Broken by Ilsa Evans Page B

reached quickly for the wall-phone, leaning across the table and plucking the receiver from its cradle. ‘Hello?’
    â€˜Can I speak to Mrs Hampton?’
    Mattie’s stomach plummeted at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. ‘Speaking.’
    â€˜Hello, Mrs Hampton – or it’s Matilda, isn’t it? Look, this is Jan Mac-Farlane. I’m the district counsellor for your son’s primary school. I was there today.’
    â€˜Oh?’
    â€˜Yes, and . . . well, I’ve got a few concerns that I’d like to speak to you about.’
    â€˜A few concerns?’ repeated Mattie, her throat drying.
    â€˜Mattie?’ hissed Hilda, levering herself up with the aid of the table.
    â€˜Excuse me one minute, will you?’ Without waiting for an answer, Mattie put her hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Hilda. ‘Sorry about this. It’s my son’s school.’
    â€˜Is everything all right?’
    â€˜Sure. They just want to chat about a few things.’
    â€˜I shall see myself out then.’ Hilda picked up her mug and took it over to the sink where she rinsed it and placed it upside down on the draining board. ‘Nice to meet you, and thank you for the coffee.’
    â€˜My pleasure.’ Mattie watched the older woman go back out through the lounge-room and waited till she heard the front door close before removing her hand. ‘Sorry about that.’
    â€˜Is this a bad time? I could call back later.’
    â€˜No, now’s fine. Um, you said you had concerns?’
    â€˜Yes. Your son’s teacher spoke to me about a few issues so I met with him today Max, that is. For a little one-on-one. And I found him quite . . . closed off. Is he always like that?’
    â€˜Yes,’ replied Mattie, relieved. ‘Always. That’s just Max.’
    â€˜But the problem is, Matilda, that I couldn’t talk to him about his teacher’s concerns because he was simply . . . well, uncooperative. Wouldn’t discuss anything.’
    â€˜I’m not surprised.’ Mattie frowned. ‘Look, I don’t want to be rude, but don’t you need my permission to counsel my son?’
    â€˜Oh no, I wasn’t counselling him. Just an initial discussion. Nothing to worry about. If I felt the need for counselling, then of course I’d get in touch with you and we’d toss a few ideas around.’
    â€˜Is that what you’re doing now?’ asked Mattie slowly.
    â€˜Well . . . maybe. To be honest, Matilda, I’m not sure if Max needs anything because I couldn’t talk to him. That’s why I thought I’d call you.’
    â€˜What were his teacher’s concerns?’
    â€˜Predominantly – unnecessary aggression.’
    Mattie’s eyes widened. ‘Aggression?’
    â€˜Yes. Apparently Max has a tendency to lash out at times. Yesterday, for example.’
    â€˜What happened yesterday?’
    â€˜You don’t know?’ Jan MacFarlane fell silent for a moment before continuing. ‘I see. Well, perhaps you should ask Max for his detention slip when he gets home. You’ll need to sign it anyway. I believe it’s for Thursday afternoon.’
    Mattie spoke tightly. ‘Could you just tell me what happened?’
    â€˜Certainly. Apparently he got into a scuffle with another boy in the playground and a teacher had to intervene. She broke it up and sent them to opposite ends of the yard but Max wouldn’t leave. The teacher had to hold him back until the other boy was out of sight. Then, when she let him go, he ran straight over to the other side and hunted this boy down. By the time the teacher got there, he had the child on the ground.’
    â€˜Oh my god.’
    â€˜Luckily the boy wasn’t really hurt, otherwise the consequences could have been much worse. But, Matilda, when Max was taken inside to the principal’s office, he cried so hard he had to be taken to the sick bay where