A Boy.
Page 18-20

5. Story

Ch. 4
Page 18

Bradley stood
at the front door
and hollered,
“Mrs. Ebbel is a liar!
Don’t believe anything
she tells you.”

Bradley’s mother
got into the car,
gritted her teeth,
and drove to school.

She was just as afraid
as Bradley,
if not more so,
of what Mrs. Ebbel
would tell her.

She wanted
to believe Bradley
when he told her
he was getting all A’s
or was elected
class president.

She tried to fool herself
that it could be true,
even though she knew
it couldn’t.

She knew her son.
And she knew
Mrs. Ebbel
wouldn’t take the trouble
to call her on the phone
if everything
were really as wonderful
as Bradley said it was.

Still, she hoped.

She opened the door
to Bradley’s classroom.

No one was there.

“Hello?”
she called out timidly.

She looked around.

There was a bulletin board
covered with “A” papers.

She looked
from one paper
to another
and hoped,
with all her heart,
that she’d see one
with Bradley’s name
on it.

She didn’t.

In the back corner
of the room
she saw a chart
that listed the name
of every student
in the class.

Next to each name
was a row of gold stars.

Next to “Bradley Chalkers,”
there were no stars.

“Mrs. Chalkers?”

Startled, she turned around
to see Mrs. Ebbel.

“Oh, you scared me,”
she said,
then smiled.

Page 19

Mrs. Ebbel didn’t smile.

Mrs. Chalkers sat at a chair
next to the teacher’s desk
and bravely listened
as Mrs. Ebbel told her
about Bradley.

There was nothing
Mrs. Ebbel said
that she didn’t
already know.

Still, it hurt to hear it.

“Deep down,
he really is a good boy,”
she tried to tell
Bradley’s teacher.

“I’m sure he has
a lot of good qualities,”
said Mrs. Ebbel.

“However, I have
twenty-eight other children
in my class,
and I can’t spend
all my time
trying to help Bradley.

He has to decide
whether he wants to be
a part of the class or not.

And if he doesn’t want
to be a part of the class,
then he shouldn’t be here.

He just makes it
that much harder
for everyone else.”

“What can I do?”
asked Bradley’s mother.

“The school has just hired
a counselor,” said Mrs. Ebbel.

“I’d like your permission
for Bradley
to begin seeing her
once a week.”

“Anything
that will help my son,”
said Mrs. Chalkers.

“I don’t know
if she can help him
or not,”
said Mrs. Ebbel.

“Bradley has a very serious
behavior problem.

If he doesn’t show
improvement soon,
more drastic measures
will have to be taken.”

“Deep down,
he really is a good boy,”
said Bradley’s mother.

“Well, let’s go meet
the counselor,”
said Mrs. Ebbel.

She led Bradley’s mother
down the halls
to the counselor’s office.

The door was open,
but no one was there.

Page 20

Bradley’s mother
stepped into the room.

Boxes were everywhere.

Some were turned over,
with their contents
half spilled onto the floor.

A yellow ladder
lay on its side.

In the center of the room
was a round table
surrounded by chairs,
but the table and chairs
were covered with papers
and boxes and games
and books.

There was hardly room
for Bradley’s mother
and teacher to stand.

“She’s just moving in,”
Mrs. Ebbel explained.

“I’m sure
she’ll have it cleaned up
by tomorrow.”

Mrs. Chalkers shrugged.
She picked up
a dolphin puppet
from an open box
on the table and
put her hand inside it.