Ten for Ten

Wandering Stars

One of the girls had shared a candy bar with her this morning, even though they weren’t allowed to have food in the classroom.  Maria.  That was her name.  She was nice, much nicer than the girls at her last school.  They all were.  That’s why the move made her happy.  Not only was their new house bigger, but she got to go to a new school. 

“There’s nothing wrong with my daughter!”

“I’m not saying there is sir.”

“But you just said she has a disorder!’

“Yes.  Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.  Much more common in boys.  But she has the inattention type, which is often misdiagnosed.”

He was angry.  Not just angry, but hitting walls and throwing things angry.  She didn’t like the school counselor much anyways, but she still felt sorry for the man.  When her daddy got the running riot look on his face, oh boy you’d better watch out.  Luckily it didn’t happen too often anymore, not since he married her stepmama. 

“Is she disruptive?  No!  You don’t what you’re talking about, labeling her like that.”

“Mr. Acevedo, you’re not listening to me.  The kind of ADHD she has is characterized by forgetfulness and distractedness, not disruptive behavior.  And it is disruptive to have a student drift off…”

The shouting got louder.  Tucked in the corner like she was, it would be easy to fall asleep.  But she knew she wasn’t supposed to, even if she didn’t understand why.  The dust motes caught the sunlight sneaking in from behind the closed blinds.  She wanted to be outside, playing in the sandbox.  It was recess time. 

“… thankfully easily remedied.  We’ve had great success with medication.”

“Easily remedied?  You are not seriously suggesting I put her on drugs?  She’s not even ten yet!”

The bell rang.  If she didn’t hurry, she’d miss fifth period.  But they were doing math.  She hated math.  No matter how hard she tried, the numbers never lined up like they were supposed to.  She stuck her thumb in her mouth and decided not to mention the ringing bell. 

“Get up sweetie, we’re going home now.”

Her daddy’s face was tight, like he bit into something nasty.  For a minute, she’d forgotten why he was so mad.  Then she looked over at the guidance counselor, who had the same look on his face.  It was because of her.  Because she was a little bit spacy, as her stepmama said.  She liked that, spacy.  It made her think of stars, and the night sky, and heaven, where her mama was. 

“Antonia, are you listening?”  Her daddy sounded prickly, which meant he’d been trying to get her attention for a while.  Her brain had gone wandering, which was another of her stepmama’s expressions.  People always talked about evil, wicked stepmothers, but Antonia loved hers.  Maybe she just got lucky. 

“I’m going to get a second opinion.  I don’t trust yours worth spit,” her daddy told the counselor.  She knew his name, because he’d introduced himself.  But she couldn’t remember it.  “Say goodbye to Mr. Malley, Antonia.” 

“Goodbye Mr. Malley.”  And because she was feeling polite, and because he let her stack Legos, she added, “Have a nice day,” for good measure.

They were leaving early.  She wouldn’t have to go to math class after all.  What a great first day.