v a l e r i a

Luca’s initial reaction to her touching him was to pull back, get away from her– he wasn’t a people person. Up in the ring was where he shined, where he felt the most himself. His wife had been the people person, who’d handled overzealous managers and rude opponents, with just a bat of her eyes and quick wit. Just thinking about her made him want to ball up and never face the world again– or worse; blow up and get the pain out, but that would only scare Rae, and the teacher sitting opposite him. So he kept quiet, using every bit of his strength to keep his voice level as he spoke next. “She’s a good kid. She’s just hurting. And she’s angry. With the world, with me. I haven’t made it easy for her,” he admitted, hating himself for what he’d put his daughter through. “–Did the kid do something to her? She’s never hit anyone in her life, so if she’s going around hitting someone, maybe the other kid needs to be dealt with too,” his voice going hard, doing a one-eighty himself, turning on the teacher, needing to protect his daughter. “Did you even catch why she got so upset in the first place? Or did you just decide she has the fucked up father and the dead mother, so she must be the problem, no questions asked?”  

Valeria could feel the air around them change in a split second and readied herself for what she knew was to come. She’d been a teacher or teacher’s aid for the better part of eight year, she knew how parents reacted to accusations against their children. She didn’t feel the usual anger she felt at being questioned at her job, she only felt an odd sadness at his worlds. Valeria would never pretend to understand what it was like loosing a mother or a spouse but she knew it had to be tough on Luca and Rae. “I agree, she’s a good kid.” Rae was one of her favorite students, though she tried not to have favorites. “I’ve talked to the other student’s parents and they’ve promised to speak to her as well. I only ask that you do the same.” 

Listening to her, without taking his eyes off his daughter, he shook his head, finally dragging his gaze away to stare down at the desk. “Her mom– she’s no longer with us, so… it’s been hard on her. My wife, she handled the discipline.”

Valeria looked at the way he looked at his daughter and her heart hurt for the both of them. Unable to stop herself she placed a calming hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention back to her. “I know-” her voice was soft as was her nod. She didn’t know though, not entirely. While she had many children she called her own, she had never actually had a child nor had she lost a spouse. “I’m not asking for a one eighty, I don’t expect her attitude to change completely. But the throwing things, that’s something that can’t happen again.” Her soft voice turned into her teacher voice in just seconds. 

As soon as he got the call to come down to the school, he’d left work and go there as fast as he could. He knocked at the door of the classroom he’d been directed to, before entering, first finding Rae sitting in her seat, before glancing over at the women standing before her. He didn’t give her more than a second look before going over to nudge his daughter, falling into the seat beside her. “–You alright, sweetheart?” he asked, his voice soft as he greeted his daughter with a kiss to the forehead. He finally looked up to give the women his attention, looking at her expectantly. “So, why am I here? You said somethin’ about Rae having some problems in class?” 

“Rae had a bit of a problem today. She got...” She trailed off, thinking of the upset little girl in her class just hours before. “A bit upset. And threw a few blocks around. Unfortunately one hit another student and that’s simply not something I can accept in my classroom. I hope you understand.” Folding her hands on her lap she continued on. “We’ve had problems before but nothing quite like this and I felt it was necessary to talk about it. It can’t happen again and I hope you can talk to her about it.”