Standing in the Rainbow - Fannie Flagg [72]
Everything seemed to be going along smoothly until one day in early November.
Dorothy was at the A&P picking out some russet potatoes when Pauline Tuttle, the high school English teacher, a tall woman without much of a chin, came in the door. She spotted Dorothy and came right over and asked in a loud voice, “Well, how is our Anna Lee doing? Have you heard from her?”
“She’s just fine, Pauline. She says she’s doing so well and apparently loves it up there.”
“I knew she would. I always said if anyone succeeds in this world, it will be Anna Lee Smith.”
“I’ll tell her you asked about her.”
“Of all the students I have had she was one of my smartest girls—straight A’s and so pretty.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that. And how is my little boarder Betty Raye doing?”
Pauline suddenly frowned and picked up a paper sack. “I was going to call you and talk to you about that, Dorothy. I’m afraid we have a serious problem.”
Dorothy was alarmed. “What is it?”
“She does well with her paperwork but it’s in classroom participation where she falls down. She never raises her hand and when I do call on her she just mumbles and says she doesn’t know the answer.” Pauline picked up a potato and looked at it. “When I know full well she does. She just will not speak up. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Dorothy, but the girl has absolutely no verbal skills whatsoever!” She then threw a large red tomato in her bag to emphasize the point. “The few times I did call on her to recite I thought she was going to faint dead away, so I just don’t call on her anymore.”
“Oh dear, that’s not good,” said Dorothy.
“No, it is not good.”
Miss Tuttle threw an onion in the same sack. “That little girl is never going to amount to anything in this world if she does not learn to assert herself and she most certainly will not be making the grades she should be making.”
“We knew she was a little timid.”
“Dangerously so, and if we don’t nip this in the bud right here and now, her entire future may be at stake. She may be left behind forever.”
Now Dorothy was truly alarmed. “Oh dear. What can we do?”
“I was thinking she should join the Drama Club as soon as possible. Maybe Miss Hatcher can do something with her, teach her to express herself, speak up, speak out. It may be her only hope.” She picked up a head of lettuce, weighed it in her hand, and put it back down. “It’s so hard to fix dinner for just one. You can’t buy a half a head of lettuce. You’re lucky you have a big family to cook for. If you want me to talk to Betty Raye, I will.”
“No, thank you. No, let me see what I can do first. Well, nice to see you, Pauline.”
As she walked away Miss Tuttle called out, “Tell Anna Lee to drop me a line when she has time.”
Dorothy worried all the way home. This was a problem she had never come up against before. Certainly not with her own two children. With Bobby the exact opposite was true. His teachers had a problem trying to get him to stop talking and concentrate on his paperwork, which was always messy and misspelled, if he managed not to lose it and turn it in at all. But right now she was concerned about Betty Raye. She hated for her not to do as well as she could be doing. Pauline seemed to think it was an emergency. Maybe Pauline was right; maybe Dorothy needed to say something today, before it was too late and she was lost forever.
That afternoon in the kitchen, when Betty Raye was busy mashing potatoes, she decided to broach the subject. “So, honey, how are you doing at school?”
“Fine.”
“Are you having any problems?”
“No, ma’am.”
“How are you doing making friends?”
“Fine.”
“I don’t know if you know this or not, but a good way to make friends is through extracurricular activities. I was the president of the Homemakers Club in high school and I really enjoyed that.”
Betty Raye smiled.
Dorothy continued on. “You know, I ran into Pauline Tuttle today and we were talking about