‘As per my email we are holding this parent forum so we, the governors, can canvass opinion among you, which will influence our closed-door meeting when we shall decide whether Sebastian Kent has a future at our school. I want to reassure you that we are working closely with an advisor from the council who is here today, to ensure we follow procedure. Now, it’s critical that I remind you all that this meeting was scheduled before the awful fire last week, which is a police matter and not for discussion here. Understood? Good. We thought about cancelling in light of the shocking act of violence, but we governors must still make a decision for the children, and it feels more pressing than ever to do so in a timely manner. So, I’m asking that we please stick to the matter at hand, namely, whether Mr Kent should be asked to permanently leave his position after allegedly using school property during work hours for his personal’ – a few sniggers – ‘activities.’
Harriet looks up sharply.
The woman next to Abi mutters, ‘I heard there was no evidence at all – he’d wiped it, of course – so that computer stuff is just Anna’s hearsay. But then again, she hasn’t been wrong in any of this so far, has she?’
The man next to the woman looks down at her, arms crossed, frowning.
‘Oops!’ the woman says, running her thumb and forefinger across her mouth as though zipping herself up, and turning back to face Harriet who says, ‘Now. We have an hour, and I’d like to invite any of you up to the microphone here to voice your opinions, but please keep them short. I will stop you if you talk for longer than two minutes and if any of you go wildly off track.’
Harriet’s eyes cast around the packed pavilion like she’s doubtful anyone will have anything useful to say, before she moves back to her chair.
A wave of nervous energy ripples through the parents before a man sitting at the back gets up and, looking grimly determined, walks to the microphone.
‘Hello, I’m Tim. We have two daughters at the school. Now, before all of this, I was very liberal in my thinking, open-minded. But over the last few days, I’ve realized there’s a big difference between theory and practice. We can all be as liberal as you like when it’s just theory, but when it actually happens, when it’s your own kids who are being taught by someone you consider a sexual transgressive, then all theories are out the window. It’s my understanding that his laptop had been wiped clean, but he’s never come out and denied it, has he? I don’t trust the man any more and I certainly don’t want him anywhere near my daughters. We’d like him gone.’
Abi wonders what Tim gets up to when he’s alone. Pictures him for a moment in stockings and high heels. She should never have come. She looks towards the exit; she’d have to walk past so many people to get out. Everyone would see, but that might be better than standing here listening to these people bullshit about things they know nothing about for the next hour.
Tim going first has broken the seal; there’s now a small queue of people waiting their turn for the mic. A few echo Tim, adding their own sentence or two about sexual and power imbalances and how, in their mind, Seb orchestrated his own downfall. Then a woman, her cheeks pink and clashing furiously with her red dress, says, ‘I think he’s an absolute disgrace,’ and Abi realizes it’s not nerves making her shake, it’s rage. ‘What he’s done –
There are a couple of claps from her supporters in the audience, people growing bolder. It’s the strangest thing, almost comical, hearing people talk about her body.
Harriet reminds everyone to please keep to the matter of Seb using school property. ‘This is not’ – she glances at someone, off stage to her right – ‘about his personal choices.’
Next up is a tall, angular woman. Abi tenses but immediately relaxes as the woman says, ‘I just want to say that I find Mr Kent’s humiliation, his shame, very relatable. It’s many of our worst nightmares, isn’t it? The kind of thing that would keep you up at night, something hidden in your personal life becoming so public. Now, I’m not Christian, but while I’ve been sitting here, listening to others mention Christian values, I keep thinking of that bit in the Bible that says something like, “Those without sin throw the first stone,” and none of us can, can we?’