Writers on the Storm

by Christy Cauley

  Chapter 29

  Awards and Awareness

  Admeta was ecstatic that her teacher was in remission. Cornelia remained skeptically optimistic, but she tried to share in her fiend’s joy. Admeta decided not to broach the subject of Cornelia’s breakdown at Mrs. Hakim’s house. She thought some things were better left unsaid. Instead she told Cornelia what went on after she left. She told her about Talibah living with the Hakim’s and how she was going to go to Storm River High next semester. Mrs. Hakim would also be returning in January.

  Cornelia again tried to be upbeat. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy for Talibah or Mrs. Hakim. She wanted Mrs. Hakim to be well, but she still thought about her grandmother every day. There was a period when they thought she was getting better too. And then she wasn’t. Cornelia was still concerned.

  Everyone at school was bored the rest of the week. Teachers were still assigning busy work. Even they seemed bored and eager for the vacation. On Friday, the last day before break, everyone had holiday parties instead of doing any school work. It was rather a wasted school day, but everyone had fun.

  In homeroom, Mr. Brockheimer passed out non-alcoholic eggnog and brownies. Cornelia was quite sure that either his eggnog or his brownie had a little something special added because he was acting uncharacteristically happy. As it turned out, Cornelia discovered that he was going on a cruise over Christmas break, so that was probably the reason for his good mood.

  The day seemed to fly by with one party after the other. There were no afternoon classes that day because the day before break was the day of the Winter Awards Ceremony where they gave out end of the semester awards for the kids who excelled at extra curricular activities, academics and other things. Cornelia was never one of those kids, so she prepared herself for a long, boring ceremony filled with mundane speeches and half-hearted applause for kids she didn’t know.

  She was happy there weren’t assigned seats, so she got to sit with Chad and her new friends from Writers on the Storm. With Admeta and Amanda on her left and Chad on her right, Cornelia felt like everything was right in the world. That was until she spotted Natalie and Monica from The Family Connection sitting in the front of the auditorium that was reserved for special guests. Their presence made her uncomfortable. After all, they were part of her community service punishment, even though Cornelia no longer viewed her sentence as a punishment, but a learning experience. She asked Admeta why they were there but Admeta just shrugged her shoulders.

  Every few minutes it seemed, Admeta was standing up to walk on stage to receive one academic award or another. She received the Excellence in Math Award and some science award that Cornelia couldn’t even pronounce. Cornelia was beginning to think there was no subject that Admeta didn’t excel in. She even won an award for English and that wasn’t even Admeta’s first language.

  Admeta wasn’t the only Writer on the Storm to receive awards. Brenda received an award for working on the school newspaper. Amanda received an award for her work in Student Council. And Sandy received several awards for sports. One was for lacrosse. Cornelia hadn’t even known there was a lacrosse team at Storm River High School. She supposed that was because they didn’t have cheerleaders either. Even Steve, who was now completely healed from his ordeal, won an award for a poem he had written.

  The afternoon droned on with one award after another being given out. Students would come up on stage, one at a time, and shake the principal’s hand, then take their certificate. Some shook the hands of coaches, teachers or others who were on hand to give out the award. Then came the more prestigious awards, and the students who received those had to give speeches. Cornelia yawned, covering her mouth so as not to be rude.

  Admeta won one of the prestigious awards. It was called the Americanism and Government Award and it was given to her for a paper she wrote about female Supreme Court justices. Cornelia had no idea Admeta wrote this paper that was apparently so good that it was published in some local college literary magazine. During her short speech, Admeta thanked Mrs. Hakim and to Cornelia’s surprise, she asked Mrs. Hakim to please stand up to be recognized.

  Cornelia turned around to see Mrs. Hakim standing there wearing a crimson outfit complete with a beaded hijab to match. Cornelia clapped along with everyone else, but her clapping was louder and longer. So much so, that a few people were staring at her before she stopped. They were no doubt wondering why Cornelia would clap for a teacher that she once hated. Cornelia was so happy to see Mrs. Hakim up and around that she didn’t care who was staring. Other than Thanksgiving, it was the first time she had seen Mrs. Hakim outside her home or the hospital in months. She thought the crimson outfit brought more color to Mrs. Hakim’s once pale face or could it be that her face was no longer pale? Cornelia wasn’t sure. For the first time in months Mrs. Hakim looked “normal” and Cornelia was pleased.

