week. I guess he was trying to show cycles of nature. You know, how everything returns to the earth and the plants and animals use it up. But this wasn't a little compost pile with carrot peelings and dead leaves. No, Knacke went straight for the gross-out. A hunk of meat all swarmed over with white fly larvae.
"We're done with that project now," he said. "Take everything out, dispose of it, and then scrub the equipment."
I just stood there, staring.
"You see there the end of all flesh. All living creaturesâfrom humans to wormsâreturn to just such a state. Beyond death there is only decay. Do you understand?" He pointed. "Now clean it up."
I didn't move.
"Did you hear me?" he said.
"I'm not sticking my hand in there," I said.
"I didn't ask you. I told you. Now get to work." He wasn't exactly smiling, but I could tell he was enjoying this.
"No way. It's disgusting. Do it yourself." I didn't care what he did to me. A letter home, sending me down to the assistant principal's office for a yell-at from Frankengoon, suspension, even. "I'm not doing it."
He glared at me. When he got mad, his face looked shiny and swollen. His eyes were red around the edges, like a drunk's. And his breath came in panting sniffs.
"Get to work, young lady." He was holding a pair of rubber gloves.
I didn't take them. "Forget it," I said. "You can't make me do it."
He started into one of those "Who do you think you are?" speeches. But I'd made my choice and I wasn't backing down.
"Look," I said after a while. "What do you want from me? Just tell me why I'm the one you're picking on."
"Picking on? What do you mean? You show much promise. I merely hoped that a little discipline would turn you around. Make you a better student. Perhaps bring out your best qualities."
"You hated me the minute you saw me. I just need to know why."
"I don't hate anyone," he said. "I merely noted the
traits that set you apart. I want to see my students succeed to the best ofâ"
I headed for the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" he snarled.
"Home. You want to call Frankengoon and have me thrown out of school, fine. But I'm not putting up with this anymore."
"Get back here!"
I kept going.
Ten
T HE SCHOOL WAS EMPTY at that hour. Endless ranks of lockers, shiny floors reflecting the red exit lights, a far-off hum.
I went straight for the main entrance. And even though I'd been going to that school for weeks, still I got kind of lost. I mean, I knew where I was, but it seemed like the distances were all wrong and the doors weren't where I expected.
It was dark in some of the hallways. A couple hours before, there were crowds of kids, yelling and talking and hanging around. Now it was like I was trapped in some Egyptian tomb and couldn't find my way out.
Turning around, I went back the way I'd come. Only I ended up in another hallway where one fluorescent light bulb was buzzing and throbbing with sickly white light.
Then I heard a metallic squeak. It came. It went. It came back. I don't know why, but I headed toward the sound.
I passed the main Admin suite, where Frankengoon had his office. Maybe it was him, rocking back and forth in his chair, squeaking up and down.
But then I found myself in the gym wing and thought,
It's somebody using the workout equipment. Weights or a Nautilus or a rowing machine.
I went round the corner and saw the source of the squeak. It was a janitor, doing the floor. He stuck his mop in the squeezer and yanked down the handle. He moved real slow, like he was trying to get every drop of dirty water out of the mop.
As I came down the hall, he looked up and let go of the squeezer handle. "It's you," he said, and I felt a sick rising in my stomach. I'd never seen him before. Not that I paid much attention to janitors, but this one I would have remembered.
He was kind of hunched over, and his left eye seemed to be bigger than his right. When he talked, there was a hissing sound too, like air escaping from a
"We're done with that project now," he said. "Take everything out, dispose of it, and then scrub the equipment."
I just stood there, staring.
"You see there the end of all flesh. All living creaturesâfrom humans to wormsâreturn to just such a state. Beyond death there is only decay. Do you understand?" He pointed. "Now clean it up."
I didn't move.
"Did you hear me?" he said.
"I'm not sticking my hand in there," I said.
"I didn't ask you. I told you. Now get to work." He wasn't exactly smiling, but I could tell he was enjoying this.
"No way. It's disgusting. Do it yourself." I didn't care what he did to me. A letter home, sending me down to the assistant principal's office for a yell-at from Frankengoon, suspension, even. "I'm not doing it."
He glared at me. When he got mad, his face looked shiny and swollen. His eyes were red around the edges, like a drunk's. And his breath came in panting sniffs.
"Get to work, young lady." He was holding a pair of rubber gloves.
I didn't take them. "Forget it," I said. "You can't make me do it."
He started into one of those "Who do you think you are?" speeches. But I'd made my choice and I wasn't backing down.
"Look," I said after a while. "What do you want from me? Just tell me why I'm the one you're picking on."
"Picking on? What do you mean? You show much promise. I merely hoped that a little discipline would turn you around. Make you a better student. Perhaps bring out your best qualities."
"You hated me the minute you saw me. I just need to know why."
"I don't hate anyone," he said. "I merely noted the
traits that set you apart. I want to see my students succeed to the best ofâ"
I headed for the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" he snarled.
"Home. You want to call Frankengoon and have me thrown out of school, fine. But I'm not putting up with this anymore."
"Get back here!"
I kept going.
Ten
T HE SCHOOL WAS EMPTY at that hour. Endless ranks of lockers, shiny floors reflecting the red exit lights, a far-off hum.
I went straight for the main entrance. And even though I'd been going to that school for weeks, still I got kind of lost. I mean, I knew where I was, but it seemed like the distances were all wrong and the doors weren't where I expected.
It was dark in some of the hallways. A couple hours before, there were crowds of kids, yelling and talking and hanging around. Now it was like I was trapped in some Egyptian tomb and couldn't find my way out.
Turning around, I went back the way I'd come. Only I ended up in another hallway where one fluorescent light bulb was buzzing and throbbing with sickly white light.
Then I heard a metallic squeak. It came. It went. It came back. I don't know why, but I headed toward the sound.
I passed the main Admin suite, where Frankengoon had his office. Maybe it was him, rocking back and forth in his chair, squeaking up and down.
But then I found myself in the gym wing and thought,
It's somebody using the workout equipment. Weights or a Nautilus or a rowing machine.
I went round the corner and saw the source of the squeak. It was a janitor, doing the floor. He stuck his mop in the squeezer and yanked down the handle. He moved real slow, like he was trying to get every drop of dirty water out of the mop.
As I came down the hall, he looked up and let go of the squeezer handle. "It's you," he said, and I felt a sick rising in my stomach. I'd never seen him before. Not that I paid much attention to janitors, but this one I would have remembered.
He was kind of hunched over, and his left eye seemed to be bigger than his right. When he talked, there was a hissing sound too, like air escaping from a
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