn't you just walk away? Fighting doesn't solve anything."

"I couldn't just let them keep picking on me mom. I had to stand up for myself."

"But you didn't have to punch the boy Kyle."

"Yes I did!" he yelled "They wouldn't have stopped."

"First off, don't raise your voice at me. Second, now that you punched him, do you think he or his friend will back off now?"

He stayed silent.

"Exactly. Fighting isn't always the answer Kyle."

"Then what am I supposed to do mom?"

He looked up at me, eyes full of desperation and unshed tears. This was the first he's opened up to me in months and I wanted to be able to help. Wanted to make my baby boy not hurt anymore. But I didn't have the answer for him and felt like I was the one now hurting him.

"I don't know baby," I said pulling him into my side

He rested his head on my shoulder and my arms quickly went around him. It was all I could do to comfort him at that moment.

That's when my mind went back to those teachers in the hallway and what they were saying. I was upset that they were gossiping about me and my son, but what if they were right? The more I thought about it, the more I thought they were.

He was a young boy, growing into a man, and I had no idea how that worked. I knew what it was like to grow into a woman, even though sometimes, I don't feel like one. But could I use my experiences to help him become a man? Growing into a woman was the same as growing into a man, right? Maybe so, maybe not.

But what I did know, was that the expectations for him are different from what they were for me. Society had clear rules as to what a "man" and "woman" was. Was I supposed to teach him to follow those expectations or not? Would he want to? Was a man's way of dealing with those expectations different from a woman's? That I didn't know.

That's why he needed a man in his life, to help him navigate through all this stuff. But how was I going to fix that?

Thank you all so much for reading! Don't forget to vote and leave a comment if you liked this chapter. Next chapter should be up by the end of the week, so look out for it. Until then. 

The picture at the top is of Iris.