Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: BRAND (01/12/17)
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TITLE: The Tutor | Previous Challenge Entry
By LeslieJean Anderson
01/19/17 -
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“Darling, what is the matter?” I asked, a bad feeling growing in my gut.
As I sat down on the side of her bed, I heard her muffled voice rising from her pillow. Between sobs she sniffed, “Mona told everybody on the bus that I was so poor I have to steal my clothes from garage sales!”
“But that’s not true, Lily! All your clothes are brand-new this year!”
It was true that we were poor right now while I was taking online courses at home. It was also true that all our shopping was done at discount stores, and a lot of our clothes were off-brands. But God had provided everything we really needed.
“What did you say back to her, Lily?”
“Nothing, Mom, because all the other kids were laughing so loud.”
“This is getting out of hand, Lily. Maybe it’s time I go and talk to the principal.”
Mona had been harassing Lily since the first day of school. I’d thought that maybe she was jealous because Lily was such a good student and Mona had been held back a year. She was a year older, and also big for her age. Even the boys in her class were afraid of her.
“Lily,” I said as I patted her back, “has Mona ever touched you?”
“Yes, Mommy. When we wait for the bus at school, she shoves me away from the door. Then I have to sit in the back, instead of by the driver, like you said. And once she stuck her foot out in the aisle and I almost fell.”
This was news to me. I felt a flash of anger. Every morning, I waited with Lily at the bus stop to make sure she got a seat close to the driver to keep her away from Mona. It was finally time for action.
“Lily,” I said as gently as I could, “God loves Mona as much as He loves you and me. But she needs to learn better choices now, before she gets any older.”
“Or any fatter,” snickered Lily, sitting up and drying her eyes on her sleeve.
“Now, now,” I said. “We can’t do anything about her size, but we can object to her behavior. I'm going to talk to the principal tomorrow, Sweetie. No one deserves to be picked on or bullied.”
My meeting with the principal led to a meeting with Mona’s parents later in the week. They were angry and resentful at being called to school over the incidents on the bus. But in their defensiveness, they revealed some disturbing information.
Mona was failing fifth grade again, and nobody was home to help her with her homework after school. In addition, they sent her to school every day without breakfast, to help her control her weight, they said. But they finally agreed to talk to her about her behavior.
When I got home after that meeting, I had an idea.
“Lily, why don’t we offer to help Mona with her schoolwork every day after school? I’ll be home working on these courses all day until the end of the school year. I can tutor her after school right there in the school library while you do your homework, and then we can drive her home. I bet if we help her pass the fifth grade, she will feel better about herself and not pick on other people.”
Lily thought about it and finally agreed. The principal and Mona’s parents also agreed to give it a try. The next morning after that, Lily wanted to put a banana and some raisins in her book bag before she left for school.
“But you already had breakfast, Lily,” I said.
“It’s for Mona to eat on the bus, Mom. I think she’s cranky because she’s always hungry in the morning.”
I smiled at my daughter. “That’s very thoughtful of you, Sweetie. That’s what Jesus would do.”
From that day on, Mona and Lily were friends. They sat together on the bus every morning. The next year, Lily was the one helping Mona with her homework on the bus as they rode home together.
And that was how Lily decided she wanted to be a teacher when she grew up.
This is a work of fiction. 750 words
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