It was Tuesday and Haruki was giving his sixth grades a quiz on graphing. He was wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants and reflecting on his life. Hey, at least he didn't have to wear a suit or worse, a uniform, to work.
Brittany, a girl from the Meadowlands neighborhood, came up to Haruki with her paper.
"Done?" he asked.
"Umm, no." Pause.
"Do you have a question about the quiz?" Haruki asked.
"I have a question but it's not about the quiz," said Brittany.
He started to worry. "Hey, this is a safe space. You can ask me whatever it is."
"I sort of need a tampon. Where do I get one?" she said, turning red.
"Oh. Yeah I'll write you a pass to the nurse. Don't worry about the quiz. I can give it to you tomorrow."
Haruki hoped she wasn't able to sense how uncomfortable he was. One of the surreal aspects of teaching at this level was that kids couldn't even go to the bathroom without your permission. Or if they said something was affecting their bodies, you had to suss out whether it was for real or imaginary.
He started wondering what would have happened if he hadn't believed her. What if she started bleeding visibly in the classroom? What if she got terribly sick?
He asked Miles about it later.
"Oh yeah man, that's a nasty lawsuit and you'd lose 99 times out of 100."
YOU ARE READING
Find For You
General FictionA struggling lawyer can't catch a break at work or in love. While digging through the internet, he stumbles upon the recipe for a magic potion. But he's not ready for what happens next.
