CHAPTER 36: DEFEND A DELINQUENT
THE GIRL WHO CAN’T DATE
By Eleventh
CHAPTER 36: DEFEND A DELINQUENT
“I know how it feels when nobody believes you and when nobody takes your side. So I pledged to myself that I will be someone’s confidante when the world is against someone.” – Ira P.
Sniffing on his coffee from the living room, Eros was deep in his thoughts. Ira noticing her brother’s silence sat with him on the couch and looked at him cutely.
“Thank you for letting Carlos borrow some of your clothes, and also for allowing him to sleep with you in your room.”
To every Pardilla, privacy matters but when Eros offered to share his room and some of his clothes, Ira appreciated it.
“You said he was caught in a riot, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Did he mention where he was hit?”
Ira shook her head, quite confused about where the conversation was leading.
“I haven’t actually asked him about it but I was told that he only scratched himself.”
“Mmm…” Eros put down his coffee. He placed his elbows on his legs, clasped his hands, and with crinkled eyebrows, rested his chin on them.
“What is it?” she asked.
“While he was changing his clothes, I saw bruises on his back and a lot on his side stomach. But they don’t look fresh. I mean, they don’t seem like he got them from the riot. And he got a lot of scars too.”
“What are you trying to say, Eros?”
Eros stood up and took with him his coffee. He pressed a smile at Ira and changed the subject. “You’ll be late for work. Don’t worry about him. I’ll be here to look after him.”
“Aren’t you working today?”
“Day-off!”
Ira pressed a smile and embraced his brother. “Thank you!!”
She went to the door to leave. But before she could close it, Eros called for the last time.
“Uhm, Ira!”
“Yes?”
“How long will he be staying here?”
“Maybe for a week?”
“Mmm… I suggest you check his home first and maybe talk to his guardians before sending him back.”
“Will do!” Ira gave him two thumbs up and closed the door.
AT GRAYSON ACADEMY
Eros may have not answered her question but Ira got a hunch about what he was implying. It bothered her. Like solving a puzzle, she tried to put together context clues from Carlos’ behavior.
“How is he?” Skye asked as he sat with her during recess.
“Doing fine."
"What if gets expelled? What are you gonna do?"
"I’ll appeal to the heads of the school not to expel him.”
“How will you do that?”
“Send a letter? Call their attention? Invade their office? I don’t know. I’ll see what I can do.”
Skye opened a can of apple juice and gave it to her.
“Good luck! I’m rooting for you. I mean it.”
[That was sweet!] Ira thought.
She accepted the drink and thank him with a smile. When she caught a glimpse of Tristan walking in the hallway, she left her colleague and rushed to her student.
“Tristan!” she called.
“Yo, Coach P! We heard about Carlos. How is he?”
“He’s doing alright. Hey, can I have a second? I have a question about Carlos.” She looked through his shoulders to see how many friends were waiting for him.
“Yeah, sure!”
The two pulled away from the crowd to the nearby pillar where they can talk alone.
“Do you know anything about Carlos’ family? Like… is he close to his dad or his mom? Something like that.”
“Mmm…” Tristan twitched his lips. “Actually, Coach P, Carlos’s dad is long dead, his mother is abroad, and he lives with his mother’s partner.”
“Mother’s partner?”
“Yeah. Her boyfriend.”
Ira tilted her head and got even more curious.
“Do you mean Carlos is living in someone else’s house?”
“No! Not at all. The house is theirs. Carlos’ mom pays for everything - the house, the bills, the food, and even Carlos’ tuition. That man doesn’t work at all. He is just leeching the Pinedas.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Well… one thing that I’m 100 percent sure of is that Mimi’s gossips were never from baseless rumors.”
“Your Mimi's gossips, huh?” Ira rolled her eyes and sniggered. “Alright! Thank you, Tristan! You can go.”
“See you later, Coach!” Tristan bid farewell and left with his friends.
“Investigating?” Skye uttered as he stood next to her watching the sophomores leave.
“Background check.”
“What did you find?”
“Nothing much. I might visit his house tomorrow.”
“I’ll go with you.” Skye volunteered.
Ira looked at him with creased eyebrows and said, “Why are you always tagging along?”
Skye crossed his arms and looked at her stoically.
“Alright! I won’t tag along. Just promise me that you won’t get lost.”
Ira twitched her mouth.
“Fine. You can tag along.”
