Colorblind

by Leah Harper Bowron

  Karen looked at Lisa in disbelief. Lisa raised her hand in the air.

  “Miss Newell, may I write my essay on why the assassination of President Lincoln was for the worst?” Lisa asked.

  “Me, too?” asked Karen.

  “Do as you will,” said mean Miss Newell. “And class, if you want to pass, not a word of this essay to your parents.”

  Another teacher secret. Lisa was about to burst. But keep this secret she did. Karen, however, did not.

  “I’m going to tell my mother what she called me,” whispered Karen.

  “Don’t do it, Karen,” whispered Lisa. “Miss Newell may flunk you if you tell.”

  “Oh, she’s just bluffing,” whispered Karen.

  “No, she’s not,” whispered Lisa. “Becky Owens told her mother about Miss Newell’s mean voice, and she got a D on her next test.”

  “OK, well, I won’t tell my mother, but I will tell Miss Loomis,” whispered Karen. “Surely she can put a stop to this nonsense.”

  “Please keep Miss Loomis out of this,” whispered Lisa.

  “No,” whispered Karen. “She is black, and she will help us.”

  The rest of the day limped along until it was time for Miss Loomis’s class. Before class began, Karen approached Miss Loomis, who was seated at her desk. Karen told Miss Loomis everything that had happened in Miss Newell’s class that day. Miss Loomis did not respond. Instead she looked down at her lesson plan and began to tremble.

  “Don’t you understand?” Karen said. “She called me color-blind.”

  Miss Loomis finally made eye contact with Karen.

  “I understand,” said Miss Loomis.

  “Well, aren’t you going to do something?” asked Karen.

  “I have no control over Miss Newell or what she says in her class,” said Miss Loomis.

  “But you’re black,” said Karen. “Surely you can help.”

  “I am one colored teacher in an all-white school,” said Miss Loomis. “My control begins and ends in my small classroom. You would do best to leave well enough alone.”

  Karen slumped away from Miss Loomis’s desk and back to her own.

  “Why is Miss Loomis so afraid?” whispered Karen.

  “The mean boys tease her, too,” whispered Lisa.

  For the rest of the month, the playground war just became more complicated. Lisa and Karen were now fighting for Miss Loomis, too. Yet the war was put on hold to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Mrs. Duke’s classroom had been transformed into a valentine wonderland. Red valentines decorated the bulletin boards. Red valentines hung from the ceiling. A red tablecloth draped the food table, which contained chocolate cupcakes frosted with red icing, a red velvet cake, red cinnamon hearts, chocolate kisses, and multicolored candy hearts. But most important were the shoeboxes that the students had decorated with red construction paper and valentines. On the top of the shoeboxes were the students’ names and slits for the receipt of valentines.

  Once the party started, the students went from box to box delivering their valentines to classmates. Once the boxes were full, the students took their boxes back to their desks to read the valentines that they had received.

  Valentine’s Day was Lisa’s favorite holiday. As this year’s valentine theme, Lisa chose the cartoon characters from the Peanuts comic strip. She delivered valentines depicting Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, Snoopy, and Woodstock to all her classmates, even Will and David. In turn, Lisa received valentines from most, if not all, of her classmates. She received two “Guess Who?” valentines. One of these anonymous valentines was addressed to “Miss Smushed Nose,” so Lisa assumed that it was from Will or David. The second “Guess Who?” valentine read, “Valentine, be mine!” Did Lisa have a secret admirer, or was this just another cruel joke? Only time would tell.

  Lisa took her box of valentines home to show Harold and Mark. Ozella had made heart-shaped butter cookies sprinkled with red sugar. Lisa passed out homemade valentines to Harold, Mark, baby Elizabeth, her mother and father, and Ozella. Lisa’s father had purchased a special valentine for Lisa. The card read, “To My Sis.” Lisa’s father used his pen to change the word “Sis” to “Sissy.” He gave the card to Lisa. She loved it and gave him a big hug.

