Bayview Heights Trilogy (15 page)

He didn’t dare tell her what was on his mind
right at that minute. Instead, he asked her to dinner. He was
thinking about where they’d go as he walked down the hall after
their lunch.

Again, as yesterday, he happened upon
DeFazio. Again, the kid was dressed in a combination of black and
red. He met a member of Wednesday’s trio, the boy Mitch hadn’t
recognized, by the john again, glanced around and then stuck out
his hand, his palm facing forward. They slapped each other in a
high-five gesture, then closed their fists. Knuckles met knuckles,
DeFazio’s fist topped the other boy’s, then they reversed the order
and finally splayed their hands, palms facing each other again.

Unnoticed, Mitch sighed and leaned against
the wall.

Hand signals.

A distinctive hairstyle.

Black and red colors.

Paged in the middle of the day.

All were clear signs of gang activity.

His own words came back to him.
If I see
any evidence of gang activity, I’m stepping in.

Swearing to himself, Mitch reversed direction
and headed toward Seth Taylor’s office. Luckily, the principal’s
meeting was just ending.

Taylor looked up from behind his desk as
Mitch came to the doorway. “Hi. What can I do for you?”

“Got a minute?”

Taylor called out, “Sue, do I have a
minute?”

The secretary in the outer office called back
good-naturedly, “Yeah, you’ve got forty of them. You need to be at
the administration building by two, though.”

Mitch stepped into Taylor’s office and closed
the door. For a few seconds, he studied the principal, the man who
had made such a difference in Cassie’s life.

“What’s up?” Taylor asked

“I...” Mitch looked around, thinking about
sad gray eyes.

If you go into this gang prevention stuff
now, I’ll lose Johnny for good. He’ll never take this from you. He
already dropped out once.

“We may have a problem.”

“We?”

Mitch felt himself redden. Since when had he
started thinking of himself as part of Bayview Heights High School?
This wasn’t good at all.

“Uh,
you
do. At least I think you
do.” Briefly, Mitch explained what he’d seen. As he talked, Seth’s
brow furrowed, he shook his head, and his face grew somber.

When Mitch was done, Seth slapped his hand on
his desk. “I won’t tolerate this. What should I do?”

“Several things. First, is there a written
policy anywhere outlining the prohibition of gangs in your
school?”

“No.”

“You need one.”

“It’ll have to go through the school board.
It’ll take some time.”

“Initiate it right away. Meanwhile, can you
take a stand with the kids without a formal policy?”

“Yes. I have the right to do anything to
establish an orderly atmosphere.” Seth sat back and steepled his
hands. “I’ll get on the PA system. We’ll have to hold a faculty
meeting first, though, to alert the staff.”

“They should be told what to look for, how
they can help prevent the spread of this at Bayview Heights. The
worst thing that can happen is for these kids to think they’re
getting away with surreptitious gang activity in the school. If
they think they’re putting something over on you, they’ll be hard
to stop.”

The principal checked his calendar. “I have a
faculty meeting scheduled for Monday. Can you do the
presentation?”

“Yes, I guess so. But you might want to bring
in a gang prevention specialist instead.”

Seth shook his head. “No, I’ve had a lot of
positive feedback about the material you presented on breaking up a
fight. Teachers are notoriously hard to impress. They respect you.
They’ll listen to what you have to say.”

“All right, then.” Making a quick decision,
Mitch said, “Seth, we’ve got another problem.”

“What?”

“Cassie. She’ll have a fit about this.”

Sinking back into his chair, Seth ran his
hand over his face. “Because of Johnny.” Then the principal shook
his head. “But he’s out of the Blisters. He wasn’t with DeFazio,
was he?”

“No.”

“Do you think he’s involved?”

“Truthfully, I don’t think so, but I don’t
know for sure.” Quickly, Mitch related the conversation he’d had
with Cassie the night the kids were brought in on suspicion of
using inhalants.

Taylor’s eyes narrowed when Mitch finished.
“I don’t like having things kept from me. You should have said
something then.”

“You’re probably right.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Cassie can be very persuasive.”

“Cassie doesn’t make these kinds of decisions
for the school. I do.”

