They Beat My Pregnant Wife,Then My Father Walked In

One kind gesture on a rainy day, driving a student home, and the mother of Andrew's student Hunter kid's mother decided I was her personal chauffeur.

Every day she'd wait at the gate of the complex with her son, expecting me to drive the boy to and from school.

It wasn't exactly convenient, but I figured it was on my way anyway, so I let it go.

Then one day I took time off to go with my wife to her prenatal checkup, and when I didn't come down on schedule, Hunter's mother called me right away.

"Mr. Whitney, my Hunter's going to be late for school. How are you still sleeping in!"

That was when I remembered I'd forgotten to tell her. I quickly explained that I was with my wife at her checkup today, and told them not to wait.

Hunter's mother cut me off before I could finish.

"No, that won't work. My son's used to being picked up and dropped off now. You get back here."

"I don't even know what's wrong with you teachers, so desperate you go and knock somebody up, and now it's holding up my son's schooling!"

"She needs you at a checkup? So once she pops out the kid, are you going to stop teaching altogether?"

"That's not happening. You drop my son off today, then go tell your wife to get rid of it. Otherwise I'm filing a complaint at the school!"

I actually laughed, out of sheer disbelief. I never thought I'd meet a parent this unreasonable.

Too bad she'd picked the wrong guy. A complaint is the last thing I'm afraid of.

...

"Mr. Whitney, did you hear me?"

She was still going off on the other end.

I pushed the anger down and kept my voice cold.

"Ms. Hunter's mom, I gave your son a ride because it was on my way, out of goodwill. It was never my obligation."

"I never took a cent from you for it, so don't treat me like your personal driver."

"And another thing. My wife's pregnancy is our family's business. It's not your place to tell us what to do."

With that, I hung up.

My wife, Joyce Simmons, was sitting on the bench in the waiting area.

Seeing the look on my face, she glanced up and asked,

"Who was that? What's got you so worked up?"

I sat down beside her, twisted open the thermos, and handed it to her.

"A parent from my class."

"I gave her son a ride a few times when it was on my way, and now she treats me like a free chauffeur."

I hadn't wanted to repeat the ugly things she'd said, afraid it would upset Joyce.

But she knew me too well.

One look at me, and she knew it wasn't that simple.

"What else did she say?"

I hesitated a moment, then repeated what Hunter's mother had just said on the phone.

Joyce's face darkened at once.

"Is that woman sick in the head? What does my being pregnant have to do with her son's schooling?"

"You did her a favor giving her kid a ride, and now she's latched onto you!"

"You are not driving him anymore, period. What kind of insane parent is that!"

I nodded, feeling just as irritated inside.

The whole time I'd been driving Hunter, the messes his mother made were beyond counting.

The most ridexculous one was last month.

I got called into a last-minute meeting after work and messaged her to come pick up her son herself.

Instead she left Hunter sitting beside my car for over forty minutes while she went off to get her nails done.

By the time the meeting ended and I got back to the parking lot, it was already dark out.

I was so angry my head was buzzing. I called Hunter's mother right then and there,

demanding to know why she'd left the kid alone in the parking lot.

She answered like it was nothing.

"Oh, come on, Mr. Whitney, you were going to head home after the meeting anyway. What's the harm in him waiting a little?"

"My nail tech is really in demand. If I'd skipped this appointment I'd have had to wait ages for another."

Looking at Hunter shivering in the cold, I swallowed the curses right back down.

There was nothing to do but take him home.

Looking back now, I really was too easygoing, and that's exactly what let her get so brazen.

"Joyce Simmons, you're up. Exam Room Three."

The nurse calling her number pulled me out of it.

I quickly helped Joyce to her feet and walked her carefully into the exam room.

After a whole round of tests, the doctor looked at the ultrasound and spoke gravely.

"The pregnancy isn't very stable."

"Has the mother been under a lot of stress at work lately, not resting well?"

Joyce nodded softly.

She works at a design firm, and she'd been racing to finish a project, putting in a lot of overtime.

"Go home and stay on bed rest, and most importantly, keep your spirits calm."

"You cannot let yourself get upset again, or you'll lose the baby."

The doctor prescribed a few boxes of medication to protect the pregnancy and went over the precautions again and again.

I stood there listening, my palms cold with sweat.

"Doctor, don't worry. I'll take good care of her."

