“Look, sir, I had no idea—”

“No, as the teacher, as the responsible adult, you should’ve known what you were doing!”

“Sir, please!”

“I think that a teacher with such ignorance does not deserve the position as a teacher at all. Please hand in your resignation by next Monday.”

“Sir! I can’t, I have my younger siblings to support! I promise this won’t happen again! Please give me another chance!”

“ How can I give you another chance? This is not just another student who passed a note in class! Because of this, people will no longer think that this is a safe school. There will be law suits filed! Meetings to attend! Press conferences! We can’t risk it! I’m sorry, Michelle. We need to simmer the situation and if you, who is currently being held responsible, is still a member of our staff, we won’t look too good to the public.

Remember, by Monday.”

She couldn’t speak.

Tears poured silently, and sooner or later she left. He wasn’t giving her a week more to work, he was giving her a week more to pack up her things and be rid of from the school.

And because of who? Anthony. He wasn’t the best behaved child, but Michelle never imagined he would do something so criminal and dangerous at this school. This was a school in the richest neighborhood, the safest streets, protected by the most secured gates, and now…this?

It all happened so fast. He walked in casually as she took roll. As soon as she was about to begin her lesson, he pulled it out—a small pistol, automatic, ready to fire—then he shot the wall, barely missing his classmate. Michelle ran and stopped him from firing anymore. She did the right thing, didn’t she? She took it away from him, calling 911 immediately. She calmed the children down and the principal took Anthony away as the firemen and policemen and ambulance came. What was she supposed to do? Did she deserve to be terminated so quickly, so unfairly?

Anthony was to be expelled and she was to be fired. How will she find a job? What about Sami and Tim, her siblings? They had no parents. They were gone. Were they dead? No one knew. They just walked out on them one day soon after Michelle had turn 20, wordlessly. Now, MIchelle was 24, and she had finally found the job she was looking for: to be a teacher. It was great, everything was great. She found a small apartment for the three of them to live in, and everything was just… great.

Of course, until now.

She didn’t know how she did it, but Michelle had been able to walk with her eyes blurred from the tears and somehow made it home. Before opening the door, she saw Sami’s pink bike propped up against the wall. Oh no. Sami was home for lunch. Hastily, Michelle wiped away her tears and smeared makeup. Clearing her throat, she called out, “Sami! Open the door kiddo! I’m home!”

“Michelle!” she beamed up at her sister, the messy makeup and bloodshot eyes unnoticed. “Why are you home so early? I’m here only for lunch, I promise I won’t stay home this time, although Tom and Jerry is supposed to show later… oh can I please skip school? I don’t want to go back! It’s so boring there! Oh, darn, I can’t…Tim said he was going to make sure I went back to school. Hmph. Are you going to eat lunch with me today? Look, Tim made me a sandwich! It’s in the shape of a fish! Well, Tim said it was actually a heart, but it has fins and a tail, so I don’t really think it’s a heart…” she giggled. Michelle couldn’t look at her. Sami was only 7 years old: still so bright and innocent. She didn’t know what it meant when Michelle said Mom and Dad wouldn’t be home…for a long time. Every day Sami acted as if they were out on some kind of special occasion (“we shouldn’t disrupt their nice date!”) and she waited happily and patiently, knowing they were blissful together, wherever they were.

Tim, on the other hand, was rather indifferent about the whole situation, as if ‘your parents leaving you’ was just another problem that the average 15-year-old had to deal with. At least he tried to give off that effect. Only once did Michelle realize Tim’s true feelings when he almost broke down after tucking Sami into bed.

“It wasn’t fair”, he’d say, a wavering in his voice. “We were so happy. Why?” He looked into Michelle’s eyes, pleading for an explanation.

But she didn’t know. She didn’t understand why life was so unfair.