Maxwell High: A Short Story

“Yes, your son and his friends did absolutely nothing wrong tonight but handled it rather well”

"Of course his behavior is endangering his custody right now. But at this point, he does not even seem to care."

Jenkins right in the eye and said “ Ms. Jenkins I promise I really do have to use the bathroom! I might ppe my pants.” She didn’t believe him. Carl desperately wanted to go to the bathroom but was told to take a seat next to Jenny. After that the class fell silent. Foul smelling liquid dripped down Carl’s leg and then everyone heard something dripping so they turned around to Carl and saw him with soaking wet pants. Everyone laughed at him. Carl ran out of the classroom and started crying because he humiliated himself. The teacher came out in the hall and said how sorry she was that she didn’t let him go but how Carl abused his

“no sorry mam' you must be thinking of someone else. I'm drayden, alfonso's friend from the football team”

Ten years after all of the drama with TJ and the Wallace’s, Cassie gets transferred to an all white Jefferson Davis school. On the first day of school Cassie walks on the bus with all of the white kids, as she was walking to the back of the bus the white kids were staring at her in a weird way that makes her spit on a white kid before she even gets to sit down. She then gets thrown off the bus and has to walk in the mud with a black kid, Scotty Smith that had moved here two days ago. When Cassie figured out that a boy was moving into a house in front of their house she was blushing. As they were walking to the school it was very awkward because Cassie likes Scotty Smith, but she didn’t have the courage to tell him before they had to split apart to go to their different schools.

“I thought you had changed,” she said to me. “You know better than to be fighting like that. You supposed to be an example to your brother.”

“Yes, I am sure he is telling the truth. I know my son and I know that he doesn’t lie to me. You would do well not to spread rumors like this to me or anyone else.”

The narrative begins when Gregory is about seven years old, quite young to be experiencing such a painful lesson in racism. However, this teacher, which Gregory never mentions her name, dishes out her hatefulness with every opportunity. Gregory has a classmate, which he is quite fond of and tries to impress her at every opportunity he is given. The problem Gregory is up against is that he is poor. Gregory has one set of clothes which he washes every night. He shines shoes to make money, which he leaves on Helens porch instead of buying food. In return, Helen, the girl of Gregory’s dreams, rewards him as she walks by his house on the way to school with a wink and a smile. Gregory jumps through hoops to gain this girls attention and she is never unkind to him even though she is economically in a better situation than he is. However, when he goes to school he is made the center of attention by the teacher who labels him an idiot; she does this intentionally by placing him at the back of the room in a seat with a circle drawn around it in white chalk. Gregory is

A new principal was hired at Kristina's elementary school, he was also her 4th grade teacher. He respected Kristina's opinion and listened to her pitch,

“I don’t think so,” said a woman’s strong voice. “You will tell me where my son is right now or I will have some serious assault charges on you.”

“Well comfortable or not, this will be your home for the remainder of the initiation. What, you didn’t think I’d just let you all into my family without having a little fun with you first?”

Miss Johnson gave the women a look that could have melted that mink coat and led her students away. George looked back at the women with hurt and confusion. He wished he could have tripped the smelly old lady. On the way back home from the trip, George, always the quiet kid, sat alone on the bus beat. “Mind if I sit next to you, George?” Someone asked. He looked up, piled his long legs out of the aisle, and smiled at her. “Sure, Miss Johnson”.

Gregory didn’t know the money was raised for him and his kind “poor kids”. However, when Gregory gets up to match Helen’s contribution, the teacher rages furiously and says “ We are collecting this money for you and your kind, Richard Gregory. If your Daddy can give you fifteen dollars you have no business being on relief.” (Shame 20. Pg. 214).

“Have you ever tried getting a restraining order on him?” she questioned with with sympathy in her voice.

"Could you see what my son is up to?" Miss Whitmore sighed of exhaustion. She was the only woman in her blood family so she had to do