Back home, I got her into bed right away, then went to the kitchen to make her some soup.

But before the soup was done, my phone buzzed.

The caller ID showed Neil Lawrence, the grade-level director.

I hit answer.

"Andrew Whitney, come in tomorrow morning, but don't go to your classroom. Come straight to my office first."

Neil's tone was sharp, thick with that bureaucratic edge.

"Director Lawrence, is something wrong?" I asked.

"Wrong? You know exactly what you did. Don't play dumb."

"A parent brought a complaint straight to me!"

"You get here early tomorrow and explain yourself, clearly!"

And with that, he hung up.

Joyce heard the sound and pushed herself up in bed, her face full of worry.

"That parent is being completely unreasonable. Maybe you shouldn't go alone tomorrow. Let me come with you."

"No."

I turned her down without a second thought.

"The doctor told you to stay in bed. You're not going anywhere."

"She's the one making trouble. I've still got all our old messages. There's nothing that can't be sorted out."

Joyce still wasn't reassured.

"Then how about I call Dad, and have him stop by your school tomorrow?"

I couldn't help laughing.

"It's nothing. Why bother him?"

"Dad's swamped with work as it is. A little dispute like this doesn't need to reach him."

"Don't worry. I can handle it myself."

The next morning, I got Joyce's breakfast and her pregnancy meds ready before driving to the school.

On the way, my phone kept ringing.

All of it from Hunter's mother.

I ignored it and took the other road out of the complex.

At the school, I went straight to Neil Lawrence's office.

I'd barely reached the door when Hunter's mother's shrill voice cut through it.

"Director Lawrence, is this how your school manages its teachers?"

"Not one shred of responsibility!"

I pushed the door open and walked right in.

The moment she saw me, Hunter's mother jabbed a finger in my face and let loose.

"Andrew Whitney, you've actually got the nerve to show up for work!"

"Ducking my calls, is that your idea of being a man?"

I ignored her and walked to Neil Lawrence's desk.

"Director Lawrence, you wanted to see me."

Neil Lawrence's face was set hard, and he rapped his knuckles against the desk.

"Mr. Whitney, what is going on with you?"

"This parent came in yesterday to file a complaint. She says you couldn't care less whether your students live or die, all because your wife is pregnant!"

That made me laugh out of pure anger.

"Director Lawrence, Hunter's mother wants me to drive her son to and from school every single day."

"But I'm a teacher. Not a nanny, and certainly not a personal chauffeur. That isn't my job."

The second she heard that, she shrieked.

"Don't you stand there dodging responsibility!"

"If you hadn't skipped picking up my son yesterday morning, would he have fallen rushing to get to class?"

She yanked up Hunter's pant leg to show a scrape on his knee about the size of a fingernail.

"Mr. Whitney, let me tell you, my son is going to test into a top middle school!"

"His leg's hurt now. If it wrecks his future, can you pay for that?"

"And it's all because your wife is pregnant!"

"As long as she's still carrying, there's no way you'll put all your attention on my son!"

"You're going to make her get rid of the baby, and pick up and drop off my son on time every day from now on!"

"And you'll cover my son's medical bills and emotional damages too, sixty thousand dollars all together!"

Hunter, who had kept his head down the whole time, suddenly tugged at the hem of her clothes.

"Mom, I fell because I wasn't watching where I was going. It's not Mr. Whitney's fault"

"You shut up!"

Hunter's mother smacked the back of his head.

"This is grown-up business. Kids don't butt in!"

"Is this how I raised you? Turning against your own family!"

Hunter's eyes went red in an instant, and he clutched his head and didn't dare make a sound.

I couldn't watch it anymore.

"Ma'am, whatever grudge you've got, take it out on me. Don't dump it on the boy."

"I'll say it again. Driving your son is a favor, not a duty."

"I won't pay one cent of that sixty thousand, and there's no way I'll make my wife have an abortion."

"If you feel so wronged, turn left out that door and take me to court."

Watching this, Neil Lawrence's face darkened.

"Andrew Whitney, is that any way to talk to a parent?"

"Parents hand their children over to us, so we take full responsibility!"

"This parent has raised a reasonable request, and you're going to do everything you can to meet it!"

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Making my wife abort our baby, that's a reasonable request?"

Neil Lawrence avoided my eyes, but his tone only turned more overbearing.

"Don't twist things around here."

