Before school, Letty and I picked up the wig.
“Do I look weird, Mom?”
“You look like yourself,” I said. “Just with less maintenance.”
That made her smile.
Then she lifted the box slightly. “Do you think Millie will actually wear it?”
“I’m not sure, baby. It might be uncomfortable for her. But even if she chooses not to, she’ll know how brave and kind you are.”
—
Two hours later, Principal Brennan called.
By the time I arrived at the school, my palms were slick against the steering wheel.
Mr. Brennan was already standing outside the office.
“What is this?” I asked. “Who are these people?”
“They came in together, Piper, all wearing plant jackets and asking for Letty by name,” he said. “My secretary panicked. Then I did.”
“Why is my daughter with them?”
His expression changed. “Because the second they said Jonathan’s name, she asked to stay.”
Then he opened the office door.
What I saw inside nearly broke me in two.
Letty was standing beside the window with both hands pressed over her mouth. Millie sat near her, wearing the wig. On her delicate face, it looked beautiful.
Her mother stood behind her, sobbing into a tissue.
And there, in the center of the room, on Mr. Brennan’s desk, was Jonathan’s old yellow hard hat.
His name was still written inside the rim. The sparkly purple star Letty had stuck on it when she was six was still there too.
Mr. Brennan closed the door behind me. “Piper, before they explain, there’s something else you need to know. The boys who laughed at Millie didn’t just do it once. We pulled one of them from class after Letty brought in the wig. A teacher overheard enough that we started asking questions.”
Jenna’s face tightened. “My daughter has been eating lunch in the nurse’s bathroom for two weeks.”
I looked at Millie. “Oh, sweetheart.”
Letty turned pale. “I didn’t know it was that long.”
Six men stood around the desk in work jackets and heavy boots, each of them trying to appear less intimidating than they naturally were.
Luis stepped forward before the others.
“Piper.”
I pressed a hand against my chest. “Why is Jonathan’s hat here?”
Another man came to stand beside him. Marcus, Jonathan’s former supervisor.
He offered me an envelope.
“Your husband kept this in his locker,” he said. “He told us if the right day ever came, we’d know. Yesterday Teresa told Luis what Letty did. Luis told us. And we came, because that’s what you do for family.”
I stared at the envelope.
My name was written on it in Jonathan’s handwriting.
“For Piper.”