  When Admeta sat back down, Cornelia was whispering to her question after question. “How did you know she would be here? Why didn’t you tell me? Are you sure it’s alright for her to be out of the house?” Admeta laughed off Cornelia’s questions and told her to stop being rude. When Cornelia persisted, Admeta shushed her. Cornelia looked affronted, but she turned to face straight ahead to listen to the last of the speeches.

  After the award for Student Council leadership had been given to Kenzie Phillips, the principal returned to the podium.

  “And now,” he said, “I have the honor of bestowing the final award of the afternoon.”

  “FINALLY!” Cornelia thought. The excruciatingly boring ceremony would be over and they could leave for break.

  “This last award is the most prestigious award given at Storm River High School. The Distinguished Student award is given to a student who has made exceptional contributions to the community,” Principal Beckardi said.

  “Hey, what time is it?” Cornelia whispered to Chad.

  Before he could answer, Admeta elbowed Cornelia in the side and shushed her once again.

  “Ow!” Cornelia whispered.

  “Stop being rude,” Admeta hissed back. “Pay attention.”

  Cornelia was slightly angry with her friend for elbowing her, but she complied. The principal went on and on about how important service to the community was and how the student who was receiving the award had made great strides that semester. Cornelia was bored to tears.

  “And now,” Principal Backardi continued, “It is my pleasure to introduce two special guests who will giving out this afternoon’s Distinguished Student Award. Please give a big round of applause for Ms. Natalie Robbins and Ms. Monica Stiller from The Family Connection.”

  Cornelia looked confused at first, but then it dawned on her that Admeta was going to receive the award. That’s why she wanted Cornelia to be quiet. That’s why she thought Cornelia was being rude. Cornelia smiled at Admeta and gave her a little wink to let her know that she knew what was going on. Admeta smiled back.

  Natalie and Monica were beaming in Admeta’s direction. They were going on about how “this person” performed selflessly and gave of themselves without hesitation. They said a lot of nice things and mentioned how far this person had come this semester and how they had grown as a person. Cornelia was happy for Admeta, but she was also thinking, “Come on already. Just give her the award.”

  Natalie continued, “And we are both very pleased to be giving this award to Ms. Cornelia Drake.”

  Cornelia sat there for a minute, confused. She thought she had heard her own name instead of Admeta’s. She looked at Admeta who was not getting up.

  “Go up there,” Admeta said to her.

  “Me?” Cornelia asked.

  “Yes, your name is Cornelia Drake, isn’t it?” Admeta said, laughing.

  “Congratulations, CC,” Chad said, putting his arm over Cornelia’s shoulder.

  “Huh?” Cornelia said, looking at him.

  “What are you waiting for, CC? Everyone is staring,” he said with a smile, and he sort of gave her a push up out o
f her chair.

  Cornelia was frozen. All of the things the principal had said, all of the things Natalie and Monica said were about her. That didn’t make any sense. Just a few months before, she had been standing next to Miss S. – oh, God, what was her name again? - receiving her sentence of community service. She remembered the anger and resentment she felt at the thought of serving the community. She didn’t understand how she could have gotten an award for something she was forced to do. She remembered the judge calling her “a stuck-up, spoiled rotten little hooligan” and in retrospect she knew he was right about her. He was right about her then, but was she the same person Natalie and Monica were just talking about? How could that be?

  After receiving a nudge from Admeta, Cornelia finally started to take a few steps. As she walked toward the stage, she could not hear any applause. She didn’t hear Amanda yell, “Way to go, CC!” Her ears were ringing. Her heart was pounding. Her hands were sweating. Just before she reached the stairs, Veronica popped out of the front row and hugged her daughter. Cornelia was stunned. She hadn’t even seen her mother sitting there, just as she had missed Mrs. Hakim.

