Theodore Boone: The Scandal

Chapter 15

Elsa’s desk was just inside the front door at Boone & Boone, and it was more of a command center than a reception area. With four incoming lines, she handled the phones with ease. Every caller received the same professional greeting, though a lot of calls were unwanted. She could immediately tell if a caller was shopping around for free legal advice, or had a bogus claim, or needed a lawyer for some type of work the Boones stayed away from, or was just one of the many nut jobs clogging up the lines. After thirty years, she had developed a sixth sense about who really needed help and who to avoid. She also handled the traffic: the clients who arrived early or late for appointments; the unexpected walk-ins; the door-to-door solicitors; the endless parade of salesmen peddling legal supplies and law books; and the lawyers who were there for various meetings. She also balanced the schedules of everyone in the firm, including Theo and his dental and medical appointments. She kept up with birthdays, anniversaries, deadlines, and docket calls, and she sent flowers on behalf of the firm for funerals and burials. She made the coffee and made sure there was always a fresh pot. She fed Judge, who was always prowling for food. She reminded Mr. Boone to take his pills. She fussed at him for smoking his pipe, though everyone knew that was a waste of time. She handled the mail, ran to the bank, sometimes ordered lunch, cranked out routine correspondence, and could type faster than any legal secretary in town. In short, Elsa ran the firm, and for a lady in her seventies she had incredible energy.

She was typing away Monday afternoon when a young lady walked in without an appointment. She said her name was Geneva Hull, and she desperately needed to talk to Mrs. Marcella Boone. Elsa knew immediately that she was in trouble and needed help. Politely, she said, “Well, Mrs. Boone is very busy at the moment.”

“I know. I should have called.”

“May I ask what this is about?” Elsa asked without seeming to pry, though prying was exactly what she was doing.

“I’d rather not say,” Ms. Hull replied.

“I understand, but Mrs. Boone specializes in family law, and there are many cases she does not take.”

Ms. Hull looked around as if she needed extreme privacy, then swallowed hard and said, “I’m a schoolteacher, and I think I’m about to get fired.”

“I see. And where do you teach?”

“At East Middle School.”

Elsa quickly connected the dots and said, “If you don’t mind waiting a bit, I’ll see if Mrs. Boone has some time.”

“Thank you.”

Elsa handed her a sheet of paper and said, “Just have a seat in the conference room and fill out this questionnaire. It’s just basic information. Would you like some coffee?”

“No thanks.”

Fifteen minutes later, Elsa escorted Geneva Hull into Mrs. Boone’s sleek and stylish office. Introductions were made and Elsa excused herself. Geneva took a seat, and Mrs. Boone eased into her swivel chair behind her uncluttered glass and chrome desk. With a professional smile, she began, “How can I help you?”

“I’ve never hired a lawyer before.”

“Well, welcome to America. Everybody needs a lawyer at some point.”

“I, uh, I think I’m about to be fired from my job at East Middle School.”

“On what grounds?”

“The school thinks I’m involved in a cheating scandal, one that involves the standardized tests for eighth graders.”

Mrs. Boone scribbled some notes and thought about this. “Well, Geneva, I’m not sure I should take your case. You see, I have a son who’s in the eighth grade at Strattenburg.”

“I know,” she interrupted. “I’ve heard of Theo. Through a friend of a friend.”

“I guess a lot of people know Theo. Anyway, Theo is a very bright kid and a good student, and he missed the Honors track by one point. Personally, I don’t like the tests and I don’t approve of the tracking system in place at the high school, and I know that Theo will do well in any school, at any level. But it seems as though you and I may have a conflict because of Theo and the tests results.”

“I’ve thought about that, and I think that when the truth comes out it won’t make any difference. The tests results will probably be thrown out, and, frankly, I don’t know what will happen after that. I’ll be gone, and maybe Theo will get another chance. Or maybe the scores for all the kids will be adjusted. I just don’t know.”

“Are you here to tell me the truth?”

Geneva paused and looked away. “I have a question.”

“Okay.”

“If you’re my lawyer, anything I tell you stays in this room, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“You can’t tell anyone?”

“Never. A lawyer must keep her clients’ secrets in strict confidence. The only exception is when the lawyer believes the client may do harm to others, but that’s never happened in my career.”

“Well, then, are you my lawyer?”

“If we can agree to keep Theo out of it, yes, I’ll represent you.”

“I can do that, but can you? You’re his mother.”

“I’m also a professional, Geneva. I keep my family life at home. Theo is going to be fine regardless.”

“Will he know that I’m your client?”

“Normally, Theo does not know who my clients are, but there’s always the chance he’ll find out. It shouldn’t matter. Why don’t you tell me your story, and then we’ll decide whether we should go forward together? And again, anything you tell me will be kept in confidence.”

“Okay.” Geneva took a deep breath and began with the events of that morning: the investigators and their polygraph; the immediate suspensions of her four colleagues; her likely suspension, too. The more she talked the more she wanted to talk. Mrs. Boone listened carefully as she took a few notes.

Geneva eventually worked her way back to the beginning. “I’m sure you know that East has many low income kids. It’s in that part of town, plus the school board tends to assign most new students to East. So we have a lot of immigrant families, a lot of kids using English as a second language and trying hard to learn it. We, the teachers, think it’s unfair to place so many of these kids at East, but we’re not in charge of that. And we love our kids. They show up every day with big smiles and happy hearts, ready to learn. They may not always have lunch money or have had something for breakfast, so we take care of them. No one goes hungry. I think we have to work harder as educators, because we often stay late to tutor kids who are struggling with the language. And we’re there at night to meet with the parents, many of whom work two and three jobs and can’t stop by the school during the day. Our students have to translate, which is often difficult. I have two Vietnamese kids in my class and their parents speak almost no English, but they care deeply and they want their kids to succeed. I guess what I’m saying is that the rules are a little different at East. And it’s so frustrating to watch our kids struggle with the standardized tests, and then score lower than the others, and then get labeled as slow learners or dumb kids. They’re not dumb, and they don’t deserve to get stuck in Remedial in high school. So that’s how it all started, Mrs. Boone. We did it. We’re guilty. We’re about to get fired, and our careers as teachers will be over. But we did it to help our kids and to save our school.”

She finally paused and wiped her cheeks.

Mrs. Boone asked, “When did you first start changing the test scores?”

“Last year was my first year, and we didn’t change that many. The school was facing probation after last year’s results, so this year we changed a lot more. It’s really weird because I think we knew we would eventually get caught, but we just did it anyway. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”

“No, it doesn’t. It’s important, at least for the next few days, to stay away from the other teachers. I’ll contact the principal in a few moments and get the terms of your suspension.”

“You sound like my lawyer.”

“I am. We’ll get through this.”

“Thanks.”