Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Give me a piece of paper and a pencil, and I'll give you...The Williams Decision

I've been a writer as long as I can remember. My favorite thing to do in all the world is stories - reading them, thinking about them, and now writing them.

I've written a novel that's been published on Amazon for Kindle, and I love it, but there's so much more than that.

I need a place for my other shorter pieces, and that place is here. For free. Forever.

I love the democracy of the Internet. I've learned so much from others' stories being made available for free, so now it's my turn to return the favor.

This story is a side story based on my science fiction/romance novel, "Sanctuary". The physical look of Dwight I took from a really sweet guy who might be horrified to find himself written out as a fictional character, so his identity will remain with me.

Enjoy!



The Williams Decision
A side story from Sanctuary
Part 1




The principal exhaled as she read Dwight Paulson’s name on her list of detentions, again. Surprised, and again, disappointed. 

After receiving suspension for three days, his name landed right straight back on the list almost immediately, from two teachers, no less. They complained that he disrupted the lessons constantly with his pointless chattering and distracted and irrelevant commentary, while they tried to keep the class on track to get them ready for state testing.

Then a massive disruption occurred last week, when he was called to the board to answer a problem, but he started knocking his head against the chalkboard for no reason. The teacher wrote that it looked almost like he fought against a strong wind, reaching for one of the other students, but slammed himself backwards against the board instead, smearing himself in chalk dust. The other students screamed and ran from the room, except for the one in front of Dwight, who never moved.

The police carried him out screaming and lunging at the girl.

She re-adjusted her glasses and looked in the silver wall mirror she kept to prepare herself for these sorts of encounters. Tired, she thought. She’d light her pinecone stress candle for some fresh scent in the room, but she couldn’t get away with it during school hours because of the fire codes. She lifted it and sniffed it for a little pick-me-up, while she stared into her own expression in the mirror. Soon her face reflected the look she wanted. The peripheral and ongoing battle of state testing would be nothing compared to this, and couldn’t be fought at the moment. Better stay focused on Dwight.

She replaced the candle. “Mr. Paulson? Come in please.”

A tall and lanky boy entered, with a blond crewcut that stood straight up in front. He smiled, and his freckles bunched around his smooth-looking apple cheeks. His long tan trench coat looked as though it belonged to a slightly larger man, and she noticed some slight fraying at the cuffs. The bloodshot rubber eyeball at his collar with a large safety pin through the middle somehow did not give the impression that this boy wanted to conform to institutional norms. 

Principal Caller raised a skeptical eyebrow. This kid looked like a Rockwell painting, but not quite. His smile didn’t touch his eyes, which looked a little dilated.

“Mr. Paulson, I blame myself that you’re standing here today. Apparently, the message I tried to convey to you with your suspension missed its mark.

His eyes widened, and he held his hands forward, trying to steer the conversation. “Let me explain…”

She continued. “When I allowed you to come back to my school, it is with conditions. Those conditions are that your behavior has to change, so that class can be taught and folks can learn. Yet, things continue just the same.” She indicated with her finger for him to sit down. No children towered over her during lectures.

He lowered himself into the chair opposite her desk. “Sorry, ma’am.”

She believed not a word. “Don’t you want to come back to school, Dwight? Finish your last year?”

“Yes.” He said with great conviction, while he shook his head ‘no’.

Let the lying begin, she thought.

“Right.”

“I need another chance. You don’t know what it’s like at my house – my dad. He will terrorize me if I get kicked out of another school. Make me spend all day doing the Spiritual Exercises this summer, then theological school. He’s already bought me the space, he says. I’m practically a novitiate if you don’t help me.”

“Would that be so bad?”

He shook his head up and down, his eyes very wide.

“According to school records when you transferred in, you were kicked out of Saint Ignatius Loyola because of…intoxication in class?”

He scrunched his eyes tight. “It’s not what you think, really.”

“And Mr. Taylor is complaining that you’re spending all your time in English class talking to the new transfer – Crystal Hanson – instead of paying attention?”

At Crystal’s name, he clenched his jaw. “Did she turn me in? She’s lying. She can’t leave me alone. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but I’m getting blamed for stuff she’s doing! It’s not fair!”

“Mr. Taylor assures me he’s moved you away from her, yet these incidents continue.”

Dwight’s fingers balled into white-knuckled fists, but he kept them in his lap. “He’s lying. They’re all lying.”

“I know Mr. Taylor very well, even if I don’t know Crystal, and I can tell you he doesn’t lie. You, on the other hand…I seem to have a very difficult time getting the truth from you.”

“I’m telling you, she’s setting me up for something…I don’t know what. Just talk to her. You’ll see. 
I’m telling you she’s a freak, and she’s setting me up.”

“This meeting is not about Ms. Hanson, Dwight. It’s about you. Now, are you ready to take responsibility for your behavior and let us do our jobs?”

Dwight covered his face in his hands for a moment. As they fell, his smile that only reached the bottom half of his face was back. The effect chilled her.

“I can’t make you see…but yes, you’re right. This is about me, and I’m going to make it right. Please let me come back to school.”

And here’s where we pretend to understand each other.

“You still have to serve the detention you’ve been given, but I’m willing to overlook suspension at this time IF you will do your part. Let the teachers talk. Stay away from Ms. Hanson in school. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And get that nasty eyeball off your Burberry. Save the horror stuff for home, okay?”

Dwight looked down, surprised, and then he smiled again. He unpinned the eyeball and put it back in the pocket of his trench coat. “Okay.”

“Now get to class, young man.”

He rose to leave, and as he turned away, his smile once again changed in nature. It didn’t seem to her to be so much of a mocking smile as the teachers described in their reports. 

It looked haunted instead.

She crossed herself and closed her eyes for a moment as he left.

She turned her face back to the mirror.

Her power look fell away to the tired, sad look again.

Not a good look for a downtown Baltimore school administrator.

She pulled a list out of her desk, with a few student’s names written on it. She added ‘Dwight Paulson’ to the bottom of the list.

She would keep a very close eye on that boy at school for the next several weeks. She couldn’t afford to lose teachers in order to save the student, and for that, she was sorry. Pragmatism won out over idealism, and some students paid the price. 

Come to think of it…

She added another name to the list.

Crystal Hansen. 

A foster child, if she remembered correctly. She’d worked with Bennie Jones on a lot of other kids, so she didn’t have to worry about Crystal in that regard. Still, once a student’s name got on her radar, it never paid to forget about them.

***
Check out Part 2  if you're so inclined, and also take a look at  my novel 'Sanctuary' on Amazon Kindle if you'd like the whole story...

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