  “Mrs. Hakim,” Cornelia thought. She suddenly felt like this award was a slap in the face to Mrs. Hakim. After all, her community service began as a punishment for the horrible thing she did to Mrs. Hakim. Cornelia was not worthy of this award and she knew it. But she couldn’t refuse, could she? She had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach like she was going to either throw up or pass out. She didn’t know what to do. She walked slowly toward Mr. Backardi and shook his hand like she had seen all of the other students do when they accepted their awards. Then she shook Monica and Natalie’s hands without thinking. Monica nodded with approval while Natalie smiled that huge, wide-eyed smile she always had. Natalie handed her a plaque. “A plaque, oh my God,” Cornelia thought. She had never felt so unworthy in her entire life. She was about to blow.

  Natalie gave her a push toward the podium and Cornelia stood there looking out at the crowd. There was a box behind the podium and she could see Monica motioning for her to step on the box, so she did without even thinking about it. She was on autopilot and she desperately wanted to turn it off, make it all stop. She needed the world to stop turning at that moment. She wanted to go back to her seat and be clapping for Admeta who truly deserved the award.

  As she stood up on the box, she could see all of her friends from Writers on the Storm. Chad, Admeta and Amanda were standing as they clapped. She saw Sarah sitting at the end of her row. Rebekka and David were there too, sneering. Veronica was wiping a tear away from her eye and snapping pictures like a lunatic. Cornelia saw her father and Brandi, who was looking quite bored herself, sitting on the other side of the auditorium. Everyone was there, even Kenzie Phillips who Cornelia could have sworn looked envious. Then, Cornelia saw Mrs. Hakim. She was standing too and Cornelia turned so red that she matched the color of Mrs. Hakim outfit.

  “Please stop,” Cornelia whispered and then cleared her throat. “Please,” was all she could muster in a semi-normal tone of voice.

  Cornelia’s mind was racing and things seemed to be moving in slow motion. Everything began to fall into place. The award was why Admeta had been talking to Monica and Natalie in secret. It’s what Natalie meant when she said “There’s our girl.” They had been planning this for awhile and everyone managed to keep it a secret from Cornelia. Even Veronica had known. Why else would she be there? And her father too.

  Her father. Why would her father be there? Cornelia wondered to herself. He couldn’t even be bothered to defend his own daughter in court and yet he was there to see her accept an award for the punishment she received. It didn’t make sense. Then, as Cornelia looked around some more she was community leaders that she had seen her father meeting with over the years. He had always been involved in politics because he wanted to run for judge someday. Just then, Cornelia thought, maybe that was why she was getting the award in the first place. Maybe her father had planned it so he would look like a good parent of a good little girl, not “a stuck-up, spoiled rotten little hooligan.” Yes, everything was falling into place.

  Everyone quieted down and Cornelia’s friends sat back in their seats. Veronica was still taking pictures, but Cornelia didn’t notice the flashes anymore. She couldn’t bear to look at her father who surely “bought” the award somehow. All she saw in that moment was Mrs. Hakim. All she felt was guilt and remorse. Her cheeks were on fire. She was embarrassed. She was getting an award she didn’t deserve and she had a sneaking suspicion that her father had something to do with it. An award for her was a notch in her father’s belt after the embarrassment of his daughter being arrested.

  Cornelia paused, looking Mrs. Hakim directly in the eyes. Her teacher was smiling. She seemed proud of her student who had once said such horrible things about her. Cornelia thought about how forgiving Mrs. Hakim could be. A lot of the students at Storm River were suspicious of Muslims because it was a religion they did not understand. Cornelia did not know that at the beginning of the school year, but she knew it now and it made her more ashamed. She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to crawl off the stage and run home. The crowd began to get twitchy.

  “Umm,” Cornelia began, looking at the three people beside her on stage. The microphone gave a loud little hiss of feedback but then settled. Cornelia continued, “Mr. Backardi, Natalie, Monica, I really appreciate that you want to give me this award. I really do,” she said, not smiling. “But I can’t accept it,” she said with a tear in her eye. The smile washed off of Natalie’s face. Monica did not change her expression. Mr. Backardi looked worried. He had been hesitant to give Cornelia this award, but when Monica and Natalie had been so insistent, he caved. He thought his worst fears were about to come true.

  As a tear streamed down her right cheek, Cornelia explained to the audience that she had done a terrible thing. “Do you see Mrs. Hakim back there, in the red scarf?” Cornelia asked, pointing to her teacher. Mrs. Hakim smiled as everyone turned to look at her. “It’s not really a scarf. It’s actually called a ‘hijab’,” Cornelia continued. “Mrs. Hakim taught me that.

