|
“I
want the reports by class tomorrow, boys.”
The
chalk snapped in her fingers. Mrs. Ritter scowled at the pieces. She carefully
lay the chalk down and returned to her desk.
Todd,
he’d have it done before he left school today. Benny, she did not doubt, would
tool around with his motorcycle and forget. Then he would owe her a two thousand
word report.
She
sighed. Benny would shrug it off and let it wait. He simply did not care about
anything but his family. He was obsessed with keeping them safe. His one
redeeming character was his intense love and loyalty.
Closing
her eyes, she remembered the deluge of news hungry sharks that descended on the
school the day the story broke. She’d had to take the Sandy Valley children
home in her car to keep them from being trampled by reporters.
The
class tittered. She cleared her throat and a dead, terrified hush fell over the
classroom.
Mrs.
Ritter was pretty cool, but she handed out thousand word reports like they were
Grandma’s candy or something.
There
was a joke around school that she was sawing down a tree on her farm and a
copper head snake came out and bit her.
Then
it curled up and died. Yo, man, like yo.
Benny
threw a sly wink at Todd. He shook his head. Most teachers would have run him
down to the office with a note. Not old lady Ritter. She liked to make the kids
suffer all by herself.
He
tried to get Todd’s attention without the old battle-axe at the back of the
room seeing him.
Ducking
her head behind a text book, she disregarded Benny and the noise he was making.
Sullen,
Todd glared at his history book. He shook his head. Benny hissed a little
louder. He signed at Todd, hands barely moving.
Todd
slumped, head down. He made a slight nod.
Smirking,
Benny wrote out the assignment Mrs. Ritter had chalked on the board. Sinking
into his seat, he pushed away the pain. His ribs settled into a tolerable throb.
Mrs.
Ritter patted the soft and grandmotherly curls on her head and gave an evil
smile. Poor Benny.
Poor,
poor Benny.
My,
but this was gonna be fun.
©2002 StoriesByEmail.com
|
