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version.”
    “My version?” she asks. The eyes that meet mine don’t quite match her cute and sweet exterior. “There’s only one version of what happened. The honest version.”
    “Of course,” I say.
    “We were discussing Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and exploring the idea of peaceful nonviolence during my class. With all the violence happening in our country today, I thought it made sense to talk about what Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. did.”
    “So you inserted Jesus into the conversation then?”
    “No. I was talking about what makes nonviolence so radical   —how it’s an unwavering commitment to being nonviolent both with its initial approach and in response to the persecution that might follow. This was when one of my students   —a young woman named Brooke Thawley   —asked a question related to this.”
    “About Jesus,” I add.
    Grace nods without any air of defense. “Brooke asked if that was what Jesus meant when he said we should love our enemies. So I said yes, that’s exactly what he meant.”
    “And that’s exactly how you said it?”
    “Well, no. Not exactly. I explained in my interview with the principal and superintendent the precise words. Did you see those?”
    Remember   —she’s a teacher, bozo. She’s surely way smarter than you are.
    “Yes, of course,” I say. “I just want to hear your explanation.”
    “I agreed with her and said that the writer of the Gospel of Matthew recorded Jesus saying that. I shared the Bible verse that quotes this. I added that Dr. King confirmed it by describing his inspiration from Scripture and saying that ‘Christ furnished the spirit and motivation while Gandhi furnished the method.’”
    I can already see how this might have gotten some attention from people at the school.
    “So who texted and complained?”
    “I don’t know that,” Grace says. “I just know one of the students began to bait me   —just to try to get me or the class riled up. I told him that both Jesus and Dr. King were killed for their actions and that both started movements that survive to this day, even though both paid the ultimate price for their commitment to their ideals.”
    “Did you spend a long time debating about this?”
    She shakes her head. “It wasn’t a debate, Mr. Endler.”
    I grimace. “Please. That’s my father. I’m Tom.”
    “We maybe spent another couple of minutes talking about it. But that was all. Not long after that, Principal Kinney asked to talkto me. I always wondered how I could do something to go viral. I just didn’t think it would be something like this.”
    “I think everybody is one dumb decision away from their life going viral.” I suddenly realize what this might have sounded like. “Not that what you did is dumb. I’m just saying   —”
    “I understand.”
    She puts one hand in the other and I notice the lack of a wedding ring on her finger. I already knew she wasn’t married, but I still can’t help looking at those sorts of things these days. I wasn’t always like this, but I was never thirty-five before my last birthday.
    “So, how did things escalate from this classroom conversation to the two of us talking here?”
    “That’s something you need to ask the parents suing me. They just so happen to be Brooke’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thawley.”
    “What about the initial conversations with the principal and superintendent?” I say. “How did those go?”
    “They were reacting to a situation that was blowing up. I readily admitted that I had responded to a student’s question. I also stated that the student’s question and my answer involved the teachings of Jesus in the context of the class discussion.”
    “Context can be one of those gray areas in life.”
    “There was nothing gray about this.”
    There’s not a trace of doubt on her face or in her tone. I feel like the comic in the class being called out for making some stupid comment.
    “I’m sorry,” Grace