Class(88)

“Very well! You know, busy living the multicultural dream while others retreat into their velvet cages.”

“Fair enough,” said Karen. “Hey, I actually have a question for you. Is it true that the Winners Circle charter school is moving into Betts in September?”

“I prefer the term hostile takeover,” she replied. “But yes, and my comrades and I on the front lines are already planning our first guerrilla attack.”

“Cool,” said Karen, wondering precisely who these comrades were. Had April Fishbach finally made mom-friends at school? “But I thought you were into the whole nonviolent-slash-civil-disobedience approach to warfare.”

April cleared her throat. “I was, but I changed my mind. Sometimes a nation or a group of people is called upon to defend itself.”

“I see. So where and when will this insurrection take place? For the record, I’m happy to do anything I can to help.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not at liberty to go into any more details about the operation. But I will say it’s motivated a lot of people who were previously apathetic to get behind the school.”

“Well, that’s something.”

“We’ve even gained a secret financial backer. Last week, the PTA received an envelope stuffed with a large amount of cash, if you can believe it. Or, actually, we received two envelopes. Two in ten days.”

“Wow, really?” said Karen, her heart dancing in her chest. “How strange.”

“As you well know, I don’t believe in asking for money,” said April. “But when it appears in one’s lap to finance one’s campaigns, one can hardly be expected to refuse it.”

“Of course not,” said Karen, marveling at the thought that she’d finally won April’s approval, albeit without April knowing it, which somehow made it all the sweeter.

“So, that’s the update. Meanwhile, how are all the Mather moms in their fauxhemian Indian apparel and fair-trade frocks?”

“Well!” said Karen, smiling despite herself. It seemed she was not the only one who’d noticed the dress code at Ruby’s new school. And was it possible that, after all these years, she was starting to like April Fishbach? “Anyway, it was nice running into you. I know you probably won’t believe me, but I actually miss Betts.”

“So why’d you leave?”

Karen sighed. “It’s a long story. And I can’t say I’ve made peace with it. I’ll tell you some time if you’re really interested.”

“I have all the time in the world,” said April. “In case you didn’t know, I’m a middle-aged perpetual graduate student. We don’t have deadlines.”

“Fair enough.”

“Also, for the record, and although we never got along, I was sorry to see you go.”

“Well, that’s nice of you to say,” said Karen. “Maybe we can meet for coffee next month, and I can fill you in.”

“Sure.”

“In the meantime, can I ask you one more question before you go?”

“What’s the question?”

“I heard Jayyden left Betts. Is that true?”

April sighed. “He didn’t leave just the school—he left the city. Apparently, there was a fire in his aunt’s apartment, and Jayyden was blamed. Since he’d just turned ten, there was legal justification for shipping him off to some kind of juvenile detention facility a few hours north of here.”

“You’re kidding,” said Karen, shocked and horrified by the news. “But how do they know it wasn’t an accident? What if he was just trying to light the stove or something?”

“I told you all I know,” said April. “In any case, I’m probably alone among the parents in Miss Tammy’s class in saying that I was actually sorry to see him go too. Maybe I’d feel differently if he’d ever bothered Ezra, but I always had a soft spot for Jayyden. He’s had a shitty life, which appears to be getting even shittier. And for the record, I thought he was more or less justified in punching out that little bitch Maeve.”

“I secretly did too,” mumbled Karen. “But please don’t tell anyone.”

“My lips are sealed.”

And that was how the two parted—Karen feeling unexpectedly well disposed to her former foe and, what’s more, tickled by the news that her donation had apparently meant so much. At the same time, she despaired to think of Jayyden, whether or not he was guilty of arson, being pushed to the even more distant margins of society. She imagined him in a tiny gray room with no windows and a metal bed that had been nailed to the ground so there was no chance of using any part of it as a weapon. She wondered if he ever thought about Ruby—and if she or Ruby would ever see him again.

She also felt newly angered about Winners Circle’s upcoming co-location and couldn’t resist sending a quick message to Clay.

FYI—Ruby’s school planning guerrilla attack on Winners Circle co-locators. Needless to say, I’ve volunteered my services!



Clay immediately wrote back:

So if a stink bomb is found in the robotics room, I will blame you. Greetings from Malaysia. xoxoxo



That he was so consistently good-natured about Karen’s disapproval of the main charity he supported was almost unnerving to Karen. She wrote back,