Page 33 of Meet Me Under the Northern Lights

MAGNúS’S SCHOOL, REYKJAVIK

‘Thank you for coming in today, Mr Eriksson.’

Gunnar looked around the principal’s office as Magnús soberly followed him inside and Mr Almr greeted them.

It took Gunnar right back to when he was a student at this very school.

The office was virtually unchanged, apart from a smarter computer and fewer filing cabinets.

And it had a certain scent to it. Books, dust and the essence of fear…

‘ Halló Magnús,’ Mr Almr said.

‘ Halló ,’ Magnús answered, a little sheepish.

‘OK,’ Gunnar said, pulling up a chair, sitting down and urging Magnús to do the same. ‘So, let us get to the point of our being here and the misunderstandings that have taken place.’

‘Misunderstandings?’ Mr Almr asked.

‘Yes,’ Gunnar continued. ‘Because you have only communicated to me that you believe Magnús has hit Brigitta Lundgren and not the fact that Brigitta Lundgren and her friends have been bullying Magnús for quite some time.’

‘I do not believe I gave you the girl’s name,’ Mr Almr said, looking uncomfortable and shifting about in his rotating leather chair.

‘And I do not believe that you have adequately looked into the cause of this incident. The root cause. The bullying of Magnús.’

‘We take physical bullying very seriously, Mr Eriksson.’

‘And what of mental bullying?’ Gunnar questioned. ‘Telling someone that they are nothing because of where they have come from and how they have been brought up and the fact their parents are dead.’

Gunnar hadn’t meant to say the words quite like gunfire, had thought, after sleeping on things, that his anger would have depleted, but there was something about being back in this room that was reminding him of all the times he was told similar by someone who was supposed to be caring for him.

Just because some children find study harder than others it should not mean their needs are overlooked, their difficulties thought of as bad behaviour.

He had been the boy who had lost his father, lost his way for a while and gone through challenging times feeling different from everyone else.

‘This is what has been happening to you, Magnús?’ Mr Almr asked, looking at the boy.

Magnús sat stock still, eyes on the floor.

‘Magnús,’ Gunnar urged. ‘There is no shame in admitting that these students hurt you with words. Words can be so much sharper than hitting with fists.’

Finally, Magnús looked up. ‘I did not hit her,’ he said firmly. ‘I pushed her. And Brigitta and her friends have been calling me names and saying horrible things all year. They cut my hair. They used the shit of dogs on my locker.’

Gunnar folded his arms across his chest. ‘As I said. For months, Mr Almr. And you call me only to tell me that you think Magnús has done something very wrong when really the school has failed to protect him.’

‘Mr Eriksson, I can assure you, if I had known this was ocurring I would have been able to stop the matter escalating and getting us into the position we are in now. I think that?—’

‘So what next?’ Gunnar interrupted. ‘You will speak to these bullies and ensure that Magnús does not have to put up with this any more?’

‘I am afraid it is not as simple as that,’ Mr Almr said, a heavy sigh leaving his mouth.

‘Why not?’

‘Because a physical assault has been reported, I have to follow certain procedures and I also have to respect the wishes of the parents of the student with regard to those procedures.’

‘Talk straight to me,’ Gunnar ordered. ‘Stop with the procedures. And when did this reporting of a physical assault happen? It was not what you told me in our phone call.’

‘Well,’ Mr Almr continued. ‘I have tried to de-escalate things, but, the girl’s parents, they now wish to take the matter to the police.’

‘What? Why? I did not hit her!’

The words had come from Magnús and Gunnar saw the absolute fear in the boy’s eyes. This was not going to happen. But Gunnar had to maintain calm. He put a hand on Magnús’s shoulder, firm, consoling mixed with solidarity. ‘It is OK, Magnús.’

‘I am a little surprised that the officer has not contacted you already today. I think?—’

‘You know what I think?’ Gunnar interrupted. ‘I think that your school is not the kind of place that Magnús needs to be right now. And that I understand why he has felt he cannot come to you for help and has instead decided to be absent.’ He got to his feet.

‘Mr Eriksson, Magnús must come to school. It is the law.’

‘And, Mr Almr, to feel safe at that school is a matter of human rights.’

The teacher stood too. ‘Mr Eriksson, I can?—’

‘We are leaving now,’ Gunnar stated. ‘But this is not the end of the discussion. Come on, Magnús.’

‘Mr Eriksson, please, we can?—’

The teacher’s words were lost in the closing of the door and Gunnar’s heart was thrumming in his chest as they got out into the slightly less cloying scent of the corridor. He took a breath, could see Magnús shaking next to him.

‘What… are we… going to do?’ Magnús asked, words juddering, expression speaking of his terror.

‘We are going to think,’ Gunnar stated, a lot more confidently than he felt. ‘And find the solution.’

‘I… do not want… to be in trouble… with the police,’ Magnús said. ‘Brigitta is lying. I have said that I pushed her but I did not do more than that, I swear!’

‘Magnús, I will not let anything happen, OK?’ His mind was working overtime now.

How did they prove the bullying when it would be Magnús’s word against the bullies?

How did they prove that Magnús pushed and did not hit?

And then it came to him. ‘Magnús, did anyone see what happened with Brigitta? Does anyone know about the bullying? One of your friends? Anyone else?’

Gunnar looked directly at him, saw his eyes were tearing up with the stress of the situation. He drew the boy closer, put one arm around him. ‘Do not worry, Magnús, OK? We will fix this.’