A quiet girl sits in a corner desk;
somewhat isolated from her classmates, not because she is in trouble, or doesn’t
like them. She just likes her space. Studiously doing her work, not too
terribly concerned with what everyone else is doing that causes the buzz of
chatter around her. Then the teacher walks in, late as usual. The girl’s
thoughts immediately fly to the question.
It could come today the triggering event happened yesterday afternoon.
There was always a question. “Are
you related to…” insert the name of a person with your last name. It might be a
well known gangster, or, the man on the news last night who killed is girlfriend.
Of course it was never someone you would want to be related to. “Did you see
the (cow, sheep, etc.) that is caught under the bridge?” Again, it was never
something good.
But today it was the worst question
of them all. The one that set this sophomore’s teeth on edge. It was the dreaded,
“I saw you riding around in a black Malibu yesterday after school with. You
were with some older guy with long hair and a leather jacket. Who was that?” It
was said with an air of superiority and mock concern. This was not the first
time the question had been asked, and the answer never changed. But this time,
she was tired of it, she was determined that this would be the last time he
asked that insulting, slightly creepy, question.
With a deadpan expression, she
answered, “It was my boyfriend. Actually, fiancé, we are getting married this week
because he has to serve time and we want to be married before the baby comes.” The
entire room went silent. Jaws dropped, students smirked, and the teacher’s eyes
got huge. After a couple of seconds to revel in the shock, the girl stated, “I
have told you before. That is my brother’s car and he was driving. We drove in
to pick up something I needed to make supper.” At this the rest of the class grinned
and tried to hold back laughter. They all knew her brother; he was one of the
people that they looked up to in elementary school. She liked to think they
were impressed with her hutzpa in putting the teacher in his place.
In case you are wondering, it did
work. The question was never again asked in the classroom or by that teacher.
But the answer did spawn rumors when the girl switched schools the next year.
She visited for Homecoming and found out she was now a divorced mother of two,
according to the rumor mill. And yes, this girl was me.
