Life, Love, and Other Inequalities

by Argentina Ryder

  Pushing open the heavy gym doors, Matt made a right turn toward the boys’ locker rooms. He spotted the coaches near the equipment cages, separating football uniforms into different sizes. “Hey.”

  “Matt.” Paul Cross waved him over. Tall and broad, his thin gray hair was even sparser than it had been at the end of the previous year. “What’s the good word?” he asked. “Clint here said that Curtis called you in for a talk.”

  Matt nodded, reaching over and helping them sort. “Yeah, just some extra duties this year. For a couple months, anyway.”

  “That’s a fucking shame.” Paul chuckled as he handed Clint a couple pairs of pants. “At least you aren’t in trouble or anything. Hey, we’re heading to Buddy’s for lunch if you wanna join us.”

  Matt smiled to himself. There had been a time when he’d worried about finding his place among these guys, these ‘men’s men,’ these cowboy coaches. Would they accept someone like him in their ranks? But they’d taken him in, and now he counted them among his best friends here at the school. “Thanks, but I think I’m going with the math department today. We got a new guy on board for a couple months. Curt said I’m helping get settled and figure out what he needs to learn.”

  “Well shit,” Clint said in that ‘good ole boy’ drawl of his, exaggerated for comedic effect. “Sorry to hear ‘bout that.”

  “It is what it is.” He looked around the coaches office. “But I don’t plan on neglecting the team. Every day, eighth period, I’ll be here. Just let me know what you need from me and I’ll get it done.”

  It was after eleven before Matt made it upstairs to his own classroom. Standing in the front of the empty room, he thought back to his own first day of teaching. Five years now, five years at this school, though not all of them in this particular room. Back then he thought it was about teaching math, him standing in the front and speaking, his students sitting at their desks absorbing his words. Now he knew better, his expectations more in line with reality, but that didn’t make it any less interesting. Matt wouldn’t quite call it thrilling, but as he flipped on his computer and logged into his electronic grade-book and checked the lists of student names, some of them new and some of them familiar, he felt a pang of excitement at the idea of the new year and all that could happen. Creating independent learners, strong thinkers, reliable citizens of the world, with the occasional two-step equation tossed in there for good measure.

  Six of them ended up at Gringo’s for lunch. “I don’t understand why they asked someone brand new for a long-term sub job.” Matt grumbled as the server set the enchilada plate in front of him, still pissed about his additional duty. “Why didn’t they ask Margie to sub? She at least knows the school and how it all works.”

  Deanna snorted, digging into her taco salad. “They did. She turned them down. Same with Mr. Garza, he just didn’t want to be tied down. Ten weeks is a long time, and I guess no one wanted to commit to that length of time.”

  “Seventh grade math, that’s the worst too,” Alicia added with a cheeky grin.

  “You teach sixth grade reading.” Alex shook his head. “Literally the worst.”

  “Literally,” Alicia answered, and Matt leaned back, chuckling as they started one of their familiar debates. It felt good to be back with friends.

  That night, Matt flipped off his computer after finishing his discussion post for his Schools and Community Relations class. He headed to the kitchen to prepare his lunch when he remembered he didn’t eat today’s meal, and it was still at school in the teacher’s lounge fridge. That task checked off his list, he pulled out his phone and called his grandmother.

  “Hey there.” Matt sat down in his kitchen, kicking off his shoes. “No, it was okay. Gonna be a good year. No, the kids aren’t there yet. They get another week.” He laughed. “Yes, I’m helping with football again. Basketball too, but that’s later in the fall.” Matt listened as she told him about her day, the argument she had with his grandfather over him using the four-wheeler to go out and feed the cows. “He’s a stubborn old goat, Grandma, but that’s why you love him. I’ll talk to him and ask him to let Sabrina do that from now on. Or,” he looked up at the ceiling, “maybe I can come out and help more often, if you need.”

  After the call ended, Matt answered a few more texts from friends, brushed his teeth, and climbed into bed. All things considered, it had been a solid day.

