The day was almost done, the last bell, a few minutes from ringing and I had spent the last half hour waiting for Jerome...
"Wandering the halls again I see Mr. Dodd."
"Wasting time trying to bust my balls again I see Miss Popejoy."
"Doing my job, keeping track of students at my school is not a waste of time Mr. Dodd."
Miss Popejoy, the principle of the Washington Carver High School, had been on a mission to convert me, to save me, to turn me into someone who cared about school for three years. She was about out of time and she knew it... it made her angry and desperate. It caused her to dog me and harass me. It might have bothered me if I only cared...
Her 3 inch heels clicked on the concrete halls... her nylon clad thighs swished as she walked in the almost empty halls... Melissa Popejoy was a professional administrator... efficient and organized... I have no doubt that she had a file on everyone with copious notes... I could care less what she had written about me.
She was late 30's early 40's and full figured without being fat. 5' 9", 150 lbs... Most of the time she wore pants suits that were well made and looked good on her...
"If you spent half the energy on learning something, that you put out, to stay out of class, you might amount to something someday young man."
"Well then we are in luck Miss Popejoy because I spend no energy on staying out of class, I just don't go, so spending half of nothing on education is already in the bank. I hope that makes you as happy as it does me."
She was winding herself up, letting her frustration and failure in my case get to her... and me mocking her was only poking the bear...
She stopped three foot short of bumping into me and leaned in another 6 inches to emphasize her point. "I should have kicked you out of school two years ago! You are such a bad example to the other kids!"
"See, that's where you are wrong..." I said crossing my arms and leaning back against the wall... "None of these kiss ass kids wants to be anything like me. They all want to run in your rat race... they all want that gold ring... You keeping me here has been a great reminder to them as to why they want to stay in class... the district should be paying me to hang out and remind them."
"You are such a waste Casey... you could not make a dime in my neighborhood... no one would hire you!"
"You on the other hand," as I looked her up and down, exaggerating my actions, "could make more in three months in my neighborhood than you take home in a year working this dead end job."
She blushed and then got more red as anger took her words...
I saw the slap coming from the moment the thought first crossed her mind. I let it land to see what she had... it was not impressive... It hurt her hand more than it stung me.
I saw the horror enter her thoughts as it dawned on her what she had actually done.
I shrugged and said in my deep and menacing voice, "You are wasting your time and beginning to annoy me. Class is going to be getting out momentarily and unless you want everyone to witness my next lack of impulse control, I suggest you go about your business."
She took two tentative steps back, spun on her heels and made a beeline for her office several buildings away.
On second thought, she would not last three months in my neighborhood.
The bell rang and doors flew open. The day was done and everyone was headed home. Jerome walked with his eyes on the ground... about a foot in front of where his feet were. If he looked up when he walked, he tripped a lot... if he looked down he bumped his head once in a while, but that was preferable... it hurt less and no one laughed about it, at least not where he could hear. Because of it though, everyone made sure that they got out of his way... no one tried to squeeze though the door when Jerome was walking though...
I pushed off the wall as he came alongside and fell in with him. Neither one of us said anything until we headed out towards the parking lot where I knew his mother picked him up everyday.
He glanced sideways at me for the third time and then said, "Are you going to follow me all the way home?"
"No... just wanted to know if you wanted to show me some of those movies you have... you know..."
He looked around conspiratorially... then looked at me sideways and giggled, shaking his shoulders and nodding his head... "Sure... mom won't be hear for a bit today and we can wait over by that tree..."
"Great... I have been thinking about them all day... your mom is really pretty."
"I know... geez, she 's my mom... I see her everyday... I know she's very pretty."
This was going to take some getting used to if I was going to follow through... it might not be worth it.
We sat down and leaned against the big oak and Jerome pulled his tablet out of his backpack and made a big show of secrecy about his password, until I reminded him that we were secret sharers... "Sorry Casey... I forget."
"It's alright Jerome... I will show you how secret sharers are."
"Here is one of my favorites... you will like it too."
Jerome opened a folder that had fifty or more icons of digital videos. He clicked on one and his mom was talking and then the camera found her and settled in.
She was standing wearing nylons with a garter belt, no frills black, a small black thong and she was unbuttoning her blouse. She shrugged out of it and tossed it to the side where, I suppose, the rest of her clothes were. Her bra was full, no frills and low cut... it looked very good on her.
She was going on about how she wanted him to tie her up. She was going to lay on her stomach and he was going to tie her hands and arms behind her, then her knees together and then her ankles. He should put a line between her hands and ankles but loose this time instead of too tight. He told her he understood and would do a good job this time.
