3
After that, whenever I’d drop Lily off, Tiffany’s
parents would give me the stink eye.
I didn’t really care. As far as I’m concerned,
“Don’t start none, won’t be none“. As long as
they leave Lily alone, I can be civil.
One afternoon, I went to pick up Lily. Usually,
she’d run to me, all smiles, but today, she
seemed really down. She was quiet all the
way home.
Back at the house, I asked her to come sit with me. “Honey, is something the matter? Did anything happen at school today?”
“Mommy, what’s a mistress?”
L
My mind went blank. “Why are you asking
that? Where did you hear that?”
“Today, Tiffany said you’re a mistress and
you’re horrible. And that I’m a mistress’s love
child and I’m horrible too.” Lily started crying.
My blood boiled. My precious little girl called
a “love child?”
I wanted to go out there and fight. But first, I
had to calm Lily down.
I gently told her, “You’re mommy and daddy’s treasure, not what they said. Your daddy is busy with work, but he calls you all the time, right? You’re our baby girl.”
<
Lily stopped crying.
“Honey, did Tiffany ever do anything else to
you at school, other than what she said
today?”
Lily thought for a moment. “We’re not in the same group, so she doesn’t bother me directly, but when we go to the playground, she tries to take my toys. She also brings snacks to school, and tells all the other kids that if they eat her snacks, they can’t play with me. That’s fine, but then sometimes, when I’m on the slide, they push me.”
My heart dropped. “Pushed on the slide? What if she fell and hurt herself badly?
<
I was shaking with anger.
“Why didn’t you tell me this, sweetheart?”
“Daddy said I have to be brave, and not run
to tell you about every little thing. If I can’t
handle it myself, then I can tell my teacher.”
I
I was proud of her strength, but she’s still too
little to be dealing with that kind of stuff. It’s
my job and her dad’s to protect her.
“Sweetie, how about we don’t go to school for a few days? I’ll go and deal with this, so you don’t have to worry. Mommy doesn’t want you to get hurt.”
Her little face fell. “No, I promised daddy that I’d be good and learn things at school.”
く
Tuve you anu tays at Sumuvi.
“Honey, you did nothing wrong. The one
who’s bad is the one doing bad things.”
I had to figure this out fast, so I wouldn’t
upset her about school.
