"Miss Appleby, you are to be present at the headmaster's office at three p.m. for a brief meeting concerning your daughter." Someone Marilyn was assuming was the secretary replied.
"But is Isabel alright?" The middle-aged woman asked, perplexed. Why couldn't they tell her whatever it was on the phone?
"Yes ma'am, your daughter is fine. It's not really a health related issue. Everything is alright."
The secretary's voice toned down into conspiratorial whisper. "Heads up, it's actually a minor issue, nothing to worry about. Well in my opinion, at least." She quickly corrected. She had been working in this rich kids' school for some time now, and knew how the wrong word could cost you your job, but from what she had heard of the prominent lawyer, she didn't have to fear.
Marilyn sighed in relief. "Thank you very much then. I'll be there."
At thirteen and in junior high school, this was the first time Marilyn was being summoned to her daughter's school for something that wasn't a general issue. Her baby was a good kid; never got into trouble, she really hoped it wasn't a serious problem like the secretary had said.
She glanced at the wall clock in her office. It was 1:45 and she really needed to leave if she wanted to be at the school on time. Appleby and Associates was located in the central business district of Accra and her daughter's school was all the way in Spintex. The drive would take about an hour...an hour and 15 minutes tops.
Slipping into her heels and grabbing her car keys and handbag, she stepped out of her office.
"Are you leaving ma'am? I was just about to send the file you requested for to your office." Her personal assistant stated as soon as she chanced on her boss.
"Yeah, Clara. Isa's school wants me there for a meeting at three so I have to be on my way." She answered back.
"So should I keep them in your office so you can work on them tomorrow?"
"No, just send me a soft copy. I'll work on it from home." Marilyn turned to leave but halted all of a sudden.
"Wait you know what? Just hand me the file. I'll take it with me."
After taking the file, Marilyn glanced at her beautiful P.A furiously typing away and with a short laugh said, "Now busy bee...that's enough work for today. You can take the rest of the day off."
Clara's face lighted with a pretty smile. "Yes ma'am have a good day."
******
The headmaster dived into the matter after a brief greeting,
"Ma'am your daughter was involved in a fight and being a first time offender with good grades, I've decided to let it go. This isn't like her in the least and that's why I wanted to talk to you."
Marilyn's eyes widened in disbelief. A fight? Her baby? This was unbelievable.
"Wait sir, are you sure it's Isabel we're talking about here? Maybe you have it all wrong."
"Yes ma'am. Even I find it hard to believe myself. Is everything alright at home? Because violence usually stems from underlying problems....." The bald, overweight man began to sweat uncomfortably as he realised that he had probably said the wrong thing, and truly he had, for Marilyn pursed her lips in anger. "Are you suggesting that I'm not raising my daughter right? Because if that's what you mean-"
"Pardon me, madam. I most definitely didn't mean it that way." The poor man interrupted. He couldn't believe he had led himself into this. Having heard of Marilyn Appleby's famous ruthlessness in court, for him to have stumbled into an argument with her especially on an issue concerning her only child was a very foolish thing to do. She was so beautiful in her righteous anger that for a brief second, he could only think about why she wasn't married yet.
Could it be that there was something wrong with her?
He had heard stories of some women in power going to extreme lengths to obtain their position, maybe she was one of them?
"Please forgive me ma'am." He repeated again, trying everything to placate her as he shook his head to clear his thoughts. "You know what? Classes don't end till 4:30 but don't worry, you can take Isabel with you… I'll grant her early leave."
"Doesn't she have a class or something?" Marilyn asked, her anger dissipating somewhat at the thought of being able to go home with her child.
"We had games today, she won't be missing anything substantial." He explained, standing up to his feet when the dark skinned breathtaking woman before him did same. He was married, but that did not mean he could not appreciate beauty when he saw beauty, even if said beauty was mad at him. The headmaster decided to apologise one last time to make things right. "Please forgive me once again for my earlier comment. It was rude and unprofessional and it won't happen again."
Marilyn threw the man a dirty look as she stood up. "It better not." She tossed over her shoulder as she made her way out of the office.
Seated in one of the chairs near the office was Isabel. The poor girl run towards her mother and threw her arms around her bursting into tears in the process.
"I'm so sorry mummy. I di...didn't mean to-"
"Shh. It's alright princess." Marilyn interrupted, her voice quite neutral in order not to send her little girl wrong signals. "Let's get out of here."
*****
It seemed the ice cream they had gotten from Pinkberry had cheered her daughter a little bit. The girl was feeling so bad that Marilyn felt now wasn't the right time to talk about what had happened at school.
They were finally home, with home being a plush four bedroom house in one of the estates on the Spintex-Road.
Isa was upstairs doing her homework and Marilyn was in the kitchen making dinner while having a serious discussion with her mother.
"But mama, do you think Isa's fight had something to do with me?"
Mrs. Appleby looked up in surprise, "Now honey, why would you think that?" Trust her forty something year old daughter to always try and make everything her fault in some way.
