Chapter 22: The Vote

The board met at ten o'clock in a conference room next to the ballroom, under a ceiling of ordinary fluorescent lights.

Nine members sat along one side of a long table, and the board chair sat at its head.

We sat in the second row of folding chairs: my mother, my grandmother, Lindsey and me.

Noemi stood against the back wall with her press badge and her phone, taking notes.

"This is an emergency session," the board chair said. "Mr. Salcedo has been invited to attend. He has not responded."

"He's not coming," my grandmother muttered.

"Then we proceed."

The chair looked down the table.

"I've heard the statements tonight, and the paramedic's report, and the nurse.

"I have seen the photograph." He paused. "I'd like the record to show that the board did not know."

"We should have asked," said a woman at the end. "Eight years. One scholarship. We should have asked."

"We should have," the chair said. "Motion to remove Gabriel Salcedo as principal of Brightwater Academy and to withdraw the promotion vote. Second?"

"Second."

"All in favor."

Nine hands went up around the table.

My mother reached over and took my grandmother's hand, and neither of them said anything.

The chair's phone buzzed on the table. He glanced at it, and his face changed.

"I have an email from Mr. Salcedo," he said. "Sent two minutes ago."

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