  Tuesday morning Matt arrived on campus just after seven. He headed toward his room to work on setting things up when he noticed the door to C106 open, the light on and spilling over into the hallway. Most of the time, Matt was the first to arrive in his hallway and rarely did anyone beat him, so he headed down to see if the new substitute had arrived.

  Taking a deep breath, Matt knocked on the frame of the open door. "Mr. Evans?" he asked, peering around looking around the empty classroom, desks in neat, ordered rows.

  "Over here!" A voice called out from behind the teacher's desk. Matt walked into the room, following the sound of the voice. "I'm just- ow, hold on..." Matt sat on the edge of a student desk, waiting. "I can't-" Then a man appeared, head popping up like a prairie dog from under the teacher’s desk, and Matt had to stifle a grin. "Heya," the other man said. "Sorry, I’m trying to get this computer hooked up to that monitor. Or to the projector, I’m not sure," he added, biting his lip, hands full of tangled black cords.

  Unbelievable. "I can help you with that later. I'm Matt Ruiz. I teach two doors down."

  The other man stood, taller than Matt, and stretching to hold out his hand. He grinned. "Sawyer. Sawyer Evans, long term sub." The messy dark blond top knot made Sawyer seem even taller, the sleeves of his gray Henley pushed up on his long arms, colorful tattoos on both forearms. "I understand you're going to help me out over here. Thanks in advance."

  Matt took his hand, shaking it. "Don't mention it. Do you have a minute to talk?" he asked curtly, noting the chaotic state of the room and teacher's desk. “No offense, but I’ve got a lot to do today.”

  "Oh yeah, of course." Sawyer stepped out behind the desk. "I just got here, and I'm already a week behind."

  That wasn't far from the truth, Matt suspected. He pulled a student desk close to the teacher's desk and sat down, opening his binder. “This is a list of all the faculty meetings and trainings this week,” he said, handing the other man a sheet of paper. “The ones highlighted in yellow are the ones that you need to attend. The ones in green would be helpful, but not mandatory. " Sawyer's lips quirked, as if holding back a smile. Matt ignored it and continued. "I added the math department meeting that's scheduled for tomorrow, and the grade level planning on Thursday. On the back I wrote some important phone numbers and email addresses, if you need to get a hold of any of us. If you have questions, these are the people to call. It's always better to call than to get it wrong and have someone have to fix it for you later.”

  Sawyer took a deep breath. “Will do.” He took the paper and reviewed it, flipping it back and forth.

  “Have you met Cora?” Matt asked.

  “Ms. Mann?” Sawyer shook his head. "Not yet. She texted me she'll be here around nine this morning to set up her desk in the back of the room and talk me through what the classes are like."

  “She's your special ed component. You'll have all the students with academic disabilities. She's going to help you with making accommodations and modifications to all the assignments.” Sawyer's eyes grew wide for a minute. “I'm not going to lie, it's an enormous responsibility, being the teacher in the collaborative classes. But Cora's the best, just do whatever she says, and you’ll be okay.”

  “She won't be here all the time though, will she?”

  Matt shook his head. "Three out of six classes." He pulled another set of papers out of his binder. "Here are your student lists in each class. Cora will tell you who needs extra help." He handed over another stack. "This is the district’s math scope and sequence for the first quarter." Another stack. "These are the middle school math standards that
the kids are responsible for learning during your time here."

  Sawyer accepted them all silently, and Matt wondered if he now regretted taking on this assignment. Looking down at his watch, he noticed the time. "Cora will be a big help once she gets here. I'm right down the hall in C103. My cell number is on that list, along with my class room phone number. Call if you have questions."

  “I apologize in advance for how many times I’m going to call you.” Sawyer looked up at him. “But I appreciate all the effort you’ve already put in. I’m going to try my best not to be too much of a burden.”

  Deanna Bush introduced Sawyer at the math department meeting on Tuesday. “Mr. Evans will take over for Mrs. Lopez’s seventh graders for a couple months while she’s out on maternity leave. Matt Ruiz has agreed to mentor him and help with the paperwork, but I know we’ll all chip in when we can. Sawyer, please don’t hesitate to ask anyone for help if you have a question or a problem. It’s easier to fix problems before they get too serious, and everyone here wants to help you as much as we can.”

