Eva Pt. 14

To my readers: Years will pass in this chapter. One thing I will give away, Eva and Jon will always remain faithful to each other. Never worry about anything like cheating or swapping with this couple. They're not built for it. Might there be temptation? I don't know yet. Let's find out.

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Eva and I were very subdued the next morning at home. Not only were we exhausted from the lack of sleep, but we were trying to figure out who the hell on our staff could betray our students this way. That was our prime concern. Not our reputations. Not the school itself, though that was second. Our students always came first, our 'other' family. And even if it was just one young woman who was assaulted, all our students were victims. If they were made to feel unsafe in any way, they were victims of this predator.

While we got breakfast on the table for Connor and Rachel, we talked quietly, speculating about who it could be. Eva shared a couple of names and then I did the same. But they were shots in the dark. In truth, we couldn't believe anyone who worked there could do such a terrible thing. We'd come to trust every member of the staff, from the janitors and groundskeepers to the teachers and office workers and our three assistant principals. It was almost inconceivable to us that we had a monster working with us, working with a smile every day.

We had a quick talk with Connor, since he was then in the 7th grade, in our school, and he knew the teachers. We warned him that there were going to be rumors about one teacher during the day, some of the things said would be true and others would be false. We also reinforced with him that whoever was in trouble for whatever reason, they should be given at least the benefit of the doubt, that until someone was convicted or pled guilty to a crime, they were considered innocent. That didn't mean we had to keep letting them work at school. It was a mental tightrope we had to teach him to walk.

We went to work as usual, and already there was a buzz going around the school, among the students and among the staff. Speculation was rampant about who did what. Word was already out about Jackie Allen. She was going to have a very tough time coming back, even after Eva and I spoke to the rest of the students. She probably would have to change schools, which was upsetting to think about.

Then by 8:15, when homerooms started for 15 minutes before classes started at 8:30, we knew who was being looked at, the only staff member not in school that morning: Thomas Horan, a talented, popular math teacher. No sign of him, no call to say he'd be out sick that day. Mrs. Cole tried calling his house and there was no answer, not from his wife, who we knew stayed home raising their children. If he was out sick, we would have gotten a call. We had our answer.

Eva and I sat in her office and it felt like a funereal atmosphere. We discussed how we needed to react to this awful problem, to reassure our students and parents and even our staff. The police needed to be thorough without starting a witch hunt. We needed to start having meetings as soon as possible with all groups. And that included an emergency meeting with the board.

First were the students. We held a number of small assemblies the first two days to let students know we felt we let them down and we wanted to do better. We didn't name any names, but we addressed the issues and tried to kill the crazier of the rumors that were going around. And we passed around our home number so any student who needed to talk to us in confidence over any issue. It would probably be abused or misused by some, but we decided we needed to be as available as possible then.

Then we had a staff meeting where we let them know that despite the possible actions of one person, the rest of them had our full confidence and support and we encouraged them to let us know about any potential problems they were aware of. We promised no coverups and that after the wellbeing of the students, they were the next priority.

Then the toughest meetings. We had to meet with our board that Thursday night, two weeks earlier than previously planned, then we scheduled an open house style meeting with any parents that wanted to attend on Saturday. Before we went to the board meeting, we got word that Horan was arrested and formally charged with three counts of statutory rape. So that made it possible to talk openly about who was responsible. He had been hired ten years before, under the principal before Lenny. We weren't responsible for his being on the staff. But we felt responsible for anything he did while we were in charge.

We called Jackie's house before the meeting to see how she was doing. Thankfully, she sounded better than when we saw her on Monday, and we were also relieved to hear she wasn't pregnant. Then she asked when she could come back to school.

Eva told her "Jackie, you're welcome whenever you're ready. We'd love to have you back. But maybe you should talk to your parents about how they feel about you coming back and perhaps you should talk to a therapist. We want you back, but we care most about your health, physical and mental."

We made an appointment to meet the family Saturday morning before the open house.

