Theodore Boone: The Scandal

Chapter 13

Much to April’s delight, Janelle called Saturday morning and asked if she wanted to go to the movies. They could watch a matinee and have a pizza afterward. April’s father, Tom Finnemore, happened to be at home, which was rare, and was also in a good mood, which was even rarer. He said okay and gave her the money. The girls walked a few blocks to the cinema, watched a romantic comedy with Amy Poehler, and afterward walked to Santo’s, a popular place claiming to serve “World-Famous Sicilian Pizza” near Stratten College.

April felt like the luckiest person in town. She was hanging out with an eighteen-year-old high school senior, a hip cool girl who would soon be leaving home and going away to college.

Over pizza, Janelle talked about her sister Binky and the storm brewing at East Middle School. Binky was worried about her friend and colleague, a teacher named Geneva Hull, one of the five teachers who may have cheated. Geneva was supposedly full of regrets for taking part in the scam and was worried sick about getting caught. The school had been “crawling” with investigators and reporters, and everyone was nervous. Even Binky and the teachers who were not involved were anxious. If the scandal blew up, the entire school would get a huge black eye. East had enough problems to begin with. This would probably seriously damage it and might even lead to its closing.

April suddenly had a knot in her stomach. A huge one. How much of this turmoil could be blamed on her? She had no idea, but she felt guilty about something.

Janelle knew that April was close friends with Theo, and that Theo’s mother was a respected lawyer. Binky was wondering if Mrs. Boone might agree to a meeting with Geneva Hull.

Things were now really getting weird, April thought to herself. She nibbled on a slice of pizza but had no appetite. It was all very confusing: Theo, an eighth grader himself, had missed making the Honors track by one point, just like April, and now his mother might become the lawyer for one of the teachers who cheated and thus could be responsible for Theo not making the cut. April explained that she had no idea if Mrs. Boone would have any interest in taking such a case. It would be up to Geneva Hull to call her and inquire.

At that point, April was involved more deeply than she wanted to be. She wished she’d never heard of Binky or Geneva Hull or Mr. London or Ms. Novak. Why should she, of all people, now know the names of three of the five teachers? She wished she’d never sent the unsigned letter. She should have listened to Theo.

The Sunday edition of the Strattenburg News was, as always, two inches thick, with at least half of the bulk taken up by classified ads. This really irritated Mr. Boone, and he grumbled about the waste of good paper every Sunday morning. Mrs. Boone didn’t help matters by egging things on with her usual, “I can’t believe all of these classified ads.” She would wink at Theo as she said this, then they would listen to Mr. Boone start complaining. The games adults played.

Theo rarely read the morning paper, but these days he was captivated by the news. Sure enough, the front page headline read: “Investigation Continues into East Middle School Test Scores.” The same journalist, a guy who was obviously on a mission, reported that the private investigators hired by the school board were working around the clock to finish their work. They had interviewed many of the eighth-grade teachers — there were twenty-two in all — and claimed to be making “significant progress.” However, several of the teachers were refusing to cooperate. Dr. Stoop was saying all the right things about her office’s desire to pursue a thorough examination and so on. If wrongdoing was discovered, she promised to deal with it quickly and openly. There would be no secrets.

The article ended with some troubling words. Mr. Jack Hogan, the district attorney and chief prosecutor in criminal matters, was quoted as saying his office “was not involved at this time but watching things closely.”

Theo read this and asked his father, “Dad, could these teachers get into serious trouble?”

Neither of his parents did criminal work. Mr. Boone was a real estate and business lawyer and rarely went to court. Mrs. Boone was a family lawyer who handled a lot of divorces. Occasionally one of her cases dragged her into contact with the police, like the Holland mess and the charges against Pete’s father, but for the most part she avoided criminal law.

But since both were lawyers, they never failed to comment on anything related to the law. Mrs. Boone jumped in with, “Of course not. This is a school matter, and the teachers will be disciplined by the school board.”

And since they rarely agreed on anything related to the law, Mr. Boone said, “I’m not so sure. If it’s true, and these teachers were acting together, I can see them being charged with conspiracy. I’m not saying that’s the right thing to do, but prosecutors love a good conspiracy and they often overreact.”

“That’s ridiculous, Woods,” Mrs. Boone said. “These people aren’t criminals. Maybe what they did was wrong, but they didn’t break any laws.”

“I didn’t say they were criminals, but this could be a gray area. A lot of folks get burned in the gray areas.”

Mrs. Boone shook her head but said nothing. Mr. Boone was right.

Theo asked, “What, exactly, is a conspiracy?”

Mr. Boone thought for a second and said, “It’s when two or more people work together to do something unlawful or illegal. Nowadays, it’s used by prosecutors to cover all sorts of bad behavior. I have a friend who’s a criminal lawyer, and he says that conspiracy is often used when there’s no clear crime involved. Would you agree, Marcella?”

“Perhaps,” she said.

Theo was thinking about April and her unsigned letter. If it in some way led to teachers being arrested and charged with crimes, April would never forgive herself. He knew she was reading everything in the newspaper and online, and she was probably worried sick.

Theo said, “I’m not feeling too well. I think I have an upset stomach.”

Mr. Boone said, “What a surprise. It’s Sunday morning, time to get ready for church, and you don’t feel well. This seems to happen a lot.”

Mrs. Boone said, “You look fine to me.”

“Are we really going to brunch at the Baileys’?”

His mother said, “Why yes, Theo, it’s the second Sunday of the month, and we always have brunch with our friends after church.”

“Your friends, not mine. I’ll be the only kid there, and I’ll be bored out of my mind. I hate these brunches. Boring. All that adult talk. All those geezers grinning at me and asking me about school and trying to be funny, like I’m some cute little puppy who needs to be entertained. It’s just awful.”

His parents looked at each other, looks that meant they had actually heard him. Such looks were rare when discussing Boone family traditions. Their little rituals were important to them, or at least to his parents, and they didn’t like to upset the structure of their lives.

Mrs. Boone finally said, “So what would you do for lunch?”

Something, anything. “I’ll just come home and eat a sandwich. Please, Mom, let me skip it.”

Mr. Boone exaggerated when he said, “Well, the Baileys will be disappointed.”

Who cares about the Baileys? Theo said, “Oh, they’ll get over it. You guys will have a great time with the other adults, and no one will miss me. Please.”

She asked, “Well, what do you think, Woods?”

“I’d like to skip it myself,” he blurted and laughed, though Mrs. Boone did not see the humor. She looked at Theo and said, “Okay, just this once.”

Theo couldn’t believe his luck. “Thanks, Mom!”

“Now run upstairs and get ready for church.”