Skye chuckled at her annoyed face as they moved away from the pillar leaving the canteen. They were about to mount the stairs when Maggie called from behind running towards them.
“Ira! Ira! Ira!” Maggie panted.
“Hey! Relax! What happened?” Ira greeted watching her friend catch her breath.
“The parents…”
“Whose parents?”
“The parents of the bullied child are here.”
Ira’s eyes broadened.
“Are they here for Carlos?”
“Definitely. Don’t you think you have to be there?”
“I should be. Excuse me!”
Leaving the two teachers, Ira rushed to the office of the prefect. Standing in front of the door, she closed her eyes to pray for favorable outcomes before she knocked and went in.
“I was about to call you, Miss Pardilla.” Mr. Romualdez greeted her the moment he saw her face. “Ma’am, sir… this is Miss Pardilla, Mr. Pineda’s homeroom teacher. And this is Mr. and Mrs. Lagdameo, parents of Clark Lagdameo, the child that Mr. Pineda bullied.”
“Bullied? Wasn’t it a simple misunderstanding between teenagers?” Ira opposed, her temper rising.
“Simple misunderstanding? Are you kidding me? My son is fighting for his life right now in the hospital and you’re telling us it’s a simple misunderstanding?” Mrs. Lagdameo irately whined.
“I am sorry for what happened to your son, ma’am, but won’t it be unfair to put the blame on Carlos even if there is no evidence that he did it?” Ira defended.
“Who needs evidence if there are witnesses?” Mr. Lagdameo replied.
“Witnesses that are in favor of your son. How about CCTV footage? Or at least a photo. Can you present any?”
“I can’t believe this! Why are you defending that delinquent? Is this school tolerating violence? I want justice for my son. If I can’t put him behind bars, at least he gets the punishment he deserves. We want him EXPELLED!” The mother grumbled.
Ira backed down and with humility, she pleaded.
“Ma’am, Sir! I apologize on behalf of my student. Can we at least talk about this first? We are talking about the kid’s future here.”
“How dare you talk about the future, Miss Pardilla! How about my child? How about his future too?”
Reading the parents’ disposition, there was no way Ira can change their minds. The parents ignored Ira’s apology and turned to Mr. Romualdez to proclaim a threat.
“Expel the child or this will go viral on social media? If we don’t get the justice that my child deserves, I am going to make sure that this school is going down with it.”
The furious parents did not wait for the prefect’s response. They walked out of the room leaving Mr. Romualdez and Ira astounded.
As soon as the door closed, Mr. Romualdez banged his fists on the table and vented his anger toward the only person in the room.
“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO???”
Ira, fearless and firm, looked at Mr. Romualdez with the same outraged face.
“I was protecting a defenseless child. That’s what I did!”
“YOU WERE PROTECTING A DELINQUENT AND PROVOKED THE VICTIM’S PARENTS WITH YOUR STUPID ARGUMENTS. THAT’S WHAT YOU DID!”
“Mr. Romualdez! Didn’t it even cross your mind that Carlos might be wrongly accused?”
“Wrongly accused? He did not deny that he did it, Miss Pardilla! He did not deny it!”
“But neither he admitted it!”
The more Ira contends, the more Mr. Romualdez sees the stubborn kid he tried to kick out but failed to do so ten years ago. There was no way he could kick her out because there was no solid evidence that she was a bully, and most of the school staff and heads were mysteriously in her favor.
“There is no sense talking to you, Ira! What do I expect anyway? You are birds with the same feather! GET OUT!”
Ira did not even bat an eye. She has been holding herself quite too long and in her head, she wondered what would be a teacher’s punishment if she punches a colleague. She clenched her fists while her inner conscience tries to win a battle in her mind.
[Swing it, Ira! Swing it! Just one blow! You can knock him out with just a blow and then run for your life! Come on! You always wanted to do this!]
[No, Ira! Don’t! There’s no telling what may happen to you if you do it! You might be kicked out this time for real!]
[They can’t expel you! You’re no longer a student! Just one blow to get that anger out of your chest! Come on! You can settle it with an apology later. Just tell the heads you lost out of control!]
Ira closed her eyes and counted to ten.
1… 2… 3…
[Ira!!! Calm down! Please! You are not a delinquent!]
4… 5… 6…
[It’s now or never! This will set you free!]
7… 8… 9…
[You’ve done this before… self-control! You can do it again!]
10…
BANG!!!