Read Online The Child Who by Simon Lelic - Free Book Online

any means, and the boy, after all, attacked a teacher. How could we do anything thereafter but exclude him?’
    ‘I understand but would not a suspension have sufficed? Or, I don’t know . . .’
    Ms Bridgwater did not wait for Leo to finish. ‘I have staff to protect, Mr Curtice. I have children under my ward. In view of the reason for your visit, I must say I struggle to comprehend your disapproval.’
    ‘Disapproval? No, I . . .’ Leo moved in his seat. Ms Bridgwater was watching him and he looked towards the window to avoid her eye. The head teacher’s office was on the first floor at the front of the main building – a squat Sixties structure assembled from shades of grey – and pupils were beginning to appear in the playground below them. There was a boy, alone, rummaging in his rucksack and weaving towards the entrance. In his wake whirled a gossip of girls.
    ‘You’ve met Daniel, Mr Curtice. You know the kind of boy he is. You know, more to the point, what he is capable of. We acted with alacrity and I can only be thankful, for the sake of our school, our pupils, that we did.’
    Leo turned to face her. His nod started slowly and gathered pace.
    ‘As much as it pains me to say it, Mr Curtice, some children are beyond help. They are born bad, plain and simple. I have seen many, in my time, though few quite so wicked as Daniel Blake.’
    Leo, again, gave a nod. He looked towards the clock on the office wall. He reached for his briefcase and stood. ‘I should get along.’ He gestured towards the window, to the trickle of children that was becoming a torrent. ‘I expect you must too. Thank you for your time, Ms Bridgwater.’
    The head teacher pressed the desk until she was standing. ‘Please send Eleanor my very best wishes. She should of course take all the time she needs to recover from her ordeal.’
    ‘Thank you. I will.’ Leo shifted his briefcase and accepted the woman’s grip. He nodded, turned and pushed at the door until he realised he needed to pull. In the corridor he walked slowly, and was slowed further on the stairs by the tide of children. It was only when he reached the car park that he realised what Ms Bridgwater had achieved. Confirmation. A name to toss to her peers and renown, no doubt, for having won it. All she had really hoped to, then.
    Some children are born bad. Isn’t that what the head teacher had said? They are born bad and there is nothing that anyone can do. The teachers: they tried their best. The parents: they did too. It is not as though the boy was denied opportunities. It is not as though he was not shown right from wrong. So how else can you explain it? He was born bad, Mr Curtice: bottom line, end of story, case closed.

8
     
    ‘Case closed. Right?’
    Leo looked up from his open briefcase. Daniel’s stepfather was the only one standing. He had his feet hip-width apart and his arms across his pectorals. Stephanie, his wife, was seated to Leo’s right, her chair as far from the table as the wall behind her would allow, her chin offset and her bloodshot eyes on the floor. Daniel, across from her, faced his knees. His hands were pinned between them, his shoulders drawn inwards. He seemed a slight, feeble thing – though so, Leo reminded himself, might any wild creature that had been caged.
    ‘Right?’ Blake repeated. ‘Sounds to me like a no-brainer.’
    Leo took out his files and set his briefcase beside his feet. ‘It’s not quite that simple, Mr Blake. As with any of the options open to us, there are risks.’
    Blake showed his incomprehension through a sneer.
    ‘The sentence,’ said Leo. He glanced at the boy. ‘The sentence, if the argument is rejected, might still be . . . harsh.’
    ‘Harsh? How harsh?’
    Again Leo looked towards Daniel.
    ‘Never mind,’ said Blake, flicking a hand. ‘It’s his best bet, that’s the point. That’s what you’re saying. Right?’
    ‘Not necessarily. All I’m doing, at this stage, is laying out some of