Forty five minutes ago...
From the second Maaka Lacey had entered the classroom and had taken over from Davina, the lesson had gone off topic. It had become less about stereotypes (the set topic on the lesson plan), and more about Maaka Lacey himself. Davina wouldn't have minded so much normally, but she couldn't see what this was teaching the kids about anything, let alone stereotypes.
Maaka's teaching abilities seemed to be non-existent. Whilst he was holding the attention of the class quite well, he'd taken no notice of the homophobic remarks that some of the boys were making. He'd heard them, there was no denying that. But he was unfazed by them, almost like he thought it was acceptable.
Davina breathed a sigh of relief when the bell rang for break and the class filed out of the door.
As she tidied away the text books, she smiled politely at Maaka.
"That was very interesting" she commented, referring to his lesson
Maaka nodded at her
Davina had originally told herself to hold her tongue and not say anything. But she couldn't, it wasn't right.
"Erm... I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but... normally we have to report comments like that, you know?" she told him
"Comments like what?" he frowned
"The remarks some of the boys were making. Homophobic remarks" she explained
He smirked
"By not challenging them, it looks like you condone it" she added
"Why didn't you challenge them?" Maaka questioned
"I... didn't think it was my place" she mumbled
"Exactly. And I saw fit to let it go. It wouldn't make any difference if I'd challenged them or not. 'Homophobia', as you call it, is endemic in all human culture"
Davina scoffed quietly
"Well, it may be endemic where you come from, but we have a code of conduct in this school" she retorted
Maaka glared at her
"See, where I come from, you'd be guilty of the same thing you accused those boys of" he snapped
"I'm sorry?" she frowned, disgusted by his attitude
"Prejudice"
Davina rolled her eyes
"I'm not prejudiced"
"No? Where I come from, we have to report comments like the one you've just made!" he shot back
He looked her up and down with disdain
"Where can I get a cup of tea around here?" he snarled, grabbing his bag and leaving the classroom
Furious, Davina walked along the corridor to Tom's office, in desperate need to vent her frustrations.
Tom smiled at her when she walked in.
"Hey. How did it go?" he asked
"He is SO arrogant! And he hasn't got a clue what he's doing!" she huffed
Tom raised an eyebrow at her.
"You know, I was halfway through a lesson, and the kids were really on task. And then he comes in, takes over and spends the rest of the lesson talking about himself!" she ranted
"I take it this is the supply teacher you're talking about? Stole your thunder, did he?" Tom teased with a chuckle
Davina glared at him. Of all the people she'd expected to be somewhat sympathetic, it was Tom. And yet here he was, laughing at her.
"Tom, it's not funny! He let the kids get away with making really offensive remarks, and then he accused me of being prejudiced! I'm stuck with him for the rest of the day now!" she grumbled
Tom had completely zoned out, too busy looking at the house listings in the newspaper. Davina rolled her eyes, waving her hand in front of the paper to get his attention.
"Uhm... hello? I am here!"
Tom looked up
"Yeah, I was listening" he reassured
Davina frowned, glancing at the house listings in his hand
"How come you're reading that? Are you thinking of selling up?" she asked
Tom sighed heavily
"No. But Chlo and Donte are" he told her
"It is their house" she pointed out
"So what are you saying? We just let the Kelly's win?" he huffed
"Tom, it's not about the winning! It's about what's right for the girls" she argued
Tom rolled his eyes
"Maybe me and you could buy it off them?" she suggested
Tom looked at her, raising an eyebrow
"As soon as I qualify, we're going to have two good salaries coming in" she reasoned
"Are you serious?" he checked
"Yeah, why not? Arrange a valuation, we've got nothing to lose" she nodded
The bell rang. Davina stood up with a sigh, turning to walk away.
"Are you going to be ok?" Tom asked
Davina turned around to face him again
"I'm shadowing HIM, aren't I?"
