I took a moment to compose myself. “There’s a nonbinary person out over by Johnson City who Leo’s had a crush on for quite a while. We’ve arranged for them to spend time together—in appropriate settings, both at the Meeting House and at Wild Heart Ranch, where Lovett works.”
“Who’s we?”
“Me and my friends. We all volunteer with Lupe and the Meeting House, which is how we all know Leo. By the way, he just turned eighteen. In fact, if you were to talk to Lovett, they would tell you that when Leo showed his interest last year—he wasn’t quite seventeen when they first met—they declined to pursue anything other than friendship. Now that Leo’s eighteen, Lovett is coming around more and more. Even so, they are moving slowly, and we’re all helping Leo to put his best foot forward.”
“And now you know why your mom is calling you a groomer. Because you gave a young man advice on how to pursue a queer relationship.”
“It’s not wrong to pursue a queer relationship!”
Carla grimaced. “I know. Your mother’s lawyer, however, specifically threatened to go to San Antonio and Austin news outlets if we didn’t take these accusations seriously.”
“But those accusations are baseless.”
“I believe you,” she said calmly, stacking her hands one on top of the other on her desk. “The school district believes you. The union believes you. Dr. Gardner believes you. There are other issues at play in the school district, however, and they cannot take any chances with this case.”
“Is this because I was holding Ozzie’s hand after his restaurant was attacked?”
“There are videos making the rounds on social media. It was clear that you were with your boyfriend.”
“I wasn’t fucking him on the sidewalk, Carla. I was holding his hand!” I shouted, grabbing my hair in frustration.
“I know, Mr. Walker. I know.”
“So because I’m… whatever I am… I’m losing my job?”
“You’re not losing your job. You’ll go on extended leave with pay. One of the issues brought to my attention was that having a queer teacher be under investigation for grooming might increase bullying against our queer and questioning students. We are working very hard to make sure that GCHS is an inclusive and safe environment, and…”
“Starting the school year with these accusations hanging over my head makes it harder for the students.”
“Yes, it can.”
“Do I have any chance in hell of getting back in the classroom?”
“Maybe not at the high school level, but yes, I do think you’ll be able to teach again,” she said. The way she couldn’t look at me, though, made me doubt her words. “I have some friends at Texas State. You’d be a good fit, and they’re desperate for math teachers.”
“But I specifically want to work with teenagers.”
“Definitely don’t say that to anyone else.”
“Stop acting like that’s such a terrible thing,” I cried. “I’ve already told you that Mr. Paige was a critical adult in my life. I didn’t even know I was gay; I just knew I liked being in his classroom, and he followed up with me after the accident. He’s the one who encouraged me to get my degree. All I want to do is to provide that same kind of support for the teens in this community. How the hell is that getting twisted into some narrative that I’ve harmed them?”
“People with their own agenda will do that, Mr. Walker.”
“Yeah, except the people in this case are my family members, and that’s giving it extra weight.”
“That is also true. Though their being arrested yesterday did somewhat reduce their credibility.”
“You’re my union rep! We should be fighting this!” I said, banging the side of my fist on her desk.
“We are, Mr. Walker. I promise you. I’m just telling you where we are now.”
“School starts in less than a month.”
“I know. I’m so sorry. We have to do what’s best for everyone involved.”
“So, even though this doesn’t feel like it’s good for anyone except my mother, this is the way we’re going forward.”
“Yes. Because we have to think about what’s good for the future. For the future of the school, for the future of the students, for the future of your career.”
