The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth - Alexandra Robbins [141]
Regan was the kind of teacher whom students sought out for nonacademic discussions. Regularly in the morning or during her planning period, she received visitors who would drop their books on her desk and say, “I’ve been looking all over for you. I need help.”
Delilah, a fellow English teacher who Regan liked, once asked her, “Why do kids love you so much?” Delilah had several of Regan’s former students in a new class, and those students had asked whether she ran her class like Regan did. “It was like Freedom Writers in there!” a student told Delilah.
“I don’t understand it,” Delilah said to Regan. “They flock to you. How do you manage that kind of rapport?”
Regan couldn’t say for sure, but gave her best guess of an answer: “I listen.”
In the spring, some of Regan’s students participated in the Mr. Johnson pageant, an inter-grade competition among Johnson boys. Regan spent her Saturday night at the pageant—which Mandy supervised—to support the students.
On Monday, when one of the boys, a senior, walked into second period, Regan said, “I went on Saturday, and I waited for you to come out from backstage, but I never saw you!”
“Aw, man,” the senior said, appreciating her support. “I tried to put you on the thing, but she said no.”
Regan asked him to clarify. He explained that contestants could name “sponsors”: adults whose names were listed on the program as people who had been supportive. “I wanted to put you down as my sponsor, but [Mandy] said I couldn’t because she doesn’t like you.”
Regan’s jaw dropped. What?! “She didn’t actually say that, did she?” Regan asked.
The senior looked uncomfortable. “I’m just playin’,” he said, but then added, “Why don’t you two like each other?”
Obviously he isn’t playing, Regan thought. “No. She doesn’t like me,” she replied, against her better judgment. “I have no problem with her.”
“I need to try to end y’all’s problems,” the senior said.
Briefly, Regan considered confronting Mandy about involving students in their drama, but she concluded that such a discussion would only make the situation worse.
A few days later, when Delilah asked if Regan and her first-period class wanted to accompany her class on a movie field trip, Regan jumped at the chance. James Johnson did not have the budget for frequent field trips; the opportunity to leave school grounds was rare and welcome.
Two weeks later, Delilah approached Regan with bad news. Because of the number of classes wanting to go, there was room for only a few chaperones. When Delilah had gone to the teacher in charge—who was part of the black clique called “The Seven”—to discuss the dilemma, her immediate reaction was, “Let’s take Davis off, then.”
Regan stared in disbelief. Delilah avoided eye contact. “Why?” Regan asked.
“I don’t know,” Delilah said. She was not convincing.
When Regan asked who was still on the list, Delilah mentioned four teachers. All of them were black. And one teacher’s class wasn’t even going. It made no sense. Why did the administration refuse Regan, whose class was going on the trip, in favor of a teacher whose class wasn’t?
Later that day, Delilah walked in on Regan, who was sitting in an empty classroom and talking on the phone to her mother. When Regan hung up, Delilah asked what was wrong. “The field trip thing,” Regan said. “I feel like they took me off the list ’cause I’m white.”
“It’s not that,” Delilah said.
“What is it, then?” Regan asked.
“Stay after school and I’ll tell you.”
After the last class of the day, Delilah found Regan and said, “We need to have a serious talk.” She listed other English teachers’ grievances against her: Regan had too many absences, they claimed, and she had taken her girlfriend to the emergency room during the school day for a minor injury. “It’s not just because you’re white. I was supposed to talk to you about this a while ago,” Delilah said.
Regan