Chapter 6: Monday Morning
I called the school at seven forty-five, before the front office opened, and left a message asking for an urgent meeting with the principal before first period.
I said it involved multiple students and a potential outside adult.
I used the word *urgent* twice.
They called back at eight ten.
The principal, Mr.
Garfield, would see us at eight forty-five.
Sandra picked up Priya's mother, Anita, on the way.
The three of us arrived together.
Leo walked beside me.
He was wearing a different jacket.
He'd changed it without me asking.
Mr.
Garfield's office had a round table with six chairs.
He'd brought the school counselor, Ms.
Okafor, and the vice principal, Mr.
Hess.
They were arranged on one side of the table.
We sat on the other — Sandra, Anita, me, and Leo in the chair at the end closest to the door.
"Thank you all for coming in," Mr.
Garfield said.
"I understand this is urgent.
Who'd like to start?"
"I will," I said.
I put the legal pad on the table.
I put Leo's phone beside it, open to the Discord group.
I put a printed copy of the screenshots — forty pages, printed at eleven-thirty the night before — in the center of the table.
"My son was a member of a Discord server called The Playbook," I said.
"It was created and administered by a twenty-three-year-old man named David Reid.
His younger brother Daniel is currently a senior here.
The group had thirty-one members, the majority of whom I believe are students at this school.
The group's stated purpose was to teach boys how to pursue girls.
The actual content included instructions on ignoring refusals, escalating unwanted contact, and sending explicit messages."
Mr.
Garfield had gone very still.
"My son used what he learned in that group to send harassing messages to two girls in his class — Chloe and Priya.
Both girls are present today through their mothers." I looked at Sandra and Anita.
"Both girls said stop.
Multiple times.
My son did not stop."
The room was quiet.
"Leo," I said.
He looked up.
"Tell Mr.
Garfield what you told me."
He did.
It took about four minutes.
He spoke quietly and he didn't look away from the table, but he didn't leave anything out.
When he finished, Ms.
Okafor was writing quickly on a notepad.
Mr.
Hess was looking at the printed screenshots.
"The group still exists," I said.
"As of last night, it had thirty-one members.
I have the full member list.
I don't know how many are your students, but I believe most of them are.
And I believe their parents don't know."
Mr.
Garfield looked at the printed pages.
Then at Leo.
Then at me.
"Mrs.—"
"Karen," I said.
"Karen.
I want to be clear that we take this extremely seriously.
I also want to ask — have you contacted law enforcement regarding David Reid?"
"Not yet.
I wanted to come here first.
But yes.
That's the next call."
He nodded slowly.
"I think that's the right sequence." He looked at Mr.
Hess.
"Pull Daniel Reid's schedule.
I want him in this office by nine."
Mr.
Hess stood and left the room.
Sandra leaned forward.
"My daughter has been carrying this for two weeks," she said.
Her voice was controlled, but only just.
"She didn't tell me because she was afraid of exactly this — a room full of adults deciding what to do while she sat somewhere else.
I need to know that Chloe and Priya are going to be protected in this building.
Not managed.
Protected."
"That is my priority," Mr.
Garfield said.
"Starting today."
"Then I need to hear what that looks like," Sandra said.
"Specifically."
He told her.
Specific things — schedule adjustments, a direct line to Ms.
Okafor, a plan for if any student made contact with either girl.
Sandra listened.
She asked two follow-up questions.
He answered them.
Anita had not spoken yet.
She was sitting with her hands folded on the table, watching everything.
When Mr.
Garfield finished, she said, quietly: "Priya is thirteen."
Nobody answered.
Nobody needed to.
The door opened.
Mr.
Hess came back in.
He sat down and leaned toward Mr.
Garfield and said something low.
Mr.
Garfield looked up.
"Daniel Reid isn't in school today," he said.
"He called in sick."
Sandra and I looked at each other.
"Does his brother know we're here?" I said.
May you like
Nobody answered that either.
But we all understood what it meant if he did.
