Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

Classes had just ended for the day when the phone rang, but one of my colleagues got to it first. When she yelled out my name, I practically raced for the closet. I just knew who it had to be, and I was right.

"Hi, Mrs. Nelson? This is Darryl Curtis. My brother told me you called about Pony?"

I felt a pang as I heard the concern in his voice, and I hoped he'd understand what I was about to say and not get too angry at Pony for cutting class. I had a feeling, though, that once I explained the circumstances, we'd be on the same wavelength.

"Hi Darryl. I'm a little worried about Pony these days, and I wanted to talk to you about it."

He took a deep breath. "Well, I'm sure that you know all about the memorial service… it has Pony pretty shook up." I could hear a hint of bitterness in his voice and knew that Pony wasn't the only one who was shaken up, but I just continued.

"I completely understand why he'd be upset… but my problem is more related to English, actually. He hasn't been in class in two days."

Darry let out an explosive breath. "He – what?" he said sharply. "But that doesn't make sense. Pony loves English, and I know he likes you. What is he doing?"

"Well," I began slowly, "I think I can almost explain it. Pony knew I'd expect him to be upset about the memorial service, so he didn't want to have to deal with that. And as I said… that's understandable. But I think the problem now is that he doesn't know how to come back now that he's cut twice. So I wanted to bring this to your attention to see how you wanted to handle this… because I can't very well make him come back if I don't see him."

There was silence on the other end of the phone, and then Darry said, "Thanks for understanding my brother better than most people do."

I smiled. "You're very welcome. Now… how should we deal with this? Do you want to have a meeting? If you come, he has no choice. And then we can at least get this resolved in person before it gets any worse."

"That's a great idea," Darry said, sounding relieved. "But when can we meet? I work everyday."

"Well, can you come in before school in the morning? What time do you have to be at work?"

"I have work at 9, so that would be fine. What time would be good for you?"

We set up the meeting, and as we were hanging up, Darry said, "Thanks, Mrs. Nelson. You made this a lot easier than it could have been."

"Thank you, Darry," I replied seriously. "If more parents could be like you, my job would be a lot easier."

He was quiet for a moment, and I suddenly wondered if I'd said too much, but then he mumbled "Thanks, see you tomorrow" very quickly and the line went dead.

I stared off into space as I slowly replaced the receiver in the cradle. I just wished there were more I could do to help this family I was coming to care very much about.