Miss you.
She doesn’t respond back right away, but that’s okay. I don’t need her to.
eleven
Staring at the paper in front of me, I bite my lip in anticipation. Silently I give him directions on how to solve the problem, but I keep my mouth shut, making him work through it on his own. When he sets down his pencil, I can’t help but smile.
Yes, he did it!
“Great job, Rev,” I say when the little boy in front of me gets a math question right.
Rev is one of my favorites who comes in daily. He’s only six, but he’s been through so much. His mom died during childbirth, and he’s being raised by his grandmother, who took custody when she did. The father didn’t know he existed and is trying to get custody.
That’s where we come in. Rev comes in every day after school to wait for his father to show up for visitation. Usually they only allow one or two a week, but his grandmother is elderly and can barely keep up with him. They are trying to fast-track his reunification with the father.
Maybe that’s why I connect with him so much. Both of us come from broken homes.
“I got it right?” he asks me, wide-eyed.
“You did.”
He pumps his fist in the air, making me laugh. “On my first try even!”
“Okay, keep going, and if you get stuck, just yell for me, okay? Once you’re done, I’ll check it over too.”
“Thank you, Miss Cora.”
“You’re so welcome, Rev.” I stand and walk away from the table.
I scan the room to see if anyone looks like they might need help, but my supervisor Martha gets my attention.
“Hi, Martha,” I say as I get close to her.
“Hello dear, how are you?”
“I’m good.”
“How’s school going?”
I must make a face because she laughs.
“That good, huh?”
“I’m just not sold on it really.”
Martha gives me her full attention. “What do you mean?”
“Truthfully?”
“Always.”
“Well, I don’t know what I want to do career-wise, so I feel a little bit guilty that I have a scholarship that someone else could be using. Someone who knows what they want to do, you know what I mean?”
Martha nods slowly. “I do. Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
“Did you come to college because you wanted to or because your family wanted you to?”
