The Nowhere Girls(43)

“You might even say I was a little like you,” Slatterly says. “I tried fighting. I tried yelling to make myself heard.”

Rosina wonders what kind of manipulation strategy this is. Some kind of reverse psychology?

“But you know what?” Slatterly continues. “I didn’t get anywhere that way. I used up all my energy trying to prove something to the world, but no one was listening.” She shifts some papers around on her desk. “I know you girls think you’re doing the right thing, picking these fights. And trust me, I’m with you—I don’t want anyone to get raped. I don’t want girls getting pressured into having sex. Hell, I don’t want girls your age having sex at all. But the truth is, you can’t expect the boys to take you seriously like this. You can’t expect them to respect you when you’re yelling at them.” Slatterly pauses, attempts a smile, maybe even a real one. “Thankfully I learned before it was too late, and that’s why I’m here talking to you, as your principal, in a position of leadership. In a position of power. It was not easy to get where I am, Miss Suarez, and there’s no way I could have done it if I hadn’t been willing to make some compromises.”

Rosina doesn’t know if she’s supposed to say something now. She doesn’t know what she’s supposed to think, what she’s supposed to feel. A part of her is angry, but most of her is just confused.

“It’s a man’s world,” Slatterly says, and for a moment Rosina thinks she sees something human break through Slatterly’s usual hard-ass demeanor. Something vulnerable. Something maybe even a little scared. “They make the rules, Miss Suarez. And if you want to get anywhere in this world, you have to play like a man. Being a strong woman doesn’t mean fighting men; it means acting like one.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Rosina says.

“I want you to succeed, Rosina. I don’t want you to get mixed up in any pointless activity that gets you in trouble.”

“I’m not,” Rosina says. “So you have nothing to worry about.”

Slatterly sighs. She closes her eyes for a moment, then adjusts the small fan on her desk so it is pointed straight at her face. Rosina fidgets in her seat. Is Slatterly sweating?

“How many people in your family have graduated high school?” Slatterly finally says.

“What?” Rosina says. “How is that relevant?”

“I imagine your success in school is important to them. They would be very disappointed if you didn’t graduate, for instance.”

“My grades are fine.”

“Surprisingly, yes,” Slatterly says. “But your attendance is abysmal. That can be grounds for suspension. Even expulsion in extreme cases.”

“I doubt I’m an extreme case.”

“Well, that’s the thing, Miss Suarez. You are not the judge of that. I am.”

Rosina says nothing. Here’s the principal she knows. Here’s the royal bitch.

“You don’t want to disappoint your family by not graduating, do you?” Slatterly says. “There aren’t a whole lot of opportunities for uneducated women out there. I suppose you could spend the rest of your life waiting tables at your uncle’s restaurant.”

Slatterly’s face is blank as she lets that sink in, as she lets it fester and poison Rosina from the inside. “So,” she says, “what do you think, Miss Suarez? Do you want to take those risks? Do you want to keep making trouble for yourself, for your family?”

“No,” Rosina whispers.

“Then I think we are in agreement. No funny business, right?”

“Right,” Rosina says between clenched teeth.

Slatterly smiles. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Can I go now?” Rosina says.

“Yes,” Slatterly says. “Please send in the next student, will you, dear?”

Rosina stands up, her muscles a tangle of knots and snarls. She walks out without saying anything, out of the front office, down the hall, and out the school’s front doors. She unlocks her bike and rides through the rain as fast as she can. She doesn’t care about getting wet. She doesn’t care about mud puddles. All she needs is to get to her destination, one of her favorite hiding places on the edge of town, a place where no one but her ever goes, a place where she can sing and scream as loud as she can and no one will tell her what to do, and no one will tell her to be quiet.





ERIN.


Tonight’s big event is a rare dinner at home with both of Erin’s parents. Mom has gone all out with a baked lentil loaf and mashed cauliflower. It’s a special occasion when Erin gets to eat cooked legumes. Dad drove straight home after his Friday afternoon class. He does try once in a while, but usually only after serious badgering by Erin’s mom.

“I can’t believe you still have Erin on this crazy diet,” Dad says, picking at his food.

“If you were ever around,” Mom says, “you’d have noticed that it’s actually made a huge difference in her mood and behavior.”

“Did you know there’s a group of sea slugs that feed on algae and can retain the chloroplasts for their own photosynthetic use?” Erin says. “It’s called ‘kleptoplasty.’ Get it? Klepto?”

“That’s nice, honey,” Mom says.