Chapter Thirty-Four: Girl Meets the New Teacher
We were sitting in our English class waiting for our teacher to come, but Mr. Garaboski wasn't here yet and I had a feeling he wasn't coming anytime soon. "Where's Garaboski?" Maya asked. "Uh-oh." Lucas and Austin said. "Did we do it?" Riley and I asked. "Did we finally break him?" Farkle questioned. "You broke him." My dad announced as he walked into our classroom. This news caused us all to cheer and clap. "Quiet." My dad told us. "Mr. Garaboski retired yesterday." This caused another round of cheering and clapping. "Quiet. The guy survives Vietnam and Mrs. Garaboski and he can't get past you." Riley, Maya and I all shared a smile. "Now, he left a letter here that expressed his feelings. 'Dear, you little...' Okay, I can't read this."
"He always talked about the good days before 1985." Lucas stated. "What happened in 1985?" Riley asked. "That was the year the New York board of education said you couldn't hit a kid with a ruler." Farkle and I explained. "Bored of education? I do believe I am." Maya commented. "Well, now you're going to need a new English teacher." Dad told us. "That's okay, thanks." Maya replied. "Uh, I don't know Maya. You may want to consider this one." Austin told her while pointing out the window. I looked over to see a lady in a leather jacket. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ms. Harper Burgess." Dad said as our new teacher walked into the room with a helmet.
"You got a bike that goes with that outfit?" Lucas asked. "1800 cc twin cam fat Bob fuel tank wide glide." Ms. Burgess stated as she walked towards Lucas. "What do you ride?" "He rode a sheep." Riley piped up answering the question. Maya and I shared a look and I decided that I was going to make fun of my boyfriend with her. "62-pound quad hoof white fleece, kind you count before you fall asleep. Baa baa." Maya and I told her. She looked at us and Lucas shot me a look, but I just shrugged at him as I watched Ms. Burges lean closer to him. "Wanna race?" She asked him. "No." Lucas answered before Ms. Burgess walked towards the front of the classroom. "Ms. Burgess is here to teach you about great books and great ideas. Please give her the same respect you give me." Dad told us. "Oh, we can do better than that." I told him.
"Frank Miller. The Dark Knight Returns." Ms. Burgess said as she passed out our books. "This is Batman." Farkle said. "A future Batman." She corrected him. "What's the difference?" Lucas asked. "This story is a continuation based on an original series of characters." Ms. Burgess explained. "Do you guys know what that means?" "Yes." We all answered. "Um, aren't you supposed to be teaching us important books?" I questioned, wondering why we were reading Batman. "Mmm, this graphic novel was as important to its style of literature as any book you can think of." She replied. "What's it about?" Farkle asked. "It's about a world that's become so tough that Batman fights Superman. You tell me why he does that." Ms. Burgess told us.
"You're gonna start by teaching us a comic book, miss motorcycle?" Austin questioned. "Yeah, and you're gonna start by not calling me miss anything." She told him. "You can call me Harper." "Harper?" Farkle called out, raising his hand. "Yes." Harper answered. "I just wanted to see if it would work." Farkle admitted. "Farkle." Harper stated. "You know my name, Harper?" Farkle asked. "I know all of your names. Mr. Matthews told me all about you." Harper told us. "When is this due, please?" Riley and I asked. "Hi, Riley and Caroline." Harper greeted us with a wave. "Hi." We waved back. "How do you like having him here?" She asked referring to our dad. "It's terrible." We answered. "It's wonderful." She corrected us. "My father gave me my love of books." "He did?" Riley questioned. "He's why I became a teacher." Harper told us. "It's why he named me Harper. You'll figure it out."
"Riley and Caroline, stop me right now." Maya told us. "Why?" Riley and I asked. "I can't like a teacher, I'm Maya." Maya explained. "It's a good day, Maya. School got better and now nothing bad is ever going to happen again." Riley told her. "I wished you hadn't said that." I commented. "Why?" Riley asked. "That's why." I told her pointing towards the door just as our principal walked in. "So, I'm passing by your classroom on this, your first day, and I can't help noticing that somebody has a comic book..." The principal said then noticed that we all had them. "That everybody has a comic book." "They're graphic novels." Farkle told him. "Pipe down Farkle." Principal Yancy told him. "I think Harper's trying to teach us something important." Farkle replied.
