Page 6 of Off the Charts
He sighed as if he was dreading this question. “Ryan has been bothering me since I was in third grade. I was trying to be a man and be strong, but he went too far. One of my—well I thought he was my friend, he’s an associate now, but he told the class about my condition and that I take medicine every day, so he’s been teasing me since he found out. At first, I would ignore him, but today he said my mom would be lonely forever. He doesn’t even know my mom. I had to defend her,” he started to cry again.
Not wanting to ask him about the condition, I moved into the other half of his statement, knowing that piece of information wouldn’t be documented.
I handed him another tissue then laid a hand on his shoulder until he calmed. “There you go. Why would he think your mom is lonely?”
He was silent for a beat and his eyes slowly drifted away from me again. Tears fell from his face. Most of the time, I was able to remove my personal feelings from the job, but something about him was pulling at my heart strings.
“Mom came to the PTA meeting alone. Her and dad used to come together and everybody noticed,” he whispered. “They broke up months ago and I really miss them together. I never get in trouble Mr. Denver, but I a?—"
Another series of loud banging echoed. There was only one knock like that when I had a child in my room. Without thinking too much about it, I hit the unlock button and the door swung open immediately. I heard her before I saw her.
“Where is my son? Zy!” She ran across the room toward him, lowering herself to her knees in front of him as she pulled him into her arms. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Oh my gosh.”
“I’m okay, mama. I was scared and I defended myself. I—I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay,” she rocked him back and forth then pulled back to examine his face. Her back was to me, but I could see her wild coils moving every time she did. “Are you in pain? Did you have your medicine today?” She fired off.
“I’m okay. I was leaving Doctor Knight’s office when it happened. He was bullying me m?—”
“Bullying!?” Her voice carried and when she turned to me, her anger was evident. She rose to her feet and came in my direction looking at me in disbelief. “Yall allowed my son to be bullied?”
“I completely understand your frust?—”
“Oh, nigga please! You don’t understand a mu—” She paused, placing one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead as she took a deep breath. She did an about-face and turned back to her son. “Zy, baby. I know you’re already upset. Would you mind going to sit in the principal’s office and I will be right there?”
Zion looked between the both of us then nodded. Being that the front office was where I could see it, I watched him walk there and get inside safely before returning to my office. Zion’s mother barely waited until I closed the door to start up again.
“Don’t try to sympathize with me. Pitiful! If something happens to my son, you call me! I’m the only number that counts! Y’all call me for everything else! Jean day, a field trip, and don’t let it be a PTA meeting around this bitch. You niggas blow my fucking line up like I owe y’all some rent money! But bullying is where y'all draw the line? Pathetic!” She hissed.
I blinked. “Bullying is never condoned. Not here at least. Today was actually my first day meeting your son and you. I wouldn’t have known unless there was communication between him, another student, or faculty member. I am Mr. Denver,” I extended my hand only for her to scoff. “I get it, ma’am. Tension is high. Everything happened fast. I’m trying to assess and understand the situation just as you are, but I need you to meet me twenty percent of the way. I can handle the rest. May I know your name?”
“Nigga I don’t want to hear all that psychedelic shit right now!” She held up both hands as if to say stop.
I scoffed, walking over to grab my bottle of water. This would go nowhere in a screaming match. I checked the time on my watch to see if it was my lunch time.It was.Toggling my screen, I tapped the clock out button and locked my computer. This shit was free game now. Fuck it.
“That’s what’s wrong with niggas now.”
She looked at me in disbelief. “Excuse me nigga?”
“You’re excused. I said that’s what’s wrong with niggas now,” I repeated. “Is that what you think counseling is like?”
“I don’t give a damn what it is. But I’ll tell you what I do know. I think you’ve lost your marbles if you think you’re about to be in here trying to tell me how to handle my son. You canknow how to deal with these other bad ass kids that run up and through this school and probably run yo ass too, but you willnotinvade on my life Nigga Springer,” she bobbed her head. I had to scoff to hide my laugh. Folding my hands in front of me, I leaned against my desk while she continued going off.
“In this moment, the only thing I need for you to do is tell me what the fuck is going on without all that hear ye, hear ye bullshit! Nobody gives a fuck about your fake ass advice and whatever status you call yourself having! Whatever you did for another child may not work for mine ‘cause he ain’t like them! Now, stop the sugarcoating shit with me and tell me what the fuck happened!”
“Aight,” I pushed my weight off the desk.
My patience rarely got low, but the hollering was sending me over the edge. I liked peace and didn’t let anyone disturb it, but she was shaking shit up. Both kids and adults screamed at me daily, but I could see through her as if she was fragile grass awaiting a tap that could shatter her. Even though this was our first interaction, she was easy to read. I was a stranger to her and since she didn’t have a clue who I was, it was on me to make who I am and my intentions clear.
Walking over to the wall that held my degrees and many certifications, I took my time pointing at each one. “You see this?”
She raised an eyebrow. “And what about it?”
“My name is here, here, there, here, and over there,” I then pointed to the name plate that was beside my door. “What that means Miss, is that I can do whatever the fuck I want, how I want to do it. Behind these walls, I play by my rules. I’ve been respectful. I’ve been open. I’ve even been accommodating, but what I will not be is disrespected. I get that you’re upset. You should be, but allow me to talk to you without all the extra bullshit. I won’t beg for your trust, but I am asking you to allowme to do my job because I am here to help, bottom line. May I do that?”
My tone was still even. I didn’t believe in matching energy and seeing that my calmness never wavered, I knew she’d relax. Her chest rose and fell slowly, and her eyes closed for a second. When she looked back at me, I could see that a small piece of her walls came down and remorse filled her eyes.
“You are right. I apologize. You didn’t deserve that.”
