Lie, Lie Again(68)
Who does she think she is? Riki balled her hands into fists and counted to ten.
Mrs. Tau’s mouth fell open. “It was great how it was! An apology would be nice.”
Waving a hand, she said, “Oh, I’m sorry. It was an accident.”
Riki exhaled and looked at Mrs. Tau. Her lips were now pressed together so tightly, Riki started to wonder if she was still breathing. But her nostrils flared, and Riki released a breath. The chatter of kids broke the strained silence, and three more students bustled in, their homemade traps in hand. At this point, she wouldn’t have a second left to chat with Embry or Sylvia. Well, it wasn’t like she’d be evicted today. But her mind was already charging ahead. She could practically hear Chris say, No big. Move in with me. Her face flushed, but she forced a smile at the students. Just because Chris owned a two-bedroom condo, it didn’t mean he’d use her potential homelessness to push their relationship forward.
“Where do we put these?” Penelope asked, shaking her from her thoughts. “My mom said to make sure it goes on a flat surface.”
“Right over here, sweetie. There’s plenty of room on the table.”
“Plenty of room if you didn’t make a McMansion,” Mrs. Tau muttered under her breath.
“Excuse me?” Mrs. Trainor snapped.
“Look around you. None of the other kids brought in giant traps made out of wood.” She leaned closer, her hands braced against the table. “And aren’t you the one who complained about them in the first place? Now you need to one-up everyone else so your daughter can win the big prize?” Her voice rose to a higher octave as she straightened. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Jeremy’s lip quivered as more kids filtered into the classroom, weighted down with backpacks and colorful traps made from shoeboxes, milk cartons, and Popsicle sticks.
“Hi, guys,” Riki said in a rushed voice. “Traps go on the table, and put your backpacks on the hooks. Then head right out to the blacktop.”
Spiteful laughter fell from Mrs. Trainor’s lips. “Maybe you should be ashamed of yourself. Or do you take pride in being a cyberbully?”
Mrs. Tau lurched forward as Riki gasped. She grabbed for the lanyard that hung from her neck and blew hard into the whistle. “Ladies, stop!” she shouted with more force than she’d intended. The room grew quiet. Riki cleared her throat and smoothed her shaking hands down the front of her pants. It was up to her to regain control, even though she wanted to run from the room and never look back. In a calm voice, she said, “Okay, kids. You can go to the blacktop. I’ll meet you there in just a minute.”
Around her, students stood frozen, their traps and backpacks trembling above their designated spots.
“Let’s go, everyone,” she said in a cheerful voice, hoping to ease the tension. They scrambled to set down their traps and rushed from the room in clusters. Jeremy had wrapped his arms around his mother’s leg, his face pressed to her hip.
“Ladies, this is absolutely not the place to battle it out. You’re scaring the students.”
Mrs. Trainor took the handle of the red wagon and glared at her. “I’d greatly appreciate it if you would refrain from talking to me like I’m a child. I’m not the one who raised a hand. That was Mrs. Tau.” She touched a finger to her lips. “Oh, wait. It doesn’t matter who started it. You just blame everyone!” she snapped. “I’d suggest you go back and refer to some of your teaching books. By the way, it’s not professional to ignore emails. But don’t worry, Mr. Rosenkrantz was able to chat with me.” Riki’s heart skidded around in her chest as Mrs. Trainor breezed out the door.
Riki heaved a sigh and looked at Mrs. Tau and Jeremy. “I need to apologize to both of you. That shouldn’t have happened. I . . . I, um—”
Mrs. Tau held up a hand and gazed wearily at Riki. “Not your fault. I’m sorry for losing my temper. That woman drives me crazy.”
“She broke my trap.” Jeremy sniffed.
Riki kneeled in front of him. “She did. But I’ll help you fix it during our morning work packets. I have plenty of tape and glue, okay?”
He nodded, and his mom kissed the top of his head. Riki snuck a look at the clock as she stood. “I really have to get to the blacktop now.”
“Right. Sorry about all this,” she said as they moved to the door.
“It certainly wasn’t your fault.” She patted her pocket. “Oops, I need to get my keys. I’ll be out in a sec,” Riki said, rushing back to her desk. She grabbed her keys and phone and headed for the door. The bell rang seconds before she reached her line, but Amelia had her eye on both classes. “Thanks,” Riki said. “It’s been quite a day already.”
Amelia rolled her eyes. “It’s been quite a year,” she muttered. Stepping closer, she said, “Just so you know, I overheard some parents talking outside our classrooms the other day. They were saying you encouraged the kids to eat Pop-Tarts. I guess one of the kids went home and reported that you said they’re fine to eat and that you like the chocolate ones. I’m sure it didn’t happen that way, but I thought I should give you a heads-up.”
Riki shook her head. “One of the moms shamed a kid for eating Cheerios, so I was trying to explain that there are all kinds of healthy foods and that it’s okay to eat junk food sometimes.”