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Angus had only been living with the Bozers for a couple of weeks when Lauretta got a call from the school that he’d been in a fight. Honestly, it surprised her that it had taken that long for him to lash out in some way. But it surprised her even more that Wilt didn’t seem to be involved.
As she drove down to the school, she reminded herself that Angus was a child who was dealing with a lot of change and stress. He was confused and hurt. His father had left him without so much as a goodbye, and his grandfather had turned over custody to the Bozers. Harry was out of town so much for his job, and Angus needed stability now more than ever. It only made sense for the boy to live with the Bozers, with his best friend Wilt, if they were willing to take him in. Lauretta and Milton had agreed without hesitation.
Angus talked to Harry every night on the phone, which was the most he spoke to anyone. Or at all. He was polite with her and Milton, but she could tell that he was afraid of getting too close to them, lest they leave him too. She was sure that he talked to Wilt too, but her son had shared that Angus had been pretty quiet for a while now, really only speaking when spoken to.
She parked the car and made her way to the principal’s office. Mr. Mills was about 65 with graying hair, a kind demeanor, and a lot of years as an educator under his belt. She’d met him only a handful of times, usually to pick up Wilt when Angus got him into trouble by setting off the school smoke alarms with a science experiment or flooding the basement level for reasons she would probably never truly know.
Mr. Mills’ door was open, and he beckoned her inside. “Thank you for coming down so quickly, Mrs. Bozer,” he said softly.
Her eyebrows drew together in confusion until he pointed to her left. There was a couch against the far wall. Angus was curled up in one corner of it, sleeping. His face was already starting to bruise around his left eye, and his lip was split. It wasn’t bleeding anymore, but there was drying blood on his dirty t-shirt. His blond hair was mussed, and he looked all of about four years old.
“What happened?” she asked, keeping her voice down.
“He won’t tell me, but the other kids, including your Wilt, say that Donnie Sandoz was bullying him. Making fun of his name, calling him an orphan. Terrible things. Angus punched him, and Donnie fought back.”
Lauretta frowned. This was the last thing that Angus needed right now. “Where is this Donnie Sandoz?”
“His mother came and picked him up about 10 minutes ago. He’s been suspended for a week for the bullying, and the teachers are being made aware of the situation so that they can keep a better eye on the kids at lunch and during recess.”
At least the other kid was being punished, though Lauretta wasn’t sure that suspension was the proper punishment. However, she had no authority here, except as Angus’ guardian, and her focus needed to be him at the moment. “And Angus?”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Bozer, but I have to suspend him for two days for fighting.” Mr. Mills looked sincerely apologetic about the punishment. “It’s school policy, and he did throw the first punch.”
“He was defending himself,” she countered, more harshly than she intended.
“I understand that, but we have a zero-tolerance policy.”
She took a deep breath, gearing up to argue further, when Angus shifted in his sleep and mumbled something unintelligible but upsetting to him. His breathing started to speed up, and he awoke with an aborted cry of pain.
Lauretta was kneeling in front of him before she even realized she’d moved. However, she didn’t immediately reach out and touch him. She’d learned that lesson already. “Angus? Are you okay?”
His wide eyes darted from her to Mr. Mills and then around the office before settling back on her. “Lauretta,” he whispered, “am I in trouble?”
“No, baby,” she assured him, slowly reaching out to brush his hair back out of his face.
He glanced back at Mr. Mills but didn’t say anything else.
“You’re not in trouble with me,” she clarified. This boy was too smart for his own good. “But you are suspended for a couple of days for fighting.”
Angus nodded, accepting the punishment.
“Are you hurting?” She ghosted her fingertips over his bruised eye and across his split lip. Both were starting to swell.
He shook his head.
“You can tell me, honey.”
He held her gaze for a moment before looking away and conceding. “Little bit.”
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
He shook his head again.
“Let’s get you home so that we can get some ice on your face.” She stood and motioned toward the door.
Angus slowly uncurled from his near fetal position on the couch and left the office without another word to either of them.