"Oh, Harper is?" Principal Yancy turned to look at Harper who made a hum of affirmation. "Well, she's not." He said, looking at us. "It isn't literature, it's comic books. Which are against school policy, miss Burgess. And so is calling miss Burgess by her first name." He picked up one of the graphic novels and walked towards Harper. "You will gather these up, and you will teach something important." He dropped the graphic novel down and picked up another book. "To Kill A Mockingbird? Are you familiar with this?" "I know this book." Harper answered. "Then teach it, Ms. Burgess." Principal Yancy told her. Harper took the book from him and he left the room closing the door behind him.
"So..." Harper trailed off putting the book on the desk and picking up The Dark Knight Returns. "The Dark Knight Returns. Read it tonight, and tomorrow we will learn something important." We all started cheering and clapping. "Ah, stop it." She told us walking towards Maya. "You're not supposed to like teachers. You're Maya." "I know, what are you doing to me?" Maya asked as she stood up and we all continued to clap.
My family plus Maya were sitting at the table eating dinner. Maya, Riley, and I were eating as fast as we could so we could do our English homework. "Dinner is keeping us from our homework." Maya told my mom. "The new English teacher wants us to read this." I told mom, pointing at the book on the table. "Well, this looks like a comic book." Mom commented. "Yes." Dad said. "Didn't we have a teacher you taught us..." Mom started to ask. "Yes." Dad replied. "Tell me more about this new English teacher." Mom said. "Motorcycle." Riley told her. "Leather jacket." Maya said. "Sounds familiar. Weren't you on the committee to hire the new English teacher?" Mom asked dad. "Yes." Dad answered. "Principal Yancy doesn't like her very much." I commented.
"She's a young idealist. You think she's gonna win him over." Mom guessed. "I'm just looking for a little action." Dad told her. "Not all history repeats, Cory." She told him. "Why what happened to you guys?" Riley asked. "Well, we had a pretty cool teacher once." Mom said. "Feeny." Riley stated. "No, we actually had one other teacher." Mom told us. "Did that teacher get along with the principal?" Maya asked. "Feeny was the principal." Mom informed us. "Feeny taught you every year and was also your principal?" Auggie questioned. "Yes." Dad answered. "That would never happen today." Auggie stated. "We'll see." Dad retorted.
"Our principal won't let her teach us this." Maya said holding up the graphic novel. "But she is anyway?" Mom questioned. "It's a more complicated world now. Heroes and villains aren't as easily recognized. Maybe it takes different teaching methods to tell them apart. She thinks this will help and I like that she believes in something." Dad explained. "But Cory, the world isn't so different that the principal doesn't still make the final decision." Mom told him. "Yeah, that's interesting, isn't?" Dad asked. "Yancy has a lot of power. He's like... who's a guy with a lot of power, girls?" "Superman." Riley and I said. "Whoa." Maya said. "Then Harper's like..." I trailed off. "Batman." Maya finished. "Whoa." Riley exclaimed.
"What's the difference between the two?" Mom asked. "Well, one has superpowers and one doesn't." Dad explained. "Well, how can that be a fair fight?" Mom asked. "I mean that's like a fight between you and me." "I know." Dad replied. "You know, I don't want Harper..." Riley started. "Batman." Maya and I chimed in. "...To lose." She finished. "Well, maybe you should do your homework and find out what happens next." Dad told us. Riley, Maya, and I shared a look and mom laughed. "Yeah, like they're gonna run..." Riley, Maya, and I grabbed our books and ran towards Riley's room.
"Can good change?" Harper asked, the next day in class. "Good is good." Riley and I told her. "Can evil change?" Harper asked. "It seems like just when we think we've seen the worst that there can be, somebody comes up with something." Lucas explained. "Why do you suppose that is?" Harper asked. "Because it's evil that fascinates us." Maya answered. "But doesn't good have to win in the end?" Austin asked. "Does it?" Harper fired back. The door opened and principal Yancy walked in. "So I'm passing by your classroom on this, your second day, and I see no mockingbird. But I still see comic books." He said. "Yes, we're studying the nature of good and evil." Harper explained and principal Yancy gasped. "I don't care. Class dismissed." He told us.
