Goddam Teachers

 Paola Rivera

Mrs. Meadows

November 28, 2010

English C/D

Goddam Teachers

     Every teacher in the goddam universe always tries to make every one of us crumby, morons look as stupid as possible by asking questions nobody knows the answers to. Nobody in that goddam building knows the answers to those teachers’ questions. No one. I bet not even that goddam teacher knows the answers to their questions.

     Pretty much all my teachers were like that. Every single one of them. They would start asking questions out of nowhere, and every one of us would just try to hide behind the person in front of them. But if you were in the front row, there was no way to escape. You were a goner.

     I knew this one teacher, Mrs. Walker, she was the master of making idiots, like Ackley, look bad. Ackley and me were in that class together and all. Ackley was like her number one target the whole year. That killed me. And it wasn’t just the questions that he never could answer it was his stupid behavior.

      There was this girl, Taylor Santos, Ackley would always sit right in front of her every goddam class. I think Ackley must have liked the girl or something, because every minute you would see him bugging the crap out of her. He was always poking her or pulling on her hair, but Taylor was just as stupid as Ackley, after Ackley would have poked her or something Taylor would scream and look around to see who did it. That killed me. I don’t think old Taylor Santos ever found out it was old Ackley kid who was the one poking her, even though he was always sitting behind her. But the funniest part was old Ackley. After old Taylor would look around, Ackley would start howling like a hyena. And guess what. That Moron, Taylor Santos still never found out it was Ackley. Not even the slightest clue. Old Mrs. Walker had a tirade with Ackley about being such a disruption to her class and all, but Ackley would keep on laughing. That killed me.

   

       Anyways, a normal day with Mrs. Walker would always start with us waiting for the questions to start in the beginning of class. We were always really nervous and all, and we would try not to draw any attention to ourselves like Ackley and Taylor always did. They were always being called first to answer those goddam questions. That’s the good thing about teachers there always so predictable.

       So anyways all of us sat down waiting all nervously, and all cold or all hot, we were either burning up or shaking as hell in her classroom. The reason being was because old Mrs. Walker’s air conditioning was never on. Maybe it was busted or something. But we never knew because every time one of us morons tried asking her she would yell at us. So since we didn’t have any air conditioning she was always leaving those goddam windows opened. It didn’t matter if we were in the middle of summer in a huge drought, or if there was a lightning storm, or if there was a goddam blizzard old Mrs. Walker’s windows would always be opened. So pretty much that classroom was like hell.

        In the summer we would always leave her classroom covered in sweat, and in the winter if you had the honor of sitting away from the windows you would be fine, but sit within two yards of the windows, by the time you get out you will be covered in snow with icicles hanging from your nose. There were these three kids always messing around, they got moved to the desks near the window for the whole year. Those idiots never had a chance for survival.

         Anyways when the questions did come, I would slouch down until my head was practically on the back of my chair. Half the time you wouldn’t get noticed. But there were two things wrong with that brilliant idea. One, if that goddam Mrs. Walker ever saw you, you would be moved to the front and given one of those hard questions the teachers don’t even know, and when you couldn’t answer them she would yell like hell at you. And two, it hurt the back of your goddam head so much when you slouch like that. But I really don’t care much.

        Those crumby, goddam teachers. They always were bringing pain. 

Holden + Scotch = Toothpicks???



Holden + Scotch = Toothpicks???

                                 By: Paola Rivera

  

     I was walking down the icy roads of New York one mid-afternoon. The sun usually would’ve been directly in the middle of the sky, but today no sun could be seen because of the cloudy weather. I was clad in a sweater, a scarf, and a pair of mittens, (1) but I could still feel the winter air on my face. I was on my way to my favorite park, Central Park, that day.

      When I got there I decided to go straight to the center of the park where there was a small lake and in the summer there was ducks, frogs, and fish to see, (1) but in the winter it was quiet and serene.  That’s when I saw him. He was sitting down on an old bench next to the lake. He was staring at the ice with a grimace on his face and bags under his eyes.  Anyone who saw him would’ve thought he was a recluse, but not me.  He looked like a lonely, young boy. (3) You could tell he was despondent and not very avid to see any one at the moment, but I still decided to go over and sit on the bench with him.

     But my endeavor to sit next to him was a fail attempt because as soon as I sat down, he jumped out of his seat and feel onto the snowy, wet ground. (2) I surmised that the fall would not cause any excruciating abrasions so I didn’t worry that much. But I did get up and lend a hand to help him up. And even though he rebuffed my help, he sort of smiled at the sight of my hand. The boy, who fell in an inch of snow, was covered in snow when he stood. (11)

      As soon as he got up from the snow he asked me a question. For some reason this question got me thinking and now it even haunts me. He asked, “Do you happen to know where the ducks go during the winter?”

      I, as you might have guessed, was slightly puzzled. But I was resilient and I quickly answered, “They fly away.”

       “Really? Good, so they’re not stuck here or anything, right?” He asked.

       “Nope, they’re ok.”

       “Good, hey you wanna go get a drink with me?” He asked. “ A quick drink, my treat and all, please.”

         I felt bad for him; you could tell he was lonesome. And he was so desperate he was entreating.  I was still standing and thinking, waiting to see if he would withdraw he’s offer, but he didn’t. So I finally succumbed to his offer. Yes, let’s go. (19)

         Moments later, we were at a bar. The sound of beautiful music pervaded the bar as we walked in. I noticed he was looking at me from head to toe when we walked in. You could tell he was extremely audacious. Inside I felt like slapping him across the face, but since he was a stranger, I didn’t want to be rude, so instead I got us a seat in front of the musician, thinking that it would keep his eyes busy. I was wrong.

       I began to try and talk to him by asking him questions like his name and what school he goes to. He said his name was Jim Steele and that he quit school because of all the morons there. He didn’t seem very honest about that.

        “Hey, I’m a little dehydrated, you wanna order the drinks now?” He asked.

       “Yes, Jim, we can.” (4)

       When the waiter came and Jim ordered two Scotch’s, the waiter looked at him funny. “How old are you anyways, kid?” he asked.

       Jim looked at the waiter and then answered him brusquely “I am 22 sir, is there a problem?”

       The waiter seemed like he didn’t believe Jim either, but he said “I’ll be back with your drinks.” And then he disappeared behind the kitchen doors.  About a minute later he came back with our order.

       After we both finished our drinks, I decided to leave but before I could, he ordered another round. I had an inkling this was going to go on for a while.

        With every minute passing he was turning more and more irascible and I began to abhor him. He had about two more drinks when I was finished with my second one. He was already drunk and acting like a lunatic. When he ordered another one I had to try to extricate the drink from him, but when I did he started yelling at the top of his lungs. “Let go, I have to call Jane, Let go.”

           I was getting pretty scared when I decided to sneak around back and escape from his despicable behavior. The last thing I heard from that boy’s mouth was him yelling at a nearby man to not let his grandmother touch the toothpicks. TOOTHPICKS?

 

      I made a promise to myself that day, if I ever see Holden again, I will Run.