she had such an exceptional grasp of maths in her first two years at the school they’d been hothousing her to sit her GCSE Maths two years early
prematurely, it transpired
she got derailed by three girls who were the bane of every teachers’ existence
LaTisha Jones, as bright as any child, leader of the pack and the queen of backchat, who answered every directive with an insolent, why should I?
who always left class early because I’ve got my period/I feel sick/my grandmother’s just died, Mrs King
the same grandmother dying multiple times was something Shirley had put up with since she started teaching
she resisted the urge to ask, didn’t your grandmother die last term? now get on with writing that essay, you nasty little child
next in line was Chloe Humphries
descended from a long line of career criminals and already taking up the family baton, according to her social worker
the third member of the gang was Lauren McDonaldson who had an STD, according to a very good (confidential) authority (the school nurse), on account of her promiscuity with the (older) boys in the school, including one of the (younger) caretakers, if rumours (toilet walls) were to be believed
anyway
lo
and
behold
a miracle did occur because one lunchtime, Carole, then fourteen, came looking for her (brave child as Shirley knew her nickname was School Dragon at best, Fuck Face, at worst)
both had been scrawled on blackboards enough times
awaiting her arrival
apparently the child had been told by an idiot colleague in the staff room to find Mrs King in her car, where she ate lunch – undisturbed
the passenger seat of her comfy Mitsubishi was reclined back as she worked her way through her ham, pickle and tomato sandwiches and listened to the soothing sounds of Smooth FM
when the child rapped on her window
Shirley wound it down while simultaneously feeling herself wind up
yes, what is it?
’scuse me, I need to talk to you
about what?
I wanna do better, miss, I mean Mrs King, I wanna work harder and everything and go university and get a good job and stuff
Shirley never found out what brought about this change of heart, it wasn’t important, what mattered was that an erstwhile brilliant student was asking Fuck Face to improve her performance
applause! lights! hallelujah!
she thereafter made sure that the child was given everything she needed to do well in every subject she was taking
including securing grants from charities to buy extra textbooks, notebooks, stationery, even a computer
on the condition she attended a tutorial with her every month for the remaining four years of her schooling in order to monitor her progress and ensure she stayed focused on her studies
it worked and because of her the child went to one of the top universities in the world
in the end, Carole was the talented, fallen child who reignited in Shirley the reason why she went into teaching in the first place
the power of education to transform lives
thereafter she took a few promising children under her wing every year, pupils of obvious intelligence who were unsupported by their families and might otherwise end up as prostitutes or crack addicts or something
even when the results are variable, she does improve their chances, and nearly all of them go on to higher education
of those that don’t, for example one became a bricklayer, another a plumber, they probably earn more than the graduates, if the papers are to be believed
the nicest returned to thank her, with presents
her mentoring project makes teaching slightly more bearable, although not so much that she looks forward to the start of every weekday
or feels satisfied at the end of it
Carole, her first and greatest achievement, never reported back as instructed, not once, not so much as a phone call or a thank you postcard since the day she left school over a decade ago now
it makes Shirley feel
well, used.
Winsome
1
Winsome
is preparing a family favourite of roast breadfruit, fried flying fish seasoned with onion and thyme, with a side dish of grilled yellow squash, eggplant, zucchini and pan-roasted mushrooms with a herb-lemon sauce
as the sea air breezes into the kitchen through the mosquito meshes that stop the flies invading in the daytime and the mozzies at night
she appreciates healthy eating now she’s back home and eating food grown in her vegetable garden and fish caught fresh
from the sea to her kitchen
direct
Shirley, Lennox, their daughter Rachel and her daughter Madison are here
Tony, Errol, Karen and their families will arrive later this summer
Winsome likes having her family around her, and their friends; Amma has visited twice, she’s been fond of her since she met Shirley at secondary school
every mother wants their child to have a best friend
Amma was a quiet child until she started attending the youth theatre and became a more extravagant personality who liked to wear eccentric clothes
Winsome told Shirley not to copy her, to dress to blend in or she’d become a target
Winsome was wrong, Amma never became nobody’s target
when Amma came out as lesbian as a teenager, Winsome was worried the poor child’s life would be blighted, and feared Shirley would catch the bug and be resigned to a life of misery too
she was wrong about that too
the French doors overlook the veranda where Shirley is winding down with a glass of wine while gazing dreamily at the sea like it’s the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen
she behaves like a tourist when she’s here, expects everything to be perfect and wears all white: blouse, trousers, comfy sandals
I only wear white on holiday, Mum, it’s symbolic of the psychological cleansing I have to undergo
Winsome is tempted to reply, you mean it’s symbolic of you not helping out around here
she won’t ever tell Shirley off, though, if her daughter gets upset
she’ll never hear the end of it
Shirley looks ashen and drawn when she first arrives from England, give her a couple of weeks and she’s going to look radiant, her body will free-up itself from the up-tightness of city life and she’s going to walk with more lyricalness
it happens to everybody if they stay in Barbados long enough
by the end of Shirley’s vacation, she’s going to look and walk as if she is truly a child of the soil, not one raised in a cold climate who feels everything is against her
as Shirley does
who’s an emotional dumper
as Shirley is
complaining about her terrible job in that terrible school, and when Winsome advises her to leave and maybe become an educational consultant, Shirley replies, I don’t want suggestions, Mum, I just need you to listen
Shirley
who’s never satisfied with what she has: excellent health, cushy job, hunky husband, lovely daughters and granddaughter, good house and car, no debts, free luxury holiday in the tropics every year
tough life, Shirl
compared to Winsome who spent her working life standing on the open platform of a Routemaster bus
bombarded with rain or snow or hailstones
climbing stairs a million times a day with a heavy ticket machine hanging from her neck and big money bag around her waist that got heavier as the journey progressed giving her round shoulders and back problems to this very day
having to deal with non-payers and under-payers who refused to get off de dam bus who cussed her for being a silly cow or a nig nog or a bloody foreigner
the hordes of schoolchildren fighting each other to get on the bus, same with the stampedes of suited cattle in the rush hour