"Your wife may not work at the school, but her pregnancy is already seriously interfering with your job, and that makes it the school's business!"

"The way you're behaving is doing serious damage to the school's image!"

"If this parent takes her complaint all the way to the principal, I'd say you can kiss this teaching job goodbye."

"Take my advice. Go home, talk it over with your wife, take care of the baby, and pay Hunter's mother the sixty thousand."

"Then we let this whole thing quietly go away."

I looked straight at Neil Lawrence.

I couldn't believe he would force my wife to abort our child just to shut up a parent throwing a tantrum.

I didn't give an inch.

"Director Lawrence, I've never seen a rule that says a teacher's pregnant wife damages the school's image."

"You think you can scare me by waving a dismissal in my face? I don't scare that easily."

Neil, contradicted to his face, shot up out of his chair.

At that moment the office door pushed open from outside.

The principal walked in.

"I could hear the shouting all the way down the hall. This is unacceptable."

Hunter's mother lunged straight at him.

"Principal, you have to hear me out!"

"Your teachers are bullying people!"

She squeezed out two tears and launched into a wailing accusation against me.

She painted me as a terrible teacher who'd gone slack on the job because his wife was pregnant, who mistreated students and had a rotten attitude.

Neil jumped in to back her up.

"That's right, Principal. This Andrew Whitney has always thrown his weight around just because his class scores well. Thinks he's above everyone."

"Now he won't even give a parent the time of day."

"I tried to do the decent thing just now, told him to apologize to the parent and settle it quietly, and he talked back to me!"

Out in the hallway, at some point a crowd of teachers had gathered to watch the show.

A few of them, the ones who'd always been jealous that I'd won Teacher of the Year, started up with their snide little comments from the doorway.

"Oh my, Mr. Whitney's always been so high and mighty. Of course he can't stomach being talked to like this."

"Watching his wife that closely? Worried the kid isn't yours?"

"If you're so worried, sit home and watch her. Instead of taking up space here and doing nothing."

"Poor Hunter, such a smart boy, stuck with a homeroom teacher who won't take responsibility."

I looked at these colleagues piling on while I was down, and felt nothing at all. Just how absurd it was.

The principal heard out Hunter's mother and Neil, and his face darkened.

"Andrew Whitney, you have absolutely no regard for order or discipline!"

"Do you have any idea what day it is?"

"The district superintendent is about to arrive for a surprise inspection!"

"And you pick this exact moment to blow up into a huge fight with a parent!"

"Are you doing this on purpose? Trying to embarrass me, set yourself against the school?"

I looked at him coldly.

"Principal, Director Lawrence never actually investigated what happened."

"This parent is the one causing trouble. She demanded I be her free driver, and when I refused, she used her son's scraped knee to shake me down."

"Now she's not only demanding sixty thousand dollars, she wants my wife to have an abortion."

"Since the superintendent is coming, this works out perfectly."

I looked the principal straight in the eye and said, one word at a time:

"Let the superintendent hear both sides and see whose fault this really is!"

At that, the principal flew into a rage.

"Who do you think you are? You're not fit to stand in front of leadership."

"The superintendent has a thousand things to deal with. He has no time for your household nonsense!"

He turned and shouted toward the door.

"Security! Where's security? Get in here now!"

Two uniformed guards shoved through the crowd and hurried in.

"Principal, you called for us?"

The principal pointed at me and gave his order, seething.

"Andrew Whitney, as of this moment you are suspended. Go home right now and think long and hard about what you've done!"

"You two, get him out of here!"

"Without my permission, he does not set one foot in this school!"

The guards moved toward me at once, one on each side.

But Hunter's mother suddenly started screaming.

"No, you can't just let him walk out!"

She shoved one of the guards aside and planted herself between me and the principal, hands on her hips.

"Principal, you're covering for him!"

"He bullies me and my son like this, and all you do is suspend him to think it over? Since when does anyone get off that easy!"

"Let me tell you, today he's going to bow and apologize to me and my son in front of every teacher in this school!"

"Then he wires me sixty thousand dollars in damages right away, and takes his wife to the hospital for an abortion!"

"Otherwise I'll go stand at the school gate and block the district officials right now!"

"I'll file a complaint straight to leadership, let them see for themselves how this school lets its teachers bully students!"

I gave a cold laugh.

"Fine. Go file your complaint."

"I'd love to see whether the superintendent sides with an extortionist parent, or with a teacher just doing his job."

