“It’s a double helix, sir,” CJ said. “It looks like a twisted ladder. The sides of the helix are made up of sugar and phosphorous…” Fuck, that didn’t sound right. CJ thought for a moment. “No, wait. It’s phosphate. The rungs are nitrogen based and are your letters of life.A, T, C, G. Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, andGuanine. DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid.”
Pacing in front of the blackboard, Mr. Billson rubbed his chin. “What does ‘A’ pair with? Or does it matter?”
Since CJ had answered every last one of Mr. Billson’s questions, he fell silent, hoping another one of his classmates stepped up.
Jaleena raised her hand.
Mr. Billson halted and folded his arms. “Yes, Miss Davis?”
“DNA doesn’t interest me, sir. So that makes it very hard for me to remember what I’m supposed to.”
“Sincerest apologies to you, Miss Davis,” Billson said, not in the least sorry. “Since this is a very small segment of my lessons, I hope you’ll let it sink in enough to pass. I’d hate for you to end up in summer school over a two-week lesson that’s also a major part of your grade.”
“Yes, sir,” she responded.
“Spell the four ‘ines’ for me, Miss Davis.”
“I don’t have a spelling issue, Mr. Billson. I have a subject matter problem.”
Mr. Billson shrugged, then looked at CJ. “My last question was directed at you, Mr. Caldwell.”
Of course it fucking was. “What was it again, sir?”
“What does ‘A’ pair with? Or does it matter?”
“A pairs with G,” CJsaid.
“Why?”
Because some motherfucker put that shit together to torture the fuck out of students. “Because they are purines, sir.”
“What are purines, Mr. Caldwell?”
A motherfucking pain in the ass. “Large, double-ring structures.”
“You remember the pairing how?”
“Your memory phrase. Apples in the tree. Adenine pairs with Thymine. Cars in the garage. Cytosine pairs with Guanine.”
“Tell it to Miss Davis, please.”
She was sitting five fucking feet away. CJ was sure she’d heard. He refused to look at her. “Jaleena,” he said with a long-suffering sigh. “Apples in the tree. Cars in the garage.” Stupid fucking sayings, but it did jog his memory. “Adenine pairs with Thymine. Cytosine pairs with Guanine.”
Billson nodded and resumed his pacing. “Why are cytosine and guanine paired?”
“I assume that question’s for me,” CJ grouched.
“Has anyone else responded, Mr. Caldwell?”
“Why don’t we give them a chance, sir?”
“We have two minutes left to class. Still time for a pop quiz.”
He should’ve gone into detail in the first fucking place. “They are pyrimidines and are smaller than purines. They are also single-ringed.”
“Very good, Mr. Caldwell. Your knowledge will come in handy for your science paper onDNA structure and protein synthesis. Hopefully, your fellow classmates can catch up. Ten pages, not including title page and citations. It’s due by the 20thof May.”
CJ joined in the collective groans, drowned out by the ringing bell. Scowling, he got to his feet and joined the exodus, merging into the hallway with the other students.
