Reginald finally had a smile as he went off to school. For that, his mother was grateful. The last three years had been tough for the whole family and especially Reggie. Three new job locations for his father meant three new schools in as many years. Each new dislocation brought new worries and new fears. Each new school brought new challenges as well as small victories.
Reggie barely remembered the victories. To his third grade mind, the challenges were always huge and barely surmountable.
Each new school brought a new group of classmate to meet. And each new class had its own dynamics and interpersonal synergy. The school that he came from had more than its share of dominant girls and bravado-filled boys. He would have preferred to stay in a corner and not be noticed at all, except he was the new boy, the sudden center of attention as he joined the class mid year. The alpha dogs and the queen bees all made it their business to ride rough shod over him, each deriving some pleasure out of climbing a nonexistent social ladder by placing the new boy lower.
Reggie didn't see it that way nor did he ever use such language to describe it. The school nurse had talked with the lead teacher and then Reginald's parents, explaining that Reginald was a good student but he was far too passive and timid. Reginald needed to exert himself without actually provoking a fight.
Reggie's father talked to him and encouraged him, and when they had to move yet once again, his father made sure that Reginald started the school year in the new school with everybody else. That seemed to help a little. By the end of October Reggie told his mother that Freddie was his friend.
Those simple words brought great joy to his mother. She noticed that Reggie began first not dreading school, then actually looking forward to going most days.
"Mom, Mrs. Snyder is so cool," he would begin and then proceed to explain what new lesson or demonstration or event his third grade teacher had done that day.
Usually. But not every day. There were some days that he had a long face and reported that some of his classmates were jerks. "They're stupid!" he would add. Reggie hated when his classmates acted up in class. It made the teacher angry and it also meant that the special things that she would do were not done. It also meant that the whole class suffered under some form of the discipline whether it be loss of recess or held in at lunch. But what bothered him the most was the loss of learning and seeing the cool things that Mrs. Snyder might have shown them.
Reggie was far too shy to express any of that to anyone except his parents and even then it was only obliquely inferred. His mother became a master at understanding things that he felt or thought. She was able to give words to the deep insights that he only vaguely grasped.
His mother was very surprised, however, at his response when they broke the news to him that they would have to make one more move.
"When?" was all that he initially asked.
"We'll leave the week before Christmas and then be in our new place in time for the start of school after the new year," his father replied.
"Then I can get something for Mrs. Snyder?" Reggie asked.
"Yes, that would be a wonderful thing," his mother answered.
Within a week, Reggie knew what he wanted to give Mrs. Snyder. He and his mother planned it, shopped for it, wrapped it, then carefully set it to one side. Reggie knew that he would give it to her on his last day of school. He was adamant with his parents that they not tell the school that he was leaving yet because he hated the fuss and attention that was given him the other times he left mid year.
Reggie counted off the days until he would tell Mrs. Snyder himself that he was leaving and that he would miss her.
Finally the his last Friday came and he was filled with anticipation. No one knew the big news yet. He was going to announce it. He was going to leave in a bit of style this time—not bedraggled and tail-between-his-legs like he had felt before.
He wanted to make the announcement in the afternoon so he would not have as much time dealing with the sudden attention his way. He planned it out and reasoned that this would be the easiest. No, he finally admitted, easiest would be to say nothing and just leave.
All through morning recess he toyed with the idea of letting Freddie know secretly, but he decided not to. At lunch he wondered if he should just quietly let Mrs. Snyder know and give the gift to her then. He realized that he couldn't do that because the gift was in his backpack and that was in the locked classroom.
So he fell back on his original plan. He would make the announcement and give the gift shortly before school was out.
The afternoon after the lunch period, however, was particularly vexing. Tommy Jones and Max Grundy decided that playing paper football between their desks would be better than listening to Mrs. Snyder explain the art project. Sally Higgins sat near Betty Park showing off her new pencil case which had a mirror on the inside of the top. Several other students were either watching the two pairs or talking amongst themselves.
Reggie could see that Mrs. Snyder was trying hard to keep the class in line but joy had disappeared from her expression.
Suddenly Tommy made a loud noise as his paper football made a goal over Max's fingers. Mrs. Snyder spun around.
"That's it," she yelled. "Put your papers away. No more talking for the rest of the day."