Hunter's mother hadn't expected me to hold my ground like that, and for a second she just froze.

The principal, though, had lost his nerve completely.

A superintendent's inspection was a big dealit decided whether he'd move up next year.

If this blew up in front of the superintendent, his days as principal were probably over.

He wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and turned to glare at me.

"Andrew Whitney, are you not satisfied until you drag this whole school down?"

"Apologize to Hunter's mother, now! Do everything she says!"

"Move it!"

I stood where I was and didn't budge.

"I did nothing wrong. I'm not apologizing."

Seeing that nothing got through to me, the principal stamped his feet in rage.

"Fine. You've got nerve!"

"Security, hold him down! Make him bow to Hunter's mother!"

The two guards heard the order and rushed forward, grabbing my arms on either side and locking them tight.

They were strong, and they forced my shoulders down hard.

Just as I was fighting them with everything I had, quick footsteps sounded from the hallway outside.

"Andrew!"

At that voice, my head snapped up.

Joyce shoved through the crowd and ran in, her face drained of color.

My stomach dropped.

"Why are you here?"

"Didn't the doctor tell you to stay in bed?"

Joyce's eyes were red.

"Somebody called me. They said you were being held down here at the school."

"I called you and you never picked up."

"I was afraid something had happened to you..."

Only then did I realize my phone had gone to silent somewhere in the struggle.

Joyce saw the two guards pinning me and stepped straight up to them.

"Let go of my husband!"

"If there's a problem, you can call the police, you can take it to court. What gives you the right to lay hands on him?"

Hunter's mother suddenly lunged over and swung her hand at Joyce's face.

"You're the jinx that made my son fall!"

Joyce couldn't get out of the way in time. Her lower back struck the edge of the desk, and she dropped hard to the floor.

Both hands went to her belly, her body curling in on itself.

My eyes almost split with rage as I fought against their grip.

"You dare hit her!"

"Let go of me!"

But the two guards held me fast.

Hunter's mother shook out her hand and jabbed a finger in my face, cursing.

"You people are teachersyou draw a government paycheck, so you should be serving us parents and students twenty-four hours a day!"

"Coming the moment we call is your job!"

"Letting you pick up my son was doing you a favor, and you still give me attitude!"

Right then, blood seeped out from under the hem of Joyce's dress.

"My stomach..."

"Andrew, my stomach hurts so much..."

The office went dead silent.

The two guards holding me were so shaken they let go.

I rushed to Joyce, dropped to my knees, and pulled her into my arms.

"Joyce, don't be scared."

"I'm calling an ambulance right now."

My hands shook as I dug my phone out of my pocket to call 911.

But Hunter's mother suddenly threw herself at me and snatched the phone away.

"Acting! You two just keep on acting!"

"She was fine a second ago, and now one little bump and she's playing dead on the floor?"

"Let me tell you, even if she dies right here today, you're giving me the sixty thousand dollars first!"

"Otherwise not one of you walks out that door!"

I wanted to stand and grab it back, but Joyce clung to my sleeve.

She was shaking all over from the pain, and I didn't dare let go of her.

All I could do was shout at the people around us.

"Somebody call 911!"

"I'm begging you, call an ambulance!"

"My wife is pregnant, she's bleeding!"

I looked toward the teachers crowded at the door.

But every one of them avoided my eyes, and some even stepped back.

Seeing that, Hunter's mother only got louder and bolder.

"I'd like to see anyone try!"

"Whoever dares call for him today can pay his sixty thousand dollars for him!"

The moment she said it, the few teachers who'd looked pained pulled their heads right back.

Just then, an authoritative voice came from the hallway outside the office.

"What's going on? Why are so many people gathered here?"

At that voice, a violent shudder ran through the principal.

He muttered to the guards, "Cover Andrew Whitney's mouth, fast. Don't let him make a sound."

Then he pasted on a fawning smile, parted the crowd, and hurried out.

"Oh, Superintendent! You're here early?"

"It's nothing, nothingjust a small dispute between a teacher and a parent."

"But don't worry, it's all been settled now."

"This way, please. Let's head to the auditorium first, they've already got a welcome ceremony set up for you..."

The principal was doing everything he could to steer him away.

I watched the guards closing in and, with every last bit of strength, shouted toward the door:

"Dad, don't go!"

"Joyce is in hereshe's bleeding!"