“Thanks again for the tip, by the way.”
“That’s what I said.”
“I thought we said we weren’t going to do that anymore.”
Laughter. “Sorry. Old habits.”
“It helps. Both the buds and the reading.”
“Uh oh. I detect a ‘but’ coming up.”
“That’s what I said.”
“HEY!” She poked him hard with a naked foot.
Laughter. “You broke the pact. You suffer the consequences.”
“So what’s on your mind, other than the obvious. And aren’t you clever for being so young.”
“Just love reminding me of it, don’t you?”
“Not my fault I have the advantage of age and experience. It’s kept you…coming…back for two years.” She gave him that slight smile. The one she knew he couldn’t resist.
“You’re an evil woman. That is why I love you.”
“So out with it.”
“I still don’t know what to do with her.”
She sighed. “What do they teach you in teacher school nowadays? Maybe I need to quit being a vice principal and go back to the classroom.”
“That would be a shame. You are our first and best line of defense against Dickens. Without you, the shield wall will fall, and the barbarian will be let loose amidst the helpless villagers. That is to say, the children.”
“You mean the teachers.”
“It is the same, grasshopper.”
“You all make him out worse than he is.”
“The man broached canceling Christmas vacation.”
“He wasn’t serious about that.”
His eyebrow rocketed to the top of his hairline.”No?”
“Ok. He was a little serious.”
“So you were disparaging my education?”
“Yes, thank you. What you have is a classic classroom management problem.”
“Unfortunately we live in an age when intelligent people must state the obvious. Or in other words, no shit.”
Laughter. “Preamble, love. You have a specific kind of classroom management problem. The precocious student. They come in different flavors. She is a rare one.”
“Again, no shit. I still don’t know what to do with her. The buds and reading are good. But she…”
“Gets bored.”
“Well, yeah.”
“And therein lies the solution. With the talented and gifted precocious students the best remedy is more. Give her more. In fact, and I don’t know why we haven’t thought of this. We need to put a musical instrument into her hands.”
“Are you insane?”
“You don’t let her have it in the classroom, obviously.”
“Next you’re going to say she try the tuba.”
“I know better than that. Or the drums.”
“We don’t have a music department. Not anymore.”
“I know.” She sighed. “Fuck.”
She got out of bed. He watched her with the same eyes that lions use when a gazelle happens by. She went to her closet and stood on tiptoes to reach for something on the top shelf. He made a mental note to have her retrieve more things from her top shelf.
She took out a case. A guitar case.
“It’s a parlor. I prefer not to be the one to teach her.”
“Coward.” He said.
