your floor. Apparently some people felt there was an unwelcoming vibe created by your inner circle.”
I kept my mouth shut and looked out the window. In the park behind the school, three kids shared a joint and watched an old Chinese lady stretching in the basketball court while a hipster chick wearing a long denim skirt used a hula hoop nearby. This neighborhood was my constant reminder that somewhere out in the world, weirder things were happening than the batshit teacher drama that went down at McCleary.
“You’re switching him to a different floor?”
“He can either teach Earth Science downstairs or teach using his special education license on the eleventh grade team up here. I’ll let him choose before I discuss the change with a few new hires.”
“I’m sure he will appreciate that.”
Price gave me one of her sideways stares. “Let’s make this a good year, Michael. I don’t want there to be more changes than there have to be, but we need to maintain the culture of the school and keep this a welcoming environment.”
“Of course.” I could tell my lack of ass-kissing wasn’t flying with her, but I also didn’t care. “Should I go downstairs?”
She nodded and looked down at the folders in front of her, the usual signal for dismissal.
N UNZIO WAS flushed, pacing his former classroom and digging his hands in his hair. His face was set in hard, angry lines as the clock ticked and we missed the staff breakfast and opening announcements for the day.
“I should walk out right now,” he said, pointing at the door. “She had all fucking summer and last spring to tell me, but she tells me now? I have nothing prepared to switch curriculums. I should tell that old bitch some shit about herself.”
I put a hand on his arm. “Cálmate, Nunzio. Just take a deep breath.”
He jerked his arm away but stopped his cagey movements around the room. Although it had been cleaned for the summer, there were still traces of his bulletin boards and items he’d taped to the wall near his—or what had been his—desk. His eyes settled on a collage of former students who had now graduated.
“This sucks.”
“It does, but there’s nothing you can do about it now except decide where you want to go.”
“Why didn’t she switch you ?”
“I’m assuming it’s because you have two licenses and two possible openings whereas I only have my license in Social Studies.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
His expression drifted from angry to despairing, and I could practically hear the questions populating his mind—whether or not this job was worth it, what else he could be doing with his life. We asked each other those questions every year, but this was the first time it seemed like he would follow through and walk out.
I wanted to argue that he was overreacting—this happened to teachers all the time. But on the other hand, it was difficult to argue that years of experience teaching a subject and building a curriculum being ripped away over a few instances of lateness was justifiable.
“You’d be with the kids from last year if you taught SpEd on this floor.” I sounded pathetic. “That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on. You loved those kids. It’s better than going downstairs with the Stepford clones who think they’re Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds .”
Nunzio’s lips twitched, and I swooped in on the crack in his dead-eyed mask. I put an arm around him, and his strong body melted against me. I dropped a kiss on his forehead.
“You’ll be okay. I’ll help.”
“Nah.”
“Yeah, I will. You’ll be the co-teacher for humanities classes, and that’s my thing.”
He shrugged again and turned his face into the crook of my neck. He inhaled deeply before releasing a noisy sigh, his breath ghosting over my skin. “Let’s blow this place off and go get drunk.”
“Don’t tempt me, niño.”
“I was kidding.”
I pulled away. “If we leave this room,
I kept my mouth shut and looked out the window. In the park behind the school, three kids shared a joint and watched an old Chinese lady stretching in the basketball court while a hipster chick wearing a long denim skirt used a hula hoop nearby. This neighborhood was my constant reminder that somewhere out in the world, weirder things were happening than the batshit teacher drama that went down at McCleary.
“You’re switching him to a different floor?”
“He can either teach Earth Science downstairs or teach using his special education license on the eleventh grade team up here. I’ll let him choose before I discuss the change with a few new hires.”
“I’m sure he will appreciate that.”
Price gave me one of her sideways stares. “Let’s make this a good year, Michael. I don’t want there to be more changes than there have to be, but we need to maintain the culture of the school and keep this a welcoming environment.”
“Of course.” I could tell my lack of ass-kissing wasn’t flying with her, but I also didn’t care. “Should I go downstairs?”
She nodded and looked down at the folders in front of her, the usual signal for dismissal.
N UNZIO WAS flushed, pacing his former classroom and digging his hands in his hair. His face was set in hard, angry lines as the clock ticked and we missed the staff breakfast and opening announcements for the day.
“I should walk out right now,” he said, pointing at the door. “She had all fucking summer and last spring to tell me, but she tells me now? I have nothing prepared to switch curriculums. I should tell that old bitch some shit about herself.”
I put a hand on his arm. “Cálmate, Nunzio. Just take a deep breath.”
He jerked his arm away but stopped his cagey movements around the room. Although it had been cleaned for the summer, there were still traces of his bulletin boards and items he’d taped to the wall near his—or what had been his—desk. His eyes settled on a collage of former students who had now graduated.
“This sucks.”
“It does, but there’s nothing you can do about it now except decide where you want to go.”
“Why didn’t she switch you ?”
“I’m assuming it’s because you have two licenses and two possible openings whereas I only have my license in Social Studies.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
His expression drifted from angry to despairing, and I could practically hear the questions populating his mind—whether or not this job was worth it, what else he could be doing with his life. We asked each other those questions every year, but this was the first time it seemed like he would follow through and walk out.
I wanted to argue that he was overreacting—this happened to teachers all the time. But on the other hand, it was difficult to argue that years of experience teaching a subject and building a curriculum being ripped away over a few instances of lateness was justifiable.
“You’d be with the kids from last year if you taught SpEd on this floor.” I sounded pathetic. “That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on. You loved those kids. It’s better than going downstairs with the Stepford clones who think they’re Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds .”
Nunzio’s lips twitched, and I swooped in on the crack in his dead-eyed mask. I put an arm around him, and his strong body melted against me. I dropped a kiss on his forehead.
“You’ll be okay. I’ll help.”
“Nah.”
“Yeah, I will. You’ll be the co-teacher for humanities classes, and that’s my thing.”
He shrugged again and turned his face into the crook of my neck. He inhaled deeply before releasing a noisy sigh, his breath ghosting over my skin. “Let’s blow this place off and go get drunk.”
“Don’t tempt me, niño.”
“I was kidding.”
I pulled away. “If we leave this room,
Similar Books
