“I just decided to quit fooling around and do something with my life. I decided to stop goofing off so much.”
“This isn’t just stopping the goofing off. Taking two math classes in a single year is a lot more than that. And next year? Are you planning on actually attending class at Towson High? Are you planning on skipping a grade?”
“Not really. I figure that if I go over there and say that I managed to pull this off, they would have no reason not to let me do some kind of independent study. My understanding is that they have students already moving ahead in some cases, even taking some classes over at Towson State for dual credit. I want to do that,” I announced.
“Well!” She sat back and eyed me for a moment. “What brought this on?! Did your parents tell you to ask about this?”
I stared at her. That seemed totally out of left field. “My parents? They don’t even know about this!”
“You haven’t talked to them about doubling up in math?”
“God no! It will make life a lot simpler if I simply present this as a done deal, a fait accompli if you will. I will admit, though, my mom will be all in favor of it. I’ll finally be living up to my potential. Why?”
She rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve seen Little Johnny get an A on a test and the next day his parents come in thinking he’s Sir Isaac Newton brought back to life.” She waved it aside. “So, seriously, what brought this on? Does this have something to do with the fight on the bus the other day?” My eyes opened wide at that. “Yeah, I heard all about it. Do you think you can get out of here a year early and escape the bullies? Towson High will be even worse!”
I just shrugged. “It’s a yes and no answer. It’s more like I just turned thirteen and decided to do something, make something of myself. I want to take control of my life. Up until now everybody and their brother has been telling me what to do and when to do it and how to do it. No more! I want to be in control. Nobody’s going to bully me anymore and I want to have some say in what classes I take. I think I can do this. Will you help me? Or not?”
“Hunh.” She sat there stumped for a moment. “Well, I might, although if you think you can take control of your life, you are sorely mistaken. I don’t think any of us are really in control of anything. Here’s the deal. If we were to compress all of this year into half the year, this would be about the midpoint of the semester. Tomorrow, after school, I will give you a midterm test. It will cover not only what we have studied so far, but the topics I will be teaching up through Christmas. You take the test and I grade it. You do well and I will figure out how to do this. You fail, and you stay like now. This is it. One test, make or break. That’s the deal. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am!” I said eagerly. “What chapters will the test cover?”
An eye raised at this, as if I was calling her bluff. She gave me the chapters to be covered. Then she said, “This is a one time shot. You will get one hour, no curve on the grade. I don’t care how you finagle staying after class or how you plan to get home. This is your shot at glory. If you don’t show up for any reason, it’s all over. Are we in agreement?”
I stuck out my hand. “Yes, ma’am! Do we need to spit on our palms to make it official?”
She snorted in laughter at this. She simply took my hand and shook it. “I think we can avoid that.”
I got up and left, pulling out my second apple and eating it on the way to my next class. I said nothing to any of my classmates, or to my parents that evening. It would be a lot simpler to keep them out of it until I had it locked up. I will admit that I studied those chapters awfully hard that night, reading the first half of the book twice and doing a bunch of problems at the end of each chapter, but it was still a snap. I spent more time writing the answers down than in figuring them out. The next day, I lingered after class and confirmed the time I was to show up in the classroom. I told my parents I was staying late to study in the library, and that I would walk home. It was only about a mile and a half from the school to home, so it wasn’t a big deal.
The test was fifty problems, seemingly split evenly among each chapter of the book. I was done in about forty-five minutes, even though I had to ask for help twice, simply to make sure I understood what the problem was asking for. I handed Mrs. Bakkley my test and sat back down in my seat.
“Okay, you want the good news or the bad news now, huh?” she asked. I nodded. Suddenly my mouth was as dry as dust. “Alright, let’s see.” She pulled her answer key out of her briefcase and graded my test as I waited. She was using a red pen, and I felt an annoying sense of dread as she would make cryptic marks on the paper. It sure seemed like she was making a lot more marks on the test paper than could possibly be warranted. Finally she put down her pen and sat back, to look at me curiously. “Huh!” She wordlessly handed me the page.
My nerves were shot as I turned it to face me. 97! I stared at it, and then glanced up at her. It wasn’t perfect. Was it good enough?
“I wrote that test harder than I would have for a normal class, and you just aced it!” she exclaimed.
“Is it good enough?” I asked, barely able to speak.
“Good enough and beyond. If you want to do this, I’ll help.”
I felt like buckets of sweat washed through me. I suddenly felt lightheaded and ran out of the room to the bathroom across the hall. I just made it to a toilet stall in time to lose my lunch. My guts heaved and I puked up about three years of meals. After a minute or so, I got to my feet weakly and saw Mrs. Bakkley staring at me from the doorway, horrified. “Carl! Are you alright?”
I moved to a sink and ran cold water over my face and through my hair. I spit out the aftertaste of my vomit and breathed deeply, then looked at myself in the mirror. I was grinning. I washed up again and grabbed a few paper towels. I turned to face my math teacher. “I am now!”
Chapter 5: Planning For The Future
Taking control of my life meant that I was going to be in charge of the timetable, and this was a major step along the way. Mrs. Bakkley told me to go home and she would make some arrangements. I would need to discuss this with my parents and meet with her and the administration for permission. She was also going to speak to one of the math teachers over at Towson High. She would tell me when the meeting was.
On Thursday she told me everything was all set, and that she had made an appointment with Mr. Butterfield for after school on Monday. I would need to get at least one of my parents there at four.
At dinner that night I asked them if either of them could come. The results were predictable. Dad wanted to know what I had done now, and Mom wanted to know if I was being punished or given detention. “Your faith in me is overwhelming!” I responded, which brought outraged cries about ‘lip’ and ‘backtalk’ but no hitting. Suzie just stared, not understanding. She liked school and didn’t understand why staying after was bad. Hamilton was much more along the line that I was being punished for something, a feeling for which he had an inordinate amount of glee. It was bad enough that I had to mention to Dad that Ham was really starting to get on my nerves and I was starting to work up the energy to give him a good thumping. This got Dad to give me a stern warning to leave my little brother alone, but it also got him to chew Ham’s ass ragged. He left me alone after that.
Mom pushed for an explanation of the meeting, and I simply told her, truthfully, that it involved getting permission to take an advanced class. I left it at that, and when they pushed, I simply stated that it would make more sense on Monday. Mom would ask Mrs. Bonner across the street to keep an eye on Suzie and Hamilton after school.