Chapter 6

Justine set the table in stubborn silence. Patrick sighed and served out the spaghetti.

"Going to school is the law," he said as they sat down.

"Is it the law that I have to listen to that big bully every day?" Justine shook the parmesan cheese viciously. "Kelly is mean, but the teachers like her so they don't care what she does. Today, Kelly had her friends pretending I didn't exist. They kept bumping into me and looking all shocked that I was there. I hate school."

"You still need to learn, and sometimes we need to learn to deal with people we don't like."

"Yeah, right. You don't have Kelly at your work," she said.

"True, I'm lucky I work with some pretty nice people."

"I want to be home-schooled. Jeannette at church is home-schooled," Justine said, "and she's smart."

"I can't stay home all day. I have to work."

"It isn't fair!"

"You're right," Patrick said. "It isn't."

"So aren't you going to fix it?"

"I don't know if it's that easy, Justine."

"It should be."

"I wish it was."

Justine tried twirling the spaghetti, but kept catching up too much to put in her mouth. She cut the strands into tiny little pieces. Then ate in silence. She stayed silent through her homework then went to bed early.

Patrick finished cleaning up, then looked at the fridge. Maybe Justine had said something to Ms. Palenz. Justine always enjoyed her time there between school and when Patrick got home. Ms. Palenz answered the phone on the first ring and Patrick could hear people eating in the background.

"I don't want to disturb your dinner," he said, "but this is Justine's dad. She came home in a real state today."

"Oh dear," said the voice on the other end. "She is having some trouble with the girls at school."

"She only mentions one name to me. Someone named Kelly."

"Kelly's the ring leader, but the rest of the class follows her. I have another child from that class so I hear stuff that you mightn't."

"Should I be talking to Justine's teacher?"

"Probably, but I don't know that it would do any good. This type of girl is usually expert at getting the teacher to think that she is a perfect angel."

"Thanks for your input. I should really let you get back to your meal."

"It's OK, I have a couple of kids who stay for supper, then Michael and I eat."

"Right then, say hello to Michael."

The voice on the other end of the line laughed.

"Michael is my dog, named after the archangel of battle. I'll keep my ears open. Goodnight, Mr. Constance."

"Call me Patrick."

"Then you must call me Lee."

"Goodnight."

Patrick hung up the phone and saw Justine watching him from the door.

"I told you that Michael was a dog," she said.

"I forgot."

"Can I have a glass of milk?"

"Sure, help yourself."

"Did talking to Ms. Palenz make you feel better?"

"I'm not sure. Should it?"

"She's nice, but she likes to tell me what to do. Sometimes that's good, like showing me how to bake a pie."

"You know how to bake pies?"

"Don't interrupt, Daddy." Their eyes met over the table and Justine started giggling. "I sounded just like her." Patrick smiled at her.

"You're right though, I shouldn't interrupt."

Justine nodded at him and sat at the table.

"She isn't as helpful with things like Kelly. She means well, but Kelly is, well, Kelly. She has the teacher wrapped around her finger and everyone in the class is either in love with her or scared of her. It's hard to even say what she does. It's like she'll say, "We shouldn't ask Justine to bring cookies because she doesn't have a mom to bake them and everyone will think How sweet. When Kelly's looking at me thinking Your mom is dead, you poor sap. Justine finished her milk, but made no move to go back to bed. Patrick put some cookies on a plate and slid them in front of her. She looked up at him.

"I didn't send you to bed early," he said. "You just needed some space to be angry."

"But it isn't fair to be angry at you about Kelly."

"No, it isn't," Patrick said, "but I can deal with it a lot better than Kelly."

"Thanks, Dad." She stared into her empty glass a while. "What do you think Mom would do?"

"I don't really know." Patrick picked a cookie up off the plate and nibbled at it. "But she wouldn't have let Kelly get her down. I know there were people who gave her a hard time when she started as a designer, but she would just shrug and say they'd be sorry when she was on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens."

"Was she? On the cover I mean."

"No," Patrick said, "she was just getting well known when she got sick, then it didn't seem important anymore."

"That's not fair."

"A lot of life isn't fair."

"Why not?"

"I wish I knew. The minister would be able to answer better than me."

"It's Pastor Daniel," Justine said.

"I know, it's just..."

"You're still mad at him."

"I'm not mad at him. It's just whenever I go near the church I start thinking about how unfair it all is."

"Like me tonight, being mad at you instead of Kelly, except you're mad at God."

"I think so."

Justine nodded her head again.

"Dad?"

"Yes."

"Thanks for letting me be mad sometimes."

Patrick hugged Justine and they didn't say anything for a while.