‘Not bad, actually.’ A quick scan of the playground revealed that Aaron was squatting near the bubblers, digging in the mud with a stick. He was all by himself, but at least he wasn’t strangling anyone. ‘He was pretty quiet. For Aaron.’

‘Quiet is good. Quiet’s a start.’ Deb raised her voice. ‘Ivo! Get down from there!’ Dropping back to normal volume, she added, ‘Howard might count that as evidence in Joyce’s favour. You should make sure you’ve got all your bases covered before you talk to him again.’

‘You think I should get it down in writing? Maybe send Joyce an email instead of calling her?’

‘Yup. And watch out for Kate Canning. She might give you trouble if Joyce is around.’ Seeing my raised eyebrow, Deb explained, ‘Kate belongs to Joyce’s gang.’

‘Joyce has a gang?’

‘Oh, yeah. Big time. Kate’s one of her enforcers. So is Pat Haas.’

‘Haas…’ I knew that name.

‘George’s mum. She and Scott grew up together.’

Patricia Haas. My heart sank. ‘She’s signed up for reading too.’

‘Ah.’ Deb’s sympathetic tone sent a chill through me. ‘Well—keep an eye on her. Forewarned is forearmed.’

‘Jesus.’ Squinting at a blur of small bodies that seemed to shimmer in the heat, I said, ‘So now I’m up against some sort of P&C mafia?’

Deb laughed. ‘Yeah, but that’s okay. I’ve got my own gang. Stacey! Put that down! On the subject of gangs, what are you doing this weekend? Because there’s a fundraiser at the CWA hall—we make jams and preserves to raise money for rural mental health. Would you be interested? It’s a lot of fun.’

I couldn’t see anything fun about an afternoon spent chopping fruit and talking to people I didn’t know. But as I opened my mouth to make an excuse, it occurred to me that as an outsider, I was an easy target. Deb was right: if Joyce had a gang, then I needed one too.

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Thanks. That would be lovely.’

After school, I spent two hours composing an email to Joyce.

Hi Joyce, it said.

Many thanks for your help and commitment. I know you wantthe best possible results for Aaron and his classmates. That’s why I thought I’d better touch base with you concerning the parent-helper conduct guidelines. I’m sorry we haven’t discussed them before, though you’ll find some of this information in the tip sheet I gave you.

At Otford Public our parent community is expected to:

• work under the direction of the classroom teacher

• refer any behaviour management issues to the classroom teacher

• treat all students fairly and impartially

• promote positive attitudes and interactions

• refrain from discussing personal information about students with anyone other than the classroom teacher.