  Karen took her box of valentines home to show her mother. Her mother had baked heart-shaped cookies that were frosted with red icing. Karen gave her mother a special valentine. Over a month ago, Karen had sent her father a valentine in Vietnam. Today, Karen’s mother gave Karen a letter from Karen’s father. Karen smiled with delight. She opened the envelope and read the letter from her father. He had received her valentine and wished her “Happy Valentine’s Day.” Karen loved the valentine letter and gave her mother a big hug. She cried inside because she could not give her father a hug.

  A half-moon shone down on Karen that Valentine’s Day. That same moon shone down on Karen’s father in the rice paddies of Vietnam. Karen longed for the day when she and her father would be reunited and that half-moon would become full to overflowing.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The Hare

  While Lisa was getting dressed for school the next day, her mother came into her bedroom. She was holding the valentine envelope that said “Miss Smushed Nose.” Lisa was horrified. Now the secret about Will and David would be out, and Lisa’s life would be over. Or so it seemed.

  “Who gave you this card?” asked her mother.

  “I-I-I don’t know,” stammered Lisa. “Just someone in my class making a joke.”

  “Well, I don’t like this one bit,” said Lisa’s mother. “And I intend to get to the bottom of this.”

  “It’s just a classroom prank,” said Lisa.

  “No,” said Lisa’s mother. “I know your class, and no one would dare to tease you in this way.”

  “Really, Mother, it’s fine,” said Lisa.

  Lisa was starting to get a nervous stomach. She was afraid of what her mother might do.

  “No,” said Lisa’s mother. “This has never happened before, and there’s only one explanation for it—your Negro teacher sent this card to you.”

  “No, Mama,” cried Lisa. “Miss Loomis would never do this.”

  “That race doesn’t have any tact or manners—ignorance, pure ignorance.”

  “Miss Loomis is always nice to me, Mama,” cried Lisa. “She would never send this card.”

  “Now I finally have a way to get her fired,” said Lisa’s mother.

  “Miss Loomis couldn’t have sent the card because her room is at the other end of the hall, and she didn’t come in our room during the Valentine’s Day party,” said Lisa.

  “The ways of the Negro are devious, child,” said Lisa’s mother.

  “Mother, I beg you, please don’t do anything to get Miss Loomis fired,” cried Lisa.

  “All right, Sissy,” said Lisa’s mother. “But I’m warning you. She has two strikes already—strike one was having the audacity to come to your school to teach. Strike two was sending you this card. One more strike, and she’s out.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I understand,” said Lisa. “I appreciate you giving her another chance.”

  “Well, finish getting dressed,” said Lisa’s mother. “And not a word of this to your father.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said Lisa.

  Another secret. Lisa was about to burst. And burst she did during homeroom that morning. Cathy and Karen noticed that Lisa looked different.

  “Lisa, is anything wrong?” asked Cathy.

  “What happened, Lisa?” asked Karen. “You look scared.”

  “It’s nothing, really,” said Lisa. “Just a stomachache.”

  “Now, Lisa,” said Cathy, “I know that your stomachaches happen for a reason.”

  “Yeah,” said Karen, “tell us what caused your stomachache.”

  “But my mother made me promise not to tell,” said Lisa.

  “You know that you can trust us to keep your secret,” said Cathy.

  “Pleas
e tell us what happened,” said Karen.

  Lisa took a deep breath and began.

  “I received a valentine addressed to ‘Miss Smushed Nose,’” said Lisa. “Inside, the valentine said, ‘Guess Who?’ The writing on the envelope and valentine was printed so that you couldn’t tell who wrote it.”

  “I’m sure it was Will or David,” said Cathy. “What a mean thing to do.”

  “I agree,” said Lisa. “The problem is my mother found the envelope, and she thinks that Miss Loomis wrote it. She wants to have Miss Loomis fired for sending it.”

  “Miss Loomis!” exclaimed Karen. “She would never do a thing like that.”

  “Did you tell your mom that it was Will or David?” asked Cathy.

  “I didn’t use any names,” said Lisa. “I just said that someone in my class was playing a joke.”

  “All you had to do was say Will’s or David’s name, and your mom would’ve left Miss Loomis alone,” said Karen.

  “It’s not that simple,” said Lisa. “My mom always jumps to the wrong conclusion. Besides, she believes that no one in my class sent me the card.”