  Sawyer looked over at Matt and grinned. “That’s what I hear. I promise not to get into too much trouble.”

  Friday morning brought another faculty meeting. Matt found himself across from Sawyer, who sat next to Cora, listening as she explained the game plan for Monday. "There's not much going on math-wise. It's very procedural - learning their names, filling out forms, passing out textbooks." Sawyer’s face tried to hide how over his head he was, but Cora just put her hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine. Won't he be fine, Matt?" she asked, pulling him into the conversation.

  "On Monday? Yeah, he’ll be fine on Monday. Now Tuesday, that’s another story." Matt opened his backpack and pulled out another colored folder. “Tuesday is when all hell breaks loose.”

  Cora glared. "You’re not helping. What is that?"

  "The rest of the week." Matt handed each of them a typed-out Week at a Glance completed lesson plan, with objectives, vocabulary, and assignments listed for each day. “Alex gave this to me.” Matt pointed at the older man sitting next to Deanna. “He teaches the other sections of seventh grade. He’ll do the lesson plans and make the assignments while Dorothy’s out. I printed out copies of the lessons so you'd both have a hard copy - Dorothy used to give you hard copies the week before, right Cor?”

  She nodded, her glare softening. “Yes, so I could start looking at ways to accommodate the assignments for some of our kids, to meet the needs of our kids." Matt watched her point out a couple problems to Sawyer, explaining how she would alter worksheets for her students. “Thanks, Matt.”

  "No problem. Alex will share the folder with you with all the digital files." Matt dropped another packet in front of Sawyer. "Here are the answer keys for next week’s lessons."

  Sawyer's eyes widened again. “You didn't have to do all of this," he said. “But thanks.”

  Matt grunted. "Yeah, I kinda did. We need to make certain you understand what's going on, lesson wise. Look over the assignments and the daily objectives. If something doesn’t make sense, call one of us and we'll walk you through it." Looking between Cora and Sawyer, he added, “It'll be hard enough keeping the parents happy, once they learn there's a substitute for two months. Can’t have them thinking the sub can’t teach.”

  “I won’t let you down.” Sawyer caught Matt’s eye and held it for a long second. “I promise.”

  Matt held that gaze a second longer, not sure why, but he didn’t want to be the first to break it. “You’ll be fine.” Just then Curtis began speaking and everyone turned their attention to the front of the room.

  Everyone except Matt, who was just beginning to realize what kind of trouble he was in for this fall. Shit.

  On Monday morning, Matt was at the school bright and early per usual. He prided himself on being an early bird, but today a few others were early as well. Something unexpected always happened on the first day - computer malfunctions, nervous parents wandering around, jammed copy machines - sometimes all three. He took a sip from his Hays Hawks coffee mug (a PTA fundraiser from the previous year) as he made his way down the hall of the C wing toward his room and spotted an open door with the light on.

  The new guy was an early bird too, at least today. Matt glanced inside. “Hey.” Sawyer and Cora had stocked the front table with supplies, textbooks lined up on the bookshelves, and Sawyer was hanging up a couple posters in the back of the room. On one of them a kitten and puppy leaned against each other in a garden setting, the words ‘Be a friend!’ written in bright lettering on the bottom. “You ready for today?” Matt asked as he stepped into the room.

  Sawyer turned toward his voice and smiled. He wore a crisp white button-down shirt with rolled-up sleeves and khakis, hair pulled back into a tidy bun. “Morning,” he called out. “I guess I better be.” A slightly panicked look crossed his face as he glanced around the empty room. “They’ll be here soon.”

  “That they will.” Other teachers began making their way down the halls, waving at him and getting on with the business of starting the day. “I’d better go get ready,” Matt said. “Good luck today. Call me if you need any help.”

