I went to her classroom to pull her out. We had already talked extensively about the Meghan/Harry situation in previous weeks. She is Team William/Kate.
"Who wouldn't want to be a royal?" she asked with a shrug during one of our previous conversations. We had also remarked on the appearance of Prince Philip before he died, breaking into uncontrollable inappropriate laughter because of his freakish, cryptlike-alive appearance.
As soon as she exited the classroom, she looked me directly in the eyes.
"I thought," she said before pausing, "that he would be mum...mummified."
We both started laughing so hard I was crying. I knew right away that she meant whatever those weird, embalmed glass cases are called that house the viewable bodies of Chairman Mao and Lenin and Ho Chi Minh. I don't know why it was so funny, but this little third grader just has a way of cracking me the fuck up.
"Where did the Expo go?" I asked Paw Ku.
"It fell back there, in that crack in the bookcase." she responded.
We both dug our fingers into the crack by the floor.
"I think I felt fur." she commented, casually.
I ripped my hand out.
I walk the kids that walk home from school up the hill in the afternoons. I watch them until they get to the corner and then I walk back to school. It's not the worst afternoon duty. My crew is small, because most of our students opted not to return to the school building during COVID. As we walked one day, a man came out of the overgrown woods around the school, the woods filled with old tires and trash and snakes. He was carrying a large golf club, swinging it, while bouncing a tennis ball. He had on long shorts with socks pulled to his knees and shower shoes. He came toward us. These kids aren't stupid and they side-eyed me with looks like this guy is janky. We kept walking. We got to the top of the hill and I turned my back on him and told the kids to walk home. I wasn't comfortable, but I figured if he cracked anyone in the head I would prefer it was me instead of them.
I took the day off and drove nearly an hour outside of town to got to the Drift races, without Prem. The weather was clear and cool. As soon as I got there, I saw that he had already blown up my phone with messages.
"Ms. Wagner, are you there? YOU DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL, DID YOU???"
As fast as I could, I got in front of a Formula Drift sign and made him a video, reassuring him that I DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL, and to get ready, because the videos and photos were coming. As soon as I got to the actual track, I felt my phone buzzing. He was calling me on Instagram's version of FaceTime and he had Kaw on the call.
"They're coming, Prem, they're coming!" I yelled over the noise, before turning my phone around so that he could see the twin cars racing down the hill and breaking and drifting with smoke clouding the whole air.
"That is really cool...." I heard Prem whisper into the phone.
I felt ridiculous when tears filled my eyes, but I just kept them focused on the race and kept filming.
My fourth graders ran out to our trailer, picking weed flowers the whole time. The made head bands, rings, even a head band and a bracelet for Lola. We all put them on and read our book, with magic everywhere.
*Title from House of Love, Christine
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