The Union Rep

“No,” Maria said. She leaned forward, resting her hands on her cane. “It is about bullying. You have a rich man who is angry, so you try to scare my daughter. You try to make her feel dirty because she likes a woman.”

Henderson flinched. “Mrs. Rodrigues, that is not—”

“You listen to me,” Maria said. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it filled the room. “My daughter has worked for this job. She buys pencils for the children with her own money. She stays late. She cares. If you fire her because she had dinner with a mother, you will not just have the union. You will have me. And I will talk to every mother in this school. I will tell them you are firing the best teacher because you are afraid of Mark.”

She sat back. “Do you want that noise, Mr. Henderson?”

Henderson looked at Maria. He looked at Isabel’s legal pad. He looked at Eve’s face, which was set in stone.

He sighed. He rubbed his temples.

“I’m not firing anyone,” Henderson muttered.

“Good,” Eve said. “Then I assume the inquiry is closed?”

Henderson looked at his laptop. “I will put a note in your file regarding… appearance of bias. A warning. To be mindful of boundaries.”

“You can put whatever you want in the file,” Eve said. “Just spell my name right.”

She turned around. “Come on, Mom. I’m buying you dinner.”

They walked out.

In the hallway, the adrenaline dumped out of Eve’s system. Her knees shook. She leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath of the floor wax and dust.