Marilyn shrugged, trying to come off as nonchalant, but the headmaster's comment had gotten to her more than she let on. She felt like her inability to spend more time with her little girl was causing her to act up. And she told her mum this.
"No Marilyn....no I think you have it all wrong. Sit down with Isa, talk to her, I'm sure this isn't about you."
Marilyn sighed, deeply. Her mum had a point, as a matter of fact, even she knew this, and yet, the nagging thought still didn't want to leave her head. They silently continued with preparations for dinner, as the radio rolled out soothing music, each one lost in thought. Today, they were making banku, a Ghanaian dish made with corn dough and cassava though, and okra stew; Isa's favorite meal. Mrs. Appleby had suggested it as soon as Marilyn told her the news.
One would think that Isa was being over pampered especially for doing something wrong. But that wasn't the case. Her mother and grandmother knew her and knew there had to be a justifiable reason for her fight. They could tell the fight had done a number on her, hence the desire to cheer her up.
The family had an early dinner that night, but it seemed Isa couldn't eat. She merely picked at her food and this really disturbed her mum, because Isa just picking at her favorite food was totally unheard of. Even when she was sick to the point of losing her appetite, banku and okra stew always seemed to do the trick and restore her zeal for food.
After a while the teenager looked up from her food, "May I be excused? I'm okay and I want to go and continue with my homework." Everyone nodded their consent and Isa retired to her room. The two ladies exchanged looks but no one said a word.
After dinner, Marilyn did the dishes; her mum had retired to her room to make a call and Marilyn thought it was the right moment to have a chat with her daughter. She was pretty sure that by the time she was done with the dishes, Isabel would have been done with her homework.
"Hey....can I come in?" The middle-aged woman asked after knocking and slightly opening the door. She fully stepped in when her daughter nodded in consent. Joining Isa on the bed, she tried to make herself comfortable. For a few minutes, no one said a word, and then Isabel finally broke the silence. "Okay mum...so I haven't told you this because I didn't want to seem petty and I was handling it just fine, but since we were promoted to seventh grade, some of my mates started to bully me. They'd call me names, and all other stuff, but I always took it in silently, hoping that they'd get tired and stop. Two weeks ago, a new girl, Melissa transferred to our school and the name calling and bullying shifted from me to her just like that. She's overweight and likes to cry a lot so I guess they realised worrying her was more fun. I could handle me being bullied, but not someone who looked so vulnerable, so I became her friend and tried to get them to back off a little and for a while it worked. But remember the week where I couldn't go to school because of grandpa's funeral?"
Marilyn nodded.
"The bullying got so worse that when I went to school the following week, Mel told me she was having suicidal thoughts and I realised she needed help, so I went to see the headmaster and he said he'll need some more evidence but he warned the students off. The bullying only got worse, Mum. I could see Mel shrinking into her shell each day and when Pamela made a crass comment about her this morning, I just couldn't help but attack. God I was so angry!" Marilyn pulled her daughter into a hug to calm her down a little. "Go on honey." She said. "Let it all out."
Isa, who had now calmed down a little pulled away and continued, "Mr. Phillips then called us to his office and later called you."
Marilyn sat on the bed and pulled Isa into her arms. They were locked in an embrace for a long time before she spoke up, "I'm very sorry Isa. This is a very serious issue and I get that you were protecting your friend and that's commendable, jeez as your mum, I can't be any more proud. But violence only makes matters worse honey. You did report the issue to Mr. Phillips but when he didn't do anything, you should have gone to someone else like me—"
"I know mum." Isa interrupted, "But Mel didn't want her parents to know and I didn't want to do anything that'd aggravate the situation. I had already made matters worse by telling Mr. Phillips the first time, and I knew you'd definitely tell them. I was afraid she'd feel betrayed and stop telling me stuff."
Marilyn nodded, "You make a solid point Isa, but if you had laid your cards out like you just did honey, I'm not sure I would have told her parents. We would have worked it out. "
The duo were quite for a while till Isa spoke up. "I miss you mum. We barely have times like this anymore."
Marilyn's eyes glistened with unshed tears as she whispered, "I miss this too honey. I promise we'll hang out more often." She sat up on the bed, "You think you can get your friend over tomorrow? So I can talk to her."
Isa nodded. "She's already coming over tomorrow. We have an assignment to do so..."
Marilyn smiled and stood up to cover her daughter with a blanket. "That's great love. Alright get some sleep now." She placed a kiss on the young girl's cheek and gave her a squeeze. "Remember honey, violence doesn't solve anything."
"Yes mum. I'll never forget." Isa replied as she gave a tired yawn.
Marilyn smiled back and moved towards the switch to turn off the light but stopped when her daughter called out to her.
"Mum?"
"Yes honey?" She turned to look at her child.
"I love you very much."
Marilyn smiled and went over to Isa, gave her another hug and added a bop on her nose as a finishing touch. "And I love you even more, Princess."