Her Freed Spirit

Forever loved

 It's been an entire month since Project: I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. The entire school was talking about it the following Monday. But no one knew who did it. Nothing exciting happened. Oh wait! Jamal almost burned the school down trying to make cookies. 'If cookies bake for 14 minutes at 350 degrees, they should bake in 3 minutes at 500 degrees' was the excuse he gave Mr. Malcolm after he put the fire out. Jamal needs supervision 24/7 or else the world would crumble.

 Its 4th period service and I'm left alone in the office. Tonii and Imma had to help the nurse. Nasty case of food poisoning from the Cafeteria. Number one rule of Middleton High: Never trust the mystery loaf. I'm just sitting sorting mail when Mr. Wilcox walks in. Today he is wearing rainbow suspenders.

 "Hello Sophia. You look lost in though." He carefully lowers himself to sit on the floor next to me.

 "I am. Tomorrow is the Anniversary of my parent's death. Six long years, and yet it still seems like yesterday." I finishing sorting mail.

 "Is it still painful or is something else bothering you?" He searches my eyes for any indicator of my feelings.

 "It's not painful. I know they are in a better place and always shunning their love down on us. Its just..." I stop not wanting to continue.

 "It's just what sweetheart?" he gives me a sincere smile making me continue.

 "It's just I wonder if I make them proud. I know me getting all A's or being in every club matters to them. They just wanted us all to be happy and live our lives the best we can. I wonder if they are proud of the life I'm living." I stare at the tiles on the ground.

 "I'm sure you parents are amazed at such a free spirited young woman. You always think the best even when things get nasty. Sure you might be a little crazy at times but you have never done anything that they wouldn't approve of." He says while smiling at me.

 "Has anyone every told you how amazeballs you are Mr. Wilcox??"

 "Amazeballs?? You jitter bugs and y'all slang. First y'all had the saggy pants, then the facegram and instabook now amazeballs. You know, the other day my grandson was telling some little girl that he can't date her because she is a thot. What the hell is a that??" he asks after his rant about us jitter bugs.

  I giggle at the elderly man in front of me that does not understand today's generation. "A thot means That Hoe Over There."

 "OH! Why not just say that. See back in my day we called thots Funky B*tches. I had so many of them chasing me just trying to get a taste of all this" he says while motioning to himself

 "oh wow Mr. Wilcox. I see you was a player back then."

 "What do you mean back then?? Hell I'm still a player now! Ask about me if you don't know! Just don't tell Mrs. Wilcox, she will kill me." He looks like a deer in headlight just mentioning her name.

 "Alright this is our little secret Old School Playa from the Himalayas." We start laughing until tears fill our eyes.

 "Oh before I forget. I need you to take these papers to Mr. Paris, the shop teacher." He helps me off the floor and I head to the shop class room. The shop program at Middleton is really cool. Its like a car shop at the back of the school. They do detailing, paint, oil changes, and anything else you could need. A lot of teachers and students let the shop classes fix their cars and trucks. It's a lot cheaper than going to a local shop plus your car could get fix while you are in school. Jamal has taken shop since his freshman year. He may not be able to drive for anything but he can tell what's wrong with your car just from hearing it. Jeremiah and Jamal used to help our dad work on the family car. It's Jamal's way of remembering him.