"Excuse me?" Harper questioned. "Study hall, all of you. Except Farkle. You... go sit in a garbage can." Principal Yancy told us. "Yay." Farkle said. "Leave now." Principal Yancy told us. "Go." Harper told us. "Riley. Caroline." Maya said as we got up. "Yes." We replied and we all left the room. Riley, Maya, and I ran off to get the one person we think may be able to help. We went to my dad's classroom and pulled him towards our English classroom. Riley opened the door and Maya and I pushed him into the room before closing the door. After a while, the whole class moved towards the windows to watch.
"You know what history has in common with the great books?" Dad asked. "it turns out there are heroes and villains. All through them. And the villains will always cause trouble. But there's always gonna be heroes to fight back." "You ruined my entire lesson." Harper told my dad. "She was hired to teach literature, but she's not. She rides a motorcycle and she teaches comic books. How is that a teacher?" Yancy asked. That can be a great teacher. A passionate teacher who doesn't believe that kids just come and go. And if you let her go, then..." My dad trailed off. "You have to be prepared to let me go as well." I looked at my dad in shock at what he just said. "Let you go?" Yancy questioned. "Well, I wasn't prepared for that at all. Just give me a second... okay, I'm good. You're fired too."
"How was everybody's day today?" Mom asked as we sat at the table eating dinner. "It was a good day and then my friends treated me nicely and then my teacher measured me, and I'm growing and then Jenny Lewis loves me." Auggie told us. "Wait a minute this already happened." Mom pointed out. "Yeah, I'm out of stuff." Auggie told us. "He's right. Nothing new happened at all." Dad said and I knew he was trying to get out of telling mom that he got fired so I took matters into my own hands. "Dad got fired today." I stated. "Well, there's that." Dad chuckled nervously. "You know how you thought there might be trouble between Yancy and the new teacher?"
"The young idealist who was gonna win him over?" Mom questioned. "She didn't... so much." Dad replied. "But you defended her?" Mom guessed. "I did." Dad said in agreement. "So Yancy fired you?" Mom continued. "Pretty much." Dad agreed. "Yancy can't fire you. According to statue 3028, teacher dismissals have to come from the state." Mom explained. "Mom, do you know everything?" Riley asked her. "Yeah." She answered. "So Mr. Matthews is safe?" Maya asked. "Aw, Maya, you care?" Dad questioned. "No, I just haven't spoken yet." Maya retorted.
"I've met principal Yancy. He can be pretty stubborn." Mom said. "Yeah, he's gonna pursue this." Dad added. "What will he do next?" Riley asked. "Well, he has to take it to his boss. He has to take it to the superintendent of schools." Mom said, but instead of them looking worried they looked happy. "Doesn't that make you guys nervous?" Riley asked. "Um, they don't seem nervous." Maya said. "They know something that Yancy doesn't know." I pointed out.
Riley, Maya, and I were walking past my dad's classroom. We saw my dad, Harper, principal Yancy, and uncle Jon in there. "Jon, I just wanted her to teach To Kill a Mockingbird." Yancy told uncle Jon. "Your mom or your dad?" He asked Harper. "My dad." Harper answered. "What about him?" Yancy asked. "He named her Harper Lee Burgess. I figure she'll get around to it." Uncle Jon explained to him. "isn't this the one about understanding that people turn out pretty good if you give them a chance?" Harper questioned. "Don't ask me, I read comic books." Uncle Jon told her.
"Look, Yancy, I'll observe Harper's class, I'll make my decision then. I already made my decision about Matthews long ago. I hired him, you know?" Uncle Jon asked principal Yancy. "I did not know that. I withdraw my objection." Yancy told him. "Too late for that. Too important. What a kid is taught is what a kid becomes. That's the job we have. You ask me to see how it's being done, and I will." Uncle Jon said. He then noticed what was written on the board which was You're Fired. "Hmm. Interesting lesson. Let's see what comes of it." Riley, Maya, and I all shared a look.
"We have some special guest in our classroom. Please behave as you normally." Harper told us, later in our English class. Dad, uncle Jon, and principal Yancy were all there. "Hi." Riley and I said getting up and walking towards uncle Jon and principal Yancy. "Hi." Uncle Jon replied. "We love Harper. Do you understand, uncle Jon?" We asked him. "Real uncle, or do you just call him that?" Principal Yancy asked. "He comes over like a million times a week..." Riley and I were cut off by principal Yancy saying, "I withdraw my complaint." Riley and I turned and walked back to our seats. "You got them calling you by your first name?" Uncle Jon questioned.
