“Max bullied Dorothy today. It wasn’t the first time, but it was the worst time. He told me he had to ‘clean her’ because she has two moms. He actually swept the broom at her feet. I took the broom away from him.” She trembles, continuing on, not waiting for me to speak. “I told him to get out of the classroom. He ran away. He ran outside to his dad.”
Her back straightens even further, hair seeming to get bigger. She expands into the room. “His dad has had a history with me. I’ve had to speak with him several times about his attitude. I’ve told him time and time again that he can have his values at home, but once they spill intomyclassroom, once one ofmystudents gets hurt because of his twisted belief system, then it’s going to be a fucking problem. And I made it his problem today. I let him know.”
I nod gravely. Silent for a moment. “And then you poked him.”
She doesn’t disagree. “And then I poked him.”
“Quite aggressively.”
“Very aggressively,” she nods. “Wait, what? Are you even mad?”
Sighing, I run my hands through my hair and rub my eyes. “No Georgia, I’m not mad. Well, I’m a bit mad, but not for the reason you think.”
She stands now and moves very close to me. She pokes me. “Well, I’mpissedat you. You stood there and let him think he got one over on me. You let him think he was right. You let him call me a bitch. Then you cut me off and apologized for my behavior, and then you told me to CALM,”Poke.“DOWN.”Poke.
I grab her finger and fold it back into her fist. “Stop touching me, Georgia.”I can’t handle it. “Sit down.” She sits and glares at me. “I did all of that foryoursafetyandpotentially for Max’s,” holding my hand up as she starts to retort. “Max’s dad is an unstable, psychopathic, religious nut job. You forget that I have over three years of history with him. I didn’t trust him to be around you anymore, so I did what I knew would get you two separated as fast as possible.”
“And your chosen strategy was to demean my honor as a woman?” she asks, eyebrow raised.
I sigh. “Unfortunately, yes, but it worked, didn’t it? I apologize,” I squeeze in, as I see her hackles rise again. “I’m sorry. That was very rude of me to do to you. I believe nothing that comes out of that man’s mouth. I despise him. Everything you told him was right, but the way you went about it was wrong.”
“HOW THE HELL WAS I WRO—” Georgia jumps out of her seat and slams her hands on the desk.
“Georgia, that man has a history of violence, and also, this is an elementary school! You are ateacher! You are not the NYPD! You can’t go around insulting and assaulting parents and calling them names, even bigoted ones, and especially not violent ones!” I pace around her classroom. “There is still a semblance of decorum and professionalism we have to upholdas educators. Also, you put yourselfandMax indanger. That man was coming for you, and we don’t know how he’s going to retaliate towards Max at home.”
I pause my pacing and stand directly in front of her, putting my hands on her shoulders. Feeling like I’ve been electrified from that point of contact from my palms, I quickly remove them. “Next time something like that happens, Georgia, call me. Call Lina. Call school safety. Actually, no, don’t call school safety,” I add in, thinking of seventy-nine-year-old Ethel. “But call one of your administrators, please. We are trained to handle these types of situations. We can take the heat without compromising the safety of our school, of ourjobs.”
I look down at her, realizing that we are now inches apart, so close that I can see small flecks of green in her otherwise blue eyes, can count the freckles on her nose. I perseverate on the softness of her bottom lip. I take a large step back. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She continues glaring at me. “You’re trying to fit me into one of your neat little boxes, again, aren’t you?”
I sigh. “No, Georgia, I think that I’ve found that is an impossible task. Is that really what you think I’m doing?”
She slumps into a chair, the fight leaving her. “You don’t want to know what I think right now. I’m still trying to keep my job here. But just know that my therapist wouldn’t be pleased.” She crosses her arms. “You promise you don’t believe anything that comes out of that man’s mouth?”
I laugh without humor. “I am a person of color, and my sister is gay. My mom, sisters, and nieces are the scariest people I know, and are also some of the few people I will listen to. Lina, too. No, Georgia, I do not subscribe to Mr. Jones’s beliefs.”
“That’s not what I mean, but that’s good to know.”
“Are you asking if I believe any of his accusations? No,Georgia, I don’t. Lina and I collectively have an entire three-inch binder full of his lies. Lina isn’t allowed around him anymore.” I chuckle. “But that’s for his safety, not hers.”
Georgia tips her nose in the air. “I can handle him, too, you know.”
“I know you can, but you are not a tenured administrator. It’s in Lina’s job description to deal with aggressive parents. Not yours. Promise me you’ll let us handle any situations with Mr. Jones moving forward.”
She crosses her arms, pushing her ample chest up, like she is presenting them for me. Panicked, I meet her eyes, but she has looked away. “Fine,” she says. “Whatever. I gotta get to happy hour.”
“Wait,” I say, alarmed, but mostly because I’m not ready for her to leave.
“As enlightening as this conversation has been, Oliver, it’s also Friday. I need shots.” She begins tornado-like activity around the classroom, picking up random odds and ends, throwing some in the trash, shoving others in her backpack. She stops then, looking at me. “Unless you’d like to continue this conversation over shots? Drinks are on you.”
I stand. “Teachers don’t love when their administrators come to happy hour. That is something I remember from my teaching years.”
“Suit yourself. Maybe next time.” She throws her chaotically decorated water bottle in her bag last, then zips it up.
“Maybe next time.” I stand up and shove my hands in my pockets, not knowing what to do with them. “Hey,” I step in front of her on her way out. “Are you okay?” flies out of my mouth.
Her gaze softens. I’m inexplicably relieved. “I’m fine, Oliver. Have a good weekend.” She winks at me, then storms out of the room like a bat out of hell.
