[Chasmo]

Walking into the large but crowded science lab, the makeshift arena for her presentation in which parents, teachers and students were sitting cheek to jowel at the twenty four lab stations that lined the room in four rows each six deep, Danielle sensed the concern of the parents over recent events as well as the apprehension of some of the students who were no doubt caught up in this disgraceful behavior. More satisfying to her insatiable ego, however, was that every man and boy present, whether teacher, parent or student was fixated on her beauty as she made her way to the head of the class.

Waiting for the meddlesome mother’s arrival, and prepared to be seated alongside her in front of the one-hundred-fifty or so people in the crowd, were Principal Brady, the nitwitted Linda Bertrand, Jessica Bradley, PTA President Rachel Miras and a representative of the local police force, one Sergeant Lori Heilkamp.

Danielle presented her best false smile on the outside and a mocking one on the inside as she greeted the women each of whom she had belittled in one way or another for years. She took particular delight in the fear she so clearly struck into the hearts of Linda Bertrand and Jess Bradley one of who she had already fired from SmythKnight and the other – although technically Mrs. Parnell’s partner – who clearly served at her pleasure.

The imperious alpha-lawyer likewise flashed a wry smile, more a barely concealed smirk, at Sergeant Heilkamp, having only minutes before trumped the fetching officer during a traffic stop. Danielle and Anna had been pulled over for speeding by the stunning, 5’10” German-American on the way to the meeting. Although the sexy sergeant was more than prepared to give the preening prima donna the ticket she deserved, Lori was shut down by her partner and senior officer, a strapping you lieutenant who was quickly manipulated by the brown haired beauty behind the wheel into letting her off with a mere warning.

“Good afternoon ladies,” Danielle snipped without a hint of kindness or recognition, and then, directing a veritable order to Lori Heilkamp, “why don’t you get this riff-raff settled so we can begin.”

Steaming at the arrogance of Mrs. Parnell, the pretty patrol-woman, with a forced smile on her face, asked that everyone be seated so that the program could begin. In the meantime, as she motioned to Anna to approach her in the front of the classroom, Danielle sifted through the contents of her Louis Vuitton bag to find her daughter’s phone.

“I thought I told you to put your phone in my bag Anna,” Mrs. Parnell scolded the pretty teen.

“I did mom, it should be in there,” the young girl replied, “see there it is, right next to yours.”

Picking up her daughter’s now discovered device, Danielle quickly used her well-manicured thumb to unlock it before tapping on “Photos.” After teeing up a video of the carrot munching George Bailey, Anna’s erstwhile equine companion, the comely counselor handed the phone back to her daughter who she had charged with synching the device to the wireless projector and advancing through the photos and videos -- at Danielle’s command – during the presentation.

As Anna retreated to the back of the room, her mother spied the young girl flashing a smile at that trouble-maker Tim Bradley. It was bad enough, Danielle thought to herself, that the little punk was always hanging around the stables where Anna rode, helping out with the horses and otherwise attending to odd jobs, but this was a bridge too far. Putting aside the fact that Little Timmy was too old for her precious daughter, there was no chance that Danielle Marie Parnell would countenance having Anna cavorting with some shiftless and perverted stable boy. The bothered beauty made a mental note to make that fact very clear to her daughter after the meeting.

Once the crowd had finally been seated, Sheila Harris called the parent-teacher-student meeting to order. As diplomatically as possible, the newly minted principal recounted some of the uncomfortable problems that had arisen due to students’ irresponsible use of social media and, to drive her point home, she acknowledged the attendance of Lori Heilkamp and made it clear that going forward local law enforcement would be involved as necessary.

With that introduction, officer Heilkamp said a few words as did Rachel Miras in her role as the lead liaison between parents and teachers and Jess Bradley, as a parent who had addressed this issue some years before with her son Tim. Finally, and to the waiting men and boys in the room, at last, Principal Harris stood up to introduce the evening’s guest speaker Mrs. Danielle Marie Parnell.

“Parents, teachers and students,” Sheila Harris began, “without further ado, it is my great pleasure and privilege to introduce to you prominent Washington, DC attorney, concerned parent and mother to two of our students Mrs. Danielle Parnell, who will deliver a brief presentation on the appropriate use by students of photos in social media.”