  Several hours later, Matt packed his bag at the end of seventh period, once he'd collected all ice breaker activities the class completed. A boy in the front row raised his hand. "Are you coaching again this year, Mr. Ruiz?"

  He nodded, pleased that a few of them were smiling. "If you're in athletics, I'll meet you down in the gym next period." The bell rang, and a few kids stood and headed for the door, sitting back down once they saw his frowning face. Once everyone settled back into their seats, Matt announced, "You're dismissed. See you tomorrow, class."

  Just like that, his first day of teaching this year was over.

  He saw Sawyer in the hallway, greeting students as they entered his classroom for their eighth period class, checking their names against his student list. "How's it going?"

  "I'm exhausted," Sawyer admitted, "and all we've done is ice breakers. But the day went quick, I can't believe it's almost over."

  Matt snickered. "Well, the good news is you get to come back and do it again tomorrow."

  The first week flew by, like it invariably did. Matt’s morning classes went smoothly, but those were his algebra students, high achieving kids working for high school credits. His conference was also in the morning. The classes after lunch, on the other hand, were his 8th regular math students, many of them still acting as if they were on their summer sleep schedules. “I’m hoping the yawns and glassy stares I’m seeing are from fatigue because you retained all this information over the summer, and not because I’m boring you.”

  “I never learned any of this,” one girl told him, a serious expression on her face as she stared at the paper. “None of it.”

  Matt stepped over to his desk and reached for the telephone. “I’m calling Mrs. Lopez right now and telling her you suggested that she didn’t spend three weeks teaching this last year.”

  Several students began chattering excitedly at the mention of their former teacher. “When is she coming back?” another student asked. “I want to say hi to her.”

  “Will she bring the baby to school when she comes back?”

  “Her sub is super cute.” Two girls began whispering about Sawyer. “I hope he stays for a long time.”

  Matt rolled his eyes. “Well, what I hope is that someone can explain calculating simple interest.” Turning, he wrote on the white board in large capital letters. “I = PRT. What does the T stand for?” he asked again, turning toward the class, his heart falling at all the blank stares he saw returned to him. Hopefully it was just the first week sleepies. “Alright, let’s review.”

  It didn’t take long for the other teachers to concur with him. “They’re not even trying,” Alicia stated emphatically, standing next to the microwave, waiting for her frozen burrito to heat up. “All we were working on today was filling out some ‘getting to know you’ bullshit worksheet.” The microwave
beeped, and she took her dish out, walking over to the table. “How do you not know your favorite food?”

  Cynthia Quinn took her place at the microwave, tearing the plastic film off her frozen lunch. “We started talking about family histories as a preface for our introduction to world cultures next week. I’ve already had two parent emails asking why I’m being, and I quote, ‘so nosy’ about their families. I’m not asking for skeletons in their closet, I just want you to know where your grandma came from.”

  Steve Wong, Art teacher, sat down next to Matt. “Hey, how’re you holding up?” he asked. “Been busy?” he asked, taking his grocery store salad out of his brown lunch bag.

  “Not a minute to breathe,” Matt pulled his sandwich out of his insulated bag. “I’ve got two preps, three if you count Lopez’s kids, and athletics during eighth period. Also started grad school this summer,” he told them. “I’m taking a couple classes this fall.”

  The others all smiled and congratulated him. Cynthia clapped. “Not too much longer until you’re Principal Ruiz,” Kristine Wood said. “You’ll remember us little people in the trenches when you’re off in the land of giants, right?” Everyone laughed. “So, how’s it going with Lopez’s long-term guy?”

  Matt nodded, chewing quickly. “So far, so good. Cora’s with him the first part of the day, so that helps. She can go over the classroom management and any of the math that she knows. But we can’t ask her to design lessons and grade and fill out the gradebook or any of those things. She’s got her own paperwork nightmare.” The table nodded sympathetically; everyone understood the nightmare of Special Education paperwork. “He seems eager to learn.”

  Cynthia snorted. “Can’t be any worse than Old Miss Doris, you guys remember her?” Everyone groaned, and began telling their best Old Miss Doris substitute story to Kristine, who was new to the school.