"Mommy!" April shouted as she hurled herself into her mother's outstretched arms.

"I'm so glad you're here to pick me up mommy"! April whispered in her mom's ear as she received a big bear hug from her mom.

"Is everything alright baby?" Her mother asked pushing April's hair back from her face.

"No..yes..." muttered April.

Moana Jackson looked at her six year old intently.  "You know you can tell mommy if anything is wrong, don't you April?"

April looked at her mom. "Yes mommy", she said.

"Did something happened at school today honey?" her mom asked gently.

April mumbled something then buried her face in her mom's shoulder.

"What was that honey, you've got to speak up so that I can hear you." Moana said.

"Harold and Angel were messing with me again mommy.  They called me monkey face".

Moana looked at her daughter and gave her a hug, telling her she's a beautiful little girl and don't listen to those boys because they don't know anything!

Moana put her daughter down on the pavement so that she could walk beside her, then she turned around and went back to the classroom.  She was going to put an end to this nonsense here and now!

April's teacher was still inside the classroom.  Moana knocked and waited for her to open the classroom door. 

"Mrs. Jackson, hello, what can I do for you?" asked Ms. Genson. 

"April has had another rough day with those two boys again. I thought this was over with?" Moana said.

"April, why didn't you tell me?" Ms. Genson looked at April.

"Please come inside so we can talk about this".

Moana followed Ms. Genson and sat down on the small chair at her desk. 

"I am very concerned this is beginning to affect April and I'm not going to have that!" Moana said becoming angry.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Jackson, I've spoken to the children involved and we had a lesson about bullying and difference, I didn't realize that they were still doing that."

"I'm going to let my Principal know that they are still doing it and let her handle it from now on" Ms. Genson looked worried.

"You can understand how this can affect April, understand why I would be upset?" she asked the teacher.

"Of course I do", said Ms. Genson. "Just a moment please". She said and picked up the phone on her desk.

Ms. Genson spoke to Mrs. Miller the Principal.  She gently placed the phone on the receiver and turned to Moana.

"Mrs. Miller will send a note to the parents of the boys today". She told Moana.

"What happens then?" Moana asked.

"We'll arrange a meeting between the parents and Mrs. Miller to see what is going on, if anything at home." Ms. Genson said. "Hopefully we should find out why they are behaving that way and put a end to this situation", she continued.

Moana stood up and shook Ms. Genson's hand.  She left with April in tow.

"Let's stop and get some ice cream on the way home, okay honey". Moana told her daughter who nodded happily. She had already forgotten about the problems at school.

Moana wondered what kind of parents those kids have, and if they knew what their children were up to at school.  Sometimes they didn't know, at least she hoped they didn't.  She hated to think that people could be that disgusting, but then again, what was she thinking, this is the real world!

Moana was running late, she had ten minutes to get to the school.  She had a meeting with Mrs. Miller and the parents of the two boys.  Ms. Genson had told her quite confidentially that one of the parent was pretty upset, while the other didn't believe that her child would do that and got mad at them for sending the note.  Since Mrs. Miller couldn't resolve the situation a meeting with everyone involved was necessary. 

Moana didn't want to speed, although the car behind her was becoming impatient.  She refused to do it because of the children crossing the street, and the school was nearby.  She came to a four-way crossing and patiently waited her turn quickly looking at her watch.  The crossing guard was taking making sure all the children crossed safely.

The driver in the car behind her honked loudly again.  "What was her problem?", Moana mumbled to herself.

She looked through the rearview mirror and saw the driver making rude signals.

Before she realized what was happening, the driver behind her suddenly darted out from behind her, yelling profanity at her as she sped by.  "Damn monkey"! was all Moana could make out.

"Good grief, what a maniac!" Moana quickly wrote the license plate number down.  Thank heavens the crossing guard was already on the sidewalk!

Moana drove to the school and parked.  She quickly walked to the Principal's office.  April was with Ms. Genson until after the meeting.

She introduced herself at the reception area, showed her identification and was directed to the Principal's office.  She knocked on Mrs. Miller's door. "You're just in time Mrs. Jackson", the Principal greeted her.  "Please sit down.  This is Ms. Bennette, we are waiting on Mrs. Prim to arrive."

Ms. Bennette looked at Moana, stood and shook her hand. "I'm so sorry about all this", she said to Moana.  "My son Harold knows better because he's been taught to not call anyone names and not to be a bully.  He knows better than that.  I've spoken to him and he will apologize to your daughter. I'll see to it."

"Thank you, Ms. Bennette," Moana responded.  They talked as they waited for the other parent to arrive.  She was already 16 minutes late.

"I can't imagine what is keeping Mrs. Prim", Mrs. Miller said.  "She hasn't called to cancel and she does have the school's location.  I was surprised that she has never been here before." Mrs. Miller told the two women sitting in her office. "I can't imagine that!  But apparently her husband is the one who usually takes Angel to school.  She..."

There was a commotion outside and then a loud knock on the office door.

"Come in", Mrs. Miller said.

"I'm sorry I'm late, traffic was horrible and I had a damn hard time finding a parking spot around here!"

"You must be Mrs. Prim", Mrs. Miller stood and greeted her.

"This is Ms. Bennette, and this is Mrs. Jackson", she introduced the parents to the noisy intruder.

Moana was putting away her cell phone and hadn't looked up when the introduction was made. She fumbled with her pocketbook and looked up, smiling, extending her hand.

"How do you do Mrs. Prim, I'm...." Moana looked into the face of the druver who had been so rude earlier! 

Mrs. Prim looked uncomfortable.

"Well, talk about glass houses!" Moana said out loud before she could stop herself.

Mrs. Miller and Ms. Bennette looked at Moana then back to Mrs. Prim with a questioning look on their faces.

"Come again Mrs. Jackson....?" the Principal said to Moana.

"The pot calling the kettle black, when in glass houses and all that", Moana thought to herself.

She understood now, and calmly turned to Mrs. Miller.