Difficult Lessons Page 7

  The door opened and in walked Kendra Breeden. Everyone looked in her direction as she made her way through to an empty chair. She dropped her large bag and quickly introduced herself to everyone. Once she had made her rounds with handshakes, she sat down and pulled a folder from her bag. She took a notepad from the folder and began flipping through the pages.

  “Ms. Carson, I am sure that Ms. Jameson has briefed you on our conversation this afternoon,” she said as she looked in the bag for a pen.

  “Yes she has. I am glad you are giving me an opportunity to tell my side of things.” Sara’s mouth was dry from the nervousness.

  “This just came to my attention today. Someone called and expressed concern about you as a teacher at the high school. He wouldn’t leave his name, but he encouraged me to look into the situation. He said I might find an interesting story. I started digging. I talked with Mr. Michaels, but all he would give me was a letter stating that you were not being rehired due to undisclosed issues. I then contacted the Board of Education’s office. I happened to get Mr. Lyons on the phone. He gave me Ms. Jameson’s number. I contacted her and here we are. Please tell me exactly what has led up to this, from your perspective. Don’t try to be objective. That is my job. I do want to cover all sides of the story in my article, if there is a story here.” Ms. Breeden smiled at Sara.

  “Does this really have to be published? This is all kind of personal for me.” Sara fixed her eyes on Ms. Breeden.

  “I understand you not wanting this to be made public, but I will be honest with you, Ms. Carson.” Ms. Breeden looked sincere as she spoke. “I don’t think that the gentleman that called me will give up easily. I think if I don’t write this story, he will go to someone else. Others might not give you a fair shake.”

  Sara understood what Ms. Breeden was saying. She relayed everything that had happened, occasionally looking to Karen for approval. Sara gave her all of the details about the evenings at Mel’s, the meetings with Mr. Michaels, and the letter that she had received. Tears overcame her half way through the story. Karen handed her some water so she could regain her composure and finish.

  “Wow.” Ms. Breeden’s surprise was evident in her reaction. “The way I was told to check into this and the way the school acted, I thought you had done something monstrous. Has there ever been a suspicion around the school that you might be gay?”

  “No. I keep my private life exactly that.”

  “So you don’t go out regularly to gay bars in the area?” Ms. Breeden was trying to get a feel for the type of person that Sara was.

  “No, not really. I had not been out in sometime until the weekend that this started. I will go out to eat, but not usually to bars, gay or straight.”

  Turning slightly in her chair, Ms. Breeden asked, “What do you think about all of this Mr. Lyons?”

  “Ms. Carson is one of our finest teachers. She goes well above and beyond her duties. She comes in early, stays late, and works on her own time with students to help them out. She has one of the best records in the school for getting her students to pass.”

  While he was talking, Karen gave Ms. Breeden the copy of the statement that Mrs. Caine had sent.

  Karen explained to Ms. Breeden what had taken place from a legal standpoint. She gave her enough information for her story, but not so much that it might let anyone outside know more than they should.

  “Well, I do believe there is a story worth telling here. Ms. Carson, I wish you the best of luck with your situation. Make sure you all get a paper Sunday morning. The article will be in there. It was nice meeting all of you.” With that, Ms. Breeden collected her belongings and left the office.

  Sara took a deep breath and looked at Karen. “What do you think? Will the article be in my favor or against me?”

  “Either way the article leans, it will stir things up. A story like this might attract a great deal of attention.”

  “I am not looking forward to that attention,” Sara leaned back in the chair looking almost deflated.

  Chapter 14

  The drive on Monday was monotonous. Sara had become frustrated with even going to work. Because of her love for her students and her love of teaching, she continued. Her disgust for Mr. Michaels made her physically ill at times.

  Two blocks from the campus traffic slowed to a crawl. Horns were blowing in the distance. Assuming there was an accident up ahead; Sara sat back, sipped her coffee and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.

  As Sara’s car inched closer to the campus gate she could see people standing on the side of the road. There was about fifty or so people on each side of the road. Sara looked at her watch and let out a frustrated breath.

  “What the…?” Sara blurted out as she approached the gate to the school. “I cannot believe this.” Sara grabbed for her cell phone, dialed Karen’s office, and left a message about what was happening at the school. Next she dialed Cynthia’s number.

  “You are not going to believe this,” Sara began. “They are picketing the school! There are people on both sides of the street holding picket signs!”

  “What?” Cynthia’s response was pure surprise.

  Sara repeated what she had said to her. “This day is shot now,” she continued. “All of this commotion will completely disrupt the school day. I guess it is a good thing that our testing is over.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t go in today. I will worry about you all day long, Sara.”

  “I’ll be okay. It looks like they’re staying out of the parking lot. I can get in the building and to my room. I will just camp out there all day.” Sara was trying to sound reassuring.

  She could not help but smile and wave at the woman holding a sign that read, Protect our children.

  What did she think the children needed protection from? She also smiled at a woman that held up a sign that read, Immorality does not belong in the classroom.