Mitch nodded. “It’s my responsibility. I
shouldn’t have listened to her. Don’t lay this on her.”

Seth cocked his head. “Defending her now,
Captain? When did this start?”

Somewhere after a kiss that knocked my
socks off
.

Mitch shrugged. “I’m not sure. But I’m
worried about her reaction to this.”

Seth studied him a minute before he said,
“Cassie’s got to see that this is bigger than we thought. She’ll be
reasonable. In any case, I’ll handle Cassie. You get the
presentation prepared.”

Mitch felt the constriction around his heart.
Taylor probably could handle Cassie. But Mitch had a bad feeling
that she’d never forgive him for going to Seth without talking to
her.

Maybe it was for the best, he thought as he
left the office and headed out of school. That one kiss, that brief
intimacy they’d shared, flooded him with feelings that were too
strong for him to control. Best to end things now, before she came
to mean too much to him.

Mitch exited the building and strode to his
car, an enormous sense of loss threatening to engulf him.

CASSIE LAUGHED OUT LOUD as she hurried down
the hall. She was late for a meeting with Seth because she hadn’t
been able to tear herself away from Johnny. He’d stayed after
school to regale her with tales of his experiences at the
Forty-Second Street Clinic. It had been wonderful to see him
animated and excited. He’d even mentioned, twice, a girl from
Columbia University pre-med who was also working with Kurt. It was
all so healthy, so good for him.

As she made her way to Seth’s office, Cassie
had the fleeting thought that, for a change, everything was going
right in her life—first Johnny, and tonight, a date with Mitch. She
shivered a bit just thinking about last Monday when he’d touched
her. She could still feel his hands on her, his lips hard and
insistent against her mouth. Though fearful of the closeness, she
was ready to spend the evening with him.

“Go on in,” Seth’s secretary said when Cassie
entered the outer office.

“Thanks, Sue.”

Breezing through the door, Cassie smiled at
Seth. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Seth glanced across his desk.

She followed his gaze. On the other side of
the room sat Mitch Lansing. For a minute, Cassie was overwhelmed by
his raw masculinity, barely concealed by, of course, his navy blue
suit. “Hey, Captain.”

“Hello, Cassie.”

“What are you doing here?”

Mitch gave her an odd look. Before he could
answer, Seth said, “I wanted Mitch here while I discuss something
with you.”

“Something about the Resiliency Program?”

“Sit down, Cass.”

His tone made her wary. She sank onto a chair
opposite Mitch. “Okay, shoot.”

Thoughtfully, Seth leaned over on his desk,
bracing himself on his forearms. “Before I do, I want to tell you
something. Two things, really. Not many people know that I taught
somewhere else for a year before I came to Bayview Heights.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I left because I made a bad decision at
the other school. I won’t go into detail, but basically, I was too
caught up in a situation to see it clearly. And there was no one to
help me. No experienced teachers or administrators to turn to.”

“Is that why you set up a mentoring program
here?” Cassie referred to Seth’s institution of the controversial
program of formally pairing every new teacher with an experienced
staff member who helped, guided and was there to give advice.

Seth nodded. “The other thing concerns you.
Do you remember when I encouraged the school to file a PINS
petition on you?”

“PINS?” Mitch asked.

“Pupils in Need of Supervision,” Seth
explained. “It’s like a legal warrant filed for truancy to get kids
the help they need when parents don’t—or can’t— do their job.”

Cassie nodded. “I was furious with you.”

“But it was the right thing to do, wasn’t
it?”

“Yes. My mother couldn’t supervise me
properly. She needed help.”

“You didn’t talk to me for days.”

In a show of disgust, Cassie closed her eyes
briefly. “I was a brat. What’s this got to do with now?”

Leaning back in his chair, Seth steepled his
hands. “We need to take some anti-gang measures at the high
school.”

Cassie felt as if she’d been doused with cold
water. “Why?”

Mitch spoke up then. “I recommended it. I saw
some evidence of gang activity yesterday and the day before.”

“From Johnny?”

“No, actually from DeFazio and two other
boys, one of whom I didn’t know. He isn’t in our program.”

“Joe DeFazio? Who was the other?”

