The Unexcused
NEIRAD enilno edition
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A student walks warily to the main lobby desk wide eyed with a note crumpled up slightly in his hands. He smiles weakly down at Mr. Ferguson and mumbles his excuse for being late. Chuck looks up slowly and the soft pitter of the keyboard ends. The boy begins to stutter and his note shakes gently in his trembling hand. “I had…had a doctor’s appointment.” “No you didn’t” Chuck smiles. The smile grows along his lips and he begins to laugh gruffly. Ms. Hyatt’s cackle swells with his. The boy looks frantically and cries out suddenly “I was sleeping in!” His shoulders sag and shake as he sobs gently. Yellow sweaters surround the boy and as they drag him away he cries “But I had a free!” The laughter becomes louder.
Chuck is the guardian of our school. He is the sole protector of student integrity. Morals would be lost without his superior ability to detect students’ lies. From his swivel throne he watches the students and he already knows who those “bad seeds” are. Chuck detects guilt constricting their faces. When asked how he knows if a student is lying he replied simply, “I spy on them. I know where you are. I know what time you wake up.” Rumors of possible hidden cameras are whispered in the hallway. Others claim to have seen him shaking hands with a local dentist. Regardless, Chuck always knows.Students withdraw from his glare and fall under his irrevocable threats. The breaking point comes in the moment of interrogation. Some rather sly students hold their head as they walk in and moan something about their stomach. They stuff their note into the folder and smile weakly at Mr. Ferguson. But Chuck is not daunted by his insignificant opponents. He bows his head over the note and then looks a moment at his computer screen. Looking up from his drooping glasses he frowns and asks, “Why are you late?” The student clutches his stomach a little more and dramatically sweeps his hand over his forehead. “I’m sick” he croaks. “Well if you’re sick what are doing coughing all over me,” Chuck frowns. In the long Monday morning line of tardy students the next one from the bunch explains about a doctor’s appointment. At 7am Chuck is not fooled. “What kind of doctor appointment?” he asks gruffly. “The dentist” the student mumbles. “What did they do to your mouth?” Chuck now looks directly up at the trembling student. “Um, well, tightened my braces,” the student smiles sheepishly. Chuck grabs his lower lip and glares inside his gapping mouth. “It doesn’t look like they did much” he begins to laugh and checks off the “unexcused” box.
But there are a few that pass unnoticed and un-reprimanded. They are the golden children. They are the blessed and the forgiven Chuck suck-ups. “Good morning Mr. Ferguson” one young girl smiles. “I’m so sorry I’m late,” she smiles. “But my car flipped over and I just now stumbled out alive from the wreckage. Oh, but your apple made it through unscathed, thank the heavens.” Chuck smiles at the student “Oh my dear child. You don’t worry your pretty head over one little thing. Send your parents my love.” The student skips away with an excused pass.
After the straggling remains of Tuesday’s supposed traffic jam walk in the door with their Jamba Juices, the halls become quiet. Students are hushed inside classrooms. Chuck and Ms. Hyatt sit behind their desk and everyone wonders what they do now. Of course, they are necessary for the morning rush and heaven knows the phone must be protected after school, but in the quiet hours of learning they remain behind their desk.The phone rings continuously with parents. Mr. Ferguson rolls his eyes at their argument for their rather tardy, but wonderfully kind son. It is rumored around the hall that Ms. Hyatt is an aspiring artist. Her doodles around the calendar have been admired by every passing student. Flowers intertwine around the month of April and squiggles border March. Chuck though remains quiet. But he is still watching.
A few anonymous students remarked how they have seen him walking around school. It is a sight to behold when faculty members are out of their territory: something close to an English teacher in the Spanish wing or a polar bear in the jungle. When he is no longer behind his desk Mr. Ferguson looking over the virtue of the school. He walks the halls and some say he is still watching. He looks into the windows just to make sure everyone is there. Just to make sure everyone is listening.
