Three Cheers

I rushed into the school, and straight towards the office. The front desk was empty, no one in sight; "Hello?" I called.

A woman, I remembered named Beth, waved at me. But, then she frowned, "Oh, hello Mrs. Way."

"Where's my daughter?" I questioned her.

"In the principal's office with your husband."

I turned away from her, hurrying around the desk and behind it, where the office was. "You can't--" I pushed opened the principal's office door just as she tried to stop me.

I saw Gerard sitting there and the principal; Ms. Levy. They both looked at me with wide eyes. "Where's my daughter?" I asked shortly.

"Mama," I heard Busy say.

I looked over behind the door; she was sitting in the small couch. She had an ice pack to her temple; I rushed over to her, kneeling to her. "Biz, are you okay?"

She had dirt on her face, a few scrapes and a little blood. There was a clear streaks from tears down her cheeks. I cupped her cheeks and she nodded slowly, "Yeah."

"Who did this?"

"Becky and her sister." Busy didn't look too upset.

"Mrs. Way, you should know that Busy is in trouble." Ms. Levy said quickly.

I looked back at her and stood, "Like hell she is," I spat, "She was defending herself."

"She bit Rebecca Reed."

"'Cause she pushed me." Busy added.

I sat down next to Busy, "See? Busy wouldn't do anything on purpose."

"Busy, tell your mother what you told me." Ms. Levy said with a big sigh.

Gerard looked at us, looking at me with zero emotion. Busy looked up at me; "She was saying stuff about Thora."

"And did you tell her what I told you to tell her? That you didn't care?"

Busy nodded, "She shoved me."

I looked at Ms. Levy, "How did she start it?"

She ignored me, "Keep going, Busy."

Busy chewed at the inside of her lip, "My teacher came over. She told me she would take care of Becky." She paused, looking down, "But I was mad. So... I jumped on her. I bit her arm."

I frowned, "How'd you get the bump?"

Busy didn't answer. Gerard cleared his throat, "The girl's big sister pulled Busy off of her and Busy tripped."

I exhaled, looking at Busy, "Why did you do it?"

"I was mad!" She huffed and dropped the ice pack. "Daddy said I could!"

We all looked at him; he put his hands up defensively, "I didn't tell her to bite her!"

I looked back at Busy, "You have to apologize, you know--"

"We already discussed that. Busy is suspended for 7 days."

I furrowed my brow at the woman, "7 days? Are you crazy?"

Ms. Levy raised a brow, "I don't know how you do things in your home, Mrs. Way, but fighting here at school is unacceptable. 3 days is the minimum, but since Busy bit her, I have no choice. She could've been expelled."

"For defending her little sister?" I exclaimed, "That's bullshit! You have these kids running around teasing kids just because their families are--"

"There's no need for that kind of language--"

"Fuck you," I got up, "Biz, let's go."

Busy took my hand and followed me out. I could hear Gerard following after us; he grabbed my arm once we were in front of the school. "October, what the hell?"

We all stopped, Busy held onto my hand tight; "That woman is a fucking idiot!"

"Hey," he growled, "Watch your mouth, alright? We're in front of a damn school."

I seethed, my jaw tight, "I don't give a damn."

"You need to calm down--"

"No, I will not calm down! This is our kid, and she's hurt; physically and emotionally. You would've done the same thing Busy did if it had been Mikey, wouldn't you've?"

Gerard looked at me, his eyes calming, "Yeah."

"Alright, so don't even try and preach to me. I'm gonna enroll the girls into another school."

"What?" He muttered, "That's insane!"

"No it isn't!" I exhaled after a moment, "I need to sit down and think, alright? I'm pissed off. I have to take care of Busy."

"Where's Thora?" He asked.

"With Fran." I started off, but Gerard grabbed me again, jolting Busy and I; "What?"

"Calm down," he let my arm go and picked up Busy, "We'll get ice cream."

I felt a bit better, "Okay."

Busy rested her cheek in Gerard's shoulder, and I patted her back. He leant down and kissed my forehead; "Do you feel better?"

"A little." I mumbled.

Gerard took my hand, "I'll follow you home."

I patted his chest and continued on to my car. Gerard put Busy in the backseat, buckling her in. Busy was quiet, she looked exhausted; Gerard shut the door and I looked back at her, "How do you feel, baby?"

"I'm tired." She mumbled.

"You'll feel better soon."

"I know." She yawned.

I worried if she had a concussion or something. Gerard drove off, and I grabbed my phone, following behind. "Yeah?" He answered.

"Do you think she's got a concussion?"

"No, October."

I frowned, "I'm gonna take her to the ER."

"She doesn't have a concussion." He muttered pointedly annoyed.

"I'm sorry," I began angrily, sarcastically, "When did you get a medical degree, doctor?"

Gerard sighed, "Fine, we'll take her to the ER. Let's go home first, get Thora."

I sighed, looking back at Busy as she laid against the seat, "We gotta hurry. She could fall asleep and slip into a coma, y'know."

He sighed, "Okay, October."

I ended the call, and continued to drive home. I turned the radio, "Busy, stay awake, babe."

She whined, "I'm sleepy."

"I know, I know, but you got to stay up for me. Please?"

She hummed agreeably, "Okay."

I patted her knee and told her to sing along to the radio.


A pediatrician sat across from Busy, who's eyelids were drooping, and she asked her questions. "Where are you?"

"Hospital." She mumbled tired.

Thora and Gerard were out in the waiting room playing. I sat with Busy, rubbing her back; she was exhausted.

"Do you know who you are?"

She nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Busy."

"What's your last name?"

"Way."

"How old are you?"

"6."

"Do you know when your birthday is?"

"December. December 28th."

Dr. Juliette grinned, tucking her dark hair back, "Good job, Busy. Do you feel dizzy at all?"

"No. I'm sleepy." She yawned for the billionth time.

Dr. Juliette looked to me, "She's fine, Mrs. Way. No concussion, just a bump. I'm guessing she's exhausted from fighting."

I exhaled a small laugh, "I'm relieved. I just wasn't sure."

"Give her some children's Tylenol and let her rest. Ice on that bump as well."

I thanked the doctor, and picked Busy up. She held onto me and pressed her head against my shoulder; "I can sleep now?"

"Yep." I kissed her dirty cheek, "You can sleep and when you get up, you're taking a bath."

"Okay." She yawned again.

I carried her out to the lobby; Thora was playing with another kid whose arm was broken. Gerard was rubbing his eyes, yawning too. He stood up when he saw us, "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's just fine." I told him. "She's just tired."

Gerard licked over his lips, "Oh, good. C'mon, Thora."

She stood up, waving bye to her new friend and took Gerard's hand; "Is B okay?"

"Biz is fine." Gerard picked her up, "We'll get ice cream when she wakes up."

"'Kay."

We put the girls in the car, and Gerard drove. I looked back at the two of them; Busy was knocked out, resting her head on Thora's booster seat. Thora rolled her fingers in Busy's hair, brushing away the sand.

I looked forward, biting the inside of my lip, "I'm worried that this will continue."

"What?" Gerard asked looking over at me once.

"The kids, y'know, getting picked on."

"Well, most kids get made fun of." He reasoned.

"Yeah, but for being adopted? For having an adopted sister?"

Gerard sighed, "Kids got nothin' better to do than make other kids feel bad. You ain't really gonna send them to another school, are you?"

I shrugged, "I don't know."

"Lets just get through this week before we make any final decisions."

I took in a deep breath, "You got it."