After wrapping up Dee Dee’s first play, we celebrated by going out for ice cream with some of the cast and their families.  The parents of one of the girls who was in the play and is also in Dee Dee’s class asked if we’d “heard about the note.”  We hadn’t, so they explained, sort of.  In an effort to enlighten us, both parents started speaking at the same time.  I wasn’t able to follow either of them, but they both seemed excited about their stories.  They only time that they seemed to be working in harmony was when they did a nice call and response of “Lots of swearing.”  “Lots Of Swearing!”  “A lot of swearing.”  “There was a LOT of swearing.”  Then, they shared a few choice examples of the swearing.  Oddly, they took turns and listened to each other while laughing and shouting out four letter words loud and clear for the other restaurant patrons to enjoy.  The kids were at another table, being loud, which kept them, and perhaps some of the other customers from hearing all the swearwords. 

What the story seemed to boil down to was that a note was found in the classroom that was written about, or to, or possibly by a boy who Dee Dee had trouble with in the past.  Last year, he often threatened to punch her, and then, one day, he did.  After she hit him back, he quit threatening her.  So, as far as the swearing contained in the note, I figured it was likely warranted, but I was quite curious as to what happened.  Given the circumstances, I didn’t think the night after the play was the right time to discuss the situation with Dee Dee.  So, I waited until the next morning at breakfast to ask Dee Dee about it. 

On Saturday morning, I told her what I already knew before I asked if she knew who wrote the note “with all the swearing” that was about the boy in her class.  She told me that, at first, she thought it was written by the girl whose desk is next to hers, but the girl showed Dee Dee that it wasn’t her handwriting.  I asked if the note had been shown to the class, or handed around, or what.  Dee Dee said, “Well, when I found it, I showed it to her right away and asked if she wrote it.”  I backed her up and asked, “When you found it?”  She said she found it between the garbage can and the recycling can.  I asked her when she’s going to get out of the habit of picking up dirty things off the ground.  She said that she wanted to recycle the paper but then got curious and read what was written on it.  She’s a glutton for good deeds. 

It seemed odd that Dee Dee didn’t tell us about something as interesting and as exciting as finding a naughty note that apparently, other kids were worked up enough over that they were telling their parents about it.  As much as it would be out of her character, and given her history with this particular boy, I was a little concerned that she might have been the writer, or involved in some way.  So, I asked Dee Dee if she wrote the note.  Dee Dee said that she did not.  When I asked one last time if she could tell us anything about what was in the note, she claimed to not know or remember what it said.  I didn’t feel like making her say things that made her uncomfortable.  So, I wrapped up the discussion by saying something like, “Eventually, the truth will come out.  Dee Dee said, “That’s what the principal said.”  The principal? 

Apparently, my statement prompted her to remember and report what was probably the most interesting bit of the whole tale.  Dee Dee said that the principal had all the students write out what they knew about the note on a piece of paper.  I said something about how the principal now had a sample of everyone’s handwriting.  Dee Dee added that their teacher had them all write their names clearly at the top of their pages.  The concern about why Dee Dee hadn’t told us about any of this before I brought it up crept back quickly.  As much as I wanted to find out if there were any other extremely important parts of the story, I could tell that Dee Dee wanted to be done talking about it.  So, I just spent the rest of the weekend worrying about what we’d find out on Monday. 

Over the following 48 hours, I thought about the different times that Dee Dee has done things that have not fit with her personality.  One memory in particular stuck out.  Early last year, Dee Dee brought home a note that had been passed back and forth between her and another girl who were writing about two other girls.  Dee Dee wrote that she wasn’t in favor of letting the girls into their club (the kids at school form and dissolve ‘clubs’ on a weekly and sometimes daily basis).  At the time, I explained to Dee Dee that she should never put anything in writing that could come back to haunt her.  I also thought about how in the past, Dee Dee had defended herself against this boy who was the subject of the note.  As much as I trusted Dee Dee when she said that she wasn’t involved, I also know that sometimes people do things without thinking them through. 

I waited until Dinner on Monday night to ask Dee Dee about the note, and if they found out anything about who had written it.  She reported that it was the boy who sits next to her in class, on Dee Dee’s other side from the girl who didn’t write the note.  She said that he had to stand up in front of the class and apologize to the boy and everyone else for his behavior.  I asked if he seemed sincere, and she said that he didn’t.  I asked when the boy made the public apology and Dee Dee said that it was just before Friday Fun (a half-hour of free time at the end of every week).  “He apologized last Friday?”  “Yeah, I guess so.”  I verified that the whole thing had been resolved before the end of the day, Friday, and before we had our discussion on Saturday morning.  She said, “Yeah, I guess so,” again.