SOMEWHERE TO PARK
A short story by Mick Macve
Part 4
The next few weeks had been better, he told himself one morning as he parked his Lada in the empty school car park. He always parked as far away from the building as possible now, so as not to cause offence. This irked him a little because he was always the first teacher to arrive. There was a definite improvement in the behaviour of all his classes. Why, only ten of his Year Seven class failed to do their homework last week. Anyway, at least he had added several words to his vocabulary.
Still, that Larry James was a bit of a handful. He wouldn’t stop making those silly cow noises. Once he started, the others joined in. Alan felt so helpless and he has always been a little gullible. Alan’s Science teacher had once made him go to Soapy Symes as ask for a long stand. Alan had been told to wait outside the Sports Hall and it was only after he had been waiting there an hour that he realised it was April 1st. He would never be that sort of mean nasty teacher, he thought, as he strode nervously into his classroom, balancing his sandwiches on top of sixty exercise books. Give the children respect…
"What the hell are you doing?" he shouted at Larry James. All sixty books, and his sandwiches, crashed to the floor.
The boy looked up from the teacher’s desk, Alan’s wallet in hand.
"Nothing, sir!"
"It doesn’t look like nothing to me. THAT’S MY WALLET!! GIVE IT TO ME!!"
Larry James threw the wallet on the floor and ran out of the classroom.
"Moooooo! Moooooooooooooo!" echoed down the corridor.
Alan picked up his wallet. He hadn’t even realised that he’d left it at school. He had had so many books to carry home last night that he had forgotten to take his briefcase with him. He checked the contents. The two five pound notes were still there. Even so, another minute and the boy would have taken them.
Alan stood in the middle of his classroom and frowned. He had shouted at a child. He had vowed that he would never do that. Show them respect and they will respect you back. Huh! Fat lot of good it was doing him. It may well be that this ideal only applied to certain kids. Maybe Larry James was beyond hope. Maybe…maybe Alan just couldn’t relate to kids like Larry James.
"Mr. Kowper. Good morning."
"Oh! Good morning Mr. Brand."
Alan went red.
"Everything all right, Mr. Kowper? Did I just see Larry James running down the corridor?"
"Yes! I mean no! I mean, er, I’m not sure."
As Mr. Brand waited, Alan felt hundreds of emotions run through him, all at once. Should he tell? Should he tell Mr. Brand what had happened? This was silly; Alan was a teacher now. He wasn’t a schoolboy telling tales on another kid. Colleagues should work together. Mr. Brand would be helpful. He would sort things out. He would understand.
That was the problem. Mr. Brand wouldn’t understand. He wouldn’t even try to understand. Teachers like Mr. Brand never tried to understand. They had one simple solution to every problem: punishment. Is this what Alan wanted? Had he become a teacher to help children, or to punish children? If he told Mr. Brand what had happened, he’d be just like the rest of them: ‘Soapy" Symes, ‘Marlon" Brand, ‘Mooooo’ Cowper. Might as well be an accountant.
"Yes, Mr. Brand, it was Larry James. He was asking me about some extra homework. I don’t know if he was running or not."
"Extra homework!" Mr. Brand smiled as he marched out. "I’m sure it’s none of my business, Mr. Kowper."
Somewhere To Park part 5
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last modified: April 24, 1998
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