“Did you know?” Jan shot out the question as soon as she saw Hazel in the hallway.
Hazel looked around and saw everyone was engaged in what looked like a serious gossip circulating the school.
“What?” she wasn’t sure if it had anything to do with her.
“Marlon … he was in a fight yesterday … with Stanley Yorke,” Jan explained.
Shit. She was hoping it wouldn’t go any further than being noted by the patrol officers. “Oh …” she opened her locker, “I might have heard about it … what did you hear?”
“Oh come on, you must know more than anyone around here?”
Jan had analyzed her friendship with Marlon a lot more than it is. She had no idea how closed up that boy is.
“Not really, he showed up black and blue yesterday, told me he had a fight with a guy at a club … it turned out to be Stanley Yorke, that’s all I know,” she was telling the truth.
“Well, his dad is here, I saw him coming this morning, he didn’t look very pleased … Marlon is in Edgerton’s office with them right now, I hear it’s pretty bad … he might get suspended.”
“Really?” Hazel was worried by the word ‘suspended’, he had just started regular school, could he be suspended this early? How bad was the fight?
“Stanley’s arm was broken, he had to take time off from his wrestling team for a few weeks … that’s why his parents file a complaint to the police and then they contacted Edgerton to confirm that Marlon is a student here.”
Hazel’s heart sank, it was very bad.
“And … that’s not all … it turns out that Marlon is still on probation from the last fight he was involved in Goldstone, apparently he almost crippled a guy for making comments about Eli’s death … it wasn’t long after his brother died, and he’s on probation for 6 months which is still ongoing for at least another month or so.”
This was all new to her, and she looked at Jan in amazement, “How did you know all this? Oh my God, I had no idea, do you think he’ll be suspended?”
“I have my sources,” Jan giggled, “I don’t know, it looked pretty intense in Edgerton’s office, it all comes down to his dad’s money and influence … he pretty much got it easy the last time because Josh had paid off a lot of people to get him off the hook and the story never made it to the media.”
They passed the Principal’s office and they could see Marlon, his dad and Mr. Edgerton were still in a serious discussion. Josh didn’t look too happy, he was pacing back and forth with one hand behind his head.
Marlon was sitting with his head down, his usual flat expression like he didn’t care, and his shirt. Hazel was taken aback when she saw he was wearing the white T-shirt Lee had bought for her from Korea. He hadn’t come home since yesterday.
Mr. Edgerton saw them looking in through the window and he gestured his hand for them to move along. The first bell rang. Marlon turned and they exchanged a look. He was in deep trouble and there was nothing she could do to help him.
—
“With all due respect, I think Marlon deserves at least one reprimand letter before a suspension?” Josh negotiated.
“I know … it would be so if he hadn’t violate his probation already, I promise you Mr. Reynolds, I have done all I can to minimize the damage … the Yorke’s had convey their intention to go as far as filing a lawsuit against Marlon and your family for what happened to their son,” Mr. Edgerton explained.
Josh scoffed, “A lawsuit? Over a broken arm? It’s not like he’s never been in a fight before, that’s ridiculous.”
“There is a price for fame, Mr. Reynolds, I do advise you and Marlon to keep a low profile for the time being because you know how people are … we don’t want them to claim any more than necessary … they are fully aware of who Marlon is, I have asked them to consider a reconciliation meeting with myself and you, and maybe Mrs. Reynolds if you are willing.”
Money. Josh thought. Everything is about money. He couldn’t wrap his head around it yet, he will have to talk to his lawyer as to how much money they will have to prepare to take care of the issue. The Yorke will be the least of their worry because now the police is already involved and the media will soon to follow.
“We are a very close knit community here in Chestnut, we try to resolve our problems in a familiar manner … it’s a lot different with how they do it in the big city Mr. Reynolds, though you might want to consult your lawyers but I’m sure the Yorke’s can be persuaded if you and Marlon expresses your remorse and apologize privately,” Mr. Edgerton added.
“The last thing we need is for this incident to go public, if they can promise us to keep this to themselves, I’m willing to have that reconciliation meeting,” Josh said.
Mr. Edgerton nodded, “I will let them know, please understand, my hands are tied … what the students do outside of the school premises is outside of my jurisdiction, but since both parties are connected by this school, I am willing to assist in finding a peaceful resolution for everyone.”
“I understand, and I appreciate your help, Sir, please … just let me know what I can do for the time being so this won’t escalate … you do know that we moved here because of a similar incident in Goldstone.”
“I do … yes … for the time being, I will have to enforce the suspension at least until the end of this week, hopefully we can settle the matter before Monday when Marlon can come back to school,” Mr. Edgerton said.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Josh looked at Marlon who was silent the whole time.
He looked up, “Can I continue my study at home with Hazel?”
Mr. Edgerton was surprised to hear that, “Of course,” he said, “I will ask Miss Williams to continue the tutoring sessions at your home if that’s convenient for everyone.”
Marlon nodded.
Josh was studying his son, this was something new to him too. “Is there anything else you want to say? Mr. Edgerton can deliver your message to the Yorke’s.”
“Oh … sure … it won’t happen again,” he said simply. “We were both drunk at the time, it’s not like he wasn’t in on the fight, he was enjoying it as much as I did … it’s just so happened that he lost.”
“Marlon?!” Josh snapped at him.
“There is another regulation that you may have violated being drunk under the legal age of drinking,” Mr. Edgerton reminded him.
Josh sighed deeply, “Let me have a word with my son, in the mean time, we really appreciate all your effort Mr. Edgerton, I hope we can resolve this with less drama as possible … I will leave you to your work now, I think we need a family meeting,” he stood up.
“Yes, well … please do that … and Marlon, if you need counselling, you know where the student counsellor’s office is, or you can come to me directly … perhaps there are things you want to discuss privately?”
Josh glanced at Marlon who showed little to no emotion as to what’s going on, he didn’t seem to care at the weight of his trouble. “We will discuss that too, Mr. Edgerton, thank you for your concern.”