  Sara let out a nervous giggle. “What morons.”

  Sara parked her car and quickly made her way into the building. The voices from the street were easily heard inside the front doors of the school. The building was still vacant and quiet, but she was sure that it would become a madhouse later on.

  Flipping through the papers that were in her mailbox as she walked through the hall to her room, she noticed a teacher step to the side when she walked by her. Sara did not think it was worth a second thought. She continued pretending to read the papers in her hand.

  She closed her classroom door behind her. Her room had a full view of the street. After putting her briefcase down in the chair, she looked out to see more and more people gathering. A van from Channel 9 News was parking on the sidewalk.

  The knock at the door startled Sara. She turned in the direction of the door just as it opened.

  “Sara? May I come in?” Mrs. Dixon asked as she entered and closed the door behind her. Asking permission for her was just a formality. Everyone loved her though and would not have turned her down. In her thirty-seven years of teaching, she had probably taught most of the staff at Mills.

  “I’ll quit teaching when I cannot get out of bed in the mornings,” she had joked when someone asked her when she was going to retire.

  “Sure Mrs. Dixon. Come on in. How are you this morning?” Sara forced a smile across her face.

  “I’m not here to talk about me. How are you, Sara? I have been worried about you since I read the paper yesterday. Why didn’t you tell me about all of this, honey? I have noticed that you are not yourself lately. I thought you were just stressing over testing like the rest of us. I had no idea that you have been going through anything like this these past few weeks.”

  Sara felt a twinge of relief as Mrs. Dixon spoke. “I wasn’t holding out on you, Mrs. Dixon. No one knew but my family. Everything has just happened so fast. I was going to handle the situation privately between the board members, Mr. Michaels, and myself. The person who is ultimately responsible for all of this evidently contacted the newspaper. The reporter fo
r the paper called me and I told her my side of everything. Now we have complete chaos.”

  “Unless I misread the article, I don’t think it turned out quite like this person, whoever it is, may have wanted if he or she was trying to cause you trouble. The article, to me, favored you. Now tell me what brought this little pimple to a head?” Mrs. Dixon had such a way of putting things.

  After Sara had given her a synopsis of what had happened, Mrs. Dixon patted her on the back and said, “Honey don’t you worry. You have friends and supporters here. We will not sit back and let them take your career from you. We will all protest. Hell, I am thinking about joining them on the street now.”

  “Mrs. Dixon, would you mind if I spoke with Ms. Carson alone?” Both of them turned in surprise to see Mr. Michaels standing in the door with a smug look on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

  Mrs. Dixon hugged Sara tightly. “Remember we are behind you,” she said as she patted Sara on the back. The older woman glared at Mr. Michaels as she walked by him.

  “Ms. Carson, are you satisfied with this display this morning?” The sarcasm was thick in his voice.

  “Satisfied?” Sara was not quite sure how to respond to the question.

  “This little scene that you have caused by going to the newspaper with this. It is complete bedlam out there. Our entire school day will be disrupted by your little stunt.”

  “Mr. Michaels, I did not go to the paper. That reporter contacted me. Someone had called her anonymously and she wanted my side. I suggest you talk with her about who started this, or better yet, talk with your dear friend Officer Griffin. I would be willing to bet that he is the one that called her.”

  Sara took her seat behind her desk and started organizing her notes for the day.

  “This is not going to change things, Ms. Carson,” Mr. Michaels spoke as he turned to leave.

  Sara held her ground until he was gone. Once he was down the hall, she put her head in her hands. He was right. The whole day would be a waste. The ringing of the bell snapped her back to reality.

  Chapter 15

  Only a few of Sara’s students were present when the tardy bell sounded. The halls were eerily quiet. The optimistic side of her said that they were caught in the traffic and would come in later. The pessimist in her replied that many parents had kept their children home in protest today.

  As Sara tried to begin class, a few students came in with tardy passes excusing them. There were still many students absent from the room. Her class never actually got started due the lack of students. The students were whispering about what was taking place outside. Some were not aware of the article. Others happily told them about it.

  “Ms. Carson, may I ask you something?” One brave student spoke up from the whispers.

  “Sure, Seth,” Sara nervously responded.

  “Are you gay?”

  Sara took a deep breath and began to address the class. “My personal life is just that. It is personal. I would never question your personal life, nor would I judge you for it unless it directly affected your performance at school. All I ask of you is that you treat me with the same respect.” Most of her students were content with her answer.

  “Do you want to keep working here, Ms. Carson?” another student asked.

  Sara choked back tears with her answer. “Selina, I would love to continue teaching here, but you guys saw this morning that there are a lot of people who don’t want me here.”

  Emily spoke up at that point. “Ms. Carson, you are a great teacher and a good person. We want you here. Does our opinion count for anything?”

  “I can’t answer that question, Emily. I wish I could.” Sara wanted to end this discussion and get on with the day as planned, but she had a feeling that her entire day would be spent fielding questions and having conversations like this with her students. “You guys have a test tomorrow.” Sara changed the subject. “Let’s take what few minutes that we have left and review a little bit for it.”

