Daydream Believer

liii. math class and my mother

liii. math class and my mother

Mom was back from parent-teacher conferences. Dad couldn't go because he was working again. He was working more and more lately and he was never home. I already knew what Mr. Greenacre was going to say. He was probably going to tell Mom about how badly I was doing in math. He would say that I never paid attention and I was probably going to fail in middle school because of that. Nevertheless I asked Mom, "What did Mr. Greenacre say about me?"

Mom sighed. "Let's start with the good stuff," she said. "He said that overall, you are a very talented student." What? I thought Mr. Greenacre hated me. "You're getting As in most of your subjects. I'm a little disappointed with the A-minus in Social Studies though."

Maybe Mr. Greenacre didn't tell her about math. Then again, if she thought an A-minus was bad, I was scared of what she would think of whatever I got in math. "Anything else?" I asked.

Mom nodded. "That was just the good news. I'm very upset about your grade in math class."

She stared at me in that cold way she usually does when she's mad. "What did I get?" I asked.

"You got a C!" she shouted. "Do you even realize what this will do to your grade!"

"No," I said. I figured if I went along with all of this, Mom wouldn't kill me.

"They're doing middle school placements right now!" Mom screamed. "You have to do your best so you can get into the best classes!"

"Okay Mom," I said. I was trying to stay calm, but it was hard when Mom was yelling at me.

"If you needed help in math, you should have asked me or your teacher!"

"Mom, I tried as hard as I could."

"No you didn't! If you got a C, that is not your best!"

Mom kept yelling, but I ran into my room. I didn't want to deal with her. Why did I even need math? It was just hard. Maybe Mom was right. I was a failure.