Chapter 15
The town was abuzz with the arrival of the additional people at the mill.
“Damn, how many more of them are they going to bring here?” Tim Raines thought aloud while waiting his turn for a haircut.
“I don’t know, but this is bullshit. Those jobs should have gone to the people of this town, not a bunch of law-breakers,” Craig Fletcher groaned.
Claude had just finished with the last customer and had turned to Tim when the door opened and in walked Paul Jackson.
“Good afternoon gentlemen, I see we have a gathering of the local men here today,” Paul grinned as he took a seat along the wall to wait for his turn.
“I don’t know what’s so good about it. Didn’t you see all those new people they brought to the mill?” Craig moaned.
Paul knew of the new arrivals, but he also knew that nothing would come of worrying about it. “Yes, I did, but we’re all aware it’s beyond our control. I’m just trying to make the best of the situation; that’s all.”
“I guess it’s easy for you since you don’t have any children in school, or a wife that has to teach them. Sheila is just finishing up on her treatments, and now has to figure out how she is going to teach a bunch of kids who can’t speak English.”
Craig had tried to convince Sheila to postpone her return to teaching, but she said they needed the money and that it brought her so much joy.
“I’m glad all of my children are grown and living elsewhere. I would hate to have them involved in all this crap,” Claude said as he let Tim know to come sit in the barber’s chair.
“I hate to bring this up but haven’t they been having problems with them kids being sick? I watched on the news the other night about different diseases they seem to be bringing with them. Doesn’t that worry you, Craig?” No sooner had Tim said the words than he wished he could take them back.
Craig looked at Tim with rage burning in his eyes. “Yes, I’m worried. I have thought of packing up and moving to Dallas for weeks now, but Sheila wants to stay. She said the children are happy here, and everything we know is here. I love my wife, but she is just too trusting. I don’t trust anything we are being told about those people, and I worry that something bad is going to happen in the near future.”
The room grew deathly quiet as each man thought of what the town was facing. However, they all knew there was nothing they could do to prevent the destruction barreling down on them.
With the arrival of the first day of school, Jen found herself fighting conflicting emotions. On one hand, she was thrilled to be teaching again, but, on the contrary, she was terrified of what the new school year would bring.
She was sitting at her desk going over some last minute paperwork when the fist student arrived.
“Good morning, Mrs. Greer. My name is Joey, and my mommy says that you’re my teacher,” the little brown-eyed boy said cheerfully, as he held onto his mother’s hand.
Jen looked down at the little boy and smiled, “Why, yes I am. Welcome to Kindergarten, Joey. Will you please take a seat at the table?”
Joey looked up at his mother, who nodded her approval. He then walked to the long table and took a seat next to the window.
“He was talking about starting school all last week,” Joey’s mother laughed.
“Well, I’m sure he’ll do great. He seems like a smart little boy,” Jen grinned.
“Hi Joey, we get to be in the same class,” an excited young girl said as her mother led her through the door.
Joey looked at the eager girl, smirked and rolled his eyes, but Jen could see the excitement hidden behind the disinterested glare.
“Be nice to her, Joey. She’s your friend,” Joey’s mother said playfully.
The little girl pulled away from her mother’s grasp and ran over to the table then sat next to Joey.
“As you can see, my daughter, Amanda is excited to be starting school. I hope she won’t be too much of a handful for you, Mrs. Greer.”
Jen looked at Amanda’s mother and could see the love in her eyes for her daughter. “I’m sure she’ll be just fine. They are always a bit rambunctious the first day of school.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Greer. She’s so excited about starting kindergarten; it’s all she’s talked about the last month.”
Jen was about to respond when several more children and their parents entered the room.
“Good morning students, take a seat, and we’ll begin the day,” Jen said as she helped a couple of children put their backpacks on a hook on the wall by the door.
The room was full of excited chatter of the new students and their parents until a group of children followed Principal Millington through the door. Jen turned to see what had caused the sudden silence to overtake the room and was surprised to see what it was.
“Good morning, Jen,” Sarah said, trying to cover her true feelings. “These are more of your new students. I have put name tags on them, as none of them appear to speak any English.”
Jen felt a knot suddenly tighten in her stomach when she looked into the faces of the children who she knew would make her life as a teacher more difficult. “Okay, thank you. I’m sure we will get along just fine. I’ve been working on my Spanish, so hopefully we won’t have any communication problems.”