  ***

  Sara welcomed the end of the day more than usual. Standing outside her classroom, she noticed the chatter among the students as they left the building. That was something that Sara had not truly appreciated until this moment. The solemn feeling that she might not hear that chatter anymore came to rest in her mind.

  “Ms. Carson?” Emily’s voice brought her back to the present.

  “Yes, Emily? Is there something you need?”

  “No ma’am. I was just asked to give you this.” She handed Sara a folded piece of paper and fell back into the crowd of students.

  Sara waited until everyone was out of the hall before she returned to her desk. She unfolded the piece of paper curiously and read:

  Ms. Carson,

  I am very sorry for everything that has happened. It is my fault. My father is the cause of all of your troubles. I begged him not to make a big deal out of everything. I had hoped once he had my schedule changed that he would stop, but it seems like he will stop at nothing. I overheard him talking to someone at the newspaper and one of the television stations. He is continuing to try to stir up trouble for you. I hope that you do not hold any of this against me. I respect you as a teacher and a person. Again, I am very sorry for all of this.

  Shelly

  Sara smiled through her tears. Thinking about the conversations with the students and rereading the note from Shelly made Sara realize that her students were a lot more grown up than she had ever imagined. They seemed more grown up than many of the adults.

  After gathering her things to leave, she put the letter from Shelly in the folder with the other papers that she was taking to Karen. As she walked by, she glanced in the workroom. There was something in her mailbox. She picked up the envelope and quickly made her way to her car. The protesters were still outside. Students had formed a group directly in front of the school in support of Sara.

  While she waited to get out of the parking lot, she opened the envelope. It was a copy of her students’ test scores. Each and every one of them had passed their math test. It was the first time that she could remember having one hundred percent pass. Sara smiled as she put the scores back in the envelope. This was a good ending to a horrible day.

  ***

  “You have made me famous, Sara. I have had so many people contacting me today. I have had students, parents, teachers, all calling wanting to help you. I have given a couple of phone interviews to some members of the press. You have a lot of support, little lady. Word has spread beyond the city limits too. I have had media people from all parts of the state contact me.”

  “I never expected this to blow up like this, Karen. I didn’t do this for attention.”

  “I know you didn’t honey, but honestly, the more this spreads, the better off we are. If we can bring attention to such disservice, it makes it easier for us to get our way. You are doing the right thing. I have requested a meeting with Michaels and the school board. As soon as they respond, I will let you know.”

  Sara was feeling a little more positive when she left Karen’s office, until she turned onto her street. News vans lined the entire street. There were people standing all along the sidewalks. Reporters were at her neighbors’ houses talking with them. There were camera crews on the road in front of her house. Sara was not sure she could get into her drive. She drove slowly down the street, looking at the people.

  “So much for a quiet evening,” she whispered to herself.

  Sara reached for her cell phone. She decided to call Cynthia and bypass her house. Maybe she could get out of the neighborhood before anyone recognized her. She dialed the number by instinct, keeping her eyes on the people and the road.

  Cynthia answered the phone cheerfully. “Hello.”

  “Hey, honey. It’s me, Sara.”

  “I knew that from the Caller ID. You aren’t home yet?”

  “No, and I don’t think I am going home either.”

  “Why not? What is going on?”

  “I just drove by my ho
use. You can barely get down the street. This thing has spread like a wild fire. There are people everywhere. Reporters are talking to my neighbors. I am afraid there will be people egging my house before morning.”

  “Damn! Cynthia exclaimed. “Come on over here. No one knows where I live. I am too new in town. You’ll be all right here.”

  Sara slammed on brakes. “Damn!” She put her window down and yelled, “Watch where you are going you moron! I almost hit you!”

  “What happened?” Cynthia’s voice was close to screaming.

  “Some asshole just walked out in front of my car. I almost hit him. I think it was one of those news people. It looked like he was carrying a small camera.”

  “Just get out of there and get yourself over here. I’ll be waiting on you.”

  “All right. I am going to hang up so I can put all of my attention on these idiots. I would hate to hit one of them on top of everything else.”

  Sara took a side street out of her neighborhood and drove straight to Cynthia’s. Sara was glad to see her waiting on the steps.

  “I don’t think anyone saw me or followed me. I can’t go back to my house right now. I would get no peace. I feel like a fugitive. They have run me out of my own home.”

  “They can’t come on your property, hon.” Cynthia tried to be reassuring.

  “I know, but they can damn sure line the street in front. Anyway, how much do you think I would rest knowing all those people were drawing attention to my house? I bet my neighbors are pissed. We have such a quiet neighborhood.”

  “I’m sure they know it’s not your fault. I am pretty certain that they know you wouldn’t bring this kind of attention to yourself.”

  “Yeah, but…” Sara’s voice trailed off.

  “Look, you can stay here tonight. If you want, I can go over there and get some of your clothes. You can stay right here and not have to worry about it.”