Doing Right (Locked Out) by Jones Patrick

Author:Jones, Patrick [Jones, Patrick]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Darby Creek Publishing
Published: 2015-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

11

“DeQuin, please sit,” Mrs. Oliver says. Sitting next to her is Mrs. Washington, the special ed teacher I haven’t seen since we did my IEP the second day.

“What did I do wrong?” I ask.

“We were already planning on having this check-in,” Mrs. Oliver says, smiles. “I don’t want you to assume the only time you ever get called into my office is because you’ve done something wrong. I don’t want you to associate me, this office, or even this school with failure. Understand?”

I nod and take off my hood, exposing my shaved head. I want them to see my scar.

“But first, yes, we need to address the fight the other day in Mr. Hart’s classroom and—”

I cut her off. “I didn’t start it. I was trying to end it.”

“That’s what Mr. Hart said, but you shouldn’t do that. You could’ve gotten hurt yourself.”

“Ain’t no female ever gonna hurt me,” I say, which is a total lie. Normally I break up with girls first so they can’t say they dumped me. It’s about knowing when to flee.

“Still, it’s not a good idea to involve yourself in any fights,” Mrs. Oliver says. “In starting them or ending them. Let the staff handle it, OK, DeQuin?”

“The other thing we want to discuss is progress on your IEP,” Mrs. Washington says. “I’d asked your uncle to join us this morning, but it looks as if something came up at work.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I say—then wish I hadn’t. Lee’s always been there for me as much as he can. He saved me from a life in foster care and took me into his home. He wants the best for me, even if his version of the best is mostly about hard work, sacrifice, compromise, and all those other words he always uses.

“We’ll find another time. Caregivers are important to the process,” Mrs. Washington says. “The issues you came here with as a result of your concussion—short-term memory loss, light sensitivity, and so on—seem to be going away, which is consistent with that kind of injury.”

“My head don’t hurt as much either and my hearing’s all the way back, too.”

“That’s good. Now just stay out of trouble,” Mrs. Oliver says as she writes the pass for me to go back to class. I don’t tell her that trouble seems to find me far too easy. I wonder if it was like that for my dad too.

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