Jen looked at the children and forced a smile then in strained Spanish she said, “Good morning. My name is Mrs. Greer, and I am your teacher. Why don’t you come over to this table and sit in one of the chairs?”
Each of the children looked up at her, unsure if they wanted to do as told. Finally, one of the women in the group spoke up, “They are… are… nervous. Ah, this is the first time they to go to school.” She spoke broken English, but Jen was still able to understand her.
“I understand, and I will do everything I can to make them feel comfortable and welcome.” Jen hated how this was forced on the school, but she was a teacher, and it was her duty to teach every child that walked through the door.
The woman looked at Jen and smiled. She then pointed to the table, letting the children know to take a seat.
“I want you to obey the teacher, and follow the rules,” the woman told the children in Spanish.
The children all looked up at her and nodded their understanding. Once they all settled in their chairs, the woman turned to Jen and said, “Thank you. We will return for them later.”
Sarah and Jen exchanged worried glances, each unsure of how this was going to work with having children in one class but speaking two different languages.
Sarah looked at the table with the immigrant children and said a silent prayer that everything would go smoothly. She knew the Feds were watching the school to make sure they were treating the new students fairly. The only problem was who was going to make sure the local children did not have their education short-changed because of all the new rules and restrictions?
“Okay, well, let’s leave Mrs. Greer to her students,” Sarah said to the parents.
However, as Sarah turned to leave the room, it did not escape her attention that the parents of the local children did not seem too thrilled of the small group of students sitting together at the table by the window.
Jen breathed a sigh of relief when the lunch bell rang letting the children know it was time to eat. Teaching with the constant need to repeat everything for the children who did not speak English made for a long morning. Once the children had their lunches and sat at the long table in the cafeteria, Jen joined a couple of the teachers standing in the corner.
“I don’t know how I’m expected to teach a class this way,” Rebecca, the fifth-grade teacher groaned.
“I know. It’s not fair to the other students. I feel sorry for them, but those students are so far behind the others. I mean it makes it impossible to teach fairly,” Sheila shook her head, wondering how anyone was going to make this work for the benefit of all the children.
“I feel sorry for them too. I’m
sure their parents only want what is best for them, but so do the other parents. If we have to repeat everything, it is going to make teaching nearly impossible. Children can’t stay focused for that long anyways.” Jen looked out over the children sitting at the long tables, eating their lunches, and wondered how they could get the education they all deserved.
Once the bell sounded, letting the children know their lunchtime was over, Jen walked over to the table with her students. She was pleased to see that most of them had eaten all of their lunches and were quietly waiting for her to take them out to recess.
“Okay, everyone needs to take their trays over to the trash cans and throw everything away, and then set the tray on the table.” Jen walked toward the cans along the wall with the students following her in a single line. Once the trays were in their place, Jen led the children outside to the playground.
It was of no surprise that the children split up into two different groups to play. The children from the mill all gathered in a small group, unsure of what to do while the rest of the children went to the swings and other playground equipment. Jen could see the immigrant children wanted to play, but she could also see the hesitation in their eyes.
Realizing they were not going to play, Jen walked up to the group of children and said in her best Spanish, “Why aren’t you playing like the other children?”
The children looked at each other but did not say a word.
Jen was not sure what she should do. She thought for a moment then an idea came to her. She walked over to the wire basket sitting by the door and pulled out a ball then walked back over to the children, who were now watching her intently.
“Mrs. Greer,” a shy little boy said in a near whisper. “They no want us here,” he said in broken English, as he pointed a shaky little finger at the other students playing on the playground equipment.
Jen glanced over to the other children who were playing then she looked back at the little boy and read the name printed on his name tag. “Manuel, that’s not true. Why would you think that?”
“Mi papa… my papa said no-one wants us here.” His eyes showed a mixture of sadness and confusion.
Jen wanted to tell him that was not true, but he would know she was lying. She thought for a moment then finally said, “Many people in town are confused and scared, but I’m sure over time everything will be okay. Why don’t we play some before recess is over?”
Manuel nodded his head with excitement. Jen let the children know to stand in a circle, so each could take a turn bouncing the ball across to another child. It took a few tries, but soon the children were laughing and having a good time.