Three's a Crowd: Flash Fiction 2nd Assignment - Detached Narrator
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| Mari Homme took this picture of me writing this story. I look keyed up. |
Rudy Parker's mom zipped past Irene's desk and into Mr. Zimmer's office, firmly shutting the principal's door behind her. Irene stood and slowly walked over to open Zimmer's door. Ignoring Rudy Parker's mom's glowering, Irene made eye contact with Zimmer. "You have that meeting in the Art Room in 8 minutes, Mr. Zimmer." She left the door wide open and returned to her desk.
Sitting in the chair opposite Zimmer, Mrs. Parker's back faced Irene. Before looking around to see that no one of consequence was in the office, Irene held up a clenched fist and shook it at Mrs. Parker's back. From my spot at the copy machine, I had a decent view. Zimmer folded his hands on his desk and offered a concerned look, motioning for Rudy's mom to begin.
"I'll give this five minutes," Irene whispered. Mrs. Parker's rant warmed up as she rummaged through her gym bag. She pulled out a picture book and slammed it down on Zimmer's desk. Strains of fury and softer hissing wafted out to the reception area while Mrs. Parker accented the key points of her complaint with hard pokes on the book cover. Her sparkly green fingernail polish reflected the room's fluorescent lighting.
"Two male penguins. Central Park Zoo. Raising a chick. Homosexuality. My family. Body cameras for teachers. Mrs. Menosky. Free to Be You and Me. Transparency. Divisive Topics. Standard curriculum. Unbelievable. What's going on in second grade?"
And Tango Makes Three. Of course. Mary Jo Menosky must be teaching the second graders about Banned Books Week again. Surprising she didn't skip it this year given all the hubbub at school board meetings lately.
Irene took a green form from the file cabinet. She stood outside Zimmer's door holding it in her hand. Zimmer picked up the book from his desk and carried it over to Irene, swapping the book for the form.
Still standing in the doorway, he explained to Rudy's mom the protocol for submitting the book challenge review form to the district office. Zimmer thanked her very much for coming in, and told her he was sorry he had to make this short.
Rudy's mom had to go anyway. She didn't want to be late for her class at the Y. She took the form from Zimmer and we watched her exit through the front doors. Before the doors slid shut, we got a glimpse of the dogwood leaves blazing red against the cloudless autumn sky. "Looks nice out there," said Zimmer. "I'll meet Mary Jo during recess duty to let her know about Mrs. Parker's feelings about the penguin book."
"You mean the gay penguin book?" asked Irene.
Zimmer smiled. He walked into his office and shut the door. Irene answered a ringing telephone. I made a beeline to Mary Jo's classroom.
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