Chapter 10 - The Man in the Gray Suit
The video was short and ugly. One boy tossed fries. Another laughed. Eli bent to pick up the food. The camera swung toward the sidewalk, catching my mother as she arrived.
Beside her stood a man in a gray suit I recognized from charity brochures: Gordon Pike, executive director of Horizon Family Services. He watched Eli with the distant expression of someone checking a problem off a list.
Then the recording caught a few words as Vivian leaned close to him.
“He can't keep coming here, Gordon.”
Pike answered, “I was told the transfer was complete.”
My blood went cold.
Naomi arranged to deliver the original video to the county. Mrs. Torres documented how she'd received it. The school couldn't easily dismiss footage that showed exactly what had happened.
Meanwhile Lily came home with a crumpled note someone had put in her cubby: YOUR MOM HELPS TRASH KIDS. She tried to hide it under her sweater.
I called the school. Hale suggested Lily should avoid discussing “adult matters” with classmates.
“She didn't discuss anything,” I said. “Someone targeted a seven-year-old.”
Hale sighed. “You seem determined to make this difficult.”
“No. I'm determined to make it stop.”
We arranged for Lily to stay home the next day while we addressed the harassment. Daniel sat with her over dinner, building the little model bridge she'd been working on.
She asked him, “Are we going to stop loving each other because things got hard?”
Daniel caught my eye across the table. “No, bug. Hard isn't the same as over.”
Late that evening an investigator rang Naomi with news: Horizon had reported multiple placements completed without corresponding proof the children had arrived.
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One name had been crossed out of the transfer ledger by hand.
The name was Eli Grant.