With that introduction, Danielle uncrossed her incredibly toned legs, stood before the gathered crowd and, with an expression that was a cross between disdain for them and pity of them – and with her stare locked firmly on the offensive Tim Bradley – began her presentation.

“As most of you know by now,” Danielle began staring ever more intently at young Master Bradley, “certain boys – the original one of whom is now practically a man – have taken to social media to share prurient, deplorable and perverted images with our children. Most of these images are too lurid to warrant description in proper company but – as the Supreme Court once defined pornography – ‘you know it when you see it.’”

Shifting her stare to the women seated beside her, the domineering diva scornfully continued, “although decorum and our tax dollars tell us that we should be able to rely upon our community’s teachers, parents, PTA leaders and law enforcement professionals to put a stop to this tawdry behavior, experience has sadly shown us otherwise.”

As men and boys alike became aroused at the vituperative vixen’s minimization of the other women present, Danielle continued her screed.

“Perhaps not unexpectedly, it has fallen upon a true leader – one not ashamed of what she has done – to attempt to bring some rationality and civility to our children’s behavior and, what better way to do that, than by example.”

Gesturing to her daughter in the back of the room -- who was secretly hoping the floor would swallow up one or both of her and her arrogant mother – Danielle entreated further, “I’ve asked my daughter Anna to share with you – without need by me or anyone else to cherry pick or edit images in any way – a montage of the photos and videos she keeps on her phone, any and all of which a parent would be delighted to see. Hopefully, when this brief show is complete, it will usher in a more responsible approach by all of you. Anna – if you will.”

As Danielle took her seat and the lights in the room were dimmed, Anna Parnell endeavored to begin the slide show. In the darkness, however, she seemed unable to properly enter her passcode which, to the delight of many of the women in the audience, caused her mother the embarrassment of having to retreat to the back of the room and use her thumb to unlock her daughter’s phone.

At last, as Danielle rejoined the other women up front, the show began. One by one, photos of George Bailey trotting, George Bailey galloping, Anna’s friends at camp and at band practice and Anna and her friends at a birthday party began to flash across the screen causing Anna’s friends to giggle and the poor girl to suffer yet another humiliation brought on by her domineering mother. What surprised
Anna most though was just how few of the pictures she recalled taking.

As the last still shot faded away, the first video began. In it, with a bright blue sky as background, appeared the very fancy stables where the Parnell family boarded Anna’s horse and where the young teen did most of her riding. But rather than staying focused on the trusty old steed emerging from one of the paddocks, the video instead captured and followed a strapping young man, tan and shirtless wearing naught by jeans, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, hauling a bale of hay from the stables to a waiting pick-up truck – it was Timmy Bradley.

As the gaggle of Anna’s friends, boys and girls alike, began to tease her in the darkness with the likes of, “ooooh Anna,” and “Anna loves Tim,” and the mothers and female teachers in the crowd, who to a one despised Danielle, exchanged comments such as, “not so appropriate after all,” and “I guess she doesn’t have as much control at home as she thinks,” Anna Parnell stared dumbfounded for she had neither seen before nor taken the video on the screen. One of her friends, she angrily surmised, must have grabbed her phone as a joke.

But before she could consider who did it, the silence in the room was broken by an unseen but not completely discernable voice – clearly that of the videographer – saying, “mmmmm . . . mmmmm . . . mmmmm . . . don’t you look yummy little Timmy.”

“Oh my God Anna,” one of her friends screamed from the darkness, “you’re such a perv!”

“It’s not me,” Anna shouted, “I didn’t take that video . . . I don’t even remember taking those pictures.”

But no one in the room believed her. No one, that is, except her mother; because no sooner had the video appeared on the screen than had Danielle realized that she had inadvertently given Anna her phone. The lovely lawyer also realized that she needed to stop this show before that secret – and a much bigger one yet to be revealed – was out. If doing that meant humiliating her daughter in public then so be it.

“Anna Parnell,” Mrs. Parnell boomed as if in court thereby restoring silence again to the room, ”shame on you young lady . . .”