"Yes, I wanted them to put together the mockingbird thing to see how much I care about what I'll be teaching." Harper explained. "All right, does anybody understand the significance of Harper's name in regards to the author of To Kill a Mockingbird?" Uncle Jon asked as he walked towards the front of the classroom. "Harper's first name is Charles Twain." Maya called out. "You're doing a bang-up job with her, Matthews." Uncle Jon told my dad and he just shrugged not knowing how to reply. "Look, she was told by the principal not to teach us something, but she did anyways. That's gotta mean something." Maya said. "Psst, will you stop helping us?" Dad asked Maya.
"Yeah, it means something. Now, may I see what you've learned?" Uncle Jon asked. "Because that's what means everything." Farkle quickly stood up with his hand raised, "Farkle goes first. Farkle always goes first." Uncle Jon walked over to Farkle and asked, "Stuart Minkus' kid?" "Yeah." Dad answered. "Super genius?" "Outer space." "Real human boy?" "We're not sure yet." Dad told him. "Sit down." Uncle Jon told Farkle. "I'll make the presentation." Lucas said as he stood up. "You like this teacher?" Uncle Jon asked him. "I like both these teachers." He answered.
"Me? No, I never saw this thing before. I never saw this thing before in my life. Yeah, I read it. I read it, actually a lot." Lucas said before he sat back down. "Thanks for telling the truth." Uncle Jon thanked Lucas. "Yeah, I can't help myself." Lucas sighed. "Now, I prefer someone who is unfamiliar with the material. Someone who is notoriously unteachable." Uncle Jon said, stopping in front of Maya. "How you doing?" Maya asked. He motioned for Maya to get up and when she did Riley and I followed. Riley on one side of her and me on the other. "Not you Riley and Caroline." Dad told us.
"I only looked at the pictures." Maya stated. "We looked at the words." Riley and I said. "It's a trio." Dad told uncle Jon. "I hoped you learn something girls." Harper told us. "I learn something all the time." Riley said. "I learn what I don't already know." I said. "I come here because my apartment leaks." Maya said. "Come here." Harper ordered Maya. "Yes." Maya said walking to her and we followed. "I know you just say this stuff. I know you're a lot smarter than you want us to know." Harper said. "Shh." Maya said, putting a finger to her mouth. "We got this." Riley said. "I hope so. Our future's in your hands." Dad told us.
"In Frank Miller's, The Dark Knight Returns the keyword is dark. He doesn't write heroes or villains that you are used to. You have to really think about what's right and what's wrong." I explained. "The pictures make you work too." Maya started. "You have to look up, down, across, and sideways, but I believe he's trying to get us to look at what our own world has become. Up, down, across, and sideways." "Heroes that should be friends with a common goal, fight each other instead." Riley said. Farkle stood up, "One hero was trying to inspire his old friend to take a look at the world, and realized that it's changed. So he needed to change, too." He said before he sat back down. Then Lucas and Austin stood up. "But he wouldn't, so he fought against him." Austin said. "Which was hard to look at, because the world is dark enough and heroes are supposed to bring light." Lucas added before they both sat back down.
"Everyone in this room knows that someone with real power doesn't need to hit a kid with a ruler to get the kid to want to learn." I said. "Because this is a new world, and we don't do that here. Frank Miller turned a comic book into... what's the word?" Maya asked. "You know the word." Harper told her. "Literature. And Harper here is named after someone who gave us a great story." Maya said. "Which her father taught her to appreciate." Riley said as we walked towards our dad. "And it means everything to her that her father taught her." I added. "She's taught us so much already." We told him.
"You did that in two days?" Uncle Jon questioned. "They're smarter than they want us to know." Harper replied. "She did that in two days. Shape up, Matthews." Uncle Jon told my dad. "Yes, sir." Dad replied. "Jon, comic books are against school policy." Principal Yancy spoke up. "Yeah, and you can hit a kid with a ruler in 19 states." Uncle Jon retorted and principal Yancy left the room. "Hey, Matthews, I know it was you that chose Harper for these kids. Is that because maybe she, uh... reminded you of someone?" He asked my dad. "No." My dad answered. "Okay." Uncle Jon said.
