Chapter 2 #2
I followed my mother’s footsteps and got my degrees in education.
I took it a step further and attained my doctorate degree in Educational Innovation.
Teaching the young minds of tomorrow was a passion of mine that I got honestly.
My first teaching job was at the high school that my mother was the principal of.
Three years before I left, I was promoted to vice principal.
My mother passed four years ago from breast cancer.
Devastation wasn’t strong enough of a word to describe my feelings.
I felt abandoned, like an orphaned child.
My school family was there and supportive, but it wasn’t the same as having my mother.
Last year, I finally decided that I needed to take a sabbatical.
My mother’s life insurance was healthy enough and allowed me to take some time off and be alright.
Her home, which she left to me, had been paid off for years.
I made the smart decision to break my lease and move into my mother’s house.
It made the most sense to do that since I was on a sabbatical.
I didn’t want to use unnecessary money when I could save it.
At that point, rent was an unnecessary bill since I had a paid for house that I could live in.
Last year, I reached out to a career agency to help me find a new job.
When I told them that I was willing to relocate, that widened the net considerably.
Teachers were needed everywhere, but what I wanted was an administrative position.
I figured if I got a job that was outside of Augusta, Georgia, that I could just rent my home like my mother did her mother’s.
It was like God had a sense of humor that only he found funny.
When Carlie, my agent, presented the open principal position at Heritage of Excellence High School, I knew exactly where it was.
The high school was one of the top private high schools in South Carolina.
The fact that the student demographic was comprised of minorities made the school more popular.
The high school was established in 2000 by a group of teachers who felt there was a gap in the educational system for our brown babies.
They worked hard to make sure they could address the gap in the educational system while teaching the students to embrace their culture and heritage.
Carlie told me that the school was interested in hiring me off my résumé alone, without an interview.
The pay they offered was not bad at seventy-nine thousand a year.
In my mind, I told myself that I would just tell Carlie that the pay wasn’t enough for me to relocate.
I thought that would be the end of it. Seventy-nine thousand dollars a year in Clover was good money.
There was no way that they would offer more, or so I thought.
When she came back to let me know that they offered me a cool eighty-seven thousand a year and a five thousand dollar moving stipend, I was outdone.
They offered me all of that off a résumé alone.
Carlie told me that this was one of the best offers she had ever received for a client and that I would be a fool to pass it up.
I took a week to pray on it. I asked God to give me a sign that this was the move for me.
I went onto the school’s website, which I had been on multiple times at this point.
This time, their vision statement stood out to me.
Heritage of Excellence High School envisions a future where every student of every background has access to revolutionary education, cultural attestation, and shattered ceiling opportunities.
We strive to be a model of inclusive learning that authorizes young leaders to achieve academic excellence, uplift the communities around them, and create societal legacy.
For some reason, on that day, it resonated with everything that I was. I knew then that I would make the move. After that week, I accepted the position and called the property management company to square things away with my grandma’s house, because I would officially move in there.
It had been a little over eight months since I moved back to Clover.
I had done so well with staying low-key so that I didn’t run into anyone that might recognize me.
It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, because I left Clover at such a young age and only came back for the summers until I was thirteen.
I knew it was going too good to be true when I got the notification that two of my tenth graders got into a physical altercation.
When I saw the last name of one of the students, my brow rose.
Abloy. Everyone knew the Abloy family in Clover.
When I pulled Benji’s file to see who his parents were, I felt a weird sense of relief to see that his father wasn’t Bolt.
“Principal Anderson, Benji and his uncle are already in your office at the conference table,” Katie, my assistant, announced when I walked out of the conference room on the other side of the table after talking to the other student’s parents. “This is Bethany Abloy, Benji’s mother.”
She stood from her seat when I came closer. I extended my hand. “Miss Abloy, it is nice to meet you regardless of circumstance. I want to say right away that your son, Benji, was not the aggressor.”
She let out a huff as she placed her hand into mine for a shake. “You must have known I was about to go in there and whup his lil big ass. I was in Charlotte when you guys called me.”
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry that you had to drive in for this. Let’s head into my office where your son and brother are,” I told her.
If I remembered correctly, she was a few years older than me. I never interacted with her when I visited for the summer, but she may have known of me. During the summers, if I wasn’t at my daddy’s house, I was at my grandma’s house.
I allowed Bethany to walk into my office before I did. Benji jumped up. “Mama! I promise I ain’t start it.”
“I know, Benji. Principal Anderson told me.” She turned her attention to her brother. “Boltin, this is the new principal.”
I knew the moment that our eyes locked that he recognized me. Dear God, why is this man so fine? If I thought Boltin ‘Bolt’ Abloy was fine as frog hair when I was thirteen, then he was fine as aged wine now. I gathered myself quickly to approach him. “Mr. Abloy, it’s nice to meet you.”
