Difficult Lessons (9 page)

“Either way the article leans, it will stir things up. A story like this might attract a great deal of attention.”

“I am not looking forward to that attention,” Sara leaned back in the chair looking almost deflated.

Chapter 14

The drive on Monday was monotonous. Sara had become frustrated with even going to work. Because of her love for her students and her love of teaching, she continued. Her disgust for Mr. Michaels made her physically ill at times. 

Two blocks from the campus traffic slowed to a crawl. Horns were blowing in the distance. Assuming there was an accident up ahead; Sara sat back, sipped her coffee and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. 

As Sara’s car inched closer to the campus gate she could see people standing on the side of the road. There was about fifty or so people on each side of the road. Sara looked at her watch and let out a frustrated breath. 

“What the…?” Sara blurted out as she approached the gate to the school. “I cannot believe this.” Sara grabbed for her cell phone, dialed Karen’s office, and left a message about what was happening at the school.  Next she dialed Cynthia’s number.

“You are not going to believe this,” Sara began. “They are picketing the school!  There are people on both sides of the street holding picket signs!”

“What?” Cynthia’s response was pure surprise.

Sara repeated what she had said to her. “This day is shot now,” she continued.  “All of this commotion will completely disrupt the school day. I guess it is a good thing that our testing is over.” 

“Maybe you shouldn’t go in today. I will worry about you all day long, Sara.”

“I’ll be okay. It looks like they’re staying out of the parking lot. I can get in the building and to my room. I will just camp out there all day.” Sara was trying to sound reassuring.

She could not help but smile and wave at the woman holding a sign that read,
Protect our children
.

What did she think the children needed protection from? She also smiled at a woman that held up a sign that read,
Immorality does not belong in the classroom
. 

Sara let out a nervous giggle. “What morons.”

Sara parked her car and quickly made her way into the building. The voices from the street were easily heard inside the front doors of the school. The building was still vacant and quiet, but she was sure that it would become a madhouse later on.

Flipping through the papers that were in her mailbox as she walked through the hall to her room, she noticed a teacher step to the side when she walked by her. Sara did not think it was worth a second thought. She continued pretending to read the papers in her hand. 

She closed her classroom door behind her. Her room had a full view of the street. After putting her briefcase down in the chair, she looked out to see more and more people gathering. A van from Channel 9 News was parking on the sidewalk.

The knock at the door startled Sara. She turned in the direction of the door just as it opened. 

“Sara? May I come in?” Mrs. Dixon asked as she entered and closed the door behind her. Asking permission for her was just a formality. Everyone loved her though and would not have turned her down. In her thirty-seven years of teaching, she had probably taught most of the staff at Mills.

“I’ll quit teaching when I cannot get out of bed in the mornings,” she had joked when someone asked her when she was going to retire. 

“Sure Mrs. Dixon. Come on in. How are you this morning?” Sara forced a smile across her face.

“I’m not here to talk about me. How are you, Sara? I have been worried about you since I read the paper yesterday. Why didn’t you tell me about all of this, honey? I have noticed that you are not yourself lately. I thought you were just stressing over testing like the rest of us. I had no idea that you have been going through anything like this these past few weeks.” 

Sara felt a twinge of relief as Mrs. Dixon spoke. “I wasn’t holding out on you, Mrs. Dixon. No one knew but my family. Everything has just happened so fast. I was going to handle the situation privately between the board members, Mr. Michaels, and myself. The person who is ultimately responsible for all of this evidently contacted the newspaper. The reporter for the paper called me and I told her my side of everything. Now we have complete chaos.” 

“Unless I misread the article, I don’t think it turned out quite like this person, whoever it is, may have wanted if he or she was trying to cause you trouble. The article, to me, favored you. Now tell me what brought this little pimple to a head?” Mrs. Dixon had such a way of putting things.

After Sara had given her a synopsis of what had happened, Mrs. Dixon patted her on the back and said, “Honey don’t you worry. You have friends and supporters here. We will not sit back and let them take your career from you. We will all protest. Hell, I am thinking about joining them on the street now.”

“Mrs. Dixon, would you mind if I spoke with Ms. Carson alone?” Both of them turned in surprise to see Mr. Michaels standing in the door with a smug look on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

Mrs. Dixon hugged Sara tightly. “Remember we are behind you,” she said as she patted Sara on the back. The older woman glared at Mr. Michaels as she walked by him. 

“Ms. Carson, are you satisfied with this display this morning?” The sarcasm was thick in his voice. 

“Satisfied?” Sara was not quite sure how to respond to the question.

“This little scene that you have caused by going to the newspaper with this. It is complete bedlam out there. Our entire school day will be disrupted by your little stunt.”

“Mr. Michaels, I did not go to the paper. That reporter contacted me. Someone had called her anonymously and she wanted my side. I suggest you talk with her about who started this, or better yet, talk with your dear friend Officer Griffin. I would be willing to bet that he is the one that called her.”

Sara took her seat behind her desk and started organizing her notes for the day. 

“This is not going to change things, Ms. Carson,” Mr. Michaels spoke as he turned to leave.

Sara held her ground until he was gone. Once he was down the hall, she put her head in her hands. He was right. The whole day would be a waste. The ringing of the bell snapped her back to reality. 