Mitch hesitated. “I’d rather not say till I’m
sure he’s involved.”

Cassie drew in a deep breath and let it out
slowly.

Seth said softly, “We can’t allow this to
happen at Bayview.”

“Of course not,” Cassie agreed. “DeFazio has
to be stopped.”

“I think we need to do more than deal with
one student.” Seth’s tone was gentle but firm.

“Like what?”

Again, he glanced at Mitch. “Mitch
recommended we go public with a full-scale policy. I’m going to
start a gang prevention program at Bayview Heights High
School.”

“Why?”

Mitch held her gaze as he spoke. “Because
talking to DeFazio won’t stop it. The kids involved right now will
hide their activities for a while, then start again. All the
students need to know it’s against school rules and will incur
disciplinary action. And teachers need to be educated about what to
watch for so they can recognize gang activity and help stop
it.”

“Is it that widespread?”

Seth said, “Who knows? Mitch noticed the
colors, the hand signals and a distinctive haircut. It sounds
organized and serious. If it’s burgeoning, I want it stopped
now.”

“But what if it’s just Joe DeFazio? Won’t you
give other kids ideas if you meet this head-on?”

Seth looked at Mitch and raised his brows.
“Mitch?”

“That’s a misconception,” Mitch told them.
“The first thing a school has to do is admit there’s a
problem—which I’m convinced there is here at Bayview. Then
nothing’s secret, everything’s out in the open. Limits are set and
enforced. Kids don’t think they can get away with anything, so they
don’t even try.”

Slowly, Cassie sank back on the chair, seeing
Johnny’s laughing face just minutes ago, hearing the subtle traces
of hope and expectation in his voice that hadn’t ever been there
before. Juxtaposed to it, she remembered what he looked like three
years ago when he’d dropped out of school and had gone back to the
gang for a few months. What would it take to send him into the
hopelessness that had driven him to the Blisters? The strong push
of a gang prevention program at Bayview? But she tried to be
reasonable. Something had to be done. Quiet nudges worked best in
her experience. “I don’t think this is the best way to go about
it.”

“What do you mean?” Seth asked.

“If we have to do something, let’s approach
it in small groups with the kids. Individual sessions have always
worked better here, especially with the At-Risk kids.”

“Cass,” Seth said, “if Johnny didn’t have
this history with the Blisters, would you be so against this public
stand?”

She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. “Are
you saying I can’t be objective about this?”

“Yes.”

“I resent that.”

“I’m sorry, but I know what it’s like to
misconstrue a situation. To let your bias about a student sway
you.”

“Ah, the story you told.” She tried to keep
the sarcasm out of her voice, but she could tell from Seth’s frown
she hadn’t been successful.

Mitch stepped in. “Cassie, the other thing
is, if we let it spread at the school, Johnny could be lured back
easier than if it’s kept out of Bayview.”

“I’m not saying we should let the gang
activity go on. We have a responsibility to the other kids to stop
it. I’m disagreeing about how to approach the issue. Your
rule-mongering isn’t the best way. You don’t know what it can do.”
She turned to her principal. “I’m surprised you don’t agree with
me. You’ve always had more of a one-on-one philosophy in dealing
with issues. Especially after the fiasco of Bosco’s committee
recommendation.” Staring at him hard, she finished, “You agreed to
go along with the no-early-dismissal rule for work and you were
wrong. After six months, you changed the policy to judge each case
on an individual basis.”

Steepling his hands again, Seth studied her.
“Yes, I was wrong then.” He turned to Mitch. “What do you
think?”

Without hesitation, Mitch shook his head. “I
think it would be a mistake to hush this up. Both staff and
students have to see you’re not afraid of confronting the issue. If
you go about it the way Cassie wants to, it will appear
whitewashed.”

Because the charge of being too lax had been
leveled against her by Jerry Bosco, Cassie felt her temper rise.
She faced Mitch. “What makes you the expert here? Seth and I have
been dealing with kids for years. Our professional opinion is based
on experience. We’ve seen how making global, inflexible rules can
really hurt kids.”

Mitch said quietly, “Your professional
opinion is biased because of Johnny. And obviously, because of a
bad experience. One mistake doesn’t make us wrong this time.”