A tap on my door pulled me from my thoughts. I stood to open it and was relieved to see a friendly face.
“Hey, Yaz. You’re here early.”
I returned to my seat while she closed the door and sat in the chair next to my desk.
“I wanted to check on you before the day started. You sure you’re ready to be back? You know these people around here have no couth.”
“Rowdy asked me the same thing this morning. I’m a little nervous, but I’m ready.”
“If you have any problems with anyone, let me know. I’m about to quit anyway, so I’ll fuck these people up if I need to.”
“I’m sure Bronx will be thrilled when he turns on the news and sees his wife and mother of his children being escorted out of the school in cuffs.”
We laughed but knew Bronx would turn the jail every which way until they released her.
“I’m not worried about these people. If they respect your boundaries, they won’t have to worry about me.”
“I’ll be fine.”
We stood and embraced before she left. For the first half of the day, I went through my emails and paperwork. After lunch, I called students down who had sent me repeated emails. There were two other social workers and several counselors who were available for my students to see while I was out, but based on the emails they sent me, they hated them.
After seeing five students who I saw regularly, Ramina poked her head into my office. She wasn’t on my list to see because she had access to me outside of school and we spoke regularly. I was surprised to see her in my office.
“Hey, Ms. T.—”
“You don’t have to be so formal when it’s just us, Mina.”
“I know, but I have to be when we’re at school or I’ll forget. I just came to check on you and see how your day is going. How is my niece or nephew?”
She closed the door and sat down, while I looked at her suspiciously.
“Did your brother send you?”
She smiled innocently. “Maybe.”
“He’s been texting me every hour on the hour for updates. I told him I’m fine and his child is fine, now you can tell him the same. Where are you supposed to be?”
“P.E.”
“Let me write you a pass to class.”
“Wait. I do want to talk to you about something.”
“Okay.” I put my pen down and gave her my attention.
“So, there’s this boy that wants to take me out.”
“On a date?”
“Yes, Ms. T. What else would he want to do?”
“Girl, I don’t know. I didn’t know these young boys took girls out on dates. What’s his name?”
“Kendrick. He started school a few weeks late, but we have lunch together.”
“What do you want me to do? You’re almost eighteen. I can’t imagine Rowdy or Ms. Dawn having a problem with you dating.”
“My mother doesn’t, but Rowdy is a different story.”