When he stood from his seat, I took a step back. He towered over me to the point that I took another step forward. This was a lot of man. A lot of fine ass man. “Nice to meet me? Really, P’Nee? Stop playing with me like you don’t know me.”
“Whoa,” Bethany blurted. “Did I miss something?” she asked with knitted brows. Even Benji wore a perplexed expression.
Without taking his eyes off me, Bolt answered his sister’s inquiry. “Sis, this is P’Nee, Joshua’s little sister. I’m not sure if you remember her.”
Her face was tight for a moment before recognition hit. “Oh, wait! I almost forgot he had a little sister. You haven’t been around since we were teenagers.”
My smile was faint. “Um, yeah, I haven’t.” I needed to shift this conversation. “How about we sit down to discuss what happened and what happens next.”
We all agreed before we sat down. There was video footage of the incident, so there was no need to tell them what happened when I could show them.
Benji was one of our star honor students.
He was quiet and kept to himself and his techy friends.
The boy that bothered him today was new to the area and wanted to solidify himself as a bully.
The problem with his plan was that he bullied the wrong student, and that student bullied the fuck back.
“So, while Benji did not instigate the altercation, he still did get physical. Benji will be suspended for three days instead of the five that the other student will be out for,” I told them. “Benji’s teacher will send him all of his work so that he doesn’t fall behind.”
Bethany was agitated, which was understandable. If I could get away with not suspending Benji at all, I wouldn’t, but I had to. Benji beat that boy’s ass to a pulp. I was so confused how you wanted to be a bully but couldn’t fight.
“Thank you for understanding that my son is not a troublemaker,” Bethany said as we all stood. “I’ve heard great things about you as the principal. You’re breathing new life into this school in the short time that you’ve been here. A robotics team?” When her brow arched, I giggled.
My eyes shifted to Benji whose cheeks blushed over.
“Well, that achievement of the start of our robotics’ club can be directly attributed to your son.
From what I heard, he presented a proposal for the club last school year, but it was denied due to budget restraints.
Well, this principal knows how to make things pop, as the kids say. ”
“Principal Anderson, no one says that. You say that,” Benji said with a creased forehead. “It’s okay to talk like an adult. We’ll still respect you and think you’re cool.”
See, these fucking kids will put you in your place every time. Bolt chortled. “Damn, nephew, you didn’t have to do all that.”
Bethany shook her head. “Don’t feel bad. He tries to put me in my place from time to time too. Told me that I was too old to clock tea or whatever.”
Now that was funny because he told me the same thing last week. Being an educator was a balance of reward, embarrassment, disappointment, achievement, and many other factors and emotions. I liked to think that my kids kept me young. “Well, at least you’re consistent, Benji.”
“I do my best, Principal Anderson. So, you’re my uncle’s sister?” he asked with a raised brow. When his fingers went to his chin and tapped it, I knew he was about to say something witty. “So, that makes you my auntie, right?”
Bethany’s head snapped in his direction. “What it makes her is your principal.” She pointed at the door. “Go sit your ass in the office lobby.”
I wanted to laugh at his feigned dejectedness. He grabbed his book bag, then headed out of my office. I felt Bolt’s eyes on me, but I refused to look his way. There was no way that I could stare at this man for too long and not envision me bent over my desk.
“P’Nee, you should come out with me and my homegirl this weekend.
Your ass has been back for at least six months since that’s how long school had been in session.
Clearly, you’ve been laying low. Clover is too small for Joshua’s all over the place ass not to run into you.
” She gave me a look like she knew what I knew. “Where you staying?”
I giggled. “I’m a bit of a homebody, so it’s not hard to stay out of the way. I moved into my grandmother’s house. It was passed down to me after my mother passed four years ago.”
Bethany gasped and slapped her hand over her heart. “Oh my God! I am so sorry for your loss. I don’t know what I would do if I lost my mama.”
My eyes betrayed me and connected with Bolt. His gaze at me was soft. “Damn, Nee, I’m sorry to hear your mom passed. Does your dad and brother know?”
Nee. I hadn’t heard that nickname since I was thirteen.
The mention of my father shifted my attitude.
“I don’t know what they know as my business is not theirs.
” I shifted my attention back to Bolt’s sister.
“Take my phone number, and we can discuss going out further. Naturally, I have to be careful with my position.”
She took the phone out of my hand to put her number into it. “Girl, we don’t go out in Clover. I need separation from these country niggas.”
We both laughed. I understood that. I was sure eyes were on her since she was a mighty Abloy. We said a few more words before she headed toward the door. Bolt hadn’t moved toward the door yet. My head tilted as my eyes connected with his again. “It was nice seeing you after all these years, Bolt.”
My eye bucked subtly when he bit his lower lip. “Yeah, aight. I’ll see you soon, Nee. Believe that shit.” Before he walked out of my office, he turned to me with a sexy smirk. “Oh, and you were right. One Crazy Summer was a good ass book.”
Oh my!