  “Well, doesn’t she know that Will and David call you that name on the playground?” asked Cathy.

  “No, she doesn’t know anything about Will and David,” said Lisa.

  “Why not?” asked Cathy.

  “Will said that he would hurt me if I told on him,” said Lisa. “Both of you must now promise not to tell on him either.”

  “Why?” asked Karen.

  “Because Will could hurt you and me if you tell on him,” said Lisa.

  “I promise,” said Cathy.

  “I don’t like it, but I promise, too,” said Karen.

  “The good news,” said Lisa, “is that my mother promised to leave Miss Loomis alone this time.”

  “My word,” said Karen, “you have had a troubling morning.”

  “Guess what,” said Lisa.

  “What?” asked Cathy.

  “I don’t have a stomachache anymore,” Lisa said. “Talking to both of you made me feel better.”

  Lisa really did feel better, and she breezed through her morning classes. But lunchtime proved more taxing.

  Seats in the lunchroom were assigned. Mrs. Duke placed the best-behaved students with the worst-behaved students in the hopes that some of the qualities of the good students would rub off onto the bad students. Good students Lisa, Clara, and Becky were thus placed at the same table as bad students Will and David. Mrs. Duke’s strategy backfired when Will began asking probing questions of Lisa.

  “I know what’s wrong with you,” said Will.

  “Be quiet, Will,” said Clara.

  “Yeah, we know what’s wrong with you,” said David.

  Lisa looked down at her plate of food and began to feel sick to her stomach.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Becky.

  “I know why Lisa’s lip looks like it does,” said Will. “My father told me.”

  Lisa felt her deep, dark secret slowly see the light of day. All those years of hiding in the shadows would be over in one fell swoop. No one would like her anymore. She would be the latest freak in the freak show. And it was all because of Will.

  “Lisa is a harelip,” said Will.

  The horrible word had finally been said. The word “harelip” was as painful for Lisa to hear as the word “nigger” was for Miss Loomis to hear. Lisa began to cry. She could not make eye contact with anyone at the table.

  “Stop it, Will,” said Clara.

  “Lisa doesn’t have a hairy lip,” said Becky.

  “No, stupid,” said Will, “Lisa’s lip looks like the split lip of an H-A-R-E, a rabbit, to be exact.”

  “Yes, Lisa the Harelip will be able to hop on down the bunny trail this Easter,” said David.

  “Do the bunny hop,” said Will.

  “Hop, hop, hop,” said David.

  “You’ve gone too far this time, Will and David,” said Clara as she stood up.

  Clara walked straight to the teacher’s table to get Mrs. Duke. As Mrs. Duke and Clara walked to Lisa’s table, Clara told Mrs. Duke what Will and David had said to Lisa.

  “Lisa a harelip?” said Mrs. Duke. “Well, I never!”

  “That’s not the point,” said Clara. “Will and David really upset Lisa.”

  Clara and Mrs. Duke finally reached the lunch table, and Mrs. Duke could see that Lisa was crying.

  “Lisa, honey,” said Mrs. Duke, “say it isn’t so—you’re not really a harelip, are you?”

  “Why is Mrs. Duke using that mean word?” thought Lisa, who continued to cry.

  “Lisa, are you a harelip?” asked Mrs. Duke.

  “Yes, ma’am,” replied Lisa softly.

  “Well, I never would have believed it,” said Mrs. Duke while batting her eyelashes.

  “What about Will and David?” asked Clara.

  “I cannot punish the boys for telling the truth,” said Mrs. Duke. “Now finish eating—lunch period is almost over.”

  Mrs. Duke walked back to the teachers’ table. Lisa and Clara were dumbstruck. Telling a teacher about Will and David had backfired. Will was still the king of the table, and David held the keys to the kingdom.

  After lunch Lisa went to the girls’ bathroom, where she splashed water on her tear-stained face. She looked at her face in the mirror. Her eyes were red from crying. But her focus was her lip—her harelip. Cathy and Karen walked into the bathroom. Clara had told them what had happened at lunch.

  “Now, now, it’s all right, Lisa,” said Cathy.

  “Will and David are just big bullies,” said Karen. “They don’t know who you really are.”

  Lisa stopped crying. She had two good friends in Cathy and Karen.

