I've Said it a Thousand Times

I love it that when the city buses go by, the floorboards shake in my house.  I don't live in an especially large city, but I do live in the largest city in the southeast.

"Wow," the assistant principal breathed, "is she...is she really so... sleek?"
"Yes," I answered, closing my computer so that he couldn't look at my desktop picture.
"My dog is like a seal, a wet seal, her name is Lola."

I quit my job about six weeks ago.  It has been a series of experiences.  Dreams, weird dreams, public perception issues, interviews, everything.  For a while, I had classroom dreams, terrible dreams about things getting out of control.  Margaret, my dead friend, appeared randomly, several times. Most of the time, I didn't dream at all.  People ask how it is going.  People ask how Alec's dad is doing.  I get hostile whenever anyone asks.  There isn't a one word answer.  Last night, things got different.  Weirdly, I ran into the person that ran me out of my job.  I was uncomfortable, we were in a crosswalk, and she had aged twenty years.

I've heard that my old school is talking shit about me.  My rational self said that it was what people do when you leave, they discredit you.  But, it pissed me off.  And, why are things so falling apart when I leave, essentially if I sucked so much ass?

I applied for a type of job I used to apply for years ago, when I had hopes and dreams.  Lola was sleeping when I left the house.  I hugged her and told her how happy she would be on Staten Island.

We set up the foosball table at the Housing Authority.  It didn't matter that one of the legs was missing, we propped it up with milk crates and dictionaries.  I didn't think about anything for an hour and a half, except trying to get my turn.

"Can we see your dog?!"  the kids screamed/asked.
"She's so cute..." they murmured.
"We don't like dogs...." Habiba mentioned.
"They're made of pork."
I started laughing.
"Dogs aren't made of pork!"  I responded.
Then I caught myself.  She is eight and Muslim.
"I don't know why we don't like dogs, but we don't."
"I understand.  I've heard that before and I don't know either."

And then, we did her math homework.