The board meeting was the most contentious we had with them during our entire tenure with the school. Obviously, the nine members, all alumni and a few who had kids in the school, were extremely unhappy. They couldn't blame us for having him on staff, and we had hired a company to do background checks on all future hires, something that should have been done a long time before. God knows they investigated the hell out of us before we were hired. But for the most part we took their hard statements. It was inevitable the press would hear about this and it would be terrible for the school to have a sex scandal like this out in public. Eva and I had a solution.

I got up towards the end of the meeting, pulling two letters from my jacket pocket. "We think it would be the best thing for the students and for the school if we resigned our positions, effective as soon you can appoint our replacements. While we didn't hire Mr. Horan, we believe we need to do this for the good of the school and the students." Eva got up and we went to leave the room before Katherine Waterson, called for us to stop.

"Eva, Jon...don't assume we're automatically accepting these letters. Give us a few days. We'll give you a final answer on Sunday afternoon. Meet us here at 2, please." We agreed and went home, our hearts heavy.

When we got home, the home we realized we'd likely soon have to vacate, we sat in the library, our favorite room, and we cried. It seemed very unlikely they'd reject our resignations under the circumstances. Someone had to be sacrificed to the wolves. We had no idea where we'd go or what we'd do. Thankfully, we had time to figure it out; due to smart investments, we were worth over a million dollars by then. But we had kids to provide a stable environment for and we had Connor's Bar Mitzvah in five months. We had to stay locally until then; it was too late to get a new temple that could give us the same date and a new catering hall for the reception. Invitations were printed already. Friends and family made plans to come to town for the weekend. It wasn't fair to him to screw up something he worked so hard on for three years.

Friday evening I spoke to Cammy and told her what had been going on all week, and she nearly blew her head off. "Are you crazy, Jon? You and Eva? You've talked to the police, to the board of directors and you're planning to talk to the girls family and then all the parents without your lawyer? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Cammy, we just want to get past this. We feel responsible, there might be other girls out there he abused, and we're doing this so the school and the kids can move on."

"You shouldn't say ANYTHING to anyone without your lawyer. That's me! Jon, the family can sue you personally. Anything you say could be used against you. Please let me come with you to the meetings tomorrow? You need protection, dammit."

I understood what she was saying. She was acting like a first rate lawyer as well as a loving sister. "Cammy, I appreciate this. I really do. If it comes to a lawsuit, of course we'll talk to you. But we care about these kids and the staff. We don't want them to feel like we're covering our ass. We've given our resignations for as soon as we can be replaced, we'll have to stay here and rent a place until after Connor's Bar Mitzvah, and then we'll figure it out from there. Right now, we're too upset to think about what comes next for us."

"Jon, you could stay here with Eric and me. We have the room. You took me in when I needed a new home. Please stay with us. Hell, we're barely here as it is with our work schedules. And I could see my niece and nephew all the time."

"Don't you think you should talk this over with Eric first? I love you for offering, Cammy, but we wouldn't want to take over your house."

"I'll talk to my husband. Don't sweat it. He adores me and he loves your kids. Don't rent some apartment. Please, stay with us." She was talking from her heart. It meant a lot to her.

"We'll see. It will take some time to find our replacements. You talk to Eric, then we'll worry about it. And sis...thanks, with all my heart."

"I still wish you'd let me come along. You should have told me about this Monday before you talked to the police."

After the call I told Eva we had a place to stay if we wanted. "I love her for offering, Jon, but we can't do that, not with two children. We'd be taking over their house. It's not reasonable for them."

"She was pretty insistent. And she's furious we won't let her sit in on the meetings tomorrow. She damn near bit my head off for meeting the cops without her. I told her we wanted to protect the kids and the school first and foremost."

We sat on the foot of the bed and looked around. So many wonderful memories in just a few short years. Eva cried against my chest and I held her and comforted her. "Honestly, Bear, I thought we'd have many more years here. I even thought we might work here until we retired in another thirty years. Maybe that was foolish. But I'm not ready to leave here. Not nearly ready."

