isn’t even a crime anymore. It’s a violation.”
“I know. You can still be arrested for it. And there’s a fine of $50 which, by the way, will be deducted from your allowance or your odd chores money every time you do this.”
“No fair.”
“So be it, Peter.” Time for the big gun. “And I want you to think about something else. Remember how happy you were when we compromised over going to grandma and grandpa’s house? Well, you just ruined all that.” She cleared her throat. “Now I’ll let you out, go to your room. Stay there until dinner and think about all this. Also, except for school, you’re grounded. No TV or computer. And give me your phone.” When he didn’t respond, she said, “Now!”
Fishing his cell out of his pocket, he slapped it into her hand. His young body seethed with anger. And it broke her heart, but she couldn’t let this go. “You gonna tell Uncle Gideon?”
“I’m not sure.” She relented when his eyes widened in fear. “But I can promise he won’t arrest you.”
She popped the locks, and they got out. He walked behind her into the house. She followed him upstairs, went into his room and grabbed his laptop. Then she left and quietly closed the door.
Leaned against it.
And wondered why everything had to be so hard.
* * *
On Tuesday, Derek waited outside the classroom until Alessia walked down the hall. Actually, she trudged over to him. “Hey. What’s wrong? I can see something is in your eyes.”
“Raising kids is hard. Look, we should go inside.”
He grasped her arm gently. “Only if you tell me what’s bothering you after class.”
“I will.”
Since she entered ahead of him, he noticed she was wearing those jeans and fleece boots again, with a hip-length navy quilted jacket. Her dark hair was tucked inside.
Students removed their coats and took their seat. The teacher greeted everyone. “Hi, there. I hope you had a good weekend.”
Alessia glanced at Derek and he winked at her. She covered her grin with her palm.
“We’re going to practice listening today. The goal of this lesson is to record the six elements of active listening and jot down how they can be used in your classroom. A caveat: he’s going to talk fast, so you have to listen carefully to him.”
The speaker began. Derek took notes. Hell, he did talk fast so Derek gave it all his concentration. He’d already had some listening training from the FBI, so he got all six. When the recording ended, the teacher stood up front. “How many of you recorded all six elements?”
Only Derek.
“Five?” Alessia.
“Four?”
“Let’s list them on the white board. Alessia?”
“The first one was to allow others to finish what they’re saying without interruption.”
“Good.”
“Lisa?”
“Asking questions to gain understanding.”
Others contributed maintaining comfortable eye contact and staying open minded. The teacher asked Derek for the last two.
“Paraphrasing the speaker’s point and picking up on non-verbal signals and body language.”
“Very good.” She smiled at him. “You get a star.”
“Thanks.”
“Now, how will these traits be used in your classroom?”
There were a variety of answers: the most obvious, teaching the students the elements and the teacher must focus on what the students are saying, again without interruption. Then she could paraphrase the comments.
Finally, class ended. He waited until Alessia came up to him and they walked out the door together. He stayed close to her, their shoulders touching. “Let’s go to the café downstairs.” Once they were seated with coffee, he asked point blank, “Your eyes are so bleak. Is that because I kissed you Saturday night?”
“Are you kidding? That made me smile all night and the next day, until I got home.”
“Me, too. Is it your kids?”
She nodded. “Pete.” She told him the story of his marijuana use. “He’s too young to be experimenting.”
Derek thought about kids and raising them. “I agree it’s a concern, especially that young. But tell me, would you be this upset if the infraction was drinking?”
“I don’t know. Smoking pot just threw me.”
“Think about it that way. And think about what we learned in Adolescent Psychology this semester. Kids are going to do these kinds of things. It’s how you handle this that’s important.”
She told him what she’d done.
“I think those are good punishments. But remember, if punishment goes on too long, it’s counterproductive.”
“I suppose. Derek, did you ever smoke pot as a kid?”
“Yeah, I did. It didn’t lead to other drugs. You?”
“Billy and I experimented for a bit. But then we had Pete and quit the marijuana and drinking.