  “I’ve been meaning to tell you what’s wrong with me,” said Lisa.

  “There’s nothing wrong with you,” said Cathy. “You are perfect just the way you are.”

  “Why, just look at how beautiful you look in the mirror,” said Karen.

  Lisa smiled at Cathy and Karen. And Lisa’s world didn’t come tumbling down just because Will and David called her a harelip. Cathy and Karen liked her just the way she was.

  And so did Miss Loomis. Lisa could not wait for sixth period to begin. Today was the day that Miss Loomis would hand out the list of words to study for the spelling bee, which would be held in mid-April. Lisa’s father said that he would call out words for her to spell every night after dinner. Lisa could hardly wait for the bee—she loved to spell.

  Lisa noticed immediately that Miss Loomis didn’t seem to be herself this afternoon. She did not make eye contact with any of her students, and her hands shook when she passed out the word lists.

  “What could have happened to Miss Loomis?” thought Lisa.

  Then Lisa got that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her mother.

  “Did Mother accuse Miss Loomis of sending the mean valentine?” thought Lisa. “Surely not. Mother promised not to do anything.”

  But something was wrong. When Becky raised her hand in class, Miss Loomis ignored her. This had never happened before. When Cathy tried to read her book report to the class, Miss Loomis postponed it. This had never happened before. When Lisa tried to read aloud during reading group, Miss Loomis told the group to read silently. This had never happened before.

  “It’s as if Miss Loomis is a million miles away,” thought Lisa. “I wonder what’s bothering her.”

  “Lisa,” whispered Miss Loomis during reading group, “I need to see you after class.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said Lisa.

  Lisa’s palms began to sweat, her heart began to race, and she began to breathe very quickly.

  “Mother must have accused Miss Loomis of sending the mean valentine,” thought Lisa.

  Lisa remained after class. Miss Loomis walked over to her and sat in an adjoining desk.

  “Lisa, I’m here to apologize to you for sending the unkind valentine,” said Miss Loomis while trembli
ng.

  “Miss Loomis,” said Lisa, “you didn’t send me that valentine—Will or David did. They tease me like they tease you.”

  “I take full responsibility for the unfortunate valentine,” said Miss Loomis.

  Lisa began to cry.

  “I’m not like my mother, Miss Loomis,” said Lisa. “I’m so sorry she accused you of this.”

  “It’s all right, Lisa,” said Miss Loomis. “To fit in at Wyatt I have to do things the way that other people want me to do them.”

  “In my heart I know that you did not send that valentine,” said Lisa. “In my heart I know that you are the best teacher at Wyatt.”

  Miss Loomis smiled at Lisa. They shared what many people would believe was an unholy bond. They were both victims. They were both victims of teasing at the hands of Will and David. And they were both victims of manipulators. In Lisa’s case, she was the victim of her mother’s attempts to have Miss Loomis fired. Lisa was too afraid of her mother to tell her father what her mother said. In Miss Loomis’s case, she was the victim of her reverend’s attempts to keep her at Wyatt. Miss Loomis was too afraid of disappointing the reverend to tell anyone what the reverend said. In any case, being victims was exacting a heavy toll on Lisa and Miss Loomis. It would be a trying spring.

  That evening Miss Loomis told Reverend Reed that she had been called to the principal’s office.

  “Today was the last straw,” said Miss Loomis. “I can no longer teach at Wyatt.”

  “Calm down, Sister,” said Reverend Reed, “and tell me what happened.”

  “Principal Breen told me that Lisa Parker’s mother had accused me of sending Lisa a valentine that was addressed to ‘Miss Smushed Nose.’”

  “What does ‘smushed nose’ mean?” asked Reverend Reed.

  “Lisa’s nose is slightly flattened on one side,” said Miss Loomis.

  “Tell me all about it,” said Reverend Reed.

  “I told Principal Breen that I did not send that valentine,” said Miss Loomis.

  “Good,” said Reverend Reed. “And then what happened?”

  “Principal Breen told me that he had to take Mrs. Parker’s word as the truth,” said Miss Loomis, “and that if I did not apologize to Lisa for sending the valentine, I would be fired.”