She continued crying and I joined her. I wasn't ready to leave the school, the people or the home and life we had. As Eva said, not nearly ready.

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The next morning we met the Allen family at a local diner for breakfast. Cammy and Eric came by to stay with the kids for a few hours while we took our lumps all around. We expected to be pummeled, verbally.

Neither Eva nor I were feeling hungry; we hadn't had much appetite all week long. Thankfully Jackie looked fairly well and she hugged us both before sitting down. Her parents were more reserved but were civil towards us, shaking our hands. Eva and I just ordered toasted bagels with eggs to eat something, while the Allens all had full breakfasts, including scrapple (a Pennsylvania-Maryland thing, like a pork scraps loaf, nasty as far as we were concerned). We talked politely during the meal. Eva and I apologized for the ordeal Jackie had to go through.

Jackie, who had been terrified of her parent's finding out, was doing well because her parents weren't upset with her at all. They understood she was a victim of a predator and not responsible for what happened to her. Eva and I were relieved to hear that; it would help Jackie heal easier. Then they told us they weren't suing the school or us, that it wouldn't solve anything and would only hurt the other students and the school, which they were both alumni of. So we lucked out there. We told them the things we were doing to improve things, such as giving all students our home number and we were suggesting the board hire a couple of full time psychologists for any student who needed the help.

Eva said "Jackie, we wish we could take this away from you. We can promise you won't be hurt again by any teacher. While we'd love to have you back, some of the other kids might be a little cruel. It's how they are sometimes. We think you're a smart and special young woman, and we don't want you to be hurt by anyone else. Maybe one of the other schools in the area, Radnor or Strafford, could give you a new start."

Jackie, sipping her tea, asked "Mrs. G, do you think they won't hear about this at the other schools nearby?"

Eva shook her head. "No, I guess it will be known."

"Then I'd rather stay at Wayne Day with my friends and with you and Mr. G, in case I need someone I trust to talk to."

Eva and I looked at each other uncomfortably. "Jackie," I said, "Mrs. Grossman and I have turned in our resignations to the board of directors, effective as soon as they can replace us. We won't be there any more, probably after Christmas break, maybe a little longer."

"No! You can't leave! I don't want to stay if you're both not there!" Jackie was crying softly and her mother held her.

"Jackie, I don't think we can stay" Eva said, her voice filled with sadness. "We love being here, we love working with you young people, we're very happy here. But we're responsible for what happens in the school and we let you down. We should have protected you."

Jackie was crying and her mother took her out to their car while her father stayed a couple of minutes to talk to us. "Mr., Mrs. Grossman. Could you change your mind about leaving? I know, despite what happened to my daughter, the kids think the world of both of you." He wasn't just asking because it was what his daughter wanted; he was asking as someone who believed we belonged there.

"I don't think we can, Mr. Allen. We didn't hurt her, but we didn't exactly protect her either. When we moved here, we hired a couple of girls to babysit our son, who was ten at the time, while we got ready for the first day of school. When we went to pay them, they tried to tell us it was too much, but we insisted. We told them that when you're watching over someone's children, you're trusted with those people's most valued possessions. Not that Jackie or any child is an actual possession. We said that more than their money or their homes or anything else, people's children mean more to them than anything in the world. We broke your trust in us, Mr. Allen. We're both terribly sorry." I offered my hand and he shook it firmly.

He insisted on picking up the check and before he left with his family, Mr. Allen said "You think this happened because of you somehow? We know that bastard was hired long before you both came here. He groomed her, made her feel special. He set his sights on my daughter, and if I could get five minutes alone in a room with him... but that's not how justice works. And if you two quit, and you leave these kids, kids who adore you, you're not doing justice to my daughter. You're letting her down and every other kid who's come to trust you the last four years. I still trust you, so does my wife and so does my daughter, most important of all. And if anyone has a problem with that, I'll be glad to point out how stupid they are." He left and Eva and I sat down for a few minutes and cried again. Both of us. We really didn't want to leave.