The class immediately quieted.
"If there's any more noise from anyone, I will hold you five minutes after school is out," she went on.
Her voice was filled with righteous anger. Her eyes glowered, back and forth across the classroom. Reggie noticed that Max had quickly hidden the paper football out of sight. Sally quietly hid her new pencil case within the depths of her desk.
They class sat silently staring forward for at least fifteen minutes. Mrs. Snyder had not moved. All eyes were on her. At least they were mostly on her, because a few glanced at the clock. Reggie also glanced at the clock seeing that his time was running short. There was less than fifteen minutes now before the end of school Only fifteen minutes left to announce his leaving. A mere fifteen minutes in which he could tell Mrs. Snyder just how much she meant to him.
Maybe he could wait until a couple minutes before the end. He bided his time and carefully slipped the gift from his backpack and placed it in the shelf of his desk. He thought about how perfect a gift it would be. He knew that Mrs. Snyder loved coffee. She talked about it sometimes and mentioned that the teachers actually had a coffee pot in their teacher's room. That was a surprising piece of information to him and probably others in his class. No student had ever been in that secret room—at least no student from the lower grades. Once he had accidentally caught a fleeting glimpse into that sacrosanct room as he walked to the office. All he saw were various chairs as would be found in his living room with teachers seated around, laughing. He did see Mrs. Snyder holding what looked to be an old mug.
That is why he had his mother help him pick out a new coffee mug. It was emblazoned with the words, "My Favorite Teacher!" along with a picture of an apple. He didn't care if the apple was there or not, but he was really happy with the words.
Suddenly Max brought out the paper football and decided to "kick" it with his finger toward Tommy. He missed and the paper football flew past several students toward Mrs. Snyder's desk. She spun around at the noise of it hitting the floor. Her eyes blazed with fire.
"Who threw this?" she asked in deadly, measured words.
No one answered even though more than half of the class knew.
Reggie's heart sank, knowing his opportunity was fast slipping away. The clock showed less than two minutes left.
"You will tell me who threw this," Mrs. Snyder said, "or you will all stay late after the bell."
Reggie knew his time was gone. He felt an absolute driving impetus to deliver both his message and his gift. She needed something nice to make her day better. He raised his hand.
"Yes, Reginald?" Mrs. Snyder said.
"I have an announcement," he began.
"This is not the time for announcements," Mrs. Snyder quickly cut him off. "I am dealing with a class that is rude and does not care at all about learning. We don't have time for your special announcements today."
Reggie had never felt the brunt of her anger before. He knew that she was upset, and rightly so. But it wasn't his fault. He was suffering just as much as she was because those jerks were keeping him from the things that he loved. He thought that somehow a nice gesture was what she needed then.
He felt his eyes begin to smart and sting.
"No," he chided himself. "No crying."
The clock read only a half minute before school would be out. His mother and father would be waiting for him to take him away to a new house and then a new school.
He stood up. He knew that he had to leave. His parents were waiting for him.
"Reginald, you sit right back down now!" Mrs. Snyder barked at him.
"I'm leaving," he said.
He initially meant that he was leaving the school and that town and would never be back. Then he realized that it meant that he could walk out and never come back.
"You sit right back down now!" She repeated louder.
He picked up his backpack from the back of his chair then snatched the gift from his desk. The bell ending school sounded. His actions had surprised the other students who normally would have been jostling to leave.
"I'm leaving, never coming back," he declared and walked to the coat rack to find his jacket.
"Get back here now!" Mrs. Snyder shouted.
"School's out," he answered.
He walked to the door and threw the gift into the trash can hard. The sound of breaking ceramic pleased his anger. He opened the door and left, not even turning around for one last glance.
The class sat still long after the door had slammed shut. Finally Mrs. Snyder spoke. "We will talk more about this on Monday. Dismissed."
For the first time that year, the students quietly filed out of their desks to retrieve their coats.
The principal stopped by Mrs. Snyder's room some twenty minutes later and found her sitting at her desk.
"I just checked out Reginald," the principal began. "His parents stopped by to announce that they were moving. Today was his last day." The principal stopped and looked carefully at Mrs. Snyder. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head and pointed at pieces of a shattered mug that she had placed on her desk. "He had an announcement to make."