  “Mrs. Hakim taught me lots of things this semester. She is Muslim,” Cornelia said, “and she is the best teacher I have ever known.”

  Cornelia paused, trying to find the right words. She didn’t want to embarrass Mrs. Hakim or herself, but she wanted to be honest.

  “Earlier this year, Mrs. Hakim gave be a ‘D’ on my progress report. It was a grade I deserved, but at the time I didn’t see it like that. All I saw was that ‘D’ and how much trouble I was going to be in for getting such a bad grade in English. But that’s no excuse for what I did next.”

  Cornelia paused once again, struggling to think of the right thing to say. She looked over at her father who was now holding his head in his hand. Cornelia wondered if he was trying to hide his face. Brandi still looked bored, like she had not heard a thing Cornelia said. In the front row, Veronica had stopped taking pictures and was hanging on Cornelia’s every word.

  “Most of you know what happened next. For those of you who don’t, it’s not pretty. And it not something I’m proud of. I used Mrs. Hakim’s religion against her for no reason whatsoever except that I was mad. I was mad that I had gotten…” she trailed off. “No, I was mad that I had earned,” she reconsidered her wording, “a bad grade.

  “Mrs. Hakim gave me the grade I deserved and because of her religion I did something terrible. It wasn’t just childish, it was hurtful. I did the most vicious thing I could think of to do.

  “And what I did was a hate crime.” At that, Cornelia could hear a few quiet shrieks from the audience. She wondered if there were parents there who hadn’t known what she had done. She heard Mr. Backardi groan a little beside her. I guess it wasn’t the school’s proudest moment she was rehashing.

  “And after I committed that hate crime,” Cornelia continued, with tears streaming down her face, “I was punished with commun
ity service at The Family Connection. The judge called me ‘a stuck-up, spoiled rotten little hooligan’ and he was right. I was.”

  Cornelia hesitated and looked around the room. She could see her father walking toward the back of the auditorium. “Wait, Dad!” she shouted and the microphone gave another little wail of feedback. “That’s my dad,” she said and pointed to her father who froze in his tracks. “What’s the matter, Dad? Does the truth hurt? Not so proud of your little princess for that stunt, are you?” Cornelia began to sob a little, but she sucked it up and continued.

  “Well I’m not either. But you know who I am proud of? Mrs. Hakim, who found it in her heart to forgive me, unlike you.” Cornelia turned away from her father and toward Mrs. Hakim toward the back of the auditorium.

  “Mrs. Hakim has been dealing with a lot this semester. More than you can imagine,” Cornelia was careful not to violate any confidences. “I called her the worst name I could possibly think of and yet she found it in her heart to forgive me. That’s because that’s who she is.

  “I used to want to be just like my father,” Cornelia continued. “But now, I hope when I grow up I’m just like Samantha Hakim. She is a caring, compassionate person with one of the biggest hearts I know. There is only one person I know who has a heart as big as hers and that’s Admeta Vasquez,” Cornelia said and pointed to Admeta. Admeta looked like she wanted to melt into the fabric of the chair and disappear.

  “Mr. Backardi, Natalie, Monica,” Cornelia began again with tears still streaming down her cheeks, “I do not deserve this award at all, but there is someone in this room who does and that’s Admeta. She volunteers at The Family Connection because she wants to, not because she was forced to. She has a huge heart and a great capacity to forgive. She learned that from Mrs. Hakim no doubt.”

  Cornelia looked directly into Admeta’s eyes. “Admeta, I want you to come up here and accept this Distinguished Student Award because you deserve it. This award was made for people like you who perform community service from the bottom of their hearts, not someone like me who had to be sentenced to it.” Admeta looked mortified as Cornelia stood on the box holding the plaque out.

  “Come on up here, Girl,” Monica shouted from the stage and a few people laughed and broke the tension. At first it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, but as Admeta got up and started to walk on stage people started clapping. Veronica was beaming, Mrs. Hakim was crying and Chad was smiling and clapping. Cornelia saw her father leave the room just before she handed the plaque to Admeta.