The parents meeting was not nearly as bitter as we expected. Most parents were supportive of us, though a few were upset and threatened to remove their children from school if we didn't resign. We announced we had offered our resignations and there were a LOT more voices telling us to stay as opposed to those who wanted us to leave. Two hours later, we left feeling even more dejected. We wanted to stay more than anything. But we couldn't.

Cammy and Eric stayed with us all day, trying to pick up our spirits. We played with our kids, playing music and games. Eric went out and picked up veal parmigiana dinners for everyone (with a slice of pizza for Rachel). Despite the support from my sister and her husband, a very good man, Eva and I were feeling down in the dumps.

About 7 that night, we started hearing all these sounds of cars out near the schools. There were no functions planned for that night and we wondered what the heck was going on. Eva and I went up to the second floor and looked out a window overlooking the front of the house, where we could easily see over to the school building. In the parking lot, next to the thirty foot Christmas tree and the large Menorah set up for Chanukah, dozens and dozens of cars were parked and more kept coming up the school driveway. We could also see a lot of people walking along the field leading to our house and a big crowd was forming in front. Hundreds of people were coming right in front of our home. They lit candles when they stopped and soon there were hundreds of candles with hundreds of people, students and parents.

"Oh my god, Bear" Eva said, a tear down her cheek. She wasn't the only one as I held her around the waist.

"We have to go down there, Angel." We went down, put Rachel in her winter coat and Connor got in his and the six of us went out in front of the house to see all these amazing people.

There wasn't anything said at first. I had my daughter on my shoulders and Eva and Cammy held Connor from behind him. Eric held Cammy and we were all crying. Then a few voices started singing Stevie Wonder's song Please Don't Go and soon almost everyone was singing to us.

Rachel tugged my ear a little and asked me "Daddy, who are these people?"

I pulled her down and kissed her cheek. "Our family, sweetheart. They're all part of our family. Remember that."

Then Jackie and a Senior boy, Richard Stevenson, stepped forward and he said, as loud as he could, "Mr. and Mrs. G, Connor, Rachel, we students of Wayne Day Upper School implore you to please change you mind and stay as our principals. We all pretty much know what happened here, and we feel as bad as you do. But it's not your fault. We all need you, including Jackie. We need you here. So please stay." Short and simple. He wasn't the most eloquent speaker but he got to the point.

We were speechless, trying hard not to openly bawl in front of our students. It wasn't working. Even Connor was dripping tears. Rachel could sense something special was going on and she pushed her face into my shoulder and cried, though I don't know if she understood what she was crying about.

Cammy, crying herself, spoke for us. "Most of you know me, or know of me. I'm Mr. Grossman's sister, Camilla and I want to tell you I don't know how many times my brother and sister-in-law have told me how much they love being here and love all of you. And I know how loved they feel by all of you. Thank you all for your love and concern. I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Grossman will try to do their best for you. Like they always have."

The families stayed a little while longer before they started to drift back to their cars. A few came over to us to make a personal appeal and we thanked them, noncommittally. When everyone left, we went back in and warmed up by the fire. We got Rachel into bed and Eva made hot chocolate for Connor while I made drinks for the adults. Connor went to use his telescope- "A half hour!" I told him- and the four of us sat sipping our drinks and listening to music.

Eric said "This is some school you've got here. I've never heard of students and parents so attached to a principal. You both must be doing something very right here. You really shouldn't leave if you can avoid it."

"I think that's becoming more and more apparent, Eric" I responded, wondering if we could rescind our resignations. I could see Eva was thinking the same thing.

Later on that night, as we got ready for bed, we were able to talk about it privately. Eva said "These kids...they never cease to amaze me. I really would love to stay, Bear. I feel like we belong here. But if they want us to leave, we have to leave. We turned in our letters."