It was 6:15 am when I reached the school. I started opening the boxes that I had Joe bring in yesterday before we left. The first box that I went through had my at-work laptop in it. I took it out and placed it on the desk. I grabbed all my pens that were scattered in the box and placed them in a pink, gold, and white marble pen holder that was in the box too and placed it on the desk. Then grabbed my name plaque, a small Stich figurine that Lily gave me, paper clips, a whiteout, highlighters, a stapler, and a clear pink candy bowl with a lid. I set up my desk.
“Hey Siri text Melvin,” I said.
“What do you want to say to Melvin,” said Siri
“Hey babe before you bring the lounge chair can you stop by the store and get a bag of candy for the candy bowl on my desk here at work, please,” I said.
“Okay sending now,” Siri replied.
Ten minutes later he texted back with an ok love.
As I was unboxing the second box Joe came in.
“Well, it smells ten times better in here and it is starting to look nice in here,” he said in the doorway. “Is there anything you need Meme,” he asked.
I smiled and nodded. “It does smell way better in here because I stopped at Bath and Body Works for some candles before going home last night,” I replied. “But hey are there two chairs that no one is using? I want to put them in front of the desk. I have a lounge chair coming, but I want to have regular chairs just in case they are not comfortable with sitting on that.”
“I am quite sure we have some chairs around here that aren’t being used,” he replied. “I will go and get them.”
“Thank you, Joe,” I said.
Joe walked out of the office to get them. As he was walking out Jessica came walking in with a big smile.
“Starting to look nice in here,” she said. “Do you need help? I have thirty minutes before school starts”
“Umm yes can you start unboxing the box on the bookshelf,” I asked.
She nodded, smiled, walked over to the box, and started unpacking it. She first took the white and pink Orchid out of the box.
“These are beautiful, luckily the box was open,” Jessica said.
“Thank you I got them from the last school I was working at as a goodbye gift,” I replied.
“Well, they are really pretty,” she replied.
We continued to put the office together when Joe walked back in with the two chairs.
“You want them just in front of the desk,” he asked.
“Yes, thank you Joe,” I replied.
Joe put the chairs in their place and walked back out of the office to finish his morning routine around the school. As Jessica and I finished putting the last bit of touches on the office, she turned to me with a serious face.
“Meme, I know you just started, but I need to ask you for a favor,” she said.
“Yeah, what is it,” I replied.
“Well, there is a student in my third period who I believe needs to talk to someone,” she said. “She is having trouble turning her work in on time and she gets teased a lot because of her clothes and she has a smell to her. She always looks tired and falls asleep in class sometimes. Then, there is the bruises on her arms.”
“Have you spoken to anyone else about this,” I asked.
“Yes of course, but with all the new changes and everything I was told just to keep an eye on her,” she replied.
“Of course, just send her in and I would gladly speak to her,” I replied.
“Oh, one more thing,” she said. “Calling Child Protective Services is not an option around here since we were in hot water the last time they were called.”
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“What happened,” I asked.
“Long story short there was a kid a teacher called CPS three years ago. There was no real reason she kept calling them other than she was upset that the student’s parents found out that she was sleeping with their child. The parents thought they handled the situation quietly and with the school. They moved his classes around and suspended the teacher for a week. Then, CPS started going to their house every other week for crazy accusations. The kid was taken from his parents twice and during the second time they figured out who was making the anonymous calls. They eventually fired that teacher two months after she was suspended. When they found out who was doing all that, calling the CPS, she was arrested for that and for sleeping with a minor. That lady put that student and his parents through a lot before they found out it was her. The parents sued the school, and it was a big deal around here for a while. So, now we must be careful on calling them and it must go through the principal,” she said.
“Oh, I heard about that, our realtor told a little bit about it. All she said was that a teacher had an affair with a student and the teacher was arrested months later,” I said.
“Yeah, well now our school is trying to save face and whenever something happens they try and sweep it under the rug or they try to resolve it quickly and quietly,” she said. “I just thought you should know before you start talking to the students.”
