first day of schoolgrade
school
teachers are going to want them to write
a paper on their summer vacation
he coudnt wait
it didnt happen until the
following week
Class. This morning until lunch we’ll write a paper
about our summer.
about time
he flipped open his wood desk
opened a notebook took out several pieces of lined white paper closed the
notebook closed his desk
he had a pencil
behind his ear
his teacher didnt like that she asked him several times to remove it
he
accommodated her in the moment
it found its way back
she
quit asking
he wrote a dialogue between two boys
on a playground on swings swinging in unison
when his teacher graded the papers
he got an A he
usually did on things he wrote the other
stuff not so much
placing his down on his desk before him she asked when school let out that
afternoon if he would please come up and see her
Yes. Of Course.
Let Out bell rang
she required the class to leave the
room quietly their classroom was one of
the very few that did usually the school
shook beneath the cacophony of end-of-the-day I’m-out-of-here voices yells howls
more than a thousand feet in halls feet stomping down steps
approaching her shed placed his desk immediately
in front of hers
Mrs. Thompson.
something was on her mind she silenced him holding up her handher index
finger pointing to the ceiling brow softly furrowed
everything was soft about her not fatsoft deliberatelysoft
he stood before
her quietly
Joseph.
Joe.
Excuse me. Yes. Joe.
Yes Mrs. Thompson.
I wanted to talk to you about
your paper.
Yes.
Could you take it out of your
notebook, please.
Yes Mrs. Thompson.
You can have it facing you I can
read my writing upside down I’ll be able to follow you.
Very good. Your cursive is distinct,
yet very legible.
I practise a lot.
And your practise shows, very
good.
Thank you.
You’re welcome.
So the boys swinging together are
talking about the other boy’s Mother.
Yes.
He said to the other boy, you I
assumed . .
.
. Excuse me Mrs. Thompson, a character I assumed, not really me.
Not you?
No.
The assignment was your Summer
vacation.
Yes.
So this is not your Summer?
It is part of my Summer that I
thought about.
Is there a grain of truth in your
paper.
Of course. Fiction is made up of
truth.
Yes.
So.
The other boy's Mom is an influencer.
Yes.
And you know what that is?
Yes.
What is it?
An influencer influences. I’m not
really into that computer stuff. She influences people on-line.
Okay. Thank you.
And . . . she’s
a cosplayer, and you know what a cosplayer is.
It’s like dressing for . . er Halloween,
dressing for Halloween . a lot.
Do you know what she dresses up
as?
Japanese anime characters. I
think manga characters too I might find them to be more interesting if I
could read Japanese.
I think.
And all of it, their conversation,
while they’re swinging.
They’re swinging in unison, playing,
yes.
And you’re going to share your
paper with your parents this evening?
Right after dinnerare you kidding me? I
got an A.
My older brothers and
sisters get As
all the time.
I got to show-off when I can.
1057, day-between-2-Ts, 30 8.
23
