All the Madmen

Abe locked eyes with me and wiggled his finger at me clandestinely to come over.  He sat with his legs in a strange tangled position, eating a small pile of grapes in the school cafeteria.  I like this kid and was glad to walk over.
"Why are you just standing there?" he asked.
"I have lunch duty" I responded.  He looked at me blankly.
"They make me do it.  I used to just stand here on Thursdays while everyone ate, but the schedule changed so now I will just stand here on Mondays".
"Oh, okay...." he responded, nodding, as if that was a logical explanation. 

I watched another child drive his finger into a long bread stick and stuff the hole he had created with mashed potatoes before eating it. 

I checked my phone, which was filled with texts and voice mails from a new neighbor that did not like our decision to not allow encroachment on our property.  I did not have time for this. 

As I walked from the classroom after finishing my lesson, Hassan sidled up next to me during their locker break.
"Do you think I am skinny?" he asked randomly.  I was surprised that he was engaging me in conversation.  I have been riding his ass for four weeks because he talks to much.  Because of this, I just assumed that he would not like me and avoid speaking to me if he didn't have to. 
"Yeah, you're on the skinny side".
"The doctor told my dad that my brother and I are both underweight and have to eat more, but I don't really like a lot of foods".
"Where is your family from again?  I can't remember".
"Pakistan.  EVERYONE is skinny there".

Suddenly, Oliver's face crumpled and he put his face in his hands and started to cry.  I was horrified.  He is one of my cognitively disabled students and I like him very much.  I can tell when I talk to him that we are not fully connecting, or better said, not connecting at all and it frustrates me.  I didn't know what had made him cry and without thinking, stopped what I was doing to try to help him.  His hand brushed at something and I saw a wet spot on the front of his shorts.  He was crying and humiliated and I didn't know how to get him out of the classroom without the other ten and eleven year olds noticing that he had peed his pants. The class was silent and staring as another teacher ushered him out of the room, head in hands. 

"To what degree does Bailey identify as male?" I asked the teacher of one of my students. 
The child is biologically female but in every other way is clearly a case of gender misalignment.  I have read about this, but never have seen such a clear cut case, especially at such a young age.
"None of her classmates know that she is a girl.  And that's how she wants it".
"Okay, I wanted to be sure.  I want to support Bailey and be sure to use the male pronouns and shit, with Spanish, be sure to make the adjectives male".
"Fuck, that's right!" the teacher responded.
"That's a can of worms!  I just don't know what she is going to do in middle school....I mean, what is he going to do?"
"The middle school will accommodate him, they have to" I answered, feeling frustrated that that could even be a source of speculation. 

I sat in the back of the house at the kitchen table, decompressing with Alec.  Through the window, our new neighbor came into sight, mere feet from out home yet thankfully, on her own land.  My phone began exploding with texts requesting that we come outside. 

I pulled the curtain shut and looked at Alec, wondering how many different ways "no" could be interpreted.