He flicks a light switch, revealing drum sets and horns.
Dr. Cook closes the door behind us. “Mrs. Jackson, again, my sincerest apologies that we haven’t spoken before today.”
“It’s a shame,” Jay says. She’s not the type to lie, even to be polite.
“It is. I take full responsibility for that.” He holds his hand out to me. “Nice to meet you, Brianna.”
I don’t shake it at first. Jay nods at me and I do.
“I want you to look at her for a second, Dr. Cook,” Jay says. “Really look at her.”
She sets her hand on my back so I have no choice but to stand straight and look him in the eye, too.
“She’s sixteen, Dr. Cook,” Jay says. “Not a grown woman, not a threat. A child. Do you know how I felt when I was told that two grown men manhandled my child?”
Dr. Cook’s eyes are full of pity. “I can only imagine.”
“No, you can’t,” Jay says. “But this was not the first call I’ve received about my child, Dr. Cook. Now, Brianna can be argumentative, I’ll be the first to admit that. She unfortunately got it from me.”
Look at her, not putting something off on Dad for once.
“But she has been sent to the office for ‘aggressive behavior’ simply for rolling her eyes. You are more than welcome to pull her records. In fact, please do. Read the reports from when she was sent to the office or suspended, then tell me if any of those situations truly called for those consequences.
“I only have two options for my daughter, Dr. Cook,” Jay says. “Two. It’s either the school in our neighborhood or this school. At that school, they don’t set students up to succeed, but here? It’s starting to feel like they’re setting my child up to fail. As a mother, what am I supposed to do? As the superintendent, what are you going to do?”
Dr. Cook is quiet at first. He sighs. “Hopefully much more than I’ve currently done. I’m sorry that we’ve failed you in any way, Brianna.”
Two words, three syllables: I’m sorry.
Does he know how far we’ve
Come without hearing, “I’m sorry?”
I blink before too many tears build up. “Thank you.”
“You’ve given me a lot to think and act on, Mrs. Jackson,” Dr. Cook says. “Please feel free to reach out to me at any time with any concerns either of you may have. It may take me a while to get back to you, but I will.”
“Because you currently don’t have a secretary, right?” Jay says. “I saw the opening on the school district’s website.”
“Ah, yes. I almost need a secretary to schedule time for me to interview secretaries,” he teases.
Jay reaches into her briefcase and takes out some papers. “I’m sure this is not the proper protocol for applying for a position, but I figured why not. Here is my résumé as well as my references. I have several years of secretarial experience.”
“Oh,” Dr. Cook says, clearly taken aback. But he accepts the papers and pulls out his glasses.
“Before you ask, the gap of unemployment is due to my past drug addiction,” Jay says. “However, I recently celebrated my eighth year of sobriety.”
“Wow. That’s commendable, Mrs. Jackson.”
Now Jay seems to be the one taken aback. “Really?”
“Yes,” he says. “It shows your determination. That’s a good character skill. I’m thirty years sober myself from alcoholism. Have to take it one day at a time. I can only imagine the type of willpower you must have. You should be proud of yourself.”
From the looks of it, Jay never thought of it like that. I haven’t either, honestly. I’m proud of her, but I always looked at it like she got off of drugs, and that was that. She used to say she went to rehab so she could fight her way back to me and Trey. Dr. Cook makes it seem like she fights to stay, too.
He tucks her résumé and references inside his jacket pocket and holds his hand out to her. “I’ll be in touch.”
Jay looks dazed as she shakes his hand.
By the time we leave the band room, everyone’s made their way outside. Aunt Gina, Aunt ’Chelle, Sonny, and Malik wait for us in the parking lot.
“Lord, if I get that job,” Jay mutters. “Benefits, Jesus. Benefits!”
There are jobs, and there are jobs with benefits. Big difference. Whenever somebody in my family gets a job, the first question is, “Does it have benefits?”
Jay immediately tells Aunt ’Chelle and Aunt Gina what just went down.