Streets of Africa - Part Five

Now that I think about it, some of the best sh!t in life are those you get away with. I submitted the communication book with my "father's response" (heh heh!) on it the next Monday. And was I a lucky b@stard or what? My dad was one of those parents who rarely had time for small talk with teachers, so he dropped us at school and zoomed off immediately.

I returned the book with the comment "Very surprised to see this! Took appropriate disciplinary action". I guess that was the most advanced thing I could say, and I borrowed most of the words from a parenting book. I basically avoided eye contact with the teacher, and that put an end to the whole story of what happened between the girl and I.

However, heaven only lasted for two weeks.

Look, for those two weeks, I was as fly as a g°ddamn kite. I had even forgotten about the whole thing. I mean, I moved on, the girl moved on, my classmates moved on, everyone moved on.

But you know who didn't? That's right, my teacher. That guy has a first class ticket to hell in the same place he keeps records of all the bad things we'd done as his students, I can swear on that.

It all happened on Open Day. I think open day was schools' insurance policy to make sure that those who escaped the communication book would still be caught in their web of snitching. Just a hunch tho, but it might be really true.

Open day was some sort of "Bring your dad to work day", but in this case, instead of your dad talking about his job, he'd be meeting with your teachers to talk about your behavior and performance.

Open day was even joined with Note-checking day. That's right, you and your parent or guardian would love around the teacher's desks in a big Hall checking whether your notes were up to date, or in some cases, if you even had a note at all.

I didn't have any worries at all. Why? My dad had never attended a Parents-Teachers meeting, Open Day or Note checking day. He barely even attended my junior school graduation! So I really needed an explanation when he stepped through my classroom door.

I froze like a deer in headlights. I think everyone did too. For a second, one of my classmates asked "whose dad is that?" Because no one knew my dad. Because he hadn't come into the school premises before. So why the hell was he here?

All I can say is when Karma gets you, she gets you real good.