“I understand, but I am here to do what is best for the students,” I replied. “The board hired me to do my job and that is what I am doing. I will follow the steps and rules that the school has laid out, but if I feel like the concerns, I have is not being heard I have no issue going forward to doing what I am mandated to do.”
Jessica smiled and said, “I knew there was something about you that I liked.”
We both laughed and she checked at the time.
“It is almost time for my first period to start,” she said. “Oh, when I see her, I will have her come see you.”
“Sounds good,” I replied back as she was heading out the door.
An hour later Meme got a text message from Melvin saying: LEAVING HOME NOW LOVE. DO YOU NEED ANYTHING ELSE BEFORE I HEAD THAT WAY? She looked around to make sure she had everything she needed for her office. She texts back: CAN YOU BRING ME CORE WATER PLEASE? A few minutes later a text back with: OF COURSE SEE YOU WHEN I GET THERE with a smile emoji.
Forty-five minutes later she hears a knock on the door. She looks up from her computer. It was Melvin with two bags in one arm and pulling in a black lounge chair on a dolly. She smiled and got up from her desk.
“Melvin, why didn’t you let me know you were here so I could have helped you,” I said.
“I didn't need help,” he said. “When I pulled in, I seen the janitor and asked if he could help or have a dolly. He got the dolly and helped me get the chair out the truck.”
“Oh, that is Joe,” I replied.
Joe came walking in a minute later.
“Melvin this is Joe, Joe this is my husband Melvin,” I introduced them formally to each other.
They both shook hands and said hi. Then they moved the lounge chair where the Happy Chair used to be. I thanked them both, and Joe left. Melvin had to go back home for a conference call, so I walked him to his truck.
“Love you and see you when you get home later,” Melvin said as he kissed me on the cheek.
“Love you too,” I replied.
I watched as he drove off and then waved. I waved back and walked back into the school. When I got back to my office, I seen two boys and the vice- principal sitting outside of it. They had gotten in trouble for fighting. I spoke to both the boys individually with the vice- principal. Both boys got after-school detention for a week and must speak with me for at least thirty minutes each week for the next month. Once they left the day was quiet unless Jessica came in for her break and lunch.
It was 1:45 when I heard a faint knock on the door. I looked up from getting the bag with candy in it out of the bottom desk drawer, so I can put them in the candy jar. There stood a skinny, light skinned, short girl with long black tightly curled hair that was pulled back in a low messy ponytail, she had bags under her eyes like as if she had not slept in a couple of days, and on her lower lip there was a cut that looked like it happened a couple of days ago. Her pants were baggy with holes at the knees, a stretched out oversized t-shirt with a sweater that was three different colors on it, one of her shoes had a big hole on the top and the other the bottom back looked like she tried to glue it back together and it started to come undone, and on her right shoulder she carried her backpack that was barely holding together.
“I was told to come and talk to you, but I can’t stay long I have to start walking home exactly at 2:15,” she said, her voice was little, and you could barely hear her.
“Come in and no problem,” I replied. “How about we set an appointment for tomorrow, so we could have more time to talk and get to know each other. How does that sound?”
She looked at me for a minute and made a face. “Am I in trouble or something because I promise I am trying to get my homework done for every class,” she said.
“No, you're not in trouble or anything like that,” I said. “Everything is ok. I just want to meet with everyone here.”
She looked at me for a minute. Then she looked around and looked back at me. “Ok that's fine,” she said.
“Okay, do you want to come in when you first get here,” I asked.
“Umm, I can’t my first period I have a test,” she replied. “But we are not doing anything for the next period after that. I finished all my work for her class.”
“Okay just see me before going to your second period and I will make sure you have a note excusing you from that class,” I told her.
“I will,” she said getting up from the chair.
“I will see you tomorrow and my name is Meme,” I said as I stuck out my hand to shake hers.
“See you tomorrow and my name is Unique Beastly,” she said.
She walked over to the door and waved back at me with a forced half smile. I smiled and waved back at her. Unique Beastly I said to myself as I wrote her name down.