"Riles and Care?" Maya said as we sat in Riley's bay window. "Yeah?" We answered. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" She asked us. "I have some ideas, but I'm not entirely sure." I answered. "I don't know yet." Riley answered. "Is that okay?" "Yeah." Maya answered her question. We just sat there in silence until I realized what Maya wanted us to do. "Are one of us supposed to ask you now?" Riley questioned, with a smile. "That would certainly keep this going, so..." Maya trailed off. "Maya?" I questioned. "Yes!" She replied quickly. "Do you have an idea what you want to be when you grow up?" I asked her. "No." She answered, but then she added, "But being a teacher might be cooler than I thought."
"You know what else is cool? Uncle Jon used to take care of Shawn when he was younger." Riley told Maya. "You don't say." Maya smiled. "She does say." I told her. "And our dad said that they were really good for each other." "Okay, Riley, I finished this Archie comic you gave me." Auggie told our sister from her bed. "I wanted to start him on the road to good books." Riley explained as Auggie came to sit with us. "What'd you learn from it, Augs?" Maya asked him. "Well... this dark haired girl and this blonde girl both like the same boy and they all stay best friends. Could that really happen?" Auggie asked. "Nah." Riley and I answered. "Okay." Maya said.
"Good morning." Dad greeted us as he walked into the room with Uncle Jon. "Before we begin today, a decision has been reached. Now, I know you're all going to remain quiet and calm." "We love her!" Riley, Maya, and I exclaimed as we stood up. Uncle Jon motioned for us to sit down and slowly we sat down. "Thank you. We appreciate when students are fond of a teacher. I mean, it factors into a decision, but it cannot be the first priority." Uncle Jon explained. "Uh oh." Maya mumbled. "There has to be preparation that a teacher puts into a lesson plan, and what students take from it. Cory, what are you teaching today?" Uncle Jon asked my dad. "I don't know. "I'm probably making something up." Dad answered.
"All right, now Ms. Burgess went against school policy. The principal decided what he saw fit. Right and wrong can be difficult to identify sometimes. That's what you just learned in English class. But this is history. And what does history teach us? You." Uncle Jon said, pointing at dad. "When it's a struggle between right and wrong, that's when the real hero fights hardest." Dad said. "So... for the greater good of this school, it has been decided that someone had to go. So I would like to introduce you to your new English teacher." Uncle Jon informed us.
"No." Maya said. "Why is it worth learning anything if we can't change the world for the better?" Riley asked. "What's the point of anything if we don't have some sort of control over it?" I asked. "How are we supposed to be heroes if we can't do anything about anything?" Maya asked. "Hi." Harper said as she walked in and we all started cheering. "Wow." Riley said. "Sometimes you can beat superman." Maya said. "Very good, Maya. You get an A." Harper told her. "This new teacher's out to ruin my reputation." Maya told Riley and I.
"He's one of your teachers, mommy?" Auggie asked referring to uncle Jon as we ate dessert. "Yeah. Mr. Turner helped me learn everything I know." Mom told Auggie. "She knows everything." Auggie stated. "I know." Uncle Jon said. "Was my daddy a good student?" Auggie asked him. "He was a wonderful student." He answered. "Why would you lie to my kid?" Mom asked. "He tried his best." Uncle Jon told Auggie. "Why would you lie to my kid?" Mom asked him again. "He was so bad, he became a teacher so he could go back to school again." Uncle Jon told Auggie.
"So... word has it you took care of Shawn Hunter?" Maya questioned. "Yeah, I did." Uncle Jon answered. "His dad was a little off and on. No kid should have that." "Yeah. Did you care about him, though?" Maya asked. "You weren't his real father." "No, I wasn't." Uncle Jon agreed. "But was it possible for you to..." Uncle Jon cut Maya off, "Yes, Maya. I loved him like a son. I still do." "That's good." Maya said. "Dad." Riley and I said, turning towards our dad. "Yeah." He replied. "Thank you for being a good teacher." We thanked him. "Yeah, thanks." Maya added. "Boy, there's nothing better than hearing that from your students." Dad said. "Mr. Turner." "Thank you for being a good teacher." Mom thanked. "Yeah, thanks." dad thanked, too.
"You gave me an A minus once." Mom told uncle Jon. "Topanga." Dad said to her. "Topanga." "I want you to change it." She told Uncle Jon. "Okay." He said.