Chapter 15

Only a few of Sara’s students were present when the tardy bell sounded. The halls were eerily quiet. The optimistic side of her said that they were caught in the traffic and would come in later.  The pessimist in her replied that many parents had kept their children home in protest today. 

As Sara tried to begin class, a few students came in with tardy passes excusing them. There were still many students absent from the room.  Her class never actually got started due the lack of students.  The students were whispering about what was taking place outside. Some were not aware of the article. Others happily told them about it. 

“Ms. Carson, may I ask you something?” One brave student spoke up from the whispers.

“Sure, Seth,” Sara nervously responded.

“Are you gay?” 

Sara took a deep breath and began to address the class. “My personal life is just that. It is personal. I would never question your personal life, nor would I judge you for it unless it directly affected your performance at school. All I ask of you is that you treat me with the same respect.” Most of her students were content with her answer. 

“Do you want to keep working here, Ms. Carson?” another student asked.

Sara choked back tears with her answer. “Selina, I would love to continue teaching here, but you guys saw this morning that there are a lot of people who don’t want me here.”

Emily spoke up at that point. “Ms. Carson, you are a great teacher and a good person. We want you here. Does our opinion count for anything?”

“I can’t answer that question, Emily. I wish I could.” Sara wanted to end this discussion and get on with the day as planned, but she had a feeling that her entire day would be spent fielding questions and having conversations like this with her students. “You guys have a test tomorrow.” Sara changed the subject. “Let’s take what few minutes that we have left and review a little bit for it.”

***

Sara welcomed the end of the day more than usual. Standing outside her classroom, she noticed the chatter among the students as they left the building. That was something that Sara had not truly appreciated until this moment. The solemn feeling that she might not hear that chatter anymore came to rest in her mind.

“Ms. Carson?” Emily’s voice brought her back to the present.

“Yes, Emily? Is there something you need?”

“No ma’am. I was just asked to give you this.” She handed Sara a folded piece of paper and fell back into the crowd of students. 

Sara waited until everyone was out of the hall before she returned to her desk.  She unfolded the piece of paper curiously and read:

Ms. Carson,

I am very sorry for everything that has happened. It is my fault. My father is the cause of all of your troubles. I begged him not to make a big deal out of everything. I had hoped once he had my schedule changed that he would stop, but it seems like he will stop at nothing. I overheard him talking to someone at the newspaper and one of the television stations. He is continuing to try to stir up trouble for you. I hope that you do not hold any of this against me. I respect you as a teacher and a person. Again, I am very sorry for all of this.

Shelly

Sara smiled through her tears. Thinking about the conversations with the students and rereading the note from Shelly made Sara realize that her students were a lot more grown up than she had ever imagined. They seemed more grown up than many of the adults.

After gathering her things to leave, she put the letter from Shelly in the folder with the other papers that she was taking to Karen. As she walked by, she glanced in the workroom. There was something in her mailbox. She picked up the envelope and quickly made her way to her car. The protesters were still outside. Students had formed a group directly in front of the school in support of Sara. 

While she waited to get out of the parking lot, she opened the envelope. It was a copy of her students’ test scores. Each and every one of them had passed their math test.  It was the first time that she could remember having one hundred percent pass. Sara smiled as she put the scores back in the envelope. This was a good ending to a horrible day. 

***

“You have made me famous, Sara. I have had so many people contacting me today. I have had students, parents, teachers, all calling wanting to help you.
I have given a couple of phone interviews to some members of the press.
You have a lot of support, little lady. Word has spread beyond the city limits too. I have had media people from all parts of the state contact me.”

“I never expected this to blow up like this, Karen. I didn’t do this for attention.”

“I know you didn’t honey, but honestly, the more this spreads, the better off we are. If we can bring attention to such disservice, it makes it easier for us to get our way. You are doing the right thing. I have requested a meeting with Michaels and the school board. As soon as they respond, I will let you know.”

Sara was feeling a little more positive when she left Karen’s office, until she turned onto her street.  News vans lined the entire street. There were people standing all along the sidewalks. Reporters were at her neighbors’ houses talking with them. There were camera crews on the road in front of her house. Sara was not sure she could get into her drive. She drove slowly down the street, looking at the people.

“
So much for a quiet evening
,” she whispered to herself.

Sara reached for her cell phone. She decided to call Cynthia and bypass her house.  Maybe she could get out of the neighborhood before anyone recognized her. She dialed the number by instinct, keeping her eyes on the people and the road. 

Cynthia answered the phone cheerfully. “Hello.”

“Hey, honey. It’s me, Sara.”

“I knew that from the Caller ID. You aren’t home yet?”

“No, and I don’t think I am going home either.”

“Why not? What is going on?”

“I just drove by my house. You can barely get down the street. This thing has spread like a wild fire. There are people everywhere. Reporters are talking to my neighbors. I am afraid there will be people egging my house before morning.”

“Damn! Cynthia exclaimed. “Come on over here. No one knows where I live. I am too new in town. You’ll be all right here.”

Sara slammed on brakes. “Damn!” She put her window down and yelled, “Watch where you are going you moron! I almost hit you!”