  “I am so going to kill you when the ceremony is over,” Admeta whispered to Cornelia as the plaque exchanged hands.

  “No you won’t,” Cornelia said and then she smiled at Admeta and hugged her like she had never hugged anyone before in her life. Cornelia thought it may have been the very first hug she ever “meant.”

  Admeta was never one for the spotlight. She stepped up onto the box at Monica’s insistence. Then she looked around the crowd and waved to a couple of people from Writers on the Storm. It was then that Cornelia had noticed that none of Admeta’s family was there to see her get all of her awards and that made Cornelia sad. She wasn’t sad when she saw her dad leave, but she was sad for Admeta because she knew how close she was with her father.

  Admeta finally spoke in a thick Spanish brogue. Cornelia had noticed that Admeta always did that when she was angry or embarrassed. At this point she thought Admeta might have been a little of both. “Well, I sorta think Ms. Cornelia is a little loco to give up this award,” she began and a few people laughed.

  “But I really like volunteering at The Family Connection. Natalie and Monica are good people,” she said and then smiled at the pair next to her on stage. Cornelia was standing on the other side of the podium, still streaming tears, but smiling at her friend.

  “Mrs. Hakim is good people too and I’m glad she’s coming back next semester,” Admeta said and then hesitated. Mrs. Hakim had dried her eyes and was beaming at both of her students on stage.

  “Well,” Admeta said, “I guess that’s all I have to say. Thanks and have a blessed Christmas break.” Admeta shot off the box like it was on fire. She grabbed Cornelia by the elbow and led her backstage.

  “Oh, Dios mío, Cornelia, no sé qué hacer con usted a veces!” Admeta said, but Cornelia had no clue what she was saying.

  “You’re welcome,” Cornelia replied with a grin.

  “You really are loco, CC,” Admeta said with a half-smile. They could hear Principal Backardi wrapping up the ceremony at the microphone. He was saying something about staying safe and keeping warm but the girls were not paying attention.

  “Why did you do that,” Admeta asked.

  “Because you deserved that award, Admeta, not me. I don’t know what they were thinking giving it to me. I was sentenced to community service. I didn’t volunteer for it.”

  “Are you going to volunteer for it when we get back from our mission trip?”

  “Well, yeah, of course. I like volunteering at The Family Connection. Except for freezing to death sometimes.”

  “Did you ever think that’s why they gave you the award, CC?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean yeah, you were sentenced to community service in the beginning, but then you grew to like it and now you’re going to continue your service even when your hours are up. So maybe they gave you the award for having the most improved attitude or something. Did you ever think of that?” Admeta asked.

  “No,” Cornelia replied simply, wiping her tears.

  “Oh, Dios mío, Cornelia, seriously, what are we going to do with you?” Admeta asked again in exasperation.

  “I don’t know. Take me to El Salvador?” Cornelia asked completely straight faced. After a few seconds both girls cracked up laughing.

  “You know you gave this thing to me, there are no take backs. I’m going to have them cover up your name with mine,” Admeta said and they both cracked up laughing again. Then they could hear the audience moving around in the auditorium and they figured they had better get out there.

  “Hey, my mom is here, can we give you a ride home?” Cornelia asked.

  “Sure,” Admeta replied and the two friends walked down the stairs into the audience, arm in arm. You would never have been able to tell that the two had once been enemies.

  They walked into the audience and greeted their friends, Cornelia’s mom and Mrs. Hakim. They stood around talking for a long time and Mrs. Hakim told Admeta and Cornelia how proud she was of both of them. For the first time in a long time, Cornelia looked at her teacher and she didn’t see a sick person. She saw a healthy person who once had breast cancer, but now she didn’t. And for the first time Cornelia actually believed that.

  The friends joked and laughed and each told their story about how surprised they were when Cornelia refused the award. Cornelia, Admeta and Mrs. Hakim were happy and optimistic and glowing. Everything was right with the world. Everything except that Admeta’s mother wasn’t there to share in the moment. Admeta knew it and Cornelia could feel it. They were about to embark on an adventure half-way around the world but in that place in time, the friends – best friends – were happy just to share in that moment together. Little did they know what was about to happen.

  To be continued . . .