the telephone rang
Fuckin
belligerent devise he muttered to himself lifting
his eyes up out of the book he was reading
it jabbered again shrill irritating
I
aint home Leave a message
then again and
again and again
and again
the machine couldnt be programmed
to fewer rings his daughters voice
finally came on through the speaker she
and her sister decided democratically for our family they said despite no
longer living with him that when his machine broke down and he didnt replace it
that that wasnt okay so they anted up and his youngest passing through town on
her way to Santa Cruz set it up and recorded its message Were not home Please
leave the time and date you called and well get back to you
Hey bro
his brother-in-law
Youre probably sitting on your
ass listening to this message
his opening salvo
if you spend enough time with someone
and pay attention youll learn what theyre all about then you can be reductive anticipate where
theyre going no surprises you can gauge your involvement play them like a fish on a line
long ago still a boy he learned
the tyranny family assumed
that It put Itself above standard
courtesy It hadnt time for couth and decency
because of similar bloodline they
assumed what they had no right assuming
whether he passed through the
same vaginal canal or by relationships he had no hand in they preferred that they had
access to you and said liberally without conscience or any consideration whatsoever that lay on their tongue
and seeing that unabashed
treatment he manifested for himself that family was really nothing more than other
people and he held all people by their heels over the fire of his ethics they put on their pants exactly as he did
he had yet to meet someone who
could levitate and then suspended in clear air slip on one pantleg and then the
other over their legs and then spookily descend back to the ground or floor
family was a social construct
he possessed no fealty to it
Hello Are you there
his brother-in-law didnt call him
unless he needed something
he picked up Hello
Yeah Hey Whatcha up to
I was reading
Reading he said it as though it was an oddity
Yes Reading Vasily Grossman Life and Fate
Never heard of him
he didnt suppose he would have
he didnt know many people aw
hell he didnt know anybody who knew
Grossman
Too bad hes really worth the
while
Yeah
Whats up
In a pinch here
here was the continuation high school
where his brother-in-law taught science and mathematics
And
Well The English teachers been held up and was able
to give us a heads up We have a full classroom
of kids at Shakespeare
And
Well Theres not another soul I know other than you
who knows Shakespeare like you know Shakespeare
I mean you read him for pleasure
And
Well Do you think you could help us out
How
Sit in Talk Shakespeare until the teacher
arrives We hope
Im not a teacher
No youre not But your demeanor your proclivity is towards
helping people I mean particularly to
help when it aligns with something you have distinct knowledge of and are
proficient if you werent I wouldnt ask(See
if you spend enough time with someone and pay attention youll learn what
theyre all about)
Flatterer
Ive talked with the
Administrator Were continuation We try to fill in the gaps He agreed
I vouched for you
You went out on a limb for me
Believe me bro if I were going
out on a limb I wouldnt have suggested you
Id let em sit in the classroom and read the whole damn period
I think youll connect
You got a way with peopleparticularly young people
Its Romeo and Juliet for Christssake
. .
. . And whats in it for me
What
A bottle of Eagle Rare
A bottleI cant buy you a beer
You could if it wasnt in a pinchI
got time to shower
Class is in forty minutes
Time enough Barely
Bottle
Okayokay We do have a petty cash fund FOR SCHOOL
MATERIALS
Im material to the school at least for the class the teacher isnt showing are they
No
Thought so Ill see you in thirtynine minutes Ill grab my Complete Works Harrison editor
. .
.
. See
See Yes
Whats the room number
Not in a mobile unit Inside the building . .
. . Fancy
Yeah ThirteenRoom thirteen
My lucky number
The Complete Works was beside his
Oxford Dictionary beside the Atlas beside The Columbia Encyclopaedia beside Rogets Thesaurus beside Finnegans Wake beside his heel
in the shower the water bubbling
in his mouth as he held his head back under the showerhead he mused Mercutio run
through rapiered jesting per his nature with Romeo
Aye aye a scratch
Courage man the hurt cannot be
much
No tis not so deep as a well not as
wide as a church door but tis enough twill serve Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave
man
A
grave man he muttered and
laughed
he was getting a bottle of Eagle
out of it
his brother-in-law wouldnt renege
he knew where he lived
ROOM 13
bold as brass a plaque on the
door
inside he could hear their voices
the chairs scratching the tiled floor as they slid in them as he slid his chair
as a teenager in school part of the cacophony before the chairs were nailed
in one place unabided by the teacher
they had command
this would be different
it was a continuation high school
this is where the district hid away
its less desirable students its troublemakers its roustabouts anyone who
challenged their authority
he was gonna be right at home
he got them
the misfortune was that they
werent gotten earlier werent helped earlier the churn wouldnt allow it they didnt
holdback they didnt fail they promoted them promoted them because to make them
repeat a year would be too much for their self esteem
Teach
Fuck self esteem Imagine their self
esteem as adults when they couldnt read or write His argument always fell flat when he talked
to educators
M – O – N – E – Y It costs money the district doesnt have so we move them along
You move them along to certain
failure For the rest of their fuckin
lives
Infrastructure
Evidently America doesnt recognise
its Youth is its infrastructure And rather
than fight you pulldown your paychecks and so be it
he was an English major and deciding
to test the waters he took an education course and in its first week he heard the
term curriculum
Whats curriculum
Its the course and books youll
teach
I thought a teacher teaches what
they want
No Youll teach what youre told to teach
Told to teach
Yes Curriculum
Thank you Ill be dropping this course
he remembered his freshman year English
teacher she lost her job because together they broke the rules they messed with
the curriculum although she probably saw it coming Miss Thompson was nobodys
fool
he looked up at the clock on the
wall hands it was welcoming to see a clock with hands
while the second sped along the minute and hour waved at him
he waved to them with both arms
he rapped sharply at ROOM
13s door
the noise from inside shushed
he twisted the doorknob firmly
and strode in exuding no nonsense being
the eldest of eight he developed a firm hand a middle managers an unwavering DIs he only had to play the game fifty
minutes
he pushed the atmosphere ahead of
him
the kids bugeyed leaned back in its foreshock
a room full of girls
a room full of pregnant girls
not something you see
every day
1414, Twosday,
22 11. 16
0940, Day-between-Two-Ts, 23 11.
16
Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Want To Have Fun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A