She exchanged concerned looks with Mr. Mills, and they said their goodbyes before she strode out of the office behind her young charge. She needed to talk to Milton before they sat down together with Angus to discuss bullying, and how to handle it, and when to come to them before anything led to another fight. But the most important thing right now was to get Angus home.
He was quiet during the drive and tried to sneak off to his room as soon as they set foot in the house, but Lauretta stopped him when he was halfway up the stairs. “Angus,” she called, “come back down here, please.”
He slowly made his way into the kitchen, where she was standing with an ice pack in her hand.
She gently placed the ice pack against his face so that it would cover both the swollen eye and lip. “Hold that there.” He reached up with one hand to hold the ice pack in place. “Now, I’m going to make you a snack. Do you want apple slices or cheese with crackers?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“That wasn’t the question.” If left to his own devices, Angus would be nothing but skin and bones. He didn’t even ask for candy that often. It broke her heart that he didn’t readily take any food offered to him the way Wilt did. Her son would eat her out of house and home if given a chance, but Angus seemed to feel like it was a burden to feed him anything outside of a family meal.
He shrugged and looked down at his feet as he shifted from one foot to the other.
“Go and sit on the couch, please.” She watched him do as she asked before she started slicing the apple. He wasn’t trying to be difficult, she thought. He was trying to be invisible, but she had no intention of letting that happen. He was a brilliant, intelligent boy, and he needed someone to show him that he was special.
When she went into the living room, he had taken off his shoes and was sitting in the corner of the couch, still holding the ice pack to his face. She sat beside him and gave him the bowl of apple slices.
He took one, bit into it, and carefully chewed with his mouth closed. “Thank you,” he said after he swallowed. If nothing else, he was excellent with manners. Sometimes painfully so.
“You’re welcome,” she replied with a smile. Then, she picked up the remote and flipped through channels until she hit PBS. There was a documentary on about black holes, so she let that play while Angus ate his apple.
She draped a soft blanket over him and watched the documentary while keeping an eye on the clock. After 20 minutes, she gently took the ice pack from him and set it on the coffee table.
“How are you feeling now?” she asked, brushing his hair back out of his eyes. It was probably time for a haircut.
“It’s numb from the ice.”
“Are you ready to tell me what happened today?”
He shrugged and fidgeted with his blanket. “Donnie said some mean things.”
“What did he say?”
Angus looked away, so she tenderly hooked her index finger under his chin to lift his face toward her.
“You can tell me. I won’t be angry, I promise.”
He sighed and reached up to wrap his hand around her wrist. Surprisingly, he didn’t push her away; he just held on tightly. “He said that my name was stupid and that I was an orphan and that no one wanted me.” Tears welled in his eyes, but he kept talking. “And that everyone hated me.”
“Oh, honey.” Lauretta couldn’t help herself. She pulled him into an embrace as he started to cry. “None of that is true. Absolutely none of it. Milton and I love you very much, and we want you here with us. Your grandfather loves you too, and he wants you to spend the summer with him in LA. You are wanted, and you are loved. Do you hear me?”
He nodded against her shoulder but didn’t stop crying. His arms wrapped around her, and his hands clenched in her sweater.
“Can you say it for me?”
“Say what?” he asked, gasping in breaths with his tears.
“Say ‘I’m wanted, and I’m loved’.”
It took a minute for him to calm down enough to say it, but he finally got the words out. “I’m wanted, and I’m loved.”
“Always remember that, Angus. You’re always wanted and always loved in this family. You are a part of this family. Okay?”
He pulled back and looked her directly in the eyes. His face was red and splotchy from crying, but he looked content for the first time since he’d moved in with them. “Thank you, Lauretta.”
“You’re welcome, baby.” She put her hands on either side of his face, careful of his rapidly bruising eye, and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Then, she tucked him back under the blanket and went to get a fresh ice pack from the freezer. She hoped that this would be the turning point where he started to believe that he would always be a part of the Bozer family.