Monday (part 2)

With half of my class off-task already, I was indebted to afternoon PE . But PE only lasted until 2:30; 45 minutes remained until the dismissal bell. By this time Ryden and Adam had had their fun; now it was Laila’s turn. She had her scope set on Tybee, both the smartest and the smallest girl in the class. Tybee sat towards the back of the room and quietly did her work in the midst of a carnival. She rarely asked any questions because she almost always knew how to do it, and she never complained. She finished whatever work I gave her, then she spent the remainder of the lesson making cards for her mom, or brother, or what seemed like a different person every week. For the past week, Tybee had been talking a lot with Quint, and Quint was a popular type, played quarterback on the local team. Most of my kids just accepted that they were a couple now that Tybee was sitting next to Quint at lunch. Laila couldn’t stop noticing. 

Laila was one of my most difficult kids. She was very quick to fight, but she didn't lose control like the others--she was more calculated. In the beginning of the year, teachers had told me that she wasn’t coming back to Daley so I didn’t need to worry about her. But by the second week, she was there. I talked to Laila’s mom too many times about her tendency to fight, and each time she let out a small sigh, “I don’t know what to do with that child.”

During PE, Laila had told Tybee she was ugly, and that Quint didn't like her. Now they were both in class and Laila stared at Tybee from across the room, Tybee looked close to tears. Tybee finally yelled, “What?” Laila responded, “How about you shut up before I make you shut up.” There was a quiet “ooh” that flowed from one side of the class to the other. I hoped it would end there because Tybee would never take on Laila. Tybee had never risen her voice, let alone her fists. Laila had no trouble taking on boys. But then Tybee muttered, “You can’t tell me to shut-up, you’re not my mom.” All of a sudden, everything slowed down. Everyone’s look said the same thing, “did she really just say that?” All eyes turned to Laila now, and now she had the spotlight.  There was only one thing to do. She shot up out of her seat towards Tybee. I frantically pushed through chairs and tables to reach Laila before she got to Tybee. I was too late. Tybee turned her chair away and lowered her face into her arms to avoid a direct punch, but Laila just pulled her braids down so hard that she pulled her down to the floor backwards. Then she jumped on her stomach and started choking her. Laila wasn't actually choking her. She had her hands around Tybee’s neck. But she wasn’t squeezing. You see, Laila was only doing it for the show. She showed Tybee that she could hurt her, and she showed the whole class that no one talks back to her. But she was in complete control.  

That evening at the grocery store I decided to check my blood pressure. My reading was at 160/80, meaning I had stage 2 hypertension. I shouldn't have been so surprised. Grandma Lewis had been telling me I was on my a stroke.