“You know why we’re here y’all. Don’t play dumb. Move her up!”
I freeze in my seat and my eyes get wide. I look over towards Carter, but he just sits with a small smile on his face, watching the proceedings. His legs are bouncing a little, but he looks unbothered. Someone shouts again, but I can’t hear it amongst the rumble of the crowd and my own ringing ears.
What’s happening right now?
There’s some quiet discussion in the front between the board members, but then one turns to the mic and calls the first vote. “All formoving the matter of Duchamp’s investigation forward on the agenda, say aye.”
And I swear, every voice in that auditorium responds to that question with a loud, booming, “aye.”
“Ms. Duchamp, would you like to step up to the mic to speak on this topic?”
I look up from my hands to the front to see the members all looking at me. “Ye-yeah, yes. Of course.” I stand and smooth my shirt and my pants and grab my evidence. I stop at the podium facing the school board. For a small town, they seem to like the pomp and circumstance of these types of events.
“Ms. Duchamp, on Tuesday of this week, you were removed from your school pending investigation of a sensitive matter brought forward to the Central Office of Briar Ridge County Schools. Does that sound right?”
“Yes.”
“Much of the matter cannot be shared in this public forum on our part, but is there anything that you would like to say about this matter?”
“Bullcrap!” A familiar voice that I couldn’t place in that moment if my life depended on it calls out.
“Shh.”
I didn’t do anything wrong. I know that I’m good at my job. I know that I don’t deserve this bullcrap. I straighten my shoulders and look into the eyes of each member of the school board before I respond. “It was unfounded and based solely on two individuals’ dislike and distaste of me as a person, and had nothing to do with me as a teacher or my actions in the classroom.”
“Bet, Duchamp,” a student’s voice, Ned, calls from the audience, and I turn to see if I can spot him. There he is, surrounded by his classmates, my students and their parents. I give him a teacher look, but then I smile.My kids are here.
Unfortunately, I don’t see his mother. But that’s okay. We have enough.
Another familiar voice speaks up, “We love you Duchamp!” I turnand find more former students who are now in ninth and tenth grade scattered around.Oh my Lord.I sweep my gaze around the rest of the room and find numerous familiar faces filling the seats of this room, all smiling back at me. Warmth fills my limbs, dismissing the anxiety, and bringing me gratitude and strength.
Are they all here, for me?
My eyes find Carter, and he looks proud, maybe a little smug, and then I take in the faces surrounding him.He did this. They all did thisfor me.
“Ms. Duchamp, I understand you have some evidence that you would like to share with us?”
“Yes, I do. Here.” I walk forward and hand off the stack of papers and a small thumb drive. “I wouldn’t read this out loud, and I’d listen to the clip later” I quietly let the head of the board, Frederick Johnston, know. He simply nods and takes the papers.
“I made enough copies for everyone.” I add before walking back to the microphone. For some reason, that makes some of the audience snicker. “As I hope you can gather from what I’ve provided, I’ve been an innocent party in a targeted scheme to hurt and humiliate me and my standing in my career and in my community. Thank you.” I turn quickly away, done with my part.
Vicky leaps up out of her seat and rushes to the microphone before I make it back to my seat. “I’m going to speak on something I know she won’t since she’s still not tenured.” Vicky starts, voice firm.
“Go ahead, Ms Terri. You have the floor.”
“Thanks, Freddy,” she says dryly. Vicky looks at everyone in the front of the room with a haughty eye that makes me a little jealous, and glad she’s on my side. “I’m deeply disappointed in the way that this school system treated Becky, or Ms. Duchamp, in this, and in the prior three weeks in which she had to tolerate the presence of the very person who was bent on hurting and humiliating her, not only in this community, but in our school and her classroom.” A few angry murmurs started and were shushed around the room. “I knowfor a factthat Ms. Duchamp brought up her concerns thefirst daythis woman, Taylor Harrison,began her descent into underhanded dealingsand poor treatment of not only Mrs. Duchamp, but also of her students.”
At this, the crowd gets louder.
“Ms. Duchamp handled everything by the book, respectfully, but nothing changed. She was told todocument it.So she did. For weeks she documented each and every incident. Then, when a couple people claim that she did something wrong, she’s immediately removed from the classroom with no opportunity to defend herself.” She delivers this information without any theatrics, which somehow highlights exactly how unjust the entire situation is.For me. “Mr. Stewart, Mr. Whitaker, and Mr. Saul all worked together to do your job and gather testimonies from parents and their children, Duchamp’s students.”
With a nod at them, Carter and Joey stand up with their own stacks of paper and hand them to the head chairman. Vicky waits for those papers to be passed around. “Based on these testimonies alone, you should be aware that you have an exceptional educator in Becky Duchamp. You need to fix this.” She nods curtly, then turns around as people around the room begin to applaud her. About what she said about me.
Damn being an emotional crier. I can hardly contain how I’m feeling right now. I’m biting the shit out of my lip trying to maintain my composure. Once Carter returns to his seat, he seems to sense my overwhelming urge to lose it. He grabs my hand and squeezes once, but then when he loosens his grip, I tighten mine. His massive smile is vibrant, visible from the corner of my eyes, but I remain facing forward—taking it all in.
“I move to terminate the investigation into Becky Duchamp’s conduct at or related to the school.” A voice from the now blurry table of important people states.
“I second that motion.” Another blurry voice responds.