"Yeah, but is it a good idea, after what's just happened?" he questioned
Davina scoffed, brushing off his concern
"I'm a student remember? I do as I'm told"
She left the office, hoping the rest of the day would run a bit more smoothly.
As she walked along the corridor, Bridget caught up with her.
"Miss Mason would like to see you in her office, now" she told her
Davina nodded, walking along behind her.
...
Rachel breathed a sigh of relief when Davina stepped into her office. She wanted to get this sorted before it got any worse.
Davina smiled politely at her.
"Thank you for coming, Davina" Rachel greeted, smiling at her reassuringly
Davina's smile dropped when she saw Maaka sitting at the table. She was itching to wipe that smug smile off his face.
The tension that had suddenly engulfed the room was almost suffocating. Davina and Maaka were glaring at one another.
Rachel looked from one to the other, quickly becoming uncomfortable. She needed to sort out whatever this was before it got out of hand.
She cleared her throat.
"Right, well, I think we need to... well... just clear the air a little, don't we?"
Davina frowned at Rachel. Rachel started to explain.
"It seems that, in the last lesson, some things were said. And Maaka is alleging that,"
"Not 'alleging'. I don't want this to sound like we're in a court of law" Maaka interrupted
Rachel sighed inwardly before continuing
"Sorry, Maaka has... informed me that you made several barbed comments about his background"
"No, not at all! All I said was, in our culture, we don't stand for homophobia" Davina explained, her tone defensive
Rachel looked at Maaka for confirmation. She wasn't sure who was in the wrong now. It was rapidly turning into a game of 'He said, she said'.
Maaka sat up in his chair and cleared his throat.
"Maybe I can clear the air. Miss Shackleton felt that I should have challenged some of the remarks a few of the boys said. I'll hold my hands up to that. But as I explained, homophobia- and I don't agree with it- is part of, not just my culture, but all human culture"
Thanks to Maaka's explanation, Rachel was beginning to understand the situation. And it seemed to her that Davina was in the right. This was, as she'd originally thought, a misunderstanding.
"Yes, that may be true. But in this school, we have strict anti-discrimination policies" Rachel pointed out
"Thanks to Miss Shackleton, I'm now aware of the situation. However, I did take great offence at the way she appeared to ridicule my culture, as if we were still living in the dark ages" Maaka stated
Davina jumped to her own defence again.
"No, that is... that is not what I was saying at all! I,"
"Do you know what I think we have here? I think we have a very basic, simple misunderstanding" Rachel interrupted
Silence engulfed the room again. Davina looked at Maaka wearily.
"Ok, look, I didn't mean to offend you. And if I have then I'm truly sorry, ok?" she apologized, looking to Rachel for approval
"I have to vouch for Davina, I can't imagine she'd try and insult you" Rachel reasoned
Maaka thought for a moment before nodding reluctantly. He offered his hand for Davina to shake, which she politely accepted.
"Great" Rachel smiled
Davina smiled weakly at Rachel as she stood up. She just wanted to leave.
"Look, you two have both got a free period next, haven't you? Why don't the two of you spend it trying to reconcile and get to know one another better? Maybe give Maaka a tour of the school, Davina?" Rachel suggested
Davina nodded
"Sounds good" Maaka agreed
"Great! Have a good day together" Rachel smiled, walking over to the office door
"Yeah, I'm sure we will" Davina replied, a little unenthusiastically
Rachel could tell Davina was uncomfortable. She could see in her eyes that she wasn't ok with this.
"Davina? Can I just have a quick word?" she requested
Davina turned around. Rachel lowered her voice.
"If he had decided to push this, you could have been in real trouble. Accusations of racism are not taken lightly!"
"Racism?" Davina questioned, frowning
"That's what he's claiming! If I hadn't talked him round..." Rachel sighed
Davina scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief
"Just... be careful about what you say" Rachel warned
She nodded, storming out of the office.
Rachel sighed heavily. It was going to be one of those days...
