Save Me - Lisa Scottoline [16]
Leo ignored the reporters, holding Rose close as they threaded their way through the crowd. She recognized parents from Melly’s class, and they craned their necks, their expressions collectively solemn. She lowered her head as Leo steered her up the walkway, followed by reporters, shouted questions, and videocameras. They reached the entrance, where a few women stood together.
“Rose McKenna?” one woman called out. She had short black hair and wore a blue dress with a laminated Homestead ID on a yellow lanyard around her neck, as if she’d come from work.
“Yes.” Rose approached, tentatively.
“I’m Wanda Jeresen. My daughter Courtney is in Nuru’s class, too, and Amanda is my goddaughter. I want to know how you justify what you did.” Wanda’s dark eyes flashed under light makeup, and her tone was angry, but controlled. “Terry and Eileen told me you ran to the bathroom to get Melly instead of helping her and Emily.”
“No, that’s not true,” Rose answered, and the crowd of parents and reporters closed in around them.
“Excuse me.” Leo put up a flat hand, turning to Wanda. “If you want to talk, we’re happy to do that, but not here.”
“Why not?” Wanda shot back. “I’d want an answer, here and now. We all do. I called you at home, but you didn’t answer.”
Leo raised both hands. “Hold on now—”
“Why am I talking to you anyway?” Wanda turned back to Rose. “Can’t you speak for yourself? You have to hide behind your husband? Don’t you think you owe me, or anybody, an explanation? We’re mothers, so talk to me, mother-to-mother.”
“Okay, well, that’s not the way it happened—”
“Then how did it happen?” Wanda’s dark eyes glittered. “Danielle had to run out of the fire, all by herself. I called and talked to Barbara, her mother. She didn’t even see you. You went to get your daughter and ignored her and Emily.”
“No, wait, listen.” Rose put up a hand. “I fell unconscious, and when I woke up, Danielle was running. Ask Emily, I took her and Amanda to the door.”
“Nice try, but I called Jerusha, too. Emily’s mother. We’ve been friends since the girls were in first grade. All Emily remembers is that you went to get Melly. She even remembers you saying that’s what you were doing. You told her that, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but—”
“No buts about it! And thank God that Danielle ran. If she hadn’t run, she’d be upstairs now, like Amanda. Or dead!”
“Wanda, hold on!” another woman shouted, making her way through the crowd. She had glasses and long dark hair, and wore a striped top with jeans and flats. “Rose, I’m Cathy Tillman, Sarah’s mother, from class. Tell me, since when is it okay to desert a child?”
“I didn’t desert her. I helped her. The first thing I did was take Amanda and Emily to the hallway leading to the playground.”
“What about Danielle?” Wanda demanded, hands on hips.
“Danielle had already gone. She was in the hallway with the others. I told Amanda and Emily to follow Danielle—”
“Follow Danielle, that’s it?” Cathy interrupted, her light eyes round with astonishment behind her glasses. “You don’t put an eight-year-old in charge of another eight-year-old. They’re just kids, and it was an emergency. You should have taken them out to the playground yourself. Danielle wasn’t the lunch mom, you were. That’s your responsibility.”
“Right,” Wanda joined in. “I heard what happened. You punished Emily and Danielle for something they didn’t do, and so what if Amanda was joking around with your daughter? Kids are kids. You have to let them fight their own battles.”
Cathy leaned closer. “Let’s talk turkey. You’re just jealous of Amanda because she’s popular and Melly isn’t. Harry Potter this, Harry Potter that. Melly’s a freak!”
“She is not!” Rose’s temper flared. “She reads, that’s all!”
“Oh, please!” Cathy’s hand shot out, waving Rose off, but it startled her and she stepped backwards, bumping