Southern Hospitality

Chapter 11

"Hey buddy. Where is Mrs. Newton?" I asked looking for his teacher

"She stepped out to take a call but said she'll be back" he said smiling at me. Evelyn stepped from behind me and his smile grew bigger as he ran to hug her too 

"Hi, Landon! How have you been" she asked as he pulled her over to the carpet to talk 

I took a seat at one of the tables and Mrs. Newton walked in 

"Mr. Carson great to see you" she greeted me walking to her desk to grab some papers 

She made her way over to me and took the seat across from me. Evelyn got up and walked over with Landon as we all sat at the round table ready to start the meeting 

"And this is?" Mrs. Newton asked looking at Evelyn 

"This is Evelyn! She's my friend and she likes cookies and cream ice cream like me! We even went to the carnival together and my daddy lik-"

"Ok, thats enough Landon" I said covering his mouth. He was going to say something nobody needed to hear right now

"How about you go and play with the toys" I said motioning for him to leave 

Evelyn and Mrs. Newton laughed at him and then we started the conversation

"Well, I'll be frank and say that things has been getting worse... the fights have gotten more physical and I'm worried about him" she said looking concerned 

"I'm sorry about that but can you tell me why they are fighting" I asked. Landon never really told me how things started and whenever I asked he would go quiet

"Ummm... well it starts around nap time. Landon tends to get in arguments with one of the boys then they start yelling waking everyone up. Kids say all types of mean things but when Landon started to hit the others things escalted. Is there something going on at home? I know you and Ms. Payton are not together" she hinted

"What does my relationship with Savannah have to do with Landon getting in fights?" I asked bawling my fist. Evelyn grabbed my hand and opened it to inter whine our fingers  

"I didn't mean it like that Mr. Carson. Its just that when kids witness their parents... argue they tend to micic that" she sated 

Was she  insisting I fight with Savannah in front of him? I would never beat a women matter fact lay a finger on anyone. I am a bigger built guy but I always teach Landon to love not fight

"Mrs. Newton, I believe your accusation are quite rude towards Luke's character" Evelyn interjected shifting in her seat 

Before she could respond the door opened and an instant migraine attacked my head. Savannah walked in with her heels clicking against the floor. Landon looked up and ran over surprised to see his mom 

"Mommy!" Savannah smiled and picked him up kissing his cheeks before letting him down and coming over to the table 

"Ms. Payton its nice you could join us. We just started so you didn't miss much" Landons teacher greeted her as she stared at Evelyn anger

"Who is this Luke?" she asked disgusted 

"Hi, I'm Evelyn a friend of Luke's" she said with a modest smile 

I watched Savannah's eye twitch as she noticed we were holding hands. "Luke why do you have this... women at our sons parent teacher conference" she stressed putting empathize on "our" 

I rolled my eyes at her antics "Landon knows her. She's Abigail's granddaughter" I answered trying to protect whatever peace was left. She didn't say anything and sat down across from us 

"Ok... let's keep going. Ms. Payton I was asking Mr. Carson about Landons at home situation trying to figure out what would cause these fights" his teacher continued and Savannah started laughing. I didn't know what was so funny to her. Our son is getting in trouble at school 

"I'm not one to ask. Ask his father I'm not even allowed in the house" she scoffed spilling our drama again. Evelyn looked at me confused as I stared at Savannah with hate 

"He always busy working and calls me a bad parent" she spitted under her breath

"Savannah shut your mouth" I argued back. She smirked knowing I was getting triggered 

"You can't tell me what to do Luke. We're not together remember? I'm just telling Mrs. Newton the truth" she crossed her arms leaning back in the chair 

"Listen lets not-" Evelyn tried to intervine 

"You want to go there? How about we talk about the fact you get white girl wasted whenever you watch Landon and he had to call me crying because your dunk ass passed out" I yelled brining up her dirty laundry 

Mrs. Newton let out a gasp but Savannah just rolled her eyes "Thats low for you Luke" 

Evelyn got up abruptly and went to take Landon out the room 

"Enough!" Mrs. Newton yelled 

"This is about Landon! Now I don't know what you have going on but if these conferences continue we will have to expel him and I do not want to do that. Landon is a smart kid and doesn't deserve to be kicked out of school" she explained 

My face soften as I started to think about my actions. I let my temper go and fought with Savannah again in front of him. I promised I would be better for Landon but she always gets under my skin

"I apologize Mrs. Newton" I rested my head in my hands