Maggie tried to get him to go to therapy, to talk about the warring emotions that were ravaging him from the inside, but he refused. Brian, the student counsellor, had been keeping an eye out for him at school, but now that Principal Hendry had stepped in and enforced a suspension that would likely remain on Jack’s transcripts, Maggie was at a complete loss about what to do.

With a fortifying breath, she forced herself out of the car and hurried through the rain and up the front steps of the administration building.

***

After a long discussion with Brian and Principal Hendry, Maggie walked ahead with Jack trailing sheepishly behind her. He refused to look at her, and she chose not to look at him, not to say a word. She didn’t know if she could trust herself to say anything. She needed to let the proverbial dust settle. She was far too angry right now, and ashamed. And she hated that; she’d never been ashamed of either of her kids before.

As she drove the short distance from Belmont High School to the elementary school, she could feel Jack’s fleeting glances in her direction from across the silent car, but she refused to indulge him by meeting his eyes. She didn’t give anything away as she concentrated on the wet roads ahead while her mind raced a million miles a minute, her jaw fixed tight.

She didn’t really know what to do. She was at a loss. TJ was a shell of the vibrant boy he was. Jack was quickly beginning to lose his damn mind. Maggie was trying to keep it all together for the two of them, but deep down it really didn’t feel like she had much left to give. She was terrified that her family— her whole life—was falling apart, and there was nothing she could do about it. And at that thought tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them away, willing herself to stay strong. Just long enough to collect TJ from school, take him to his appointment, make it home, cook dinner, tidy up and drag herself upstairs to crawl into bed where she could finally cry the tears she so desperately needed to release.

“I’m sorry, Mom.’

Maggie blinked once at the sound of Jack’s timid, broken voice. She knew she shouldn’t get into it right now but she also knew she couldn’t ignore him.

“You broke a boy’s nose…’ was all she could manage, still shocked by what had happened at the school. She glanced briefly at him before turning back to the taillights of the car in front.

“Why?’ She shook her head, exasperated, incredulous and everything in between because she couldn’t for the life of her begin to understand. Violence had never been condoned in their household. TJ and Jack had been taught at a young age to use their words, that violence is wrong. This was so unlike him. It had to be some kind of dangerous combination of the unrelenting anger coursing through him and those damn video games he spent all his time playing.