Mail Order Mom

But I was too wound up already to let her finish whatever excuses she wished to conjure. I interrupted her by raising my hand.

“I may not know much about child psychology or...well, children in general.” I scratched my shoulder, searching for the most accurate way to put my thoughts into words. “But you should have a good conversation with your daughter. She’s obviously unhappy about something in her life, and she chose to pick on my girl to make herself feel better. It’s not Ene’s job to serve as the punching bag for Kessra’s moods. This bullying will have to stop.”

The principal blinked at me in confusion, then turned to Mara. “I would prefer to discuss this matter with the parents of the students. Madam Rax, what do you think?”

Mara waved her off, looking bored. “Whatever Susanna said. Now, if we’re done here, I hope you’ll excuse me, but I have a previous engagement.” She got up.

Her “previous engagement” of course would be watching movies and chatting online with the few acquaintances she’d made in Arqa. But I wasn’t the one to set her straight in front of the principal.

“Oh...Well. Um...” The principal switched from staring at her to blinking at me again.

I lifted a finger, calling for everyone’s attention.

“I will most definitely speak about this to Captain Rax, but I am the children’s primary caregiver in his absence. And if I hear about another bully attack on Ene by your daughter...” I pointed the finger at Kessra’s mom, “...on your school property...” I swung my accusing finger the principal’s way.

Mara strolled to me.

“Yeah, yeah, there will be hell to pay. They get it.” She grabbed me with her arm around my middle. “Let’s go. I’m expecting a message at home. It was nice meeting you, Madam Principal.”

With the sweetest smile at both women, she dragged me out.

“Don’t you care?” I fumed on the way to the play area to pick up the kids. “Ene has been bullied for God knows how long. The poor kid. She’s been keeping it all to herself all this time. If it wasn’t for Illal, I wouldn’t even know—”

“So?” Mara shrugged a shoulder.

I stopped in my tracks. “You have to agree, it’s unacceptable.”

She didn’t look concerned, not even a bit. “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?”

“Not in this case.”

“Especially in this case,” she said with emphasis. “That’s how one grows thick skin. School is preparation for life in the real world, is it not? And the real world is full of bullies. What that girl needs to learn is that she’ll always be a victim unless she becomes a bully herself.”

“No way! Is that what you really think?”

“Haven’t you learned anything in this life, Susanna? You and I were born into the same family and raised by the same parents. Aside from your poor taste in clothes, we are very much the same. You know that in this life, all that matters is the size of your bank account, and to grow that, one needs to be ruthless. Look at our parents or at your own husband.”

“All of them are dead,” I pointed out.

“Only because they all made a mistake. Tom and Jim made the stupid mistake of getting caught. Before that, they actually had a smart plan.”

“Smart? Are you calling their scheme to defraud people of money smart?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” She crossed her arms over her chest, cocking a hip. “We were the stupid ones, Susanna, for not seeing what was coming to us, for letting them do things behind our backs.”

I blew out a breath. “In that one thing, you’re right. We are very much alike. We both suck at judging men’s character.”

“Well, just don’t make the same mistake again.”

I snapped my gaze to hers. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t trust the alien. Do you know what people say about him?”

I realized she was talking about Xavran. “What?”

“That he killed his wife.”

“But that’s not true.” I shook my head.

“How can you be so sure? How well do you really know him?”

I didn’t reply. I’d known Tom for much longer than I had Xavran and still got blindsided when I discovered what kind of man Tom turned out to be at the end.

Mara leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear excitedly, “Don’t worry. I’m just waiting for confirmation. From the last message I got from Jason, it looked like they were getting really close to arresting Bolshoy and his posse. We can go home soon.”