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Authors: Dorothy Koomson
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detention with the head for a month.’
Everyone in class laughed, and Veronica kicked my chair when Sir had turned back to the blackboard. ‘I’ll get you,’ she hissed.
‘I’m really scared,’ I replied. You didn’t grow up with two older sisters and not know how to stick up for yourself. I was quiet, I was shy, I did not have that many friends, but I wasn’t an easy target. Medina and Faye had made sure of that.
‘You should be,’ she said.
I turned to her, not caring if Sir saw, since I was staying behind after class anyway. ‘No, Veronica, you should be,’ I replied. From the way she immediately put her head down and stared at her textbook, I knew she’d got the message.
Everyone had filed out and I had stayed in my seat with my stomach tumbling and tumbling over itself like the washing machine did during a long wash. This wasn’t fair. I hadn’t done anything. ‘I’ll get right to the point,’ Sir said, sitting on the edge of the desk in front of me. ‘You’re a bright girl, Serena. But you’re easily distracted and I don’t like the people you hang around with. That Veronica Bell is nothing but trouble.’ I decided not to mention that I wasn’t friends with Veronica Bell. There was no point, teachers saw what they wanted to see. That’s why Veronica had never been caught for passing notes. No teacher ever saw that although the person caught passing the note might be different, they were always sitting behind or beside or in front of Veronica. ‘You’re getting Cs and Bs in my class when clearly you have the knowledge to do so much better. You could be an A student, Serena. I’ve been testing you, these past few weeks. That’s why I’m constantly asking you questions. I wanted to see if you would do what I hoped you would and start doing extra reading, and you did. Not many students would do that. You’re a gifted pupil. I want you to do better.’
‘How, Sir?’ I asked.
‘I want you to start taking History a bit more seriously. It’s a great subject if you try.’
‘OK, Sir,’ I said.
‘Look, how about I give you a couple of extra lessons after school, give you a chance to see what History is really all about? And then we’ll take it from there. I’ll talk to the head, let him know that I want to tutor you, and if you decide you can like History a little better, I can tutor you up to your O’Levels next year. Help you get an A. What do you think?’
‘OK, Sir,’ I said. Did I really have any choice? When he talked to the headmaster, he’d most likely ring my parents. And once they heard that I could possibly get an A in an O’Level, I’d have to do it whether I could like History or not.
‘Oh, come on, Serena, sound a little more enthusiastic than that. It’s going to be fun. Trust me.’
January, 1986
‘I want to take care of you for ever,’ he said, stroking his thumb against my cheek.
I was a little unsure what to say. I’d never had a boy tell me something like that before, and certainly not a man, a teacher. The closest I’d ever come was when Tommy Marison had grabbed me and pushed his lips on mine and said I had to be his girlfriend. (Medina and Faye had what they called ‘a nice little chat’ with him and he never bothered me again.) Sir was nothing like Tommy Marison, and I liked being around Sir. In the last three months, I’d started to like History a little more thanks to our after-school tutorials. I liked sitting in his classroom and listening to him explain history in a way that I could understand. When he talked about history, away from the other pupils, it wasn’t the most boring subject in the world about a group of dead people that had no relevance to my life. It was jam-packed with exciting stories full of danger and hope, intrigue and betrayal. And love. Always there was an element of love. I’d grown to like class, but I loved our tutorials. I could even call him by his first name in tutorials – ‘It’s more grown-up,
Everyone in class laughed, and Veronica kicked my chair when Sir had turned back to the blackboard. ‘I’ll get you,’ she hissed.
‘I’m really scared,’ I replied. You didn’t grow up with two older sisters and not know how to stick up for yourself. I was quiet, I was shy, I did not have that many friends, but I wasn’t an easy target. Medina and Faye had made sure of that.
‘You should be,’ she said.
I turned to her, not caring if Sir saw, since I was staying behind after class anyway. ‘No, Veronica, you should be,’ I replied. From the way she immediately put her head down and stared at her textbook, I knew she’d got the message.
Everyone had filed out and I had stayed in my seat with my stomach tumbling and tumbling over itself like the washing machine did during a long wash. This wasn’t fair. I hadn’t done anything. ‘I’ll get right to the point,’ Sir said, sitting on the edge of the desk in front of me. ‘You’re a bright girl, Serena. But you’re easily distracted and I don’t like the people you hang around with. That Veronica Bell is nothing but trouble.’ I decided not to mention that I wasn’t friends with Veronica Bell. There was no point, teachers saw what they wanted to see. That’s why Veronica had never been caught for passing notes. No teacher ever saw that although the person caught passing the note might be different, they were always sitting behind or beside or in front of Veronica. ‘You’re getting Cs and Bs in my class when clearly you have the knowledge to do so much better. You could be an A student, Serena. I’ve been testing you, these past few weeks. That’s why I’m constantly asking you questions. I wanted to see if you would do what I hoped you would and start doing extra reading, and you did. Not many students would do that. You’re a gifted pupil. I want you to do better.’
‘How, Sir?’ I asked.
‘I want you to start taking History a bit more seriously. It’s a great subject if you try.’
‘OK, Sir,’ I said.
‘Look, how about I give you a couple of extra lessons after school, give you a chance to see what History is really all about? And then we’ll take it from there. I’ll talk to the head, let him know that I want to tutor you, and if you decide you can like History a little better, I can tutor you up to your O’Levels next year. Help you get an A. What do you think?’
‘OK, Sir,’ I said. Did I really have any choice? When he talked to the headmaster, he’d most likely ring my parents. And once they heard that I could possibly get an A in an O’Level, I’d have to do it whether I could like History or not.
‘Oh, come on, Serena, sound a little more enthusiastic than that. It’s going to be fun. Trust me.’
January, 1986
‘I want to take care of you for ever,’ he said, stroking his thumb against my cheek.
I was a little unsure what to say. I’d never had a boy tell me something like that before, and certainly not a man, a teacher. The closest I’d ever come was when Tommy Marison had grabbed me and pushed his lips on mine and said I had to be his girlfriend. (Medina and Faye had what they called ‘a nice little chat’ with him and he never bothered me again.) Sir was nothing like Tommy Marison, and I liked being around Sir. In the last three months, I’d started to like History a little more thanks to our after-school tutorials. I liked sitting in his classroom and listening to him explain history in a way that I could understand. When he talked about history, away from the other pupils, it wasn’t the most boring subject in the world about a group of dead people that had no relevance to my life. It was jam-packed with exciting stories full of danger and hope, intrigue and betrayal. And love. Always there was an element of love. I’d grown to like class, but I loved our tutorials. I could even call him by his first name in tutorials – ‘It’s more grown-up,
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